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American Morning
Hotel Inferno: Towpath Inn on Fire; Michigan Delegates Dilemma to be Split Up; Congress Set to Grill Oil Companies; Show of Support for Reverend Wright
Aired April 01, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Showdown.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will be unified when this whole thing is over.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not quit.
CHETRY: The campaign trails cross paths today. And a standing room only crowd comes out for Reverend Wright.
Out like a lion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at my front door.
CHETRY: A blinding blizzard and a mile of twisted metal.
Plus, more dangerous than smoking or asbestos. And you can't leave home without it. The most serious cell phone warning ever on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Welcome. Glad to have you with us on this Tuesday, it's 7:00 a.m. here on the East Coast, and we're following breaking news on AMERICAN MORNING.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We are. April 1st and good morning to you.
This is in Lockport, Illinois. It's about 35 miles southwest of Chicago. This coming to us from WLS TV. Take a look at this.
It's a hotel here and fire coming all the way through the roof here. It looks a little bit better than it did just a few minutes ago, but we're told that some rescues are being effected. You can see that there are a number of trucks there. This apparently is an extra alarm fire.
About 15 minutes ago, there was much more flame coming through the top of the roof there. So maybe the firefighters are beginning to get a handle on it. But at this point, we do not know the extent of the rescue operation. But as you can imagine, the fire broke out a little after 5:00 a.m. Central time there in Lockport, so there would have been a lot of people inside sleeping at the time.
We're going to get in touch with the Lockport Fire Department and find out a little bit more about this. But the breaking news this morning there of what looks like a hotel. At least the top floor fully involved there. More information on that coming up just as soon as we can get it for you.
CHETRY: We turn now, though, to a plan by the nation's independent truckers to park their rigs today. The work stoppage designed to protest the sky high cost of diesel fuel. You know, while we've been complaining about the rising gas prices, diesel fuel rising and actually even more expensive than regular gasoline. Truckers can pay up to $1,000, they say, just to fill up, and there are some 500,000 independent truckers nationwide
Our own Ed Lavandera is watching this possible strike from a truck stop in Dallas. We're going to be checking in with him a little bit later in the show.
Also today, executives from the five biggest U.S. oil companies will be on Capitol Hill in the hot seat today testifying. A House Committee questioning them about the soaring gas prices and record industry profits. Pump prices rising to record levels this year. Those companies, meanwhile, made more than $120 billion last year. Lawmakers want to know why they should keep billions of dollars in tax breaks as well.
Senior business correspondent Ali Velshi joins us now with more on that. You know, as you talk about before what exactly gets accomplished...
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right.
CHETRY: ... at these hearings...
VELSHI: Two questions --
CHETRY: ... except that, you know, they have to either tell the truth or not or --
VELSHI: Right. It's a law going to court. You can say whatever you want but when you're testifying before Congress, you actually are compelled to tell the truth and if you're not telling the truth and somebody finds out later you can be in a lot of trouble. The tobacco industry is a good example of that because they were called to testify.
Again, the issue here is that there's about $18 billion in tax breaks while everybody else is paying too much for gasoline. Take a look at what gasoline costs, rounded up to $3.29 a gallon for unleaded gasoline. Diesel, as you were saying, much higher, $4.02 on average. But, you know, obviously, people are paying $4 in some states for gasoline. The diesel is a lot more too, so that's affecting everything we do.
The Consumer Federation of America came out with a study that showed that with oil at $100 a barrel right now, prices are increasing and are expected to increase for gasoline. Here's what their research director Mark Cooper had to say about gas prices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MARK COOPER, CONSUMERATION FEDERATION OF AMERICA: Consumers could be staring at 75 cents more per gallon at the pump over the next few weeks, which would mount up over the course of the rest of the year to $75 billion out of their pocketbooks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Well, one of the concerns -- one of the things you'll probably hear about at Congress today is Congress officials saying to these oil executives since you're making all this money, why don't give you some of those tax breaks back and it will be interesting to hear what their responses are to that. So that's what we're following to see what the oil executives are saying about how much money they're making and how much we're paying for gasoline.
CHETRY: $18 billion, you said in tax breaks.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: All right. We'll hear more about that, I'm sure.
VELSHI: You know, by the way, in fairness to them, their point is that these tax breaks are related to the research and development in finding more oil which, of course, is all very important to us. So they're saying that that's what it is. They're not getting tax breaks for making profit. They're getting tax breaks for investing that money elsewhere. So, you know, it's a little more complicated than I might have made it sound.
CHETRY: I know. And if it costs more money for gas and there's more demand for it, they're making more profit.
VELSHI: Right. Just like medication or cigarettes or anything else you want to talk about, we buy it so they make profits on it. So, you know, it's a little complicated but it does seem a little unfair at the moment.
CHETRY: Right. And a big contrast with the independent truckers who are basically being forced to sit out.
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: They're not making any money.
VELSHI: Because they're not making money. That's right.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: OK.
ROBERTS: Five minutes after the hour. Turning now to the race for the White House, three weeks away today from the Pennsylvania primary. This morning there was a new possible solution to Michigan's delegate dilemma.
It's a proposal that's being floated by Congressman Bart Stupak. Eighty-three of the state's pledged delegates will be split based on the January primary results. That means that 47 would go to Hillary Clinton whose name was on the Michigan ballot. Thirty-six go to Barack Obama or the same breakdown as the number of people who selected uncommitted. The remaining 73 delegates would be divvied up according to the nationwide popular vote total after all the primaries are completed. Florida and Michigan were stripped of their delegates for holding their primaries too early.
It is turning out to be a city of Super Tuesday in the city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Clinton and Obama are almost crossing paths there today. They'll just be a few blocks away from each other. Both will be there about the same time holding town meetings.
Our Dan Lothian live in Philadelphia with the CNN Election Express this morning. Dan, I guess it had to happen at some point with so much focus there on the Keystone State.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Ending up in the same town, it's unclear whether or not they will actually cross paths. Senator Clinton will be there about 2:00 or so in the afternoon, and Senator Obama will be there about 11:30 or so in the morning.
But the focus for both of these candidates really will be on the economy. Senator Clinton will be reaching out to some union members with the AFL-CIO again, talking about the economy and specifically talking to those working class voters who have been hardest hit by this negative economy.
Now, Senator Clinton has really been maintaining a double-digit lead here but the story really will be not only can she win here but also by how much, and that will perhaps impact how this race unfolds after the primary here on April 22nd.
Also, Senator Clinton has been fighting criticism for her to really get out of the race because the math is simply against her. Senator Barack Obama supporters have been pushing that, although Obama himself had said that Senator Clinton should stay in the race as long as she wants to. Senator Clinton says she's not going anywhere.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I see that sign out there which says please don't quit. Well, one thing you know about me is I do not quit.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it is a good thing. It is a healthy thing that so many people are passionate. I think it is great that Senator Clinton's supporters are as passionate about her as my supporters are about me. I think that's helping to drive high turnout. I think that is making this historic race that much more compelling. I think that Democrats will be unified. We will be unified when this whole thing is over. I am absolutely convinced of that regardless of who the nominee is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Senator Clinton has been using this controversy to her advantage. In fact, as she sent out a message to her supporters in a fund-raising letter, and essentially the story goes like this, that if people are pushing me to get out of the race essentially what they are doing is trying to keep your vote from counting, essentially suppressing your vote. This is a way for her to really energize the base, energize voters out there so that they will come out and vote for her, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Dan Lothian for us this morning outside the Free Library there with the Election Express in Philadelphia. Dan, thanks -- Kiran.
CHETRY: So the Democrats fight on but meantime, presumptive GOP nominee John McCain is trying to connect with voters as well out on the campaign trail. Today, he'll be visiting his high school in Alexandria, Virginia, as part of his week-long biography tour, Service to America, it's called.
And the focus will be on his family history as well as patriotic roots. McCain is also talking about the war in Iraq telling reporters that his wartime experience makes him a better candidate than Democratic front-runner Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It displays a fundamental misunderstanding of history of how we maintain national security and what we need to do in the future to maintain our security in the face of a transcendent challenge, radical Islamic extremism. And I understand that because he has no experience or background in any of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: McCain will hold a town hall meeting at 10:30 Eastern. And later today, CNN's Dana Bash goes one-on-one with McCain.
There's a troubling report out today showing that more than a million high school students are dropping out every year and where this is happening is also catching the attention of many. The staggering numbers were released this morning by America's Promise Alliance, a group founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. It found that fewer than half of high school kids in 17 of America's biggest cities will graduate from high school.
The highest dropout rates are in Indianapolis, Cleveland and Detroit, where three out of every four teenagers quit. Powell calls the dropout rate a catastrophe. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is expected to announce plans today to hold summits in every state to help get students better prepared to attend college.
Our Alina Cho joins us now with other stories new this morning. Good to see you, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, good morning, guys. Good morning again. Good morning, everybody.
New this morning. President Bush is in Ukraine right now. He's pledging to work "as hard as he can to help Ukraine and Georgia gain membership to NATO." That's despite the objections of Russian President Vladimir Putin who doesn't want to expand the alliance eastward. President Bush talked to reporters a couple of hours ago saying Russia does not have veto power over NATO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ukraine now seeks to deepen its cooperation with the NATO alliance through a membership action plan. Your nation has made a bold decision, and the United States strongly supports your request.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Next stop for the president, Bucharest, Romania. He will meet with NATO leaders there over the next three days.
An update to a story we've been following for you. Prosecutors in Arizona have now charged a 15-year-old girl who was caught on camera fighting with her bus driver with disorderly conduct. The incident now happened back in February. You may remember it. If convicted, the girl could spend up to six months in a juvenile detention facility. No charges were filed against the schools bus driver.
Well, here's the story for you. New Yorkers, listen up. Not only will you soon be able to sit in some of the worst traffic in the world, well, you soon could have the privilege of paying eight bucks for it, too. New York's City Council has approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial plan to charge drivers for entering the most packed areas of Manhattan during rush hour.
Again, $8 for drivers. You know, of course, the idea is to help push people toward mass transit and this so-called congestion pricing plan goes to the state legislature in Albany now. Lawmakers must approve this plan by April 7th. If not, New York stands to lose $354 million in federal transportation funds.
And finally, you, too, can live like the ladies of "Sex and the City" at least for a couple of days. Listen to this. A high-end travel company will give you the chance to walk, shop, even flirt if you want to, like TV's most famous single girls.
We're talking, of course, about Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. John, you know their names. The five-night recreation tour as it's called in New York includes gift cards for shops like Jimmy Choo --not bad, Kiran -- spa treatments, even limo rides. The price tag, $24,000 per person. Now, that includes a ticket to next month's movie premiere here in New York, but apparently not airfare. We were saying for $24,000 a person they could throw in the flight but apparently not.
CHETRY: It also shows that people will pay for anything. Yes, let me show you the "Sex and the City" tour.
CHO: We're going to show you around the sites. Just a small price to pay.
CHETRY: I think you should do it and bring along your camera.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Hey, we do it every day. We do it every day. We live in New York.
ROBERTS: It's 13 minutes after the hour now. More on our breaking news now. We want to go to a picture from Lockport, Illinois. This is in a suburb of Chicago just north of Joliet about 35 miles southwest of Chicago. There is a hotel that's on fire there.
We understand that the top two floors of this hotel are extended stay rooms. On the phone with us now because we haven't been able to get any information from the Lockport Fire Department is Andrew Gatz (ph). He's a freelance photographer who is on the scene.
Andrew, are you with us? And can you tell us what you're seeing there. What's the name of the hotel, and what has been going on for the past little while?
ANDREW GATZ, FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER: Good morning. A fire broke out at the Towpath Inn here in Lockport at 933 South Stage Street, around 4:45 a.m. Now, they up rated it from a 2/11 (ph) to a 3/11 (ph) and now it is at a five-alarm fire with flames pouring through the roof. And in Chicago right now, there's heavy wind and that's causing the fire to just not go out.
ROBERTS: So, as you say, it's a five-alarm fire now. And we're looking at pictures here of those ladder trucks and firemen way up high trying to pour some water down on top of this fire. We had heard some early reports that some rescues were being affected. What do you know about that?
GATZ: That is correct. I did have a chance to talk to a couple police officers on the scene who arrived early with the first engines from Lockport, and they confirmed with me that there were several rescues made out of the third story.
ROBERTS: Yes.
GATZ: And I did talk to a couple residents who did confirm that as well.
ROBERTS: Do you know, Andrew, are there any people still trapped inside? GATZ: As far as I know, I cannot confirm whether or not there are people trapped inside. I did talk to a resident who said he believes that there may have been one person inside. But as of right now, the fire department has their hands full and I'm unable to confirm whether or not there is anybody inside.
ROBERTS: So the fire department has their hands full. Any idea if the hotel was fully occupied at the time that the fire broke out?
GATZ: As of right now, I couldn't tell you exactly how many people were in there.
ROBERTS: Right. Do you know if the hotel is equipped with a sprinkler system?
GATZ: That I do not know. I do know that it does have an alarm system.
ROBERTS: So people --
GATZ: I talked to a resident who told me that (INAUDIBLE) through the alarm.
ROBERTS: All right. Slept through the alarm.
GATZ: Through the alarm.
ROBERTS: The firefighters seem to be making a little bit of progress there. The roof had a lot more flame coming out of it a few minutes ago. Can you tell us there on the scene do they think that they're making some progress here?
GATZ: Well, the wind appears to have died down briefly and the flames like you said has died down a little bit. And so, I would imagine that they would be confident as they are making some progress now.
ROBERTS: All right. Andrew Gatz for us, freelance photographer on the scene there in Lockport, Illinois. We'll keep watching this and try to get some more information from the fire department as well. Andrew, thanks very much. We'll let you get back to work there.
CHETRY: It looks like you can't see some people gathered along the street. Most of them appear to be fire and rescue. We're not really seeing whether or not -- you would expect if it was packed, there'd be some people maybe out on the street who made their way out in the middle of the night.
ROBERTS: Maybe, we just don't have that angle on the picture. This is a helicopter shot from the WLS helicopter. But you can imagine how frightening that is, 4:30 in the morning the alarm goes off. And this was not just a small fire obviously.
CHETRY: Five alarms. We'll continue to follow it throughout the morning here on AMERICAN MORNING. Meanwhile, a rousing welcoming for the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. We're going to tell you where and why Barack Obama's former pastor was honored last night ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. With a show of support, 3,000 members coming out strong for Barack Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. The United Church of Christ on Chicago's south side holding a special prayer service last night to not only thank Wright for his service but to defend their former leader.
CNN contributor Roland Martin attended that service last night. He joins us now. Good to see you this morning. Roland?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, Kiran.
CHETRY: The host of -- the host of the "Roland Martin Show." And we're simulcasting live right now on WVON this morning as well, correct?
MARTIN: Absolutely.
CHETRY: I want to talk to you about one of the speakers, Wayne Watson, said about the recent media attention surrounding Reverend Wright's controversial comments. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAYNE WATSON, CHANCELLOR, CITY COLLEGES OF CHICAGO: Should we now be silent? Just because the magnification mirror has been turned in America's direction, if one cannot put forth theorems or postulate new concepts or thoughts and analysis in church, then universities will be next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now, Roland, you were at that event last night. Did most of the people there agree?
MARTIN: Oh, absolutely. As a matter of fact, Wayne Watson, he is the chancellor of the City College of Chicago, the seventh colleges here in the city. The point that he was making that the people -- thunderous applause when he made that comment, was that the prophetic tradition of the church should not be silenced by critics.
And so, we've heard this from the left and the right in terms of their pastors who speak on social issues from the pulpit, political issues from the pulpit, and they say that should not take place here in America. And so, that's really what made this because we're defending in terms of Reverend Wright last night.
CHETRY: Now, has there been any Obama backlash in the black community, in the black church community in particular, by what Barack Obama has said since, which is he said that he condemned the objectionable things that were said outright. He also said, this will be a little bit further on "The View," he said that he would have left the church if Wright hadn't conceded he defended people and wasn't retiring.
MARTIN: Well, look, there are clearly some people who said that he should not have condemned the comments. He should not have gone that far. Of course, those folks exist. The reality is there are other people who understand politics, who understand that the position that he is in, what he has to say in terms of what he also believes. So you are going to have critics on both sides. You got those people who say he should have said it, those who say he should have said it. Others who say he should have left the church all together.
And so -- but I don't think there will be any lasting backlash from African-Americans. There still might be some folks with some hurt feelings, but I don't think it's even remotely in the majority.
CHETRY: When you say understand politics, are you saying that they feel he has to say that he condemns it whether or not he really does?
MARTIN: Well, now, of course. This people -- he is in a different position. He is running for office and so one of the points that I made earlier on CNN last week was that you have a faith standard and a secular standard. And Senator Obama is running for president. He is operating in a secular world.
People who are in the faith world are different. For instance, you know, I'm born and raised Catholic. The Pope is considered infallible, and that is what the Pope says that's what Catholics are to abide by. But there are people who are Catholic who say no, I can disagree with the Pope. And so, people take their own, make their own determination as to what they will agree and disagree with their particular pastor.
CHETRY: Now, I totally understand what you're saying. But are you also saying or, you know, that perhaps there are people who think that Obama was not necessarily as offended as he's saying by some of the comments.
MARTIN: No.
CHETRY: But he has to say that for political reasons.
MARTIN: No. What I'm saying is there are people who recognize that he is a politician. He's a politician first. And so, therefore, he is going to make those comments. If he was not a politician, somebody else will say, well, I don't necessarily have to say those things because that's not who I am and so that's the point I am making.
Now, sure, some people have already said, oh, he's a politician. He's only doing this just because he's running for office.
CHETRY: Yes.
MARTIN: And so, therefore, he really doesn't mean it. Of course, those folks exist. But I'm just simply making a statement that people recognize that what he is doing, he's in a different position than somebody else.
CHETRY: Right. Are we going to hear from Wright again because we haven't heard from Reverend Wright since this whole scandal broke out? Where the controversial (INAUDIBLE)
MARTIN: Obviously, there have been several revivals that he has preached. We have been making the effort to interview him as well. I certainly hope we'll have the opportunity to sit down and talk with him.
But for a number of reasons, you know, he and his family have been very down as a result of this because many people, especially the people who spoke last night at Trinity United Church of Christ said, they had been burdened and bothered by the fact that his 36 years of ministry has been broken down to just a few sound bites. And so, last night was really an opportunity to uplift his spirits, those of his family. The event was actually called "We Stand Together."
Reverend Otis Moss III, now the senior pastor, made it perfectly clear there, look, he said if one attacks a member of Trinity, you attack all members of Trinity. That's why they say we stand together. And so, we certainly hope that he will speak.
But look, in such a situation, we can understand why somebody would go silence because any particular thing that he says will be scrutinized, every single word.
CHETRY: Yes.
MARTIN: And so, we hope to get the shot.
CHETRY: Of course. Well, bring it to us if you do. Roland, great to see you as always. Thanks for being with us.
MARTIN: Of course. All right, Kiran, thanks a bunch.
ROBERTS: Twenty-four minutes after the hour. Breaking news right now to tell you about.
A raging inferno at the Towpath Inn in Lockport, Illinois. Daring rescues are underway. An update on the effort to kill the flames and save lives ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up at 28 minutes after the hour. An update on our breaking story out of Lockport, Illinois, this morning. It's about 35 miles southwest of Chicago, just north of Joliet. Rescues under way right now at the scene of a hotel inferno. This is at the Towpath Inn. Spelled T-O-W-P-A-T-H, Towpath Inn. A witness says that heavy winds are keeping the flames going.
Several rescues were underway on the third floor. Rescuers have reportedly saved at least one person. No word on how many people could be inside. We understand that the top two floors of the hotel and it was pretty obvious from earlier pictures that at least the top floor was pretty much involved because flames were coming through the roof, are extended stay rooms in that hotel. People stay for, you know, a week, two weeks, a month, maybe even more than that.
These are some pictures from earlier on, and you can see the extent of those flames. This went to a five-alarm fire at one point. We saw pictures of those ladder trucks way up high trying to pour water down on it. It looks as though the wind has died down just a little bit in the latest live pictures, and they are getting a handle on it.
We've got calls into the Lockport Fire Department. They're not prepared to give us any information at this point yet, but we'll stay on top of this. There's a live picture and you can see that they've knocked down those flames substantially.
We'll stay on top of this, bring you the latest information about how many people may have been inside that hotel at the time and whether or not everyone got out.
Rob Marciano at our weather update desk for us in Atlanta this morning. Rob, tell us a little bit more about those winds that were fanning that fire there outside of Chicago.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, there's no snow and rain there. Snow falling into the clouds. But there is a fair amount of wind with this system that's rolling across this area. We'll show you where it is on Google Earth and what the weather is doing. Storm basically heading off towards the north and east. We'll zoom in just a little bit and give you an idea, some perspective just where southwest of Chicago this is.
Farther in, you can see it's a fairly -- I don't want to say industrial area but we're in pretty much downtown Lockport there. There you see the cross streets of West Ninth and Commerce. Fire in here. Not sure exactly which building is it, but obviously this picture is very dramatic.
How much winds are we dealing with here? Well, we're not dealing with much in the way of rain. That's off to the east. We're dealing with some wind, and it's been gusty all morning all and that will continue. Winds at Chicago have been out of the west-northwest at 20, 21 miles an hour sustained, and we've had the last observation near the Lockport area. We've seen winds gust to 25 miles an hour there. Very low levels of humidity as well.
So the winds are obviously not helping the situation, John. I mean, rain to help us either. But it looks like they have gotten a little bit more of a handle on it. So scary when you see those flames fire up at night when you get that wind blowing. Isn't it John?
ROBERTS: I'll tell you, Rob, when they're coming right through the roof. You know, there's a substantial fire going on inside that structure. Rob Marciano for us. Rob, thanks. We'll check back with you a little bit later on. MARCIANO: Sure thing.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: Other headlines new this morning as well, the Federal Aviation Administration issuing a safety alert about airplane landing gear. Now, this alert says the maintenance company AAR Corporation provided substandard parts for hundreds of Boeing jets worldwide. The FAA detailed more than 300 instances of unapproved parts being shipped. So far, we're learning that U.S. Airways is voluntarily removing several parts after a partial landing gear failure of a parked plane in October. We should hear about other airlines following suit as well.
Meantime, Delta raising fees today. It's going to cost you more if you're a frequent flyer and you want to book your award tickets over the phone. That will be $25 and a handling fee. Also, if you want to send a child on a flight alone it will now cost you $100 for a non-stop trip. The price of taking a pet on board going up from $75 to $100 and a fee for oversized luggage rising from $100 to now $150.
We're also getting a new look at a plan to keep you safe and possibly a little serene while you go through airport security. Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live at Reagan National Airport this morning with more on a pilot plan to perhaps make things easier and perhaps safer. Hi, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN, HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's the goal, Kiran. If you travel a lot, you've had the experience of running into a hostile screener, uncooperative passengers, the Transportation Security Administration is hoping to change that dynamic by changing the security checkpoint and we got a look at a prototype.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Mellow music, cool spectrum lighting, snappy graphics, all aimed at making checkpoints calmer so when agitated terrorists will stand out in the crowd. And there will be more employees in front of the checkpoints studying behavior hopefully picking those terrorists out.
RANDALL LARSEN, AUTHOR, "OUR OWN WORST ENEMY": Our technology will not allow us to detect many types of bombs today. So the best way to find a bomb is by looking in the eyes of the bomber. And so we want to get those TSA people out there.
MESERVE: You will need to take off your shoes, strip off your belt and take out your laptop but now there's counter where you can get organized. Plastic bags for liquids provided. More sophisticated bag screening machines will automatically recycle empty bins and divert bags that need a closer look instead of tying up the line. Some travelers will be asked to step into a body scanning machine. And how do you pick the people who go through?
ELLEN HOWE, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: Well, we don't tell you that part.
MESERVE: If you are uncomfortable with the intimate image the machine provides, you can opt for a pat down. Posters will even introduce you to the screeners who are getting new training on how to deal with travelers even uncooperative and abusive ones. A former head of security at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport says the TSA is right to try to get the public on its side.
RAFI RON, NEW AGE SECURITY SOLUTIONS: Our work in easier because then they cooperate. They do what we ask them to do and they actually help us to do what we are there to achieve.
MESERVE: For Teri Watson, a frequent traveler is skeptical.
TERI WATSON, FREQUENT TRAVELER: Window dressing. Window dressing.
MESERVE: It's not going to improve the things that you think need to be improved?
WATSON: No. I think staffing is the number one thing. Having ample lines is another.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: The checkpoint we saw was a prototype that first real run will roll out at Baltimore Washington International Airport later this spring and then officials will see if it really delivers what they hope it will. Kiran.
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Thank you.
ROBERTS: The Bush administration has proposed what some are calling the broadest overhaul of U.S. financial regulation since the Great Depression but Democrats are somewhat skeptical. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton saying it's too little too late and would do nothing to help the current economic crisis. Joining me now from Washington is Dan Tarullo. He is the senior economic adviser to the Obama campaign and Gene Sperling who is the senior economic adviser to the Clinton campaign and to the best of my knowledge, the only economic adviser to have ever leapt off a bridge with a bungee cord attacked to his ankles. Gentlemen, good to see both of you.
DAN TARULLO, SR. ECONOMIC ADVISER, OBAMA CAMPAIGN: Good morning.
GENE SPERLING, SR. ECONOMIC ADVISER, CLINTON CAMPAIGN: Thanks for that introduction, John.
ROBERTS: You're welcome. Anything I can do to help. Let's take a look first of all at the Paulson plan that he outlined yesterday, would expand federal reserve oversight of the financial services industry and combine agencies that oversee banks and create an agency to regulate mortgage lending. Mr. Tarullo, Barack Obama has listed regulatory reform as one of his principles in his economic plan, specifically calling for streamlining the regulatory body. So why is he attacking this plan? TARULLO: Well, he's not attacking so much as pointing out that the plan does not address the immediate needs of the American people which is to put a floor under the foreclosure crisis in the subprime market indeed and other parts of the housing market as well. He thinks that as the first priority. That's why he wants to see action on the Dodd-Frank Bill, Senator Dodd and Congressman Frank's bill.
ROBERTS: Right.
TARULLO: He did as you point last week in his speech, get out in front. He was the first presidential candidate to address regulatory reform. He laid out some principles but foremost among those principles is that any financial institution that may have access to lending from the Federal Reserve, from the taxpayers, ought to be subject on an ongoing basis to the kinds of capital and liquidity regulation that we expect of our banks. And that is notably not in this plan. The plan has a bit of a feel of trying to close the door as the cows are rushing out of the barn.
ROBERTS: Right. I should point out too that we'll be talking with Barney Frank coming up in our next hour right here of AMERICAN MORNING. Gene Sperling, let me get to you. Hillary Clinton said that this plan comes late, falls short, it's like rearranging the deck chairs while housing and credit markets are in crisis. But Henry Paulson said yesterday that much of this is long-term. That's part of the plan. Let's listen to what he said.
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HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: These long-term ideas require thoughtful discussion and will not be resolved this month or even this year.
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ROBERTS: Gene Sperling, what's wrong with overhauling a 70-year- old system. John McCain says that this is a good idea.
SPERLING: Well, I think, you know, Hank Paulson is a good man and it's a good thing to start this long-term discussion. I don't think they have everything right. But you know, I think the Consumer Federation for America had it a little right. It's a little bit like you're in the middle of a natural disaster and you've tens of thousands of people stranded and someone comes forward with a long- term plan to restructure FEMA. It's a nice discussion. But it does miss the fact that you've got immediate needs and an immediate crisis that we're dealing with.
And I think where Senator Clinton has tried to lead going back to a year ago when she rightly disputed the Fed and the administration that the subprime crisis was not contained but was going to be serious is to lay out the specific actions that can help us prevent crisis instead of this feeling that we're always chasing it. That's why, you know, she first called for foreclosure time-out. That's why she was the first to call for a $30 billion emergency housing fund. And that's why, you know, yesterday she looked at this plan and said what are the things we can do immediately? We don't need to wait for commissions and white papers. We can immediately call for broader standards for the two-thirds of mortgage brokers who do not appear to have any supervision. We can call immediately for putting some kind of capital requirements on these exotic derivative packages that are now seen to be so much of a problem.
So, it really is the lack for a bias for action and what was probably disappointing to both Dan and I, to both the Obama and Clinton campaign is that when Senator McCain had a chance to speak out, he actually seem to be saying, let's take -- let's be careful, let's not take any action. It's amazing that someone could look at this last year and think the biggest thing we need to worry about is that we're not sitting on our hands enough.
ROBERTS: Gene, let me just pick up on your FEMA analogy there. Back in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew hit Miami, FEMA was found to be woefully inadequate. They developed a plan to address Hurricane Andrew but then at the same time also restructured FEMA for the long- term. James Lee Witt who was your president, President Clinton's FEMA director, was at the helm of all of that and isn't it true, Dan, that there have been some moves to try to address some of the current crisis that are going on in the financial and mortgage markets but you know, shouldn't there be long-term overhaul of these regulations and isn't there something in this plan that Barack Obama can agree with?
TARULLO: Oh, there absolutely should. That's why he addressed the issue last week in his speech in New York. But the point is that we need to address first things first. Overhauling the regulatory system is something that's going to take time, it's going to have - you got to be careful about it. When you calibrate a capital requirement, you need to get it right. And let's face it, the problem right now is not that too many mortgages are being written. The problem right now is there's not too much trading in mortgage securities and that the markets are frozen. We don't need to act to stop something that's not going on. We need to make sure it doesn't happen in the future.
ROBERTS: Well, let me get a quick work in from Gene. If we could ask you to be brief with this Gene. This comes too late to do anything about this mortgage crisis but might it prevent a future crisis by regulating those sectors of the financial and banking industry that let to the mortgage meltdown in the first place?
SPERLING: Well, what I said is I thought Secretary Paulson was a good man and it started a good long-term discussion. I don't think he has everything right here but yes, I think there's a positive discussion to have. I think what bothers a lot of people is that when they look at the administration, they feel like the only time they have seen that sense of urgency was engaging Bear Stearns and J.P. Morgan. You know, that may have been the right response for the Fed and administration to do but there never seems to be that sense of emergency when you're looking at neighborhoods in this country and our economy which is very fragile due to what is essentially a housing-led and foreclosure-led crisis.
So, I think if the administration was acting boldly and quickly on these actions, people would take a more charitable view to putting out this new long-term discussion on our future regulatory supervision.
ROBERTS: Gentlemen, we've got to go. But thanks for joining us this morning. Dan Tarullo who is with the Obama campaign and Gene Sperling with the Clinton campaign and I rib Gene about going bungee jumping because I jumped off the same bridge and figure if Sperling could do it, I could do it too.
SPERLING: In New Zealand.
ROBERTS: It was a lot of fun. Good to see you, Gene. Thanks very much.
SPERLING: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: The economy is "Issue Number One" for voters. Join Ali, Gerri Willis, and the rest of the CNN Money Team for "Issue Number One," all this week, noon, Eastern, here on CNN. And don't forget Barney Frank coming up next hour and we'll talk to about his plans for new regulation on the financial services industry.
Forget smoking or asbestos, a new report says answering your cell phone could be bad for your health. We're paging Dr. Gupta. Hey, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey. About three billion people around the world use cell phones. And this could be large public health concern for a lot of people. But the science says cell phones are just perfectly safe, still a couple of doctors raising some concerns, prominent doctors. I'll tell you what they're saying and what you can do about it. That's straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. This was a study that certainly caught the attention of a lot of people. Smoking or cell phones. There's a neurosurgeon in Australia that's warning that your cell phone or Blackberry could actually be a growing threat to your health. In fact, he says there's evidence that using a cell phone for ten plus years can actually double your risk of brain cancer. Now, since more than three million people use cell phones around the word, he says that it could surpass smoking as the leading cause of death. We're paging our own neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta right now with more on this. People talk and they hold their cell phones or blackberry up to their ear. Some people do it, you know, up to eight to ten hours a day and now there's a study that says it could be as dangerous as smoking.
GUPTA: Well, you know, the American Cancer Society will vehemently disagree with that. They'll say it's a definitive no link between cell phones and cancer specifically as what we're talking about here and that smoking, there's lots of definitive links. There's lot of definitive links between smoking and 15 types of diseases including cancer. So, they'll say there's a huge distinction and to be clear, the thing that we're talking about here which is getting a lot of attention this thing from Australia, the paper. It's not a peer review paper. It's not independent research so to speak but it's sort of a review of some existing literature out there. There had been about two dozen. We did some homework on this last night. Two dozen scientific studies, pretty good ones that say there is no link between this. But still, some prominent doctors saying well look, have we done enough research.
You know, Kiran, I had a chance to talk to Dr. Keith Black, who is the neurosurgeon for Johnnie Cochran. You may remember that he had a brain tumor as well. He died of brain tumor. His doctor says that he was pretty convinced that it was due to cell phone usage. I was pretty surprised at that point when he said but he said that he's convinced that the science will one day catch up.
We use our cell phones a lot. Three billion users as you said. Take a look at how often cell phones are used now. This is large part of the concern. On average, 13 hours a month on average. Between 18 to 24 year olds, 22 hours a month. So, this could be a huge problem for younger population. Average calls 3+ minutes and the wireless minutes exceeded one trillion in the first half of 2007 alone. The phones of today, Kiran, no doubt have smaller amounts of radiation but we use them so much longer.
Bigger dose. Bigger risk. That's sort of the question a lot of people are asking.
CHETRY: And so, let's talk about solutions. Because no one is not going to use their cell phone. And you know, in some ways a jury may be out on this and it might take years before, you know, they can figure it out one way or another. Does it help if you use the, you know, the ear piece, not the blue tooth that we'll talk about in a second but the one that you actually plug in and put into your ear.
GUPTA: Yes. You know, I think it does. And my own independent interviews is a lot of people who sound the alarms, and again, this anecdotal evidence on their behalf. They say that using an ear piece - you know, I use one myself I'll tell you since some of these conversations. That's just my own personal preference. But just a wired earpiece, again not as fancy as some of the wireless devices but a wired ear piece you really significantly decrease any kind of ionizing radiation that goes close to your ear. The concerns are two- fold, Kiran.
One is the radiation itself which is a low dose but we use it so much. The other thing is just what is known as heat activation proteins. You have heat activation proteins in your brain. The thought is holding a phone to your ear activates your proteins and that could be problematic.
CHETRY: You know what, the other question is about the blue tooth. Because, you see a lot of people, drivers especially in taxis and people that spend a lot of time in the road and a lot of states these are required now to have an ear piece when you drive. People leave these in all day and they just blink. You know, just send this wireless signal or blue tooth as they call it, all day long. What about that? What about concerns about that?
GUPTA: Again, and we spent a lot of time last night just looking up the science. There is no science that suggests that that's a problem. And the radiation from those devices is even lower than the cell phone itself. The problem as you pointed out is that people have it in all day long. So, they're getting radiation all day long and they're getting again this heat activation proteins in their ear activated all day long as well. The science wouldn't suggest but again, a couple, at least a couple of prominent doctors out there say that would be a concern and they would recommend the wired ear pieces.
CHETRY: And don't sleep with your Blackberry under your pillow like my producer does.
GUPTA: I bet they make you do, right?
CHETRY: That couldn't be good in any way, shape or form. All right, Sanjay. Good to see you. Thanks.
GUPTA: All right. Thanks, Kiran.
ROBERTS: That can't be good psychologically let alone physiologically.
CHETRY: She doesn't want to miss your e-mails.
ROBERTS: Yes, she does actually.
OK. Rescue is under way in breaking news that we've been bringing you this morning at the scene of a hotel inferno. This is the Towpath Inn in Lockport, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. Brand new information on the injured coming up for you straight ahead here on AMERICAN MORNING.
And windy weather in Missouri knocks down trees and power lines and we'll show you the damage and update you on the latest extreme weather. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. World leaders are under pressure to use the Olympic Games to take a stand against China's crackdown in Tibet. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is asking President Bush to consider skipping the opening ceremonies this August. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is boycotting the Olympics all together. And France's Nicolas Sarkozy may stay away from the opening ceremonies as well.
It brings us to our "Quick Vote" question. Should President Bush boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Right now, 76% of you say yes. 24% say no. Cast your vote at cnn.com and we'll continue to tally your votes throughout the show. Meanwhile, we've also been asking for your e-mails to this question as well. Katie writes in, "I don't believe that boycotting any part of the Olympic Games sends a real message. What do we gain by telling our athletes for him this has been a life's dream and passion that they cannot participate in the opening ceremonies?"
ROBERTS: Robert from Washington writes us this morning to say that "I want to say that we the USA needs to boycott the Olympics all together and send all those tainted toys back to China while we're at it."
CHETRY: He got two points in for the price of one. Also Keith from Arizona, "The Olympic Games should not be used to make political statements. They should be an opportunity for the world to come together despite whatever else may be going on within or between countries. Also, there are many ways to express our disagreements with China's human rights policies than to ruin an event for which hundreds of athletes have spent year's training and preparing."
ROBERTS: Keep those e-mails coming, we'll read some more of them this morning.
Right now, it's six minutes to the top of the hour. Updating our breaking news story out of Lockport, Illinois. Rescue is under way right now at the scene of a hotel inferno. This is at the Towpath Inn and it's obvious that firefighters have made a lot more progress as the sun come up and then they have made just an hour ago, the fire basically out but not too long ago flames were coming right through the roof there at the Towpath which is a residence hotel.
These are some of the pictures from earlier today. As many as 30 fire trucks were on the scene. The local Towpath Fire Department had to call in fire apparatus from other townships in the area . As far as we know no injuries at this point which is really a terrific thing considering the extent of this fire. It broke out just about 4:00 Eastern, sorry 4:00 Central time, that would be 5:00 Eastern.
We also learned that this is going to affect some people's commute going into Chicago because officials with the MetraRail Commuter Rail Service say that they have canceled train services in Chicago along the Heritage Corridor line because apparently this hotel is very near the Metra Lockport station. And the area closed off because of the amount of firefighting equipment. So, if you're trying to head into Chicago via the Heritage corridor, you're going to have some delays this morning. This all taking place 30 miles southwest of downtown Chicago.
Rob Marciano at the CNN Weather Center tracking extreme weather for us. And Rob, it was high winds in the Chicago area that helped fan this fire earlier today. It looks like they have died down somewhat. How bad were they and what can people expect for the rest of the day there?
MARCIANO: Still very windy there, John. There's not a lot on the radar scope because it's more of a wind event than it is a rain or thunderstorm event but from Milwaukee to Chicago, we still have winds out of the west-northwest, anywhere from 15 to 25 miles an hour and gusty. So, the winds haven't so much died down as those firefighters really just got a handle on that fire. That's certainly the good news. All associated with a storm that will be rolling across the lower hand of Michigan with some wind. Upper hand, U.P., including Marquette blizzard warnings out. 10 to 18 inches of snow expected there. The bottom half of this system is going to plow through the south. This what brought the severe weather across parts of Oklahoma and Missouri. We expect to see thunderstorms that could become severe especially Louisiana, Mississippi, and in through central Alabama. John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much. The truck stops here. A call to independent truckers to park their rigs today. Will they join together and will the strike work? We'll get a live report coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Price war. Racking up billions. A gallon at a time. Big oil braces for a grilling on Capitol Hill.
Three weeks and counting.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not quit.
CHETRY: Clinton and Obama cross paths in Pennsylvania.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is going to take work.
CHETRY: The news about your money and their money. The most politics in the morning.
Plus, hands on. You saw it here first. The new approach to CPR, saving more lives. Now goes nationwide on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: You saw that first here on AMERICAN MORNING. Sanjay Gupta talking about the chest compression only CPR and now it's being adopted as the way to go.
ROBERTS: The paradigm shifts yet again.
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