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American Morning
Fight for Texas: Must Win for Clinton; Stocks Market Tumble; Prince Harry Back Home; New President for Russia; Ahmadinejad in Iraq; Texters Beware on Deleted Message
Aired April 03, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ratcheting up the rhetoric, and this could be crucial Tuesday for Clinton. She is counting on wins in Texas and Ohio for a comeback. Right now, she is up in Ohio wrapping her so-called 88 counties in 88 hours before heading to Texas this afternoon.
And as for Barack Obama, he's set to begin a marathon dash across Texas in just a few hours. In the heat of this critical contest, things are now getting a bit personal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can come and give a great speech and have people get really excited and leave the arena and say, oh, that was wonderful. And then the next day, you say, but what was it about? What is it that is going to happen as a result of those words?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Clinton has been running around telling people that our entire campaign, according to her, is only based on the facts that I gave a speech in opposition to the war in Iraq from the start. That that is the only basis of my campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: On the Republican side, it doesn't look like John McCain has any worries. He's scheduled three rallies for today. Mike Huckabee, though, campaigning hard in Texas with at least 10 stops today.
And Texas is the biggest prize of the day. In a CNN poll of polls, John McCain leads among likely Republican voters, 58 percent. Mike Huckabee with 30 percent. Ron Paul with six percent. Six percent still undecided.
On the Democrat side, Barack Obama at 47 percent with Hillary Clinton at 45 percent. So a statistical dead heat among the two Democrats. Eight percent still remain undecided.
And we're live from all of the battlefronts. We have Suzanne Malveaux for us in Dallas this morning. Ali Velshi looking at the economy and how those issues will shape voters' decision. He's in Junction, Texas. And Rob Marciano in Atlanta. He is watching the primary day forecast for us where it could get hairy in some states like Ohio.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely. You got to have good weather if you want to get people out to the polls.
We begin in Texas where Hillary Clinton is trying to keep her White House dream alive and stop Barack Obama's winning streak. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live in the heart of the battle field in Dallas, Texas. Suzanne, Senator Clinton has toughened her rhetoric in these closing days, but are you seeing signs that it's working there with voters in Texas?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, well, John, they certainly seem to be responding to her. I have to say we're dealing with tornado warnings here, some really bad weather, but that is not going to stop either one of these candidates from crisscrossing, heading across the state today. We're going to see Senator Clinton.
She's starting her day in Toledo, Ohio, but then she's also going to head to Austin as well as overnight in Houston. She's going to be holding a town hall meeting as well. She's hitting Beaumont, all of these key places trying to drum up as much last minute support as possible.
Also, Senator Obama is going to be crisscrossing the state as well. He is holding rallies in San Antonio, Carrollton (ph) and Houston, Texas. Both of them trying to emphasize here who is the most qualified and experienced. Now, we have heard Senator Clinton really sharpen the rhetoric over the last couple of days, talking about national security and really trying to downplay Senator Obama's resume.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some people this election is, you know, it's about how you feel. It's about speeches. Well, that's not what it's about for me. It is about solution. Rolling up our sleeves, having a fighter back to the White House is going to solve America's problems.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know what all that experience got her because I have enough experience to know that if you have a national intelligence estimate, and the chairman of the national -- chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says you should read this. This is why I'm voting against the war, that you should probably read it. I don't know how much experience you need for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, John, one of the very important things, as you know, they call it the Texas two step. They're going to have to participate in a dual primary type caucus type of process here, really to get the best bang for their buck when it comes to the delegate count. And one of the things that is really going to count here is the weather. So -- (AUDIO GLITCH) ROBERTS: Yes, one of the things that is going -- one of the things that is going to count there is the weather. Suzanne, I'm sorry, you keep on freezing up there. Are you still with us? No. Unfortunately, we've lost her.
She said that there's a tornado warning out in the area that causes the satellite signal to break up just a bit as that disk wobbles off of the satellite. So we'll let her get inside to some shelter, and we'll get back with Suzanne a little bit later on this morning.
Some other political headlines this morning. Mike Huckabee wins the endorsement of "The Dallas Morning News," even though the paper says he has no chance of winning the party's nomination. It's not the first time that the paper has praised Huckabee, and he says the feeling is mutual.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think "The Dallas Morning News" is probably the greatest newspaper in America, and everybody ought to get a lifetime subscription. Obviously, I'm very pleased, extremely grateful, not only for the impact of the endorsement and the timing of it, but I was especially grateful for what they represented in that editorial and that is that I represent the future of the party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Mike Huckabee will be our guest this morning coming up at 7:30 Eastern. And stay with CNN today and, of course, tomorrow for coverage of the crucial primaries. We'll have up to the minute results from Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont starting tomorrow night at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
And join us the morning after for a special early edition of AMERICAN MORNING, Wednesday, beginning at 5:00 a.m. Eastern -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Voters are concerned about the economy and, of course, so are investors. Overseas markets tanking today on fears of a recession in the U.S. All of the major European indexes are trading lower right now. And in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei lost nearly 4.5 percent of its value.
Our Ali Velshi is covering the economy. He's on the campaign trail with the CNN Election Express in Junction, Texas, this morning with more on exactly what new fears there are that caused the Asian markets and some of the European markets to tank overnight.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Kiran. We are here in Junction, Texas, which some people have referred to as the front porch of west Texas. And we've been getting not the weather that Suzanne is having over there, but we've had some heavy winds overnight and some rain. And this is an area where actually some people that have been telling me, one of their biggest economic concerns is drought. This is a big -- there are ranches around here. There's a lot that's grown. There are -- it's a big hunting area. Anyway, let's talk about markets and I'll get back to that in a second.
Asian markets really took a hit overnight. As you said, the -- well, the Nikkei in Japan closed 4.5 percent lower; 4.5 percent, that is a massive drop for one day. Hong Kong down three percent. Australia down three percent. Now, that follows on the heels of a very, very rough day on Friday. In fact, the Dow had its second biggest drop for the year so far. And, you know, we've had some pretty big drops so far this year.
Here's what happened on Friday. The Dow was down 2.5 percent. The Nasdaq 2.6 percent, and the S&P down 2.7 percent. Now, a lot of that was on all of those economic concerns we discussed last week; inflation, fears of a recession and the price of oil. Take a look at where oil closed, settled in New York on Friday, $101.84, down 75 cents. What are we celebrating when oil is above $101 and it's still lower.
Now, we are in -- we're in this area where we're getting into west Texas right now. But on Friday or Saturday and Sunday, we were actually in the oil fields of central Texas. I spoke to a gentleman named Chad. Because they're in the oil fields, they actually aren't as concerned about the price of oil. Listen to what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAD WALLS, TEXAS VOTER: You know, we've been going around the state, going around the country talking to people. They complain about oil prices and gas prices. I imagine around here I'm not going to hear that sort of complaint? No. Actually, I like it. High price of oil gives us good pay I guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And, of course, afterwards I talked to Chad and he said, well, that's because he drives in his work truck and it pays him well. But when he drives his own vehicle, of course, he feels the pinch like everyone else. I'll be back with more from Junction, Texas, and more about what's going on and what you can expect in markets this morning. I'm going to grab some breakfast in the next few minutes -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Show us what you're eating a little later. Thanks, Ali -- John.
ROBERTS: We saw how windy it was in Texas just a moment ago with Suzanne Malveaux. Well, extreme weather passing through Oklahoma as well. Two tornadoes touched down yesterday. Strong winds and hail. Also knocked down power lines, damaged a barn and shut down roads, but the damage was limited.
In Colorado, blizzard conditions turned Interstate 70 into an ice covered parking lot. A stretch of highway shut down for several hours yesterday. Believe or not, temperatures in Denver were in the 70s before plunging into the 20s. A wintry mix of snow and rain could also affect voter turnout in tomorrow's primary in Ohio.
Rob Marciano at the weather update desk in Atlanta. So is this going to keep people away from the polls, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I tell you what, John? I don't see much daytime areas that will see any sort of calm weather across the entire state of Ohio. So be it rain, be it wind or snow, the Buckeye State is going to be feeling it tomorrow. So show your true colors and bundle up and head out there. Just be careful getting to the polls.
Let's show you the storm that is now beginning to intensify as it heads across the plains. It will have everything with this that a winter or spring storm would, and one ingredient would be the possibility of tornadoes. We have a tornado watch out just east of Dallas. Now, Dallas out of the watch area until 9:00 Local time.
But Dallas Fort Worth metropolitan area has still seen severe thunderstorms rolling through with gusts as high as 60 miles an hour in intensity. So certainly enough to do damage and a pretty good squall line right now heading through the I-35/45 area across Waco, Texas. Up to five towards Fort Smith and Little Rock, we're looking for severe weather there.
St. Louis, you're getting heavy rain now but later on today and tonight, the change will go to snow. You could see four to eight inches of snow and then a swathe of snow up through northern Ohio during the day tomorrow. A lot of action here in the weather department, and the voters are going to have to deal with it, especially in the Buckeye State tomorrow. John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much. We'll check back with you soon -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And our Alina Cho is just back from her trip to North Korea with a look at some of the other stories this morning. Welcome back.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
CHETRY: Great reporting there.
CHO: Thank you so much. Thanks, guys. It was an incredible experience. I have more on that a little bit later. But first, to the news. Good morning, everybody.
We begin with new developments in the Middle East. Israeli troops pulled out of northern Gaza before dawn today. The move comes just one day before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in Jerusalem. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had called off peace talks saying he wouldn't negotiate while Israeli forces were in Gaza. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in intense fighting since Wednesday. The White House is calling for a stop to the violence, but Israel is warning of more military operations if Palestinian militants don't stop firing rockets into Israel. Right now, tanks and thousands of Venezuelan troops are lined up along the border with Colombia. They're awaiting orders from President Hugo Chavez. Chavez says Colombia is pushing him to the brink of war after the killing of a top rebel leader in Ecuador. Then U.S. National Security Council called the response "odd," saying the man killed was the leader of a terrorist group. Colombia says it found documents linking that organization to Ecuador's president and says it wants answers.
New overnight. Russia has chosen a new president, but it wasn't much of an election. With nearly all precincts reporting, Dmitry Medvedev cruised a victory with more than 70 percent of the vote. But he was handpicked by the current president, Vladimir Putin, and ran with no opposition. Putin will likely stay on as prime minister, and critics of the election say that will allow him to hold a tight grip on power.
Ripple effect from the mortgage crisis. It could make education more expensive for college students. Lenders say the cost of student loans will go up this spring, and some students may not be able to get loans at all. Many lenders are decreasing the number of loans they give because of the problems in the credit markets.
And if you're thinking of text messaging while driving in New Jersey, forget about it. Police are now hitting drivers with $100 fine for sending text messages while at the wheel. The new rule took effect on Saturday. Texting behind the wheel is now a primary offense. That means police need no other reason to yank you off the road.
Washington State has a similar texting law on the books, and four states in all have laws banning cell phone use. But, anyway, I guess Bluetooth sales have gone up as a result because hands free.
CHETRY: Yes, I know, and people are still texting. I feel like that's even worse. You actually have to --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Yes, you can't check with the Bluetooth.
CHETRY: Right.
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: You have to look down and type with both hands as opposed to just holding it. They're trying to be worse.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Talk using a Bluetooth instead.
CHETRY: Yes.
CHO: But, anyway, hey, guys, I'm going to be back in the next half hour with more on my trip to North Korea, to South Korea. As you know, it was a professional journey but also a personal journey. I have some personal photos, and I'm also going to come bearing gifts on the set.
CHETRY: That's what we like to hear. All right. We'll see you in a couple minutes.
CHO: OK.
CHETRY: Thanks, Alina.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to all of that, Alina, thanks.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." FBI agents and Hazmat teams search a house outside of Salt Lake City that is linked to the discovery of the deadly toxin ricin in Las Vegas that we told you about last week. We'll have the latest on that investigation.
Prince Harry back home with his family, speaking out about his time on the front lines and the fact that it was cut short.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE HARRY, BLUES AND ROYALS REGIMENT: Angry would be the wrong word to use, but I am slightly disappointed. I thought I could see it through to the end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Hear why Harry says he actually liked his time in Afghanistan. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Prince Harry back home in the UK, speaking out about his tour of duty in Afghanistan. He returned home Saturday. He was forced back after a media leak. He had to withdraw from the front line. Harry says he enjoyed his 10 weeks in combat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE HARRY, BLUES AND ROYALS REGIMENT: It was fantastic. It was an opportunity for us (INAUDIBLE) wanting to do the whole time and to be able to do it was -- I was hugely grateful for having the opportunity. I did enjoy it a little bit more I suppose than I should, but not in a sick way. But no, I just -- I enjoyed being out there. I suppose every element of it was -- had something different about it. Actually being out in the middle of nowhere, with the stars out as you go through experiencing, well, for just a short amount of time. It was just, you know, a fantastic place to be.
And sometimes I should forget. As I remember watching the documentary before I came out when they saying (INAUDIBLE) it's very hard, sometimes as you think you're not in a war zone. It's hard to actually bring yourself back to realities and say, I could actually get shot at any point just because the area itself is so nice. The two mornings before I left was the first morning I heard birds sing in the desert. Yes, it's in the desert. So it's a nice place to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Prince Harry's brother, Prince William, is also an army officer. He, however, is barred from combat since he's second in line for the thrown -- John.
ROBERTS: Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is on the second day of his two-day trip to Iraq. He arrived on Sunday and was greeted warmly by Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, as well as the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki. Ahmadinejad said he was happy to be visiting without Saddam in power, and he took aim at the United States rejecting claims that Iran is arming Shiite militias in Iran.
CNN's Michael Ware is live in Baghdad for us this morning. Michael, there have long and good relations between Iraq Shiite leaders in Iran. Now it looks like Talabani, a Kurd, is also on board. Does this whole visit signal a new alliance between Iraq and Iran?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, in fact, no. What it signals is the consolidation of long-standing arrangements. Even the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd from northern Iraq, his half of Kurdistan, which is under his party's control, borders Iran. So he's long had an association with the Iranians. And indeed, this Iraqi government is dominated by Iraqi Shia. Many of whose parties are directly linked to Iran or in fact, including the most powerful, was actually created in Iran.
So President Ahmadinejad's tour here very much as a triumphant air, a victory over the executed dictator Saddam Hussein, who waged a vicious eight-year war against Iran in the '80s, and a perceived victory against American influence. He's here strutting, flaunting Iran's influence. And they just this morning, in a press conference, he said that the American presence in an Arab country is an insult and a humiliation to the region. And the best thing America could do is pack up and leave -- John.
ROBERTS: Yes, he seems bent on causing divisions there as well. We said in the lead in here that he rejected the idea that Iran is arming the militia, which is engaging in attacks against America, and he couldn't help but take another swipe at the United States. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): You tell Mr. Bush accusing others will not resolve America's problems in the region. The time of accusing others has passed. They must accept the realities of the region. The people of Iraq do not want the Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So he's saying time and time again here, Iraqis do not like Americans. They don't want the Americans. What kind of impact is that going to have in Iraq?
WARE: Well, what he's doing is playing to a domestic market in Iran and here in Iraq. I mean, he's hitting key buttons here, and they will resonate to a certain degree, particularly among the harder line Shia community, the pockets within that community, that are very much attuned to that message. Obviously, Iraq Sunnis are very cautious. They're wary of Iranian influence and have sided with America at last -- in the last -- in the past year or so.
But at the end of the day, Iran has greater influence in this country, certainly politically right now than does America. Indeed, some of the top U.S. officials in the mission here on the ground, have conceded time and time again to me, that in the last six years the big winner here has been Iran. And President Ahmadinejad's visit is just to stamp that. It's to show boat that. Indeed, if you compare his visits to those of President Bush, President Bush's visits have been fleeting and in secret and his going to U.S. bases and harbored there. Whereas the Iranian president walks the street and says I own this place more or less -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Michael Ware for us this morning from Baghdad. Michael, thanks.
The ricin investigation moves to another state, and the man who may have the answers is in a coma. FBI agents in protective suits searching four locations around Salt Lake City over the weekend, all linked to 57-year-old Roger Von Bergendorff. Police say he lived in Utah for more than a year before moving to Las Vegas where they found vials of ricin, several guns and an anarchist-type textbook in his hotel room. The book was marked at a spot containing information about ricin. Von Bergendorff is in critical condition, in a coma from possible exposure to the deadly poison.
CHETRY: Well, a little baby at the center of a wild story left in a cab, at least according to the story. Now, the driver who claims she was abandoned in his back seat could also be facing criminal charges and he's not alone. We're going to tell you how this all could turn out.
Also, just because they're deleted doesn't mean they're gone for good. Veronica De La Cruz looks at a new device that finds and retrieves erased messages from your phone. Why some spouses may want to listen up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Time now for your "Hot Shot" this morning. An amazing move by a German airline pilot. Check this out. He avoided a crash by mere seconds. The Lufthansa jet using evasive maneuvers while landing. It happened Saturday in Hamburg.
A gust of wind pushed the left wing toward the ground forcing the crew to pull back up at the last second. The left wing tip actually scraped the runway. The pilot, a 17-year vet, he's just 39 years old, by the way, says it's a move they practice regularly. And by the way, that plane did land safely. ROBERTS: Oh, my goodness.
CHETRY: There you see it coming in for a landing when that gust of wind comes through, and there you see the plane tip...
ROBERTS: Look at that. Oh, my goodness.
CHETRY: ... and he pulls back up. Everyone, by the way, unharmed.
If you have a "Hot Shot," send it to us. Head to our Web site CNN.com/am. Follow the "Hot Shot" link. Please include your name, where you're from and a little about the picture or video. And please make sure the image is yours.
ROBERTS: That's why they say take off and landing, the most dangerous parts of your flight. My goodness.
New spy software can read a cell phone's memory chip including old text messages that you may have thought were erased and gone for good. Our Internet correspondent Veronica De La Cruz is here. What is it? It can really allow people to spy on your cell phone?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, it's pretty crazy. And I actually have your Blackberry here so you want to be careful.
ROBERTS: Yes. I would take it into part, too, so you want to be careful about that.
DE LA CRUZ: I want to show you how it works and who this company is basically marketing this device to. It's funny, John, because in the literature, they're calling it the cell phone spy. Yet, on the box, it's called the ultimate SIM card management solution because you can use it for other things.
ROBERTS: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: You can back up your own phone. It's not something that you want to do. But also, marketing it to cheating spouses if you will. Employers who want to keep dibs on their employees.
ROBERTS: Right.
DE LA CRUZ: Even parents who want to keep track of their children.
ROBERTS: How does it work?
DE LA CRUZ: OK. What you want to do is you want to take the SIM card out of the back of your phone, and you know that all cell phone carriers don't have some cards. Maybe Verizon has --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Yes. Verizon does intend have a SIM card. DE LA CRUZ: Right. Sprint, Nextel. Also, this is not going to work with like a prepaid phone. But you take the SIM card and you slide it into this device which looks like a key, right?
ROBERTS: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: So you pop it in, and this is going to go right into your USB drive. You have to download some software. I mean, it's a pretty simple process. Once you download the software, this is what you're going to see. We're going to take a look. A drop down menu is going to appear, and there's a function that basically says delete SMS. You can retrieve deleted SMS, which is short messaging, which is, yes -- short, short -- what is this? Short messaging --
ROBERTS: It's text messaging.
DE LA CRUZ: Text messages -- that's what we all know it as, right? You click and all of those deleted text messages appear. So it's a pretty simple technology.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: So even if you have erased them on your phone, they're still there?
DE LA CRUZ: Exactly. So don't think that just because you've hit that delete button, whether you've written the message or whether you have received it, don't think that it's gone forever.
CHETRY: Or can you delete them with that function, too? I mean, can you buy that thing and use that device to delete them forever?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. You know, you can overwrite them, which is one way to do it. But I also want to mention that you can lock your SIM card. A lot of people don't know to do that. You know, people lock their cell phones but they can actually lock the SIM card. There's a four-digit pin that you can do that. You can also destroy your SIM card. If there's something on it that you don't want, you can just take it out and cut it in half.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Veronica will be back in a month with a SIM card unlocker. It's just real (ph) technology.
ROBERTS: Right. You know, as you said, you can spy on somebody if you like, but you still have to get access to that card. So --
DE LA CRUZ: You need the SIM card.
ROBERTS: You would need to borrow their cell phone and get it out.
DE LA CRUZ: And like I said, it doesn't work with every cell phone, I mean, if you got a Verizon cell phone, for example. ROBERTS: Right. Although it may symbolize (ph) and still have them.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: We have John's right here, so we should probably try it out.
ROBERTS: There you go. Over my dead body. Veronica, thanks very much for that.
CHETRY: Thanks, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Of course.
ROBERTS: Another eye opener this morning.
CHETRY: How about it? Well, still ahead, you're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
And it's down to the wire in Texas and Ohio. The states that could decide the Democratic nominee for president. Also, extreme weather could decide in some areas as tough weather may make it tough to get to the polls.
There some shots from Maine, but this weather is also moving into other places, cities that will be voting. Rob Marciano tracking it all for us.
Also, there's a new leader in Russia, but will there be real change? What Vladimir Putin's handpicked successor means for the U.S. when AMERICAN MORNING comes back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, here is some pretty picture to start off your moment -- your morning or your moment, whatever the case may be. It's looking east from our time, Warner City here over Central Park to sort of the western part of Long Island as the sun is coming up. 36 degrees right now in New York City. Going up to a high of 55 today. It was really windy yesterday. I mean, there was a hint of spring in there, but still winter lingering.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. If you were sitting inside and you saw the sun, it's such a beautiful day. You go outside, you still need the coat.
ROBERTS: Not so much.
CHETRY: Right.
CHETRY: Well, there were some new questions this morning about whether airlines and the FAA are really doing all they can to ensure passenger safety. There's a congressional hearing today, and it's going to include testimony from the airlines, as well as the FAA, as well as two whistle blowers who claim that the agency allowed unsafe planes to fly.
Another area of concern, reports of cockpit windshields shattering in flight. An airlines' pilot union claim the danger was ignored. CNN's special investigations unit correspondent, Drew Griffin, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By the time it made an emergency landing here in Palm Beach, Florida, just last January, the windshield in the jet liners cockpit had shattered. The pilot and co-pilot already wearing mask and goggles because the cockpit filled with smoke at cruising altitude.
A half dozen people had to be treated for smoke inhalation. What caused the terrifying incident? The National Transportation Safety Board investigators are focusing on this windshield heater on the American Airlines 757, which apparently overheated. A one-time fluke accident? Not at all. It also happened to this pilot on another American Airlines 757.
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: My entire windscreen was shattered like a spider web. Donned our smoke goggles and oxygen masks for fear that the second pane on the window was going to fail between the airspeed and the force on the wind screen. I probably would have gotten a face full of glass and then we would have had catastrophic depressurization of the airplane.
GRIFFIN: This pilot wants us to protect his identify because he says he fears retaliation. But what he describes matches the emergency that took place this past January. But listen to this. His near catastrophe happened more than two years ago. And the NTSB says it has happened at least ten times now. Four times on American Airlines 757s.
Todd Wissing, a safety officer with the Allied Pilot Association says both American and the FAA have known about the problem for four years and he says have done little to fix it.
TODD WISING, PILOT: In 2004, there were two 757 incidents that occurred. The NTSB investigated and made safety recommendations to the FAA.
GRIFFIN: The FAA has only now issued this. It's called a proposed Airworthiness Directive for inspection and fixes to windshield heaters not just on 757s but also on Boeing 767 and 777. And the FAA told us we will work with the manufacturer to provide a solution for operators if the existing solution is not adequate.
(END VIDEOTAPE) GRIFFIN: And Kiran, the FAA didn't answer the one question we had, which is what took so long? Critics in Congress say just another example of the FAA being too cozy with the airline industry and quite frankly, too confrontational with the NTSB, which is the agency that looks into crash investigations.
CHETRY: So there were also some allegations of laziness on the part of the FAA inspectors. Is it laziness or not caring or is it wanting to actually protect people that aren't necessarily they're doing their jobs right on the airline front?
GRIFFIN: Well, there's two different investigations going on. As for this windshield thing, what we're being told is there's some kind of a behind-the-scenes fight going on between the manufacturer and the airline as to who is going to pay for these windshields. These are expensive to replace.
That has been going on though for four years, and it's taken ten incidents now just to get this proposed Airworthiness Directive to fix it. The pilots say we can't wait that long.
CHETRY: All right. Well, thanks for shedding light on this story. Very, very interesting and eye-opening for sure. Drew, thank you.
We're also going to be watching the live coverage as I'm sure, Drew, will be as well. The FAA hearings taking place today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Cnn.com just follow the links to the live event.
ROBERTS: It's coming to 35 minutes after the hour. And new this morning, a secret 2001 memo shows that for more than a year after September the 11th, the Bush administration did not think that the constitution's protection against illegal searches applied to terrorism-related searches.
The Justice Department authored the position after the White House asked for advice a month after the attacks. A Justice Department spokesman says the view is no longer held, but would not say when the opinion changed.
A report due out today says the Federal Emergency Management Agency is better but not fully ready yet for a major disaster. Its own watchdog group says FEMA is much better at handing out supplies but it is still not completely equipped to handle disasters as big as Hurricane Katrina. The report says FEMA needs better plans for housing victims and better employee training.
New clues this morning after a truck driver barreled down a highway in Edmonton, Alberta on Monday. The wrong way for nearly 20 minutes. The video is incredible. The driver's family says he may have gone into diabetic shock when he started weaving into oncoming traffic. The truck as you saw there eventually hit a concrete median, became airborne, and plunged off an overpass and burst into flames.
Take a look at this here. There it hits the median, up in the air, over the overpass, down. And look at this, as the car crosses here. You'll see the flames erupt. My goodness. The driver was killed. The woman who captured the dramatic video describes the horror that she saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
We were a family driving on the highway and I was just thinking some other family is going to come up and you know, what's going to happen? We just had no idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The truck did clip several other vehicles, but police say that no one was hurt other than the driver of the truck. And, again, he died. But just such amazing video there. And you can see, if you look at that entire clip that they had that video camera with them, Kiran, and said look at what's going on here, pulled it up, and took those pictures.
CHETRY: It's just terrifying. You know what's going on. You know what probably is going to happen, and there is nothing you can do about it, powerless as some other truckers said they saw him for a while, tried to contact him on the radio. Tried to do something to stop it, and they couldn't.
ROBERTS: Literally, I guess went into almost a diabetic coma while he was at the wheel of his truck.
CHETRY: Sad.
ROBERTS: Unbelievable. Gerri Seinfeld emerges uninjured from a serious car accident at East Hampton, New York. The 53-year-old comedian was driving one of his vintage cars. A 1967 Fiat when the brakes failed. He says he tried the emergency brake but that didn't work either. So he swerved to avoid an intersection but that caused the car to roll over stopping just short of a highway.
37 minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano tracking extreme weather in the Midwest for us this morning.
Good morning, Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: 39 minutes past the hour now. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" with more on these hearings that are taking place. The Fed chairman speaking to Congress a little bit about not only the mortgage crisis but a lot of the economic woes that have been going on.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We will be there with executives from JP Morgan and Bear Stearns today, because Congress wants answers as to exactly how that deal took place.
You know, that deal all happened and we don't really know much about how it happened. The Fed said it only got notice about 12 hours before Bear Stearns got into serious trouble. And that's when they went into action. Yesterday, Ben Bernanke was on Congress on Capitol Hill testifying about, you know, all sorts of things, and he kind of came really close to talking about a recession.
He said he doesn't know that we're in one now but he definitely thinks there's an economic downturn. But he was asked point blank as -- Kiran, asked me earlier, what did he say about why taxpayer dollars are being used to fund what some are people are calling a bailout of Bear Stearns. Here is what he had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: We did not bail out Bear Stearns. Bear Stearns shareholders took a very significant loss. An 85-year-old company lost its independence and became acquired by another firm. Many Bear Stearns employees, as you know, are concern about their jobs. I don't think any company's interested in repeating the experience of Bear Stearns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Now, you'll recall the week before the Bear Stearns takeover, you may recall, the stock was trading in about $72 and then by Thursday, it was about $57, and by Friday it was $30. The deal was eventually made at $2 a share and then JP Morgan upped the offer to $10 a share which is basically where that stock is trading now.
So Ben Bernanke making the point that if it were really a bailout, the investors in that company would have done a lot better than the $10 they're finally getting. And all those people who are going to be laid off from Bear Stearns, possibly thousands. So his point is that if Bear Stearns had failed, it would have sort of created a domino effect through the economic system and that would have been worse than not doing it in the first place. That was his explanation.
CHETRY: OK. So playing devil's advocate, though, if they can act that fast. They said that they...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Why can't they get the stimulus checks out faster? Well, I think he's going to get those questions very clearly today on Congress. You guys can do that very quickly. The argument that they're going to have is the Fed is the one that bailed out -- didn't bail out, is the one that assisted in that deal with Bear Stearns. The other side of things is a stimulus check that goes through the government and Congress. And the argument...
CHETRY: They could be asking themselves that question today on Capitol Hill.
VELSHI: That's exactly right. He could turn that right back at them. Say why didn't you guys act a little faster.
ROBERTS: He's going to be before Senator Dodd's committee today. The Senate Banking Committee.
VELSHI: That's right. ROBERTS: And we'll be speaking with Senator Dodd coming up in our third hour.
VELSHI: And he has got some very specific ideas about how to deal with this mortgage crisis. But same problem. Senator Dodd can't get it through Congress.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, that package has also been pared back a little bit. So we'll talk to him about that. Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: OK.
ROBERTS: 41 minutes after the hour. An emotional exchange over autism. Actress Jenny McCarthy who has a son with autism confronting a doctor on "LARRY KING LIVE."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNY MCCARTHY, ACTRESS: Are we considered acceptable losses?
UNIDENTIFIED PEDIATRICIAN: Jenny, let's bring it down just a notch here for a second. OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: What's behind the passionate debate just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. And a question over security. A man taking pictures during President Bush's visit to Washington's New Ballpark says the secret service went too far, asking him to delete his photos.
AMERICAN MORNING's legal analyst Sunny Hostin takes a look. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 15 minutes now to the top of the hour. A tourist in Washington's New Baseball Stadium, the national stadium, has ordered by the secret service to stop taking pictures and delete the one that he already took. Mark Butler was snapping shots outside of National's Park on the same night that President Bush was there this week. At one point, Butler, pointed his lens at the stadium and there was a security check point in front of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Made me delete the pictures that I had.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He made you delete your pictures?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the ones that I took, you know. That included him.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think he has the authority to do that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not from this standpoint, because I was more worried about what was beyond that. I really don't care about his checkpoint.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want to see a checkpoint, all you have to do is go to an airport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: There you go. He wanted to take a picture of that sign that says Nationals Park. So what are your rights when it comes to the secret service and photographing checkpoints like that?
AMERICAN MORNING's legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, is here now to explain. So this secret service agent who came up to him and said, delete those photos. I don't know if he said please or not.
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Right.
ROBERTS: I mean, is he within his legal rights to do that?
HOSTIN: Well, the short answer is no. They cannot demand that someone delete the pictures. And we have spoken to the secret service and they confirm that. They cannot demand it. Can they ask someone to delete them? Absolutely, John.
And in this case, this person was taking pictures of the security checkpoint. That's a protected area. And so it was certainly within his right to ask him to delete them.
ROBERTS: Right. I mean, there's plenty of photographs, as this gentleman said, about -- plenty of photographs of security checkpoints at airports.
HOSTIN: That's true.
ROBERTS: I mean, that's a particularly sensitive area. So why would this security checkpoint be any different?
HOSTIN: Well, the secret service is -- these agents are certainly trained to pick up activity that's suspicious. And in this case anyone taking pictures of a security checkpoint would raise an officer's suspicion. If that agent goes to someone and said, you know what, this is making me a little bit nervous, please do me a favor or just do me the favor and delete them.
If that person does not do it, that is going to raise the agent's suspicions even further. And I got to tell you, John, I always advise people your job when you were with a law enforcement agent and having an encounter is to make that encounter as pleasant and as short as possible. The minute you refuse to do something like that, now you raised the officer's suspicions and the bottom line is now you're in an investigation. It's very elevated and possible detention.
ROBERTS: Right. So this fellow was well within his rights though to say, I'm not going to delete those photos. Thanks very much. HOSTIN: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: But do you think in a case like that, if this agent was sort of, you know, taking things as far as he could, that that might have triggered a further investigation?
HOSTIN: Oh, absolutely.
ROBERTS: Could it ended up in detention as opposed to on his way back to Minnesota.
HOSTIN: I can guarantee you that is what would happen, John. If you tell that agent, you know what, I'm not going to stop taking pictures and in fact, I'm not going to delete them. Now you've been detained. Your investigation has been elevated and you're in a lot of trouble.
ROBERTS: So even though they can't demand that you do it, they still have ways of making do you it.
HOSTIN: No question. No question about it.
ROBERTS: That's requesting. Sunny Hostin, thanks very much.
HOSTIN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, this week, CNN has been focused on unraveling the mystery of autism. And on last night's "LARRY KING LIVE," actress, Jenny McCarthy, whose son has autism, confronted a pediatrician over the use of vaccines in infants and children. She believes there was a link that vaccines did play a role in her son's condition. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: But the financial amount that we are investing...
JENNY MCCARTHY, ACTRESS: But the increase is ridiculous, you guys. Look it. It's plain and simple. It's [BLEEP].
UNIDENTIFIED PEDIATRICIAN: No, it's not.
MCCARTHY: Yes, it is.
UNIDENTIFIED PEDIATRICIAN: Excuse me.
MCCARTHY: But too many shots too soon.
UNIDENTIFIED PEDIATRICIAN: Let's bring it down just a notch here for a second. OK? When we look at autism, 75 percent of kids with autism, there's demonstrated change that the child has in the first year of life before they get to this period when they're getting the measles, mumps, German measles vaccine. MCCARTHY: Good luck on the measles. I'll take that way over autism any day.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED PEDIATRICIAN: But that's not the option.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: McCarthy and her boyfriend, actor, Jim Carry, plan to lead an Autism Awareness March in Washington in June. And this issue is certainly of the possible link between vaccines and autism one that many, many parents are aware of and have very strong opinions on. We have talked to Sanjay Gupta about it in the past and we'll continue to cover that story here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Meanwhile, a popular flu drug will carry new warnings. We're going to tell you about some possible side effects, coming up.
Also, crisis in Zimbabwe. No election results and no one knows who will be running that country. CNN is banned from the country, but one of our reporters is there anyway. And we're going to hear from that person on the situation coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The tense waiting game right now in the southern African nation of Zimbabwe. Now five days since elections were held but still no results on who won the presidential race, leading to fears of vote rigging and chaos. Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe with absolute power since its independence from Britain 28 years ago.
CNN is officially banned from reporting inside of Zimbabwe, but a CNN reporter is there. For security reasons, however, we are not identifying our reporter who joins us on the phone now.
VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED CNN REPORTER: Kiran, we have some new information. Diplomatic sources tell CNN that those familiar with the situation and close to Robert Mugabe said at this point that he's willing to submit in a run off.
The danger here, Kiran, and what is really upsetting diplomatic sources is that constitutionally he should be having that presidential runoff with the opposition within 21 days of the first vote. It looks like now what they're trying to do is to maneuver a delay -- a delay for several weeks.
They say they may hindered on the economic crisis that has been going on here for years in Zimbabwe and say that they need more time before a runoff can be held. The problem, Kiran, is that that could mean more chaos in this country. And diplomatic sources tell CNN they know that this will open the door to more violence and perhaps more intimidation, more vote rigging at the polls by the Robert Mugabe regime.
Kiran? CHETRY: All right. Again, we're not identifying our reporter for security reasons in that nation, but we will continue to follow this story and check in as new developments happen.
John?
ROBERTS: Six minutes now to the top of the hour. We have been talking this morning about whether airlines and the FAA are doing all they can to ensure airline passengers' safety. A congressional hearing today will include testimony from the airlines and the FAA as well as two whistle blowers who claim the agency allowed unsafe planes to fly.
Another area of concern, reports of cockpit windshield shattering in flight. An airline pilots' union claims the danger is being ignored, and there are accusations that the relationship between the agency and the airlines is too cozy.
So that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Who do you think the FAA is looking out for, the airlines or you? Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll have the first tally of votes coming up on our next hour.
And remember, we want your e-mails on this as well. Tell us what you're thinking this morning. Log on and go to our Web site cnn.com/am. We'll be reading those e-mails throughout the morning.
CHETRY: And still ahead, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are joining together to come up with a bill to fix the mortgage crisis. Gerri Willis will explain the plan, coming up.
And if you can't kick the habit, maybe it's in your genes. Details of a genetic link now to cigarette addiction and your risk of getting lung cancer. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Flight risks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we saw that the airline was at risk due to the lax oversight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: They blew the whistle on uninspected planes. Their secrets revealed today.
Straight Talk Express.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think our party is largely unified.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: What kind of president would John McCain be? He joins us live.
Cancer answer. Remarkable research about the nation's number one cancer killer and why some smokers escape it, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
They were able to find more genetic links in a couple of studies between not only the rates of lung cancer, but how addicted you can become to cigarettes based on your genes.
ROBERTS: Yes, it's like a double whammy. This gene makes you more addicted to cigarettes and at the same time it increases your potential for getting a lung cancer.
CHETRY: Wow. We're going to check in with our medical team about that as well today. But a lot going on economic-wise.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. The multibillion-dollar question this morning. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will be back on Capitol Hill today. Lawmakers are expected to grill him about the decision to help out Bear Stearns.
Did it deserve a $29 billion lifeline out of your pocket? The Fed head will have to answer that a day after he said for the very first time that a recession in the United States is possible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Recession is possible but a recession is a technical term defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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