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American Morning
Times Square Explosion; Florida and Michigan Delegate Fight; Caucus Confusion in Texas; Bush Blesses McCain as GOP Nominee
Aired March 06, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: That's our breaking news this morning. This explosion at the crossroads of the world. A small one, according to early reports, an incendiary device was thrown at a police officer standing in front of an Armed Forces recruiting center.
Here's some live pictures of the area there. And you can see that there are police all over the place, the flashing red lights. No traffic moving through the area. Thankfully no reports of any injuries or significant damage at this point, but fears that the incident may be somehow connected to terrorism has that area in a lockdown.
One of the most famous areas in the world, now nothing moving there. Streets are closed to traffic and pedestrians. Subway service was suspended in the area. But according to the MTA, that's the organization that runs the subway system here in New York City, the service has been resumed on all of the lines running through that area. All of the trains that people are so familiar with taking through that area and so many of them do run through there.
According to "The Associated Press," there was a large hole in the window of the recruiting center. That recruiting center sits on one of those traffic islands in Times Square, a structure that also houses a New York City police mini station, the corner of 44th Street and Broadway in 7th Avenue there. There are reports that a person riding a bicycle threw the device. Witnesses say they heard a huge bang right there in the center of Times Square.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It had to be something. There was a huge bang. There's no car accident. So --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm on the 23rd and I just heard this bang in the building.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm on the 44th floor and I heard it. I could feel it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's terrible. So a friend of mine, we were out there, and then we got moved back by two blocks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it's kind of stupid if I could feel it from the 44th floor, why did I come down here. I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very excited. I'm on the 23rd floor and it shook as well. So it was a big bang. But I can't see any damage or anything. There's nobody there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't see any damage either.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't see anything. I just felt it. I was on the 44th floor which is almost the very top floor, and I could feel it. Oh, something happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just a bang that was loud enough to shake me out of bed. That was about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Imagine how much of a surprise it was. Jamie Roth from WABC filed this report from Times Square just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE ROTH, WABC REPORTER: If you look just beyond my right shoulder, you can see there are still plenty of police cars and fire trucks here in Times Square, sealing off the street from cars, sealing off the street, I should say to cars and trucks. Pedestrians are allowed to walk around here. However, we're all being held back by police tape after what police are calling a small incendiary device that was apparently thrown at a police officer near the Times Square Armed Forces Recruiting Station at West 43rd Street.
It happened around 3:45 this morning. A man on a bicycle was believed to have thrown this small incendiary device near the building. No one was hurt. This man was able to ride away. He was wearing all gray and a gray hood. Police have not arrested anyone yet.
Meanwhile, people around here say they heard some kind of bang. This incident is similar to others. In late October, a person riding a bicycle threw replica grenades loaded with black explosive powder at the Mexican Consulate on East 39th Street. And about three years ago, in May of 2005, a bicyclist was spotted near the British Consulate in midtown just before an explosion there. So that is on the top of people's minds here. In Times Square, Jamie Roth, Channel 7, Eyewitness News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: As you can imagine throughout that area, there are dozens and dozens of security cameras, traffic cameras keeping an eye on the crossroads of the world. What we've done here is we've taken some videotape beginning about 3:00 in the morning. We're piecing it together. And throughout the morning, we'll give you a look at how this incident unfolded.
Again, Times Square, at least on the surface in a lockdown. The streets are closed. Apparently, the subways are running through the area, though we don't know at this point if they are stopping at the Times Square Station at 42nd Street. We'll keep you updated in this breaking story throughout the morning. But lots of other news to talk about today as well. KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. And that is a political fight that continues this morning and possibly a dramatic twist in the Democratic race for the White House. A possible do over vote in Florida and Michigan. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are locked neck and neck in the fight for delegates. Votes in Michigan and Florida could help decide the nomination. The Democratic National Committee stripped both states of their delegates when primaries were scheduled early in violation of party rules.
So here's what's at stake; 210 delegates in Florida. 156 in Michigan. And as we know from just how tight it's been, less than 100 total delegates separating the two candidates, every single delegate counts, at least they want it to. Late last night, lawmakers from both states met behind closed doors on Capitol Hill to discuss the options to get their delegates seated.
Kate Bolduan is on Capitol Hill this morning with more on exactly what was discussed last night. Hi, Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran. Well, you said it, these Congressional delegates, they want their delegates seated and counted at the convention. Now last night, they say it was a first step really, getting the conversation going of how to resolve this issue between Michigan and Florida. Now, they met. Nearly all of the Democratic House members met for about an hour last night. Really throwing around ideas, tossing around some options. One, of course, being to redo the vote. Another, simply being to use the results from the previous primaries.
Now, some members say they would support a redo of the vote if the Democratic National Committee, the party, would pay for it not the taxpayers. Others simply say the primaries happen. The votes are in, and so they should count. And Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida is one of those members. And going into the meeting, she gave us an idea of where she thought things should move from here. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: There are a lot of different options being thrown around. I'm not supportive of a revote. I think we did just fine on January 29th. We have 1.7 million voters turned out to vote in Florida, the largest turnout in primary history with no problems with that election. And the voters appeared to be comfortable enough to know who they wanted to vote for. A revote would be pulling the rug out from under them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Pulling the rug out from under them. Now, Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, issued a statement yesterday simply to say that the Democratic nominee will be determined in accordance with party rules. And out of respect for the presidential candidate campaigns and the states that did not violate party rules, we are not going to change the rules in the middle of the game. Now, as you can gather from that statement in and of itself, these members that feel so strongly that their delegates be seated and recognized at the convention that they at least, we could say, have some definite obstacles to overcome before they can get there -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Oh, very true. Kate Bolduan for us on Capitol Hill this morning. Thanks. You know, we're going to be talking about this throughout the morning. We're talking to two of the main players in the fight. DNC Chair Howard Dean is going to be joining us live at 7:15 Eastern. Florida Governor Charlie Christ joins us at 7:30 Eastern. And if you like to head to our Web site, we're also asking the question today. If there are, you know, re-dos, who should pay?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Maybe the taxpayers in these states?
ROBERTS: Charlie Crist had some rather sharp things to say about Howard Dean saying he's denying democracy. Well, we'll talk to them about all of that this morning.
The caucus system is also under fire this morning. Hillary Clinton claiming that it's unfair after early results from the caucuses in Texas show her behind Barack Obama. Only 40 percent of precincts have reported down there. Obama at 56 percent currently. Hillary Clinton at 44. We're still waiting for the final results. We might get them by this afternoon.
Sixty-seven delegates hang in the balance now. The Obama campaign says that Clinton's opposition stems from Obama's success in caucuses this year. Ten of his 25 victories have been in caucus states. Caucuses are typically smaller. Turnout is generally under 10 percent of eligible voters, but precincts in Texas say they have been overwhelmed by Tuesday's voter turnout.
Our Ed Lavandera is live in Texas for us this morning. Ed, it's taken them an awfully long time to count up these numbers. Longer than any other caucus in the country so far.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's going to take them a few more days. In fact, many of the precincts are still passing along the paperwork, those sign-in sheets that many people had to sign during those caucus procedures. And, you know, this whole system that was known as the Texas two-step has left many people feeling like they were dancing with two left feet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE OFFICER: One more time. Clear this area now. Move.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Police officers were called into this Houston school to control the crowd, frustrated voters who waited until 3:00 in the morning, eight hours, to finish the caucus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all feel that our vote doesn't count, and they're not worried about our vote.
LAVANDERA: Across Texas, there were scenes of chaos.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've got people walking off and leaving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's disorganized, and people are getting frustrated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you want --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no. It's not right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The process is extremely confusing. No one seems to be in charge.
LAVANDERA: Clinton and Obama supporters also accusing each other of playing games with caucus rules.
TRACEY CARTER, TEXAS VOTER: They told us at first to just -- it wasn't enough writing material. So just sign your name and then you're free to go. And then after people had signed their names and they had left, then we get someone else that comes in and says, OK, if you leave, then your vote doesn't count.
LAVANDERA: Then there's the story behind these pictures. A Clinton supporting precinct captain leaving a caucus site with sign-in sheets. But several witnesses claimed, she refused to take 27 sheets with Obama supporters' signatures. And that's when Dallas Democratic Chairwoman Darlene Ewing was called in.
DARLENE EWING, DALLAS CO. DEMOCRATIC CHAIRWOMAN: They kind of got into a chase, a little bit of a car chase over the sign-in sheets.
LAVANDERA (on camera): A car chase?
EWING: They all ended up in the police station and they called us. And we went out this morning at 1:00 and took possession of the paperwork.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Texas Democratic officials say several incidents of voter fraud will probably be investigated but that these were isolated incidents, especially considering there were more than 8,000 caucus sites statewide.
HECTOR NIETO, TEXAS DEMOCRATIC PARTY: When you put a million people across the state into caucuses, of course, you're going to have some problems.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And we've also been told that the state party officials are looking into another incident where an Obama supporter flew in from New York and declared himself a precinct captain. And then somehow, some are alleging that all of the sign-in sheets with Clinton supporters have mysteriously disappeared. Nothing has been proven in this case but is an incident that is being investigated -- John.
ROBERTS: A lot of bizarre goings-on in this primary season. Ed Lavandera for us this morning. Ed, thanks very much.
Today on the presidential campaign trail, presumptive GOP nominee John McCain will be in Florida to meet with Governor Charlie Crist later on this morning. President Bush gave his formal endorsement to McCain yesterday in the Rose Garden of the White House. The president said he would do whatever is needed or wanted to get him elected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A while back, I don't think many people would have thought that John McCain would be here as the nominee of the Republican Party. He's going to be the president who will bring determination to defeat an enemy and a heart big enough to love those who hurt. I can help raise some money, and if he wants my pretty face standing by his side in one of these rallies, I'll be glad to show up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: McCain says he looks forward to campaigning with the president at his side.
CHETRY: Well, the price of oil eased a bit overnight after approaching $105 a barrel. But there are some new tensions between the White House and OPEC which decided not to add oil to the market. President Bush was hoping that OPEC would help increase production to try to control these rising prices.
Gerri Willis is talking about that with us this morning. She's "Minding Your Business" in for Ali Velshi. Great to see you this morning.
GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Good to see you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Are we seeing this trickling down? It was at $105. Are we seeing that trickle down to higher gas prices at the pump?
WILLIS: It seems like we're always getting higher gas prices, right? Let's talk about oil first. And almost $105 a barrel. The close last night $104.52 a barrel for light crude oil. I got to tell you that prices continue to go higher. One reason interestingly was fog in the gulf, surprisingly. They feel like they lost some oil. You see how tight supplies are. Something like that can make prices pop.
Gas per gallon $3.18. That's the national average right now. That is still 5 cents below the all-time high. And, of course, I want to tell you about home heating oil.
CHETRY: Yes. I need to ask you about this. I was laughing that the one of the beauties of being a renter for so long is that you didn't get these bills. And the first one I got, boy, right in the middle of winter will knock your socks off.
WILLIS: It's not pretty.
CHETRY: No.
WILLIS: No.
CHETRY: What's going on with heating oil prices?
WILLIS: You know, and it's mostly people in the northeast that have to pay this. Home heating oil up and continuing to move at a faster clip than oil prices. Home heating oil will continue to rise 5 to 20 cents per gallon. Funded Mae (ph), check that out. And it's up 60 percent from a year ago, 165 percent from five years ago.
Here's something interesting I learned from the trading yesterday. There are so few places to invest in the market right now that now, you have traders in home heating oil market and they didn't used to do that.
CHETRY: Wow.
WILLIS: So they are still driving prices up and, of course, you know, people pay for this all the time. You can save money on home heating oil. I got a few ideas.
CHETRY: I should have listened to your tips. I should have listened to your tips before. You can't just crank up the heat anytime you want to when it gets a little chilly, right? You got to be smart about it.
WILLIS: You got to be smart about it. You need a programmable little thermostat.
CHETRY: I have one but I keep clicking it up. Clicking the arrow up. It feels so good.
WILLIS: And you pay.
CHETRY: Yes.
WILLIS: Exactly. Well, you might want to think about some insulation. That's always a great thing to do. It's all about the R value. You got to make sure that you get what you need when you buy insulation. And just think about your water heater is a big hog of energy. You might want to upgrade and get a better one. Look for leaks. If you have lights that are recessed, that's one place that cold air comes in.
CHETRY: Wow.
WILLIS: And people don't think about that.
CHETRY: If you ever want to do a story on the don't house, come over. Because everything you just said I think is what I do wrong.
WILLIS: OK.
CHETRY: Gerri, thank you.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Gerri.
Extreme weather on the move this morning. Oklahoma and northern Texas could see some heavy snowfall and thunderstorms after Ohio gets covered in an absolute sheet of ice. What all of this means for your morning commute just ahead.
Actor Patrick Swayze in the fight of his life. We'll tell you what doctors are saying about his condition. He's got pancreatic cancer.
And we'll be back with more on the breaking news this morning. A live look at Times Square where about three hours ago now some sort of small, according to local reports, an incendiary device was thrown at a military recruiting station. Subway service restored running through the area. It doesn't look though as though they're stopping because there's no one on the streets, and there should be thousands of people pouring onto the streets from those subway stations. We'll be back with the latest on this on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And some live pictures again of Times Square this morning. The sight of an explosion earlier this morning in the middle of the night, actually. These are actually recent pictures on tape that we just got in to show you what went on there. Apparently, according to reports, right now police are looking into what happened but they believe that someone threw some sort of explosive device at the military recruiting center. It's a small place that's set up right in the middle of Times Square. There is also a police department in that area as well.
Here are some pictures of exactly where that center is. It's a big building actually that houses not only the military recruiting center, but also a police station right there in Times Square as well as the entrance to many key subways. I mean, this is a main artery for commuters where many of the trains that connect all parts of Manhattan, both up and down, north and south, east and west together.
And right now, we're hearing reports that they are starting to resume that subway service. We're still looking, though, because from some of the pictures that we see it doesn't look like there are any pedestrians on the street. There you see another live picture. Virtually empty. So we're having a hard time trying to figure out how that subway is up and running. But we are hearing that they're trying to resume service. We're going to get more.
Our Alina Cho is on her way to the scene right now. We're also taking in the latest information from our affiliates and getting most of these stills coming to us from one of our other affiliates as well. ROBERTS: Yes. We'll keep following that story for you this morning. But as you can imagine, even if subway service is resumed running through the area, the fact that traffic can't get through there is going to cause a huge problem for people trying to get to work this morning.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: And we want -- we want to point out that right there, it says I want you. That's a military recruiting poster, and you can see the shattered glass on the street.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: So these are some of the pictures of the actual aftermath of this explosion. They say no one was injured. They don't think there was a lot of damage done. But, of course, they're looking into this and whether or not it's related to some other incidents that took place over the past several months in New York City. In another case that happened at the Mexican Consulate, no one has taken responsibility for that. That happened back in October. They said that these were fake grenades, I guess, sold as novelty items that were then packed with some black power but not really capable of doing a lot of harm.
ROBERTS: I heard from one local reporter this morning saying that he had heard from sources that this device may have been an ammo can with some gunpowder in it, that was thrown at this recruiting center. No confirmation of that. Just a local report that we heard. But again, you can see traffic being stopped there on the cross streets.
You are looking at Broadway and Seventh Avenue going sort of from the left-hand side of the screen down to the lower right-hand side and the cross streets there. So it's going to be a lot of problem this morning for people trying to get through. And it looks like they've opened up a little bit of traffic there.
CHETRY: Or whether they are routing people back to some of the numbered streets instead of allowing them to go up and down Broadway or Seventh in that area.
ROBERTS: Yes. They're not allowing them to go up Broadway there. So a difficult time getting from here to there this morning. Before you go out, make some alternate plans. Check a different route to get to work. We'll keep following this story.
We expect the NYPD will probably be up to have something to say about this. Commissioner Ray Kelly always jumps in when something like this happens to give us the lay of the lands. So we'll keep watching this. Keep it right here on CNN. We'll have a close eye on everything, and you won't miss a minute of it this morning.
We're also following breaking news overseas. Three men accused of plotting to bomb a number of embassies in the Philippines including the U.S. Embassy, they're under arrest. They were nabbed by authorities there. Security officials in the Philippines say the men were targeting the U.S., British, Australian and Israeli embassies in Manila. Authorities believe the three men may have links to an Indonesia-based terror group.
Also new this morning, a major security threat avoided at a high school in New Jersey. Police in Warren County say an adult and a 17- year-old student were planning to stage a military-style attack in June. Investigators say the plotters staked out the school security guards and picked out escape routes. Authorities say they were also working to obtain weapons. The adult has been charged. The student is now undergoing psychological counseling.
Federal health officials admit the childhood vaccinations may have triggered autism like symptoms in a 9-year-old girl in Georgia. The girl now suffers from a rare brain disorder. Officials are now recommending her family receive payment from a government fund, but both medical and legal experts say the case may be an exception and not a precedent for other autism claims. Some 5,000 families are seeking compensation for autism or other disabilities that they blame on vaccines.
Some terrible news to tell you about this morning. Patrick Swayze is battling pancreatic cancer. Doctors say the actor, best known for his roles in "Dirty Dancing," "Ghost" and "Road House" has a "very limited amount of the disease and is responding well to treatment." And his publicist denies a tabloid report saying that the actor has just weeks to live. The pancreatic cancer is a particularly form of cancer.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta will have much more on this story and the autism vaccine story coming up in our next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says it hopes to intercept potentially hazardous toys before they get to the store shelves. The agency says it will place full-time inspectors at some of the nation's busiest ports. Those inspectors will be looking for unsafe levels of lead as well as toys with other safety problems. The move comes after more than 25 million toys were recalled last year, most of them made in China.
And finally, a new report suggests that more American men are helping with chores around the house. But things are still far from equal. Research by the Council on Contemporary Family says the average dad contributes about 30 percent of the total household chores. It may not seem like much, but that's double what it was in the 1960s. And more encouraging news for moms. Dads have also tripled the time that they spend caring for their kids.
CHETRY: See. It's all how you look at it.
ROBERTS: How are things around the Chetry household?
CHETRY: I know. What I laugh about is that I was reading this article about it, they say women say, oh, you know, he's not pulling his weight 50-50. Where, from a guy's perspective they go, I'm doing 100 percent more than my dad ever did. So, she should be happy. It's all how you look at it.
ROBERTS: It's all your perspective.
CHETRY: Mars and Venus.
Well, Ohio blanketed in ice. More wintry weather headed to Oklahoma and other parts of Texas. What about the rest of the country? We're tracking extreme weather ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-six minutes after the hour now. And you could see traffic starting to move through the area of Times Square. Those cars are going northbound or southbound there as the case may be. Still got a lot of police tape there on that traffic island and on another traffic island where that military recruiting center and the police mini station were. And we have confirmed that subway service indeed has been restored to the area. The trains are both running through the area, and they are stopping. So if you're getting up to go to work this morning in New York City and you have to go to Times Square subway stops, you will be able to stop there and get out and go to work.
We're keeping a close eye on the story, give you the latest. And according to local reports, police still searching for a suspect who threw what's described as an incendiary device at a local recruiting center there -- Kiran.
CHETRY: We're also following extreme weather for you this morning, and a winter storm warning that has been posted for south central Oklahoma. Arkansas also getting hit with a snowstorm overnight. Arkansas, also the place of some pretty bad weather over the past few days.
Meanwhile, some widespread blackouts reported in North Carolina. Here's a look right now. They're trying to saw down some trees that fell after a storm dumped up to five inches of rain in some areas.
Let's take a look at Ohio. This is Ashtabula, Ohio. This is an area that's not far from Lake Erie, known for getting some lake-effect snows for sure. Well, at least in three counties, they've declared an emergency after ice storms yesterday. Roads and schools shut down throughout the state. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses also lost power.
And check this one out. This is an I-Report from our own Reynolds Wolf. Hey, if, you know, our people see various things like extreme weather, we'd love to get a shot of it as well.
And he was stuck on a plane at Cleveland's airport yesterday. You can actually see it through the window that was all covered in ice. There's Reynolds' hand there. Took hours to de-ice that plane. He made it, though, and he joins us now. He is back in Atlanta for us this morning. I love how you had the wedding ring thing, you know, hand up there in the shot.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
CHETRY: That was a good call on your part, Reynolds.
WOLF: Four hours.
CHETRY: Four hours.
WOLF: Four hours on the runway.
CHETRY: Just on the tarmac?
WOLF: Motionless. Yes. It was a great time. It was a party. I was on with about, let's see -- 40 other people on this very small plane. By the end of forty hours, or rather with 40 people after four hours, you feel like you're married to everybody on the plane. It's just a -- it's a really, really weird experience.
Today, you're probably going to be seeing widespread delays around the nation. In fact, take a look at what we have in terms of your expected delays. A few hiccups that we have as we go to the weather computer.
Dallas, you might have some issues. About 15 to 30-minute delay due to the rain and the low clouds. Houston, pretty much the same story. However, right now in New York and Boston and Washington, we have no delays due to weather as of yet. That, of course, could change as we make our way through the rest of the day.
Take a look at this. This is one of the big weather makers we have. The beginning of a winter storm rolling through parts of the four corners and into the portions of the Central Plains. We're seeing some snow right now in the Amarillo. Some scattered showers from Lovette (ph) back into the Red River, along in Oklahoma getting in on the shower, I see (INAUDIBLE). But just to the north, we get a lot of that cold air and then overall moisture is going to give us some issues in Oklahoma City back over to Fort Smith, too.
What we're going to be dealing with is that winter storm warning through the remains of the day and into the evening. We also have watches and advisories that are posted as we make our way across the Mississippi Valley and even into portions of the Ohio River Valley also.
That is a look at your forecast across the nation. Again, we got to keep a really sharp eye in what's happening in the Central Plains and eventually into parts of the Ohio Valley. We'll keep an eye on it for you. Let's send it back to you in the studio.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good. Glad you made it safe and sound. Boy, four hours on the tarmac is not fun. You made good use of your time.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: Long time. We'll do it again.
CHETRY: Thanks, Reynold.
ROBERTS: Let's hope as Reynolds Wolf has counseled as so much that he had a hefty dose of patience along there with him.
CHETRY: I know.
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." Calls today for the Democratic National Committee to recognize the results in Florida and Michigan. We're talking live with DNC Chairman Howard Dean and Florida Governor Charlie Christ coming up in our next hour here.
And we're also following the breaking news from Times Square. Here's the tape from earlier this morning, when police had the area in a lockdown, following this small incendiary device being thrown at an Armed Forces recruiting center there and a live picture showing traffic now moving through at least part of the area.
Looks like they're bringing them up to -- I don't know if that's 40, that's probably 42nd maybe street and making them turn. Some traffic going through there now, though, so things are slowly starting to return to normal. We'll have an update from the scene with our Alina Cho, coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 33 minutes after the hour. As we continue to follow the breaking news. And you can see police milling around outside of that Armed Forces recruiting center there where that incendiary device was thrown a little while ago. A picture inside the traffic helicopter there as well.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
ROBERTS: But you see on the ground, here's some tape from earlier when the entire area was locked down. Fire trucks rolling in. The police have cordoned off the area right near the Planet Hollywood Restaurant there at 43rd Street and Broadway and 7th Avenue.
The area being reopened now but police are continuing their investigation. You saw some investigators there in those white hazmat suits as they were going in probably to collect remnants of that incendiary device. To try to piece them all together.
CHETRY: Good news is no one was injured. And it doesn't look like there was a lot of damage done. Obviously, you know, the potential for someone trying to prove a point by launching some sort of explosive at the military recruiting center there. So again, this is in the heart of Times Square. We've been following it.
Our Alina Cho has actually made it down to Times Square and she has breaking details for us right now on exactly what's going on. Any update on exactly what they think happened here, Alina?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Times Square, Kiran, as you have been reporting, was under lockdown. Imagine at really the beginning of rush hour, 6:30 in the morning. When I got here just a couple minutes ago, traffic was not flowing. Police have essentially shrunken the frozen zone and Times Square is back open. Traffic is flowing as you can see behind me. Subway service has been restored as well.
But police are still looking for their man, their suspect. Here is what they tell us. At about 3:45 Eastern this morning, police say that somebody threw a small incendiary device at an Army recruiting center right here in Times Square. The plate glass windows were shattered.
One of the New York affiliates is reporting that it was green ammo can with low-grade bomb-making materials. And that affiliate is also reporting that police have recovered shards and, of course, they are examining that as evidence. People in the area say they heard a huge bang and even felt the explosion. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's something. It was a huge bang. And there's no car accident. So...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm on the 23rd floor and I just felt this bang in the building.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm on the 44th floor and I heard it. I could feel it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terrible. So, (INAUDIBLE) friend of mine. We were out there. But we got moved back about two blocks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was kind of stupid if I could feel it on the 44th floor, why did I come down here. I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm on the 23rd floor. It shook as well. So, it was a big bang. I probably can't see any damage or anything. It's only there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't see the damage either.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't see anything. I just felt it. I can felt it on the 44th floor which is almost the very top floor and I could feel it. So, something happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just a bang that was loud enough to shake me out of bed. That was about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Now other than the damage at the Army recruiting center, there is no other damage to report here in the Times Square area. Also, no injuries to report. But again, CNN working to confirm a lot of the details but at least one affiliate in New York is reporting that police are looking for a man on a bike who was wearing gray clothing including a gray hooded sweatshirt. But again, the headline being Times Square earlier this morning under lockdown. Traffic is now flowing. Subway service has been restored and people here are really walking around asking me what's going on. They don't know. They see the television cameras. They hear the helicopters buzzing overhead. They're just trying to get to work and they're just happy that Times Square is back open.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Yes. I mean, for people that commute in New York City and in Manhattan, you know, you have to realize that literally is the only way if you're taking the subway to get from east to west. Now you can take buses further south or further north but that's the easiest route to hit west to east and to connect there this morning. So, if that was shut down on a Thursday morning that would have been an additional nightmare besides the initial explosion.
Alina, we'll check in with you throughout the morning. Thanks so much.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, oil prices are near $105 a barrel this morning. Prices stabilized overnight in trading after a big jump yesterday. The key factors driving oil up are reports showing a drop in U.S. crude oil supplies and the refusal of OPEC to increase production sent oil prices to another record high yesterday.
Turning to politics. They are still counting in Texas. So, they may not have the final results of the Democratic caucuses there until this afternoon. Just 40 percent of the precincts have reported in. With that count so far, Barack Obama sits at 56 percent, Hillary Clinton at 44 percent. 67 delegates are hanging in the balance while we wait for the results of all this.
CHETRY: Yesterday morning we thought maybe we would know the results. Can you imagine? So, hold your breath.
ROBERTS: Just keep on counting and counting and counting.
Senator Barack Obama vowing to take a more aggressive stance as the campaign battle moves into Pennsylvania. Obama talked with reporters on his way home to Illinois and explained why he thinks Senator Hillary Clinton snapped his winning streak.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's no doubt that Senator Hillary Clinton went very negative over the last week. And the kitchen sinks strategy. I'm sure it had some impact particularly in a context where many of you in the press corps had been persuaded that you had been too hard on her and too soft on me.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: And shortly after the Obama campaign criticized Clinton for not releasing her tax returns, the New York senator's campaign fired back, promising the Clintons' tax returns since they left the White House would be available by next month. But no question here that both of them taking a much more aggressive stance.
CHETRY: Yes. And it could be deja vu all over again for Democratic voters in two states, Florida and Michigan. Now these votes will not be counted in the neck-and-neck battle for delegates between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The states' vote moved up the dates of their election. They violated party rules and they were told that their delegates, because of that, would not be seated.
Well now, the governors of two states are asking the DNC, the Democratic National Committee, to step in. In Michigan, there's already been talk of a caucus and in Florida they're talking about yet another primary.
Here's what's at stake. 210 delegates in Florida, 156 in Michigan. Clinton won both of the states, but is it a fair win when Obama wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan. So, could this turn into a courtroom battle?
AMERICAN MORNING's legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, joins us now. You know, and basically Howard Dean, the DNC chair, said you all figure it out. We're not paying for it and no, we're not going to count the primaries and caucuses that you held too early. So, what are the legal options now for the states?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, there are almost no legal options for the states, Kiran -- for both states. And it was really interesting to me. I did a lot of research last night. I did a lot of research this morning. And the bottom line is that courts are really lope to get involved in this because political parties are private organizations. They are not governmental entities. So there is nothing really that lawyers are going to be able to do.
I know lawyers are sort of salivating over the possibility to get involved. We remember the hanging chad situation. Remember the Supreme Court weighing in. That is likely not going to happen here because were not really -- this is not a general election. So it's not a governmental election. These are just primaries, caucuses and really the committees of the parties are in charge here.
CHETRY: That really is fascinating because in 2000, it ended up being the Supreme Court that ultimately decided who our president was with their ruling. And now you're saying that because it's a primary, not a general that they really say it's not our jurisdiction. So are there options. Are there other options as these states try to figure out a way to make their delegates count or to hold new elections?
HOSTIN: You know, the options are, the options I think that Howard Dean gave he said you either pick a new delegate selection plan and you pay for it -- $18 million taxpayers will pay or you go to the credential committee in August. And it's interesting because really Supreme Court is the court of the land. They say what goes. And I was doing some research as I mentioned and Justice Scalia said a political party has a First Amendment right to limit its membership as it wishes and to choose a candidate-selection process that will in its view produce the nominee who best represents its political platform.
He is not going to change that position. The court is not going to change that position. Unfortunately, the legal eagles are not going to really be involved at this stage of the game.
CHETRY: And they can't make some sort of savvy argument about the right to vote. I mean, that's technically, you know, federal situation.
HOSTIN: You would think so.
CHETRY: Even though it triples under the state level.
HOSTIN: You would think so because voters should not be disenfranchised. But again, that is something that's not going to happen. The only time the Supreme Court will be involved is if it's a situation where they're limiting voters on the basis of race, on the basis of religion. We're not seeing that here. So again, unfortunately, my legal eagle pals are not going to be involved.
CHETRY: Very interesting.
ROBERTS: When has the never having any legal recourse stopped them from being involved.
HOSTIN: Well, you're right. You're right.
ROBERTS: Come on.
CHETRY: That's true. Very true. Sunny, great to see you. We'll see you again, coming up in the next hour. But meantime, we're also going to be talking in a few minutes about this primary fight in more details. In fact, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is going to be joining us. He's joining us in about 30 minutes. We're also going to be talking with Florida Governor Charlie Crist. He's going to be joining us at 7:30 Eastern Time.
We also want to know what you think. Should these primaries happen and if they do, who should pay for new primaries in Florida and Michigan? Yesterday, we actually asked you whether or not they should happen. There were some mixed feelings about that. But if they do go forward, should the taxpayers have to pay again, you know, by way of the state or should the DNC have to pay?
Cast your vote cnn.com/am. We'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: And you can bet that we'll ask Howard Dean this morning if he's ready, willing, and able to open his wallet to pay for these things. People say it could cost as much as $25 million if you do this all over again. It's a big type of change. Do school buses need seat belts? Several recent bus crashes have once again raised the issue of your kids' safety on the way to school. Our Greg Hunter is looking out for you and your kids, coming up. That's what happens when a school bus turns over.
And several new homes in Seattle were set on fire, allegedly by an environmentalist group. The irony though, these homes, at least the claims were, they were built green. But can a huge mansion really be considered green?
And we're coming back with the latest live from Times Square. Department of Homeland Security in touch with local officials. The FBI assisting in the investigation. And as you can see, traffic now, moving through the area. That's the Marriott Marquis Hotel right there in the heart of Times Square. And subway service also restored to the area. So, things moving once again.
We'll have the latest for you just as soon as we come back. Stay with us.
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CHETRY: Live pictures now of Times Square. Traffic moving again. Shut down, though, in the middle of the night after an explosive device was set off at a recruiting station -- a military recruiting station in Times Square causing some minor damage.
Police blocking off the area to investigate and we also got word just moments ago that FBI agents are also on the ground looking into this. The device shattered a glass entryway. No one was injured, though, at the time. Of course, the bomb squad from the NYPD and fire officials gathered around there to try to figure out what happened.
The search is still on for any potential suspects. They do not have anybody right now as a suspect and they're telling us at least. We have our Alina Cho on the scene gathering details and getting more information about who police think could be behind it and just how serious the situation is.
But as we know now, the subways are up and running in the area. They are letting traffic through, but a heavy police presence if you're wondering what's going on, if you're in the area of Times Square today. It was because of this minor explosion that took place about three or four hours ago.
John?
ROBERTS: Now, what is it? 12 minutes to the top of the hour. Can you have an environmentally friendly home that is also 4,500 square feet in size? Some environmental groups apparently don't think so. Eco-terrorism may have been behind the fires of some luxury homes in Washington State on Monday. Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is here to explain what it means to build green. She's "Minding Your Business," this morning.
Good morning. GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good to see you, John. Yes, this was a fascinating story about these five houses in Washington State on the Seattle's Street of Dreams. They were built described as green. And you can see them up in flames here. A group called the Earth Liberation Front, apparently, this is according to reports on the scene there, left a note saying that these homes weren't green, they were black.
Now, here's why they say this. There's an idea out there called greenwashing in which people say that people label things green as a marketing ploy more than reality. Now, the reason they say this in this case is these were big houses, 4,500 square feet. The considered the average home out there in the U.S. right now, 1,800 square feet.
So, just the whole idea that you're heating and lighting this much bigger space, spending as much as three times. Check this numbers out. Natural gas now. We look at this in the winter months. This is how what you would spend for the four months, end of November to March. See? You spend almost three times the amount for natural gas and electricity to heat and light these homes. Critics say no way these can be green because they're so much more expensive.
But I have to tell you, on the other side of the equation, the developers of these things, they had all kinds of green materials and practices that they use. These drought-tolerant native grasses, CFL bulb screwed out the whole house, cork flooring, low VOC pain, you name it.
Big debate, though, out there right now about what constitutes green and who is pulling the wool over consumer's eyes when they're selling green?
ROBERTS: But, you know, if you're going to have a house, at least having something that size, at least having some green materials in it, CFL and things like that is probably advantageous. I mean, here in New York City and in other cities across the country, they're building green skyscrapers. So you can build big and green, can you?
WILLIS: Well, that doesn't mean that the units themselves are big inside a skyscraper, right? They can be -- most New York apartments are 1,000 square feet. These homes were 4,500 square feet. This is double the level of the average U.S. home and I think there are big questions out there about whether that can actually be green. And the movement now is starting to think about how small is big. Small is the new green.
ROBERTS: Al Gore would certainly tell you, you can have a big house and have it green.
WILLIS: That's right, he would.
ROBERTS: And he seems to be living up to his promise as well. All right. Gerri Willis for us. Thanks very much.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
CHETRY: And when in doubt buy carbon credit.
Meanwhile, we're going to show you some more pictures right now from Times Square. We're following the latest on this situation after an explosive device went off outside a military recruiting station right in the heart of Times Square. We're getting word that the FBI also looking into this right now, as a search for a suspect is on. Stay with AMERICAN MORNING.
The battle over school bus safety. Is it time to buckle up? Why such a simple question fires up such fierce debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can afford it and we should do it right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Greg Hunter is looking out for you, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Despite some crashes that we have seen video of lately, transportation experts say that school buses are still the safest way for kids to travel. So why is the government considering installing millions of seat belts that some say are a waste of time and money?
Well, Greg Hunter is in West Harrison, New York. He's looking out for you with more details on this debate. You wouldn't think seat belts would cause such a debate.
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, it is causing a debate because school buses are already big and safe and they're safe because they're strong, there's lots of metal and lots of padding. For example, on this modern bus here in New York, it has high backs, seats give, they're padded, and it's kind of a compartment that actually holds kids in place in the event of a crash. So why change something this safe? Here's more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER: A frightening scene in Ohio, when a bus rolled over hurling kids out of their seats. No one was seriously hurt. That doesn't surprise New York State Pupil Transportation director Peter Mannella.
PETER MANNELLA, NEW YORK STATE PUPIL TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR: The school bus compartment, the school bus construction are such that they protect the children in most any accident they're going to experience on a school bus.
HUNTER: 97 percent of all kids injured in bus accidents are quickly treated and released and an average of just six children die in school bus accidents each year. Compare that to passenger cars, where 30,000 die each year. A rate six times higher than school buses for the same distances traveled. Still, the federal government thinks seat belts could improve safety.
MARY E. PETERS, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: Even those statistics show that children are safer on that big yellow school bus than they are walking to school, riding their bikes or even riding in the family car, this community is asking how we can make the ride to and from school safer still.
HUNTER: Peter Mannella says there's no proof seat belts on buses will make a significant difference.
It's already a safe place. Show us (INAUDIBLE).
MANNELLA: Right. If we're going to make -- this compartment, no one is arguing with us that school bus compartment is safe and has protected children for years. If you're going to change this compartment, tell us with what and why and what the benefits will be. They haven't done that yet.
HUNTER: Seat belt proponent say there's no need for further study.
DR. ALAN ROSS, NATION COALITION FOR SCHOOL BUS SAFETY: We need to protect our children now. It's not such a big deal. It's not that expensive. We know that these belts do no harm. They only do good. We can afford it and we should do it right now.
HUNTER: Some experts say the $8,000 to $10,000 it cost per bus to install seat belts would be better spent combating drunk driving and speeding which account for two-thirds of all traffic deaths.
ANNE MCCART, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: I don't want to say anything that would minimize the importance of a child dying on a school bus, but given limited resources it's important that we direct those limited resources toward the things that are going to make the biggest difference.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER: The insurance institute says if you're going to have seat belts on buses, they have to be shoulder and lap belts, not just lap belts like what's been on New York state buses for 20 years. The reason why is that lap belts in a certain kind of wreck can cause adamant injuries to kids. They can also hold kids in place, but they should be shoulder and lap belts. And one other important point that even though they have had seat belts, lap belts on school buses in New York for 20 years, Peter Mannella says that only 40 out of 700 school districts require their use. Back to you guys.
CHETRY: All right. Greg Hunter for us on seat belt safety this morning in school buses. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Coming up on two minutes to the top of the hour now. We'll be back with more on AMERICAN MORNING.
And update for you of what's going on in Times Square. These are some tape from earlier this morning. About 3:45, an incendiary device went out off outside of a military recruiting center. Thankfully, no injuries. Not a whole lot of damage. The area lockdown for awhile, but now reopened. The latest coming up for you. Stay with us.
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