Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Spitzer Sex Scandal: Under Pressure to Resign; Barack Obama Wins Mississippi; Shocking STD Study

Aired March 12, 2008 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Bayou bash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm grateful to the people of Mississippi for the wonderful support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Obama puts the pressure back on Clinton, the most politics in the morning.

Plus, danger on the road. A new effort to make sure SUVs could absorb the blow so you don't have to on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Thanks very much for being with us. Another morning after, this one the Mississippi primary, and more big news for the Obama campaign. And now, six weeks until the next contest.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. And they're already there...

ROBERTS: Wow. Long time.

CHETRY: ... watching the two Democratic candidates watching the returns from Pennsylvania because they're campaigning heavily in that delegate-rich state. We're going to have much more on politics.

But first, to Eliot Spitzer, and growing doubt this morning that the governor of New York can make it through another day after another bombshell revelation in the case. Now while he was prosecuting Wall Street bigwigs and cracking down on prostitution rings, "The Associated Press" is now reporting that Eliot Spitzer spent $80,000 of this money on sex with prostitutes. New York State Republicans are now saying the clock is ticking on his time in office.

CNN's Jason Carroll is following the Spitzer investigation. They're saying, look, if you're not leaving, we're not going to make that happen for you and we're on the countdown.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Clearly, the pressure is on here. Legal experts say it's very likely Governor Spitzer's attorneys are using this time to try and cut a deal with prosecutors, his resignation in exchange for lighter punishment. There are reports this morning his wife is urging him not to resign in haste. But again, the pressure is on. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): Governor Eliot Spitzer remains secluded in his Upper East Side apartment. No sign of the embattled governor since his public apology yesterday for being involved with a prostitute. "The Associated Press" reporting the governor may have spent as much as $80,000 on illicit encounters. A key question, whose money was it? Was it from his personal account, or were they actually public funds? While Spitzer has remained quiet, some of his critics have not.

JAMES TEDISCO, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY: We've asked the governor to resign. It's a nightmare that's not going away that has become a reality for this state.

CARROLL: New York State minority leader Jim Tedisco gave the governor a deadline saying Spitzer has 48 hours to resign, or he would begin impeachment proceedings. Harsh words against a man who acquired many enemies during his political career. Spitzer spent eight years as attorney general known as the Sheriff of Wall Street for the way he went after corruption cases. Some in the financial community encouraged by news he may resign in disgrace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He overreached himself. Too overzealous, in my opinion. I think that's the way Wall Street feels. And I got a call from a couple of very, very big houses on Wall Street today, telling me about the celebrations inside their offices when they got the news.

CARROLL: A top legislative staffer tells CNN Spitzer's aides met with Lieutenant Governor David Paterson's staff today to talk about the transition. Paterson would become governor if Spitzer were to resign. The source also says Paterson has been meeting with his political consultant. And while some politicians are adamant about Spitzer's resignation, others are more diplomatic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The governor is a very intelligent man. He will make the right decision on his own.

CARROLL: Tedisco says there is only one decision Spitzer can make that is best for the state.

TEDISCO: That his whole concept was based on a new ethics, a new day, immediate change here, really illustrates that he has lost the total support of the people of this state and the leadership here, and he really can't continue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And in trying to work a deal, the worst case scenario would be for Spitzer to plead guilty to a felony. He would face possible prison time and lose his law license. A better scenario for him is for him to resign in exchange for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of solicitation. We'll see.

CHETRY: We'll have to see exactly what's happening today and exactly how this all shakes out both on the political side but also on his legal woes possibly. Jason Carroll, good to see you, thanks.

CARROLL: All right.

ROBERTS: Now, on to politics. And Mississippi goes to Senator Barack Obama. Voters chose him over Senator Hillary Clinton 67 to 37 percent. Exit polls showed the contest followed racial lines. An overwhelming 91 percent of black voters chose Obama. And it's actually 92 percent, sorry. And 72 percent of white voters chose Hillary Clinton. Almost 40 percent of all voters said the candidates' race was important.

Mississippi has a larger African-American voting block than any other state. Nearly seven in 10 Democrats are black. And CNN is now projecting that Barack Obama won the March 4th Texas caucuses. With the victory, he ends up getting more delegates from the state than Hillary Clinton who won the primary. The caucuses give him 38 delegates compared to 29 for Hillary Clinton. That accounted for a third of the state's 193 delegates. The other two-thirds were handed out after the primary.

And here is how the delegate count stands at this hour. Obama has 1,608, Clinton 1,478. 130 delegates separate the two candidates, 2,025 are needed to clinch the Democratic nomination, a number that can only be reached now by support from superdelegates. That's how the match shapes up.

Now it's on to Pennsylvania, that primary that's coming up a long time from now, the 22nd of April. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are already in Pennsylvania with messages for voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really believe I have a good chance to win here. I'm going to work very hard to win. And I think it's important for Democrats to look at the electoral map. I have won the big states. I won the states that a Democrat has to win. And I think that's important because as we go forward against John McCain, we've got to nominate someone who can really put together the electoral map, and I believe I can do that.

OBAMA: I think I would be the better nominee, and I've been very clear about why I think I can be somebody who brings about change by bringing people together and overcoming the special interests. But I've been careful to say that I think Senator Clinton is a capable person and that should she win the nomination, obviously I would support her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: And words tonight between the Obama and Clinton campaigns after some controversial comments from one-time vice- presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro. Ferraro is a Clinton supporter and said Obama owes his status in the presidential race to his skin color. Ferraro refused to back down from her comment saying they weren't offensive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERALDINE FERRARO, CLINTON SUPPORTER: What I find is offensive is that every time somebody says something about the campaign, you're accused of being racist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Clinton says that she did not agree with Ferraro and found it regrettable when supporters in either campaign, "veer off into the personal" -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, John McCain dealing with a controversy of his own this morning, denying that his inquiries into a $35 billion air force tanker contract were motivated by lobbyists for air buffs who are close advisers to his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think my record is very clear on this issue, including a paper trail of letters that we wrote to the Department of Defense during this process and saying clearly and unequivocally, we just want a fair process and we don't want a repeat of the previous process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Airbus and Northrop Grumman won the deal. Boeing had filed a formal protest over it saying there were irregularities in the contract competition.

ROBERTS: It's coming up on eight minutes after the hour. The market makes a rebound, and what a rebound it was. But can the rally last? That's the big question today. Our Ali Velshi here "Minding Your Business." This was quite a shot in the arm for the Dow.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was about 417 points on the Dow. That was quite a shot in the arm. Let's take a look at how that turned out in terms of percentages.

The Dow was up more than 3.5 percent. That's the biggest percentage gain and number gain in more than five years. The Nasdaq was up almost four percent. The S&P 3.7 percent. You ask, can it last, John? I don't think so. I don't think this will last until today.

The futures numbers indicate that it doesn't. This Dow is so much lower than it was. I mean, we're up above 14,000. Now it's down, you know, in the 12s. The bottom line here is that people are not confident in this market.

This came as a result of about 24 hours ago we told you about a move by the Federal Reserve and international central banks to make money available to struggling investment banks and banks that had bad loans. This was going to make more credit available to them, not for free but they'd be able to get money so that they didn't fail. It doesn't sound like the shot in the arm that the entire world needed to turn markets around, so it might have been a short-term thing.

For now, the economy still remains uncertain. We've just had new mortgage numbers come in for the last week. And we've seen the mortgage rates on a 30 year or 15 years and one-year actually go up quite a bit. For those of you expecting a Fed rate cut next week, that's not going to affect your fixed rate mortgages. I'll have more for you on that and, of course, the gas prices and oil prices that are affecting stocks and the economy in about half an hour.

ROBERTS: Oh, I'll tell you. So many people are getting squeezed by the high price of oil, heating, home heating oil...

VELSHI: Yes.

ROBERTS: ... gasoline. This is terrible.

VELSHI: Yes. It's not -- for most Americans it's not a cost that you can immediately replace.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: That's right.

VELSHI: I mean, I'm not going to take this trip, you know, for a weekend. But for most Americans, they have to try, so it's really hurting them.

CHETRY: That's right. And it seeps through in every aspect. Fuel surcharges, shipping cost more.

VELSHI: Sure. You go everywhere. Anything you're going to do or eat or wear is somehow going to be affected by the price of oil.

CHETRY: And if you're trying to sit in your house, I tell you, you need heat.

ROBERTS: Yes. You know, even staying at home is expensive.

VELSHI: That's right.

CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.

Alina Cho joins us now this morning with some other stories making headlines including some news from the airline.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Southwest is a very big story. Good morning, guys. Good morning, everybody.

New this morning. Southwest Airlines has suspended three employees following allegations it flew dozens of planes that were not adequately inspected. Now, the airline would not say what positions the employees hold, but it did say they are suspended with pay. Southwest also sped up a maintenance review after the FAA proposed a whopping $10 million fine against the airline. Federal officials are reportedly also looking into alleged ties between an FAA inspector and a Southwest manager. Detroit's embattled mayor, whose administration is engulfed in a sex scandal, blasted his critics during the final minutes of his State of the City address. Listen to this. Speaking to a friendly invitation only crowd last night, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's fiery closing remarks brought the audience to its feet. He pleaded for an end to what he calls hate-filled attacks on him and his family.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KWAME KILPATRICK (D), DETROIT: This unethical, illegal lynch mob mentality has to stop. We've never been here before. And I don't care if they cut the TV off. We've never been in a situation like this before where you can say anything, do anything, have no facts, no research, no nothing, and you can launch a hate-driven, bigoted assault on a family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Now, Kilpatrick is at the center of a criminal investigation. He's accused of lying under oath after denying he had an affair with a former top aide that was later revealed in a series of text messages. The city council is expected to consider a resolution next week calling for him to resign.

And finally, Mary Ann was the sweet wholesome girl on Gilligan's island, remember her? But the actress who played her is apparently not living up to that reputation. She's 69-years-old now. Dawn Wells recently sentenced to five days in jail and six months probation after pleading guilty to reckless driving.

Now, three other counts, including driving under the influence, possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana possession were dropped in exchange for that guilty plea. Wells, who lives in Idaho, was pulled over back in September. And that's the mug shot there. She was headed home after her surprise birthday party.

She got a big surprise herself. But, I mean, this is interesting news. But honestly, I was more surprised by the fact that she's 69- years-old.

CHETRY: I know. She still looks great in the mug shot as well. So go figure.

CHO: Takes a good picture.

CHETRY: Thanks, Alina.

ROBERTS: Everybody eventually grows up, don't they?

Coming up, what tipped off investigators to Governor Spitzer's bank account? We'll ask a former IRS agent about the red flags, what they watch for and what you may need to watch for straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Geraldine Ferraro defending some comments she made about Senator Barack Obama. Here is the quote that started it all. Ferraro gave this to a newspaper in Torrance, California. She said that if Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is and the country is caught up in the concept.

Now, the Obama campaign has called the comments patently absurd. Hillary Clinton told "the Associated Press" she did not agree with Ferraro's comments. Ferraro has since responded again, saying every time that campaign is upset about something they call it racist. I will not be discriminated against because I'm white.

Well, it brings us to our "Quick Vote" question of the day. We want to know what you think. Should Geraldine Ferraro apologize for her comments about Barack Obama? Cast your vote CNN.com/am. We'll have the first tally of votes a little bit later in the hour -- John.

ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes now after the hour. And a closer look at the case against New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. It all started after a number of odd money transfers caught the eye of the Feds. Here to break down how the case got to where it is today and what it all might mean for you in your daily transactions is former IRS agent Walter Pagano. He's also the head of the Forensic Accounting Department at Eisner LLP, an accounting firm here in New York. Thanks for being with us.

I think that -- you know, a lot of people are fascinated by this whole thing of just whose eyes are on your money as it's flying around the country or around the world as the case maybe.

We were sort of surprised to find out this morning, according to "The Associated Press," that Eliot Spitzer has over the years, I think, since 2002, allegedly spent $80,000 procuring the services of prostitutes. So this money was flowing out of his bank accounts. What would it have been that triggered red flags? Because he's a very rich man, and this amount of money over that period of time might not seem to be unusual.

WALTER PAGANO, FORMER IRS AGENT: Well, there are two possible sources, John. One is from the financial institution perspective, banks are required by law to provide financial information to the Department of Treasury when, according to their anti-money laundering software, transactions which appear to be suspicious rise above a level which then causes the bank to say there might be a probable cause here for further scrutiny.

ROBERTS: But what would make it appear to be suspicious? Because what's interesting is that this investigation, it didn't start with a Shell company, and they were looking at what was flowing into the Shell company. It started with an examination of his bank account. So what possibly could have been suspicious?

PAGANO: Well, what could be suspicious is if there are aberrations in one's bank accounts, meaning cash disbursements, cash withdrawals, wire transfers that are unusual for you and me in the normal course of our daily business. We ordinarily write bills by check. So if there are inordinate amounts of cash being dispersed or ATM machine withdrawals, that would raise a red flag, even if the amounts are under $10,000, because the service, the IRS, looks at patterns of behavior and links financial patterns of behavior, not necessarily over 10,000 but having increments.

ROBERTS: So we're talking always about cash transactions here as opposed to payments to a credit card company, your mortgage company? People at home are probably sitting here saying oh, my goodness. Is somebody looking over my shoulder every time I make my mortgage payment or I pay off my credit cards?

PAGANO: I wouldn't go that far. I wouldn't be that concerned, because as I said, it's the normal behavior of a particular individual's financial transactions that governs whether a particular transaction rises above that level, passes the filter test, and then someone sitting down at a computer, an IRS agent or a bank analyst going back to the financial institution would be saying, gee, this appears to be problematic. We should pursue it. At least, obtain the evidence to determine whether or not the transaction might violate a particular criminal statute.

ROBERTS: But is it true or untrue that sometimes innocent people who make innocent transactions get swept up in all this world of what are called suspicious activity reports or currency transaction reports or FinCEN, which is the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

PAGANO: That may happen. However, the facts usually bear out that if there's an unusual transaction, such as a sale of a home or a particular situation came where there are gifts from a wedding or gifts from some other source, that would be easily explainable and the potential problem would go away.

ROBERTS: All right. But still, I mean, this wide Web, this network monitoring these financial transactions is often looking at you and me, normal people out there. Not just ones who are engaged in illicit or suspicious activity.

PAGANO: That's true. It's looking at all of us especially as a result of -- after 9/11 as well. Anti-terrorism and other reasons for criminal activity are causing financial institutions as well as the Departments of Treasury, Secret Service, IRS, FBI to be more vigilant. That's just the world we're in right now.

ROBERTS: Something else to keep in mind.

PAGANO: Yes, it is.

ROBERTS: As we make our monthly payments. Walter Pagano, thanks for explaining that. Good of you to come in this morning.

PAGANO: My pleasure, John. Thank you very much.

ROBERTS: Kiran? CHETRY: Well, one in four teenager girls infected with a sexually transmitted disease. It seems like a shocking statistic. Sanjay Gupta has some surprising result of this new study out there.

Hey, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Shocking is a good word to describe it. Good morning, Kiran. Especially as the father of two daughters. One in four girls are saying has STDs, sexually transmitted disease. What are those STDs? And more importantly, what can you do about it? I'll have that for you coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: We have some surprising new findings from a study about teens and sexually transmitted diseases, saying that one out of every four teenage girls is infected with an STD. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the medical update desk with more on this story. The numbers do sound high. I was surprised when I read it. What do the experts say?

GUPTA: You know, I think the experts were surprised as well. Most people shocked. I think delayed public shock when you hear numbers like this. But they are -- you know, I think the experts have believed for some time that the STDs among this population, teenage population was pretty high -- 26 percent. That's the actual number. Twenty-six percent among teenage girls they think have STDs. That's about 3.2 million people.

If you look at just African-American teenage girls, it's about 48 percent. Think about that for a second. That's an extremely high number. They went on to say out of this conference in Chicago that about 15 percent of these teenagers have more than one STD.

Now, the way the study was done is important. They actually looked at about 838 girls. So not the highest numbers. Then they're essentially extrapolating those numbers for the rest of the country. I want you to take a look at specifically which STDs we're talking about here.

First of all, again, one in four has a sexually transmitted disease. But they found that specifically, 18 percent human papilloma virus, four percent Chlamydia, 2.5 trichomoniasis, and two percent herpes simplex. So those are the ones that they looked at. They did not look at syphilis, gonorrhea or HIV. So these numbers, as far as, you know, overall STDs might actually be guessing lower.

If you add in other STDs they could have tested for, the numbers could even be higher than that, Kiran. So again, surprising to a lot, shocking to others. As the father of two young girls, I'm a little surprised by this.

CHETRY: But you're right. A low sampling, 838 girls. But the other question is, if a quarter of them have an STD, what does that say about how many are actually sexually active? And also, what does it say about whether or not any type of messages about using protection are getting through to these young girls and boys.

GUPTA: Yes. So with regards to sexually active, it's very hard to do those studies as you might imagine. They tried to do those studies as well. The way that they sometimes do them is through phone surveys, random phone surveys. And, obviously, those are going to be very biased samplings. But they sort of guessed about 40 to 50 percent of teenagers are currently sexually active in some way.

So, and again, that might be guessing lower because of the fact that people are, you know, less likely to answer in the affirmative. How effective? They're effective or more effective, I guess, you should say, if they are actually being used. But one thing about these sexually transmitted diseases is that people are often without any sort of symptoms. They don't have symptom at the time of diagnosis which means they may be unwittingly passing it on to one partner to the other.

CHETRY: You talk about HPV as being the highest one. And they do have a vaccine right now, Gardasil, that they've talked about, the importance of getting young girls vaccinated. What are your thoughts on that?

GUPTA: Well, you know, I mean, there's a lot of different thoughts on this. First of all, you know, you look at HPV, human papilloma virus, and there are dozens of different strains of this. This Gardasil protects against four of them. Two of the four that it protects against are the ones most responsible for causing cervical cancer. So you could potentially be giving a vaccine to your child, 11, 12-year-old girl, for now, and it could potentially protect her against cervical cancer.

The other two strains that it protects against are most likely responsible for genital warts. So it can be a very effective vaccine. There's also some talks which we'll be reporting on later, hopefully the next month, about the vaccine in boys as well and the recommendations for that. My thoughts, you know, look, my girls aren't old enough at this point to get it. But I think that if they were, I'd probably give it to them.

CHETRY: All right. Sanjay Gupta with more on this study that really took a lot of us by surprise yesterday when we read it. Thanks.

GUPTA: Thanks.

ROBERTS: It's 27 minutes after the hour. You are watching the "Most News in the Morning."

Look at the Emperors Club, the building that housed the alleged prostitution ring at the center of the Spitzer scandal. Laying details on the people accused of handling the dirty money. That's all coming up.

And Barack Obama picks up a big victory in Mississippi. How did he do it, and can he do it again in Pennsylvania? That story and today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: There's a beautiful picture today. This is coming to us from central Florida, News 13. This is Melbourne, Florida, 66 degrees.

ROBERTS: Isn't it lovely how the power lines cut right through the pastoral landscape there.

CHETRY: Just don't look at that part. Just look at the top three-quarters of the screen this morning. Melbourne, Florida, a beautiful place on our road trip to key west one year on spring break, passed right through there, hung out for a little while. Beautiful place.

ROBERTS: That's a long drive.

CHETRY: From the University of Maryland, yes, it is, especially in an old beat up Jetta. But those are the memories of college, right.

ROBERTS: That drive along U.S. 1 down the keys is one of the most incredible drive anywhere in this country. I think U.S. 1 out there on the west coast as well.

CHETRY: We were three girls but we never got lost. We only had to take one road, Route 1 from the University of Maryland all the way down to the Keys.

ROBERTS: You took Route 1 all the way?

CHETRY: We did.

ROBERTS: It must have been taken you week. You got there in time to come back. Thanks for being with us this morning. Barack Obama won the Mississippi primary easily over Hillary Clinton. Obama got a majority of the African-American vote but Clinton is not dwelling on defeat.

Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joins us this morning from Chicago. Good morning, Candy.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

You know, there is one thing we have learned about this race and that is that every day brings something new and every day holds the opportunity to change the dynamic. But it is certain that last night belonged to Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY (voice-over): Two in a row for Barack Obama.

OBAMA: I'm grateful to the people of Mississippi for the wonderful support. CROWLEY: Obama's win in the Mississippi primary came just three days after his victory in the Wyoming caucuses . It helps put his losses in Ohio and Texas in the rearview mirror. More importantly, it pads his lead.

OBAMA: It's just another win in our column, and we are getting more delegates.

CROWLEY: Obama was the heavy favorite in pre-primary polls. But Democratic delegates are awarded proportionately so Hillary Clinton campaigned to limit his take.

CLINTON: I want the people of Mississippi to know I'm in favor of you. And I'm going to work for you. And I will be there for you.

CROWLEY: Still she lost by 20 points in an electorate sharply divided along racial lines. Exit polls show African-Americans made up half of Mississippi's Democratic voters. And once again Obama overwhelmingly won the black vote.

Clinton grabbed three-quarters of the white vote. She also got a lift from crossover Republicans who went for her three to one. But for the Clinton campaign, Mississippi was so yesterday. She congratulated him on his victory there but Hillary Clinton is moving on to friendlier climes.

CLINTON: I'm excited about the next weeks, traveling around, going all over Philadelphia, going into the suburbs, going across this beautiful, beautiful commonwealth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: The fact is, John, there is nothing for Democrats between now and that April 26th Pennsylvania primary. Lots could happen in that time. The Obama camp thinks that that is the time they can use to introduce him to voters in Pennsylvania. They say the more time they have in a state, the better he does -- John.

ROBERTS: So they got six weeks now with no contest to give them any kind of momentum or take it away. What do they do?

CROWLEY: Well, first of all, they are going to raise some more money. This has been a far costlier primary race than either one of them anticipated. But second of all, it could it be Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania.

And what this does, what this six-week period does is give them such a buildup that perhaps the state takes on even more importance than it actually will have, because both these camps at this point believed the way the polls are looking and the way history has shown throughout this campaign that they will likely come out of it each with a fair share of delegates and not really change the dynamic that much.

But boy, there will be quite a buildup. You will see Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. You heard her in that bite, in and out of that state and mostly in for the next six weeks. So, get ready Pennsylvania.

ROBERTS: All right. People can't wait for that. All right. Candy Crowley for us this morning from Chicago. Candy, thanks -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Meanwhile, there are some interesting results coming out of the Mississippi exit polling. Six out of ten Obama supporters saying he should pick Hillary Clinton to be his running mate. But just four out of ten Clinton supporters say they would want Obama as her VP. Also, more Obama voters say they would be fine with Clinton winning the nomination but Clinton voters not as keen on and Obama win.

While voters are casting ballot in Mississippi, Florida still trying to resolve an impasse over seating the state's 210 pledge delegates and 28 superdelegates. The state's congressional delegation met yesterday and says it doesn't agree with holding a vote by mail. Representative Alcee Hastings saying that our house delegation is opposed to a mail-in campaign or a redo of any kind. And, of course, as we know, those all important delegates that are not counting, Hillary Clinton won that state.

ROBERTS: Right. This morning may be the biggest bombshell yet in the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal. And more ammunition for critics who want him out of New York's highest office. Right now, he is still in charge but the clock is ticking. New York state Republicans say they will start impeachment proceedings if he doesn't resign. The Associated Press now reporting that Governor Spitzer may have spent as much as $80,000, $80,000 on high-priced prostitutes over the course of years.

The Emperors Club didn't run out of the Empire State. It was actually based in New Jersey. These are the first pictures of the building that housed it. It's an apartment building basically. Prosecutors say the Emperors Club VIP was based on the 12th floor of this Cliff side Park high-rise just across the Hudson River. Two people were arrested last week for running it. They are accused of laundering more than a million dollars through bank accounts set up for the operation.

The feisty former mayor of New York City is weighing in on the Spitzer sex scandal. Ed Koch joined Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM," and he still, true to form, is not pulling any punches.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED KOCH, FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: What we see happening here is a Greek tragedy. Yes, it's arrogance. He's a very smart guy but I think there is a screw loose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: 83-year-old former mayor has praised Spitzer in the past. But he now says that Spitzer's behavior since becoming governor has been, "irrational." CHETRY: Well, Rob Marciano at the CNN weather center this morning. He is tracking extreme weather for us and high winds coming out of the west this morning?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, coming out of the west and then coming into the west. We've got some winds that will be blowing especially across Southern California. Last night and yesterday they were blowing across parts of Montana, Wyoming. And now this little system is rolling into the Dakotas.

Take a look at some of these gusts, 72 miles an hour. Cut Bank, Montana 66, Livingston, Montana 55, so Great Falls, Montana 51. These aren't thunderstorms, they are just winds that are whipping with that Alberta clipper coming down off the mountains. That certainly helps accelerate things.

All right. Across to the northeast we go. We've got a similar clipper heading across town. It's moving quickly. I think we don't have a whole lot of moisture, you're not seeing a dramatic pileup of rain or snow. You really have to go north of 84 up toward the freeway towards Albany or may Poughkeepsie to get a little bit of a mix, but New York, including Yonkers, Levittown, over towards Bridgeport, Connecticut, you'll probably see some showers this morning. Very, very light stuff. More significant from Utica and back through Buffalo. You might see one or two inches of snow pile up with this.

All right. The next system we are watching that will affect the west coast and eventually affect everybody else, the swirl in the atmosphere, which is going to drop down, it's going to slam down into California and it will change the overall weather pattern over the next couple of days, really bring in some cool air, drop the jet stream all the way down to the Mexican border.

We'll see 20 degrees temperatures that will be 20 degrees below average. We'll also see winds that will be whipping across the southern California mountains. So, high wind watches are posted there beginning tonight and through tomorrow night for winds that could gust up to 60 miles an hour.

That's the latest from over her. Back up to you guys in New York.

ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much.

Oil and gas hit record highs while they level off or are they going to keep climbing? Just increasing the pain. Ali Velshi checks in with this.

And stop hitting the snooze button. A new study says this morning you're getting plenty of sleep despite everything you've heard. You know, it seems to me that just last week we just told everybody we're not getting enough sleep, and now apparently you're getting more than you need. We're paging Dr. Gupta for eye-opening or rather closing answers next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: All right. Check this out. It was a near miss. There you see it. We have to see that again. That's more exciting than anything that happened so far today, John.

ROBERTS: Look at this.

CHETRY: Let's see that gain. Look at the right-hand side of your screen that car just zooms through, I mean, he literally squeezes between those two cars.

VELSHI: Jeff Gordon can't find holes like that. That's crazy.

CHETRY: And did you see, it didn't even stop. I mean, he zoomed right past. After going through the intersection he's still gone. This was caught on a traffic camera. Now you see it again out of nowhere that car barreled through the right-of-way.

VELSHI: You can make a career out of that.

CHETRY: And it appears no one was injured. I mean, the other cars in traffic didn't seem to miss much of a beat either.

ROBERTS: You can see the one guy slows down but...

VELSHI: Barely.

ROBERTS: Goodness me.

CHETRY: That's pretty unbelievable.

ROBERTS: Talk about threading the needle.

CHETRY: There you have it. Yes, threading the needle and taking some risks.

ROBERTS: Don't try that at home.

VELSHI: Well, stopping and starting uses a lot more gas than just driving at a steady pace.

CHETRY: I know you're not recommending that type of behavior on the road, Mr. Ali Velshi, this morning.

VELSHI: I'm not but you've seen the price of oil.

CHETRY: That's right. Oil prices are continuing to soar and we're also seeing the price per gallon up around the world. So, are we seeing that translate to higher gas prices?

VELSHI: Let's take a look. You'll notice, by the way, I didn't bring the barrel with me because yesterday we brought the barrel and John went and monkeyed around with it and oil gained like two bucks an hour. So, the barrel is staying in its home right now. We did close at another record yesterday but the record was actually lower than the price that John got all to get to yesterday morning. So the price for oil yesterday was $108.75. Unbelievable numbers. And that translates into gas prices of $3.25 on average across the United States for self-serve. That is a new record for gas prices. Now, we thought we'd take a look around the world and see from last March to now what gas prices have been looking at. So, we're $3.25 here in the United States, we were $2.56 a year ago. In the United Kingdom, one year ago $6.65 for a gallon of gas now $8.02.

In South Africa, it was $3.08 a year ago, $3.72 now, Thailand $3.04, $3.33 now. So a smaller increase. Canada gas is more expensive than it is here, all through European countries, gas is more expensive. There are a few countries where, you know, gas is heavily subsidized like Venezuela and Iran. But in fact we've seen that increase in gas prices around the world. So, don't feel so bad.

CHETRY: That's right. Compared to eight bucks a gallon.

VELSHI: We're not paying eight bucks.

ROBERTS: We should point out to our viewers that we're not laughing about the high prices of oil and gas. But you know, sometimes you've got to do that, otherwise you're going to cry about the whole thing.

VELSHI: We're all -- what is it? It's a small world. We're all paying for it.

ROBERTS: Ali, thanks.

CHETRY: Exactly. Thanks, Ali.

ROBERTS: Well, researchers have been sounding the alarm about Americans not getting enough sleep. And in fact, just last week we told you that people aren't getting enough sleep. But could it be a false alarm? A new study out today says Americans are probably getting enough sleep after all.

We're paging Dr. Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent. He joins us now from Atlanta. This is like all the studies about caffeine, it's good for you, it's bad for you. We're not getting enough sleep, now we are. I mean, how much sleep are we really getting here?

GUPTA: This was very interesting because the two different studies, two different methodologies. But very rarely do I get to report good news, and I think there may be some good news in here in terms of how much sleep that we're getting.

You're right, first of all, the National Sleep Foundation released the numbers last week. And they say on average we get about 48 hours a week. So, not enough. Typically eight hours a night would be 56 hours.

This new study out of the University of Maryland using, again using a different technique actually found better numbers overall. They found that we hit about 59 hours a week. And in fact this study, they have been looking at this for 40 years, they think we get three hours more than we did in 2000. These numbers actually getting better on average, that's about 8 1/2 hours a week.

So, again, different study. Some would say a better method in terms of actually conducting the study and showing that we're actually getting more sleep than we thought.

One thing that was interesting here, John, they say this idea of people sort of guessing how much sleep they need, people tend to underestimate. In part, it's become, you know, not getting enough sleep almost is a symbol of your perseverance, your work ethic per se but it may not always be an accurate reflection of how much sleep you're actually getting.

ROBERTS: Hey, Sanjay, I can hear behind you that it's a big topic of discussion there in the news room in Atlanta. How do you account for this disparity between what the National Sleep Foundation found and what these researchers in Maryland found?

GUPTA: That's exactly what I was curious about as well, John. It was interesting that the National Sleep Foundation, if you look at the way they do the studies, a lot of it is sort of based on asking people to estimate how much sleep they get. And again, people may tend to underestimate for various reasons.

But with this University of Maryland study, what they use is something known as time use data. So, instead of saying how much sleep do you think you got last night, they actually asked people to account for all the various hours of their day. And what they think, at least, with their particular bias is that that study, that method actually gives them a better reflection of how much sleep someone is actually getting. And ultimately the numbers were not just slightly higher but significantly higher. Again, about eight and a half hours a night on average.

ROBERTS: I guess they are accounting for those times at work when people put their feet up and nod off. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks.

GUPTA: Thanks, John.

CHETRY: Also, they can't really take into consideration like you guys were saying, how long it takes to fall asleep. You may be physically in bed but you're just laying there and your mind is racing.

ROBERTS: It's like the coffee thing. One week caffeine is good for you, and the next week, it's bad. One week you're not getting enough sleep, then next you are.

CHETRY: Well, one thing that you could be sure of is on this show it will never change. You will always not get enough sleep.

ROBERTS: If only be bad and worse.

CHETRY: Well, you're watching the most news in the morning and still ahead blowing the whistle on sky high credit rates. Those hidden fees. We're going to see what's being done today to help you get out of debt. Our Gerri Willis takes a look.

Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, how safe is your SUV? They are more likely than a car to roll over. But can these protect you?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How strong should these roofs be?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Greg Hunter shows us how just $12 could save lives. He's looking out for you ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Nine minutes down to the top of the hour. Something that could save your life in a rollover. For the first time in 35 years, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is considering new rules to make SUV roofs stronger.

Our Greg Hunter is looking out for you. He's down stairs on the streets of Manhattan. He joins us now. Good morning, Greg.

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety with a brand new report today about roof strengths and the report says basically the stronger the roof, the safer you are in a roll over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTER (voice-over): This is every SUV owner's nightmare. Rollovers are responsible for more than 10,000 passenger deaths and thousands more serious injuries every year. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tested SUV roofs to see how much pressure they could take before collapsing. Although they look the same afterwards, the force it took to crush them varied.

So, this may take twice as much force as this took at the same level.

ADRIAN LUND, INSURANCE INST. FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: Exactly. We're measuring how strong the roof is, how much force does it take to crush it to 10 inches.

HUNTER: They tested older mid sized SUVs from Ford, Nissan, Chrysler, General Motors, Mitsubishi and Toyota and compared death and injury data from those vehicles. The conclusion?

LUND: We found the roofs that take more force to crush them to 10 inches, we saw lower injury rates, lower death rates in those vehicles.

HUNTER: In the institute's testing one of the strongest models was the 2000 Nissan Exterra, which withstood nearly three times its weight with minimal damage, compared to the 2000 Ford Explorer, its roof caved in with much less pressure.

One of the weakest roofs was the 1999-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Its roof crushed after a little more than one and a half times its weight. All the vehicles tested meet current government safety standards, able to withstand 1.5 times its weight without collapsing. The institute says the current plans to have that standard increase at 2.5 times the vehicle's weight is better but not enough.

How strong should the roofs be?

LUND: We think the roof should withstand a force of at least three times the vehicle's weight.

HUNTER: On Ford's behalf, the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers said, "by itself, changes to the roof crush resistance standard will have little overall affect in reducing rollover related fatalities." Chrysler says "the report issued by the IIHS this week is flawed and contradicts previous reports published by the institute and NHTSA. And increased roof strength would not have a significant affect on overall injuries in the real world."

Adrian Lund disagreed.

LUND: The simple message is we need vehicles to have stronger roofs than they do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTER: There are some things that you can get on an SUV like electronic stability control that helps mitigate the problem of these high-centered vehicle, the vehicle electronically and that's going to be standard equipment on all vehicles in the next couple of years. Also, side curtain airbags. They tell me in the institute that they're not only good for side collisions but when the side curtain airbag comes down, it helps you stay in the vehicle and keeps you from falling out in a rollover. John.

ROBERTS: Greg, what would be the cost of the automobile manufacturers to strengthen the roofs to the standards that some people suggest they should be.

HUNTER: That's a great question. The industry likes to say it will cost the industry $100 million. And that's true. But the National Highway Safety Administration says it breaks down to about 12 bucks a vehicle. I tell you I'd like to have a stronger roof in a roll over. I tell you that.

ROBERTS: I'm sorry, Greg, how much was that per vehicle?

HUNTER: That would be $12.

ROBERTS: That's not a whole lot of money. All right. Greg Hunter for us this morning on the streets of New York City out there in Columbus Circle. Greg, thanks very much. Kiran.

CHETRY: Geraldine Ferraro, a Clinton supporter and fund-raiser is defending her comments about Barack Obama. The quote that she gave in a newspaper in Torence, California is this. "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color he would not be in this position." He happens to be very lucky to be who he is and the country is caught up in the concept.

Now, the Obama campaign has called these comments patently absurd. Hillary Clinton told the Associated Press she did not agree with them. Ferraro has since responded, "Every time that campaign is upset about something they call it racist. I will not be discriminated against because I'm white."

CHETRY: So that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question, should Geraldine Ferraro apologize for the comment she made about Barack Obama. Right now, 40 percent of you say yes, 60 percent of you say no. You can still cast your vote at cnn.com/am and we'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.

Still ahead, cold cash that sparked a hot trail. Find out about the journey that prosecutors took in uncovering New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's alleged involvement in prostitution.

Plus if you ever look down at your watch and you still don't know what time it is, or you walk into a room and you forget why you went there in the first place, it's the brain fog that probably hits many of us from time to time or perhaps more often than that. Well, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has some tips on battling brain fog ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Under pressure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well the governor should make up his mind immediately, sooner, better than later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: More bomb shells about Governor Eliot Spitzer how much he spent on sex. The clock ticking on his next move.

Two more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We are making the case about the need for change in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Obama adds to his wins. The next huge prize on the horizon.

Plus, when seconds count.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know it went against everything that we...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Forget what you know about CPR. The new technique that could triple the number of survivors on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And good morning. Thanks very much for being with us on this Wednesday, the 12th day of March, only three days away from the March beware.

CHETRY: How about it? We'll be watching out. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. We have a new bomb shell about the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal. First it was client number nine, the high priced call girl named "Kristen" in room 871.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com