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American Morning
Clinton Wins in Pennsylvania; Gas Hits $3.53 per Gallon; Superdelegate Dilemma Heightened After Clinton's Victory
Aired April 23, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And the win certainly is firing up supporters. After the race was called late last night, the Clinton campaign says it hauled in $2.5 million.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And joining us now to look at where the race goes from here, CNN's senior political analyst Candy Crowley. She is live in Pennsylvania.
Candy you have interviewed the Clintons, traveled with the Clintons, followed the Clintons, what do you make of last night?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I make if it it's not so much a turning point. It was a saving point. Hillary Clinton had to win in Pennsylvania. We move forward at this point. It is still a murky picture. She is going to argue, I've won the big states. He is going to argue, I won the most states. I have the pledged delegates. I have the popular vote. You heard her argue that she has the popular vote. That's when you include Florida where there was no campaigning and in Michigan where Obama was not on the ballot.
So you know they move forward. This is really going be a very tough race in Indiana and North Carolina. I think, again, as your previous guide just said, listen, there have been lots of turning points here. So I think this really was a saving point. She had a big, good win here. Picked up popular vote, picked up pledged votes, but she has a way to go.
PHILLIPS: Well and Obama has his counter argument to the victory as well.
CROWLEY: Absolutely. I mean he will say to you, as she did in that interview, listen, I have won in Virginia, a border state. I have won in Maryland, I have won in Wisconsin, I have won in Missouri, also one of those bell-whether states, one of those states you need to win to add up to that electoral victory.
They also argue, wait a second, the primary is about pledged delegates. Do the math. There seems to be no way, unless her victories become much larger in the states ahead, that she can catch up with him in pledged delegates. Their entire strategy at this point is to hold on to the pledged delegate lead, which they believe they will in the Obama camp, to hold on to the popular vote because they know that come the end of this process in June, it will be very hard for Hillary Clinton to argue she ought to be the nominee, if the only thing she has in her arsenal is I win the big states and he's got the pledged delegates and the popular vote and the most states won. That's really where the battle comes down to is what is your argument when all of this is over in early June when you talked to superdelegates?
PHILLIPS: What do you make of what John King and I were talking about with the white problem and black problem and the division with regard to votes? I mean we saw Obama there definitely has a white problem if you look at what happened in Pennsylvania.
CROWLEY: Absolutely. The flip side of that coin is at this point she has a black problem. You hear both of them say, we are all going to come together when this is all over. I would say they will all come together if both sides believe that the outcome is fair. If it is going to be on the superdelegates, I think you'll have a hard time convince on Obama voters it is fair if he comes out as the pledged delegate winner and the popular vote winner and the state winner. That's why it is so important for her to come close in the popular vote, maybe overtake him, and come close in the pledged delegates because you cannot solve that division in the party by a decision that's also divisive.
So that's why you're hearing all this worry inside the Democratic Party. Believe me, they would love to have a clear winner. It just doesn't look as though the end come the end of the caucus and primary process that they are going to have anyone that is a clear winner.
PHILLIPS: All right. And we talk about images too and reputation and just these wars among the ads. The one ad that we keep talking about it, whether it was John here and the Senator or John King even talking about it as he tracks it on the magic map and the impact of that in using the image of Osama Bin Laden.
CROWLEY: Sure absolutely and that goes, that image and that whole ad went to experience, which I think if you go back to January of last year, has been her premier argument. I'm the person, not only that can change things, but I have the experience to make that change happen.
I will remind you when Republicans ran an ad in 2004 that included the Osama Bin Laden image, the Democrats went nuts saying there were capitalizing on 9/11 and that kind of thing. So look, it was a brief image. She was the first to put it up. The Obama camp is complaining. The Clinton camp is saying well wait, that's a positive ad about her experience. She is the best.
So again as is always the case with arguments like this, if you are in the Obama camp you see it, and if you are in the Clinton camp, you see it in another way. And there in is the divide the Democratic Party is looking at come June.
PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, great to see you.
Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are getting some praise today from an unlikely figure, presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain. He says they have both run successful campaigns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have seen Senator Clinton having been, certainly, if not written off, an underdog. But I also respect the campaign Senator Obama has run. He's galvanized thousands of theme. He's run a very excellent campaign as well. Both of them, I give credit to both of them for running excellent campaigns. They had a large number of competitors, just like I did in the Republican primary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: McCain is on a cross country tour today stopping in Inez, Kentucky. Former President Lyndon Johnson launched his war on poverty campaign there more than 40 years ago.
And breaking news overseas as the result of a disputed election in Zimbabwe. The election commission there reports that President Robert Mugabe's party won in a re-count of 23 constituencies. Zimbabwe's election was more than three weeks ago but has been at the center of controversy after claims of vote tampering.
ROBERTS: Six minutes after the hour and the Olympic flame arriving in Australia this morning. The symbol of peace under heavy security. The Australian leg of the relay will take place tomorrow in Canberra, which is Australia's capital. Officials say security for the ten-mile route will exceed the protection given to President Bush's visit that I accompanied him on back in 2003 and there was a tremendous amount of security back then.
Desperate times certainly calling for desperate measures.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll tell you about the lengths some people are going to next to save on gas. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to go outside our country. We have to go to Mexico to get fuel just to survive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The owner of an Arizona trucking company taking some drastic steps to beat the pinch at the pump. Sending a 500-gallon mobile fuel tank to Mexico to buy diesel gas for $2 a gallon. That's less than half of what it costs in Arizona. She says her drivers also had to take pay cuts just so her company can survive.
ROBERTS: The CNN gas gauge is spinning out of control. Where did it stop today? Ali Velshi is here with more.
Good morning. Bad news again?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: One day I'm coming on saying gas is down. $3.53 for a gallon of self serve unleaded gas is a new record according to AAA. Look at that increase. 27 cents in 30 days? That's pretty big. We are just talking about diesel. $4.21 to buy a gallon of diesel. Which, by the way, it is used commercially in trucks and in farm equipment.
It affects everything you buy and everything that you eat, but a lot of people buy diesel because your engine runs longer and your car goes further on a gallon of diesel. When many people bought diesel cars, diesel actually cost less than gasoline did.
Another issue that we're going to look at this week is premium gasoline, which of course is much, much more expensive and why people use it. If you have a car that calls for premium gasoline, you don't actually have a choice because the engine is tuned for that. If you don't use it, you will damage the car. At the same time, there are some people who are apparently buying premium gasoline because they think their car goes further on it or it is better than the engine. That's not the case at all. We want to discuss that a lot. If you are doing that, it's a way do cut down.
The bottom line is $4.21 for diesel and $3.53 for gasoline is having a major impact on people.
ROBERTS: Is there any reason to think that in the near future or in the long term future that there will be downward pressure on fuel?
VELSHI: Yes. There are a few reasons. One is does the bubble burst. At some point, this is so much of the money in oil and oil is trading because you can do better than you can in the stock market or in real estate. At some point, people are going to switch their money to other investments particularly when they think we are coming out of the downturn because they'll say stocks might do better.
Number two, at these prices it will stop people from buying stuff. We know that gasoline usage has pulled back. There are a couple reasons why it is not necessarily going to go up, but for the short-term, there's no indication of slowing down.
PHILLIPS: I remember when the diesel cars were the hot thing and people were talking about the diesel cars. Now they are getting burned by it.
ROBERTS: Now at $4.21 a gallon, your car should do your dishes, too.
The economy is issue number one. Viewers, join Ali, Gerri Willis and the CNN money team for "ISSUE #1" today at noon eastern right here on CNN and also online at CNNMoney.com.
PHILLIPS: More and more Americans are facing foreclosure and they are not getting the help they need for they homes. We'll tell you why coming up.
ROBERTS: Rob Marciano, though, he is in the CNN weather center tracking the threat of tornadoes in the Midwest this morning. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning guys.
It looks a little bit more significant today than it did yesterday. The record cold across the upper Midwest is now driving southward. We'll tell you exactly where the tornadoes are expected to drive when AMERICAN MORNING comes back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm Rob Marciano watching the potential for severe weather today across the plains. It is the time of year when this happens. We have a little bit more energy packed in the atmosphere today than we did yesterday, a strong jet stream coming in off the mountains, dry air punching into somewhat moist air. That will possibly spawn some tornadoes later on today. Large hail is certainly a possibility as well.
What we have to get done first is this is part of the jet stream energy. We need to get these clouds out of the area and into some of this dryer, more clear air so the sun can go to work and not agitate the lower levels of the atmosphere. We'll see if that happens.
Some of the cold air in the Pacific Northwest is driving down to the south. That's one of the other ingredients this time of the year that certainly helps the collision of cold air mass with warm air mass.
On the other side of the states, we are looking at this area of low pressure that continues to spin moisture in through North Carolina. It's been an absolutely dreary past couple of days across the mid Atlantic with in some cases record breaking amounts of rainfall.
On the backside of this, we have seen low levels of humidity. It is dry all the way down into Florida where there have been some wildfires. That's been an issue for sure.
Showers and storms will continue today across parts of the outer banks, but shouldn't be too much of a big deal. This thing will begin to die down and drop to the south.
Yesterday was Earth Day. Everybody getting onboard the green band wagon. A group of activists, check this out, have a unique way of spreading the green word.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to our home.
MARCIANO: Home for this quartet of eco-activists is a bus. And it is touring the country to spread a message of sustainability. They call their effort biotour.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are seeing a society that is exploiting resources to the bare minimum. We can see it with the degradation of our regular resources. MARCIANO: They are taking their message to college student and anyone who will listen. The example itself, it runs on bio diesel and used vegetable oil.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Restaurant owner or managers are more than willing to donate it to us. More than willing they have to pay to get rid of it because it is a waste product.
MARCIANO: Solar panels on the roof power rechargeable batteries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We use the energy stored in the batteries to power laptops, cell phones, and various electronic components.
MARCIANO: Biotour plans to expand to a fleet of four bus this is fall coinciding with the presidential campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want this to rely on energy and parts of the petroleum democracy. It is a human problem, and we can solve it.
MARCIANO: Rob Marciano, CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: As if the housing crisis wasn't bad enough, now there's word that people of risk of losing their homes aren't getting the help they need to keep them. A new study says that 70 percent of at-risk sub prime borrowers are in the same boat.
Gerri Willis, CNN's personal finance editor and author of "Home Rich, Increasing the Value of the Biggest Investment of Your Life" is here. We have the got to get that alliteration out there. Worried borrowers. What else did you learn from this report?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, I've got to tell you. It is really depressing in a record. I'll tell you why, because the numbers aren't getting any better. Despite all the talk, all the programs that have come out of the administration, we talked about Hope Now and all kinds of foreclosure programs.
None of this is really helping folks out. The proportion of people not getting any kind help, any kind of loan modification, what they need, is staying the same.
The numbers of people who are going into foreclosure, those numbers are rising. The number of people who are getting help are rising, but not as a significant pace. That's very disappointing out there.
And I think what you can blame that on is first of all, the mortgage servicing companies are really not prepared to help people. They don't have the staffing levels. In fact, when you look at the time period it takes for one of the mortgages to get changed or modified, it takes more than a month, which is way too long. Of course, at-risk borrowers are not necessarily asking for help. They are still shy, still worried, still nervous about going to their lender, going to their servicer and asking for some assistance. PHILLIPS: Anything positive at all to come out of this?
WILLIS: Well, like I said, there are more people out there going into foreclosure with the problems, but there are also more people are seeking help. If you had to find some kind of ray of hope, people are looking for some help.
PHILLIPS: Give us some advice.
WILLIS: All right. Well, the big deal here is you have to be the squeakiest wheel. You have to complain loudly to get the attention of your lender or servicer.
PHILLIPS: Like health care.
WILLIS: It is like health care. It's like a lot of things. Write your own letter of hardship describing what your problem is.
Let me tell you this. Go get one of these folks used to dealing with these lenders. Call the Hope Now line. Get a consumer counselor. CCCS is a great organization. Go to cccs.org. These folks deal with the lenders every single day. They know the magic words. They how to ask for help. You are probably really upset and it is hard for you to negotiate on your own behalf.
PHILLIPS: You have to be so careful. I'm getting flooded with letters for, hey, come to me. Change this. I've got a better rate. You don't know what's legit.
WILLIS: There's a lot of stuff coming in your mailbox. That's right.
PHILLIPS: Gerri Willis, thank you so much. Appreciate it -- John.
ROBERTS: There are a lot of things coming in the mailbox everyday.
Hillary Clinton's win over Barack Obama came after a bruising seven week long build up. Clinton called last night's victory a "deeply personal win." It will allow her to pick up a majority of the state's 458 delegates and make a small dent in Obama's lead.
That brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question: Is Clinton's win in Pennsylvania enough to make her the "Comeback Kid"?
Right now 47 percent of you say, yes. 53 percent of you say, no. Cast your vote at CNN.com/am.
We also want your e-mails on this as well. What do you think will happen with Hillary Clinton's campaign? Go to our Web site, CNN.com/am and follow the link that says "contact us." We've got some more e-mails and we'll be reading those in just a few moments.
You are watching the most news in the morning. Hillary Clinton vows to fight on after winning if Pennsylvania. Are those undecided superdelegates getting the message? We'll ask one of them.
PHILLIPS: And a live picture now where most of the country is struggling with gas prices around $3.50 a gallon. Some places are seeing $4. We'll tell you how drivers in San Francisco are coping.
First, though, the new Fortune 500 list of the top companies is out. We are highlighting some of the names behind the numbers. Before we tell you who they are, we are going to give you a chance to guess.
ROBERTS: She's a devoted mom and this year's highest ranked woman CEO, a woman known for commitment at work and at home. We'll tell you who it is after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's this year's top woman CEO? Angela Braly of health care giant Wellpoint. After taking over Wellpoint less than one year ago, Braly has helped the company move up two spots on the Fortune 500 list while still devoting devoted herself to her family. Employees say that Braly sets the tone for Wellpoint's family values.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most politics of the morning.
Many observers said Hillary Clinton needed to win Pennsylvania by double digits to stay in the race. That's exactly what she did. Clinton took the primary by ten points, 55 percent of the vote. Barack Obama won 45 percent. Clinton took a vast majority of Pennsylvania's counties. You see her wins in light blue, Obama in dark blue, won in Philadelphia.
Hillary Clinton is now taking her campaign to Indiana. Earlier we spoke with her about the significance of beating Barack Obama in Pennsylvania despite being outspent by more than 2-1.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This was a one-on-one contest for six weeks. We crisscrossed the state. We presented ourselves. We answered questions. And, at the end of that very grueling process, the voters in Pennsylvania in overwhelming numbers decided I would be the better candidate and the president best for our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator Clinton said that more people had voted for her than Senator Obama. However, in her count, she also appears to be including Florida and Michigan, which were stripped of their delegates by the Democratic Party for holding primaries too early.
Now she has to sway superdelegates that she's the Democrat's best choice for winning the White House. David Parker is undecided superdelegate from North Carolina which along with Indiana going to the polls in two weeks time. Is he any closer to making up his mind after Clinton's victory? He joins us from Charlotte.
So David, are you closer to making up your mind after what happened yesterday?
DAVID PARKER, UNDECIDED SUPERDELEGATE: Not really, but I certainly learned a lot.
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton is obviously making an appeal to superdelegates. I'm sure her campaign is working the phones today. I asked her during the interview we had an hour ago, what is the argument she'll make after her ten-point victory in Pennsylvania to the superdelegates? Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I won the states we have to win. Ohio, now Pennsylvania, it is very hard to imagine a Democrat getting to the White House without winning those states.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That is the argument that she is making. What are you looking for from either one of the candidates before you throw your support behind them?
PARKER: Well, obviously that's important. I'm looking to see how the polling numbers look in a head-to-head race of Obama versus McCain or Hillary versus McCain. So that is important, but I'm also looking at the impact down ballot in North Carolina, my state, and across the south where I think Democrats need to come back.
ROBERTS: Are you leaning one way or the other at this point?
PARKER: No, I'm not. I have changed my mind several times, just like the American public seems to be moving around. I will tell you that it seems to me that as the economy comes to the fore, most of your news stories have been about gas prices, inflation, homeowners struggling to make loans, as the economy comes to the fore, if your exit polls on Pennsylvania are correct, people seem to think Democrats seem to think Hillary Clinton is better equipped to handle the economy. Job one is to win the election in November.
ROBERTS: However, there in North Carolina, Barack Obama leads by a substantial margin. His numbers are going up dramatically within the last few weeks. Could an argument be made that who you believe is best suited to handle the economy depends on where you live?
PARKER: Yes. Absolutely. One of the things that I'm looking at as a North Carolina resident and Democratic activist is how well will Democrats do down ballot. For instance, we have a U.S. Senate raise that's up in North Carolina, which candidate will help our candidate beat Elizabeth Dole. ROBERTS: The pressure is increasing for undecided superdelegates to make up their mind, to get off the fence, to declare their support for one candidate or the other. Howard Dean was suggesting it is time for you folks to make up your mind. Senator Obama seems to be suggesting the same thing. The contest is going on too long. If he can get the support of enough superdelegates to push him, not over the top, but certainly into a big lead for Hillary Clinton, he seems to think he can claim the nomination.
What do you think? Is this going on too long? Do you feel pressure to make up your mind?
PARKER: Of course I feel pressure. Every time I sit down in the morning and talk with guys like you I feel pressure. Although it is enjoyable, I don't get to talk about politics being a Democrat in the south very often.
ROBERTS: What about this whole idea of, if you don't make up your mind soon there's a chance the Democrats could go into the convention divided and that will be a disaster.
PARKER: You know Franklin Roosevelt did not win on the first ballot in 1932. Barack Obama has not gone through a tough campaign in a primary before and for that matter, not in a general election. Doing a little sparring with Hillary Clinton, who is an incredibly tough competitor, and may, in fact, knock him out, is good training for him in the fall. John McCain is not going to pull any punches. Those gloves are going to come off quickly.
ROBERTS: When will you make up your find?
PARKER: I honestly don't know. I know I'll make it up the moment before I cast my ballot in Denver in August, because I'll have to. I suppose, I could vote present and say, one percent let's go to a second ballot, folks. I think everybody ought to be a superdelegate and feel what I feel.
ROBERTS: Howard Dean would have kittens if you did that.
PARKER: Well, maybe that would do him some good, I don't know.
ROBERTS: All right. David Parker, undecided superdelegate from North Carolina.
Good to have you on this morning, sir.
PARKER: Good to be here. You take care.
ROBERTS: You take care. We'll visit with you again.
PHILLIPS: There's to rest for the three presidential candidates. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are expected back on Capitol Hill to vote on pay discrimination legislation. Both are also expected to campaign in Indiana today. Senator John McCain is scheduled to make stops in Kentucky and then go on to New Orleans. Here's a closer look at the primary calendar. The next contest for the Democrat, the Guam caucuses on May 3 where four delegates are at stake -- 187 delegates will be up for grabs on May 6 when voters in Indiana and North Carolina will go to the polls. Then, it's West Virginia. And one week after that May 13, 28 delegates there. And then Kentucky and Oregon, those primaries are on May 20 with 103 delegates in play.
The primary season will wrap up in June. So we think. On the first Puerto Rico with 63 delegates, 55 of those pledged delegates. The third biggest prize left in the race. And on June 3, a combined 31 delegates. They are up for grabs when Montana and South Dakota vote. Wow. That's a mouthful.
ROBERTS: Speaking of 31, it is 31 minutes after the hour. And Alina Cho here now with more stories making headlines this Wednesday morning. Good morning to you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there. We got seven weeks off now. Boy, it's going to be busy, busy until June. Good morning, guys. Good morning, everybody.
New this morning. Officials in Texas are now revising the number of children who were seized from the polygamist compound there. They now say 437 were first taken. That's 21 more than first thought. They say the initial count was rushed and that some girls who were claiming to be 18 years old we are actually younger.
More than 100 kids are now in foster care after having DNA samples taken to determine who their parents are. The sect has launched a Web site touting its side of the story.
Delta Airlines is taking a hit. Thanks in no small part to soaring fuel prices. Its quarterly loss, a whopping $6.3 billion, with a "b." Last week, Delta said its planning to merge with Northwest Airlines to create the world's largest airline. Delta's CEO says fares could go up by 20 percent by the summer because of the cost of jet fuel. Book now.
And listen to this story. Be careful where you take your rings off. An Ohio woman learned her lesson the hard way. She almost lost her four karat diamond ring.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I sat it on the counter in the tissue to dry. And in my rush to leave, I was cleaning up the sink area and I grabbed a bunch of tissues, and instead of throwing them in the garbage, decided to threw them in the toilet and flushed, all in one motion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Opps, that's right, John.
She called Roto Rooter to snake a camera through the pipes. They were able to do that. It took them three hours, but they found the ring. They actually had to hammer out the concrete, cut a pipe, but they found it. She says the ring is back on her finger. And guess what? That's where it is going to stay. Can you imagine that happening? I don't know what it is with ring stories. Yesterday...
ROBERTS: Yesterday, had to dig in trash.
PHILLIPS: Dig in trash. Exactly.
CHO: Digging through the trash at Disney World. Anyway, Roto Rooter, you know kudos to them but they say it's not the worst thing they've had to do. They actually had to get a puppy out of a pipe. Don't ask me how the puppy got down there, but anyway.
PHILLIPS: Looking for the four-karat ring.
CHO: That's right.
ROBERTS: It was attached to a dog bone.
Hey, we should mention that, you know, we were just talking about superdelegates. This morning, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry has decided that after Pennsylvania's results he is going to throw his support behind Barack Obama.
CHO: Oh, interesting.
ROBERTS: Yes, another superdelegate in Barack Obama's camp.
CHO: It's interesting that the undecided superdelegates you just spoke to. I mean, he really echoes what so many people are feeling. You know, they're getting to the polls, they don't even know -
PHILLIPS: ... in there and you grab in the ballot. OK.
CHO: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
PHILLIPS: Well, another day, another record for gas prices. This morning, AAA says the average price for gas is now $3.53 a gallon. Up more than two cents in the last day. But in some places, the average is already $4 a gallon. AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence is live in San Francisco to see how the rising prices are changing lives.
And Chris, you have seen a lot of families and businesses affected by this.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, AMERICAN MORNING CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Kyra? There's not much tangible difference between $3.79 and $3.89, but something about breaking that $4 barrier has just - it pushed people beyond being angry and frustrated to saying, this is something I got to live with. Now the question is, how much longer before you are living with it, too?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): San Francisco drivers are getting past the shock. Now they are changing their lives to live with $4 gas.
DEBBIE JASMIN, CANCELED VACATION: We don't take our Expedition out, usually.
LAWRENCE: People are permanently parking their SUVs. Traffic is down on bay area bridges, and the trains have 7 percent more riders than this time last year.
MARLOW DOUGLAS, SWITCHED TO RIDING TRAINS: That's why I'm riding bus today because of the price of gas right now.
LAWRENCE: It is also changing when people drive and what. Overall, car and truck sales are down, but hybrids are up almost 40 percent.
SCOTT DOUGLAS, PRIUS DRIVER: I used to have the luxury of not really even worrying about the price. Partly because I got the Prius, but now, $43.
LAWRENCE: Think that's bad?
DOUGLAS: Oh, my god. Wow.
LAWRENCE: Scott Roberts just saw what the guy was before him paid to fill up.
DOUGLAS: When was the last time you saw $115 spent on gas? Jesus Christ. It's brutal.
LAWRENCE: Especially for taxi drivers who buy their own gas.
DIDDY DENNIS, TAXI DRIVER: When I first started, you know, it was like $2 something.
LAWRENCE: Now every press on his pedal eats into his wallet. Why don't you just raise the rates to make up the difference.
DENNIS: Well, that could be a good thing if I could. But unfortunately, I have not control over them.
LAWRENCE: Only the city can raise taxi rates to keep customers from getting gouged, but it's killing the cabbies and we'll probably force Diddy Dennis to quit.
DENNIS: It seems like I'm bringing home almost 60 percent less than what I was when I first started.
LAWRENCE: A lot of Bay area families say, there's no end in sight.
JASMIN: I don't think we'll be doing any big travels this year, for this summer. At least by car.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Yes, not when you are paying $75 a pop just to fill up. We talked to people who have canceled vacations, even sold some of their big trucks. Some of the companies here in the Bay area have started running shuttles to pick up their employees and to take them to work. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Chris Lawrence, we'll keep tracking those prices. I'll tell you what, affecting everybody across the country.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. It hurts every time you pick up the nozzle.
PHILLIPS: San Francisco has good public transportation, though. Sort of like here in New York. I guess you can start looking for other options,.
ROBERTS: I took the subway yesterday.
PHILLIPS: There you go.
ROBERTS: Thirty-seven minutes after the hour, excitement over the November election is pushing voter registration to record levels.
PHILLIPS: CNN's Rick Sanchez sat down with a group of college students voting for the very first time. You're going to be surprised probably to hear what issues are important to them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton's ten-point victory at the Pennsylvania primary pushes the Democratic nomination fight into next month and perhaps the month beyond that. But even with the win, the latest estimates show that Barack Obama still leads in delegates. 1,694 to 1,556, without Florida and Michigan being counted. It is very difficult mathematically for Hillary Clinton to overtake him.
Earlier, I spoke with the senator about whether she would ever consider dropping out of the race before Florida and Michigan's delegates are counted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I've said from the beginning, I'm going to stay in until a nominee is selected. And I don't see how we select a nominee until we resolve Florida and Michigan. Again, this is about the general election for me. How do you, as a Democrat, expect to win in the fall if we disenfranchise 2.3 million voters who turned out to vote in Florida and Michigan. That makes no sense to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator Obama already campaigning in Indiana this morning. And he says he is still on the march to November. Well, first-time voters were a major factor in the Pennsylvania primary.
CNN's Rick Sanchez has been traveling the country talking to them about the surprising issues catching their attention.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You guys are the first ones to talk to me about health care and say, this is a priority. This is important for this country. Why is that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've grown-up a majority of my life without health insurance. So, I know how costly it is to go to the doctor, to go to a hospital and not have any back up. You never want to see somebody rejected or think that they shouldn't go to the hospital because they couldn't afford it. I think it's inhumane.
SANCHEZ: She calls it universal health care, Republicans say it is socialized medicine. Is that a fair criticism?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say the government needs to step in and put in certain programs that are going to help overall. You need some kind of overall --
SANCHEZ: So, you think the government should be relied on to do some of these things?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Just to do it better.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Agree?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I think it goes beyond government. I mean, if we are a community, if this country is everything we say it is, I think it's our responsibility, our civic duty than to take care of one another.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I live like 20 minutes out of the Scranton. It is just so poor and there are so many people who are not covered and can't go to the hospital as Steph (ph) was saying. Like, they can't live up to their potential because like they don't have insurance or because like the school systems are so poor around here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's a difference between taking a socialist idea and working with it as opposed to taking socialism and putting it into the country. I think that's the core difference between what Hillary is doing and what Barack is planning on doing and what people are saying that they're doing.
SANCHEZ: We are looking like we are going to be spending something like $1 trillion in Iraq. Money well spent. Raise your hand if you think we ought not to have gone into Iraq, that it was a mistake?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we were to put all of our cliche, pull all of our troops out and take them home, I feel that could be more disastrous.
SANCHEZ: You, guys believe this country needs change?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We shouldn't be at war, and John McCain is going to keep the troops at war.
SANCHEZ: What makes you think that Hillary or Barack Obama will be any better?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He doesn't talk about policies, he just talks about everything that needs to be changed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The young American public is getting really caught up in his campaign because all he speaks of is change. They hear him speak, I mean, yes, change, change but they don't really know what he wants to change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. He's a good speaker. Words come out of his mouth. People like him. They don't think about the implications of those words mean though.
SANCHEZ: You believe the next president of the United States will be a Democrat?
Raise your hand. All but one. Thanks, ladies.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And it is on, by golly, to Indiana. This thing continues. We're going to try to stay ahead of the curve as much as we can going to some of those states and talking to people as well. This is a really interesting initiative that we have taken on here at CNN. We are just as excited about it as I think most of the people who reaching out to us are. Speaking of reaching out, we have a Web site you can go to at CNN.com/league.
That's L-O-F-T-V, the league of first-time voters. You go on there, I think you're seeing it now. And you can click from the top straight across. You can send us an I-report and you can communicate with me. You could tell us why you think your organization or your unique group is somebody that would fit the league of first-time voters title.
And I'll come out and I'll pay you a visit, talk to your group and find out who are the people across this country who are truly pumped and juiced and passionate and energized about this primary campaign. There you have it. On to Indiana. We'll stay with it. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Rick Sanchez, thanks so much. We look forward to it.
Now, 8:43 Eastern time, Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center. He is tracking the threat of tornadoes in the Midwest.
Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: Hi, Kyra. Hi, John.
Yes, that's right. The threat, a little bit more significant today than yesterday and it will probably continue through tomorrow. Complete details on where we expect the severe weather to happen when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Rob Marciano.
Where is the severe weather threat today. It's across, well the typical spots this time of the year, more notably northern Texas and western parts of Oklahoma. This is the dry line. The dry air behind it, somewhat more moisture ahead of it. And a pretty good energy at the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere to kind of goose it a little bit more. So, we'll look for the possibility to see thunderstorms that might produce tornadoes. I mentioned this dry line or dry air. It's got some wind behind it as well. So, critical fire danger again today for the southwest.
We still have a fire burning with less than 40 percent containment just outside of the mountains of Albuquerque. Relative humidities will be less than five percent at times and of course, we still have this ongoing drought. Some of those energy in the atmosphere is coming from the contrast of cold and warm air, cold air. In some cases, the record-breaking cold air across the Pacific northwest.
We are seeing higher elevation, rains, mid to high elevations snows. And on the other side of the continent, we're looking at this low that spins to produce some serious rain across parts of North Carolina and southern Virginia. Not as much rain today. It's beginning the weekend moving offshore, but it is also producing some very, very dry air across the backside of this.
Since, there are a couple fires burning in parts of Florida. Outside of that, guys, a lot of red and yellow on the map. It will be 74 degrees in New York City. Looking good.
John, back to you.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks very much, Rob.
CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away now. Fredericka Whitfield at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead.
Good morning, Fredricka.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, John.
Well, the race goes on in the NEWSROOM. Hillary Clinton nails down a double digit win in Pennsylvania. How did she do it? And what's next in her duel with Barack Obama?
Texas begins moving the children of polygamists to foster homes. Some 300 kids are still housed at a sports arena.
And gas inches up to another record high today. Would you give up your plastic? Cash only, for an eight-cent a gallon discount. Breaking news anytime it happens. We'll get started in the NEWSROOM at the top of the hour -- John and Kyra.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it. Thanks very much.
Patients beware. Going out of network to see a doctor may be hazardous to your financial health.
PHILLIPS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta has some advice for navigating health care options.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ten minutes to the hour. If you have been working long enough, you probably had to choose between a health plan that lets you go to any doctor you want or pay less to see only those doctors "in network." It can be difficult to decide whether the extra cost is worth it. Now, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from Atlanta with some advice to this.
These HMOs, these large companies with hundreds of doctors, is it really necessary to have a plan, Sanjay, that allows you to see whoever you want?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in some cases, yes, John. It depends. You know, most of these HMOs have a large network of doctors everything from cancer specialists to dermatologists that should provide what you need, but there are a couple of situations where it might be better to have what's called a PPO, a preferred provider organization.
Let's say, you have a specific illness that is only - very specific doctor has been taking care of this illness or if you've had a long time doctor that you are comfortable with, you may elect to go with a PPO for those reasons instead. But the difference really comes down, John, in the cost, as you might imagine. In sort of the way that they structured the costs, specifically. With regards to PPOs, it is typically a percentage of costs as you might imagine that could get high pretty quickly. HMOs are required to pay a fixed amount.
Oftentimes, those come in the form of co-pays. John as we dug into this a little bit, we found that even though less than 10 percent of people actually go out of network. If you take all people, only about 10 percent go out of network. Most people say they would like to have the option to do so. When it comes to employer-based health care programs, about 75 percent of people actually pick a program that allows them to go out of network. ROBERTS: Sanjay, you said that with PPOs you often have to pay a percentage of the doctor's fee. I'm in a PPO. Sometimes the percentage has been as high as 80 percent.
But, are there other hidden costs when you go out of network?
GUPTA: Well, you know, one of the big things, let's say if you selected an HMO that requires you stay in network, and then all of sudden you get sick or you require a surgery or something, the surgeon that operates within you might be within your network, but the anesthesiologists, some of the other health care providers might be out of network. And all of a sudden, those start to become additional costs.
So, you got to be very careful. If you are within an HMO, you got to make sure that you asked specifically are all the doctors that I'm seeing, the doctors that I'm being referred to, all still within the network. Otherwise, you could start paying a very high cost, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, good to see you. Thank you very much. Sanjay is covering America's health insurance crisis in his "Broken Government Special called health care, critical condition. It airs Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
And here's a quick look at what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: See, these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: The tide is turning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Behind the numbers. Hillary Clinton wins big in Pennsylvania.
The children of Texas' polygamists. Social workers move about 100 kids from a sports arena to foster home.
Medical experts calling for heart test before kids takes ADHD drugs. Gas prices trying yet another new record high.
And tips for buying a gas-sipping car. NEWSROOM just minutes away, at the top of the hour on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, we've seen all the weird foods up for bid on e- bay before, but nothing really from the candidates' mouth.
ROBERTS: Straight from the candidates mouth. And now, we'll never know if Barack Obama's half-eaten waffle would have sold like hotcakes. It's time for the most news in the morning.
And here's Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is not about a candidate waffling. It's about a candidate's waffle. How much would you bid for Senator Barack Obama's half-eaten waffle on e-bay? $76? Over $10,000?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You guys want Some.
MOOS: They didn't, but somebody did.
(on-camera): Who wrapped up the sausage and the waffle --
VOICE OF CHARLIE LESTRANGE, OWNER, GLIDER DINER: You know what I really don't know who did that.
MOOS (voice-over): Waffle gate began when Senator Obama visited the Glider Diner in Scranton, Pennsylvania and decided to order a waffle. When the senator got up to leave, his leftovers got left behind as the Senator posed with the diner's owner.
(on-camera): How did the waffle get from Obama's plate to eBay?
LESTRANGE: Well, I guess one of my employees must have taken it and had an idea that they're going to do something with it
MOOS (voice-over): That something was this. Up for bid, the campaign breakfast partially eaten, by, as the e-bay listing put it, by Barack Hussein Obama. Lest you doubt it, his DNA is on the silverware. The seller says plate was wrapped by a waitress and given to a loyal customer.
OBAMA: You want the sausage? You want a waffle?
MOOS: The kid doesn't know what he's missing. On eBay the bidding war was on, $76. $177.50. $10,100. All this for a homemade waffle that lists on the menu for $2.75.
(on-camera): Only $2.75 for a waffle? No wonder he only ate half.
(voice-over): The eBay listing noted all proceeds go to Hillary for President, ha ha. Actually, we suspect most of the bids were just jokes and Web sites that run the story attracted jokers. In you look at the plate, just right.
"It's the face of Hitler, there is the smile," meaning the waffle itself. "The sausage is the mustache" of course, "and the knife and fork, resembled the hair combed over to the right, spitting image."
Hitler or no Hitler. The diner's owner wanted the waffle removed from eBay. LESTRANGE: I don't think it's right. I don't think it's right out permission.
MOOS: Next thing you know, the waffle had disappeared from eBay and this wasn't just any half-eaten Obama waffle. This waffle was actually used by the candidate to threat the pesky reporter asking a question about Jimmy Carter living with Hamas.
OBAMA: Why is it that I can't just eat my waffle?
MOOS: Now that really is waffling.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Don't you want to keep it so it doesn't get moldy and gross?
ROBERTS: Oh, I tell you. The moldier, the better. That give us some character.
PHILLIPS: All right, 10 grand. It better have some character. And hopefully some political power for 10 grand.
ROBERTS: New sense of waffling on the campaign trail.
PHILLIPS: All right. A final check on this morning's "Quick Vote" question. We asked: is Hillary Clinton's win in Pennsylvania enough to make her the comeback kid?
Forty-six percent of you said yes, 54 percent said no.
ROBERTS: And we also asks for your e-mails on this as well.
Sharon from Gahanna, Ohio writes: "Do the superdelegates not realize that if Hillary is not nominated a lot of us blue-collar voters will give our votes to McCain?"
PHILLIPS: Cynthia from Oakland, California says: "With the Pennsylvania win. Hillary has now won 15 contests. Barack? 35. Hillary's win in Pennsylvania was expected, and yet she behaves as if it was a come from behind victory. When all is said and done, Barack still has more delegates, more of the popular vote and has won more contest. He will win the Democratic nomination no matter how the Clinton spin it."
And Ruth from Newark, Ohio writes: "Thanks to Hillary Clinton, the Democrats are looking a lot like one of the last scenes in the movie "Leatherheads," with all the players rolling around in the mud with no one able to figure it out who is on whose team. The superdelegates have got to come out strong for Obama this week and put an end to the madness."
To all of you who voted and wrote in to us this morning, thanks very much and we will do it all again tomorrow. And then I'll see you again.
PHILLIPS: Sounds good to me. Thanks all of you for joining us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Fredricka Whitfield begins right now.
HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Heidi continues on maternity leave.
And you will see events coming to the CNN NEWSROOM live on this Wednesday, April 2.
