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American Morning
Obama Tries to Move Forward After the Wright Controversy; Text Messaging Lingo Invades Commercials; Race Tightening in Indiana; How the Wright Controversy Hurt Obama's Campaign
Aired May 01, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It's always good from her and hear from the spouses. Let's hear from Cindy McCain as well from time to time.
We begin this morning with the race for the Democratic nomination. Both candidates holding campaign events in Indiana this morning. Only five days left now until the next pivotal primaries. Barack Obama picked up endorsements from three members of the House of Representatives making him even with Hillary Clinton now at 97 apiece.
According to the latest national Democratic poll of polls, an average of three recent polls, Obama leads Clinton by just two points now. Obama has tried to put the controversy surrounding his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, behind him. His wife Michelle sat down with CNN's Suzanne Malveaux yesterday saying it's time to return the focus to issues like the economy and health care.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELLE OBAMA, SEN. BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: The one thing Barack knows is that when you are seeking one of the most powerful positions in the world, you've got to be able to take it, and you've got to, you know, know that the problems that are coming at you are going to be big, and they're going to require emotional fortitude and courage and stepping out and hurting feelings and a whole range of things.
This is an important test, and he has always said that. He said measure me not by what other people say or do, but by how he handles himself in this race, the kind of organization he's built, the kind of campaign he's run. And let me tell you as an unobjective observer who is sometimes very critical of my husband, he's done a phenomenal job.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you still confident that your husband can win?
OBAMA: Yes, absolutely. I mean, let's look where we are. Barack has raised the most money. This is a guy that is not supposed to be here. Barack is the underdog. That's true.
Yet in that position he's raised the most money. He's won the most number of the popular vote. He's won more states than he's won it in all kinds of states. He's ahead in pledged delegates. He's narrowing the gap every day in the superdelegate race, and there's still an energy and a passion among his supporters and people are coming on board every single day. So, yes, absolutely he can win. And, yes, absolutely, I think he's the person that needs to lead this country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Michelle Obama along with Caroline Kennedy there, speaking to our Suzanne Malveaux.
Meantime, Obama's rival Hillary Clinton called Wright's recent comments "offensive and outrageous" and says that she was glad Obama finally distanced himself from Wright.
And former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is weighing in on the Jeremiah Wright controversy. It just won't stop. Huckabee who is a Baptist minister called Wright's recent comments "absurd," and he questioned the pastor's motives for speaking out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The anger has no basis. If it's not true that a man because of his color is held back and can't be president, then so much of what Jeremiah Wright has said is invalid. So Jeremiah Wright needs for Obama to lose so he can continue to justify his anger, hostile, bitterness against the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Huckabee says Obama's campaign is being derailed by someone who doesn't want him to prove that we have made great advances in this country.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The price of gas hit a record high this morning, and the Democrats are making a major campaign issue out of the so-called gas tax holiday. Regular gas is now $3.62 a gallon nationally, and diesel is $4.25. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama completely disagree on what a so-called gas tax holiday would do for the economy. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would immediately lower gas prices by temporarily suspending the gas tax for consumers and businesses.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sounds good, maybe it polls well. But here is the truth. It would save the average family 30 bucks over the course of three months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Republican John McCain supports suspending the gas tax.
And the presumptive Republican nominee talks to voters in Ohio today. John McCain blasting pork barrel spending on the campaign trail like the $200 million bridge to nowhere in Alaska. McCain also called last year's Minnesota Bridge collapse a tragic example of the billions of dollars wasted on pork barrel spending. He says money is needed to rebuild critical infrastructure. McCain has pledged to eliminate congressional earmarks estimated at $18 billion last year.
Now, John McCain getting blasted for his war position in a new ad by the anti-war group Moveon.org. It's time for today, the fifth anniversary of President Bush's so-called mission accomplished speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, POLITICAL AD)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think Americans are concerned if we're there for 100 years or 1,000 years or 10,000 years.
NARRATOR: A hundred years in Iraq, and you thought no one could be worse than George Bush.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The Republican Party says that the ad is a radical distortion of McCain's position. Senator McCain, of course, will be our guest coming up in the 8:00 p.m. hour.
ROBERTS: 8:00 a.m. hour.
PHILLIPS: Did I say 8:00 p.m.?
ROBERTS: You said 8:00 p.m.
PHILLIPS: I'm already thinking about bedtime. I'm sorry about that.
ROBERTS: A little early for that.
PHILLIPS: And John will be interviewing him.
ROBERTS: All right. It should be good. Hopefully you'll be around for that. We should also probably be carrying that on CNN.com/live as well.
Iraq sending an official delegation to confront Iran about supporting Shiite militias in Iraq. An Iraqi government official says the team is armed with "evidence, confessions and pictures" that indicate Iran is supplying weapons and training Shiite fighters battling U.S. and Iraqi troops.
Three bombings in Spain this morning. The bombs targeted labor related buildings in the Basque region, but there were no injuries because today is May Day, a traditional workers holiday. Police said the bombings were carried out by the separatist group ETA. ETA has killed hundreds of people over the years in its efforts to get a separate Basque homeland in northern Spain.
And a major embarrassment for the State Department. Former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela is on the United States terror watch list. Mandela is a member of the African National Congress which was labeled a terror group back in the 1970s. Congress says it's working on getting members of the ANC off the list calling the group's inclusion a "bureaucratic snafu." Mandela became an international symbol of the fight against apartheid, spending 27 years in jail before becoming the first black president of South Africa.
Oops.
PHILLIPS: That's a big mistake.
Well, it affects everything from growing the food you eat to paying for feeding the needy to rising food and gas prices. And there's a major showdown on Capitol Hill right now over that farm bill. It comes up for a vote every five years.
This time House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is fighting to move some cash from farm subsidies to food stamps. The White House has threatened to veto saying the "bloated $300 billion bill helps wealthy farmers while doing little to address soaring food costs."
The FDA now hiring. The Food and Drug Administration is planning a major expansion of soaring demand to inspect products and approved new drugs. The agency says it will hire more than 1,300 biologists, chemists and other researchers by October.
ROBERTS: New allegations about the abuse of boys who were removed from that polygamist compound in Texas. Officials say they are investigating the possibility that some of them may have been sexually abused. The information is based on interviews with the children and journal entries that were found at the ranch. They also say at least 41 children may have had broken bones. A spokesman for the church calls the accusations half truths.
And in just a few hours, a number of May Day marches and rallies will begin to show up support or begin to show support for immigrants' rights. Police across the country aren't expecting the events to rival ones that took place last year. Organizers say they'll call on the government to put a moratorium on deportations.
If you'd like to watch any of the rallies or speeches, just go to CNN.com/live. We'll be streaming them all day long.
PHILLIPS: Oil is down and the dollar is up after another Fed rate cut. Coincidence or not? Find out straight ahead.
Plus, our Veronica de la Cruz is on a mission. Advertisers are pouring big bucks into ads chock-full of text message lingo, but do people really know what it all means? I guess it depends on your age. Find out straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, you know, Ali Velshi said that he was going to take a day off if there wasn't another record price in oil or gas or -- ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I really wouldn't like the day off.
ROBERTS: New low for the dollar.
PHILLIPS: That's why he's here.
ROBERTS: We've got two out of three today. Oil prices down, dollar is up. What's going on?
VELSHI: And gas prices are at a new record, but the funny thing is it's a little slower than that record. So it's still $3.62 because we round it to the closest penny. But, you know, John you've talked about the relationship between the price of a barrel of oil and the dollar.
Now, here's something interesting that happened yesterday. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, and that typically lowers the dollar. But the dollar has been so low for a while that the hint that the Fed would stop decreasing interest rates actually strengthened the dollar a little bit overnight. So the dollar is a little stronger, and oil is actually below $115. $113.44 for a barrel of oil.
ROBERTS: Land sakes.
VELSHI: Seriously. Now, you have talked about that relationship. I want to show you that relationship on screen. I want to show you what happens. The red line is what we call the U.S. dollar index. It's the U.S. dollar versus other currencies, and the green line is crude oil.
ROBERTS: Look at that. $71. That was the good old days.
VELSHI: Yes, but that's the correlation. As the dollar weakens, oil goes up in price. And as the dollar starts to strengthen a little bit -- I mean, honestly it's just been a few days and it's just been a few cents so you're not going to see the correlation just yet. But as I say, the dollar is about $1.55 to the euro right now. So start thinking about that summer vacation again, and oil is down to $103 --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Think about that villa in Tuscany.
VELSHI: Where have we gotten to when oil is a deal at 113 bucks and the dollar is a bargain at $1.55?
ROBERTS: Well --
VELSHI: We're still having a staycation.
PHILLIPS: Staycation, I like that.
ROBERTS: And I guess gas prices will continue to go up until they've squeezed every last drop of -- (CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Until there's another -- none of us left. I'm going to talk to you about how high because you've asked me this for how high they can they go. When I come back I'm going to talk to you about what the predictions are and what this rate of change gets us.
ROBERTS: Wait. We had John Hofmeister from Shell in yesterday.
VELSHI: Right.
ROBERTS: And he was saying that if we ever hit $10 a gallon, he says the United States would be in a deep depression.
VELSHI: Right. And I think that's probably true, but I'm going to come in and tell you why we are not likely to get to those levels.
PHILLIPS: He said that, too. He said what? Max 6 bucks a gallon...
VELSHI: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... which is brutal.
VELSHI: It is.
PHILLIPS: At what point will people just stop driving their cars?
VELSHI: And they'll taper off. So I think at this point, we're seeing people start to drop off. And with every sort of milestone from here, every 25 cents, you'll see people making a new decision about changing this. But we'll talk about that.
ROBERTS: All right. Ali, looking forward to it, thanks.
PHILLIPS: River overflowing after a big downpour. It flooded streets, filled up the homes. Take a look at these pictures here. It sent a lot of people packing as well.
Reynolds Wolf tracking the extreme weather for us this morning. Hi, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, there. Wish that was really the only story we had weather-wise, but it certainly isn't. But we've got, of course, the flooding as you mentioned, the northeast. A chance of strong storms, possible tornadoes across the central plains. And then into the Rockies, we have a chance of heavy snowfall.
That and more coming up this morning on AMERICAN MORNING. See you then.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF: Major flooding. People forced out of their homes and businesses on both sides of the U.S./Canadian border. The St. Johns River is more than three feet above flood stage after more than three inches of rain poured down on the town of Fort Kent, Maine. It is expected to crest at 31 feet today.
Let's go right to our weather computer and as we do so, we're going to zoom in and show you the places that are really being affected this time as we go up towards Fort Kent. Here it is.
As we mentioned right on the U.S./Canadian border, that heavy rainfall really made the difference. Well, water swelling the banks and they are just certainly having their issues today in terms of these flood waters.
You know, the river actually has crested and is now on its way back down. We do expect it to again get much better as we make our way into the late day hours and into tomorrow, but the cresting right around 2:00 this morning, and then it began to descend.
Now, let's move on and show you what else we're dealing with around the country. We're going to go for the possibility of some flooding to the chance of some strong storms, especially by later in the day. It's this area of low pressure pulling in that moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. That combined with the daytime heat will give us a chance of some strong storms, large hail, isolated tornadoes, and, of course, there will be the possibility of some flash flooding there, too.
Now, coming up during the next update, we're also going to mention, get this folks, it's May 1st. We're going to talk about some heavy snowfall in portions of the central and northern Rockies. It is a big, big weather morning for you. We're going to have the very latest details coming up. Let's send it back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: Powder day out there in Veil today?
WOLF: Should be, should be.
ROBERTS: Wow.
WOLF: But everywhere you go, man, it's going to be powder day up there. It's just been a banner year for the Rockies, no question.
PHILLIPS: Reynolds sounded like such a surfer there. Banner day, man.
WOLF: That's what I'm talking about.
ROBERTS: Reynolds, thanks.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Reynolds.
All right. Hang with us for a second. Take a look at this "Hot Shot." It will -- well, probably turn you blue.
It's daredevil David Blaine. He's breaking the record for holding your -- oh, my gosh -- holding your breath. Here we go, 17 minutes four seconds, and he did it on "Oprah." He inhaled pure oxygen through a mask to saturate his blood and flush out the carbon dioxide before getting into his human fishbowl.
ROBERTS: That's incredible. Amazing.
PHILLIPS: You know, I can think of other ways to spend 17 minutes. It wouldn't be in a fishbowl.
ROBERTS: He gets very famous doing things like that.
PHILLIPS: Floating like a cell.
ROBERTS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Well, if you've got a "Hot Shot," just send it to us. Head to our Web site, CNN.com/am. Follow the "Hot Shot" link.
ROBERTS: Text messaging lingo. It's invading advertisements all over the country. But do people really know what the shorthand terms mean? We're putting you to the test ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour. Text messaging lingo isn't just for kids anymore. It's now showing up in more and more commercials like this one from Cingular.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CINGULAR COMMERCIAL)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you, you're old enough to know better.
GRANDMA: MYOB, will you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grandma?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mom, who could you be texting?
GRANDMA: IDK, my BFF Rose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Veronica de la Cruz joins us now from Atlanta with more in this. Veronica, is the lingo getting lost in translation?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you, John. You know, that's such a good question. Ever since the invention of these little things right here, people have been trying to cram full sentences into 10 characters or less. So is that lingo getting lost in translation? We took to the streets of New York to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DE LA CRUZ: Excuse me, sir, do you text message? If you saw this in an ad, what would you think that meant?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ring be.
DE LA CRUZ: One more guess.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know.
DE LA CRUZ: Bring Robert back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be right back.
DE LA CRUZ: Oh, excellent! We have a winner. How about this one?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take me in.
DE LA CRUZ: Two terrific young ladies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Text me immediately.
DE LA CRUZ: OK. That was a really good guess. Would you know what this meant if you saw it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're from Denmark. We know nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right out of the fishing lake.
DE LA CRUZ: Right out of the fishing lake. I don't think so.
You've never said this to your girlfriend?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't even pronounce a word like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rolling on the floor laughing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rolling on the floor laughing.
DE LA CRUZ: Very good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Some of those most popular terms came from netlingo.com. Some people there did really well, some people not so well. So, John and Kyra, it is your turn. We're going to put you to the test starting with this one. What do you think?
ROBERTS: Hey, I'm from Denmark, I know nothing.
(LAUGHTER)
Laughing out loud.
PHILLIPS: That's too easy.
DE LA CRUZ: OK. That's good. Laugh out loud.
How about that one?
ROBERTS: Too much information.
DE LA CRUZ: You guys are really good at this. All right. How about this one, last one?
ROBERTS: Come on, Kyra. I got it. I know it. Come on.
PHILLIPS: Of course, you know.
DE LA CRUZ: Come on, Kyra.
ROBERTS: It's either IMO or IMHO, in my opinion or in my humble opinion.
DE LA CRUZ: Gosh, John, you're really good at this. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Are you being serious? Is that --
ROBERTS: I have six kids.
PHILLIPS: I have absolutely no idea. I have to be honest with you.
DE LA CRUZ: IMO, in my opinion. So really, guys, the bottom line here is the advertising of all this is curious as to whether or not this truly is effective marketing because they're advertising this really towards kids who are really good with the text messaging, John, too, apparently. But the bottom line is adults are the ones who are shelling out money for the products. So is this truly effective marketing? That is the question.
ROBERTS: Oh, it certainly can be controversial as we saw earlier this week...
PHILLIPS: With the film --
ROBERTS: ... with the OM --
DE LA CRUZ: OMSC, that's right.
PHILLIPS: Didn't want to go there. Is that how you communicate with your kids? Text messaging?
ROBERTS: No, but I have a 16-year-old daughter so I'm, you know --
PHILLIPS: All right. I kind of got my mom into text messaging.
DE LA CRUZ: He's cool.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Here you go.
DE LA CRUZ: KEWL. PHILLIPS: I nicknamed him WWJD.
ROBERTS: Worry wart John --
PHILLIPS: Yes. He's a little bit of a worry wart. OK.
ROBERTS: Veronica, thanks.
PHILLIPS: Well, gas prices are hitting another record high this morning, $3.62 a gallon nationally. And how to handle the situation? Well, it's becoming a major campaign issue. This morning we want to know which of the candidates' plans that you support? Senator John McCain's plan to have a gas tax holiday? Senator Hillary Clinton's plan to have a gas tax holiday paid for by a tax on oil company profits? Or Senator Barack Obama's plan to work on more long-term solutions?
Cast your vote, CNN.com/am. We'll be checking all those results, of course, this morning. You can also send us an e-mail. Tell us which candidates' plan that you support, or maybe you have your own ideas on how to solve the problem of rising gas prices. There we go.
We want to hear from you. Again, that's CNN.com/am.
ROBERTS: Five days now to Indiana and North Carolina, and the focus is on the issues that matter to you. We'll hear what the candidates are focusing on as they race through Indiana.
And a diplomatic move overnight from Iraq to Iran after one of the deadliest months for U.S. troops. A live report from Baghdad coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-five minutes after the hour. Now, to the race for the White House five days now until the primaries in North Carolina and Indiana. Both Democratic candidates are in Indiana this morning.
Hillary Clinton will campaign in Indianapolis, Jeffersonville, and Terra Haute. Barack Obama will visit South Bend. The race appears to be tightening as well. A new national Democratic poll of polls shows Clinton closing to within two percentage points of Obama's lead. Twelve percent of voters are unsure.
Obama also picked up five more superdelegates in the last day. Clinton picked up four. The candidates talking about issues important to Americans like gas prices while Obama tries to distance himself from his former pastor.
Jonathan Capehart is an editorial board writer for "The Washington Post." He joins us this morning. So Jonathan, what do you make --
JONATHAN CAPEHART, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Good morning, John. ROBERTS: What do you make of the dynamics at work here in the race five days out when we see all these changes in the polls and we see superdelegates being allocated now?
CAPEHART: Well, the big factor here is Reverend Wright. His talking to Bill Moyers last Friday, his speech at NAACP on Sunday, and then the big show at the National Press Conference -- National Press Club on Monday apparently from the poll you just showed and also the poll that's in "The New York Times" today just shows what impact that's had. His -- as "The New York Times" said the aura of inevitability surrounding Senator Obama has basically dissipated going from 69 percent of people thinking that he'd be the nominee down to 51 percent. This has been very damaging for him.
ROBERTS: And our Suzanne Malveaux talked with Michelle Obama last night. Michelle Obama saying that she wants to try to get past the Jeremiah Wright controversy. Let's listen to what she had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, SEN. BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: We're moving forward. I think, you know, Barack was so clear and has been so open about this issue, and he speaks for me as well, and I think the timing and sort of the details and the process is, you know, it just isn't relevant to what we're trying to do. So, yes, it was painful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Michelle Obama wants to move past it. Barack Obama wants to move past it. We've done informal polls of our viewers. They want to get past it.
CAPEHART: Yes.
ROBERTS: But this whole thing lingers, and Hillary Clinton rang in on it again yesterday. Even Mike Huckabee had something to say. How long is it going to last?
CAPEHART: It will last as long as people keep asking folks like Mike Huckabee and Senator Clinton about it. Of course, Michelle Obama, Barack Obama and the Obama campaign, they all want to get past it because one, it's a distraction. Two, it's bringing down the senator's standing among voters particularly those who haven't voted yet. And three, yes, they are right. They should be talking about other things such as gas policy and rising oil prices and health care and all the other things that both he and Senator Clinton have been arguing about for the last 16 months or so.
ROBERTS: All right. So let's talk a little bit of policy this morning, in particular this gas tax holiday. Hillary Clinton wants people to get a break between Memorial and Labor Day on this 18.4 cent a gallon tax. She wants to pay for it with the tax on windfall profits from the oil companies. Barack Obama saying no way, bad idea. Let's listen to how they're putting it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would immediately lower gas prices by temporarily suspending the gas tax for consumers and businesses.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sounds good, maybe it polls well. But here is the truth. It would save the average family 30 bucks over the course of three months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So Jonathan, how do you think that's playing in Indiana and also in North Carolina? Is it a winning issue to be proposing this gas tax?
CAPEHART: Sir, it's a winning issue if you don't dive too deeply into the details. Of course, when you hear we want to cut a tax, a gas tax, when gasoline is approaching $4 in many, $4 a gallon in many places in the country, it sounds good and it makes you feel good. But the one thing -- the one thing about Senator Clinton's plan is at least she's paying for it by trying to put a tax on oil profits.
But in this argument here between the three of them, Senator Obama is the one on a policy level is the one who is going to win this argument. He is right. This is not going to mean a big bang in consumers' pocketbooks.
Folks all over the place are coming out yesterday saying that doing this gas tax holiday is just a feel-good measure. It's not going to have any kind of major impact at all, and Senator Obama is right that we should be focusing on long-term efforts to deal with gas prices and energy policy overall than trying to come up with a quick fix that makes people feel good but doesn't really do anything.
ROBERTS: John McCain also proposing that. We'll be talking to him about it in a couple of hours' time.
Jonathan Capehart from "The Washington Post," thanks for being with us this morning. Good to see you.
CAPEHART: Thanks a lot, John.
ROBERTS: Kyra?
PHILLIPS: A CNN exclusive now. In his first interview since backing Barack Obama filmmaker Michael Moore told Larry King why he chose the Illinois senator. He says he couldn't continue supporting Hillary Clinton because she voted for the Iraq war. He also said he hasn't heard negativity from Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: I guess the difference I have seen here is I have not heard Senator Obama try to make people afraid to vote for Senator Clinton because she's a woman. I haven't heard anything out of his mouth. But for her to try and make white working class as they say people vote for her and not him, to frighten them with words like Farrakhan and Hamas and things like that, I just think that that's...
LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: What about --
MOORE: ...not necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And Moore says that he believes the Reverend Wright controversy is being kept in the news by Clinton's campaign.
ROBERTS: The presumptive Republican nominee John McCain travels to Ohio today and Pennsylvania on Wednesday. McCain railed against congressional earmarks.
He said last year's Minnesota bridge collapse is a tragic example of what happens when money goes to lawmakers' pet projects instead of fixing critical infrastructure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To somehow believe that this really outrageous practice of earmarking is somehow acceptable because there are some good projects and programs in them actually is in direct contradiction for everything I stand for and believe in.
Now people are entitled to their opinion. Members of the Appropriations Committee feel very strongly that this is a vital thing, earmarking. I think it's wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: In his pledge to eliminate earmarks estimated at a whopping $18 billion last year, and we'll be speaking with Senator McCain about all of that and more coming up in our 8:00 Eastern hour.
PHILLIPS: Iraqi is taking a tougher stance on Iran this morning. An Iraqi delegation is in Tehran to confront the Iranian regime about its involvement in the Iraq war. U.S. and Iraqi officials have accused Iran of fueling the violence. Last month 50 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq making the death toll in April the highest since last September.
CNN's Arwa Damon live for us in Baghdad.
Now, Arwa, what do they hope to accomplish on this trip?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this delegation is armed with evidence that they say indicates clearly that Iran is helping to fund, finance and train certain militia groups that have been operating within Iraq's borders.
The delegation is made up of members of the United Iraqi Alliance. That is the prime minister's party. It is also the largest Shia alliance within the Iraqi government. This delegation, however, was not sent out under the order of the Iraqi prime minister.
Now, this is not the first time that Iraq has tried to confront Iran on its influence on Shia militias here and on the violence. About a month ago another delegation also went to Tehran and presented very concrete evidence to the Iranians.
If you'll remember, over the last month U.S. and Iraqi forces have uncovered numerous caches of weapons that the Shia extremists here are using, and they're saying that they bear markings, Iranian markings, some dating as recently as February 2008.
Now, Iran has consistently denied any sort of involvement within Iraq, but the Iraqi government is saying that this time it is convinced of the evidence, and that no matter what Iran says, it is going to stand by its line and by its insistence that Iran cease to meddle within Iraqi affairs. This is a very delicate line though the two countries would both benefit from a strategic relationship moving forward.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: A delicate line is this relationship between Shiite cleric - radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr and Iran and he's there in Iran now. Do we expect the delegation to meet with him as well? What kind of impact could that have on his influence in the country?
DAMON: Well, Kyra, we did hear definitely that the delegation has no plans whatsoever to be meeting with Muqtada Al Sadr. However, Muqtada Al Sadr does command the loyalty of the Mehdi militia and that is the main militia that U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling over the last month.
We have seen some very fierce clashes taking place in Sadr City. And this also goes back to the politics of it all because the Iraqi government is trying to differentiate on one level between hard line Shia criminals and the Mehdi militia. It still hopes to be able to bring the Sadrist back into the political fold.
However, there are elements within the government that believe that the recent fighting has driven what the U.S. calls these Iranian- backed Shia criminal gangs and the mainstream elements of the Mehdi militia back together. So any sort of negotiation with Muqtada Al Sadr is not taking place directly, but Iraqi government members of it are trying to speak with elements of the Sadrist movement.
PHILLIPS: All right. Arwa Damon, live, from Baghdad. Thanks.
ROBERTS: 35 minutes after the hour now. And Alina Cho here with other stories making headlines this morning. Good morning to you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, guys, good morning and good morning, everybody. New this morning, a 4.4 magnitude earthquake has hit Bakersfield, California. That was four hours after another earthquake hit the Palm Springs area. That was a 4.2 magnitude quake and it was felt from Palm Springs all the way down to the Mexican border, about 100 miles from the epicenter. There was also a 3.3 magnitude quake in Illinois.
Moving on now, the FBI is following leads in the search for a kidnapped pilot. It's a rare case involving a ransom note. The family of 26-year-old Robert Wiles is going public now pleading with their son's captors to release him.
Wiles disappeared from an airport in Lakeland, Florida, on April 1st, that's about 30 miles from Tampa. Nobody has seen him since two. Two days later, his parents apparently received a ransom note. And they've complied with the note's demand. They're also increasing the reward for his safe return to up to $250,000. We're going to be talking to Wiles' parents in our next hour.
A House Committee will vote today on a housing rescue package. That bill would give up to $300 billion in new mortgages for struggling homeowners. Homeowners in turn would have to show that they could afford to make those new payments. Republicans call the plan a tax payer funded bailout. The full house will take up the bill next week.
If you thought getting into college was tough, try this, preschool. This is the line of parents camping out at the Mary Lynn Elementary School in Atlanta. You're taking a live look there. Ali is shaking his head. The school is free but it can only take 20 preschoolers.
Registration begins in a couple of hours. They must be so anxious. More than 20 parents, looks like there's more now, have been waiting since Monday. And I thought getting into preschool in New York was tough.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) interviews them -- and I knew somebody who was turned away from preschool because they did some kind of test interview and their scissorship wasn't up to par or something. For preschool. What's that indication?
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: I'm not kidding you. I mean, these kids are working.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Any idea what the criteria to get in?
CHO: No, but it must be tough.
VELSHI: You have to be good with scissors. I mean, if anybody tested me for anything at that age I would just been left out on the curb.
CHO: I know.
PHILLIPS: He was just eating the paste.
VELSHI: Yes, seriously. That's exactly right. PHILLIPS: And he still does.
CHO: Oh, Ali, I'm sorry.
VELSHI: Says my office mate.
CHO: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Gas prices how are they going to go?
VELSHI: OK, that's a good question. Gas prices have been rising at one cent per gallon per day for the last month. Now, if you were to extrapolate that, 365 days, the gas price is going to double in a year. Come back and I'll tell you why that's not going to happen. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Ali Velshi. Let's talk about gas prices. $3.62, another record. 17 days in a row now, and we sort of calculate it out.
Over the last month, gas prices have been rising an average of one cent a day. One cent doesn't seem like much, but there are 365 days in a year. So for a $3.60 now and you add another 365 -- boy, that's going to be tough.
Let's look at how gas prices behave over the last several years. Start back in 2002. Gas prices were about a $1.42. This time of year, by the way, in May. Let's consider the beginning of May. By 2003, they had gone up to $1.54. Not a big increase.
By 2004, we had broken $2 a gallon. People thought that was a big deal. But guess what? Behavior didn't change dramatically in terms of driving. 2005, we were at $2.22 this time of year, but then we'd had Hurricane Katrina. There are a lot of refineries that weren't working.
So by 2006, May, we were pushing up against $3 a gallon. And guess what? That's where people started to change their behavior. SUV and truck sales started to drop off. Hybrid started to pick up. By 2007, spring, we were at an average of $3.13 a gallon.
And you really did see people start to get worried about this thing. The increase was pretty dramatic. And now, $3.60 roughly. We're about $3.62 now. If you take that one cent a day increase that we've got, where would you be in a year? Take a look at that. It would be over $7 a gallon. Why is that not going to happen? Because people are going to pull back. We are not going to -- we still drive --
PHILLIPS: When you say pull back, you mean stop driving so much or stop buying certain types of cars. VELSHI: Trade in the car for a more effective car. Car pull, live closer to work, use public transit. All the things that -- it is inconvenient to do but at that price, you will do.
People say well, look, in Europe, they're paying $10 a gallon in England. But they drive differently in England. You don't go out to the super center and drive. You don't take five drives to different place in a big car. You change your habits.
PHILLIPS: You also have the underground and you can walk -- it depends on where you live in the United States.
VELSHI: That's an issue.
PHILLIPS: You got to have a car in so many parts of this country.
VELSHI: That's an issue. In urban centers, you can make those switches. What happens to people who use work vehicles and live in place. But people in America are used to living 20, 30 miles, 40 miles away from work or more in places where there isn't public transportation.
ROBERTS: When you look at your graph, it's a pretty even increase all the way up. So we're just suddenly spike, would be unusual.
VELSHI: But we've been suddenly spiking. The pace that we've had in the last few months is such that it suggests that type of spike. I don't think that's going to happen. I'm just extrapolating based on our current trend. I think demand pulls back at some point, including with the fed now hopefully not continuing to cut interest rates.
PHILLIPS: I sure (INAUDIBLE) pay 7 bucks a gallon. Truly, I'd figure something out. I get creative.
VELSHI: We'd be walking to work. I'd be knocking on your door, John, is John ready for school yet? Come on, we've got to get Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We'll have our little lunch pails.
VELSHI: Yes, that's right.
PHILLIPS: That's perfect. All right, thanks, Ali.
Much more serious note. Flood fears in the far north and down south today. Reynolds Wolf tracking all that extreme weather for us.
Hey, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. We're keeping on the flooding for you. But at the same time across much of the central plains we're talking about a window rattling day with a chance of strong thunderstorms, damaging winds and possible tornadoes. And into the Central and Northern Rockies we're talking about some late-season snowfall. That and more coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Evidence that the ailing economy knows no borders. Hard times for Americans also impacts recent immigrants to the U.S. and their families back home.
ROBERTS: Plus, Michelle Obama sits down with our Suzanne Malveaux and tells us what her husband's recent battles are revealing about what kind of president he could be.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It is ten minutes to the top of the hour. Today is the first day of May. It's a day that workers around the world march for their cause. In recent years it's become a huge rallying day for immigrants, illegal and legal here in the United States.
Well, now there are signs that troubles in the U.S. economy are beginning to trickle down south of the border. Here is CNN's Harris Whitbeck.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Camilo Izquierdo is 77 years old and diabetic. His livestock is his lifeline.
CAMILO IZQUIERDO, TEJARO RESIDENT (through translator): I'm sick and I've been sick for quite some time. The medicine keeps getting more expensive and I just don't know what to do anymore.
WHITBECK: He and his wife have 13 children. Seven moved to the United States, including the eldest Eduardo, now a legal U.S. resident living in Los Angeles. Every month, he mails $200 back home to pay for his father's medicine. But several months ago the money stopped.
IZQUIERDO (through translator): He says things are getting too expensive over there. He even says things are worse there in California than over here.
WHITBECK (on camera): As the money from his son started to dwindle, Camilo started selling off some of his goats so he could buy medicine. He used to have about 130 goats. He's now down to about 40.
But to make matters even worse, a drought in the area pushed up the price of the feed for his remaining livestock. Camilo is now really hoping the U.S. economy will rebound so at least some money will start flowing in.
Eduardo works as a window installer. His hours have recently been slashed.
EDUARDO GUTIERREZ, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: I've seen the recession back in the '90s, but this is worse as far as I can tell. This is really bad.
WHITBECK: Not being able to help his parents hurts.
GUTIERREZ: It is tough. In a way, I kind of feel bad that I can't help my parents.
WHITBECK: Lots of other families in Tejaro rely on help from relatives working in the United States. Eduardo says he's not thinking of leaving the U.S. yet, but knows Mexicans who are.
GUTIERREZ: They're doing bad right now. A lot of people doing bad.
WHITBECK: Hard times on both sides of the border.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Tejaro, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Marches and rallies are being held today across the country to show support for immigrants' rights. If you'd like to watch any of the events, go to cnn.com/live because we will be streaming them online all day long.
New on DVD.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Immigration, Customs Enforcement, open the door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: A how-to guide for illegal immigrants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a green card?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will not answer that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Do they have a right to know how to break the law?
One-on-one with the woman who could be the next first lady.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, SEN. BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: We are looking for honesty. We're looking for openness, commitment and passion and he's got it. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The one Barack calls his rock, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, gas prices hitting another record high this morning. A national average of $3.62 a gallon. The 17th straight increase and the situation is becoming a major campaign issue. And, of course, candidates have all got something to say about what to, at least in the short term, do about gasoline prices.
We wanted to know which one of the candidates' plans you support here. Do you support John McCain calling for a gas tax holiday? Hillary Clinton, a holiday to be paid for with a tax on windfall profits from the oil companies? Or Barack Obama's plan, no gas tax holiday?
Let's take a look. 2 percent of you like John McCain's plan. 14 percent like Hillary Clinton's. 84 percent like Barack Obama's plan.
We also want to hear from you. Tell us your thoughts about why you chose to vote the way you did. Send us an e-mail at cnn.com/am. Hit the button that says contact us and send us your thoughts. We'll be reading some of those, coming up in our hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
PHILLIPS: And we've been waiting for this. A rare candid interview with Michelle Obama.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux sat down with the woman who could become the first lady and who's trying to get voters to focus on issues that matter. Suzanne now joins us live from Evansville, Indiana with her exclusive interview.
I would love to be a fly on the wall that watch you two -- two dynamic women engaged in conversation. Hi, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. You know, she really did disappoint. They call her the rock behind Barack. She was very straightforward. She was very passionate in this sit-down interview. She was with Carolyn Kennedy. Both of them in Indiana crossing the state trying to introduce or reintroduce Barack Obama to people who don't really know him very well.
But one thing that the campaign did very successfully before hand was defining who Barack Obama was. That was before the Reverend Wright controversy. Michelle called it a distraction. This is somebody who she's known for 20 years, officiated her wedding, baptized her children. And I asked her about how difficult it was to renounce and denounce her pastor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, SEN. BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: I was proud of the statement that he made yesterday. It was a tough thing for him to do. It's a painful situation to be in. Yes, it was painful. Yes, it's been difficult.
But I think that, you know, the more difficult thing that this country is facing is really trying to move politics into conversations around problems and problem-solving. And that's what we're going to be pretty determined to do.
And I think, you know, this is about all I'm going to say on the issue, and I think that, you know, we're going to close this chapter and move into the next phase of this election. So with that, I'm hoping that we'll talk about something else.
MALVEAUX: Do you feel confident that you can move forward? That he is not going to speak out again or do you think this is something that is going to dog him in the election?
OBAMA: We're going to do our best to move forward. Barack and I and our campaign, we are going to, with everything in our power, if allowed to by the press to move forward. And, you know, we can't speculate about what other people will do, and, you know, it's just pointless to try to speculate.
MALVEAUX: Do you think that your husband has been treated fairly? Are you surprised at how nasty this race has gotten?
OBAMA: You know, we've been in politics before, and I joke, we grew up in Chicago. Chicago politics, it's tough. Politics is tough. And there's nothing fair about it.
So, you know, Barack, the one thing Barack knows is that when you are seeking one of the most powerful positions in the world, you've got to be able to take it.
And you've got to, you know, know that the problems that are coming at you are going to be big and they're going to require emotional fortitude and courage and stepping out and hurting feelings and a whole range of things.
This is an important test, and he has always said that. He's said measure me not by what other people say or do, but by how he handles himself in this race -- the kind of organization he's built, the kind of campaign he's run. And let me tell you, as an un- objective observer who is sometimes very critical of my husband, he's done a phenomenal job.
He's remained cool, focused, clear, hasn't been perfect, but that's one thing I promised you -- was that he wasn't going to be perfect, and he said that time and time again. Perfectionism is not what we're looking for. We're looking for honesty. We're looking for openness, commitment and passion. And he's got it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And Kyra, I also asked her if she still believes she had faith that Barack Obama, her husband, would become president. She said yes, that she believes that this is still possible. But she also believes as well that they've set a good example here, that they have gotten a lot of people together, that they've generated a lot of enthusiasm and that is really a positive part of the campaign. But there's a bit of frustration here. They want to move beyond the Reverend Wright controversy because ultimately, she says, they have renounced him. They have denounced him. And he does not speak or represent what Barack Obama is.
That is something that they're trying to convey to the voters. They believe that Barack Obama did a very good job of doing that the day before in making that very clear. So what they're trying to do is simply turn the page.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Sure and who wants to be perfect? That's overrated. All right, Suzanne, I know that you probably sat down and talked to her about possible VPs, if indeed he were to become the president. I'm curious if she answered that question, and what she had to say.
MALVEAUX: Oh, she's keeping mum on that one.
