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American Morning
Death Milestone Hit in Iraq War; Search Continues for Lost Crewman of Alaska Ranger; Hillary Clinton Takes on the Economy; Is Typhoid Fever Making a Comeback?
Aired March 24, 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: We begin with a milestone in the war in Iraq. Four U.S. soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad. That brings the total number of Americans killed in Iraq now to 4,000.
CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us.
Barbara, the milestone comes just as General Petraeus is set to brief President Bush today about his plans for possible troop reductions.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. The general is expected to tell President Bush he will recommend at least a pause in any further troop reductions in Iraq. He wants to see how the security situation shorts out in July when the last of the so-called surge brigades return back to their home bases. So expect not to see massive additional troop cuts any time soon in Iraq.
Of course, what the military says about this very somber milestone is every one of these deaths so important. These are not statistics. These are young Americans who obviously have served their country, given the full measure, and the military is very cognizant of that.
General Petraeus I think would be first in line on being aware this all comes at a very delicate time when he is going to brief the president and then go to Capitol Hill in early April to testify before Congress about those recommendations on the way ahead.
So this milestone will certainly be on everyone's mind when that happens -- John?
ROBERTS: In addition, Barbara, to the U.S. troop deaths, there has been a spike in violence, a lot more deaths among Iraqi civilians in recent weeks. Is this a sign that insurgent activity continues to be a nagging problem?
STARR: Absolutely. There may be progress in Iraq, but I think any military commander would tell you as well as the solders on the ground, it is far from over.
In fact, they have seen a spike in violence. The Green Zone shelled yesterday, an attack in Mosul killing dozens of Iraqis. They do believe the spike in violence is because the insurgents that remain are watching the calendar. They know Petraeus is coming to town. They know the presidential election is on and that this is going to be one of the major topics in the campaign through the summer and fall. So the feeling is that uptick in violence is politics. It's insurgent politics, their response to what they see the political climate, if you will, being in the United States.
But make no mistake -- now 4,000 American families getting that dreaded knock at the door. That is something that's on everyone's mind -- John?
ROBERTS: Certainly is. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon, thanks.
Also this morning, the Coast Guard is searching for a missing crew member lost in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska. The Alaska Ranger sank early on Sunday morning 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor.
Four crew members, including the captain, died. 42 others were rescued. Most of them were wearing survival suits. Coast Guard rescuers quickly responded after receiving a chilling distress call.
This morning I spoke to Captain Michael Inman from the Coast Guard in Juneau, Alaska, about the status of the search.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. MICHAEL INMAN, U.S. COAST GUARD: Coast Guard cutter Monroe is on scene searching and searched throughout the night. At first light in morning, we will have an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter coming out of St. Paul to search the area for about probably five to six hours and we will look at that, our results, at that point and see where we stand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The crew reported problem with the rudder assembly, something with the steering gear box shortly before they called for help. They said there was uncontrolled flooding. Then the ship went down.
Vice President Dick Cheney is meeting with Israel's prime minister to push for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Later the vice president told reporters that Hamas, backed by Iran and Syria, is trying to torpedo the peace talks. Cheney heads to turkey today, the last stop on his tour of the Middle East.
After wrapping up his Middle East trip, Senator John McCain is back on the campaign trail. He heads to California to look for support in a state that voted Democratic in the last two presidential elections.
McCain's most recent travel plans are well-known. Why some of his former passport details were peeked at is still unclear.
Speaking on CNN's "LATE EDITION," Republican Senator Arlen Specter said that "security breach is a very serious matter that deserves a full investigation."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, (R), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: That kind of a breach of privacy is just despicable. I think there are federal criminal statutes involved. I think that ought to be a very intense investigation. I think privacy is a very fundamental matter. And if you can't have privacy for Senator McCain and Senator Clinton and Senator Obama, what's the average person facing? I think that's very serious and ought to be pursued very diligently in a tough way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Contractors for the State Department are accused of unauthorized searches of the files of Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Two contractors have been fired, was disciplined.
Meanwhile, it's certainly no secret that Senator Clinton's travel plans include Philadelphia today. She's kicking off the day with a major policy address.
Jim Acosta is live with the election express this morning in Philadelphia. She's taking on the economy today -- Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. That's right. She is expected to be back in Philadelphia this morning, set to deliver as you mentioned the major policy address on the economy here in the city of brotherly love.
While the candidates had a down day yesterday on Easter, their surrogates were busy on the Sunday talk shows. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson who just announced his support for Obama responded to a jab from Hillary Clinton's supporter jams Carville. He compared the New Mexico governor to Judas.
Yesterday Richardson, who served as energy secretary in the Clinton administration, fired back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: I'm not going to get in the gutter like that. And, you know, that's typical of many of the people around Senator Clinton. They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Both campaigns will be keeping an eye on the public opinion polls to see whether or not Barack Obama has recovered from that hit he took after those controversial comments from his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.
ROBERTS: At least there in Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton still has a substantial lead. ACOSTA: That's right. It's going to be very hard for Barack Obama to catch up with Hillary Clinton in the state. That's why we're seeing the Senator from Illinois campaigning in Indiana, North Carolina and Oregon.
Make no mistake. We have a month to go. As we've noticed with this campaign, one controversy with Jeremiah Wright might happen one week and then there's a Richardson endorsement the next week. There's plenty of time for Barack Obama to catch up. Make no mistake. He has a very tall order here in the keystone state, John.
ROBERTS: As they say in politics, a day is a long time, a week is forever. So we can only imagine what four would be.
Jim Acosta for us this morning in Philadelphia. Thanks.
Just a programming note for you this morning, Governor Bill Richardson is going to be our guest coming up at 8:15 eastern, a little more than an hour from now.
In the meantime, Veronica De La Cruz is here with other new stories.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you.
Good morning to all of you out there. Here's what's new this morning. The Olympic torch was lit in Greece, but the ceremony wasn't without controversy. The president of the Beijing Olympic committee was speaking when a protester ran behind him and held up a black flag.
Take a look. He and another man were quickly removed by police. The torch was lit without further disruption. Activists seeking independence for Tibet saying China's plan to carry the torch through Tibet would be, quote, "adding insult to 50 years of blood-stained injury."
A new call for violence from al Qaeda's second in command. An audio message posted online is telling Muslims to attack western interests in defense of Palestinians in Gaza. It's said to be from al Zawahiri, but the speaker's identity hasn't been verified. A similar message was released from Osama bin Laden last week.
A government laptop containing medical data on 2500 patients was reportedly stolen in February, but they weren't told until last week. "The Washington Post" says the patients were taking part in a National Institutes of Health study. The NIH says it waited to reveal the theft to avoid panic. It says the risk of identity theft is low because the laptop did not contain data like Social Security numbers or addresses.
Explosions and fire for a major employer of a small Arkansas town, it apparently began in the freezer of the Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Booneville yesterday. It caused an ammonia leak forcing 180 people to evacuate nearby homes. About a quarter of the town's residents work at the plant. Cargill say it's too early to tell whether they will rebuild.
JPMorgan Chase is reportedly boosting its bid for investment bank Bear Stearns five times over. It is negotiating a new price of $10 a share. That's according to the "New York Times." It's meant to calm stockholders angry over the original deal of $2 a share. One year ago Bear was worth $170 a share. The higher bid offer still has to be approved by the government.
And the new workweek brings higher gas prices. According to the Lundberg survey, a gallon of self-serve regular jumped to $3.26 on average. That is nearly seven cents higher over the past two weeks, and it breaks the record set last may. Right now the lowest average price is $3.03 in Newark, New Jersey. San Francisco, however, has the highest at $3.66 a gallon.
John, I have to say, when I moved to Manhattan it was really difficult for me to get rid of my car. But times like this, I feel lucky.
ROBERTS: I tell you, it's painful every time you stick that thing in the car. Your wallet says ouch.
Vernonia, thanks.
This morning we're watching extreme weather in Arkansas. The levee on the Black River broke. Water poured into the town of Pocahontas. The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings for six counties in Arkansas still in effect today.
Floodwaters finally receding in Eureka, Missouri. A $49 million levee held, but some towns in southeastern Missouri could be in for more flooding today.
And the Georgia Dome hosted Easter services nine days after it was damaged in a tornado in Atlanta. Members of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church attended the service in the Georgia Dome for the 14th year in a row, despite a lingering gaping hole in the roof.
Rob with the weather update desk tracking extreme weather for us.
They've got on the flooding in Arkansas this morning, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It's all going downhill, John.
Trying to get to the Gulf of Mexico -- still going to take several days to do that. Where is the rain right now? Good news, it's out of the area. Here is the radar scope showing you where the moisture is, eastern into the Carolinas and Florida. That's the good news.
We'll go into the areas that are seeing the heaviest flooding right now, everywhere east of Little Rock. Little rivers here, the Black, the White, the little red, all trying to get into the Mississippi River, which, as you know, flows south into the Gulf of Mexico. So trying to get it all down and all that in through here, it will crest it looks like in Baton Rouge on Saturday afternoon. We could see moderate flooding there.
Other issues right now across the south, the purple you see, freeze warnings in effect until 9:00 a.m. Temperatures could hover or be below freezing for four to eight hours. We're seeing 33 degrees in Atlanta, 32 into parts of the Piedmont and 37 through Charlotte. Not good news as some areas have seen blossoming of spring flowers, some of the trees as well.
John, back to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, back to New Orleans for a second, is there a chance that the level of the river might get high enough it would crest the levees there?
MARCIANO: Right now, no flood warnings in effect for New Orleans so it looks like Baton Rouge will see the bulk of the flooding. It seems like these sort of changes have been ongoing on a daily basis. It's not quite as accurate as they would like as far as forecasting river stages, you know, how much water comes in through all those tributaries and begins to get that bulge of water as it moves downstream.
We'll let you know once we get word from the hydrology forecasters.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much.
Hillary Clinton hits the campaign trail while Barack Obama takes a vacation. So what type of effect is Bill Richardson's endorsement having on the campaigns? We'll have that coming up.
It sounds like something from the middle ages -- typhoid fever making a comeback? Elizabeth Cohen has this from the medical update desk for us this morning.
Good morning, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. You mentioned it, typhoid fever. We'll tell you who has it and who could have it next. That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Fifteen minutes after the hour.
Senator Hillary Clinton is back on the campaign trail this morning after a rough few days, including Governor Richardson's endorsement of her rival. She's expected to give a major policy address on the economy today in Philadelphia.
Clinton campaign supporter Maria Cardona joins us from Washington, D.C.
Ms. Cardona, good to see you this morning. MARIA CARDONA, CLINTON CAMPAIGN SUPPORTER: Good to see you, John.
ROBERTS: I want to ask you first of all about this endorsement of Barack Obama by Governor Bill Richardson. This is a pretty high- profile defection among somebody who was very close to the Clintons for an awfully long time. What do you think the effect of this is going to be?
CARDONA: Well, I think the effect is going to actually depend on the voters. They will actually always have the last word in this. What we do know is that Governor Richardson has been a friend to the Clintons, will continue to be a friend. He is widely respected in Senator Clinton's campaign, and the fact of the matter is Senator Clinton as well as Senator Obama enjoy the support of high-level leaders, very important leaders across the country.
But the bottom line is, this decision is not going to be based on one person's endorsement. It will be based on what the message of the candidates is and the voters' decision.
ROBERTS: It would seem that the governor does not have the respect of every member of the Clinton campaign or supporters. James Carville likened him last week, as we're coming up on the Easter weekend, to Judas, selling out for 30 pieces of silver.
Here's how Governor Richardson responded to that yesterday morning. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARDSON: Well, I'm not going to get in gutter like that. And, you know, that's typical of many of the people around Senator Clinton. They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Was it, in fact, gutter politics? Did it cross the line? And does Hillary Clinton feel some sort of entitlement to the presidency?
CARDONA: Well, look, jams Carville is a very passionate supporter of Senator Clinton, but the fact of the matter is, he is not a paid campaign advisor. So I'm not going to comment directly on what he said.
But what I will say is, again, one person's endorsement is not going to make the big difference here. The big difference is based on the message that the candidates deliver to the voters and frankly Senator Clinton's message of change, of delivering real solutions no to the incredible problems, today's speech she's giving on the economy, all of that is what's going to make a difference to the voters. Frankly, it's why the momentum is now with Senator Clinton.
ROBERTS: The Obama campaign certainly made an issue out of some comments that former President Bill Clinton made on Friday regarding a match-up between John McCain and his wife. Let's listen to what he said then.
CARDONA: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it would be a great thing if we had an election, two people who love this country and were devoted to the interests of this country and people could actually ask themselves, who's right on these issues?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: General Merrill "Tony" McPeak, an adviser on military issues to Barack Obama said, well, he's saying that Barack Obama is unpatriotic, likening president Bill Clinton to Joe McCarthy. What did you think of that? Did those statements cross the line?
CARDONA: Yes. I think that was completely outrageous. Look, let's not underplay what McCarthyism actually is. Even though Bill Clinton did nothing of the sort, McCarthyism is something more than calling people unpatriotic.
McCarthyism put people in jail, kept them from living like free Americans. Is that really what the Obama campaign wants to accuse anybody of, frankly, just days after the Senator himself talked about wanting to have a higher level discourse in this country. It's outrageous and frankly hypocritical.
ROBERTS: Maria, we've talked a lot about superdelegates because it's increasingly looking as they're going to make the decision as to the nominee. There's debate over whether or not they should follow the vote in their district or their state or who has the most pledged delegates.
The Clinton campaign put an interesting twist on that. Both Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Senator Bye of Indiana saying it should be the Electoral College tally that decides this. Senator Clinton has won more electoral votes in primaries, 219, than Barack Obama who has 202. The Electoral College obviously very important to who wins the presidency, but what does it have to do with the primaries?
CARDONA: I think what it indicates is we believe Senator Clinton has won in all of the key states that frankly a Democrat needs to win to win the White House in November. And I think also what we continue to believe is that superdelegates need to ultimately make the decision based on who they think is the best candidate, based on who they think can win in November.
Frankly, if you go with the Obama campaign thinking on this, then people like Governor Richardson, Senator Kerry and Ted Kennedy would have to be voting for Senator Clinton because she won in their states. ROBERTS: We should point out that two of the richest states in terms of Electoral College are New York and California, which don't have a rich track record in the last decade of voting Republican.
CARDONA: That's right. But what we also saw in those states is that Senator Clinton has an advantage with all of the key constituencies that need to be won not just in those states but the states across the country and all of the battleground states we see are going to be key for a Democrat to win in November. And she has the advantage and strength in those states.
ROBERTS: And the discussion and the debate will continue.
Maria, thanks for joining us this morning. Good to see you.
CARDONA: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Coming up at 21 minutes after the hour. Scare in the drinking supply. You would think that water in the Rockies is as pure as you can get. So why are people being told to hit the bottle there instead?
Plus -- new pictures that could show the early warning of a bridge in trouble years before it collapsed. We'll show you ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on 24 minutes after the hour. It was called a fire sale last week. Now JPMorgan may be willing to pay a lot more for Bear Stearns. Just how much more? Why? What does it mean to you?
Ali Velshi joins us.
Good morning.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Maybe five times as much. The week before you went away, Bear Stearns wasn't a household name to most Americans. On Wall Street, we all knew it to be the fifth largest investment firm in the United States. All of a sudden it started to become unwound about two weeks ago.
Then last Sunday a big deal involving JPMorgan with backing of the Federal Reserve made an offer for $2 a share for Bear Stearns. It had had closed the previous Friday at $30 a share, 57 the day before, 70 earlier in the week. A lot of people thought this was a fire sale. Others thought it was a bailout. Why is the Fed even involved in backing up the bailing out of an investment firm?
All of this has come around and it looks now like Bear Stearns is looking for more money, five times as much money at least. There's talk over at "The New York Times," our good friend is working this story about how Bear Stearns -- JPMorgan is preparing a much bigger offer to buy Bear Stearns out for a few reasons. One is they don't want to hire this company and have everybody there thinking it was a bad deal. Bear Stearns is one-third owned by its employees. But where they're going to come up with the money and whether it's a good deal remains to be seen. That will be the story we're following.
ROBERTS: We'll see what happens. Ali, thanks very much.
A salmonella outbreak in Colorado is growing -- 68 cases have been confirmed. Nine people sought medical help, one person remains in the hospital. Health investigators in Alamosa, Colorado, southwest of Pueblo, believe that the outbreak originated in the water supply. But they don't yet know how that became contaminated. They're asking people to drink bottled water while chlorine is added to the water supply.
And there's a typhoid fever scare on New York's Long Island. A food worker is infected and hundreds of patrons could be at risk.
Our Elizabeth Cohen is at the CNN medical update desk.
Elizabeth, this makes you think of typhoid going back to the early 1900s. How common is this disease now?
COHEN: It really does happen now. People don't think it does. They think it's a disease from the past. But some 21 million people around the world get typhoid fever every year. Yes, it does happen in the United States. This guy is not the only one. In fact, there are some 400 cases of typhoid fever every year in the United States, 75 percent of them come because people are traveling abroad.
Now, typhoid fever, luckily, is very treatable with antibiotics, unlike the day of Typhoid Mary in the early 1900s. It's very treated with antibiotics and preventable with a vaccine.
ROBERTS: So patrons who frequented this restaurant are being urged to I guess seek some sort of medical counsel because they may have been at risk for exposure. This person was a food worker, as we understand it. What is the level of risk to these people who went to this Sbarro's Pizza?
COHEN: The level of risk, absolutely, the absolute level of risk is unknown at this time. But health authorities are certainly saying, if you ate at this restaurant in Hicksville, New York, the weekend of March 14th, then you should definitely be aware of what the symptoms of typhoid fever are because it is relatively easy to pass it on. If you don't wash your hands after using the bathroom and then you prepare food and give it to people, that could be a problem.
So here are the symptoms of typhoid fever that people should be on the lookout for -- 103 to 104 fever, weakness, and stomach pains.
So, of course, if you have these symptoms, these are symptoms of many different illnesses so what doctors will do if you have these symptoms and you were at that restaurant, they can do a culture, a lab test, to see if you have typhoid fever. ROBERTS: We should point out again for clarity this restaurant is called Mama Sbarro's. It doesn't appear to be part of the Sbarro's chain. But people should be aware.
COHEN: Right.
ROBERTS: Elizabeth, thanks very much.
You're watching the most news in the morning. The urgent search for a crew member missing from a sinking Alaskan ship.
Even in these tough times, it appears someone is making money. See who the winners are in a down economy.
It's issue number one, when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: And we look and there's the CNN "Election Express" outside the Philadelphia Art Museum where it's 35 degrees and partly cloudy there now. But later on today, it's going to be fair with a high of 52, ever so slowly spring seems to be creeping in here.
Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts. Kiran got the morning off and should be back again tomorrow.
A tragic milestone in the war in Iraq this morning. Four U.S. soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, bringing the total number of American deaths to 4,000 in just over five years.
Our Kyra Phillips is live in Baghdad for us this morning.
Kyra, you go out on patrol with these men and women who make up the U.S. military, and their head is completely in the game, and they know the mission that they have to accomplish, and they go in there with the best mindset that they possibly can but 4,000. It's got to have some effect on people over there. What are folks saying?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: You know, bottom line, this has become a normal part of their life. Whether you're a U.S. soldier, John, or an Iraqi, they talk about death on a regular basis like it's just a normal part of their lives. I mean, I remember when it was 1,000 U.S. troops that were killed in this war.
And remember the newspaper spread? You saw all the faces, you saw all the names. That would be impossible to do now. It would take four editions of one newspaper to name and show every one, every U.S. soldier that's been killed in this conflict. And it's fathers, it's daughters, it's loved ones, it's friends.
And when I talked to General David Petraeus, the head of military actions here in Iraq, he said, Kyra but deaths are down. Attacks on U.S. troops are down. And I said, I see that. I see that the surge has worked in that regard. But still it is extremely dangerous every single day for U.S. troops and Iraqis as they go out into the battlefield or even try to go to a daily day at work. ROBERTS: We talked with our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon a little while ago about this recent spike in violence. And she seemed to think there was a political aspect to it, insurgents there in Iraq trying to send a message during the American election that they are still around. What is the sense of it there?
PHILLIPS: Well, that's an interesting question because, really, it is never -- if you talk to U.S. troops and commanders here, they won't talk about a spike. They'll talk about, this is something that happens. You never know when it's going to happen here in Iraq.
And Iraqis say the same thing, it's a daily part of their lives that they just accept. And nobody really says, OK, because of these number of troops or because of this anniversary or because of this holiday, does something specifically happen?
But I can tell you, even saying all of that, that Easter Sunday was yesterday, John, and there's three percent of Christians here in Iraq, and they even told me as they went to church -- we followed one Iraqi Christian family -- that it's a risk. They're under threat. But because of their faith and because they want to believe in the beginning of spring and new beginnings, they're going to go to church and they're going to go forward, keeping this positive mindset.
And then U.S. soldiers that celebrated Easter yesterday, the Christians here within the military, one chaplain said something really powerful.
And I wrote this down because I didn't want to forget this quote. He said, "when it comes to the deaths of U.S. soldiers," he said, "why does it seem that the good guys are always the first ones to fall?" It really put it in perspective when those soldiers that died yesterday on Easter Sunday brought that death toll to 4,000 now, John, going into the sixth year of this war.
ROBERTS: Kyra Phillips for us this morning from Baghdad. Kyra, thanks very much for that.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Is the Iraq war winnable? Right now just 13 percent of you say yes, leave the troops in as long as it takes. But most of you, 87 percent, say, no, we should start pulling the troops out now. Cast your vote for us at cnn.com/am.
We'll continue to tally the votes throughout the morning and we'll bring you a final look just before we hand it off to NEWSROOM at 9:00 Eastern this morning.
A crew member of a fishing trawler is still missing this morning after it sank off Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Four crew members including the captain were killed when the vessel, the Alaska Ranger, began taking on water early Sunday near Dutch Harbor.
The Coast Guard along with another vessel rescued 42 crew members, most of them were wearing survival suits and were able to make it onto life rafts while others ended up in the frigid water. And a crew member aboard the Alaska Ranger ran a frantic distress call says the vessel was taking on water in the steering room just before it sank.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALASKA RANGER, CALLING FOR HELP: Mayday! Mayday!
U.S. COAST GUARD, RESPONDING TO CALL: This is (INAUDIBLE) come in roger, copy on position. Understand you are flooding, taking on water in the stern. Requesting your number of persons on board. Over.
RANGER: Number of persons -- forty-seven people onboard. Over.
COAST GUARD: I got Ranger (INAUDIBLE). Roger. Understand forty- seven persons onboard, request vessel description. Over.
ALASKA RANGER: We are, (INAUDIBLE) staller.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The Coast Guard says it's still not clear why the vessel sank.
There is new evidence this morning that two steel plates on the i-35 bridge in Minneapolis which collapsed last August were bent at least four years before the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board released images from 2003. The photographs reveal slight bends in two plates that hold those beams together. The NTSB says the bent plates are part of the investigation into why the span collapsed, killing 13 people last August.
To politics now. Pennsylvania's primary now less than a month away, but the fighting between the Obama and Clinton campaigns is heating up again. Hillary Clinton backer compared Bill Richardson to Judas after the New Mexico governor endorsed Barack Obama. So what is the potential fallout?
CNN political analyst John Dickerson joins me from our Washington bureau.
John, you would think that the immediate impact could be to bring a lot of Hispanics into the Obama tent, but is it too late for that now that the states that have the big Hispanic populations have already gone?
JOHN DICKERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, that's right. Bill Richardson doesn't have much of an effect in that regard, but he has an effect in a lot of other ways. The biggest is that he's a superdelegate. And when supporting Obama, he talked not only about Obama's qualifications to be president, importantly mentioning, of course, foreign policy where Bill Richardson has some standing.
But he said, look, Democrats have to get behind a nominee so that they can be unified in fighting the Republicans. This is the debate, whether superdelegates will support Hillary Clinton, reversing the trend in the pledge delegate. Richardson said they should not.
ROBERTS: So this controversy over Reverend Jeremiah Wright continues as well today in an interview that was to air this morning on the "Michael Smerconish Show" in Philadelphia, Barack Obama said, "this guy has built one of the finest churches in Chicago.
This is not a crackpot church. Witness the fact that Bill Clinton invited him to the White House when he was having his personal crisis." This would seem to be a pretty blatant attempt on the part of Barack Obama to say, hey, Bill Clinton has been involved with this guy, too. Why are you taking on me?
DICKERSON: That's right. It's the fallout now continues for Barack Obama on this front. It's a little risky to try and create equivalence here, of course. Barack Obama went to that church for more than 20 years. Bill Clinton is seen in a photograph here.
I'm sure the Clinton folks also don't like Obama talking about Clinton's personal difficulties in his campaign where everybody has tried to show umbrage so flamboyantly. I'm sure somebody could find offense at Barack Obama's bringing that up. But he's trying to basically put this in context and say that his preacher is not, or former pastor anyway, is not wild-eyed and that these YouTube clips have painted this inaccurate portrait of him.
ROBERTS: How much has this Wright controversy, John, do you think, hurt Barack Obama?
DICKERSON: It's unclear. It's hard to say. You know, on the one hand, it gave him the opportunity to make this speech, that was very well received among liberals and leads a lot of people, a lot of pundits in the press. So, he did well on that score.
The question though is, in this next primary state of Pennsylvania, how did it affect voters in that state and particularly in those constituencies Obama has had some trouble breaking into. Everybody is looking at the white male, blue collar voter. And how does a speech like this and Obama's extraordinary reaction to it, how does that all play for that kind of voter?
And we really don't know because polling on this question is also quite murky, what people say about race relations to pollsters may not in fact represent what's in their hearts and what they may do on election day.
ROBERTS: Right. Well, we'll find out maybe four week from now. John Dickerson for us this morning. John, thanks.
DICKERSON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: It's just now turning 39 minutes after the hour. We've been talking about issue number one, the economy. Even though times are tough, some stores are finding success. We'll show you where, coming up next.
And what you need to know about your privacy and your passport file. Who's able to look at it and what can they find out about you? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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VELSHI: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We have been talking about the number one issue for Americans -- the economy. Times are rough but not everyone is suffering.
AMERICAN MORNING's Ed Lavandera found stores where things are looking up.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bad economy? Not inside this Costco store.
NAK-HE EVANS, COSTCO WAREHOUSE MANAGER: We don't think it's affecting us at all. Our members seem to be coming in and buying from us.
LAVANDERA: Sales at Costco have increased 12% in the fist half of this fiscal year. It's where penny pinching shoppers find bargains.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're getting value for a dollar spent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't have to go to the grocery store as often and it's just cheaper.
LAVANDERA: Wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam's are a few of the silver linings in the struggling economy.
BRITT BEEMER, CEO, AMERICA'S RESEARCH GROUP: They're the only place where consumers can now go to save money both on food and fuel. And those are the two things consumers are most concerned about because of rising prices.
LAVANDERA: The handful of retail companies that are actually making money these days like Costco are doing so against an economic backdrop that looks less than rosy. The International Council of Shopping Centers predicts that in 2008 more than 5,700 retail stores will close nationwide, the highest number since 2004.
But it's not just deep discount stores doing well. Some luxury retailers like Tiffany's are still cashing in. Analysts say the key to success in these times is having just the right product to sell. That's why you see stores like Anthropology and its unique items, J. Crew's high fashion look at lower cost, drugstores pumping out prescriptions, and even Pet Smart reporting growing sales.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think this lab is going to want to eat any less just because the economy is slowing down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How can you let it affect them? They rely on you for their stability and their food. They have to eat.
BEEMER: Every retailer should have three words stamped on their forehead. It's merchandising, stupid. Because if you got the right merchandising, consumers will find you no matter where you are. And I think that's why there's always star performers even in tough economic times.
LAVANDERA: If you're making money, you must feel like one of the lucky ones.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, South Lake, Texas.
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VELSHI: And be sure to catch CNN's money team coming up at noon Eastern as we kick off another week of special coverage of "ISSUE #1" having to do with your money, right here on CNN.
ROBERTS: You were good enough to give me a little bit of clarity on this Sbarro's issue. We were talking about this outbreak of typhoid fever at Sbarro's in the Hicksville in Long Island. I didn't know if it was part of the Sbarro chain but apparently it is.
VELSHI: It is part of the Sbarro chain. They got another brand as well, Carmelo's.
ROBERTS: Carmelo's from Brooklyn.
VELSHI: That's all part of the Sbarro chain.
ROBERTS: OK. But still confined only to this one restaurant.
VELSHI: That's what we think right now.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks very much.
The State Department is investigating snooping into the passport files of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. But you don't have to be a presidential candidate to be concerned about your passport privacy. Brian Bennett is the Washington correspondent for "Time" magazine.
He joins us now from our D.C. bureau. Brian, you've been doing an awful lot of looking into this.
So the average person out there, how concerned should they be that somebody could go snooping through their passport file?
BRIAN BENNETT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, I decided after this broke to take a look at exactly what kind of records were in our passport records and also who had access to it. It turns out, over the last few months, the State Department has been increasing the number of government agencies who have regular and routine access to these passport records. So I think you could be somewhat concerned that there are more people looking at your records than ever before.
What does this mean? It means that you have more contracting agencies like the ones that were snooping into the presidential records, being able to access all of this data that you've given the State Department when you've applied for a passport, things like your home address, your social security number, your contact information for your relatives.
Also, in some of these public disclosure statements the State Department has put out, they've said that a lot of other things can be attached to your passport records, arrest records, court affidavits, also certain types of medical records and financial records.
ROBERTS: Well, let me back you up just a little bit here, Brian. You said that a lot more agencies have access to these files. Which agencies are those and are they confined just to the United States?
BENNETT: They're not confined just to the United States. Over the last three months, the State Department has increased routine access for the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Counter Terrorism Center here in United States, also Interpol, which is the conglomeration of international law enforcement agencies and some foreign governments.
ROBERTS: So, and then you talk about these contract workers. Why are these contract workers able to access your files?
BENNETT: Well, over the last 15 years, as the U.S. government scaled down its number of government employees, a lot more of the work, the phone work, the data entry work, has been outsourced to contractors, and they're the ones that are oftentimes on the other line when you call in to the State Department to see what the status of your passport is. And in order to check on that, they need access to these passport records.
ROBERTS: So is it possible for a citizen who holds a passport to find out what is in their passport file and if it is, what can they do with that information to try to safeguard it?
BENNETT: Well, it is possible under the Privacy Act of 1974, all U.S. citizens are allowed to write to the State Department and ask for exactly what information is in their passport records. As far as safeguarding it, certainly the U.S. government, all the agencies that have access to it, do have safeguards in place, as we saw with the supervisor who was flagged on some of these suspicious look loose presidential records case. However, if you're concerned about multiple agencies being able to access your passport records, then that's an issue for Congress to look at and see if they want to legislate on it.
ROBERTS: And it looks as though that they do want to take a look at these look loose as you put it and how they got to access to this information and why. Here's what Senator Arlen Specter told our Wolf Blitzer yesterday on "LATE EDITION."
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SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Privacy is a very fundamental matter, and if you can't have privacy for Senator McCain and Senator Clinton and Senator Obama, what's the average person facing? I think that's very serious and ought to be pursued very diligently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: In terms of pursuing it diligently, what type of investigation do you think is warranted here?
BENNETT: Well, there's sort of two tracks here. You've got the investigation into these actual breaches, and it has yet to be determined if it was just idle curiosity that drove these people to look at the presidential records or if there's some sort of connection.
Already we're starting to see some connections to the presidential candidates' campaigns. And we'll have to see how that comes out. In the larger picture, Senator Specter is going to be looking at exactly how many contractors and agencies have routine access to our passport records and should they?
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we'll see what cam comes of that. Brian Bennett for us this morning from "Time" Magazine in our Washington bureau. Brian, good to talk to you. Thanks.
BENNETT: Happy to be with you.
ROBERTS: A war memorial honoring U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq is causing sadness as well as some anger. We'll explain the controversy surrounding the display coming up.
And he was once in Team Clinton, starting lineup. Now Bill Richardson is being accused of turning his back on Hillary Clinton. In fact, selling out by some people. Governor Richardson is here live to tell us why he's backing Barack Obama and it's coming up in about 25 minutes here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Seven minutes now to the top of the hour. We have been talking about the milestone reached overnight. 4,000 Americans now killed in Iraq. A memorial honoring U.S. soldiers killed in action consists only of tiny white flags. One for each soldier killed. It's in the state with the highest number of casualties per capita. But as CNN's Jim Acosta reports, not everyone agrees with the way that the fallen are being honored.
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ACOSTA: Nearly every day Ned Kelly tends to this field. It's a memorial designed to hit people right in the gut.
NED KELLY, IRAQ WAR MEMORIAL ORGANIZER: If we didn't do this, where else would people see the enormity and the numbers of people that have been killed over there?
ACOSTA: For the last five years, Kelly and a few friends in the tiny town of Waitsfield, Vermont, have been adding a white flag for every American soldier lost. KELLY: I'm a vet myself. My son was in Iraq. And so I'm very invested in this. We live on a dead-end road and every vehicle that would come up the road that we weren't expecting, it was sort of, uh- oh, is this the notice that he's been killed?
RUSS BENNETT, IRAQ WAR MEMORIAL FOUNDER: Nobody was thinking we'd still be doing this at 4,000.
ACOSTA: Russ Bennett, the memorial's founder, has had enough of the war and the field.
And you used the word "burden".
BENNETT: It's a burden, especially if you do it on a day like Thanksgiving or any of those other days. You know, some family has made the ultimate sacrifice.
VICKI STRONG, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: I want it to be known that these displays do not honor my son. He's not a statistic.
ACOSTA: Fellow Vermonter Vicki Strong wants the Waitsfield Memorial to come down. Her son, Sgt. Jessie Strong, died in Iraq.
STRONG: You see that Purple Heart over there?
ACOSTA: She prefers the more personal memorial she's built in her front yard.
STRONG: He's a person. He's a story. He's a human hero. So when they take the war in Iraq and politicize it and make it into all these negative things, we're hurting our soldiers and we're hurting our own freedom.
ACOSTA: So for people out there who say, this is just one of those anti-war statements, what would you say to that?
KELLY: It's not an anti- -- just an anti-war statement to me. It is a statement of respect.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And the organizers behind that memorial never thought their statement would get this big. Now they have some planning to do for the future. That's because that field up in Vermont is running out of room, John.
ROBERTS: Jim Acosta for us this morning from Philadelphia with that. Jim, thanks.
Breaking news from the front lines of Afghanistan. Explosion after explosion. Details are coming in live from the war zone for us at the top of the hour. We'll have them for you.
And new questions about New York's new governor. He has admitted to having affairs during his marriage, now questions about hotel rooms reportedly paid for with taxpayer money. The story and the governor's response, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS (voice-over): War plans. Candidates for president speaking out today. As the U.S. reaches a milestone in Iraq.
Superdelegate decision. Will Bill Richardson follow his endorsement of Barack Obama or the will of the people in his state. We'll ask him live.
And the torch is passed. The Olympic flame is lit today with fears of protests heating up all wait to Beijing on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: And good morning. Thanks very much for being with us on this Monday, the 24th of March.
I'm John Roberts in New York along with Ali Velshi and Veronica De La Cruz. Good to see you, folks. Kiran got the morning off. She'll be back again tomorrow.
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