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American Morning
Fight for Texas: Must Win for Clinton; Stock Markets Tumble; Prince Harry Back Home; New President for Russia; Ahmadinejad in Iraq; Texters Beware on Deleted Message
Aired March 03, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ratcheting up the rhetoric, and this could be crucial Tuesday for Clinton. She is counting on wins in Texas and Ohio for a comeback. Right now, she is up in Ohio wrapping her so-called 88 counties in 88 hours before heading to Texas this afternoon.
And as for Barack Obama, he's set to begin a marathon dash across Texas in just a few hours. In the heat of this critical contest, things are now getting a bit personal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can come and give a great speech and have people get really excited and leave the arena and say, oh, that was wonderful. And then the next day, you say, but what was it about? What is it that is going to happen as a result of those words?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Clinton has been running around telling people that our entire campaign, according to her, is only based on the facts that I gave a speech in opposition to the war in Iraq from the start. That that is the only basis of my campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: On the Republican side, it doesn't look like John McCain has any worries. He's scheduled three rallies for today. Mike Huckabee, though, campaigning hard in Texas with at least 10 stops today.
And Texas is the biggest prize of the day. In a CNN poll of polls, John McCain leads among likely Republican voters, 58 percent. Mike Huckabee with 30 percent. Ron Paul with six percent. Six percent still undecided.
On the Democrat side, Barack Obama at 47 percent with Hillary Clinton at 45 percent. So a statistical dead heat among the two Democrats. Eight percent still remain undecided.
And we're live from all of the battlefronts. We have Suzanne Malveaux for us in Dallas this morning. Ali Velshi looking at the economy and how those issues will shape voters' decision. He's in Junction, Texas. And Rob Marciano in Atlanta. He is watching the primary day forecast for us where it could get hairy in some states like Ohio.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely. You got to have good weather if you want to get people out to the polls.
We begin in Texas where Hillary Clinton is trying to keep her White House dream alive and stop Barack Obama's winning streak. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live in the heart of the battle field in Dallas, Texas. Suzanne, Senator Clinton has toughened her rhetoric in these closing days, but are you seeing signs that it's working there with voters in Texas?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, well, John, they certainly seem to be responding to her. I have to say we're dealing with tornado warnings here, some really bad weather, but that is not going to stop either one of these candidates from crisscrossing, heading across the state today. We're going to see Senator Clinton.
She's starting her day in Toledo, Ohio, but then she's also going to head to Austin as well as overnight in Houston. She's going to be holding a town hall meeting as well. She's hitting Beaumont, all of these key places trying to drum up as much last minute support as possible.
Also, Senator Obama is going to be crisscrossing the state as well. He is holding rallies in San Antonio, Carrollton and Houston, Texas. Both of them trying to emphasize here who is the most qualified and experienced. Now, we have heard Senator Clinton really sharpen the rhetoric over the last couple of days, talking about national security and really trying to downplay Senator Obama's resume.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some people this election is, you know, it's about how you feel. It's about speeches. Well, that's not what it's about for me. It is about solution. Rolling up our sleeves, having a fighter back to the White House is going to solve America's problems.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know what all that experience got her because I have enough experience to know that if you have a national intelligence estimate, and the chairman of the national -- chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says you should read this. This is why I'm voting against the war, that you should probably read it. I don't know how much experience you need for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, John, one of the very important things, as you know, they call it the Texas two step. They're going to have to participate in a dual primary type caucus type of process here, really to get the best bang for their buck when it comes to the delegate count. And one of the things that is really going to count here is the weather. So -- (AUDIO GLITCH) ROBERTS: Yes, one of the things that is going -- one of the things that is going to count there is the weather. Suzanne, I'm sorry, you keep on freezing up there. Are you still with us? No. Unfortunately, we've lost her.
She said that there's a tornado warning out in the area that causes the satellite signal to break up just a bit as that disk wobbles off of the satellite. So we'll let her get inside to some shelter, and we'll get back with Suzanne a little bit later on this morning.
Some other political headlines this morning. Mike Huckabee wins the endorsement of "The Dallas Morning News," even though the paper says he has no chance of winning the party's nomination. It's not the first time that the paper has praised Huckabee, and he says the feeling is mutual.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think "The Dallas Morning News" is probably the greatest newspaper in America, and everybody ought to get a lifetime subscription. Obviously, I'm very pleased, extremely grateful, not only for the impact of the endorsement and the timing of it, but I was especially grateful for what they represented in that editorial and that is that I represent the future of the party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Mike Huckabee will be our guest this morning coming up at 7:30 Eastern. And stay with CNN today and, of course, tomorrow for coverage of the crucial primaries. We'll have up to the minute results from Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont starting tomorrow night at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
And join us the morning after for a special early edition of AMERICAN MORNING, Wednesday, beginning at 5:00 a.m. Eastern -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Voters are concerned about the economy and, of course, so are investors. Overseas markets tanking today on fears of a recession in the U.S. All of the major European indexes are trading lower right now. And in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei lost nearly 4.5 percent of its value.
Our Ali Velshi is covering the economy. He's on the campaign trail with the CNN Election Express in Junction, Texas, this morning with more on exactly what new fears there are that caused the Asian markets and some of the European markets to tank overnight.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Kiran. We are here in Junction, Texas, which some people have referred to as the front porch of west Texas. And we've been getting not the weather that Suzanne is having over there, but we've had some heavy winds overnight and some rain. And this is an area where actually some people that have been telling me, one of their biggest economic concerns is drought. This is a big -- there are ranches around here. There's a lot that's grown. There are -- it's a big hunting area. Anyway, let's talk about markets and I'll get back to that in a second.
Asian markets really took a hit overnight. As you said, the -- well, the Nikkei in Japan closed 4.5 percent lower; 4.5 percent, that is a massive drop for one day. Hong Kong down three percent. Australia down three percent. Now, that follows on the heels of a very, very rough day on Friday. In fact, the Dow had its second biggest drop for the year so far. And, you know, we've had some pretty big drops so far this year.
Here's what happened on Friday. The Dow was down 2.5 percent. The Nasdaq 2.6 percent, and the S&P down 2.7 percent. Now, a lot of that was on all of those economic concerns we discussed last week; inflation, fears of a recession and the price of oil. Take a look at where oil closed, settled in New York on Friday, $101.84, down 75 cents. What are we celebrating when oil is above $101 and it's still lower.
Now, we are in -- we're in this area where we're getting into west Texas right now. But on Friday or Saturday and Sunday, we were actually in the oil fields of central Texas. I spoke to a gentleman named Chad. Because they're in the oil fields, they actually aren't as concerned about the price of oil. Listen to what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAD WALLS, TEXAS VOTER: You know, we've been going around the state, going around the country talking to people. They complain about oil prices and gas prices. I imagine around here I'm not going to hear that sort of complaint? No. Actually, I like it. High price of oil gives us good pay I guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And, of course, afterwards I talked to Chad and he said, well, that's because he drives in his work truck and it pays him well. But when he drives his own vehicle, of course, he feels the pinch like everyone else. I'll be back with more from Junction, Texas, and more about what's going on and what you can expect in markets this morning. I'm going to grab some breakfast in the next few minutes -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Show us what you're eating a little later. Thanks, Ali -- John.
ROBERTS: We saw how windy it was in Texas just a moment ago with Suzanne Malveaux. Well, extreme weather passing through Oklahoma as well. Two tornadoes touched down yesterday. Strong winds and hail. Also knocked down power lines, damaged a barn and shut down roads, but the damage was limited.
In Colorado, blizzard conditions turned Interstate 70 into an ice covered parking lot. A stretch of highway shut down for several hours yesterday. Believe or not, temperatures in Denver were in the 70s before plunging into the 20s. A wintry mix of snow and rain could also affect voter turnout in tomorrow's primary in Ohio.
Rob Marciano at the weather update desk in Atlanta. So is this going to keep people away from the polls, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I tell you what, John? I don't see much daytime areas that will see any sort of calm weather across the entire state of Ohio. So be it rain, be it wind or snow, the Buckeye State is going to be feeling it tomorrow. So show your true colors and bundle up and head out there. Just be careful getting to the polls.
Let's show you the storm that is now beginning to intensify as it heads across the plains. It will have everything with this that a winter or spring storm would, and one ingredient would be the possibility of tornadoes. We have a tornado watch out just east of Dallas. Now, Dallas out of the watch area until 9:00 Local time.
But Dallas Fort Worth metropolitan area has still seen severe thunderstorms rolling through with gusts as high as 60 miles an hour in intensity. So certainly enough to do damage and a pretty good squall line right now heading through the I-35/45 area across Waco, Texas. Up to five towards Fort Smith and Little Rock, we're looking for severe weather there.
St. Louis, you're getting heavy rain now but later on today and tonight, the change will go to snow. You could see four to eight inches of snow and then a swathe of snow up through northern Ohio during the day tomorrow. A lot of action here in the weather department, and the voters are going to have to deal with it, especially in the Buckeye State tomorrow. John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much. We'll check back with you soon -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And our Alina Cho is just back from her trip to North Korea with a look at some of the other stories this morning. Welcome back.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
CHETRY: Great reporting there.
CHO: Thank you so much. Thanks, guys. It was an incredible experience. I have more on that a little bit later. But first, to the news. Good morning, everybody.
We begin with new developments in the Middle East. Israeli troops pulled out of northern Gaza before dawn today. The move comes just one day before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in Jerusalem. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had called off peace talks saying he wouldn't negotiate while Israeli forces were in Gaza. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in intense fighting since Wednesday. The White House is calling for a stop to the violence, but Israel is warning of more military operations if Palestinian militants don't stop firing rockets into Israel. Right now, tanks and thousands of Venezuelan troops are lined up along the border with Colombia. They're awaiting orders from President Hugo Chavez. Chavez says Colombia is pushing him to the brink of war after the killing of a top rebel leader in Ecuador. Then U.S. National Security Council called the response "odd," saying the man killed was the leader of a terrorist group. Colombia says it found documents linking that organization to Ecuador's president and says it wants answers.
New overnight. Russia has chosen a new president, but it wasn't much of an election. With nearly all precincts reporting, Dmitry Medvedev cruised a victory with more than 70 percent of the vote. But he was handpicked by the current president, Vladimir Putin, and ran with no opposition. Putin will likely stay on as prime minister, and critics of the election say that will allow him to hold a tight grip on power.
Ripple effect from the mortgage crisis. It could make education more expensive for college students. Lenders say the cost of student loans will go up this spring, and some students may not be able to get loans at all. Many lenders are decreasing the number of loans they give because of the problems in the credit markets.
And if you're thinking of text messaging while driving in New Jersey, forget about it. Police are now hitting drivers with $100 fine for sending text messages while at the wheel. The new rule took effect on Saturday. Texting behind the wheel is now a primary offense. That means police need no other reason to yank you off the road.
Washington State has a similar texting law on the books, and four states in all have laws banning cell phone use. But, anyway, I guess Bluetooth sales have gone up as a result because hands free.
CHETRY: Yes, I know, and people are still texting. I feel like that's even worse. You actually have to --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Yes, you can't check with the Bluetooth.
CHETRY: Right.
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: You have to look down and type with both hands as opposed to just holding it. They're trying to be worse.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Talk using a Bluetooth instead.
CHETRY: Yes.
CHO: But, anyway, hey, guys, I'm going to be back in the next half hour with more on my trip to North Korea, to South Korea. As you know, it was a professional journey but also a personal journey. I have some personal photos, and I'm also going to come bearing gifts on the set.
CHETRY: That's what we like to hear. All right. We'll see you in a couple minutes.
CHO: OK.
CHETRY: Thanks, Alina.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to all of that, Alina, thanks.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." FBI agents and Hazmat teams search a house outside of Salt Lake City that is linked to the discovery of the deadly toxin ricin in Las Vegas that we told you about last week. We'll have the latest on that investigation.
Prince Harry back home with his family, speaking out about his time on the front lines and the fact that it was cut short.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE HARRY, BLUES AND ROYALS REGIMENT: Angry would be the wrong word to use, but I am slightly disappointed. I thought I could see it through to the end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Hear why Harry says he actually liked his time in Afghanistan. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Prince Harry back home in the UK, speaking out about his tour of duty in Afghanistan. He returned home Saturday. He was forced back after a media leak. He had to withdraw from the front line. Harry says he enjoyed his 10 weeks in combat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE HARRY, BLUES AND ROYALS REGIMENT: It was fantastic. It was an opportunity for us (INAUDIBLE) wanting to do the whole time and to be able to do it was -- I was hugely grateful for having the opportunity. I did enjoy it a little bit more I suppose than I should, but not in a sick way. But no, I just -- I enjoyed being out there. I suppose every element of it was -- had something different about it. Actually being out in the middle of nowhere, with the stars out as you go through experiencing, well, for just a short amount of time. It was just, you know, a fantastic place to be.
And sometimes I should forget. As I remember watching the documentary before I came out when they saying (INAUDIBLE) it's very hard, sometimes as you think you're not in a war zone. It's hard to actually bring yourself back to realities and say, I could actually get shot at any point just because the area itself is so nice. The two mornings before I left was the first morning I heard birds sing in the desert. Yes, it's in the desert. So it's a nice place to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Prince Harry's brother, Prince William, is also an army officer. He, however, is barred from combat since he's second in line for the thrown -- John.
ROBERTS: Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is on the second day of his two-day trip to Iraq. He arrived on Sunday and was greeted warmly by Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, as well as the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. Ahmadinejad said he was happy to be visiting without Saddam in power, and he took aim at the United States rejecting claims that Iran is arming Shiite militias in Iran.
CNN's Michael Ware is live in Baghdad for us this morning. Michael, there have long and good relations between Iraq Shiite leaders in Iran. Now it looks like Talabani, a Kurd, is also on board. Does this whole visit signal a new alliance between Iraq and Iran?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, in fact, no. What it signals is the consolidation of long-standing arrangements. Even the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd from northern Iraq, his half of Kurdistan, which is under his party's control, borders Iran. So he's long had an association with the Iranians. And indeed, this Iraqi government is dominated by Iraqi Shia. Many of whose parties are directly linked to Iran or in fact, including the most powerful, was actually created in Iran.
So President Ahmadinejad's tour here very much as a triumphant air, a victory over the executed dictator Saddam Hussein, who waged a vicious eight-year war against Iran in the '80s, and a perceived victory against American influence. He's here strutting, flaunting Iran's influence. And they just this morning, in a press conference, he said that the American presence in an Arab country is an insult and a humiliation to the region. And the best thing America could do is pack up and leave -- John.
ROBERTS: Yes, he seems bent on causing divisions there as well. We said in the lead in here that he rejected the idea that Iran is arming the militia, which is engaging in attacks against America, and he couldn't help but take another swipe at the United States. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): You tell Mr. Bush accusing others will not resolve America's problems in the region. The time of accusing others has passed. They must accept the realities of the region. The people of Iraq do not want the Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So he's saying time and time again here, Iraqis do not like Americans. They don't want the Americans. What kind of impact is that going to have in Iraq?
WARE: Well, what he's doing is playing to a domestic market in Iran and here in Iraq. I mean, he's hitting key buttons here, and they will resonate to a certain degree, particularly among the harder line Shia community, the pockets within that community, that are very much attuned to that message. Obviously, Iraq Sunnis are very cautious. They're wary of Iranian influence and have sided with America at last -- in the last -- in the past year or so.
But at the end of the day, Iran has greater influence in this country, certainly politically right now than does America. Indeed, some of the top U.S. officials in the mission here on the ground, have conceded time and time again to me, that in the last six years the big winner here has been Iran. And President Ahmadinejad's visit is just to stamp that. It's to show boat that. Indeed, if you compare his visits to those of President Bush, President Bush's visits have been fleeting and in secret and his going to U.S. bases and harbored there. Whereas the Iranian president walks the street and says I own this place more or less -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Michael Ware for us this morning from Baghdad. Michael, thanks.
The ricin investigation moves to another state, and the man who may have the answers is in a coma. FBI agents in protective suits searching four locations around Salt Lake City over the weekend, all linked to 57-year-old Roger Von Bergendorff. Police say he lived in Utah for more than a year before moving to Las Vegas where they found vials of ricin, several guns and an anarchist-type textbook in his hotel room. The book was marked at a spot containing information about ricin. Von Bergendorff is in critical condition, in a coma from possible exposure to the deadly poison.
CHETRY: Well, a little baby at the center of a wild story left in a cab, at least according to the story. Now, the driver who claims she was abandoned in his back seat could also be facing criminal charges and he's not alone. We're going to tell you how this all could turn out.
Also, just because they're deleted doesn't mean they're gone for good. Veronica de la Cruz looks at a new device that finds and retrieves erased messages from your phone. Why some spouses may want to listen up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Time now for your "Hot Shot" this morning. An amazing move by a German airline pilot. Check this out. He avoided a crash by mere seconds. The Lufthansa jet using evasive maneuvers while landing. It happened Saturday in Hamburg.
A gust of wind pushed the left wing toward the ground forcing the crew to pull back up at the last second. The left wing tip actually scraped the runway. The pilot, a 17-year vet, he's just 39 years old, by the way, says it's a move they practice regularly. And by the way, that plane did land safely. ROBERTS: Oh, my goodness.
CHETRY: There you see it coming in for a landing when that gust of wind comes through, and there you see the plane tip...
ROBERTS: Look at that. Oh, my goodness.
CHETRY: ... and he pulls back up. Everyone, by the way, unharmed.
If you have a "Hot Shot," send it to us. Head to our Web site CNN.com/am. Follow the "Hot Shot" link. Please include your name, where you're from and a little about the picture or video. And please make sure the image is yours.
ROBERTS: That's why they say take off and landing, the most dangerous parts of your flight. My goodness.
New spy software can read a cell phone's memory chip including old text messages that you may have thought were erased and gone for good. Our Internet correspondent Veronica de la Cruz is here. What is it? It can really allow people to spy on your cell phone?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, it's pretty crazy. And I actually have your Blackberry here so you want to be careful.
ROBERTS: Yes. I would take it into part, too, so you want to be careful about that.
DE LA CRUZ: I want to show you how it works and who this company is basically marketing this device to. It's funny, John, because in the literature, they're calling it the cell phone spy. Yet, on the box, it's called the ultimate SIM card management solution because you can use it for other things.
ROBERTS: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: You can back up your own phone. It's not something that you want to do. But also, marketing it to cheating spouses if you will. Employers who want to keep dibs on their employees.
ROBERTS: Right.
DE LA CRUZ: Even parents who want to keep track of their children.
ROBERTS: How does it work?
DE LA CRUZ: OK. What you want to do is you want to take the SIM card out of the back of your phone, and you know that all cell phone carriers don't have some cards. Maybe Verizon has --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Yes. Verizon does intend have a SIM card. DE LA CRUZ: Right. Sprint, Nextel. Also, this is not going to work with like a prepaid phone. But you take the SIM card and you slide it into this device which looks like a key, right?
ROBERTS: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: So you pop it in, and this is going to go right into your USB drive. You have to download some software. I mean, it's a pretty simple process. Once you download the software, this is what you're going to see. We're going to take a look.
A drop-down menu is going to appear, and there's a function that basically says delete SMS. You can retrieve deleted SMS, which is short messaging, which is, yes -- short, short -- what is this? Short messaging --
ROBERTS: It's text messaging.
DE LA CRUZ: Text messages -- that's what we all know it as, right? You click and all of those deleted text messages appear. So it's a pretty simple technology.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: So even if you have erased them on your phone, they're still there?
DE LA CRUZ: Exactly. So don't think that just because you've hit that delete button, whether you've written the message or whether you have received it, don't think that it's gone forever.
CHETRY: Or can you delete them with that function, too? I mean, can you buy that thing and use that device to delete them forever?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. You know, you can overwrite them, which is one way to do it. But I also want to mention that you can lock your SIM card. A lot of people don't know to do that. You know, people lock their cell phones but they can actually lock the SIM card. There's a four-digit pin that you can do that. You can also destroy your SIM card. If there's something on it that you don't want, you can just take it out and cut it in half.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Veronica will be back in a month with a SIM card unlocker. It's just real (ph) technology.
ROBERTS: Right. You know, as you said, you can spy on somebody if you like, but you still have to get access to that card. So --
DE LA CRUZ: You need the SIM card.
ROBERTS: You would need to borrow their cell phone and get it out.
DE LA CRUZ: And like I said, it doesn't work with every cell phone, I mean, if you got a Verizon cell phone, for example.
ROBERTS: Right. Although it may symbolize (ph) and still have them.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: We have John's right here, so we should probably try it out.
ROBERTS: There you go. Over my dead body. Veronica, thanks very much for that.
CHETRY: Thanks, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Of course.
ROBERTS: Another eye opener this morning.
CHETRY: How about it? Well, still ahead, you're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
And it's down to the wire in Texas and Ohio. The states that could decide the Democratic nominee for president. Also, extreme weather could decide in some areas as tough weather may make it tough to get to the polls.
There some shots from Maine, but this weather is also moving into other places, cities that will be voting. Rob Marciano tracking it all for us.
Also, there's a new leader in Russia, but will there be real change? What Vladimir Putin's handpicked successor means for the U.S. when AMERICAN MORNING comes back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Wow! A pretty shot this morning in New York City. It's 37 degrees, partly cloudy, going up. It's going to be 54 today?
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I came from Washington last night where it's going to be up in the high 60s today.
CHETRY: I forgot what it feels like to be warm and chilly for a nice stretch around here.
ROBERTS: It's a period of time on the calendar where winter just seems to linger. So, any kind of hint of spring that we get is really welcome. Maybe get out their bicycle this afternoon.
CHETRY: How about it?
ROBERTS: Get some exercise and blow off this winter fat that I put on.
CHETRY: That's my fault. Beautiful sunrise, by the way. I'm making good breakfast today.
ROBERTS: It's the third breakfast. It just kills me.
CHETRY: Of course, you can't get away with it. Breakfast number three, that's trouble.
Welcome back this morning.
ROBERTS: The Democratic campaign caravan is in overdrive this morning. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama trying to outwit and outlast each other just one day before tomorrow's critical contest. Both candidates are working the crowds. For Clinton, her husband, Bill, says Texas and Ohio are must wins to keep her White House hopes alive. As for Obama, he is leading in the delegate count. He has won the last 11 contests.
And while the candidates are busy rallying voters, their supporters hit the Sunday talk show on CNN's "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER." Senator John Kerry, who has thrown his support behind Obama, took on Clinton's television ad, which asks voters who they would want answering the phone coming into the White House at 3:00 a.m.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D) MASSACHUSETTS: It strikes me that the ad is really deception. It isn't generous. Hillary Clinton has never received the 3:00 a.m. in the morning telephone call as a senator or as first lady. And secondly, when asked -- when her campaign was asked for what crisis has she ever faced in which she's made a difference in foreign policy, they really couldn't answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Kerry also called on Clinton to withdraw if she does poorly at the polls tomorrow.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, the Ohio primary is one of the most delegate-rich presidential contests on crucial Tuesday tomorrow. Here's how the candidates stand in the latest CNN poll of polls. Hillary Clinton leads among likely Democratic voters in Ohio with 48 percent, Barack Obama with 43 percent, 9 percent are undecided.
And on the Republican side, John McCain leads in Ohio with 58 percent, Mike Huckabee with 24 percent, Ron Paul with 7 percent, and 11 percent remain undecided.
The thing is that it's still not a winner-take-all. So, for the Democrats, I mean, if they're that close, these delegates are going to be split.
ROBERTS: And also on the Republican side, in Rhode Island and Texas, there's a formula for divvying up the delegates as well. So, it's possible for Mike Huckabee to walk away with a few tomorrow and potentially, prevent John McCain from going over the top. He only needs, I think, 256 votes to do that. And maybe last few words...
CHETRY: Right. That's what he said all along. I'm going to stay in until John McCain statistically hits that mark.
Mike Huckabee is going to be joining us, by the way. He's going to be our guest, coming up in the next hour, 7:30 Eastern here on CNN.
Also, don't miss a minute of Tuesday's primary coverage. Up to the minute results from Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont. It all starts tomorrow night, 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN. And then join us the morning after. We're going on an hour early, a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. It all starts at 5:00 a.m. Eastern. We're going to have the latest results and analysis for you the day after.
John?
ROBERTS: Well, severe weather expected today across the Deep South. Late winter storms pounded at Midwest with tornadoes in northwestern Oklahoma. Not much damage there though, thankfully, and no injuries reported.
More than a foot of new snow on the ground in parts of Northern Maine. City officials in Portland, Maine say the storm was the 19th that they had plowed this winter
And stormy weather expected in parts of Ohio tomorrow that could affect voter turnout in the primary. Our Rob Marciano is with us now in the CNN weather center. He's tracking extreme weather.
And Rob, we saw Suzanne Malveaux just a little while ago down there in Texas, really getting blown around. What's the situation down there?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Well, a pretty wild story to tell you about. You may have heard it. It happened in the New York area. A baby was abandoned in the back of a New York City cab. It's now taken another turn. The baby is six months old. Her name is Danielle. She's now been identified.
Last week, a cab driver took her to a firehouse, claiming to police that a stranger had just left her in the cab. Soon after, though, the story unraveled. Police say the baby is actually his girlfriend's niece. Now the driver and the girlfriend are facing charges. Police are looking for the baby's father as well and they say her mother is only 14 years old.
AMERICAN MORNING legal analyst Sunny Hostin joins us now.
First of all, it is hard to sort through who could be in trouble and for what. But first, this cab driver who made up this story, how much trouble is he in?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's in a lot of trouble. He's already been charged, in my understanding, with criminal facilitation as well as falsely reporting an incident. And he's a 44- year-old cab driver. His companion is the baby's niece, who's 21 years old. And so, right there, I think you have some interesting issue.
The other interesting issue, Kiran, that I don't think a lot of people are talking about is the father of this child who's reported to be 27 years old. The mother 14, which means when they had intercourse, she was 13.
In New York and in most states, that's statutory rape. And I think that is why we haven't heard anything from the father. He's a construction worker. He's a fugitive right now. And I think that is why because he is looking at a tremendous amount of criminal exposure.
CHETRY: Now the question is why, for police, go after this driver when you could argue that he removed this baby from a potentially dangerous environment. There's some reporting this morning about the dangerous conditions. They were living in a home that had no insulation, with apparently a vicious dog, among other things, which is that the parents apparently didn't want the baby.
HOSTIN: Right. Well, you know, he was sort of tired as a hero initially, Kiran. But he didn't really do the right thing. The safe haven laws in New York are important and they're in response to human behavior, when you have sort of an overwhelmed parent in the first five days of a baby's life.
We're now talking about a 6-month-old. That is an issue for adoption, foster care. There are procedures in place. There are laws in place. You can't just pretend that a baby was abandoned in your car and drop a baby off, that you have taken part in raising for six months to a firehouse, not knowing what is going to happen to the child. That is really not the proper procedure. And he filed a false report.
And I got to tell you, had I been the prosecutor in this case, they all be looking at criminal exposure here. This is a serious case. They abandoned a beautiful child. You have three adults that couldn't take care of one infant. This is a very, very troubling case. It sends the wrong messages. This is not what you do with a baby.
CHETRY: Right. And the other scary thing there is that thank God, I mean, he took her to a firehouse as opposed to unfortunately and you see it too often as a prosecutor, some of these other situations where a child is neglected and something terrible happens to them.
HOSTIN: Sure. They either kill the child, they put the child in the trash can, and they put the child in freezing weather they were experiencing now outside. So, yes, that isn't the right thing to do. But what he did is also not the right thing to do. And that's really the take away here.
CHETRY: This baby is in foster care right now or whether or not she goes back to this family who is still up in the air. But we'll continue to follow it.
Sunny, great to see you. Thanks.
HOSTIN: Thanks.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: Just turning on 20 minutes to the top of the hour. It's a landslide in Russia. Close aides of Vladimir Putin wins the presidential election with 70 percent of the vote.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: Just turning now, 20 minutes to the top of the hour. It's a landslide in Russia. Close aide of Vladimir Putin wins the presidential election with 70 percent of the vote. But will things be any different now, or will Putin still call the shots.
And our Ali Velshi is experiencing higher gas and oil prices. He's on the road with CNN Election Express.
Hey, Ali, good morning to you.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. I am in Junction, Texas. We're about in West Texas right now. The concerns around here like across the state are about the economy and about the price of oil. We're here with the good people of Junction this morning. We're going to be back in just a moment to tell you what they're thinking about the economy. Stay with us. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. The economy, a major campaign issue and Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business" from the CNN Election Express. It's in Junction, Texas this morning.
Well, I'm just curious about your breakfast choice, by the way. You said you had egg and potato burrito. You're in Texas, where are the beans? Where is the cheese? Where is the habanera in that thing? VELSHI: No way. It's a little early for that just yet. Kiran, my plate was right here. It's just been removed because I think I might have the Junction, Texas record for finishing a breakfast burrito that fast.
We're here at the Let'er Buck Coffeehouse in Junction. Population around here about 2,500, but it's up and down because this is the big hunting center. So a lot of folks come in here during hunting season. We're at low season right now. Beautiful town with really friendly people.
Now, they are all concerned about the same things we've been hearing about through Texas. The overriding issue is the economy and in many place I've been, it's been inflation and gas prices. So those are big deals. Gas around here, I saw it for $3.30 a gallon outside of town yesterday and $3.77 for diesel. That's hurting people in a big way.
Now, over the weekend, we were in the oil fields of Darst, Texas. Darst field in South Central Texas and we spoke to a woman who -- she lives away from her ranch but she has a number of oil drills on her ranch. She had been informed by the company to whom she leases that land that they found a spot for another well. And she took me out to her land and told me a little about it. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Over here to the right is what a well looks like. So the little well here and (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: So, how does it work? I've heard you referred to it as mail box buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's exactly. You get check every month.
VELSHI: Does the money that you get back offset the increase that you pay in the price of gasoline?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Good grief, no. If you want to know the exact amount on my check that I received two days ago was $140. And that was the biggest check I've ever received.
VELSHI: OK. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were right. If you want to know if I'm building the Gusher-Hilton (ph) out here or a spa retreat or whatever, no. It cost $100 for us to drive round trip from Houston here to check on that pink stick.
VELSHI: So you got 50 bucks for lunch and dinner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 40 bucks.
VELSHI: Yes, 40 bucks for lunch and dinner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got (INAUDIBLE). (END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Now, as you can see, Kiran, I try and work food into everything I do. She was talking about those mailbox money which is what a lot of Texans get when they rent out there. They lease out their land but a lot of those leases are set -- rates that were set many, many years ago. And that's what we're hearing from people that the impression is they're getting rich off of the price of oil, they're not necessarily.
I'm going to come back and talk to you more about the concerns in this part of Texas in about half an hour.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Sounds good. Ali, thanks.
ROBERTS: Well, Russians have elected a new leader. Dmitry Medvedev, a top aide to Vladimir Putin. He won the presidential election in a landslide with more than 70 percent of the vote. Medvedev didn't even debate the other candidates. We'll see does he carry out the same policies that Putin championed as well.
So what does it mean for U.S.-Russia relations? For that, we turn to CNN's Jill Dougherty who is live in the Washington for us this morning.
So at least on the surface, Jill, does it look like anything is going to change?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, probably not much, John, quite honestly. You know, sometimes, it's depicted as Vladimir Putin pulling the strings behind Medvedev. But really, these guys have worked together since the early '90s, back in the St. Petersburg. They know each other very well.
Medvedev certainly supports the same policies that Putin did, so probably not a lot of difference. Although, there is a theory that, you know, in the old Soviet days, what would happen is when a new leader came in, he would give a little olive branch to the west and you might find some better rhetoric coming from Medvedev, perhaps, that's one theory. And he has been a little bit softer in his viewpoints, but ultimately it will probably be pretty much the same thing.
ROBERTS: So the big question that remains here is what happens to Vladimir Putin. He certainly doesn't want to seem to give up the reigns of power and it's expected that Medvedev will name him as prime minister. Right now, the prime ministerial position in Russia doesn't have a whole lot of power. Might that change?
DOUGHERTY: Well, that's the big question, John. You know, this has never been done before. There never been two sources of power in Russia before. It's always one guy. So how they divvy up that power is a question. The president normally under the Russian system would certainly be in control of foreign policy, international affairs, etc., and the prime minister is more of the nuts and bolts guy who deals with domestic policy.
And now, you've got almost the reverse, because Medvedev was the guy who was dealing with the domestic policy and Putin was the man who was dealing with international policy. So how they're going to work it out will be very interesting. But at least initially you will probably find them very much on the same page.
ROBERTS: All right. Jill Dougherty for us this morning from Washington. Of course, Jill has got tremendous expertise in this. She was our Moscow Bureau of Chief for a long time. And thanks very much, Jill. We'll see you soon.
Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Our Alina Cho is back from covering North Korea and the history making trip. She's going to be giving us an update about her two weeks in Pyongyang and Seoul ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Now, coming up to eight minutes to the top of the hour. Our own Alina Cho is back from covering history in North Korea. She's fresh back this morning and welcome.
CHETRY: That's right and welcome. We're glad you're here.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
CHETRY: We really got a glimpse, you know, something that you really don't get a chance to see very often into this isolated nation. What were your first impressions?
CHO: Well, isolated is absolutely right, Kiran, John. You know, it is one of the most isolated countries in the world. Remember, very difficult for westerners to understand. And I talked about this earlier in my reporting last week, but average citizens are not allowed to be on the Internet. They're not allowed to own cell phones. Really, really incredible. Extraordinary to be there.
I'm not one who normally takes photos but I took 200 photos during my four days there on my personal camera. I want to show you some of them including first stop, the hotel lobby. We stayed at the Yanggakdo International Hotel. You could see that sort of grand entrance, not like a lot of the buildings in Pyongyang, that great marble there.
And at first glance, it might seem like any hotel anywhere in the world. But really, if you look at those people there, all of those people or most of them at least are government minders. So this is what I was greeted with when I got off the elevator every morning were these government guides -- as they're called, their minders.
But remember, you know, we can't go anywhere without them. Can't even leave the hotel without them. We are escorted. That, you're looking at right there is the breakfast buffet. It was quite a spread. We had lobster. We had made to order omelets. We had caviar.
A lot of members of the orchestra are actually were quite upset about that. Because they said, listen, people in North Korea living off food rations. They're starving.
ROBERTS: Yes, they're not eating like this.
CHO: They're not eating like this. The North Koreans are quick to say, of course, you are our honored guests and this is our way of showing our appreciation. We drove around the streets a lot. And there you see something that we saw. A lot of propaganda posters.
And if we can go to the next photo, another thing we saw a lot was that. The slogans on the tops of buildings. That one right there was a very common one. It means united, one mind. I actually ask my governor minder. Are there any slogans left depicting hatred for the United States and they said not anymore. So -- but just really an incredible experience to be there, especially inside that concert hall.
That's me there on the balcony. You might call them the cheap seats. We're up on the balcony, but I had a bird's-eye view.
ROBERTS: We have reminded people when you were there. Christiane was there and just how rare it is for you to be able to broadcast live.
CHO: Oh, it was incredible.
ROBERTS: You know, we do live broadcasting all around the world. But out of North Korea it's very unique.
CHO: Oh, several trucks rolled across the DMZ with technical equipment. It was really a three-month effort. CNN was involved. Some of the other networks. They were thanked in the program at the concert, but really, really incredible.
Of course, you know, I was there on a personal journey as well. You know, it's surreal to interview my own parents. But that was one story I told. You know, my parents were born in Seoul, South Korea. They both lived through the Korean War. Two of my father's uncles disappeared during the Korean War. Nobody knows if they defected or were kidnapped.
But -- anyway, so a lot I learned. Certainly, it was eye opening, life changing. And I brought back some gifts for you guys. This is a little wallet for you.
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE).
CHO: Exactly. For you, it says Pyongyang in Korean. I brought you back, John, a book, "Answers to the Questions Raised by Foreign Journalists" on Kim Jong-Il. And then I brought both of you guys back, a copy of "The Pyongyang Times." In case you aren't able to get it here in New York.
ROBERTS: Thanks. A little light reading for the morning. Thank you.
CHETRY: Printed in English.
CHO: Printed in English, that's right.
CHETRY: Wow. Alina, great experience. I'm so glad you had a chance to go and thanks for sharing your pictures and your reports.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: And for the gifts as well.
CHO: Life changing.
ROBERTS: Good to have you back.
CHO: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Hard to believe but we spring forward this weekend. Daylight savings time arrives early on Sunday morning. And a new study shows that we are sleepy enough without losing that extra hour. The National Sleep Foundation says the average American worker gets only six hours and 40 minutes of sleep a night. That's about 40 minutes less than we should.
The lack of sleep is costing companies billions of dollars in lost productivity and there are health consequences to it as well. Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has a look at those, coming up in our next hour.
But first, to our "Quick Vote." We want to know, how much sleep do you typically get a night? Eight hours or more? Five to eight hours or fewer than five hours. Cast you vote at cnn.com/am. We'll have the first tally of votes coming up in our next half hour here.
CHETRY: All right. I know which box you're checking of.
ROBERTS: Is there fewer than three there?
CHETRY: Well, on the trail of a deadly toxin. FBI agents searched a Utah home linked to the discovery of ricin in Las Vegas. Will they get any answers? We're going to talk more about that just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Campaign countdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can tell I get a little worked up.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know how much experience you need for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The high powered pitching and last minute barn storming. Live from the make or break battle grounds with the "Most Politics in the Morning."
Plus, hazardous to your health. A dramatic wake-up call about your night sleep, your health, and your job on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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