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American Morning
Democrats Debate in Final Showdown Before Primary; Pope to Celebrate Mass; Oil Breaks Records; Suicide Blast in Iraq Kills Dozens; Issues on Attacks on the Philly Debate
Aired April 17, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: The final debate before the crucial Pennsylvania primary and Senators Clinton and Obama wasted no time before attacking one other. In fact, they spent about half of the evening battering each other before focusing on the issues finally.
Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley has got the highlights from last evening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a cornerstone of her case to superdelegates, that Barack Obama cannot win a general election. Last night, Hillary Clinton boxed herself out of that argument.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, MEDIATOR: Do you think Senator Obama can do that? Can he win?
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, yes, yes.
CROWLEY: She has never said that before, and it was Clinton's one concession during a debate in which she dug into him at every turn and there was plenty of opportunity. The first half of the debate focused on campaign gaffes, mostly his. It included his suggestion that small town voters turn to guns and God because they are bitter about decades of government inaction.
CLINTON: I think that is a fundamental sort of misunderstanding of the role of religion and faith in times that are good and times that are bad.
CROWLEY: Obama went after Clinton for criticizing him as an elitist recalling the '92 campaign when she dismissively noted she'd not spent her life baking cookies.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People attack her for being elitist and this and that, and I remember watching that on TV and saying, well, that's not who she is. The problem is that that's the kind of politics that we've been accustomed to, and I think Senator Clinton learned the wrong lesson from it because she's adopting the same tactics.
CROWLEY: From the bitter moment to Jeremiah Wright, Clinton tried to elevate the importance of all the incidents. CLINTON: It is clear that as leaders, we have a choice who we associate with and who we apparently give some kind of seal of approval to.
CROWLEY: But Obama tossed them off as irrelevant.
OBAMA: I do think it's important to recognize that it's not helping that person who's sitting at the kitchen table, who is trying to figure out how to pay the bills at the end of the month.
CROWLEY: Mostly they agreed on issues. Both hardened their stand on Iraq promising withdrawal no matter what, and both committed to no tax hikes on the middle class. They were also in sync when asked whether they would each promise to put the other on the ticket.
CHARLES GIBSON, MODERATOR: So I put the question to both of you, why not?
(LAUGHTER)
GIBSON: Don't all speak at once.
CROWLEY: It is tense now on this long campaign for the nomination, and it is increasingly bitter. No love lost here. Candy Crowley, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Well, we now know more about Barack Obama's personal finances. His campaign has released his 2007 tax returns. Obama and his wife reported, here it is, $4.2 million in income last year. Most of that profit from his two books. The Obamas combined salary was nearly $261,000. They paid $1.4 million in federal taxes and donated more than $240,000 to charity.
Meanwhile, the boss is backing Obama. Bruce Springsteen says that Obama speaks to the America that he has envisioned in his music for the past 35 years.
Senator John McCain is dismissing comments that he is too old to be president. Those comments were from Democratic Congressman John Murtha, who at 75 is four years older than McCain. Murtha is a Clinton supporter and says he does not believe that McCain can handle the rigors of the presidency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN MURTHA (D), PENNSYLVANIA: I've served with seven presidents. When they come in, they all make mistakes. They all get older, and this one guy running is about as old as me. Let me tell you something, it's no old man's job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: In response, McCain told CNN that Murtha should speak for himself, that he is doing fine, thanks. McCain will be 72 in November and if elected, would be the oldest man to ever become president.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pope Benedict XVI is getting ready to celebrate mass this morning in Washington, D.C. That mass will take place at Washington's new baseball stadium, Nationals Park, and you're looking live there. The gates have just opened before mass begins in a couple of hours. Security, as you might imagine, will be very, very tight.
Twenty-seven states, federal and local agencies involved in all of this. Forty-seven thousand people are expected today. The Pope spent Wednesday speaking to hundreds of bishops telling them they have a duty to heal wounds caused by the priest sex abuse scandal. Even though the Pope conceded the Catholic church mishandled the crisis, some church critics said he has not gone far enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE BENEDICT XVI, LEADER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: Responding to the situation has not been easy, and as the president of your Episcopal conference has indicated, it was sometimes very badly handled.
BARBARA BLAINE, SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS: What we're looking for would be a strong stroke of the pen by Pope Benedict that would give a directive that all of the predator priests have to be removed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Pope Benedict speaks with Catholic educators tonight before heading to New York tomorrow.
And in Texas this morning, hearings into whether 416 children seized from a polygamy compound can go home. Texas law enforcement officials are justifying the way that raid was carried out with assault vehicles and heavily-armed officers. State Attorney General Greg Abbott told AMERICAN MORNING they wanted to "avoid another Waco," and he says the state has a case against the leader of the compound with or without that 16-year-old girl who originally called for help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGG ABBOTT, TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: The information that was learned after investigators went into the compound is sufficient to establish probable cause for further investigation. The information has been learned to date is horrible, outrageous social assault of underage girls as well as abuse of underage girls, underage being under the age of 17.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: And stick around because you can hear the entire interview with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott coming up in our next hour.
And CNN's Larry King was given exclusive access to one of the homes inside that compound. A resident showed rooms normally filled with children that are now empty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, FLDS MEMBER: This is where we eat our meals. Most of the time it's full of children's noises. Happy children eating their food, but it's quiet.
This is Marla's (ph) bed. You can see it's empty, and it's the hardest thing in the world for me to come and sleep in this room with no little girl. That over there is our sacred place that they have desecrated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Members of the sect say they allowed cameras in to show how their lives are focused on family and faith --John.
ROBERTS: The United States Supreme Court issued a ruling that will allow many states to resume executing prisoners by lethal injection. The high court looked specifically at Kentucky's method of killing criminals and upheld a lower court's decision that ruled it is not cruel or unusual punishment. Chief Justice John Roberts in his opinion called the Kentucky procedure "a painless death."
Some homeowners now returning to smoldering ruins in Colorado after deadly wildfires there. That more extreme weather across the nation, Rob Marciano watching it for us. That's coming up.
And why record oil prices are here to stay, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." The FBI is cracking down on mortgage fraud. FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate panel that FBI agents are being transferred from other areas to help deal with the surge in mortgage fraud investigations. There are now 204 agents working on some 1,300 investigations, many of them involving subprime lending.
ROBERTS: Well, we're heading for another record day of oil and gasoline prices. Wall Street didn't seem to mind yesterday, though. It had a good day.
Ali Velshi joins us now. And I got to tell you, I got a bunch of e-mails yesterday.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
ROBERTS: And people out there, including me, are worried about where this is all going.
VELSHI: What are you going to do about it? I can sit here and do as I do every day and tell you -- look at that -- we've got a barrel there because oil has another number on it, $115.54 just a few minutes ago. And that, of course -- again, gasoline has a delayed reaction into that, but we've got another record in gas prices. $3.42 for a gallon of self-serve unleaded is the average across the country.
Not a few weeks ago, we were saying that people were talking about $3.50 or $3.75 before Memorial Day, and others were saying that doesn't make any sense. Well, guess what? We're 8 cents away from $3.50 now. That does work its way into the economy and people are concerned about where does it stop.
This trend has been accelerating every day, and it is working its way into jet fuel and diesel and things like that. However, as John said, the stock market did just fine yesterday. The Dow had one of its strongest days in weeks because as I mentioned to you about a week and a half ago, we are in earning season. That's the report card for America's companies. They're not doing badly, or they're coming in with reports that are better than expected. As a result, the Dow is -- the Dow and the Nasdaq and the S&P -- the Nasdaq was up almost three percent.
Look at those gains. But we are in earning season so it is pretty volatile. I wouldn't make too many judgments based on what's going on in the stock market. I would look at the dollar, though. Once again, we are now at a record low against the euro, $1.60 to buy yourself a euro, $1.98 for a pound, $1 for a Canadian dollar in parody.
ROBERTS: I got an e-mail from a guy yesterday. Didn't appreciate the fact that we were smiling about your oil drum and I wrote him back to say, hey, we're just laughing because --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: All we can do is cry if we're not smiling.
ROBERTS: Exactly. Yes. And, you know, explain that --
VELSHI: No. We all feel the pain.
ROBERTS: Everybody is hurting. Another guy said Ali, put the oil drum away because you ruin my day every morning.
VELSHI: Yes. Or what I should have done is got to fill it with a barrel of oil or actually have oil in it, and we'll start making some money.
CHO: Sell it.
VELSHI: It's empty. That's the problem. It's an empty barrel with 30 bucks if anybody wants it.
ROBERTS: Everybody is wondering what this is going to mean to them.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROBERTS: We'll keep you informed on that. Make sure you tune in to "Issue #1." That's one way of staying informed. Suze Orman will be taking your calls and offering solutions to your personal finance questions. Join Ali, Suze, Gerri Willis and the CNN money team for "Issue #1" noon Eastern on CNN.
It was a routine traffic stop until police found this. Look at this. A six-foot gator in the backseat? We'll explain what he was doing there later, as if there could be any kind of an explanation.
Plus, Rob Marciano is watching extreme weather. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. Have a pretty big storm rolling across the central plains. It's dropping some rain out ahead of it, but beneficial snows in those spots that had those fires. Detailed weather forecast coming up after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: In Colorado, people are returning to find their homes reduced to charred ruins. Just an awful situation there. At least eight homes were destroyed by a quick-moving wildfire. It happened in Ordway, about two hours south of Denver. Two volunteer firefighters died when a weakened bridge collapsed under their fire engine. One had just started volunteering five weeks ago.
Rob Marciano watching the weather picture for us this morning. So Rob, what are we expecting today?
MARCIANO: Some snow, Alina, of all things into the high prairie. Here is still the winter threat that we're seeing mostly in the high country where we've seen anywhere from four to eight inches of snowfall. And so, these advisories and warnings are posted for today.
Here is the radar picture. Pretty decent storm system that's heading into the plains. The back side of it seeing some light. So it was 82 degrees in Denver on Tuesday. Yesterday in the 40s, and today you may not get out of the 30s.
But of more concern, this is where those fires were just east of pueblo and this is where seeing temperatures that are in the 30s and significant snowfall coming down. So that, at least the fire part of that story is at least done.
Off to the east we go. Significant rain heading towards Omaha. Some of these storms have been rough and tumble. There's a little piece of a tornado or a thunderstorm watch that's about to expire, but you see these heavy cells rolling through Lincoln, University of Nebraska there, and through Omaha.
And this is all going to head into say places like Iowa, which has a flood watch out, and then eventually stretching into places like southern Minnesota which -- and in through Wisconsin which has a pretty hefty snow pack that's trying to melt and get down to the river system. So we may very well agitate the flooding situations in the northern part of the Mississippi basin as we turn most of our attention down to the south, at least for the time being. Alina and John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks very much.
Time for your "Hot Shot" now. How about a gator in the getaway car? A Texas State trooper found a six-foot-long reptile in the back of a Buick Regal. The officer pulled the driver over for making suspicious turns. The driver said he found the reptile on the side of the road and put it in the car.
The driver though is now a burglary suspect. And here's the part that we can't figure out.
CHO: Yes.
ROBERTS: He allegedly broke into a mobile home and stole a television set after he picked up the gator.
CHO: That's weird. So, at the same place? A different place?
ROBERTS: Maybe the gator said, hey, I'd like to watch a little TV here. Can you go find me one?
CHO: Suspicious turns. Yes, those were wild turns I'm sure.
ROBERTS: Some things in life there's just no explanation for it, and I think that's one.
CHO: Yes.
ROBERTS: If you've got a "Hot Shot," send it to us. Head to our Web site at CNN.com/am and follow the "Hot Shot" link.
CHO: We'll bring those pictures to you a little bit later, too. See those over and over again.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." The Olympic flame showing up today in the streets of New Delhi on its way to Beijing. It will arrive there in August for the Olympic Games, of course. But will anyone actually see it?
We're told it's a virtual ghost town in New Delhi with more parliamentary, police lining the streets than regular citizens. We'll explain in a live report coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Nineteen minutes after the hour. Breaking news in Iraq to tell you about now. A suicide bomber has struck a funeral killing dozens and injuring many more in northern Iraq up in Kirkuk.
Nic Robertson joins us now from Baghdad with more on this developing story. What do we know, Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the attack took place in the village of Albu Mohammed (ph), at least 50 miles north of Baghdad. According to a local police official, 42 people have been killed. The target was the funeral procession of a tribal leader who himself was gunned down just two days ago.
This type of attack is typical of insurgents trying to intimidate or control tribes, and it comes hard on the heels two days ago of similar types of attacks when 60 people were killed in bombings that coalition officials here attribute very likely to being the work of al-Qaeda. No one has claimed responsibility for this attack, but 42 people killed, many more wounded. A big spike in violence here this week, John.
ROBERTS: What's behind that spike in violence, Nic?
ROBERTSON: It's not clear. Al-Qaeda in the west of the country and in other parts of the country, their attacks have largely been diminished because of the work of the coalition working with tribal leaders and local community groups. The focus recently has been on the Shia, on Shia violence.
It appears as if al-Qaeda is trying to push another spike in violence, draw attention to them. Can they sustain that spike? That's something coalition commanders will be looking at.
We heard from a purported al-Qaeda leader this week urging more violence. This seems to be, perhaps, a result of that, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Nic Robertson for us with the latest from Baghdad. Nic, thanks -- Alina.
CHO: Another big story we're following, Pope Benedict XVI will take centerfield this morning in a first ever mass at Washington's National Park. That's D.C.'s new baseball stadium. At a prayer service last night, the Pope addressed the priest sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church telling church leaders it is their God-given responsibility to heal the wounds and restore trust. It was the second straight day the Pope has addressed the scandal.
And that brings us to this morning's quick vote question. Can Pope Benedict heal the wounds of the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal? This is one of the stated goals of the Pope's visit to energize the Catholic community in the U.S., a bit disenfranchised; 76 million followers, by the way.
We want to hear from you. Cast your vote at CNN.com/am, and we'll have the first tally of your votes a little later this hour. We also want to get your e-mails on this as well. Go to our Web site for that, CNN.com/am and follow the link that says "contact us." We'll read your e-mails starting next hour -- John.
ROBERTS: Well, the Democratic candidates were clobbering each other during the debate in Philadelphia last night. The annual radio and television correspondents dinner took place in Washington. Comedian Mo Rocca poked fun at CNN's political coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MO ROCCA, COMEDIAN: With an economy that's just teetering on the brink, all these otherwise out of work Americans are employed as pundits on CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He wasn't the only one that was doing comedy. Vice president Dick Cheney did a little standup as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You in the press need to go easy on Senator Clinton on the whole business about running and ducking from gunfire in Bosnia. She made an honest mistake. She confused the Bosnia trip with the time I took her hunting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He'll be here all night trying to lame duck.
CHO: You know, every year my invitation to that always seems to get lost in the mail. I know you've been --
ROBERTS: Yes. I was invited to go last night, but I had to be here at 3:00 this morning and I thought it would have been a little difficult.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: After a late night watch --
ROBERTS: I would have been driving all night. Also had to watch the debate last night.
CHO: That's right. We had a busy night. So, anyway, a little bleary eyed.
Anyway, coming up, stay with us. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
Who is electable? Who can you trust? Two new polls are dogging Pennsylvania front-runner Hillary Clinton as she tries to stop Barack Obama's momentum. Could it hurt her chances with five days to go until the Pennsylvania primary? We're going to ask our CNN analyst John Dickerson.
And is the U.S. wasting billions of dollars on missile defense? Hear what some experts are saying about the Pentagon's grand plan. That, too, is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-five after the hour. The face-off in Philly. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton debated for the last time before the crucial Pennsylvania primary, perhaps for the last time ever. After a night in which Obama's patriotism again came into question, there are new polls out showing that voters have doubts about whether they can trust Hillary Clinton. CNN political analyst John Dickerson joins us now from our Washington bureau. She was on the attack a lot last night, John. Let's take a listen to some of what she said, particularly on Barack Obama's comments about small town folks being bitter. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't believe that my grandfather or my father, or the many people whom I have had the privilege of knowing and meeting across Pennsylvania over many years cling to religion when Washington is not listening to them. I think that is a fundamental sort of misunderstanding of the role of religion and faith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: John, Hillary Clinton has not typically done well when she attacks her opponents. But what about this time around?
JOHN DICKERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, we'll see. It doesn't look like she's doing very well this time around either. She was referring to the remarks Barack Obama made at that now famous San Francisco fund-raiser. And in the days since this has been a story and since she's been pushing it both in ads and on the stump, he hasn't seem to suffer in Pennsylvania or nationally.
So, and we have seen in the polls recently, and this is also for other reasons, but her negatives have gone up, and there is this question of trust that continues to dog her. So she may not be the best messenger for this line of attack.
ROBERTS: He pushed back last night against a lot of her attacks. They're not as strong as some people would have liked. Let's listen to how he responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The problem that we have in our politics, which is fairly typical, is that you take one person's statement, if it's not properly phrased, and you just beat it to death, and that's what Senator Clinton has been doing over the last four days. And I understand that. That's politics, and I expect to have to go through this process.
But I do think it's important to recognize that it's not helping that person who is sitting at the kitchen table who is trying to figure out how to pay the bills at the end of the month.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So some people have observed, John, that this was not his strongest debate performance of his career. Would you agree with that, or how do you think he did?
DICKERSON: Well, he's had trouble in debates. He's not as good a debater as Hillary Clinton is. What will be interesting to see is in that first 40 or so minutes of the debate, he was on the defensive for much of that period. And he responded essentially with the clip you just showed, which was saying, look, these are petty questions that are -- what drags down politics. People care about other things. And that was his constant defense and that may work for him.
If people are sick of the system and they're sick of this kind of gotcha, they may very well rally behind him. One thing that is probably a little rich, at least for the McCain folks is that Obama has been practicing just the behavior that he derides when talking about John McCain and some comments that McCain has made about how long America will be in Iraq.
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton's goal last night it would appear was reaching out not only to voters in Pennsylvania but also to those superdelegates who may be all-important, may decide who the nominee is going to be this year. Let's listen to what she said about the issue of electability, the inference in her statements last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have no doubt. I know Senator Obama is a good man, and I respect him greatly, but I think that this is an issue that certainly the Republicans will be raising. And it goes to this larger set of concerns about, you know, how we are going to run against John McCain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Will superdelegates, John, buy the argument that she is more electable? She did say at one point when pressed directly on it -- yes, yes, yes, Barack Obama can be elected. Did she undercut her own argument?
DICKERSON: You hit exactly on the most interesting point. She was forced to say because she can never say out loud what she's been saying in private, which is that Obama is fundamentally flawed and can't win in the general election. She can't say that out loud, so she was forced to say, yes, yes, of course, he can win. Well, that does undermine her last remaining argument with superdelegates which is that he has such big problems that he can't beat Obama.
ROBERTS: She also for the very first time offered up an apology for her misstatement on Bosnia. Let's listen to what she said on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I may be a lot of things, but I'm not dumb, and I wrote about going to Bosnia in my book in 2004. I laid it all out there, and you're right.
On a couple of occasions in the last weeks, I just said some things that weren't in keeping with what I knew to be the case and what I had written about in my book, and, you know, I'm embarrassed by it. I have apologized for it. I said it was a mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: America is a forgiving nation, John, particularly when somebody apologizes. Does the issue go away for her now?
DICKERSON: No, I don't think it goes away just as Hillary Clinton has been making the case that Obama is fundamentally flawed and can't beat McCain. He will claim and his advisers certainly claim, that this is a part of the big trust problem for her, and that Americans may forgive this particular slip-up as glaring as it was, but that it points to her fundamental flaw that makes her fundamentally unelectable and that is that she doesn't tell the truth and that voters don't trust her.
ROBERTS: Just a few days left now until that all-important primary coming up on Tuesday.
John Dickerson for us this morning from Washington. John, good to see you, thanks.
DICKERSON: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Alina?
CHO: Well, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is looking to bolster ties with the U.S. and he's here to do it. Mr. Brown will meet this morning with all three presidential candidates. He then will head to the White House for a meeting with President Bush.
Mr. Brown's relationship with the president has been a bit complicated by Britain's decision to draw down troops in Iraq.
Today, Former President Jimmy Carter is in Cairo where he is scheduled to meet with two senior Hamas leaders. Mr. Carter insists that the Palestinian group must be included in the Mid-East peace process. The U.S. considers Hamas to be a terror group.
Friday, Mr. Carter heads to Syria where he is planning to hold talks with an exile Hamas leader.
Well today, three of Pope Benedict XVI historic visit to the U.S. Live pictures now of the small numbers of the faithful gathering at National's Park in Washington, where the pope will celebrate mass later this morning.
Some 47,000 people are expected. The first papal visit to the U.S. since 9/11. Last night, the pope again expressed his quote, "deep shame" for the church sex abuse scandal.
Our Jason Carroll following all the developments of the pope's visit and he joins us from the Ballpark with more on that.
Just a beautiful day again, Jason. Hey, good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Alina. And you know, they're still setting up here at Nationals Park for the pope's mass, which will happen later this morning. Going over a music rehearsal right now.
He'll be delivering his message of hope to thousands who will pack in here later this morning. Last night, he delivered somewhat of a different message to some 350 U.S. bishops. Part of his message there last night was addressing this sexual abuse scandal.
It was the second time he has addressed that issue on this particular trip. He told bishops they are moving in the right direction in terms of addressing the problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE BENEDICT XVI: Many of you have spoken to me of the enormous pain that your communities have suffered when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such gravely immoral behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And following the pontiff's talk last night, I spoke to a representative from a victims' group. They are encouraged that the pontiff is talking about the issue, but they are discouraged -- he's not taking more action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA BLAINE, SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIEST: Making those statements didn't bring about any change in behavior and actions. We've documented many cases right now in the United States, where bishops and cardinals are still failing to turn over information to police.
They are still failing to warn parishioners and be transparent, and they still leave innocent children at risk. And until one of them is disciplined, our concern is that this behavior will just continue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And following up on that, victims say while many priests have been punished, they're still waiting for the bishops and cardinals that protected those priests to be punished as well.
Alina?
CHO: Jason, as you well know, one of the stated goals of the papal visit is to reenergize the U.S. Catholic community. Some 76 million members strong. One pope watcher said, you know, Benedict is not the sexy media icon that John Paul was. You know, John Paul II was known for his charisma. Benedict, more of an intellectual and an introvert.
What are the Catholics saying that you talk to about this, Jason?
CARROLL: Well, that's very true. They do have very different styles. One is more reserved, the other one was a lot more outgoing. But you know what, Alina, when we were here yesterday, you saw all the people who lined up to see Pope Benedict as he made his way through the city. You see all the people who are coming here today.
People here are just as excited to see this pope as they were to see Pope John Paul. And in terms of those that you speak to out here, you really get the sense that they're open to whatever he has to say.
Alina?
CHO: Well, we can feel the energy here all the way in New York. And we certainly look forward to welcoming the pope in New York tomorrow.
Jason, I'm very jealous. We'll talk to you a bit later on this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: New questions this morning about a missile defense shield that the United States is planning in Europe. A group of prominent scientists tells a House committee that the Pentagon may have misled the public and U.S. allies about the system's capabilities.
They claim that it cannot protect the United States against a real world missile attack. The program has been a major source of tension with Russia, which opposes the plan.
The Iraqi government has reassigned the police chief and army commander in the city of Basra. Their departures come three weeks after Iraq launched a defensive against Shiite Militias in the southern city. That operation was criticized by U.S. commanders as poorly planned, failing to disarm the fighters.
And the State Department is easing security restrictions for diplomats at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. They were opposed last month during a series of rocket attacks in the green zone that killed four Americans. Workers are no longer required to wear their body armor, helmets, and protective eye wear when going outside. Restrictions on their movement inside the green zone have also been limited.
CHO: 35 minutes after the hour. Veronica De La Cruz here with other stories making headlines.
Hey, good morning.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. And good morning to you, John. Good morning to all of you out there.
Here's what's new this morning. The Olympic torch will soon make its way through the streets of New Delhi. But officials are not taking any chances with security.
Thousands of police and paramilitary troops lining the route. Metro lines into the area have been blocked. A pro-Tibet group has promised to storm the event. But a CNN correspondent in New Delhi described the scene as a ghost town with only security and media present. An alarming new report to tell you about out of New Jersey's Newark Liberty Airport. The number of planes landing there with low fuel has tripled in the last two years. Federal investigators say passengers were never in danger, but just were given priority to land. But they say, it put the burden on the already overloaded traffic system. It's likely to come up at a hearing today on FAA modernization.
AT&T wants to help lower the country's high school dropout rate. And today, the company is announcing a $100 million gift to fight the problem. The money will be distributed in grants to help prepare teens for college. It's one of the largest corporate donations on record.
Last month, Goldman Sachs said it would spend at least the same amount over ten years to boost women's business education in the developing world.
And check this out. Who says that you can't enjoy your commute? A Seattle area couple now planning a wedding. The groom to be proposed to his fiance on the bus this week.
The couple started dating after they met on that very same bus three years ago. And this week, he grabbed the bus microphone and he popped the question. The passengers erupted in applause. They are planning a summer wedding next year.
Apparently it was the 308 that they were taking. The 308 bus, and she wanted to take the 312 and he said, no, I think we should take the 308 today because he had planned this. Anyway, congratulations to them.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: In New York, by the way, if some guy grab the microphone on the bus, like 18 other guys would go and take him down because they think he's a terrorist or something.
DELA CRUZ: Well, Ali, he (INAUDIBLE) the announcement by saying, hey, I'm not a terrorist. He grabbed the mike and then popped the question.
ROBERTS: The big question is will they get married on the bus as well.
Hey, all kinds of interesting economic indicators coming up with the fed Beige Book.
VELSHI: The Beige Book. I have one here with me right now. This is what you want to see. I'm not -- I need you to stick around. So I'm not going to actually tell you what the Beige Book is or what's in it. But if you come back after the break on AMERICAN MORNING, I will open the Beige Book for you.
ROBERTS: This stuff is fake. The (INAUDIBLE) the Beige Book.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. You know, every once in a while the Fed decides to take off its duffy suits and kick back and write something called the Beige Book, which comes out several times a year.
The Fed is actually made up of 12 different Federal Reserve banks across the country, different regions of the country. And what they do in the Beige Book is they give you an anecdotal little story about how things are looking across the country. And I want to bring that to you now.
Nine of the districts across the country say the pace of economic activity has slowed down. Three of them, the Boston, Cleveland, and Richmond Feds, that doesn't mean those cities, it means the areas around those places. Boston, Cleveland and Richmond described activity as mixed or steady, meaning not going down. So, that's actually interesting.
Let me just give you some idea of what they're saying. In the New York, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Dallas regions, they're saying that manufacturing activity has been weaker. In the New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and San Francisco areas, real estate activity has declined.
Again, that won't be a surprise to any of you out there. But here's something, and I know, Alina, you're interested in this. In the Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco areas, the demand for luxury goods has strengthened. Why? Because of tourists. Because of a low U.S. dollar. People are coming in from other places to spend their money in the United States.
ROBERTS: Let me see this little story.
VELSHI: Yes, it's an extra book. That's the Beige Book.
ROBERTS: I want to look for the happily ever after.
VELSHI: Yes, all right. Well, you're going to -- you know, once again as you know, the barrel is not really real. And the Beige Book isn't really a beige book. It's just a beige notebook that I put Beige Book on. It is, in fact, when you open it up --
ROBERTS: No, no. You're going to give it away. It's all about the representation.
CHO: And the barrel has no oil in it.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: What are we doing?
VELSHI: I'm not even wearing trousers.
ROBERTS: He does have a full head of hair though. Make sure that you tune to "ISSUE #1" later on today. Suze Orman is going to be the special live guest, noon Eastern right here on CNN -- taking your phone calls, asking, answering your questions as well.
CHO: How do you follow that way?
Coming up, a plan to collect DNA from anyone arrested for a federal offense. Would it reduce crime or does it go too far? There's a big debate about that and our legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, is weighing in.
Plus, Rob Marciano watching the extreme weather for us.
Hey, Rob, good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning and happy to be in Atlanta if Ali Velshi is indeed not wearing trousers.
We are watching this system roll into the plains. Snow in the Colorado Rockies and rain heading towards the swollen Mississippi. Stick around. Weather is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: All right, Rob, thanks.
ROBERTS: A plan to collect DNA from any person arrested for a federal crime is raising serious questions. AMERICAN MORNING's legal analyst Sunny Hostin weighs in just ahead.
And we're watching a big story today. Custody hearings set to begin for more than 400 children taken from a Texas polygamy compound. Will they be allowed to go home? We're live with AMERICAN MORNING's Ed Lavandera just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. The federal government says it has a plan to solve violent crimes by collecting DNA samples from anyone arrested for a federal crime. Now, DNA would also be collected from detained illegal immigrants, raising a lot of questions about your right to privacy.
AMERICAN MORNING's legal analyst Sunny Hostin joins me now with more on this.
So, there's an important distinction to be made in terms of what the federal government wants to do. They're saying you just have to be arrested, not convicted of a crime, in order to have -- potentially have your DNA sample taken. What does this mean and how is the government going to use this information, Sunny?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well -- and you're right Alina. This is greatly expanding the current practice. Federal government has always collected DNA -- for sometime collected DNA from people that are convicted, convicts convicted of a crime. Now, they're moving the bar. They're lowering the bar. People that are just arrested, and this is scary for some because let's say you're publicly intoxicated in a federal park. You get arrested by the park police in Washington, D.C. Your DNA ends up in a criminal database. And the government is going to use it. Right now, they would use it to sort of try to find matches unsolved crime that has DNA evidence.
But as the law evolves and as medicine evolves, who knows what could happen. And I think that is the rub here and that is why people are really concerned.
CHO: Right. Not just the people who are arrested but not convicted, but also those illegal immigrants. Many of whom are taken into custody for administrative problems.
HOSTIN: That's right.
CHO: And some critics say, you know, you're lumping them all into one category of criminals. But what happens then if these people are then later acquitted? Does this information live in the database?
You know, it is going to live in the database, and some folks are saying, well, no, if someone is acquitted, charges are never brought. Their DNA is going to be removed from the system.
I really don't think that that is the case. That is a very difficult thing to do. It is done in Virginia, because some states do collect DNA evidence from arrestees. But I don't believe that that is going to happen. I think it's going to remain there.
CHO: Well, yes, once it's taken. You know, there are a lot of questions -- of course, a lot of about civil liberties as well. Legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, we thank you for joining us.
HOSTIN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Battling septuagenarians. Democratic Congressman John Murtha, who is 75, says John McCain, who is 71, is too old to be president. Hear what McCain had to say in response.
Inside the secret sect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This room belongs to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: A mother at the polygamist ranch gives us a guided tour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our kitchen. This is where we eat our meals. This is our living room. The children need their mothers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Before the largest child custody hearing ever, we asked the attorney general whether the state had the right to take the kids.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 54 minutes after the hour. As we have been reporting this morning, Pope Benedict XVI will take centerfield this morning, at a first ever mass in Washington's Nationals Park.
In a prayer service last night, the pope addressed the sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. Telling church leaders that it is their God-given responsibility to heal the wounds and restore trust. It was the second straight day that the pope has addressed the scandal.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Here's what we're asking today. Can Pope Benedict heal the wounds of the Catholic church's sexual abuse scandals?
Right now, 31 percent of you say yes. 69 percent say no. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll continue to tally the votes throughout the morning. We also want your e-mail as well, to explain a little bit more about how you're feeling this morning.
Go to our Web site cnn.com/am. And follow the links that says contact us. We'll be reading your e-mails starting in our next hour this morning.
CHO: President Bush shifting his long-held stance on global warming by announcing plans to stop the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2025. But instead of changing laws to cut emissions, the president called for new technology and innovation. He also urged some of the world's big polluters like India and China to set their own restrictions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm confident that with sensible and balanced policies from Washington, American innovators and entrepreneurs will pioneer a knew generation of technology that improves our environment, strengthens our economy, and continues to amaze the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Well, some Democrats criticize the president's speech. Senator Barbara boxer for once says the president is simply standing by while greenhouse gases reach dangerous level. She called it the height of irresponsibility.
Well, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating potential health risks of artificial turf after two fields in New Jersey were shut down when state health officials found high levels of lead in turf fiber. Now, New Jersey health officials say people on these fields could inhale dust contaminated with lead. The head of an artificial turf trade group says synthetic fields are not a health risk.
ROBERTS: Well, in just a few hours time hearings are set to begin in Texas about the fate of 416 children. The kids all pulled from a polygamist compound by police after a complaint of sexual abuse by a 16-year-old girl. That girl has yet to be found, but authorities tell us that it may not matter whether they ever find her.
AMERICAN MORNING's Ed Lavandera is live at the courthouse in San Angelo, Texas. Short distance away from the YFZ Ranch. And what are we expecting this morning?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it will be an unprecedented hearing. Really imagine close to 400 attorneys representing all of these children. This is something that has never been seen before, and authorities here are expecting a long day -- perhaps, a long couple of days.
And at the heart here and that the main issue is whether or not these 416 children will begin the process of being put in foster homes or if they will eventually be sent back to their family members at the ranch in Eldorado, Texas, just south of where we are.
And of course, the main question everyone is asking and at the heart of this investigation is whether or not underage girls were forced to marry and have sex with the elder men of this religious sect here in Eldorado. And when you speak with the family members who have been speaking out consistently over the last few days, they kind of dodge that question. And we put that question to an attorney representing that family, and he says that as far as he knows he doesn't believe that's happening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROD PARKER, FLDS SPOKESMAN: My understanding from them is that it's not a church practice. I have talked to many of the women in the community today, many of the men, and they have said they would not consent to having their children married at a young age like that. That doesn't mean that it's never happened out there, but it's an individual by individual decision, and the people that I have spoken to have not been involved in that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Of course, that differs greatly from what state investigators have been saying over the last couple of weeks. They say as they went into that compound to look for that one 16-year-old girl who had placed this complaint to state investigators, that they found what they believed to be "widespread" situation, where teenage girls are forced to marry and have sex with elder men in this group.
And they say that that was widespread and they found a number of visibly pregnant teenage girls inside that compound when they raided it in early April. John?
ROBERTS: You know, I talked to Texas attorney general late yesterday, and we're going to be playing some of that coming up in about 25 minutes time. He insisted it doesn't matter if they ever find that 16-year-old again, which, of course, has prompted some speculation from members of the sect as to whether or not the whole thing was a hoax, just a way to get into a place that they haven't really been able to crack over the course of the year's long investigation.
LAVANDERA: Exactly. You know, as more time drags on and investigators say they still haven't been able to find this 16-year- old girl, those questions are coming up. Whether or not this girl even exists, whether the call was a hoax, and that is probably something that the attorneys for this sect will be arguing. And they have been saying for the last couple of weeks, look, you went in looking for one girl. It doesn't mean you can come out with all of them.
ROBERTS: Right. Ed Lavandera for us this morning from San Angelo, Texas, where the hearing will take place later on this morning. And again about 24-25 minutes from, we'll be talking with the Attorney General of Texas, Greg Abbott.
Alina?
CHO: Just shy to the top of the hour. 59 minutes past. The Democratic front-runners mixed it up in their final debate before the Pennsylvania primary. Millions of voters and hundreds of undecided superdelegates were certainly watching.
And Senators Clinton and Obama wasted no time before going after each other. In fact, they spent about half the evening battering each other before they focused on the issues. Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley has the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): It is a cornerstone of her case to superdelegates, that Barack Obama cannot win a general election. Last night, Hillary Clinton boxed herself out of that argument.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do you think Senator Obama can do that? Can he win?
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, yes, yes.
CROWLEY: She has never said that before, and it was Clinton's one concession during a debate in which she dug into him at every turn, and there was plenty of opportunity. The first half of the debate focused on campaign gaffes, mostly his. It included his suggestion that small town voters turn to guns and God because they are bitter about decades of government inaction.
