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American Morning
Reverend Wright Defends Himself; Democratic Candidates Debating Over Debates; Oil and Gasoline Nears New Record High; Gift of Sight: A Breakthrough Treatment for the Blind; McCain Says Obama Wrong on Economy
Aired April 28, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think about the fact that a weapon you sold went into the hands of a killer?
ERIC THOMPSON, ONLINE GUN DEALER: Excuse me. You know, I'm a father. My heart goes out to every parent and every brother and sister that lost a loved one. It's just an absolute tragedy to cut down people like that in the prime of their lives with so much to offer this world.
It's just -- it's not the gun. It's unfortunately the media and people like the Brady campaign for gun control. They are the ones that are perpetuating this, that the gun is bad. It's the person that's bad, and that's where we need to focus our efforts on. And guns in a properly trained, you know, person's hand is actually something that can really save lives.
I mean, FBI statistics have shown in the latest statistics, there's 1.4 million violent crimes and guns in the proper hands save lives. They don't take them.
PHILLIPS: And it's tough because a lot of those guns end up in the wrong hands and with individuals that are not trained. Eric Thompson, appreciate your time this morning.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It's one minute after the hour now. "I am not a politician," those are some of the words Barack Obama's former pastor said last night at the NAACP's annual Freedom Fund Dinner in Detroit. Reverend Jeremiah Wright told an audience of some 10,000 that there is nothing wrong with his sermons and his critics get it wrong when they call him divisive and polarizing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: I am not one of the most divisive. Tell him the word is descriptive. I describe the conditions in this country. Conditions divide, not my description. Somebody say Amen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our special correspondent Soledad O'Brien was mentioned in the speech last night she attended. She joins us live from Detroit this morning. You know, Soledad, our "Quick Vote" this morning, which is an informal poll, the majority of people are saying they've heard enough from Reverend Wright. They want people to move on. What was the mood like in the room last night?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I think people felt like they could hear a lot more. His speech was very well received by the 10,000 or so who were in there. And maybe when people vote and they say they've heard enough about Reverend Wright, because the truth is we really haven't heard very much from him. You've heard a lot of snippets, YouTube clips, et cetera, et cetera, and pundits all talking about him.
One refrain we heard a lot of last night was different is not deficient. And for the 10,000 people in that room, it was very much like going right to church as Reverend Wright explained the tradition that he is from.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: I come from a religious tradition where we shout in the sanctuary and march on the picket line. I come from a religious tradition where we give God the glory and we give the devil the blues. The black religious tradition is different. We do it a different way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Also, different, he was talking about music and he had a very funny sentiment (ph) when he talked about the marching band. He specifically referenced to the marching bands in the state of Michigan and then he talked about the marching bands from Florida A&M. And people in the crowd were laughing hilarious. It was hilarious. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: Here in Michigan look at and listen to the University of Michigan and Michigan State University bands at halftime. Their bands hit the field with excellent European precision, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, tararara rararara.
Now, go to a Florida A&M and Grambling band. It's different!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: And again, he kept calling back, it's different. Different but not deficient. It was a very well received speech by the 10,000 people in the audience. Really more than that, actually. A huge, massive, massive space. But also, his target was not just people he was talking to, giving a speech to. He knew very well that this was a speech that was going out of the airwaves.
And if you look at the front page today, this is the "Detroit Free Press." "Pushing change, controversial preacher urges racial understanding," because people's racial differences different but not deficient.
And this one -- "Fiery Wright calls for change." That, of course, was the theme of the NAACP's dinner, a change is going to come. So overall, a pretty interesting night and will be interesting to see, of course, the bigger picture, the political effects on Barack Obama's campaign -- John.
ROBERTS: And again, we're going to be hearing from Reverend Wright again this morning, 8:30 at the National Press Club in Washington. Soledad O'Brien for us this morning from Detroit. Soledad, thanks.
PHILLIPS: Meantime on the presidential campaign trail, the Democratic candidates are debating over debates. Hillary Clinton challenging Barack Obama to a 90-minute Lincoln-Douglas style debate with no moderator, just the two Democratic candidates asking each other questions.
Now, Obama is turning her down saying that the two have already debated 21 times, and right now his focus is to meet as many voters as possible ahead of the May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.
Meantime, Democratic Chairman Howard Dean wants all superdelegates to pick their nominee by the end of June. He says their decisions should be based on who is more electable and more likely to defeat Republican John McCain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: One of these two wonderful candidates is going to lose with about 49 percent of the delegates, and that person is going to have to do what's right for the country and get their incredibly devoted followers who have put so much time and energy into the campaign to make sure that we do the right thing for the country which is to elect a Democrat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now, Howard Dean will be live in just a few minutes to talk about the rules that the superdelegates must follow when they pick the Democratic nominee. And Republican candidate Ron Paul will join us in our 8:00 hour with his latest challenge to the Republican Party.
John McCain is accusing his Democratic rival Barack Obama being wrong when it comes to the economy. During a campaign stop in Florida, McCain blasted Obama for saying that he's open to nearly doubling the current capital gains tax. McCain says that that would be a tax hike on the 100 million Americans who own stock.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Obama wants to raise the capital gains tax which would have a direct effect on 100 million Americans. That means he has no understanding of the economy and that he is totally insensitive to the hopes and dreams and ambitions of 100 million Americans who would be affected by his almost doubling of the capital gains tax.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: McCain also sharply criticized Obama for calling his proposed federal gas tax holiday a scheme. Obama has said that such a holiday would weaken the nation's highway and bridge infrastructure potentially putting lives at risk.
ROBERTS: Breaking news this morning. Another day, another new record for gasoline prices. The new national average for a gallon of self-serve regular, $3.60. That's up 32 cents from last month, up a dime from a week ago. Gas has been going up more than a penny a day for a month now. At this time last year, it was $2.94 a gallon. AAA says today's increase is the 13th straight day that gasoline has gone up.
Continental Airlines today says it is not interested in a merger, ending weeks of speculation about a possible hook-up with United Airlines. Continental's CEO says right now the airline is better off on its own, but he did leave the door open to a possible future alliance with another carrier. The airline has reportedly discussed an arrangement with the parent of American Airlines.
PHILLIPS: We're also following breaking news in Southern California this morning. New video as firefighters gain some ground on a wildfire in Santa Anita Canyon, and that's thanks to the calmer weather conditions right now.
The fire had started on Saturday, and we're told that more than 400 acres scorched and more than 1,000 people have already been evacuated. Crews say that some of these areas haven't burned in 30 years, and it could be a week before it's completely under control. No word of any injuries or how that fire started.
Also this morning, authorities will reopen an eight-mile stretch of beach in San Diego County after a deadly shark attack. Experts believe that it was a great white that attacked a 66-year-old man on Friday. The Coast Guard and San Diego County sheriff's helicopters patrolled the coastline over the weekend and said that there were no signs of that shark.
The medical examiner says that the man bled to death from deep lacerations in his legs. Friday's deadly attack was the first in San Diego County since 1994.
ROBERTS: I heard an expert say over the weekend because of the bite radius, the dentations looked like the shark was at least 15 feet long.
PHILLIPS: And you know what, that's where I grew up. And I remember when that first attack happened and it really scared everybody and they didn't come out for the longest time. So just when they're getting relaxed, it happens again. ROBERTS: Unbelievable.
As we've been talking about this morning, oil source closer to a new record high pushing gasoline prices to their highest price ever. And guess what? Even higher prices are headed your way.
Plus, Rob Marciano tracking extreme weather to start the workweek. Fire in the west, rain in the east. He'll tell us more about it ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ali Velshi here now to tell us more about unfortunately another day of record petroleum prices.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is a --
ROBERTS: I'm looking forward to you taking a day off because that means the price will have gone down. Not that I don't love you, but --
VELSHI: Every night, you know what I do? It's a crazy ritual, but every night before I go to sleep I check the price of oil just to see where it's going. I'm such a loser. But this is what I got.
You see $119.93 is what it hit a few hours ago. That's not as -- that is, by the way, the highest oil has ever traded at. $119.90 was the number until then. It's pulled back a little bit.
There are some real reasons why oil is trading at this level right now, and there are things that are going on in the world that are worth thinking about. On Friday, there was a little bit of a skirmish off the coast of Iran. Some U.S boats that were under contract to the U.S. military fired some stuff. Nothing developed out of that, but that is where the spike started.
Then there's a strike in the U.K. It shut down a North Sea pipeline, so that's affecting prices. By the way, the equivalent price for a gallon of gas in the United Kingdom is over $11 U.S. per person per gallon.
There is an oil disruption, two oil disruptions in Nigeria right now. Nigeria is a very large exporter of oil so that is a problem, and the president of OPEC has said early today that he sees no reason why oil wouldn't hit $200 a barrel.
ROBERTS: And CIBC said that last week.
VELSHI: CIBC said $150.
ROBERTS: And $225 by 2012.
VELSHI: That's right. But they said $150 this year.
ROBERTS: 2010, I think they said.
VELSHI: $225 -- I think she got me all --
ROBERTS: $150, 2010 --
VELSHI: It's going up --
PHILLIPS: Oh, boy.
VELSHI: Even John agrees it's going up, right?
PHILLIPS: Fact check at 7:12 a.m.
VELSHI: Let's see what this does to you and a gallon of gas, because most of you as I guess are not picking up a barrel of oil on your way home. However if you do, want one? I can tell you where to get one.
Gallon of gas, $3.60 for a gallon of self serve unleaded. That's a national average and that is once again a new record. What do you say? $150 by 2010?
ROBERTS: $250 by 2012.
VELSHI: 2012.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: No, sorry.
VELSHI: No, no. Yes.
ROBERTS: $250 by 2010, $225 by 2012.
VELSHI: Right. OK. $200 and -- all right.
PHILLIPS: You're not talking square feet.
VELSHI: If we're still around, we'll bring you that update and I'll have my barrel with -- I'm not saying we're not going to be around. I'm just saying --
ROBERTS: Check with Google.
VELSHI: But, you know, by then, by 2010, I'll have an electronic -- I won't have to -- it will be magnetic numbers.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Yes, and you'll be spinning --
PHILLIPS: You'll go digital.
ROBERTS: And you'll be spinning as quickly as the --
VELSHI: I'm totally getting -- yes. I'm going to get -- by 2012, I'll have new oil stuff for you.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that. Let's hope that you've got an alternative source of energy by then.
VELSHI: That's right.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks.
PHILLIPS: All right. I'm going to move out of this little argument and welcome weather for firefighters now on the west coast this morning to tell you about. The fires that broke out over the weekend.
Rob Marciano is tracking all that extreme weather. Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kyra. Hi, guys. 2012, you know, it's right around the corner. We're almost there, my friends. I don't think it's too far away.
Firefighters today are definitely battling some flames out in Southern California. They will have a little bit of help from mother nature, if not today, more so tomorrow. Rain on the East Coast and winter doesn't want to go away. Complete weather is coming up when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back. Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Fires breaking out in Southern California over the weekend. This is the Sierra Madre Mountains. There are fire crews trying to get a hand on this fast moving blaze. Four hundred acres burned in the Santa Anita Canyon forcing evacuation of 1,000 people from their homes. We'll see later on today if there will be -- some of them will be allowed to go back.
As of last night, 30 percent containment. Certainly fire crews working during the overnight hours. Aircraft not allowed to fly during the nighttime, so they'll get up in the skies and be able to hopefully drop some more water and fire retard later on this morning.
Good morning, everybody. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Rob Marciano. Here's a look at the weather map as far as what's going on in Southern California.
High pressure, you know the drill. This is the Santa Ana winds more typical of fall than in winter, but we're getting it now. This cold front will help things, not so much today, but I think later on tomorrow.
Right now, winds are still northeasterly. You see here our near live data showing exactly that out of the northeast. So that's not the best situation. But I think that later on today, they'll begin to die down and we'll start to see at least higher levels of humidity.
Very high levels of humidity across parts of the southeast. This is all rain that's developing from that very slow moving system that's been creeping eastward. More substantial rains from Charleston and through eastern parts of Ohio and through Pittsburgh. This will all be moving into the I-95 corridor which right now, just some sprinkles, some spritzes, not a real big deal. But I think the rainfall will become more substantial as we go throughout the day today and tonight. And then, substantially cooler air also rolling into the eastern third of the country during the daytime tomorrow. John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much. We'll see you again soon.
MARCIANO: All right.
PHILLIPS: He says the bitter battle needs to be over by the convention. The question is, how superdelegates will make the choice between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. DNC Chairman Howard Dean joining us live.
ROBERTS: And a breakthrough treatment that may give the blind the gift of sight. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has got the details for us this morning. Hey, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. John, this is a truly groundbreaking piece of research. We'll have all the details of how the doctors did it when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: For the first time, researchers using an innovative new gene therapy have been able to improve vision in patients who are virtually blind. Experts are now calling this a major breakthrough. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen live in Atlanta with more. Hi, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Hi, Kyra. Kyra, this really is truly ground breaking treatment. It's not a cure for blindness, but this could lead to all sorts of new treatments. What researchers did is they took three people, one was 19, the others were in their 20s who have been blind since birth because of a genetic disorder.
Now, these people could see a tiny bit but really not much. For example, when they -- we're going to do an obstacle course, you can see they kind of stumbled through it. He walked into the cone there. There were people who needed to be led around. There were people who couldn't read anything on an eye chart and after this gene therapy, they were able to navigate an obstacle course. They were able to go places on their own.
Now, they couldn't see completely. Their vision certainly wasn't anything near perfect, but it wasn't anything like it had been before. And two of the patients who did it had this to say.
One of them said I can see more light when I'm in dark places such as restaurants. So, for example, when I'm in a dark room and sunlight comes in from another room, I can see it reflecting on the wall. And another said I can see more letters on the eye chart. I was very excited.
So again, these are people who could see nothing on an eye chart and then could read three lines on an eye chart. So, how did they do it? Well, these folks couldn't make a protein. Their DNA was such that they were missing a protein. And researchers actually delivered a gene right into their eye to fix the broken DNA, if you will, so that they could make the protein - Kyra.
PHILLIPS: This has been tried before and unfortunately it had tragic results. Correct? So, are they still concerned about those same dangers?
COHEN: That's right. Gene therapy which is where you actually go in and deliver a new gene to someone has had some pretty bad results in the past. The researchers say they don't think that this will -- the terrible things will happen this time because the gene was delivered right through the eye. It didn't affect the rest of the body. So they say so far so good.
But they also say, you know what? It's only three people. It's only been six months. We don't truly know the long-term implications.
PHILLIPS: That will be interesting to follow. Elizabeth Cohen, great to see you this morning.
COHEN: Thanks, thanks.
ROBERTS: Twenty-one minutes after the hour. Senator Barack Obama's former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, is taking on his critics. He defended his fiery sermons while giving the keynote address at the NCAAP's Freedom Fund Dinner last night in Detroit. The controversial clips of the pastor have been circulating on the Internet. They've been shown on television for months, becoming an issue in the presidential campaign.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. We're asking, have you heard enough from Reverend Jeremiah Wright? Right now, it appears the majority have. Sixty-nine percent of you say yes, move on; 31 percent say no, tell me more.
Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. We'll keep tallying your votes throughout the morning. And we're also getting some great e-mails on this. We'll have some of those for you coming up at about a half hour's time right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning," telling the superdelegates to decide already. DNC Chairman Howard Dean has called to put the race to bed by the convention. The man in the middle joins us next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Barack Obama says the questions about his former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, are fair game. And that opened the door for his Republican rival John McCain. McCain firing back after Wright compared the U.S. Marines to the Romans at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's beyond belief and then of course, saying that al-Qaeda and the American flag were the same flags. So I can understand. I can understand why people are upset about this. I can understand why the Americans, when viewing these kinds of comments are angry and upset.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Up until now, McCain has stayed away from commenting on Reverend Wright. Reverend Jeremiah Wright on the defensive last night during a speech at the NAACP. Wright says his controversial sermons on race in America were descriptive and not divisive. He says that he was only describing conditions in the country and railed against the media for criticizing him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: Many in the corporate-owned media have made it seem as if I have announced that I'm running for the Oval Office. I am not running for the Oval Office. I've been running for Jesus a long, long time, and I'm not tired yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Wright is retired from the Chicago church where Obama worships.
ROBERTS: It's coming up on 26 minutes after the hour. Howard Dean coming your way in just a couple of minutes here.
U.S. and Iraqi troops on the attack in Iraq, going after militant fighters in Baghdad. The military says at least 38 enemy fighters were killed over the weekend. The deadliest attack came on Sunday when the military says 22 "criminals" were killed when they tried to attack Iraqi and American forces at a security checkpoint.
And hundreds of construction projects in Iraq costing taxpayers millions of dollars have gone unfinished. That's according to an audit by federal investigators. The review blames excessive delays, costs, poor performance and violence as reasons why the projects were not completed. The audit also uncovered a number of projects that were classified as completed when in fact they weren't. The U.S. Agency for International Development says the database used for the review was incomplete.
PHILLIPS: And other stories this morning. For the first time ever, the Olympic torch -- I'll talk to you about the Olympic torch in a moment. Here we go. Let's talk about it now.
Carried through Communist North Korea. Stay with me, folks. And today's torch relay is different from stuff (ph) in other cities around the world. This is what happens when you don't have scripts. Hello, viewers.
Cheering crowds greeting the flame. Instead of anti-China protesters, Pyongyang is an ally of China. As you know, a lot of protests here in New York City over the weekend too.
Now, in just a few months, American families will likely not be allowed to adopt children from Vietnam. The news follows a bombshell report by the U.S. Embassy that found Vietnam has failed to police its adoption system allowing corruption fraud and baby selling. American families still have until July 1st to apply. Now, the adoption agreement between the two countries officially expires on the first of September.
And not exactly the news that you want to hear in these troubling economic times, but credit card companies are raising their fees. By the way, you can negotiate those. I'll give you an inside tip in a minute.
Now, this week Washington Mutual and Discover Card will sharply increase their rates to their credit card customers, even those who pay on time. Now, Washington Mutual rates could increase by 100 percent, we're told. And Discover is raising its penalty rate to 31 percent. Bank of America tripled some of its rates to customers last month.
And there's a video on YouTube that apparently shows soldiers living in deplorable conditions at a U.S. military base. It's been posted by the parents of a soldier living at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. A series of still photographs show torn toilet seats, mildewed ceilings and showers and paint peeling from exposed pipes, even flooded bathrooms.
Now, Fort Bragg houses about 100 soldiers in the Charlie Company of the 82nd Airborne Division's Second Battalion. Fort Bragg reps say that some new barracks are being built just across the street.
And we've all heard the food in prison could use some improvement, to put in mildly. But one inmate says that he isn't going to take it.
Broderick Lloyd Laswell has filed a federal lawsuit over losing more than 100 pounds. Laswell says that the jail doesn't give inmates enough food, and he's down to a mere 308 pounds. Eight months ago, Laswell weighed in at 413 pounds. The jail admits that it only serves cold food, but the meals average about 3,000 calories a day.
ROBERTS: Wow. Hey, it's 29 minutes after the hour now. We don't mean to keep you hanging here, and our apologies. We're just trying to get Howard Dean checked in. We'll take a quick break, and we hope to come right back with the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: 31 minutes after the hour. It is nearly a tie and no telling when it will end. Now the Democratic party chairman is nudging superdelegates to pick a side and end the race before the summer is upon us. Joining us now live from Burlington, Vermont is the D.N.C. chairman, Howard Dean. Dr. Howard Dean, good to see you again this morning. Thanks for being with us. HOWARD DEAN, CHAIRMAN, D.N.C.: Thanks for having me on.
ROBERTS: So you have been encouraging superdelegates to make up their mind and you say that more of them are starting to trickle in now, they have made a decision. Now, the question I have is the primary season is not over yet. Looks like it's going to continue right through June 3rd. Some superdelegates we have talked to say they want to wait for the outcome before they make up their minds. Why are you encouraging them to make up their minds about supporting someone now before the final results are in?
DEAN: Well, you know, the timing is after them we have 800 unpledged delegates. 500 of them have already said who they're going to support. All I want to do is make sure that continues, that process continues. If somebody feels strongly that they want to wait to make up their minds until after the primaries, I don't have a problem with that whatsoever. However, there's no reason for folks not to make up their mind by the end of June as opposed to the end of August. That would give us an extra two months to heal the party and to avoid having a really divisive convention.
Look, John McCain is a flawed candidate. As you know, we have a new ad that's talking about his position on the 100 years in Iraq. And we're not going to lose to John McCain unless we lose to ourselves first, and the only way that will happen is if we're not unified. So, that's my position here. We need to be unified and in order to do that we need to know who our nominee is well before the convention.
ROBERTS: Senator Chris Dodds told us not too long ago that he is an Obama supporter. We should say that if you go into the convention divided, you're going to hand the general election to John McCain. He says you lose that right. Do you agree with that?
DEAN: Absolutely, yes. I think if we go in divided, we'll come out divided and it will be much harder to win. And again, McCain is a flawed candidate, he's a wrong on the economy, wrong on Iraq and wrong on health care. Those are the things - those are the three biggest issues that Americans care about. So, we shouldn't lose this election, we can beat ourselves and I'm determined not to let that happen.
ROBERTS: So, by what criteria should the superdelegates make their decision? Should it be who has the most pledged delegates at the end of the primary process? Should it be who has the most popular vote? Should it be whoever they think can become the president, whoever can beat John McCain? Should it be whoever has won the biggest states and has the most electoral votes, which is the case that Hillary Clinton is making? By what criteria should they decide?
DEAN: Well, those are the arguments that are going on back and forth between the Obama and Clinton campaigns, which of course I'm not going to weigh in on being the referee.
ROBERTS: Right. But you're also the chairman of the party and shouldn't there be some consistency here in how people make a decision on this incredibly important issue? DEAN: There is consistency, you just follow the rules and the rules say the superdelegates can choose any criteria they want. Now, in my experience the superdelegates have always ended up deciding with the person who gets the most pledged delegates but that doesn't always have to happen. They are free agents. They are elected by the same people who elect the primary voters. They are responsible to those primary voters and those Democrats around the country and they're elected to do what they think is right for the country and right for the party.
ROBERTS: You said on "Meet the Press" yesterday that there are some rules that next time around you might want to change. Which rules would those be?
DEAN: We're believing that we're so immersed in this one right now, we're not worried about what we're going to change next time. We have a lot of time for that.
ROBERTS: Yes but you're thinking about it. So, I'm just wondering what is it about this process that you think needs refining the next time around?
DEAN: Well, I think the next time around you may have some changes in schedule. who knows? We're not really thinking about that right now. We're really focused on getting a strong candidate and then beating John McCain.
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton said that you cannot make a determination on the nominee until Florida and Michigan are counted. Do you agree with that?
DEAN: I'm not going to comment on what either one of these campaigns says. Regarding Florida and Michigan, we would like them represented at the convention. But there are three criteria: One, you want to respect the voters of Florida and Michigan. Because they didn't cause this mess, it was politicians that did; Two, you want to respect both candidates, you can't have a game changer, you can't make the -- change the rules and then change the nomination because you change the rules in the middle of the game; and three, you have to understand that -- you got to respect the other 48 states that obeyed the rules and did what they were supposed to do.
So there's going to be some kind of compromise to get some folks from Florida and Michigan to the convention. No one will be happy with it because no one's ever happy with compromises but we do want to have Florida and Michigan represented at our convention.
ROBERTS: Mr. Chairman, could you explain something for me because there's something I'm not quite clear on and haven't been since the whole process started. Michigan, it was Democrats who took the initiative to move up the primary. So, many people can understand why Michigan was penalized. But in Florida it was a Republican legislature that decided to move up the date. The Democrats tried to fight it but couldn't because a lot of ornaments were attached to the bill that they just couldn't vote against. So why did you penalize Florida when it was the Republican legislature that actually led to that date moving up?
DEAN: We needed Florida to stay within their window to respect South Carolina and Nevada, the first time we have had a southern and western state and the first time we have had states with a significant minority populations who is voting early. And we offered Florida, the Florida party a million dollars to run a parallel process widen the window and they refused instead of to discuss it with us. So, you know, there's plenty of culpability to go around for everybody. We're not -- I'm not here to point a finger at Florida and Michigan. We have a bad situation that was caused by two states that thought that they were more important than everybody else. We need to fix that situation without hurting the voters because it wasn't the voters' fault that caused this problem.
ROBERTS: You mentioned a few times this morning, John McCain and his new ad that the D.N.C. has got out. Let's take a quick look at that and then I want to ask you about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Maybe 100. That would be fine with me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Maybe 100.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If all he offers is more of the same, is John McCain the right choice for America's future? The Democratic National Committee is responsible for the content of this ad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Dr. Dean, the McCain campaign and the R.N.C. are pretty hot about this because what you failed to mention in that ad is that the rest of the quote after he says for 100 years, he says, "we have been in Japan for 60 years, we have been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That would be fine with me, the 100 years as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. Then it's fine with me. I hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day?" Are you not twisting what he said by only playing a portion of it?
DEAN: Absolutely not. The R.N.C. wants to help us pay to put that ad on, the whole context. I have that quote right here. I don't think Americans want to stay in Iraq for 100 years under any circumstances. We need that money here at home. Now, the Bush-McCain economic program has been a disaster.
ROBERTS: Well, should we pull troops out of Germany and pull them out of South Korea and pull them out of Okinawa as well to save money? That's what Ron Paul suggests we do.
DEAN: We have a lot fewer troops in those areas than we do in Iraq right now. Furthermore, anybody who thinks we're going to be in Iraq for 100 years and not be subjected to suicide bombing and attacks of these militias, I don't think he's thinking clearly. I don't think Senator McCain is thinking clearly about Iraq. The truth is Americans don't want American troops in Iraq for 100 years under any circumstances whether we're there without being attacked or whether we are being attacked. We need that money here at home in America to fix American problems. That is the problem with the Bush-McCain approach to Iraq. It is not in the best interests of America, it is far outside the main stream of what the American people want and that's what this election is about. John McCain is a preacher of the past, our candidates are going to turn a new leaf on America with real change. That's what the election is about, it's change.
ROBERTS: Seven more weeks to go in the primary process, Chairman Dean, we look forward to talking with you again. Thanks for being with us this morning.
DEAN: Thank you. Thanks for having me on.
ROBERTS: All right. Take care.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: With the delegates dilemma. How about the dilemma with the airlines. You sell your ticket, you get a refund. Who's merging with who?
ALI VELSHI, CNN, SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. You got actually a great judge of this. This game has changed quite a bit over the weekend. One airline has gone bankrupt and Continental is saying don't hold your breath for a deal between Continental and United. But there is more to this story so stay with us. I think we're going to take a break first and then we're going to talk about this.
Oh, we want to talk about it right now. I'll tell you, EOS Airline first of all has said that it is going bankrupt and closing it's doors immediately. I'll tell you about that in a second. But there are a whole bunch of developments in this whole merger things. We know that we're working on the Delta and Northwest arrangement right now. So we had thought that Continental and United would be the next to make a deal. Continental has said that it doesn't make sense for them right now to merge with United or any airline right now. However, there's now talk of a possible alliance, not a merger but some sort of an alliance between Continental and American Airlines or Continental and British Airways.
American Airlines has put out a statement to say it is talking to Continental about some sort of an arrangement and it's fairly well down the road in that conversation and that it's talking to U.S. Airways at a very early stage about some sort of alliance. It sort of makes more sense with AA to have some kind of deal with Continental. It serves their route system a little bit better. And EOS Airlines shuts down. John, we were talking about EOS a little earlier. I'll just tell you a little bit about EOS. It's a business class airline. It flies from New York to London for between $3500 and up to $9,000, roundtrip. They've got 757s, 48 of the seats on the plane convert to fully flat beds and they got fancy meals. They got wine and champagne and cocktails and gourmet foods. And you get a helicopter rides to and from the airport to different points in the city. If you like to go on it. Well, that's all in the past now. That's not going to be done anymore.
One last thing for you, John. Did you know that a cockroach can live for nine days after its head has been cut off?
All morning he's giving me this little trivia, blah, blah, blah. Pistons and that nation and all this kind of stuff.
Cockroaches live nine days if you cut their head off. Knock yourself out.
ROBERTS: Good information to know.
VELSHI: Very good.
PHILLIPS: Lovely.
VELSHI: That's probably very relevant to our viewers.
PHILLIPS: Then you dip them in chocolate. All right. This is good news, we have a clear signal. This is something rare when it comes to our special technology. So, we want to check in with our car poolers right now. Hopefully they're not talking about cockroaches and missing heads. But they decided to team up to make their drive to work every day from Stamford to Shelton, Connecticut. Robin and Marilena are arriving, I guess I'm told now, at work.
I'm glad you guys stopped because I was really nerve out about the fact that we were taking you live while you were driving. We have been tracking their commute this morning all the way via broad band. OK, ladies where are you now and how is it going?
So you have already gotten to work?
You are there. You just pulled in.
MARILENA: Yes.
PHILLIPS: OK.
MARILENA: Just in. Yes.
PHILLIPS: Interesting conversation, did we learn anything new this morning about each other?
MARILENA: Well, we learned about cockroaches.
PHILLIPS: Our Ali Velshi has such a great sense of humor, ladies. But I also hear that the two of you have quite a good sense of humor as well. Tell me who talked the most this morning.
MARILENA: We both did, really.
ROBIN: Yes.
MARILENA: We were talking about the weekend, what we did.
PHILLIPS: You want to share?
MARILENA: She had more fun than I did.
PHILLIPS: So Robin is a party animal.
ROBIN: It's just a party.
PHILLIPS: All right, ladies, well in all seriousness, you have teamed up together. You are car pooling to save money. Robin actually says she saves $100 a month.
ROBERTS: I was just wondering. How long did it take you? How was traffic this morning?
ROBIN: Traffic was very light this morning, surprisingly. It took us about 35, 40 minutes to get up here.
ROBERTS: That's not bad. That's not bad. Considering the distance that you have to go and how much did the needle on the gas tank move while you were on your way? I used to be a terrible watcher - I still am. Every time I see that needle go down.
ROBIN: Until it hits "E" then I watch it. Well, we didn't really pay attention I should say.
ROBERTS: Even moving just a little bit, at $3.60 a gallon costs a whole lot of money. Folks, thanks for playing this morning. Good to see you. And thanks for bringing us along on your commute.
PHILLIPS: All right, we're going to of course be talking more about gas prices, oil prices, all the developments. Ali Velshi, he'll be tracking that the rest of the morning.
VELSHI: You know, if you drive your car 100 miles an hour, it's going to take you more than 29 million years to reach the nearest star?
PHILLIPS: I think he's trying to talk to you with regards to the ...
ROBERTS: Oh, my goodness.
VELSHI: Just trying to be helpful.
ROBERTS: Let's wrap this. 44 minutes after the hour. It could be a wash to start the workweek in the northeast, maybe some relief for firefighters our west though. Rob Marciano tracking it all this morning. How about that news on cockroaches this morning, Rob? Fascinating stuff, huh?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Well, it is, listen to continue the trend of completely useless information. According to wikipedia, rats can be trained to use a litter box. So think about that the next time your kitty cat does its thing.
We'll be right back with the complete weather forecast after the break. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Rob Marciano. There's some rainfall moving into the eastern seaboard. So, be aware of that. I-95, a little bit of sprinkles, little spritzes this morning but it's all going to become more substantial, I think as the day rolls on. As a matter of fast, parts of Maine now under a flash flood watch as the storm system taps into the gulf, or the Atlantic Ocean for moisture.
Actually New York City now getting a little bit more in the way of substantial rainfall. And it's all spreading back towards the Appalachians and through Charleston back to Pittsburgh and down through the south as well. Where we need the rainfall, though not getting it right now. Not really typical this time of year. Southern California, offshore winds, fire is breaking out across SoCal over the weekend with record high temperatures as well.
Check these numbers out. Santa Ana 103, Fullerton, California 102. L.A. 95 and San Diego 94 degrees. So, we'll get some relief from a cool shot that will come across the Pacific Northwest. A separate pocket of cold air is going to drive down across the northeast. Unseasonably cold air from not only the northeast but to the mid- Atlantic, back to as far south as southern Missouri. Freeze warnings are in effect for tonight. Temperatures could touch the freezing mark there and some of this chilly air will roll into New York, looks like tomorrow night and into Wednesday as well. So, winter not quite winter over. Well, it won't be quite winter like, you guys have had a stretch of really nice spring like weather and now, it will feel like late winter, maybe early spring on Wednesday.
ROBERTS: That's terrible. Rob, thanks very much though.
MARCIANO: OK.
ROBERTS: You might want to think twice before pulling out the plastic because some banks are doubling, and in some cases tripling interest rates. We'll tell you which companies are asking for your cash just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: An update on this morning's "Quick Vote" question. We've been asking all of you, have you heard enough from Reverend Jeremiah Wright? Right now, 70 percent say yes, 30 percent say don't tell me more or no, tell me more rather. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We are going to keep tallying your votes throughout the morning. I hope I said that right. I think I twisted that around.
ROBERTS: No. Tell more.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: We've also been reading through your e-mails this morning. Rhonda from Charlotte, North Carolina writes "Reverend Wright is the average African-American minister who feels that he has the right to say whatever he wants. As an African-American I have sat through many sermons similar to Reverend Wright's, and they disgusted me. Unfortunately, he is not smart or savvy enough to know when to just shut up.
PHILLIPS: And Jason from Houston has a very different opinion, "what Dr. Wright did was give the larger American public insight into the black church, black Christian theology and even into some of the views that drive black political discourse. Now, if we have had an unfiltered dialogue about race in America, it will have to start with an honest portrayal of what we all think."
ROBERTS: And from Patrice in Latonia, Georgia. " I am so sick of the media making Jeremiah Wright a rock star. Enough is enough. This has discouraged me as a first-time voter. And when I say I have heard enough of Reverend Wright, that means I have heard enough of the media's bashing as well."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Roberts (voice-over): Wright in front. Barack Obama's former pastor speaks again next hour. Will he add more fuel to the campaign fire?
And billion dollar payday. How big oil defends unthinkably high gas prices. A top industry insider joins us live.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A new record high for gas this morning. Checking the AMERICAN MORNING gas gauge 3.60 a gallon and the new national average for the 13th straight day gas prices have gone up. Up 32 cents from last month and 66 cents from last year. And crude oil prices also hitting a new record this morning, coming within pennies of $120 a barrel.
A pipeline shut down in the U.K. and an attack on an oil terminal in Nigeria. Both raising supply concerns and sending oil higher. We're going to hear from oil companies this week expected to report record earnings in the billions of dollars. Washington lawmakers say well, it's time to step in. House leaders now calling on the Federal Trade Commission to use new powers to investigate whether oil companies are manipulating prices. So what do oil companies say? Rayola Dougher, senior economic adviser at the American Petroleum Institute, which represents about 400 oil companies. She joins us now live from Washington. Good to see you. First reaction to the investigation. Obviously they have happened before, nothing has turned up. Is this is a different time, a different moment, a different type of investigation?
RAYOLA DOUGHER, AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITURE: Well, I don't think so. The FTC has investigated oil companies repeatedly. They have done actually over 100 investigations. And they continued to find the market at fault, supply and demand. And I have no doubt that's what they're going to find again this time around. I think if Congress really wants to do something, they need to take a look at supply in the United States and how we can get more supply into the market.
PHILLIPS: Well, there's something else though that I think that I can't stay away from and that's the billions of dollars in profits that are made from these oil companies and I know you have heard this song and dance over and over again, but I want to get your reaction especially now.
DOUGHER: Sure.
PHILLIPS: When every day we're talking about higher gas prices and you look at the profits, even Exxon Oil, expecting a net income of more than $11 billion this week, how do you justify that? And right here, even oil CEO compensation from Occidental to XTO Energy, we're talking 80 million that these executives bring in. How do you justify those kinds of numbers?
DOUGHER: Well, when we're looking at the profits, really, you have to get your head around the scale of the industry. They're earning and they earned. And last year, they have about 8 cents on every dollar of sales. That's 8 cents. The other 92 cents is being poured back into operations and into investments to get more product on the market. The rest of the U.S. industry earned about 7 cents last year. So it is a fortune, it's billions of dollars and that's what it's taking to get product to market. And the second point that's very important to know is who owns these oil companies. They're owned 99.5 percent of oil company stock are owned by middle class Americans, anyone with a pension plan, an IRA account, a mutual fund. They are the owners of this stock, and when these stocks go up, they benefit from that as well. So, we have to keep our eye on the ball. We need more supply. We need to take this money and pour it back into operations so that we can have more supply in the market.
PHILLIPS: Well, this is obviously becoming a huge issue in the presidential campaign as well. All three of the candidates talking about it. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So what have we got for all that experience? Gas that's approaching $4 a gallon.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My commitment to doing everything I can to see that Americans have a little bit of a holiday between Memorial Day and Labor Day, from having to pay 18 cents a gallon. SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That bill has billions of dollars in giveaways to the oil companies. It was the best bill that the energy companies could buy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: What do you say to voters?
DOUGHER: Well, I can address each of those issues in turn in terms of the - we need more supply, that's number one. But in terms of these benefits to oil companies that Congress continues to talk about, these are benefits that are extended to all manufacturing industries in the United States. The benefits they're talking about taking away from oil, they're singling out oil at a time when the oil industry's tax expenses are 41 percent compared to manufacturing as 22 percent. You have to get a grip on there.
PHILLIPS: What you're saying we're getting a grip - I mean, what about the supply. You're saying it takes more supply, where - where does that need to come from? What's your answer to the supply.
DOUGHER: Well, we have a lot of areas in the United States off limits to development. We have enough right now in resources that were placed off limits decades ago. If, for example, we could fuel 60 million homes with natural gas for 160 years we are allowed to go after these resources. We have oil resources off limits to development. We could make a big difference. We could fill 60 million cars for 60 years. It's the incremental amount we have to start being able to develop and bring to market.
PHILLIPS: Well, I'm curious if any of those.
DOUGHER: And we have a policy that's not allowing us to do this.
PHILLIPS: Well, what about any of those CEOs with the oil companies, do they go green. Do they drive hybrids? What do they think about?
DOUGHER: I have no idea what they drive. I drive a little Boris mini cooper. I love it. But I have no idea whatsoever what they're driving out there.
PHILLIPS: Rayola Dougher, thanks for joining us.
DOUGHER: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Crossing the top of the hour now. Barack Obama's former pastor makes a passionate speech declaring differences between African-Americans and white Americans. Reverend Jeremiah Wright took on his critics last night at the NAACP's Annual Freedom Fund dinner.
