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American Morning
Clinton Triumphs Over Obama in Primaries, Winning 3 Out of 4; John McCain Will Get Endorsement from President Bush; A Study Shows Placebos Work
Aired March 05, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Game on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This campaign has turned a corner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Clinton gets back in it. Obama battles on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we got to do is keep on doing what we've been doing throughout this campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: What now in their fight to the finish? Race to the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will be the Republican nominee for President of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: John McCain gets the president's endorsement today. Will it help or hurt? The most politics in the morning on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning. Welcome back. Thanks for joining us on this day after. It's Wednesday, the 5th of March. And what a night last night and it continues today, because they haven't finished counting the Texas caucus.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: No. That's right. They're going to resume that in about an hour. That's responsible for about a third of the delegates awarded for the state of Texas. But still, for all intents and purposes, big wins for Hillary Clinton last night for sure.
We found that out in the middle of the night. Maybe you were sleeping when those results came in. But she needed some wins and she certainly got them. She took three of the four states last night including the two biggest prizes. That was the Texas primary and also the Ohio primary.
In Texas, she edged Obama by three percentage points, 51-48 percent. And again, we're still awaiting the results from the Texas caucuses. They call it a two-step, because if you vote in the primaries, you were also encouraged to caucus as well. They'll resume counting later this morning and the winner picks up a third of that state's delegates.
Senator Clinton also won Ohio by ten points, 54 percent to Barack Obama's 44 percent. She picked up Rhode Island last night as well.
Here's where the delegate breakdown stands. The light blue states are Clinton victories. Barack Obama won Vermont last night. His states are in the darker blue. Texas will stay yellow until those caucus results came in. And remember, there are 2,025 delegates needed to secure the nomination. Right now, when you add up everything, Barack Obama is still in the lead with 86 delegates ahead.
Senator Clinton dedicated her comeback to Ohio voters in her victory speech in Columbus last night. We talked to her earlier on AMERICAN MORNING about why she thinks she won and why she's the best candidate to go up against John McCain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I think what's important here is that this campaign has turned a corner. It is now about who is strongest against the Republican nominee, John McCain. You know, people who voted a month ago didn't know who the Republican nominee was going to be. They didn't perhaps factor in that it will be about national security because, indeed, with Senator McCain, that's what it will be about.
I've got a lifetime of experience. Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience. You know, Senator Obama's whole campaign is about one speech he made in 2002. You know, I was involved for 15 years in, you know, foreign policy and security policy.
You know, I helped to, you know, bring peace to Northern Ireland. I negotiated to open borders to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo. I've been standing up against, you know, the Chinese government over women's rights and standing up for human rights in many different places.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Senator Clinton also said that she has executive experience from traveling overseas, negotiating peace deals to help her handle the next crisis.
ROBERTS: Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is live in Columbus, Ohio for us with more on where this race goes from here.
Candy, I don't know if it's fair to say that Hillary Clinton gained momentum from last night or if she just blunted Barack Obama's? How do you read it there on the ground?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I read it that she certainly blunted his, in fact, stopped his. You know, the pressure has gone from one to the other. I think it's now on him. He obviously had some friendly territory coming up. But I think you saw, John, in that interview with her, what the argument is, not just in the states ahead, but to those super delegates, the elected officials, the party muckety-mucks.
This is all about electability now. You heard her say, well, I've had lots of experience, and so has Senator McCain. This is about who can be tougher. So, this is a message not just to voters in the states ahead but also to those super delegates who may, in fact, decide this -- John?
ROBERTS: And this so-called 3:00 a.m. or red phone ad that Hillary Clinton ran, some people are saying that made the difference in Texas, and of course, it's a big point of discussion. Just a little while ago, we spoke with Senator Obama about that.
I asked him what specific evidence or experience in dealing with a crisis he had to make him the better person to pick up that phone. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Nobody does, because nobody's been in that situation unless you've been president. The question then becomes, who's got the kind of judgment on these critical issues that is -- shows some evidence that you can in fact understand how the world is operating and when we have to deal with issues in a military way and on questions like Iraq, on questions like Pakistan and Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So he's saying, judgment trumps experience every time. Now, if you look at the polls, most voters believe that Hillary Clinton's got far more experience than he does. Can he make that case, the judgment, which is a far more intangible thing than experience, is what will win this race and plays in his favor?
CROWLEY: Well, I would say that had she not won last night, we could argue that in fact he had made that case for the last 11 elections and primaries. But the fact is that, that red phone ad did precisely what the Clinton camp hoped it would do, which is focus voters on what the stakes are.
Certainly, one of the stakes is, who do you want handling the phone in the crises and all of that. But this is an argument that's been going on for some time in this campaign, frankly. And up to now, they've sort of wrestled each other to a tie.
He has always said, you know, experience versus judgment. And I will say that she has also said the same thing that he told you, which is obviously, you don't know about that kind of crisis, at that level, until you're actually president, because nobody does. So we'll see this argument play out.
ROBERTS: All right, certainly. And you don't have to go far for the next big contest. It's right next door. Candy Crowley, for us this morning in Columbus, Ohio. Candy, thanks.
CROWLEY: Sure
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Only now, there's plenty of time to sit back and watch his opponents tear each other apart. A four-state sweep put Senator McCain over the top in the delegate count last night. And today, he is on his way to the White House. He is just visiting for now. He is expected to pick up the president's endorsement.
Meantime, he's already setting the stage for November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I will leave it to my opponent to propose returning to the failed big government mandates of the '60s and '70s to address problems such as a lack of health care insurance for some Americans. I will campaign to make health care more accessible to more Americans with reforms that will bring down costs in the health care industry without ruining the quality of the world's best medical care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And it was a heck of a ride for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee from winning the Iowa caucus to a winning streak across the South on Super Tuesday. In the end, though, he fell about 1,000 delegates short and last night, he cited some personal victory as he, as promised, bowed out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe tonight that one of the things that we will be able to say is not only that we fought the good fight and finished the race, we'd like to have finished it first, but we stayed in until the race was over.
But I think more importantly, we kept the faith and that, for me, has been the most important goal of all. I'd rather lose an election than lose the principles that got me into politics in the first place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Huckabee also says he called John McCain to offer his help in the general election.
ROBERTS: So what is next in this wild ride? For the Democrats, it's on to Wyoming on Saturday, 12 delegates available in a caucus there. And then next Tuesday, it's on to Mississippi and its 33 delegates.
And then six full, long arduous, tortuous, whatever adjective you want to put on it, weeks later, it's the next big one, Pennsylvania, 150 delegates up for grabs for the Democrats. But that doesn't happen until Tuesday, April 22nd. There's school breaks before that. College reading weeks. Oh my goodness, that's a long time.
CHETRY: And tax day.
ROBERTS: And tax day. Pennsylvania, right next door to Ohio. There are similar issues at play. So, we could see a fight very much like the one that we just saw in Ohio, which means that Barack Obama has got to launch some sort of thing against Hillary Clinton if he's going to blow the momentum there in the industrial state.
And if we need to, we're going to go on to May and June in races in places like Indiana, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Oregon. The good news in all of that, potentially, if we're covering this campaign on AMERICAN MORNING here, maybe traveling around the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
CHETRY: Well, you have to make the case early and often. We need to go there as well.
ROBERTS: Exactly. They could make the difference. We need to be there.
CHETRY: Every delegate counts. You know, it may also make the case for Ali Velshi to take off the cowboy hat and may be put on something else. I mean, you know, he has many other states to go to and then many other famous little things to adopt, like Bring Your Own Steak Night, you know, in Texas.
ROBERTS: We'll see him in one of those (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: Exactly. Kentucky derby. There's just a lot of places for him to go. Ali Velshi joins us now from Bandera, Texas. He has been touring the state aboard CNN's "Election Express," talking to voters about the economy and really, you know, fitting in with the locals. I love that you were at Bring Your Own Steak Night, last night.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Bring Your Own Steak, I brought the hat. And then when I do, when the CNN "Election Express" goes to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, I'll fit in there. I'll just pick up the Speedo on the way to the airport today and make sure that I'm ready for that. But yes, last night was bring your own steak while we watched the results come in.
And you know we had been around Texas hearing about what the concerns were. Our exit polling yesterday indicates pretty much what we had been hearing. Here's something interesting. In Texas amongst Republican, the economy is the number one concern to everybody. But amongst Republicans, take a look at this. 46 percent thought that the economy is excellent or good. 54 percent of Republicans in Texas thought it was not so good or poor.
Now, take that over to Texas Democrat, the numbers change a little. Only 15 percent thought the economy was good or excellent. Fully 84 percent thought it's not so good or poor. And that's much more in keeping with what we've been hearing.
The situation is worse in Ohio and that makes sense. Ohio has lost a lot of jobs in those industrial manufacturing jobs over the last ten years. Republican Ohio voters thought that -- 31 percent of them, thought the economy is excellent or good. Sixty-nine percent of them thought it was not so good or poor.
But look at this. Democratic Ohio workers, many of whom are union workers, manufacturing workers, only eight percent of Democratic Ohio voters thought that the economy is excellent or good. 91 percent thinking it's not so good or poor. We've definitely been hearing from everybody. We've heard from very few people in our tour of Texas over the last ten days that they think the economy is OK. So that does reflect a lot of what we've been hearing.
Now, we're pulling up stakes here in Bandera, Texas and heading out. I'll be back in New York on Friday morning -- Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good, Ali.
ROBERTS: Did he really say Speedo?
CHETRY: I was just going to ask him about that. So if we do move on, unfortunately, to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Ali, can I just double check with you. You indeed are going to be there on the road with a Speedo?
VELSHI: You know, I may have torpedoed that trip by saying that. But you know, I just want to fit in.
CHETRY: Let's light a candle to this election ends before then.
ROBERTS: I go with the straw voter in Kentucky before I went to the Speedo in the Virgin Islands.
VELSHI: Yes. There you go. OK.
ROBERTS: The more expensive the medication, the more relief you think you get. That's even if the medication you're taking is not medication at all. It's all according to a new study that found expensive placebos work better than the cheap ones. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at our medical update desk in Atlanta.
This is not only a case. If you think it works, Sanjay, it very well might. But if you think it's expensive stuff, it might just work even better?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly right. That's a very good way of summing it up, John. It was a fascinating study. They actually took sugar pills, placebo pills in this case, and they told people, volunteers in this particular study that they were pain medications. What they did after that was they gave all the volunteers in two groups shocks on their wrists. And then they each got one of this sugar pills. Half the group was told that this pill cost $2.50 a pill. The other half was told it cost 10 cents a pill. And the question was, how well did it work? Remember, keep in mind, this is just a sugar pill. It has no pain relieving qualities whatsoever.
Take a look at the results here. Very interesting. What they found subsequently was that people who thought it was more expensive, $2.50 a pill, 85 percent of those people got relief from the sugar pill. If that was just 10 cents a pill, they thought it was 10 cents a pill, 61 percent of the people got relief. This really proves two points, John, to what you said exactly.
First of all, the placebo effect, at least according to this study is very real. These sugar pills helped relieve pain in just about everybody in both groups. The second thing is that if you thought it was more expensive, even though it was the same exact pill it worked better, John. And it really did work better. They didn't have any idea that this was a sugar pill. So for them, it provided some pain relief.
ROBERTS: That's really extraordinary. I guess that was something like perception of pain, that sort of mind-body connection plays a huge part. But what if you're talking about real illnesses that you would need something like an antibiotic or something for? Would you get the same effect there? And how does that translate between how the brand name and how a generic might work?
GUPTA: I think with antibiotics, it's probably going to be different. Because you're actually targeting particular bacteria in the body and you're trying to kill off those bacteria. So that's harder to sort of -- that's more objective as opposed to subjective. But with regards to pain pills, antidepressants, for example, things that are a little bit more subject even in terms of someone actually rating their pain or depression, it seems to have more of an impact.
The generic question, a very interesting question, John, because we've known for some time that people will say generics don't work as well as brand name drugs even though they have the same active ingredients. Some of the inactive ingredients are different to be sure, but the active ingredients are the same. Could the same effect be playing a role here?
People think, well, the generic, that's cheaper. It just simply can't be as good. So the person believes it's not going to work as well -- translation, it doesn't work as well in the long run. Very interesting. But again, these are real effects. This isn't to say that someone is making it up or is crazy in some way.
The placebo effect is a real thing, and if you believe it's going to work better because it's more expensive, it's even more of a real thing, it turns out.
ROBERTS: Pretty incredible. And we should point out again that these are studies and these are not doctors who are prescribing sugar pills to the patients, just because they want to do that. Get away from prescribing real medication. GUPTA: That's correct.
ROBERTS: Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: So who wants to be a heartbeat away from the presidency? Well, John McCain's next task will be picking a running mate. We're going to talk to a contender for the ticket, coming up.
Also, where does the delegate side between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama go next? We're going to show you a game that you can actually log on to on cnn.com and be one of the delegate counters, yourself, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. She's one of the most powerful women in America, a Republican, and she's from Texas. Could she balance things out on the McCain ticket? Well, joining me now, live, from Chappell Hill is Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Thanks so much for joining us this morning, senator.
SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON (R), TEXAS: Thank you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, you have said no to speculation that you could be a running mate for John McCain. But after seeing him clinch the nomination last night, any changes on that front?
HUTCHISON: No. I don't want to be vice president. I do support John McCain fully and was very pleased that Texas gave him his sendoff. I thought that was terrific.
CHETRY: Well, yes, it certainly was a big night for John McCain. It allows him to gear up for the general election much earlier as the Democrats continue to fight it out and it's quite close on the other side. But a recent compilation of national polls has McCain in a statistical tie with Hillary Clinton, if this was a hypothetical match up, and slightly below Barack Obama in a statistical match up.
How does he make the case that he's the right man for the job in the general election?
HUTCHISON: Well, I think when the people have a chance to talk about the issues and see the differences between John McCain and either of the Democrats, that they will start seeing that the key to the two has the right ideas and the vision for our future, both for national security and the economy is John McCain.
Right now, the Democrats have very little difference in real issues. So all you've heard on their side is arguing about little things or peripheral things but not the major issues. I think the time will come very soon when we can talk about low taxes. We can talk about big government spending. We can talk about the importance of our national security and the war on terror, and that's when I think people will start seeing the differences.
CHETRY: Well, one of the issues that has been key for Democratic voters as well is who will best handle the economy? How does John McCain show that he can help turn around what many say is a recession.
HUTCHISON: I think John McCain will hit the economy very hard. He will try to balance the budget, strengthen the dollar which is really just killing us in trade deficits and just overall investment in our country. And he will keep taxes low so that Americans can keep the money they earn in their pocketbooks.
That will spur investment and create jobs. I think John McCain's focus will be jobs and economic security for our country. He will also be looking for new source of energy so that we can bring the price of gasoline at pump down.
CHETRY: President Bush is going to be endorsing Senator McCain a little bit later about four hours from now at the White House. You know, this has been an election year where we've heard a lot about change. Where people have been hungry for change and also, when we see our president's approval ratings, pretty low. How does this endorsement today help John McCain?
HUTCHISON: I think the first thing that John McCain will want to do in the first few months, especially before the Democrats have their nominee is solidify his Republican base. And I think the endorsement of President Bush will certainly go a long way towards that, and I think John McCain is going to be very focused on our base and the people that he wants to have in full force behind him.
Then, when we get to the general, and we know who the Democratic opponent is, I think we can start outlining the differences, then give America a real choice.
CHETRY: You know in your own state you still had people who identified themselves as very conservative and an exit polling going largely for Mike Huckabee as opposed to John McCain. How does he make sure, as you talked about solidifying the base, and get those people behind him. While on the Democratic side, you have a lot of energized voters?
HUTCHISON: I think the Republicans will be energized. They'll be energized when they hear more of the Democrats' views of the issue, as that is flushed out. I think that will energized Republicans and I also think that John McCain is a solid mainstream conservative. He also appeals to independents because he's been independent when he disagreed with the president or even his colleagues in Congress.
And I think that will appeal to a broad base of independents and it will solidify the conservatives and the Republicans behind him. Mike Huckabee will be enthusiastically campaigning with him. There are many other solid conservatives. Phil Gramm from Texas campaigned with John McCain as I did and John Cornyn did and Dick Armey so he had a number of strong conservatives.
And I think when people look at the choice and the future of our country, John McCain is going to come out the winner.
CHETRY: All right. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, you sure you're not ruling yourself out for a V.I.P., a vice presidential nod in the GOP this morning? Yes or no?
HUTCHISON: I'm out. I'm ruling myself out.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll see, but thanks so much for joining us. Always great to talk to you, senator.
HUTCHISON: Thank you, Kiran.
ROBERTS: It is your chance to play campaign manager to see where the delegate count goes next. Our Veronica de la Cruz shows us with the help of cnn.com, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: The Democrats are competing to reach the magic number of 2025. That's the number of delegates needed to win the nomination. You can try out the game yourself. If you want to play campaign manager. Go to cnnpolitics.com and play the delegate counter game at home just like our analyst in CNN do.
Our Veronica de la Cruz joins us now to show us how to play and other election news on our Web site.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Do you want to show us, John? Do you want to show us?
ROBERTS: I'm laughing because I almost made the near fatal error of playing with her screen here, just before we went on.
DE LA CRUZ: Messing up my screen. He's drawing all over it.
ROBERTS: Apologies. Right up to the second.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Well, let me go ahead and show you. This is at cnnpolitics.com right now. Terrific resources, you know, John. This is our top story. Clinton wins Ohio, Texas. Big night for her. Also, McCain securing the nomination. So if you want to go ahead and read the article, you can do so. Also, you want to figure out what's going on with the delegates.
You know that Barack Obama, John, still in the lead, 1451 is where he stands. Hillary Clinton, 1365. And then, of course, John McCain clenching the Republican nomination 1226. That magic number, John, 1191. So that's all available on our home page. What happened state by state?
Let's go ahead and start with Texas. Taking a look at the state. All of the light blue going to Hillary Clinton last night. The dark blue going to Barack Obama. These are the heavily populated areas, though, and that's where he won. For example, Dallas, 62 percent of the vote coming out for him. Also Austin, Travis County, 63 percent of the vote going to Barack Obama.
John, similar situation in Ohio. We saw places like Columbus going to Barack Obama, 56 percent of the vote. Also, Cleveland. Now, we're just talking about the delegate counter game. Where does the race go from here? How does Hillary Clinton catch up to Barack Obama?
We know she had a couple of delegates in Ohio. She's going to have to pick some up in Wyoming, Pennsylvania and of course, the super delegates down here, which way are they going to go? You can go and figure it out all out on your own, playing the delegate counter game. And of course, it's all available online, John, cnnpolitics.com.
Go ahead. Touch the screen if you want to.
ROBERTS: I'll try to resist this time. Amazing technology and now everybody out there can play along. That's terrific. Veronica, thanks very much.
DE LA CRUZ: Of course.
CHETRY: Well, frank talk from the Democrats here on AMERICAN MORNING. Senator Clinton tells us why she won big last night and Senator Obama tells us why he also has reason to smile today. We're going to hear with both candidates are saying the morning after, next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, news just in to CNN on this Wednesday morning.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Coming to us from the Middle East, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announcing he will come back to the peace table. He broke off talks over the weekend because of the Israeli crackdown on militants in Gaza. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the Middle East and has bee pushing the two sides to reopen peace talks. So it looks like some of that pushing did work again. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, announcing he will come back to the peace table. We'll keep you posted of any new developments coming in from that region throughout the day. John.
ROBERTS: A comeback night for Senator Hillary Clinton facing must-win contest. She took the two biggest prizes of the night. Clinton won the Texas primary, that we got the results from after most people went to bed. She edged out Senator Barack Obama by three percentage points, 51 to 48. As for the caucuses that they held after the primary there in Texas, the count is going to resume later on this morning. The winner will pick up one-third of Texas delegates.
Senator Clinton also won Ohio. 54 percent to 44 percent. Weeks ago her husband, former President Bill Clinton said that she needed to win both states to stay in the race. So, not surprisingly, she's staying in the race. And here's how the delegates stand right now, Clinton victories are in light blue. She also won the state of Rhode Island last night. Obama is in bark blue. He picked up Vermont last night. Texas is going to stay yellow until those caucus results are in. They start recounting just a little while from now. We hope to have the results of that later on today.
Obama has the delegate lead. He now has 1,451, which included pledge delegates and superdelegates. Clinton has 1,365. 2,025 needed to clinch the nomination. Barack Obama is staying positive, despite Hillary Clinton's big comeback with wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island last night. I spoke with Senator Obama earlier on AMERICAN MORNING and asked him where the campaign goes from here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are confident that after last night, where Senator Clinton had a good night, but said that, you know, she had to win Texas and Ohio decisively. We end up emerging with essentially the same delegate count that we had going in, and I feel confident that we're going to be able to go on to the nomination.
ROBERTS: So, you're really keying in on this word "decisively" saying that she didn't win it decisively, so what does that mean then?
OBAMA: Well, you know, we went in to Texas and Ohio down 20 points. You know, we had won 11 straight. Senator Clinton decided that they could only contest these two states where she an advantage and she did well. But as I said before, we emerged with the same delegate gap between her and me that we had essentially before we got in. And so we have constantly focused on the next states in front of us. We got Wyoming and Mississippi this week. We think we'll do well, and then we go on to Pennsylvania and the other states that follow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator Obama believes that he still has the inside track to the Democratic nomination. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. After we spoke with Senator Obama, we had a chance to talk to Senator Clinton. She told us Ohio was the key to her big win last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, nobody in recent history has been elected president who didn't win their party's primary in Ohio. So, Ohio carries special significance. You know, as a Democrat you can't win the White House if you don't win Ohio. And I think I proved last night that Ohio wants to see me as the nominee and that's what I intend to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, Suzanne Malveaux watching the campaign this morning from Austin, Texas. It's interesting the she's using that example. Because this is really an election of first. I mean, it would be the first woman, it would be the first African-American. So there are a lot of first conventional wisdom, not necessarily applying to this race.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Kiran. I spoke with a Clinton campaign insider this morning and asked about where do they go from here? What is the strategy? He simply says that look she will continue to sow the seeds of doubt when it comes to Barack Obama whether or not he has the right stuff and she's going to do that with those who are part of the Democratic establishment, the superdelegates, as well as try to make in-roads with that coalition that he has built. That is one of the things that she will continue to do.
The other thing is that she will have to try to change the delegate math here, and fight for Florida as well as Michigan to push for those particular states that count, in whatever form that that is also going to be important. Those are two things that they are really going to hammer forward. When you look at Senator Barack Obama, they make it very clear here that it's all about the delegates, and they don't believe that she really has those numbers nor will she have those numbers when it's all said and done. So, they're going to keep their eye on the issues here. There was a little bit of sense that they were thrown off their game with some of these back-and-forth, the controversies that we saw over trade, over some of those other issues, who's best at commander in chief.
They've got to stick with the issues. They recognize that but they're also emphasizing that delegate count, that critical delegate count that the Clinton campaign as of now, they say they can get close when it comes to pledge delegates but they're really going to need those superdelegates as well to make some in-roads. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us on the campaign trail. Thanks. John.
ROBERTS: On the Republican side, it is all settled. John McCain has the nomination in hand and Mike Huckabee has bowed out of the race. Texas and Ohio put McCain over the top. McCain took 51 percent of the vote in Texas compared to 38 percent for Huckabee. Ron Paul got 5 percent and Ron Paul did win the primary in his congressional district. So, he had a big victory last night. In Ohio, McCain won 60 percent to Huckabee's 31 percent percent. McCain now has 1,226 delegates. That's 34 more than needed to secure the nomination. You can see the McCain states are in red here. Huckabee's are in pink. The white ones haven't yet gone with their primaries or caucuses yet and the sort of brownish maroon colored ones, are those 255 delegates in states that Mitt Romney is hanging on to. We don't yet know what he's going to do with those. McCain is now heading to the White House to get President Bush's endorsement this afternoon. And he is looking ahead to November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Americans aren't interested in an election where they're just talked to and not listened to. An election -- an election that offers platitudes instead of principles and insults instead of ideas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Mike Huckabee conceded the race soon after the polls closed last night. He thanked his supporters and he talked about the importance of sticking to his principles. Huckabee says he has no plan "b" for his future. Texas congressman Ron Paul, still in the race, but with only 21 delegates. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, extreme weather hitting parts of the country right now. Our Jacqui Jeras is tracking all of it for us this morning. We saw some of those pictures of trees down in many places. Arkansas hit hard and also we saw Ohio yesterday.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And all this due to the same storm, Kiran, it's really causing problems in the northeastern quarter and even still lingering here into parts of the Ohio Valley. We've got thunderstorms, we've got ice and snow. So three different elements going on with this storm system. We got a nasty line moving now east of Providence and pushing through the Boston area. You can see it's pulled out of Hartford and, New York, a nice break. Heavy thunderstorms early this morning, but more.
We're looking at round two coming on in. So, be aware of that. That's maybe 30 to 60 minutes away and we got plenty of delays at the airports as a result of this. Low overcast conditions and the planes have to fly in and around those thunderstorms. You can see them. There's Boston. Logan, over an hour now, delays on the way up. Detroit, you've got a ground stop in effect there due to snow and ice on the runways. Philadelphia, ground stop there until 9:00 this morning. You've got windy conditions. That's your big delay there and you can see La Guardia, at 40 minutes, and a few delays due to thunderstorms in Naples. That's the end of travel across parts of the east. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Well, that's better than earlier when you thought it might be an hour or more. You still have to be patient but...
JERAS: Give it time. Give it time.
CHETRY: That's true.
JERAS: It will get there.
CHETRY: It will certainly start to stack up as the day goes along. Thanks a lot.
ROBERTS: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaking out about the housing crisis with some tough words for mortgage lenders. CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis joins us. What's Bernanke finally saying?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, John. This is amazing. You know, we've been having these problems for a year now. And finally, yesterday the Federal Reserve chairman coming out and saying, OK. The problem that we have can't be solved by the solutions that we have on the table right now. In fact, he says that loan modifications aren't working. And that's where the loans extended over a longer period of time so that people can catch up on payments or rates, interest rates are cut on mortgages. He said lenders need to forgive some mortgage debt, which of course doesn't go down very well. It's what bankers call writing down debt. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Lenders tell us that they are reluctant to write down principal. They say that if they were to write down their principal and house prices fell further they could feel pressure to write down principal again. However, as I've noted when the mortgage is under water, a reduction in principle may increase the expected payoff by reducing the risk of default and foreclosure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: All right. Now, the Federal Reserve chairman, his organization is responsible for the safety and soundness of the system, but also responsible for regulating banks. Another Fed official that didn't get as much attention yesterday saying in front of an organization also that their regulatory moves, maybe not enough. A little critical of the Federal Reserve itself, finally.
ROBERTS: And we're finding out about all this. What about homeowners who could either be facing or be worried about foreclosure?
WILLIS: Well, Bernanke's comments yesterday may give help to people out there who are struggling with their mortgage. Look, you've got to take this on yourself. Call your lender, get help. Dial 888- 9995-hope if you're having problems. You can also go to the Department of Housing and Urban Developments to get your own counselor. They have a Web site hud.gov, you can go there as well.
ROBERTS: Obviously, we're going to hear a lot more about this.
WILLIS: I think we will.
ROBERTS: All right. Gerri, thanks. Kiran.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
CHETRY: Well, imagine coming back from lunch and you find a stack of messages on your deck, Bill Clinton called again. Michelle Obama called. How do you decide which candidate to support? Well, we're talking with a superdelegate from Ohio who's had this very thing happen. She's getting the hard sell and she joins us next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: The candidates are chasing them like photographers chase Britney Spears. They are the superdelegates who could change the balance of power on the Democratic side. Joining us now to describe what it's like to be one of the most coveted voters in country, is superdelegate and Dayton, Ohio mayor Rhine McLin. Mayor McLin, good morning to you. Got to say, love the glasses.
MAYOR RHINE MCLIN, DAYTON, OHIO: Well, thank you. It means that Dayton is, well rounded and can you get a square deal.
ROBERTS: There you go. Just for people who haven't been able to discern that, one of her frames is a square one and the other is round. You were undecided up right up until yesterday. Can we ask you who you voted for?
MCLIN: Well, no. You can't ask me who I voted for, because I voted two weeks ago. However, my superdelegates, dependent upon how Dayton and Montgomery county voted for which Democratic presidential candidate. And it appears that Dayton and Montgomery county went with Obama. So by Dayton and Montgomery county going with Obama, that's who I'm going to pledge my superdelegates to.
ROBERTS: So regardless how you voted personally, you feel beholden as a superdelegate to go with the way folks in your county or your congressional district voted?
MCLIN: Yes, I do, and the reason why is because, first of all, these are the people that have voted me in office. These are the people that I work with and I live here in this town. So, therefore, it's very important that I represent them. Not only daily but even nationally with the Democratic party here. And that's why I thought it was very important, to wait and let them tell me what they wanted me to do.
ROBERTS: Mayor McLin, what kind of pressure were you under to go with one candidate or another?
MCLIN: Well, it wasn't really the V.I.P.s that gave the pressure, it was the everyday citizens right here in Dayton. And by going down the street, going to the market, just walking down the streets, the citizens in Dayton were letting me know exactly how they feel, one way or another, about a candidate. So that was the pressure, because it was daily.
ROBERTS: So you weren't hearing from the campaigns, like so many other superdelegates have?
MCLIN: Well, I've heard from the V.I.P.s. I've heard from Bill Clinton called me, the former president. Alfre Woodard, the actress, called me. Terry McAufliffe called me. David Wilhelm, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Chelsea, and there's a lot -- there's a long list, but it was the everyday people that put the pressure on me. So I found it was easier for me just to say, OK. If this is what you want, tell me, by showing me how you vote, and they did.
ROBERTS: You know, it's interesting to hear your perspective on that, because it's not something that we hear often, which brings us to this question of superdelegates who have already announced which candidate they're going to support. Should this go all the way down to the wire, and one candidate or another, whether it be Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, have more delegates than the other one, do you think that pledged superdelegates should change their support?
MCLIN: I believe that pledged delegates that have already pledged should be able to say for the first round of the convention - I think this is a real serious matter here, because I would like to see, and my hope is, that somehow before the Democratic convention in August, is that we're able to resolve this, but if not, then I want to see the most diplomacy done, because it doesn't matter. Both candidates are very good, and I think that the Democrats have a wonderful field and the diversity is very appreciated, with the gender and race, however -- however, I believe that the most important thing I believe is that the Democrats, the Democrat's presidential race to lose and how we conduct ourselves will be very important for the future of this country.
ROBERTS: So, very quickly, mayor, just to be clear here, you say if they don't get it worked out before the convention you want to see a floor fight?
MCLIN: I don't want to see a floor fight. I want to see diplomacy.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, some people call it diplomacy, others call it a floor fight. Mayor McLin of Dayton, Ohio, thanks for being with us this morning. Great to get your perspective on all this.
MCLIN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: All right. Take care. Kiran.
CHETRY: CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away. Heidi Collins at the CNN center with a look at what's ahead. Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: Good morning, Kiran. That's right. The comeback on the NEWSROOM rundown. Hillary Clinton wins three of four. So, who voted for her? What issues drove the elections and what now? Our guests take a close look at the primaries, and a victory fail to put much of a dent in Barack Obama's delegate lead though. We'll take a look at Hillary Clinton's big math problem. Plus John McCain clinches the Republican nomination, and today he is White House bound for lunch and an expected endorsement. The day's other news and, of course, breaking news, any time it happens. We're in the NEWSROOM top of the hour right here on CNN. Kiran.
CHETRY: Heidi, thanks.
Also, important information for women about hormone therapy. There is new word about the risks versus the benefits. So, if you're someone taking it, considering taking it, Dr. Gupta has some answers for you coming up.
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CHETRY: There's some important information for women about treating symptoms of menopause with hormone replacement therapy and how that relates to any potential risk of cancer. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta now joins us with details. This is a follow-up study, I believe, it's something that has been debate for a long time now. They spent three years trying to sort it out. Are they any closer to figuring out whether the benefits outweigh the risks or vice versa?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think so, Kiran. I think this is adding more evidence to what we already knew about hormone replacement therapy. You remember we talked about the study known at the women's health initiative for some time now, which showed the risks outweighed the rewards when it came to hormone replacement therapy. The question that a lot of women ask, well, let's say I took it for a long time and I stopped. What about now? Do my risks of these things, cancer, heart disease remain elevated? That was the question researchers are trying to answer.
I think they do have some answers. Take a look here. What they found was that about three years afterwards, even if you stopped, you still had a 27 percent increase risk of breast cancer as compared to women who never took the hormone replacement therapy. Now, it's worth pointing out the absolute numbers are still very small. Out of the thousands of women tested only 79 women got breast cancer as compared to 60 who weren't taking the hormone replacement therapy. With regards to heart disease, you did have a decreased risk of heart attacks but overall had a higher risk of blood clots and strokes. So still not a lot of benefit there in terms of warding off things like cancer, in terms of warding off things like heart disease, blood clots or stroke. Not a lot of benefit. I think the message, Kiran, to your question remains the same. If the symptoms of menopause are irritable and awful enough where you want to do something about it, take the smallest dose for the smallest, the shortest amount of time so that you don't expose yourself to as many risks but still garnering some of those rewards, Kiran.
CHETRY: Have you found that any of these natural remedies are tried and true? Do they work?
GUPTA: You know, they talk about all sorts of different things. We've talked a lot to experts and they'll say they'll give some suggestions that are simple ones. For example, just wearing layered clothing, for example. That can make a big difference. If you think about what a hot flash really is, it's a burst of adrenaline. It's the change in hormones that causes a burst of adrenaline. Men and women suffer the most avoiding triggers, such as spicy foods, caffeine, and alcohol, exercising and relaxing as much as possible. Easier said than done sometimes. But also something called black cohosh or something that has garnered a lot of enthusiasm. There's not a ton of data, quite frankly, to support its use. Certainly, not by the NIH but a lot of women that we've talked to, we've done stories on this, say it really works for them. Typically, the symptoms, the worse symptoms last for up to four year. So, you know, finding some alternatives, probably a good idea.
CHETRY: I can sense that you're going to get these as mailbag questions as well coming up later in the week. GUPTA: We'll be ready. All right.
CHETRY: Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Five minutes now to the top of the hour. Final check of our morning "Quick Vote" coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Kim Kerrington's trash is Patricia Reys' treasure.
KIM KERRINGTON: This is a camera. And this is the battery and this is the charger.
O'BRIEN: Patricia is walking away with that camera without reaching for her wallet. The transaction made possible, because both women belong to a Web site called freecycle.org. It's like eBay or Craig's List minus the money.
KERRINGTON: It's all about giving and receiving.
O'BRIEN: Free cycle is like putting your unwanted clutter out on the street, virtually.
KERRINGTON: A lot of times we have items that we have no use for, offer it up to someone else. I'm quite sure someone can put it to good use.
O'BRIEN: The idea was hatched about five years ago in Tucson by Darin Beal. What began with 30 to 40 of his friends has blossomed into a worldwide phenomenon. Four million members in 75 countries.
DARIN BEAL, FOUNDER OF FREECYCLE.ORG: We're keeping over 300 tons a day out of landfills, four times the height of Mount Everest, if you stack that in garbage trucks.
O'BRIEN: Think of all the resources saved by giving that unwanted stuff a new lease on life.
PATRICIA REY: I see so much waste in this world. It's just astounding.
O'BRIEN: What may be most astounding is this simple idea is helping turn some of our wasteful ways into good deeds for the planet. One unloved camcorder at a time. Miles O'Brien, CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Final check of our "Quick Vote" this morning. What should happen to votes and delegates in Florida and Michigan? 58 percent of you think they should now be counted. 25 percent think that they shouldn't and 17 percent say Florida and Michigan should hold new primaries or caucuses to determine what happens with those delegates. To all of you who voted, thanks very much. We'll do it again tomorrow. And thanks very much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: That's right. See you same time, same place, back here tomorrow. Meanwhile, CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins starts right now.
TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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