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American Morning
Army and Marines Turning to More Ex Cons; Gasoline Prices Hit New Record High; Battle for Pennsylvania; Recycling Gadgets on Earth Day
Aired April 22, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RUDY GIULIANI, MCCAIN SUPPORTER: There are two things to do it. Look at prior periods in our history. High taxes, high terrorist. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, high terrorist, high taxes. John McCain, low terrorist, low taxes, stimulate the economy.
And then, not to mention the fact, that of all the people in Washington, the person who has done the most to restrain spending is John McCain. Not Barack Obama and his short time in the Senate or Hillary Clinton.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: So, "Saturday Night Live," you know, your big stint wearing the dress. That helped your campaign tremendously there, mayor. Are you going to call John McCain and say I've got a dress for you? I've got some pumps. Let's see what I have to know.
GIULIANI: I still hadn't work my way out of it. When I started telling people the dress doesn't fit anymore.
PHILLIPS: You know, that will never go away. Will it fit John McCain?
GIULIANI: I don't know. John has his own "Saturday Night Live" that he hosted a few years ago. So somebody is going to have to go back and take a look at those.
But, look, one of the things I know John has is a great sense of humor. There's a real, real guy, real person. What you are seeing going on in Youngstown, Ohio, and all throughout, is the way he relates to people which is probably better and stronger than any other presidential candidate.
PHILLIPS: I saw him dancing with the gospel choir, mayor. He's got to work on his step there.
GIULIANI: You know, dancing is not my strong suit. So I'm not going to criticize -- I'm not going to criticize John. But if you want a people person, John McCain is a people person. You just look at the town hall meetings that he does, much more than any of the other candidates and much more unscripted. That is important.
A lot of those other candidates do scripted town hall meetings. John just goes out there. He relates to people. Every once in a while when you do that, I know this, you get yourself a little trouble because you are being natural. But we want our president to be able to do that.
PHILLIPS: Big day in Pennsylvania. We'll all be watching. Good to see you, mayor.
GIULIANI: Yes, it will be very interesting. Nice to see you, too.
PHILLIPS: Appreciate your time. All right.
GIULIANI: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: John?
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Mr. Mayor, you are talking about the McCain sings Streisand bit from "Saturday Night Live?"
GIULIANI: Yes.
ROBERTS: That was one of the funnier moments in politics.
GIULIANI: He was very good on "Saturday Night Live."
ROBERTS: He was.
GIULIANI: And that comes from almost a veteran of "Saturday Night Live."
PHILLIPS: Maybe in a dress singing Streisand. That will take it to a whole new level.
GIULIANI: Or he could do Marilyn Monroe.
ROBERTS: Good to see you. Thanks for coming in.
And just ahead, we're going to be talking with two Democratic governors and superdelegates. Pennsylvania's Ed Rendell, a Hillary Clinton supporter and New Mexico's Bill Richardson who was supporting Barack Obama. That's coming up at 8:20 Eastern so stay with us for that.
Pennsylvania, the biggest prize left in the race. Here now, a live look at a Philadelphia polling station. Voters can cast their ballots until 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight. There are 158 delegates at stake there.
A look at the latest CNN delegate estimate shows Barack Obama up by 140. Many analyst say Clinton needs a double digit win in Pennsylvania to fight off calls for her to quit.
The candidates aren't making any predictions but their schedules could give us a hint of how they think that it's going to turn out tonight. Take a look at this. Senator Barack Obama is going to start his day in Pittsburgh, then across the state to Philadelphia.
But tonight, he will be in Evansville, Indiana, looking to the next contest coming up on May the 6th. Senator Clinton will stay in Pennsylvania and watch the returns tonight from Philadelphia. John McCain already looking toward November, campaigning today in the swing state of Ohio.
CNN's Jim Acosta is live for us this morning from a polling station in Philadelphia.
How is it looking there this morning, Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we had a steady flow of voters at around 7:00 this morning. It's died down a little bit as people head off to work, but a couple of numbers for you. According to the election officials here in Pennsylvania, 300,000 new Democrats registered in this state. That accounts for 200,000 newly registered voters in the State of Pennsylvania. Some of those voters are registering as Democrats.
But part of that 300,000 are Republicans and independents registering as Democrats, so they can vote in this Pennsylvania primary. And the big fireworks going on between both of these candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is over an ad that Hillary Clinton is now airing in the State of Pennsylvania that features an image of Osama bin Laden, the Obama campaign accusing the Clinton campaign of playing politics of fear.
But throughout the day today, we're going to see both of these Democrats crisscrossing the state, looking for those last-minute independent voters, those last-minute undecided voters. Both of these candidates making their closing arguments.
And it's basically boiling down to the argument that's been in this campaign since the beginning. It's a choice both of these candidates say between judgment and experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now it is time for you to decide. You've listened, you've watched, you've read, you've checked out the resume, you've asked what the plans are. And now you have to decide, who would you hire to turn this economy around and start jobs growing again.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Clinton has -- she is a formidable adversary and she has many good ideas. In fact, we share a lot of ideas. We share a lot of policy positions. But the reason I'm running is because I believe that I am more committed to bringing about the changes that are necessary than Senator Clinton is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And the polls close at 8:00 tonight. Hillary Clinton ends her day here in Philadelphia. Barack Obama, by the way, we should mention, is wrapping up his day in Evansville, Indiana. An indication according to many analysts that he is looking forward to that May 6th primary rather than looking back to what is going to happen here today in Pennsylvania. John?
ROBERTS: Jim, full day coverage today. And stay tuned to CNN tonight for the Best Political Team on Television, and results from the Pennsylvania primary. It all begins tonight at 7:00 Eastern. And set the alarm for a special early edition of AMERICAN MORNING, 5:00 a.m. Eastern for extensive morning-after coverage.
PHILLIPS: A new audio tape from Osama bin Laden's top deputy hit the Internet over night. Ayman al-Zawahiri vows al-Qaeda still plan to wage attacks on the U.S. and its allies in Iraq.
And a growing pressure to boost recruit numbers. The Army and Marines are turning to more ex-con. The Army more than doubles the number of convicted felon that they enlisted last year.
It was nearly 60 percent increased for the Marines. According to new figures, most of the convictions were for burglaries, other thefts, and drug offenses. And small amounts were for more serious offenses like sex crimes and manslaughter.
Now, the controversial program that forces troops to serve past their retirement dates could be canceled by the fall of 2009. A top military officer says that is when the wartime demand for troops is expected to fall. Critics have called the so called stop-loss program a backdoor draft. Right now, 12,000 troops are serving past their retirement dates.
ROBERTS: Six minutes after the hour. And this morning, police in Montreal are cleaning up after hockey fans rioted in the streets overnight. It happened after the Canadians defeated Boston in the playoff series.
Fans torched at least five police cars, smashed store windows and looted businesses. Police say at least 13 people were arrested. But there were no reports of any major injuries. (INAUDIBLE).
The government agency that shoots for the stars is turning its cameras on our home planet today. NASA is celebrating Earth Day by broadcasting high definition video of planet earth. The video was all shot by astronauts aboard the shuttle and space stations. These spectacularly clear pictures of our home will run until 8:00 Eastern tonight. You can check them out at www.nasa.gov.
PHILLIPS: Well, desperate times calling for desperate measures. If you feel like gas is costing you a fortune, well, you are not alone. In fact, many people now turning over their fortunes just to fill up their tanks. We're going to explain.
ROBERTS: How will issue No. 1, the economy, affect voters in today's Pennsylvania primary? Ali Velshi has got the CNN Election Express outside of the art museum. He takes a look at the credit crunch in the state, live from Philadelphia, coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Nine minutes after the hour. Breaking news to tell you about this morning. Gasoline prices hit a new record high. $3.51 cents a gallon. That is up more than 65 cents from a year ago. And pawnshops are now reporting the record rise in gold prices is forcing Americans to sell unwanted jewelry just to help fill up their thanks.
PHILLIPS: So how will issue No.1, the economy, affect voters in today's Pennsylvania primary? Ali Velshi takes a look at the credit crunch in the state, live, with the Election Express from Philadelphia.
As you can see parked behind him not going anywhere just to save on gas.
Hey, Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We're moving. We're doing the moving around, the bus is staying there. You see, I'm here in Philadelphia, City Hall in the background. People going to work.
By the way, that record price of gas, Kyra, obviously got to do with oil. Oil hit $118.05 overnight. And it is hovering around that area. Now, how is this playing out in Pennsylvania? Well, one of the biggest issues about what makes people use to feel wealthier is the value of their house.
If you look at the average or the median price of a house in Philadelphia, at the end of 2007, about $168,000 -- $168,000 by here lower than the national median which was about $208,000. Now the difference is that the national median was down. The median, by the way, is the price at which half of the homes are sold at a lower price, half at the higher price.
The national median was down about 6 percent over 2007 and has continued to drop into this year. In Pennsylvania, the number is actually up just a little bit, but it is up. Now, let's look at foreclosures. One of the things we've been talking about it that Pennsylvania has an older population than the national average. In fact, it is the second oldest population in the United States after Florida.
Now, the implication there is that a lot of people have paid for their homes here. So foreclosure doesn't tend to be the same problem it is elsewhere. Look at the numbers. One in 2245 homes in foreclosure, compare that to the national average of one in 557, and compare that to some of those high foreclosure states like Nevada, closer to one in 57 or one in 60.
So, on the foreclosure front, just not the problem it is in Pennsylvania as it is on the national average. Home prices much lower, but not going in the wrong direction as well. So a couple of bright spots on the Pennsylvania front here. Still, jobs are a big issue around here and the presidential candidates have been speaking to that.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right. Did you catch that? I knew that was going to happen. He said Kiran.
VELSHI: No, no. There was no "N" there. I said Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK.
ROBERTS: Believe me.
PHILLIPS: Believe me, that was a huge compliment. I'll go with it.
ROBERTS: Judging by the e-mails he's been sending to me all morning, he knows how to pronounce your name.
VELSHI: I know. Kyra and I go back a long ways.
PHILLIPS: Yes, we do. Lots of affection for each other. Hey, head over to the art gallery and let me know what's on display there for me, will you?
VELSHI: I will. As soon as we get off here, I'm going in.
PHILLIPS: Fantastic. Thanks, Ali.
Well, the economy is issue No. 1 for voters. Join Ali, Gerri Willis, and the CNN money team for "ISSUE #1" today, noon Eastern, right here on CNN and online at cnnmoney.com.
And today is Earth Day. We've been talking about it. And we've got some easy tips to help you help the planet. If you have some old electronic gadgets lying around, why not recycle them? Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis will show us how to do it, coming up.
ROBERTS: Rob Marciano, meantime, is in the CNN weather center tracking extreme weather for us this morning.
What do you got, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, I know how to recycle that XBOX, just bring it my way, I'll take care of it. Put it to good use. We won't throw it (INAUDIBLE), that's for sure.
We have some thunderstorms that are rolling through the midsection. North Carolina continues to get hammered by the storm that just won't go away. Complete weather details coming up. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: President Bush is in New Orleans. He's hosting the leaders of Canada and Mexico at a summit meeting that wraps up today. And after yesterday's session, the president just couldn't resist showing off his dance moves.
So here you see him doing a little dance to the New Orleans jazz band. The president has been doing a lot of dancing in the last couple of years.
PHILLIPS: He and John McCain need to work on a little more rhythm, a little more soul.
ROBERTS: Every dance he does seems to be a variation on a similar move.
PHILLIPS: And you know, (INAUDIBLE), you could really do anything and it works. We'll have a little chat with him.
ROBERTS: Remember how Elaine used toe dance on "Seinfeld?"
PHILLIPS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Slightly reminiscing.
PHILLIPS: Now you're taking us back.
Well, recycling is a great way to celebrate today, Earth Day, especially if you have a bunch of old electronics taking up space.
Coming up, Gerri Willis is going to tell us all how to get rid of the clutter while helping the planet at the same time.
ROBERTS: And the battle for Pennsylvania. Is it a must-win for Hillary Clinton? We talk with super surrogates from both campaigns about today's primary and where the Democrats go from here. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, you may have an old laptop, cell phone, iPod piling up around the house and what better way to clean up your house than Earth Day. But what do you do with all those old electronics?
Personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, joining us now.
PHILLIPS: I have boxes. I have old servers, I have computers, I have -- yes, exactly, phone pieces. So what do we do?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, OK. Look at this. OK, this is from my office this morning. This is what I have just hanging around at home.
PHILLIPS: We need to update you by the way.
WILLIS: Somebody said can you bring in some props? And I said, yes, I can. The problem with this is that if this is all building up, you have a lot of personal information stored on these PCs. I don't know about you, but I keep passwords to bank accounts, everything on here. You definitely want to get rid of this before you go green. A great place to go on the web -- Eraser, is a software that you can download for free on the web. Just go Eraser on Google and you'll find it immediately. It will help you get rid of all your personal information. That's the first thing you want to do.
Now, if you have a cell phone, PDA, you want to take it to the manufacturer because they will have to erase the information for you. And it can take up to 30 minutes. It's a free service. But to your question, yes, they can get the stuff off of it, but you have to make sure that you do it the right way.
PHILLIPS: And you mentioned the software, but we really don't ever know for sure, right, if we've deleted everything? I think about that as I'm taking stuff to good will and wondering if I'm going to have personal information on there even though I think I've cleared it out.
WILLIS: Well, I think it's tough. And you definitely want to make sure that if you take it to a manufacturer, they're actually doing what they promise. Eraser is a good program to help you out.
Look, if you are concerned about what's going to happen with that next, I think the great thing to do is donate it. A lot of people want to know what can I do with all of this electronic gadgetry I have around my household.
The great thing to do is donate it. There are a number of organizations you should know about -- Earth911.org, Freecycle.com. The Christina Foundation at Christina.org will donate it to schools. So, that's always a nice thing to do.
PHILLIPS: And if you don't go that route, it can be pretty toxic, yes? I mean, just (INAUDIBLE).
WILLIS: Exactly. Well, if you really want to do is get rid of it. You don't want to donate it, you want to dump it. A few things you might want to think about doing. You can give it back to the manufacturers. You may be required to send it back to them, mail it back to them. This will take like $30 on your part. This isn't free. Being green isn't easy. There might be an investment on your part.
Apple, Dell, HP, all have programs to help you get rid of your laptops. And iPods and cell phones, you can take to the Apple store and they'll dispose of it for you, which is a great thing.
Keep in mind too that some of the retailers out there like Best Buy, they're taking back equipment in special events like TVs and fax machines. You can also dump those little cartridges from your printers. I don't know about you, I have million of those.
PHILLIPS: And how do you keep up with everything because it keeps advancing every other week.
WILLIS: I know. It's tough. But you know, that's why we're here today to tell you all about that. But if you do have the printer cartridges, you can either mail them in or Best Buy usually has a little box at the front of the store, where you can just dump it right in.
Another thing to think about -- your town will also recycle some of this stuff, like once a month, once a year, twice a year, go to eiae.org, it's a great web site. It will help you find out what your local town has. Often, the towns themselves have web sites. They will let you know what to do.
PHILLIPS: Gerri Willis, thank you so much.
WILLIS: Thank you, Kyra. Great to see you.
PHILLIPS: Good to see you, too.
John?
ROBERTS: Could Pennsylvania be Hillary Clinton's last stand or could it breathe new life into her campaign? We'll talk with Governors Bill Richardson and Ed Rendell, both of them Democratic superdelegates, about today's primary and what lies ahead.
And the new Fortune 500 list is all about the bottom line. But we want to tell you something that the rankings don't. See if you can guess this company.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politics are as popular as the stock market here. And in this election year, employees at this company have contributed more to political campaigns than any other. Who can the candidates thank for filling up their war chests? Find out after the break.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which Fortune 500 Company's employees have donated the most campaign cash? Employees of Goldman Sachs, the world's largest global investment bank. They've given more than $3 million to this year's presidential race, making it the most politically active company on this year's list. Most of the money has gone to the Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: 25 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning." Polls in Pennsylvania have been open for nearly an hour and a half now. We're talking with two super surrogates this morning about today's critical primary. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is an Obama supporter. He joins us this morning from Santa Fe.
Governor, good to see you.
And Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a Clinton supporter, joins us from Philadelphia.
Governor, good to have you as well.
Both of them, we should mention, are Democratic superdelegates. I wanted to start by playing a little bit of a new ad that Hillary Clinton has got out there that invokes images of Pearl Harbor, Osama bin Laden, the gas crises of the 1970s. Let's take a quick look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to be ready for anything, especially now with two wars, oil prices skyrocketing and an economy in crisis. Harry Truman said it best -- "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Governor Richardson, let me start with you. What do you think of that advertisement?
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: Well, it's a negative ad. And it shows that the campaign has gotten increasingly negative. And this is why my hope is that after the remaining primaries, we've got ten left, the very important one today, that we look at who has the most popular vote, the most superdelegates, the most states won.
Senator Obama clearly, I believe, is the candidate that can bring the country together.
ROBERTS: Governor Rendell, the Obama campaign is saying that Hillary Clinton is employing the same tactics, the same politics of fear that President Bush did in 2004. What do you say?
GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: You know that I think that is just silly. I think the ad isn't negative. It's positive. It stresses Senator Clinton's experience both in the White House working with her husband and as a senator who worked then as a key member of the military armed services committee.
I think it's a positive ad saying, look, in these times we need someone who's ready. And Senator Clinton clearly is the most experienced. Polls in virtually every state say that she's more likely and more fit to be commander-in-chief.
ROBERTS: Governor Richardson, you have a tremendous amount of foreign policy experience. You were the ambassador to the United Nations for a time. Is either one of these candidates more qualified than the other to handle the kind of crises that Hillary Clinton outlines in this ad?
RICHARDSON: Well, I would agree with Governor Rendell. I think Senator Clinton is experienced, but Obama -- he's got the qualities of terrific judgment, values, the ability to bring people together, the ability to have an internationalist image based on his background, the ability to send the message to the world that America is changing its foreign policy towards being more open. And I believe this is Senator Obama's strongest quality -- the ability both domestically, to unite the American people in a bipartisan way, and internationally, to project the new image of America of openness, of civil rights, of internationalism, of changing our policies in global climate change, getting us out of Iraq. I think he is the perfect candidate for these very troubled times of our country.
ROBERTS: Governor Rendell, let me come back if I could to this idea that the politics of fear because Senator Obama spoke himself directly yesterday. He responded by circulating an image from the Clinton-Gore 1992 campaign, which urged people to vote your hopes, not your fears. And here's what Senator Obama said about that ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who do you want answering that 3:00 a.m. phone call? The person who got Iraq wrong or the person who got Iraq right? The person who paid attention to the intelligence or the person who didn't? The person who understood the consequences or the people who did not?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Governor Rendell, the suggestion there is that Hillary Clinton may have plenty of experience but it's the wrong experience.
RENDELL: Well, I don't think anybody who knows Hillary Clinton knows her work in the Senate would suggest that. And I think it's very telling that Congressman Jack Murtha, as you know, John, the first Democrat to speak out and say, bring the troops home, a military expert, has not only endorsed Hillary Clinton, but have said that she's got the best plan to bring our troops home from Iraq.
I think that speaks volumes about not only Senator Clinton's experience but just as Senator Obama said, who's the best bet to get our troops home safely and in an orderly fashion from Iraq. Now, when Jack Murtha speaks about Iraq, I think he carries a tremendous amount of credibility.
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton was on "LARRY KING LIVE" last night talking about the significance of Pennsylvania for Senator Obama. Let's listen to what she had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He should try to win this state which he's been doing because he knows he hasn't won any big state except his own. And I think that's important for Democrats. Who's won the big states? Who has been there to put together the electoral map that we need to win in the fall?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Gov. Richardson, what about the point that she has won all the big states, New York, California, looks like she is positioned to win Pennsylvania today? If you want to win the presidency you've got to bring home those big states with that rich cache of electoral votes.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: Well, what does that mean that medium size and small states don't matter? She's only won 14 out of 44. For example, this is a huge state today, Pennsylvania. But Indiana, North Carolina where Senator Obama is going to do well, it is the same number of delegates, 157 to 158 in Pennsylvania that are going to happen. Look, I believe that this race in Pennsylvania will be close. Senator Clinton was up by 25 points some time ago. She has some formidable support like Eddie Rendell. But you know, Senator Obama is narrowing the gap. It's going to be a close race in Pennsylvania. But then we've got nine to go. I think at the end of that nine, we're going to see whose got the most delegates, whose got the most popular support, whose got the most superdelegates, whose got the most states and who can win in November and who can bring the country together, and that is Senator Obama.
ROBERTS: Governor Rendell, how big a win will Hillary Clinton come out with in Pennsylvania today?
GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, it's hard to say. I think somewhere between five and nine points. But I want to go back to the point you made, Senator Richardson. The Obama campaign ignores and Bill didn't answer because he's a smart guy, your point that it's electoral college votes that elect the next president. And Hillary Clinton, if she wins Pennsylvania today, will have won enough electoral votes to be elected president. So, it's electoral votes, small states are great to win but that is not how we win the presidency. Popular vote is not how we win the presidency. We all learned that in 2000.
So, Michigan, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, those are the states that the Democrat has to carry and if we win Pennsylvania today and I believe we will, Hillary Clinton will approve to be a stronger candidate in all of those four key states. And that is something that superdelegates have to think about. As far as the popular vote goes, John, this isn't over yet. If we win a decent size victory here and win by the margins projected in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Puerto Rico, you count Florida and we should count Florida, because that was a fair election and everyone voted under the same rule, I think Hillary Clinton will win the popular vote.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll see what they do with Florida and Michigan. Gentlemen, we're out of time. Thanks very much for joining us this morning. Governors Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Bill Richardson of New Mexico. Good, always to see you, always good to have you on.
RENDELL: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: And now to this morning's "Quick Vote" question.
Will today be a turning point in the Democratic race for president? Right now, take a look, 62 percent of you say yes, 38 percent say no. Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. We also want to hear from you via e-mail as well and to our Web site, CNN.com/am. Follow the links that say contact us and we'll bring you some of those in just a few minutes here in this morning.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A new addition to the best political team on TV. Former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow joins CNN as a political contributor. Last night on "Larry King Live," he gave his thoughts on how the presidential race will play out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think McCain is going to win and actually because I think security and the economy both break his way. But on the Democratic side, if you take a look at it, it's basically -- indeed he got this right, you've got this charisma and emotion on the part of Obama. Can people stay in love with him from now through November? If so, it makes him a stronger candidate. If on the other hand, the more you learn about him, the more you maybe fall out of love, that's a campaign that could collapse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And Tony will be back for tonight's political coverage right here on CNN.
Senator John McCain is taking the road less traveled for Republicans. He's heading into strongly Democratic areas, hoping to win the support of struggling Americans. Earlier I spoke to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a McCain backer, by the way, about McCain's "Time for Action" tour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI (R), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These are parts of the country that are suffering more than some others, suffering from transitions, maybe from steel or mining, other situations. He wants to show people there I care about you, you are going to be part of my planning, you are very much a part of the America John McCain wants to lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And today McCain takes his tour to Youngstown, Ohio. Stay tuned to CNN tonight for the best political team on TV and results from the Pennsylvania primary. It all begins tonight 7:00 Eastern. Join us for a special early edition of AMERICAN MORNING, 5:00 a.m. Eastern, the morning after coverage of the Pennsylvania primary. Alina Cho, here with other stories making headlines. She'll be with us too at the crack of dawn.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I most certainly will with weary eye. Rudy Giuliani, by the way, one of the few politicians brave enough to wear a dress. Kudos for you for bringing that up. Good morning, guys. Again, good morning, everybody.
New this morning, off the coast of Brazil, a desperate search is under way for a Catholic priest who floated off under hundreds of helium balloons. Bizarre but true. The priest was actually trying to set a record for the longest ride on a bundle of party balloons. 19 hours apparently is the record. He was doing it to raise money for a spiritual rest stop for truckers. Officials say winds may have pushed the priest 30 miles off the coast. But some are hopeful he will be found alive floating somewhere in the ocean.
A protests in Indonesia this morning as the Olympic torch makes its way around the world, ending up in Beijing in August. The torch relay started this morning at the National Stadium in Jakarta, behind closed doors and in front of an invitation only crowd. Some 3,000 police have used water cannons to break up the protest against Chinese rule in Tibet. At least eight people are under arrest.
And forget about voting for just a second. The presidential candidates took the campaign fight to the wrestling ring. Recording messages for last night's "Monday Night Raw." take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In honor of the WWE, you can call me Hill-Rod. This election is starting to feel a lot like king of the ring. The only difference, the last man standing may just be a woman.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For the American people, I've got one question -- do you smell what Barack is cooking?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What are you going to do when John McCain and all his McCainiacs run wild on you? You want to pull out of Iraq? Well, I say no surrender. America can win the war against terror. I'm going to introduce Osama Bin Laden to the Undertaker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: McCain would make a good wrestler. Get a load of this. The WWE tried to settle the Democratic primary in the ring as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton look-alikes went at it. Of course, they weren't the real people there. Obama seemed ready to put Clinton away until she got some interference, you saw it joust there, from Bill, her husband, the match, guess what -- ended as a draw. Yes, let's hope the Pennsylvania primary doesn't end that way. We'll still be counting the votes at 5:00 a.m.. Anyway, some good humor, some good fun there. WWE ring.
PHILLIPS: Oh boy.
CHO: That is one way to settle it.
ROBERTS: Everybody is doing comedy this year.
PHILLIPS: Right.
CHO: Anyway.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet. PHILLIPS: A record number of people are registering to vote energized by the historic election. We've talked about that of course all morning. You might be surprised to hear who is having their say. CNN's Rick Sanchez sits down with a group of first-time voters.
ROBERTS: And Tom Hanks played him on the big screen. Today, meet the real Congressman Charlie Wilson. What he thinks of the movie and the current war in Afghanistan. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: More Americans registering to vote than ever before. Some voting for the very first time, some swapping parties for the first time. In the league of first time voters, CNN's Rick Sanchez has been traveling the country talking to probably all of them. Rick is live in Philadelphia. Hi, Rick, good morning.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. How are you? I'll tell you, we have noticed something here that maybe you and a lot of our viewers have noticed as well. Just about anywhere there are TV cameras in Philadelphia, there are big groups of Hillary Clinton supporters. They have come out here to make a statement. Interestingly enough, I've spoken to a lot of them. They are not all from Philadelphia. Many of them from Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama. They are here because they are pumped, they're energized, they want to make a difference. They really need to help their candidate in this particular place. There are women like the ones that I talked to in Scranton, P.A..
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been a Republican since I'm 18 years old. And two months ago I changed to Democratic. And I can't believe I did it.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): You've always been a Republican?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
SANCHEZ: And you are going to go Democrat this time?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Mostly because I got really upset about the lack of ethical behavior in the current administration.
SANCHEZ: As a woman, would you feel more empowered if Hillary were to become president?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a great plus, but it is not the reason that is driving me to her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is gutsy. She gets up and she keeps rolling. That is the kind of president I want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to see a woman in the presidency before I die. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If something doesn't go her way, she kind if goes off the deep end and just does some crazy thing. Whereas, he always stays even keel and steady.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barack Obama offers us a better choice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he's a brilliant speaker. But that does not necessarily make a good president. He may some day make a good president. But right now it's her turn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she's very intensely educated, intelligently focused.
SANCHEZ: You think Barack Obama has it easier than Hillary Clinton?
(crosstalk)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Why not McCain?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't afford to be in a war in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we could put it on early childhood education or on better health care.
SANCHEZ: What makes you think that Hillary or Barack Obama will be any better?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had eight years of Bill Clinton. And it's true he had some problems.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the country prospered. We were well loved in the world.
SANCHEZ: When she talks about health care, Republicans call her a socialist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it isn't.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what is right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The uninsured or the working poor, I think Hillary gets it. All the baby boomers are now becoming patients and so are your nurses, and she is supporting tuition reimbursement, and many funds, grants.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need someone to go out there and reach out to the people.
SANCHEZ: What I sense from you guys though is that you are passionate about this this time around? That you're energized.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Passionate chicks.
(laughter)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Each one of us wants to win this because it means a lot to each of us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: We are energized as well about this project. I tell you, you know, we in television for the most part go out and find the best experts to talk to you and politicians, and in many cases just down right pundits. This is different. This league of first-time voters that we are so excited about, actually gives us an opportunity to do television bottom-up, to talk to real people, people who are sending their message to us and in turn we are getting it to you. That is why we are doing this. And I think it is going to be a very important project for us. We are pumped about doing it. And we are planning on not only the ones that we've already done but also traveling around the country and talking to other people as well who may want to reach us and say, hey, you haven't reached us yet. We are unique too. We got something to say. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Real quickly, Rick, how can someone join the league?
SANCHEZ: Well, I'll tell you, there's a Web site that is really the incorporation of this entire thing it is cnn.com/league. You can go there, you can reach us and tell us how you -- how we can get a hold of you, so we can go out there and visit you. You can join the league of first time voters, LOFTV as we call it as well. We hope to create with this kind of a symbiotic relationship, if you will, between us who are delivering the message and the people out there in the United States who have really something to say, and we just want to be able to provide a good vehicle for people to be able to do that. And so far so good. It's working real well, Kyra. We're excited about it and we're surprised by the number of people who are reaching out to us and continue to do so. We welcome it.
PHILLIPS: You always find the sassiest women across the country. Rick Sanchez, thanks.
ROBERTS: He is the congressman who covertly helped drive the Soviets from Afghanistan. His story immortalized in the film "Charley Wilson's War." So, does the real Charlie Wilson think we are doing things right on the same battlefield? We'll ask him, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: He was a liberal Texas congressman who teamed up with the rogue CIA operative and funded the biggest covert war in U.S. history. Charlie Wilson accused of using his political connections, funneling billions of dollars in arms to help the Afghans defeat the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Tom Hank plays Wilson in "Charlie Wilson's War."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILSON: Could you grab the remote there and find the volume button?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlie, are we going to do business?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's doing a thing from India.
WILSON: No, that is Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: It's a great movie, very entertaining. And it's out today on DVD. So, you can grab a copy of it and watch it at home, just like I did on Friday night. And I'm joined now by Charlie Wilson, not Tom Hanks, but the real Congressman Charlie Wilson. Good to see you, sir.
CHARLIE WILSON, FMR. TEXAS CONGRESSMAN: Hi, John.
ROBERTS: I wanted to ask you first of all how are you doing because it was just literally six months ago you had a heart transplant?
WILSON: It really was. And I'm doing really well. I've had the last two weeks, three weeks that I've turned the corner and I've gotten a lot of my energy and strength back. But it's an ordeal. And one shouldn't get a transplant unless one really need it.
ROBERTS: I mean, there's definitely so much involved but you're looking great.
WILSON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: And I'm glad that you're feeling pretty well too.
WILSON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: The film which is, as we said, is out today on DVD. I saw this when it first came out. It was one of the best movies that I'd seen in a long, long time. How did you feel about it? How did you feel about the depiction of the story? The portrayal? Have you and the other folks by Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour- Hoffman --
WILSON: I felt really good about it. And I think the movie was really good. It was -- if there were any sins, they were since of omission because there just wasn't time. But a lot of my friends who read the book said you know the book did this and that, but you just can't do that in an hour and a half. ROBERTS: Right. This is a book written by George Crowell, former "60 Minutes" producer.
WILSON: That's right.
ROBERTS: The book starts off very much in the same way that the film does. Although there's another little event at the very beginning of the film in a hot tub in Las Vegas.
WILSON: Yes.
ROBERTS: What was that all about?
WILSON: Well, that is the way I kind of the way I lived in those days. And all of the misbehavior that was enumerated in the book and the movie I plead guilty to everything. There is no defense except I enjoyed it. So that wasn't unusual.
ROBERTS: You think that the Iraq war distracted from the job that needed to get done all these time in Afghanistan?
WILSON: Oh, there's no question about it. There's no question about - I'm glad you mentioned that. There's no question about that. The Iraq war, many of the resources were taken out both military and state department, the A-I-D, the reconstruction and it just -- the -- we just lost the focus it had before. And it was something the administration was really doing right until Iraq.
ROBERTS: Do you have any reasonable belief that NATO and the United States will be able to do it this time?
WILSON: Well, yes, because if we can just get the focus we need, if we can set the example, and get our NATO allies in there, in a stronger -- but we need to be there stronger ourselves, but we have so many Afghans that are on our side.
ROBERTS: So, with your vast experience in Afghanistan, what will it take to set things right there?
WILSON: It will take an effort maybe in resources and money and soldiers, maybe 20 percent of the effort that we are expending in Iraq and maybe 10 percent. And we can do it. We can do it.
ROBERTS: Charlie Wilson, it is great to see you. I'm glad you are in good health.
WILSON: Buy the DVD.
ROBERTS: Congratulations on the DVD being out. For home viewing, again it's a great movie. Very entertaining. It is great to see you in person.
WILSON: Thank you, thank you, John.
ROBERTS: Appreciate your coming in.
WILSON: Appreciate it.
PHILLIPS: I love it. He doesn't regret anything. CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away. Tony Harris in the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead. Hi, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: There you are. Good to see you, Kyra. Good morning, everyone. Pennsylvanians at the polls on the NEWSROOM rundown this morning.
Voters' choice, will it be Clinton or Obama? Party chairman Howard Dean stops by to talk about this long Democratic duel.
Issue number one, the economy. Gas prices climb again. It has another record high. When will it stop?
It's Earth Day and we talk to a lady who is working on the environmental rebirth of the south Bronx or as she likes to say greening the ghetto. Of course, we've got you covered on any breaking news. NEWSROOM, we get started at the top of the hour on CNN. And John Roberts take care of our Kyra Phillips up there. Don't send her back to...
ROBERTS: Absolutely. Nothing but the best of care.
HARRIS: There you go.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Tony.
ROBERTS: So, we've got an earth day tease coming up.
PHILLIPS: That's right.
ROBERTS: Something special.
PHILLIPS: Something special in your morning paper today.
ROBERTS: How cartoonists are banding together to save the earth coming up. That is coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Carbon footprints, global warming, endangered species, not exactly great joke material but 46 cartoonists from around the country are going green for earth day today. Our Lola Ogunnaike shows us how they are hoping to help save the planet just one strip at a time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cartoonists like Dan Piraro are finding humor in of all things, methane emissions.
DAN PIRARO, "BIZARRO" CARTOONIST: The fact is that animal agriculture actually contributes more greenhouse gasses than all transportation combined. So, my cartoon is about a cow being sent to the hospital because she tried to hold all her methane for a solid day in honor of Earth Day and of course, she couldn't do it.
OGUNNAIKE: The Earth Day project was coordinated by King Features. The syndication company which runs comics in nearly 5,000 newspapers.
BREANDAN BURFORD, COMICS EDITOR: People turn to the comics page every day and. Sometimes they look for people who are tackling issues and you're enlightening them to things that are going on in the world.
OGUNNAIKE: Piraro is hoping this effort will encourage colleagues to keep sketching for the cause.
PIRARO: It forces all these artists to read about the issues, find out about them and I bet some of them will be doing cartoons about these issues in the coming months when they might not normally have done so.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, what are some of the other comics featured?
OGUNNAIKE: Well "Beatle Bailey," the soldiers are hugging trees today, and you got, "Blondie" right here. A lot of them are on the paper today. This is the "Daily News." You got "Blondie" right here. "Dagwood" is conserving energy by sleeping on the couch, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Not a bad idea. This is how a lot of people get their news. So, you might as well incorporate the news events with the cartoons.
OGUNNAIKE: Exactly, it is like a spoonful of sugar with your medicines. So, and it's being well received. In fact, they're saying that they're going to do it again next year.
PHILLIPS: It's amazing those comic strips are still around. I remember those as a kid.
OGUNNAIKE: Yes, we grew up with them. They are doing something good for the cause today, so yes.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Lola.
OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: John.
ROBERTS: When the President of the United States appears on the game show "Deal or No Deal" you realize it's a pretty big deal for politicians to pop up on show that have little or nothing to do with politics. On Monday, John McCain's wife Cindy co-hosted the program "The View" with her unique view on all of this, here's CNN Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She tends to come across as perfectly quaffed and perfectly silent, casting admiring glances at her man.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With very few exceptions.
MOOS: Like Garbo, before talkies, her voice is seldom heard.
CINDY MCCAIN, WIFE OF SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: I'm very proud of my country.
MOOS: Cindy McCain tends to let her fingers do the talking on a blackberry as her husband speaks.
MCCAIN: The Iraqis just passed a budget.
MOOS: So it came as a shock to hear Cindy McCain was co-hosting "The View." True, the only funny secret she spilled was her husband's nicknames.
BARBARA WALTERS, HOST, "THE VIEW": What do you call him?
CINDY MCCAIN: Johnny Boy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Johnny Boy.
MOOS: And talking about the business that made her family millions, beer distribution, Cindy McCain was asked if she drinks brew.
WALTERS: Do you drink beer?
MOOS: Not that much. If you want to know more, read the book.
CINDY MCCAIN: I'm going to write a book, my memoirs, about what's going on.
MOOS: At least Cindy didn't fidget. Senator Obama did, Leno counted the fidgets. And Senator McCain lost him. With Cindy McCain o-hosting, comedian Craig Ferguson joked about all the John McCain age jokes.
CRAIG FERGUSON, COMEDIAN: I speak for us all on late night. We kind of, you know, he's old, that is all we got.
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: John McCain, on the other hand, he looks like the guy who has to be told to close his robe. John McCain looks like the guy who picks up his TV remote when the phone rings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MOOS (on-camera): And speaking of picking up the remote, if I see one more candidate or politician in one of these comedy type programs, I might just have to zap them. Hillary did Letterman's top ten campaign promises.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My vice president will never shoot anybody in the face.
MOOS (voice-over): Ditto for Obama.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll put Regis on the nickel.
LETTERMAN: Why not?
MOOS: They both --
OBAMA: Live from New York it's --
MOOS: It's "Saturday Night Live."
CLINTON: Do I really laugh like that?
AMY POEHLER, COMEDIAN: Well --
MOOS: Back on "The View" the subject of age resurfaced.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you like dating with an older man?
CINDY MCCAIN: I married him. I love him to death.
MOOS: Loving Johnny boy to death might not be the best word choice unless you are running for VP.
JOHN MCCAIN: And you look like the guy who enjoys getting into a hot tub and watching his swim trunks inflate.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Take it from an aviator. He talks about inflating his swim trunks. That is what he learned in survival school.
ROBERTS: It's all about buoyancy. Final check of this morning's "Quick Vote" question for you. Will today be a turning point in the Democratic race for President? 62 percent of you say yes, 38 percent say no.
PHILLIPS: How about I start calling you Johnny Boy?
Also, we've also been asking for your e-mails on this as well. Scott from Boome, North Carolina says "no turning point. Hillary will continue and she should. The turning point will come when these superdelegates end this in June after all states have voted."
ROBERTS: And Rote from Atlanta, Georgia writes this morning "the acceptable turning point is for Hillary Clinton to begin a healing process with young Democrats like me by putting shame, entitlement and pride aside and drop out of the race."
To all of you who voted or sent in an e-mail, thank you very much. Love that guy, Craig Ferguson, too. You know, every -- any joke is inherently funnier when told with a Scottish accent.
PHILLIPS: We have to all be able to laugh at ourselves. Accents and all. All right. We'll keep it here for the best political news on TV, coverage starts tonight in primetime 7:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
ROBERTS: And wake up to a very special edition of AMERICAN MORNING 5:00 a.m. Eastern first extensive coverage of the Pennsylvania primary. Hurts just to say it. But we'll be here. And thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. Great to have you here as well.
PHILLIPS: It's been wonderful to be here. I look forward to the next couple of months.
ROBERTS: See you bright and early tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: All right. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Betty Nguyen begins right now.
HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: Events come in to the CNN NEWSROOM live on this Tuesday, April 22nd, and here's what's on the rundown.
NGUYEN: Pennsylvania's big day.
