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American Morning

Oil Spikes and Gas Hit Another High; Keystone Countdown: One Day Until Pennsylvania Primary; Pope Back in the Vatican; Clinton and Obama Makes Final Push

Aired April 21, 2008 - 07:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So while my opponent says one thing and his campaign does another, you can count on me to tell you where I stand and you can count on me to tell you very specifically the solutions that I'm offering for America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Obama campaign which has spent the most money in Pennsylvania is still trying to stay confident that it could pull off an upset in this state while team Clinton is taking nothing for granted. She has seen her lead dwindle from the double digits all the way down into the neighborhood of five percentage points.

Meanwhile, there's still a healthy nine percent of the voters who still consider themselves undecided. That may explain why Barack Obama is ending his campaign day out in Pittsburgh where she has been very strong, where she is coming here to Pennsylvania which is his base of support. One thing is certain, John, it's not going to be Groundhog Day very much longer here in Pennsylvania.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, seven weeks of this focusing literally on a single state.

But what's your sense, Jim, of how those undecided voters may break in these last 24 hours?

ACOSTA: Well, one thing we have seen in the past is that Hillary Clinton has done very well with those undecided voters. Nine percentage points, that's a big margin of voters there that could break either way. But in Ohio, we saw that she did very well among those last minute undecideds.

And -- but Barack Obama is still trying to make the case. And that is why he has gone a little bit more negative than we've seen in the past. He said at one campaign rally, after you get elbowed in the stomach for a while, you start elbowing back -- John.

ROBERTS: Jim Acosta for us this morning in Philadelphia. Jim, thanks very much -- Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: No question the kitchen sink is flying. Meanwhile, Barack Obama has been outspending Hillary Clinton big-time in Pennsylvania. Thanks in no small part to his fundraising juggernaut. Take a look.

The latest campaign finance report show Obama raised $41 million in March and had $42 million available for the primary spending in April. Hillary Clinton raised $20 million in March and had $31 million available for April. Over on the Republican side, John McCain raised $15 million in March and had $11 million cash on hand at the start of the month.

Barack Obama giving a backhanded complement to his Republican rival John McCain while campaigning in Pennsylvania saying, "Either Democrat would be better than John McCain." And well, all three would be better than George Bush.

Meanwhile, McCain is accusing the Democrats of supporting tax hikes that he says would make a recession even worse. McCain says cutting taxes and stimulating the economy are more important right now than trying to balance the budget.

And stick around because Hillary Clinton sits down with Larry King. That's 9:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN, and you get a chance to ask the questions too. Head to our Web site, CNN.com/am to find out how -- John.

ROBERTS: Breaking news this morning out of Illinois. Yet another aftershock reported overnight. It is the 18th and the strongest one since Friday's earthquake. It was a 4.5 on the scale. It happened about 40 miles from Evansville, Indiana, about 130 miles from St. Louis. Friday's 5.2 quake caused some damage and was felt from Nebraska all the way to Atlanta.

Scientists say potential destruction from Midwest quakes could be widespread because the bedrock is not as fractured, not as broken up as it is in the west coast, which allows shockwaves to travel much farther than it does there.

An update now of that breaking news out of northeast Philadelphia. Nearly 200 firefighters on the scene of a massive fire in a complex of vacant buildings. It's unclear what sparked the blaze.

Minutes ago, we spoke with Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers. He told us about 15 people have been placed in a shelter, evacuated from nearby homes. We'll keep watching this and bring you any updates as we get from this morning. The fire not quite under control, though they have knocked it down a substantial amount.

This morning security is tight at a high school in South Carolina after a major security threat was avoided. Eighteen-year-old Ryan Shallenberger (ph) was arrested on Saturday in Chesterfield County. Police say that the teen was plotting a Columbine-like attack some nine years after the Colorado school shootings. The teen's parents were the ones who called police. They did so after they received a package of bomb making materials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHERIFF SAM PARKER, CHESTERFIELD COUNTY: In the past he's experimented with pipe bombs and trying to -- in the experimental stage of making explosive devices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Police say they also confiscated a hate-filled diary that included details of the attack and maps of the school. Shallenberger has been charged with making bomb threats.

And DNA testing begins today to identify the 416 children taken into state custody from that polygamist compound near Eldorado, Texas. Child Welfare officials say once the children have given samples, they will be placed in foster care. Their parents will give DNA samples later on this week, and authorities now want to know whether a 33- year-old woman arrested in Colorado was the one who sparked the entire investigation. Texas Rangers say they have evidence suggesting the woman lied by claiming to be an abused 16-year-old on the polygamist ranch.

CHO: Well, Pope Benedict XVI arrived back at the Vatican overnight after a six-day visit to the United States. Vice president Dick Cheney hosted a farewell ceremony last night at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. Three thousand people were on hand for that. The Pope thanked American Catholics and members of other faiths for their warm hospitality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE BENEDICT XVI, LEADER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: I ask you to remember me in your prayers, and I assure you of your affectionate friendship in the Lord. May God bless America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: That's great. Hours earlier the Pope celebrated mass at Yankee Stadium. Nearly 60,000 people attended. The Holy Father urged all Catholics to unite, understand real freedom, and to reject abortion. The Pope also addressed the clergy sex abuse scandal several times during his six-day visit.

Yet another sign of the global credit crisis, the Bank of England announcing a $100 billion plan that will let British banks swap home loans for government bonds. They're hoping the swap of assets will promote more lending and prop up the housing market and the overall British economy. Banks have been increasingly reluctant to lend to their rivals because of the credit crunch.

The U.S. commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan says troops could begin to withdraw by 2011. General Dan McNeill telling the "New York Times" that the Afghan army and police force should be able to secure most of the country by then. He says NATO troops have done a good job managing security in Kabul for the last year.

ROBERTS: A popular college restaurant in Ohio has reopened after nearly 200 customers got sick. Most of the patients say they got sick after they ate burritos at the Chipotle Mexican Grill at Kent State University last week. State inspectors aren't sure yet what made the students sick. They say it could be salmonella in the food or perhaps a sick employee who contaminated the food. The restaurant replaced all of its food stocks, sanitized all of its equipment.

And a Chicago toddler is in critical condition this morning after strong winds blew the little boy into Lake Michigan. This is an amazing story here. The 2-year-old boy was strapped in his stroller, submerged in the frigid waters for at least 15 minutes. His grandfather tried to jump in but couldn't find him in the murky water and had to be rescued himself. Witnesses called 911.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CEDRIC RAMOS, WITNESS: We just saw this man floating in the water. And first, I was just -- I thought, you know, he's got hyperthermia, he was confused, but he was saying there's a child in the water, there's a child. And I saw the sippy cup, you know, a child's sippy cup.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Crews found the little boy about 10 feet beneath the water's edge. In the hospital, no idea what his prognosis is, in critical condition, but the one thing that perhaps the waters of Lake Michigan were so cold this time of year. As we've seen in the past, it slows down brain activity and maybe, just maybe, he'll be OK.

CHO: No matter how you look at it, that is one lucky 2-year-old boy. An amazing story.

ROBERTS: Oh, Alina, the final verdict is yet to be seen. But --

CHO: Well, we'll have to wait.

ROBERTS: At least they found him.

CHO: They found him, you're right.

You know, we've got some wacky weather to tell you about in our nation's capital. You saw some of it, John, over the weekend. Thunderstorms set off six tornadoes around Maryland and Washington, D.C. Rob Marciano is tracking the extreme weather for us. That's just ahead.

And gas reaching a new record high overnight. Have drivers reached their limit? We're at $3.50 a gallon now, and our senior business correspondent Ali Velshi will join us from the CNN Election Express in Philadelphia right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: Lots to tell you about in the business world. Oil spikes and gas hits another new high. Why did it happen, and what are drivers doing about it? Ali Velshi in Philadelphia this morning with CNN's Election Express. Hey, Ali, we miss you here but it's good to see you over there. You're looking good out there.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. Thank you so much. But it cost me a bit to get here. I drove out and I was a little surprised by the gas prices. Let me tell you about oil first of all.

Oil went above $117 a barrel on Friday and again overnight to $117.40. Now, part of that is there's a Japanese tanker off the coast of Yemen that was hit. We don't know what the details are, but hit by another ship, put a hole in the side of that tank, and the oil came out. Now, you wouldn't think that one tanker would, you know, the hole in oil would affect the price of oil. But we use so much of the oil that we produced every day, we're about -- within about a half a million barrels of all the oil we produce everyday. So that spikes the price of oil.

Now, that has an effect on gasoline. Today's gas prices are not because of today's oil prices, there's a lag. But we are now at a national average according to the AAA of $3.50 a gallon for self-serve unleaded. Now, there's another survey called the Lundberg Survey, which surveys gas stations about every two weeks. It's at $3.47. They're always a little bit apart, but they track each other.

The bottom line is, look at that trend, $3.50 today. That's almost a quarter up from a month ago, up from $2.86 a year ago. And a lot of people say that $3.50 is a -- and may be an inflection point. Maybe it's a tipping point in which people make some decisions. We had estimates that we would be at $3.50 by Memorial Day. We're already there.

Now, some people are saying $3.75 or $4. And when people see this trend going up, perhaps they make choices to either downsize their cars or drive less or move closer to work or commute. So that's one of those things. When you get to a round number, it might make you think about these things.

Now, remember, the round number is a national average. In some places, people have been paying much more than $3.50, in California, for instance, for some time. Some places are topping $4 a gallon. The cheapest is in New Jersey about $3.25 a gallon. So we'll have to see what choices people make, but we do know that they are cutting down on their consumption, John and Alina.

ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Ali. You know, I found a station yesterday, I filled up for $3.44 a gallon, which was a nickel better than most other places.

CHO: May have to cross the George Washington bridge to get a deal on gas.

ROBERTS: I don't have a car here in New York.

CHO: Well, yes, you did.

ROBERTS: Where is it?

Hundreds of people on the move in New Mexico. High winds fanning wildfires and preventing firefighting planes from helping out.

Rob Marciano watching the extreme weather. He's got it for us next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Fifteen minutes after the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. And we're tracking extreme weather for you, including a wildfire just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, one that forced hundreds of people to leave two towns. High winds are grounding air tankers and fanning the flames.

And severe thunderstorms yesterday spawned at least six tornadoes in the Washington, D.C. area, one of them damaging an elementary school and a church in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Rob Marciano at the weather update desk tracking the extreme weather. It's pretty wild yesterday in the Washington area, Rob, and looks like it's going to be again today.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it could be. It could be rough again today. These are the storm reports that came in yesterday, six in all for tornadoes being reported. Two in North Carolina, two in Virginia and two in Maryland, one of which right in the District of Columbia. It happened at 2:37. It was an EF-1 with damage to that elementary school that you just saw there.

So definitely some rough and at times scary weather all due to this storm system that is not pulling eastward at all. You see, it's kind of just sitting and spinning right on top of the St. Mary's as it was yesterday. So we're going to see some rains. Some of this could be, you know, heavy at times and maybe some flooding, maybe some coastal flooding as well. With these east winds coming in, we've got the full moon. So at high tide you might see the water one or two feet above where it normally would be.

From beltway south towards Richmond and through the Hampton Roads area, wet starts your day for sure, may very well be a wet finish.

Snows across parts of the northwest and raining in the valleys, this has been unusually cool and wet. It was minus one yesterday in Great Falls, Montana. That is record breaking. So very, very cold up there in the pacific northwest.

This storm system, mostly just a wind event, winds 40-plus miles an hour. Of course, we've got the fires burning in New Mexico. Critical fire danger again today, Alina. So firefighters will certainly have their hands full.

Back up to you.

CHO: Well, let's hope the weather cooperates. All right, Rob, thank you very much. MARCIANO: You bet.

CHO: You know, the Pope, he doesn't mess around. He's already back home at the Vatican this morning. The message and the impact from his six days in America. Will he have a lasting impression? We'll have more on that in a live report.

And things getting even uglier on the campaign trail. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama going hard after each other ahead of tomorrow's critical primary in Pennsylvania. We'll live in Philadelphia. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Pope Benedict XVI returning to the Vatican overnight after his six-day trip to the United States. The packed schedule included masses in both Washington, D.C., and New York City, a visit to Ground Zero, and meeting with victims sexually abused by priests.

CNN's Jason Carroll covered it all, the entire pope trip. He joins us now.

So who said this Pope wasn't a rock star? It's just incredible as we see it, right?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Whoever said that was wrong. A lot of symbolic moments there. The Pope was seen by thousands during his papal visit, but perhaps one of his most important efforts was when he met privately with victims of sexual abuse by priests.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): On the last day of his celebrated six-day U.S. trip, Pope Benedict XVI looked to the future and pledged to remember the past. The Pope talked about the days ahead for Catholics in a flowing mass inside a packed Yankee Stadium.

POPE BENEDICT XVI: The blessings of freedom in all that will build a future of hope for coming generations.

CARROLL: While the past was remembered with a solemn morning prayer at Ground Zero.

POPE BENEDICT XVI: God of peace, bring your peace to our world (ph) and us.

CARROLL: It was there Pope Benedict met with a small group of survivors and family members of 9/11 victims, among them, a firefighter who lost his brother that day.

TOM RICHES, MET POPE AT GROUND ZERO: It's comforting to know that, you know, that our loved ones aren't forgotten and that the ground is sacred to him, because it's always been sacred to us.

CARROLL: But it was another sobering issue, that of sexual abuse by priests, that may have defined Benedict's first papal visit to the U.S. The pontiff addressed the issue more than once. He took the unexpected and extraordinary step of meeting with victims. The move was met with some surprise and much praise.

FATHER JOHN BARTUNEK, AUTHOR, "INSIDE THE PASSION": He believes in the power of the truth to heal wounds and to inspire the human heart. And so, he wasn't afraid to deal directly with something that is a very -- it's a tragic and a difficult truth to face.

CARROLL: That meeting gave many victims hope while others warned it's only a first step.

GEORGE SHEA, SEX ABUSE SURVIVOR: The fear is that once he gets on the plane today and leaves, everybody is going to say great, he addressed it and now it's over. There's no more work that needs to be done. But, you know, the way I see it, he just started the work that needs to be done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And the true test of what type of impact the pope's visit had will come later. Will we see a rise in church attendance? Will more men join the priesthood? Will the church respond aggressively when there are future allegations of abuse? All of this, though, remains to be seen.

CHO: Well, he certainly started the dialogue and it looked like he had a great time doing it.

(CROSSTALK)

CARROLL: In the right foot.

CHO: CNN -- you did. CNN's Jason Carroll, thank you.

CARROLL: All right.

CHO: John?

ROBERTS: Twenty-one minutes after the hour. The countdown in full swing, only 24 hours away from the one of the most important stages in the race for the White House in the Democratic side thus far. The Pennsylvania primary tomorrow. It's a crucial test for the campaign, specifically Hillary Clinton's. Some observers are saying if she doesn't win by a significant margin she should drop out.

It brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question: We want to know if Hillary Clinton does not win tomorrow's Pennsylvania's primary by a substantial margin, do you think she should drop out of the race?

Take a look. Right now, 74 percent of you say yes; 26 percent say no, keep going.

Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. We'll continue to tally the votes throughout the morning, and we're getting some good e-mails on this as well. We want to hear from you. Just go to our Web site at CNN.com/am. Follow the links that say "contact us." We'll be reading some of your e-mails in our next half hour here.

You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." Jimmy Carter wants a terrorist group to have a part in the peace process. While that's not going over well in the Middle East, CNN interviewed President Carter this morning. We'll have that for you coming up.

And police say he had the materials and the know how to carry out a deadly high school attack. Why police are now crediting the suspect's parents with saving so many lives. That story and today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: To the "Most Politics in the Morning" now. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have one day left to win the hearts and minds of voters in Pennsylvania, and they are doing it with some of the nastiest attacks in the campaign. CNN's latest poll of polls in Pennsylvania shows 48 percent of Democrats support Hillary Clinton, 43 percent for Obama, nine percent undecided.

Joining me now is senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. She's in Philadelphia.

Candy, it's getting ugly out there?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. And, you know, John, they are dangers for both of them in this. For Hillary Clinton, negative advertising, negative on the stump. And they've been negative in both places, have kind of fed into the stereotype of Hillary Clinton, the say anything, do anything person that Barack Obama is trying to frame her as.

But for Obama, he runs the risk of looking like the same old kind of politician. I mean his entire campaign is predicated on that he's different, that he will bring a change of tone in Washington. So I think both of them run a risk here, whether or not they balance out. I suppose we'll see on Tuesday. But negative campaigning as we all know tends to work, particularly negative advertising, but I do think they both run a risk here in Pennsylvania.

ROBERTS: So then, Candy, we're running negative advertisements at the same time that they were both complaining about those negative advertisements. Let's listen to what they have to say on that front.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: And he is attacking me with a new ad that he has put up because I do cover everyone with more misleading information.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, she's running an ad saying, well, Obama is taking lobbyist's money, you know, PAC money and all this stuff, running another negative ad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So you said, Candy, that there are risks for the candidates because it makes them look like the same old style type of politician. But I'm wondering in the bigger picture here, when one of them does become the eventually nominee, is there a potential lasting impact of these negative ads here as they try to tear each other down, that independent voters will look at them and say why should I vote for them when I heard so many negative things about them?

CROWLEY: Well, there are certainly is bad and I think we can already see in the campaign of John McCain that he is picking up on a lot of these talking points of the Democrats, particularly going after Barack Obama who clearly they see as the person that at this point looks as though he may win the nomination.

So, yes, I mean, there's always something lingering and independents take a look. As you know, we're a long way from here to there. I suspect we will be talking about a lot of different things between now and November.

ROBERTS: We are a long time from now to November. I wonder too how far we are between now and when we find out who the Democratic nominee is going to be.

Hey, we got some cash reports over the weekend too and again Barack Obama doubles Hillary Clinton's take. What does that mean in terms of how much money he's got to spend on these next contests?

CROWLEY: Well, it means he's got a lot more to spend. But what's been interesting is that Hillary Clinton has tried to turn this into a campaign plus in a couple of ways. First, she fundraises off of it. My opponent is outspending us two to one, please send money, that kind of thing.

But she also campaigns on it saying, you know, we're being outspent, but we're doing well. We see it in the kind of the pre-spin of Pennsylvania, where her campaign is saying, boy, you know, if he doesn't win here, I mean, he's outspending her 2-1, I mean, where can he win? So they kind of try to take what essentially is a negative because what it means is, of course, that Barack Obama can overwhelm her in ads and on the ground as well and turn out the vote, that sort of thing. But, again, they kind of try to turn it into a positive. But certainly, money as you know, has always been an advantage in politics.

ROBERTS: Candy, how does the outcome of Pennsylvania affect the rest of the primaries? You know, we've been asking in our "Quick Vote" this morning if Hillary Clinton doesn't win by a substantial margin, should she drop out? So far, the majority of people say, yes, she should if she doesn't win by a substantial margin. What's your sense there on the ground in Pennsylvania of how people are feeling, how the campaigns are feeling about all this?

CROWLEY: Well, my sense of it is that Hillary Clinton won't drop out if she wins by a substantial margin or a slim margin. But, again, you know, it depends on what you're looking at. If you're looking at the pledged delegates, it's going to be tough unless she has an overwhelming victory for her to catch up between now and the end of the primary season. Same with the popular vote, unless she just swamps him, it's going to be tough for her to catch up.

On the other hand, if you're rolling into Indiana and North Carolina on May 6th, which these campaigns are, it's going to be a boost to her to win Pennsylvania either by a slim margin or a healthy margin. Obviously, the Obama campaign is going to say in retrospect, well, she was up 20 points and we closed, that kind of thing. But honestly, to win is to win and that's helpful when you go into Indiana and North Carolina.

ROBERTS: See what happens very soon. Candy Crowley for us this morning from downtown Philadelphia, along with the Election Express. Candy, thanks.

CHO: Well, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, of course, traded attacks, but they also spent some time on the campaign trail talking about the issues, including the war in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We're spending $400 million a day, $10 billion a month that we could be spending right here in Redding putting people back to work. And the worst part of it is that the war in Iraq had not made us more safer.

CLINTON: You know, people ask me all the time, well, what if terrible things happen as you begin to bring your troops home. Well, the fact is, none of us know what's going to happen.

But I'll tell you what will happen if we stay there. We will continue to lose young men and women. We will have many who are injured. We'll continue to spend $10 billion to $12 billion a month, and we will be unable to deal with all of the other problems we have in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Both candidates have promised to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq if elected. And this quick programming note, Hillary Clinton sits down with Larry King tonight. As always, you can catch Larry at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on weeknights here on CNN. And you can ask the questions too. Head to CNN.com/am to find out exactly how.

Breaking news this morning. Gasoline prices broke another record over the weekend, taking a look at the CNN gas gauge, the average price for a gallon of regular is now at $3.50. That's up almost 25 cents from a month ago and last year a bargain, just $2.86. Oil also on the record rise. Oil prices spiked overnight to a record $117.40 a barrel. One factor in all of this is that a Japanese oil tanker was apparently attacked in the Middle East off the coast of Yemen.

More new numbers released overnight most likely related to the ones you just heard. A research firm that watches the auto industry says hybrid sales were up 38 percent in the U.S. last year with a Toyota Prius leading the way. Hybrids still only made up just two percent of the overall U.S. market share but it's not just gas prices that's driving the sales, people seem to have more options these days and they also trust the technology.

ROBERTS: Spain is asking for help today in finding a fishing boat that was hijacked by pirates. Spanish media reports say pirates boarded the boat off the coast of Somalia on Sunday demanding money. Twenty-six crew members were believed to be on board. The Spanish Ministry of Defense says there were no reports of any injuries.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Bahrain this morning after a surprise visit to Baghdad over the weekend. The Iraqi prime Minister Nuri al Maliki assured her that he would not back down in the confrontation with Shiite militias. This -- the followers of Muqtada al Sadr are refusing the government's demand to disband their militia. Iraqi soldiers now have control of the last stronghold of al Sadr's Mafi Army in Basra.

A warning today from the Secretary General of the United Nations about global food production. Ban Ki-Moon said the world urgently needs to boost production to stop soaring costs and prevent shortages. He has promised to create a task force to deal with the problem. Food prices have jumped by about 40 percent around the world, sparking riots. The United Nations is holding a conference on trade and development in Ghana.

CHO: Well, former president Jimmy Carter is lashing out at the United States and Israel this morning for not including Hamas in the peace process. During a speech in Jerusalem this morning, Mr. Carter repeated his call for Hamas to have a seat at the diplomatic table. Hamas is considered a terrorist group by the Bush administration. After his speech, Mr. Carter sat down with CNN and our Atika Shubert joins us now live from Jerusalem.

So Atika what did he say?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the former president defended the most controversial part of his trip which was his meeting with Hamas leaders in Syria. Carter insists that Hamas must be part of the peace talks that are ongoing between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Now, in his meeting with Hamas leaders, Carter said that Hamas was willing to accept those peace talks and a final peace deal and recognize the state of Israel but only under certain conditions. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If President Abbas of the Palestinians and Prime Minister Olmert reached an agreement for peace and if it is submitted to the Palestinians and the Palestinians themselves approve it in a referendum to be monitored by the Carter Center and international observers. If the Palestinians approve it, they, Hamas will accept it even though Hamas might object to some features of it, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SHUBERT: Now this is a position that Hamas has taken in the past, but clearly with President Carter's statement, gives it a lot more weight and a lot more pressure on both Israel and the U.S. to deal directly with Hamas. Alina.

CHO: Atika Shubert live in Jerusalem for us. Atika, thanks -- John.

ROBERTS: Thirty-four minutes after the hour. An 18-year-old South Carolina student is in jail this morning accused of plotting to set off a Columbine-style attack at his high school. He was arrested after his parents called police saying that bomb making materials were shipped to their home in Chesterfield. Investigators said they also confiscated maps of the school, a diary and an audiotape meant to be heard after he attacked the school and then killed himself.

Gun violence making a deadly weekend in Chicago. Police say at least four people were killed and nearly two dozen injured in 26 shootings. Investigators say all but three of the incidents were gang related. Police are now calling for more gun legislation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JODY WEIS, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: I just don't see a need for an AK-47. I have been an avid hunter throughout my whole life, I've served in the military. And I just don't know when you would need an AK-47 for any type of sporting activity. You can hunt any type of game in the world and you do not need an AK-47 to do that. AK-47s have one intent and that's to kill human beings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: And in New Orleans, six people were killed in separate shootings over the weekend and the violence came one day after police reported a drop in the city's murder rate.

CHO: How will issue number one, the economy, affect voters in Pennsylvania? Senior business correspondent Ali Velshi will join us live from the CNN "Election Express" in Philadelphia. That's just ahead.

And you see them in video games and on TV, skate borders doing amazing stunts, often without helmets. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen takes a closer look at the potential dangers ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boys, move over. The lady is coming through. Danica Patrick wins a twin ring Mottegi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: How do you like that, John? Boys move over, history on the racetrack -- 26-year-old Danica Patrick, the first woman ever to win an Indy car race. She took the top spot at the Indy Japan 300 yesterday. Winning by nearly six seconds. Her strategy paid off, she stayed on the track while other drivers made pit stops for fuel.

AirTran airways celebrating her win by declaring today AirTranica day. Take a look there. The company painted her picture on one of it's jets. Imagine having that. And today, pilots and flight traffic controllers will call it by it's new name, AirTranica Won and that's w-o-n by the way and not o-n-e, but...

ROBERTS: Airplanes not quite as fast as she is on the track, but close.

CHO: But for people who don't follow Indy racing, one person said it was like a female tennis player beating Roger Federer or Andy Roddick on center court at Wimbledon. So, it's just an incredible thing.

ROBERTS: Great victory for her. It was a really, really fantastic run this year.

CHO: Celebrated with a little bit of sake in the helicopter ride. And stick around by the way because Danica Patrick will be our guest. That's live at 8:54, exactly.

ROBERTS: Yes, we had her on just before last year's Indy 500. So, it will be great to catch up with her after this first victory.

CHO: Yes.

ROBERTS: Tremendous. Congratulations.

Ali Velshi with the CNN Election Express in Philadelphia. Talking about issue number one Americans, the economy.

The Election Express not quite as fast around the tracks as Danica Patrick but hey Ali Velshi gives us the run for his money every day.

VELSHI: Yes, the "Election Express" doesn't move as quickly as she does. I'm looking forward to that interview with her. Listen, let's talk a little bit about Pennsylvania and why you should care if you're not from Pennsylvania. How does it compare to the rest of the country. The national unemployment rate in the United States is 5.1 percent.

It's been ticking upward. Pennsylvania actually has an unemployment rate that is lower than the national average. But right here in Philadelphia, that's not the case. It's actually 5.2 percent in Philadelphia and over in Pittsburgh which we hear a lot about 5.7 percent because that's a more industrial town and they have lost more jobs.

Now, look at the industries that are based in and around here. Philadelphia in particular, the biggest employer here, the biggest industry in Philadelphia is health and educational services. That is very typical by the way of large urban centers, because there are a lot of people to look after. So that tends to be the case. There is also a big medical pharmaceutical center. Trade, transportation and utilities, that would make sense because again, Philadelphia is a major center on the northeast corridor, not far from I-95 and it is a working port.

If you look at the other industries, professional and business services, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania tends to be headquarters to a lot of major companies, a lot of back offices around here, a lot of professional services. You can see a sort of a bit of the skyline behind me.

This is a busy business center. Government is a major employer in Philadelphia and by the way, this is one of those cities though it is very urban still has a very large manufacturing base. So this is the order of the employers in this city. That's the sort of industry, that's the ranking of industry.

So, the problems, the point of this John and Alina, is that the problems that Philadelphia faces economically and the things that the presidential candidates have to do to appeal to Philadelphians, are actually many of the problems that the whole country faces.

I will, over the course of the next couple of days, be telling you a little bit more about Philadelphia and Pennsylvania generally in the economy here and you can see how it compares to the states in which you live. John and Alina.

CHO: All right, Ali.

ROBERTS: Good deal. Thanks, Ali.

CHO: I see you have some good weather there. That's good because a lot of people don't have it today. Extreme weather to watch on both sides of the country today. Rob Marciano tracking all of it for us.

Hey, Rob. Good morning.

MARCIANO: Good morning, Alina. Good morning, John. Rough weather in the D.C. area, it's going to be the same thing again today. This storm does not want to move. There were six reports of tornadoes yesterday. Stick around, AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.

I'm Rob Marciano watching this storm system that does not want to get offshore and get out of here. So another rough day for the mid- Atlantic including the Delmarva yesterday. There are some reports of tornadoes. Check out this video out of the D.C. area, Prince George's county, some destruction there from an EF-1 tornado, damage to a school and a church and certainly a scary afternoon for those folks dealing with that rough weather right in through yesterday evening. Today may be similar, hopefully not quite as severe, but you will see thunderstorms and showers rolling in from the Atlantic ocean and there will be sometimes of some coastal flooding due to the high tide and the full moon. This morning, you're seeing from Lexington Park up to Alexandria back to the Hampton Roads, another wet start to your day. Wet and snowy in spots in the Pacific northwest.

Again, unusually cold air here, temperatures well below average and snowfall amounts well above average. Great falls, Montana, 14.8 inches of snow and a record low yesterday in that same city of minus one. That blows the last record out there. Usually -- the last record was two weeks ago was the latest time they saw that cold temperatures. So, certainly very unusual as far as cold weather is concern yesterday and today.

Critical fire danger meanwhile for the firefighters in New Mexico, critically low levels of humidity, winds could gust over 340 miles an hour. We still have that prolonged drought. And this storm will eject into the plains later on today from Oklahoma eastward and into parts of eastern Kansas and western Missouri, possibility of severe weather, there maybe some tornadoes there as well.

Alina and John, back up to you.

ROBERTS: Wow, 15 inches of snow in Great Falls, Montana?

MARCIANO: Crazy, huh?

ROBERTS: Unbelievable. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

ROBERTS: Extreme danger, skateboarders pulling amazing stunts but often there's something missing. What you and your kids need to know before hitting the road.

CHO: And must win and must win big. Senator Hillary Clinton's fight for Pennsylvania and the mayor who's in her corner. We'll talk to him. Find out why he's backing her. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: It's 12 minutes now to the top of the hour. Skate boarding is big business with video games, magazines and television shows devoted to it. And it is estimated that more than 11 million people are skaters. But those wild stunts can cause serious injury to skateboarders who are not wearing helmets. Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen lays out the risks for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On MTV's "Life of Ryan," in the popular skate video game. And all over youtube, one thing these skateboarders have in common, they're not wearing helmets. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess it's the rush. Yes, that's it. The rush.

CHRISSY CIANFLONE, SAFEKIDS USA: We really see very limited safety messages about helmet use on skate boards.

COHEN: And kids are paying the price. Nearly 11,000 skate borders ended up in emergency rooms with head injuries in 2006. And by simply wearing a helmet, the vast majority would have likely avoided a head injury. Tommy Michalson was vacationing with his family in 2006 when he left his helmet back at the hotel. He skated ahead while his family took a walk.

CHERYL MICHALSON, VICTIM'S MOTHER: It looked OK. It looked safe.

COHEN: But soon the Michalsons saw ambulances. They arrived to find Tommy on the ground.

MICHALSON: He was unconscious. He was breathing, there were some people there who had found him and called 911 actually. They were there.

COHEN: Tommy died of a brain injury. His parents say skate borders without helmets in video games sends the wrong message.

MICHALSON: They're de-sensitized to the fact that what those characters are doing in those videos could be dangerous.

COHEN: Professional skate border Tony Hawk, is a helmet advocate. Hawk made his name doing stunts often copied by young fans.

TONY HAWK, PROFESSIONAL SKATEBOARDER: I know for a fact that a helmet has saved my life more than once. You never know what's going to happen. And it can save your life. And who says it's not cool? Not me.

COHEN: The Michalsons hope kids and their parents hear that message.

MICHALSON: In our case, it was, he fell one time and that was the one time that ended his life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: The skate video games manufacturers Electronic Arts says it, "offers gamers a way to experience the sport and celebrate the culture and lifestyle of skaters without ever having to put a foot on an actual skate board."

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

ROBERTS: And by the way Tony Hawk is promoting skate board safety with younger fans, saying helmets reduce the chance of serious head injury by 88 percent. His new video game called "Downhill Jam" does feature riders with helmets. Always a good idea when you're doing any kind of sport like that, roller blading, skating, bicycling.

CHO: That's right.

ROBERTS: Miss Cho.

CHO: I know, I got to get my own bike helmet.

ROBERTS: Helmets.

CHO: I know, I wanted your advice on it to be perfectly honest with you. I was looking on the Internet last night.

ROBERTS: My advice is buy one.

CHO: I know. But I wanted your advice on what the best one is. But anyway, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

We have been talking about it all morning long, seven weeks in the making, the crucial primary in Pennsylvania and what it could mean for Hillary Clinton. Her lead in some of the polls have been slipping lately and some are suggesting that if she doesn't have a very strong showing tomorrow, she should drop out.

And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question: If Hillary Clinton does not win tomorrow's Pennsylvania primary by a substantial margin, do you think she should drop out of the race?

Right now, 71 percent say yes, 29 percent say no. but you still have time to vote, cast your vote at CNN.com/am. And we'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning. Of course, we want to hear from you via e-mail on this as well.

Some interesting ones, Wayne from San Antonio, Texas says: "Hillary Clinton quitting now would be like a horserace where both horses are neck and neck and the trailing horse quits yards before the finish."

Sheryl from Harrisburg, Illinois writes us saying: "Why should Hillary stay in? She's behind in delegates, popular vote, et cetera. Get out Hillary and let the Democrats get ready for the general election."

And Stephen from San Antonio, Texas: "Why the pressure for any of the potential candidates to drop from the race? Is it so difficult for the media or the public to wait until all American's votes have been cast before selecting a nominee? Instant gratification is great, but is it necessary to have a candidate selected by super Tuesday?"

That's interesting.

Thank you for all of your e-mails, you still have some time. We'll read more of them in our next hour.

ROBERTS: We always appreciate participating this morning.

And a community on edge after police arrested a teen accused of plotting explosions at his school. This morning how the teen's parents got involved. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: And he is attacking me with a new ad that he has put up because I do cover everyone with more misleading information.

OBAMA: Now, she's running an ad saying that Obama is taking lobbyist money, tax money and other stuff running another negative ad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Things are getting pretty ugly in Pennsylvania with less than 24 hours to go now until the polls open before tomorrow's crucial primary. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is an active supporter of Hillary Clinton. He joins us coming up in our next half hour from now. But joining us right now, Pennsylvania congressman and Barack Obama supporter Chaka Fattah.

Thanks very much for being with us, Congressman. Good to see you this morning.

REP. CHAKA FATTAH (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Good to be here with you this morning. Tomorrow the polls will be open and we'll be making this decision.

ROBERTS: A lot of people are very excited about that and it took a long time to get here. And now, we're just 24 hours away. I wanted to ask you about all of these attacks that are going on back and forth. Barack Obama attacking Hillary Clinton's health care plan. She's responding with an attack ad of her own.

Let's listen to that and I'll ask you about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He couldn't answer tough questions in the debate, so Barack Obama is making false charges against Hillary's health care plan. She has a plan everyone can afford.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The Clinton campaign is saying these attacks on her health care plan are false. They're (INAUDIBLE). Bill Clinton went so far over the weekend as to call them "bull." What do you say?

FATTAH: Well, look, this debate on health care has been going on from the beginning of the campaign about which one has a better plan. The important things is that the jury will be able to come out tomorrow and make a decision. They've heard the final arguments.

Obviously, the Obama campaign believes that their position on health care has been mischaracterized and now we have the Clinton campaign saying the same thing. This is kind of part and parcel for the political process. But the voters will sift through it. Senator Obama has gotten a great welcome here in Pennsylvania. He was in Scranton last night and you know, he's just excited that everyone who supports Hillary will come out and vote tomorrow. Unfortunately we kind of come to the end of the debate and now it's time to vote.

ROBERTS: Is it helpful though to have all of this negative campaigning, all of these attack ads out there? How does -- I mean they work, but how does it help voters?

FATTAH: Look, I wish there could be a blackout on ads for the last 72 hours. We really need the opportunity for voters to be able to sift through it. But what's important is that candidates still need to answer charges and so Senator Clinton made charges, Senator Obama has responded and now you'll go back and forth and that's something that's kind of like a tennis match.

The real issue is you got to figure out who you trust and we believe that our indication is voters understand that they can trust Senator Obama and that we hope that every supporter he has in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania cast their votes tomorrow, don't be dissuaded, don't be fooled, don't go for any tricks. Come out and cast your vote.

ROBERTS: Senator Obama is also taking some heat from the Clinton campaign over these statements that he made over the weekend regarding John McCain.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Either Democrat would be better than John McCain. But -- and all three of us would be better than George Bush.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The congressman seems to contradict statements that he made earlier where he said a vote for John McCain would be a rubber stamp on a third term for President Bush's policies.

FATTAH: Look, I think most Americans agree with what Senator Obama said. Yes, Senator McCain has said that he will continue the tax cuts of Bush, he will continue the war. But in a variety of other ways, we know, just for instance on gun control, he's for cutting the gun show loophole. There's some things that John McCain is for that are at least relatively better than George Bush.

Anyone would be better than Bush. We got a $9 trillion debt, we got an unending war, we got the dollar at the weakest level ever and the highest trade deficit. So, I think on its face, Senator Obama's comment is beyond -- no one can contradict it. Anyone would almost be better than Bush.

ROBERTS: John McCain as we saw yesterday on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopolous making an issue of this relationship. I don't know exactly what you want to call it or how you would characterize it between Barack Obama and William Ayers, the founder of the Weather Underground movement back in the 1960s, has he got a problem with that?

FATTAH: Look, there is no relationship at all. I mean, they live in the same neighborhood, but there's no relationship and what Mayor Daley (ph) says is that this is a guy who 40 years after doing something that was despicable has made something of himself in the city of Chicago.

It's just like, you know, the Reverend Wright issue, I think they should investigate why Reverend Wright, you know, gave back his student deferment and joined the Marines the same year that Dick Cheney exercised five student deferments to stay out of protecting our country. You know, we got to dig through all of these. Get to the issues. Pennsylvanians want to know about jobs. We're losing 20,000 homes last month to foreclosures in Pennsylvania. They want to deal with the real issues.

And Senator Obama and Senator Clinton have, both ways, energetic campaigns. I believe in Senator Obama's message and I hope that those who agree with it will come out and vote tomorrow. And whoever you're going to vote for, we have two great candidates. I hope that Senator Obama gets at least one more vote than anyone else.

ROBERTS: All right, Congressman Chaka Fattah, thanks for being with us this morning.

Appreciate your time, Sir.

FATTAH: Thank you.