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American Morning
One-on-One Interview with Michelle Obama; Oil Down, Dollar Up; Fed Signals Pause in Rate Cuts; Hormone in Birth Control Pill Can Help Treat Brain Injuries; Is Iran Arming Militias?
Aired May 01, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: I know that you probably sat down and talk 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.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, she was keeping mum on that one. It was very interesting because, you know, there's a lot of speculation and, of course, there's a lot of people who are wishing this kind of dream team ticket. So take a listen to what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The last time you were asked about a possible Obama/Clinton ticket you said, well, I need to think on that a little bit. You've had some time to think. What do you think about an Obama/Clinton ticket?
MICHELLE OBAMA, SEN. BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: I haven't thought about it.
MALVEAUX: Is it possible?
OBAMA: You know, that's Barack's -- that's going to be Barack's call. And, you know, I think that's the one thing you earn when you go through this process is that at the end you get to decide who your running mate is going to be, and I think that that's, you know, that's going to require a lot of analysis and sort of sitting down and figuring this out. Our focus is one day at a time, one step in front of the other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And, Kyra, it was funny because one of the things that she said is that whatever happens when this race is all over, the one thing that their two daughters, young daughters, are going to get is a dog. They've been promised a puppy for all of this because it's been 16 months, it's been grueling for their family. She says that's the toughest thing for all of them is being separated, but we are going to see the daughters as well as Barack Obama and Michelle all together over the weekend campaigning.
Clearly this is a very important state. It's a very important contest, and they want this thing to move forward -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Great job. Suzanne Malveaux, good to see you this morning. Thanks for that.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Puppies mend all wounds, don't they?
With five days left now until the next primaries, both candidates are campaigning hard in Indiana this morning. Barack Obama picked up endorsements from three members of the House of Representatives making him even with Hillary Clinton at 97 apiece. According to the latest national Democratic poll of polls, an average of three recent polls, Obama leads Clinton by two points now. Well, narrowing of the race there.
Price of gasoline hit a record high this morning. Regular now selling for $3.62 a gallon. Diesel, $4.25. The Democrats are making a major campaign issue out of the so-called gas tax holiday, and what they believe it would do or not do for the economy.
(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: And Republican John McCain supports suspending the gas tax as well, though. Unlike Hillary Clinton, he would not offset the cost of that by putting a tax on the oil company's profits.
And the Republican nominee in waiting talks to voters in Ohio today. John McCain blasting pork barrel spending on the campaign trail like the $200 million bridge to nowhere that never got built in Alaska. McCain also called last year's Minnesota Bridge collapse a tragic example of the billions wasted on pork barrel spending. He says that money is needed to rebuild critical infrastructure. McCain has pledged to eliminate congressional earmarks estimated at $18 billion last year alone.
And McCain is getting blasted for his war position in a new ad by the anti-war group Moveon.org. It's time for this, 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) ROBERTS: The Republican Party says the ad is a radical distortion of John McCain's position. Senator McCain, by the way, is going to be our guest coming up in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING at 8:20 Eastern.
PHILLIPS: Iraq is sending an official delegation to confront Iran about supporting Shiite militias in Iraq. An Iraqi government official says that this team is armed with "evidence, confessions and pictures" that indicate that Iran is supplying weapons and training for Shiite fighters battling U.S. and Iraqi troops.
And a new report on the growing worldwide terror threat coming from the Bush administration, the State Department says that al-Qaeda has rebuilt some of its pre-9/11 capabilities from hiding places in Pakistan.
In Afghanistan, attacks increased by almost a fifth. In Iraq, attacks dipped last year but they still accounted for 60 percent of 22,000 terror-related deaths worldwide.
Three bombings in Spain this morning. The bombs targeted labor- related buildings in the Basque region, but there were no injuries reported today. It's May Day, by the way, a traditional workers' holiday. Police say that 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.
ROBERTS: The Justice Department is going after spies here in the United States. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved nearly 2,400 warrants last year targeting people in the U.S. who were believed to be linked to terrorist groups overseas. That's about nine percent more warrants than last year and double the number since 2001.
The price of rice now at record highs. The prime minister of Thailand is floating the idea of creating a so-called rice cartel. The idea, much like the oil cartel, would group rice-producing nations together to influence the price of the grain. So far, only India has voiced its support for the idea. Thailand is the world's number one exporter of rice.
And a fight right now over growing food and paying for feeding the needy in the new Farm Bill 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 those saying that the "bloated $300 billion bill" helps wealthy farmers while doing little to address soaring food costs.
And the FDA now hiring. The Food and Drug Administration is planning a major expansion. With soaring demand to inspect products and approve new drugs, the agency says it's going to hire more than 1,300 biologists, chemists, and other researchers by October. So get that resume together.
PHILLIPS: New allegations about the abuse of boys who were moved from the polygamist compound in Texas. Investigators say that they're investigating the possibility that some may have been sexually abused. The information is based on interviews with the children and journal entries found at the ranch. They also say at least 41 children may have had broken bones. A spokesperson 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 in support for immigrants' rights. Police across the country aren't expecting the events to rival ones that took place last year, but organizers say they will call on the government to put a moratorium on deportation.
Now if you'd like to watch any of the rallies or speeches, just go to CNN.com/live and we'll be streaming them all day long.
ROBERTS: She is a wife, a mother of three, and a fugitive for 32 years. Her name, Susan LeFevre. In 1976, police say she escaped from a low security detention security camp in Michigan. She was serving a 10 to 20 year sentence for conspiracy to sell heroin. At the time, she was just 20 years old and had served less than a year.
Since then, she changed her name to Marie Walsh, moved to California, and got married. But it was an anonymous tip in March that led authorities to LeFevre.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN LEFEVRE, ARRESTED AFTER 32 YEARS AS A FUGITIVE: Flashed his badge and just said, are you Susan LeFevre? And I just thought, well, this is, you know, this is the moment. This is it. This finally has happened. All these years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Long arm of the law finally caught up to her. She's now being returned to Michigan where she will face escape charges. Plus, she may also have to finish out the rest of her nine-year sentence.
PHILLIPS: Oil is down, the dollar is up, and then another Fed rate cut. Well, is that just a coincidence? We're going to find out straight ahead.
And what does the birth control pill have to do with treating traumatic brain injuries? Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen tells us straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Professor Velshi with us this morning to talk about the inverse relationship between oil prices and the value of the dollar. Good morning, professor.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, class. All right. So you have a -- it's all good. It's all good because you don't have to stay home now.
Oil prices are coming down. The dollar is getting strong. You can go on vacation this summer. It's all getting better.
ROBERTS: And it's all ending on June 8th.
VELSHI: That's all ending on June 8th. Exactly.
Let me tell you something. John brought this point up yesterday. It's a good one that we need to look at. There is a very clear relationship between the strength of the U.S. dollar and the cost of oil. Now, when the Federal Reserve cuts rates, as it did yesterday, it typically forces the dollar down a little bit.
But in this case because the Fed -- it's widely believed that the Fed is probably done cutting rates. It's done so seven times over the last several months. The dollar started to move up and has been moving up all week.
So it's not a great deal, but it's about $1.55 for a euro, for instance, and oil has started moving down. About $113.50 for a barrel of oil, which is quite a deal considering it was up around $120. So, first of all, that's going to affect gas prices down the road.
But I just want to show you a picture of the relationship between oil and the dollar. The red line is the U.S. dollar as compared to other currencies, and the green line is crude oil. And as you can see, it's a very, very direct relationship as the price of oil has gotten higher. When the dollar goes down, oil increases in price. And that's a point that you have made and it's important to understand so that you know that's one of the reasons why oil is high.
Now, there are a lot of reasons why oil is high right now. One of them is supply and demand. We don't make as much as, you know, the growth in our demand indicates. So -- and another reason is it's a traded commodity. People make money trading on oil even though they don't need to do anything with the oil. They just trade it.
PHILLIPS: We have to create a different kind of demand and the supply will follow. Sort of like what Ted Turner did with CNN, so we get this alternative option.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Right. And that's exactly right. At $100 or more for a barrel of oil, it does. The one good thing is it does create opportunities to squeeze oil out of everything you could possibly think of. And that -- that does mean that you'll create alternatives and it makes them more --
PHILLIPS: Corn, algae, all these other opportunities.
VELSHI: Yes. I mean, we have to think about -- well, I don't think -- I think we should probably be careful because we saw what corn has done by taking a food source and making it a fuel.
PHILLIPS: Yes, true.
VELSHI: But we should think about all those things that are other options.
PHILLIPS: We'll be experimenting.
VELSHI: That's the bright side of it.
ROBERTS: So for consumers out there, price of oil down from its highs. How long before that trickles and the price of gas starts to decrease?
VELSHI: Well, what I'm looking at right now is that pace that we've seen, 1 cent a day increases, let's see if that pace actually changes. We might get new records, but will it be a smaller jump every day? And then we might see it even out. AAA says by Memorial Day $3.90 as a national average for a gallon of gas. We're at $3.62 today.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll see if those projections hold true. Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: Yes.
PHILLIPS: A river a rising, it's flooding the streets, it's filling the homes up and driving people out literally. Take a look at these pictures here that we've been getting in all morning.
Reynolds Wolf tracking all that extreme weather for us -- Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You're right and that is not all. Of course, we're seeing those issues in parts of the northeast, but back into the central plains we were talking about this morning, will be another round of rough weather. Possible tornadoes later in the day and then even farther to the west, the Rockies.
We're not talking about rain. We're talking about snow, where it may fall in not inches, but in feet before the day is over. That is your forecast. We're going to have more on that coming up right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Major flooding. People forced out of their homes and businesses on both sides of the U.S./Canadian border. Now 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.
Now, we do have some good news. The river is already crested. Waters are slowly beginning to recede but once the water is gone, then it's cleanup time and it's going to be a huge mess for the people to take care of. No question, it's going to be something they'll be dealing with through the weekend and into next week.
That is what is happening and what was happening. Here is what may happen later on today. As we go to the weather computer, we are seeing the potential of a severe weather scenario. Area of low pressure, this fall boundary sweeping across the center of the U.S. Going from west to east, it's going to tap into some moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. That combination with some daytime heating is maybe enough to destabilize the atmosphere giving us a slight risk of severe storms, large hail and isolated tornadoes.
Now, let's say you're going westbound on I-70 going through Missouri, you may be dealing with this kind of weather earlier in the day. However, by later in the day, it is going to be a snow story for you, not only along I-70 but it points north where up in Rapid City and even into Casper we have the potential of seeing some heavy snow there.
Also, west of Denver, going to be the same story and that situation where you have cold air, of course, high loft and you have low-burning moisture which could spell out as one to three feet of snowfall near Rapid City and points west of Denver anywhere from eight to 16 inches of snowfall.
Those mountain passes with the strong wind gusts along I-70 could be very, very difficult for people with these high profile vehicles. I'm talking about the truck drivers, people who happen to be in big SUVs, perhaps even some Winnebago kind of vehicles. So certainly treacherous driving for you today in both of those locations.
That is the latest we've got for you in terms of weather. Coming up, we're going to talk about so much more. But for now, let's send it back to New York with John and Kyra.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it. Reynolds, thanks very much.
It's 17 after the hour now. A brutal 10-hour-long battle in Afghanistan ends with seven militants killed. Just days earlier, the same militants had tried to assassinate President Hamid Karzai. How were they found and what are their connections? Senior international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joins us in just a little bit with that.
PHILLIPS: Promising new treatment for traumatic brain injuries and it involves the birth control pill. Elizabeth Cohen is going to tell us about that. Hey, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Kyra, there is so little out there to help people who are suffering from traumatic brain injuries. Hormones might help them. We'll talk about that when AMERICAN MORNING comes back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A new study finds that a hormone in birth control pills can help treat traumatic brain injuries. That study was done by Emory University and our own in-house brain surgeon, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who was even on the research team.
Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now live from Washington. Elizabeth, brain injuries, a serious problem especially for children. You're a mother of a number of kids. I'm sure you've had to deal with the playground issues.
COHEN: Right.
PHILLIPS: Will this new treatment make a difference?
COHEN: You know, the doctors we talked to about this, Kyra, were very excited. They said, you know what, we haven't had a new treatment for brain injury in 30 years. This is the first thing in 30 years that really seems to be making a difference. So let's talk about this new study out of China and what they did.
This is from Hangzhou (ph) University and what they found is that there was a 35 percent reduction in death when they gave people progesterone. Yes, progesterone, the same thing that's in birth control pills. A 35 percent reduction in deaths.
And this is following the study that you mentioned that Sanjay Gupta was involved with where there was a 60 percent reduction in deaths. This was people who had milder injuries. So it's actually very exciting that in China they were working with people with serious brain injuries and still saw a reduction in deaths. Doctors are very excited about these numbers.
And it will be very interesting to see if now with the second study coming out if progesterone gets to be used more widely when people have brain injuries. And another note is that they didn't really see any serious side effects from giving progesterone, so it seems to be a win/win situation.
PHILLIPS: Well, explain to me why would this hormone in a birth control pill actually help people in this manner, in particular brain injuries.
COHEN: Right. It does seem so strange. Why would a hormone help? But what doctors say is that when a fetus is in the womb, the progesterone helps protect its brain from injuries, from bad things happening, that it works as an anti-inflammatory. An inflammation is such a crucial problem when someone has a brain injury. So the same way that it seems to protect the fetus, it seems to protect people when they get the hormone after brain injury.
PHILLIPS: Interesting stuff. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: It's coming up at 21 minutes after the hour. Gasoline prices hit another record high this morning even though the price of oil has pulled back a little bit. We're at a national average of $3.62 a gallon now. That's the 17th straight increase.
Now, the situation is becoming a major campaign issue. This morning we'd like to know which of the candidates' plans you support regarding this so-called gas tax holiday, the 18.4 cent a gallon Federal gas tax.
Right now, two percent of you like John McCain's plan to have a Federal tax gas holiday between Memorial and Labor Day. Fourteen percent prefer Hillary Clinton's plan to have the holiday but pay for it with the tax on oil company profits. And 84 percent, the vast majority of you support Barack Obama's opposition to a gas tax holiday.
Keep those votes coming for us this morning. Go to CNN.com/am and click on the "Quick Vote." We'll be checking the results all morning.
We also want to hear from you via e-mail. Give us your thoughts, CNN.com/am. Follow the buttons that say "contact us." Let us know why you voted the way you voted, or maybe you got your own ideas about what to do about gas prices. So send us an e-mail and we'll be reading some of those a little bit later on this hour.
PHILLIPS: We're learning more about the failed assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai and how al-Qaeda might have been behind it. Christiane Amanpour joins us next.
And a DVD that gives illegal immigrants ideas on how to avoid being sent back. Actually straight up advice. That story in today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-four after the hour. We're following breaking news this morning. Officials at the Pentagon confirm that one of the top leaders of a terror group linked to al-Qaeda was the target of a missile strike in Somalia. So far, no word whether the terror leader was killed. The U.S. military has launched several strikes against Islamic militants in Somalia.
Meantime, Iraq is getting tough on Iran. A delegation is heading to Tehran with what it says is evidence that Iran is funding militias in Iraq, including photos. Apparently, they've got confessions as well. This is all about the cross border supply of weapons and the training of fighters who are going up against Iraqi forces and the U.S. military in Iraq.
CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joins us now. So, do we expect that this delegation headed from Iraq to Iran is going to have any kind of an effect?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It could do. Clearly what's happening, though, the United States is positioning itself to make Iran the big threat in the region and particularly in Iraq at the moment. You've seen some of the saber- rattling. You've seen some of the activity in the Persian Gulf, the increase in U.S. military assets there, and of course this business about having evidence of weapons coming across the border.
The fact is that the al-Qods (ph) force headed by a particular leader, the Iranian leader there, is very powerful in the south of Iraq, and they do have very serious connections with the Iraqi government. So, apparently, according to reports, the head of the al- Qods (ph) basically brokered the existence of the Maliki government, brokered the last cease-fire between al-Sadr and the militant uprising there.
ROBERTS: So a tremendous amount of influence.
AMANPOUR: There's a lot of influence and, of course, this again is the result of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the creation essentially of a vacuum. You don't have a strong Iraqi government, and you don't have Iran engaged.
ROBERTS: As you said, some saber-rattling in recent days. The United States has upped its criticism of Iran. There were a couple carrier battle groups in the Persian Gulf at the same time as they were swapping out. Only one group there now.
But there are many people who think that this administration is determined to launch some kind of an attack against Iran before President Bush is out of office. This idea of sending the Iraqis over there, could this sort of be -- could this be read as the United States is saying let the Iraqis try it now, but if they don't get some results, then we'll do it ourselves?
AMANPOUR: Well, the fact is there is nobody else who's talking to the Iranians. So at least the Iranians and the Iraqis are talking to each other. The Americans are not talking to the Iranians. So it's useful, and the last time it happened there was the cease-fire brokered in the Basra area.
But, yes, the pressure is mounting. For instance, you just heard President Bush in the last couple of days talk about why they released the evidence on the North Korea, Syria, Israel nuclear business in Syria. And one of the reasons was apparently, according to the president, to raise pressure on Iran, on North Korea in the nuclear sphere.
So there is this positioning, if you like, of Iran as the biggest threat according to the United States. The president has said it many times, and some analysts are saying that perhaps this is a positioning to permit U.S. troops to stay even longer in Iraq. If Iran according to the U.S. is the big threat, this is not going to enable U.S. forces to pull out.
ROBERTS: Let's switch gears and go to Afghanistan for a second. Over the weekend, there was this assassination attempt against President Hamid Karzai. Apparently, there were some military operations there in Kabul. They killed a number of militants said to be associated with this attempt, and some of them have ties to al- Qaeda right there in the heart of Kabul attacking President Karzai.
AMANPOUR: Yes.
ROBERTS: This would seem to be a very troubling development.
AMANPOUR: Look, it's a disaster in short. All these years after overthrowing the Taliban, after having the Taliban and al-Qaeda on the run, essentially policy moved its eye from the ball of Afghanistan and onto the ball of Iraq. Afghanistan is where al-Qaeda was incubated, where they planned the attack of 9/11, and yet the eye was taken off the ball and we're reaping the results of that right now, in typical term, blowback or whatever you like to call it.
So the fact that in Kabul, which was considered the island of stability of Iraq, the Taliban is able to move up, threaten the security, and several times with al-Qaeda's help try to assassinate the president. This is a very, very troubling situation, and it points to Pakistan. The policy to Pakistan, the Musharraf-based policy, and in trying to figure out what to do in the tribal areas.
ROBERTS: Is this also why we're seeing the increased involvement or the new involvement after years of the U.S. Marines in Helmand province because the Taliban, big stronghold there? Is there a danger now that their influence could become a threat to the entire country?
AMANPOUR: If there is a huge danger. The incoming U.N. chief of operations there has said in Washington, in fact, he met with Secretary Rice, President Bush in the last day or so, is that there needs to be a real circling of the wagons and a real attempt to do the kind of development and security work that needs to be done to push back the Taliban, which were on the run, let's not forget, and have been allowed through negligence to come back and to be a really serious threat.
And so, the fact that the marines are there is very significant and the president himself has asked the NATO to contribute more troops and they haven't come forth with as many troops as is required. And this I think is going to be a big problem. The vacuum there is going to be a big problem.
And unless they can change the relationship in terms of the policy with Pakistan, make it less individual-based and more actions- based in the northwest provinces and with the current Pakistani government, to see if they can actually do something, it's going to be difficult.
ROBERTS: An anti-terrorism expert that Kyra and I had lunch with just the other day fully believes that the next attack against the United States is going to come from Pakistan. So, Christiane Amanpour, thanks very much. Good to see you.
PHILLIPS: Well, now the race for the White House five days until the crucial primaries in North Carolina and Indiana, and both Democratic candidates are in Indiana this morning. Hillary Clinton will campaign in Indianapolis, Jeffersonville, also Terre Haute. Barack Obama will visit South Bend, and the race appears to be tightening, too.
A new national Democratic poll of voters shows that Clinton closing to within two percentage points of Obama's lead, 12 percent of voters are still unsure. Meantime, the Obamas are trying to put the Reverend Wright controversy behind them. Obama's wife, Michelle, talked to CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. She said speaking out against their former pastor was painful, and now it's time to move on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, SENATOR BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: Barack has been so clear and 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.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Frankly, what he said over the last few days and, you know, in some of the sermons that have been excerpted, were unacceptable and weren't things that, you know, we believed in. What we want to do now though is make sure that this doesn't continue to be a perpetual distraction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And Senator Hillary Clinton says that Wright's comments were offensive and outrageous. On Monday, Wright defended his belief that September 11th was brought on by America and that the government may have conspired to spread AIDS among African-Americans.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: Alina Cho here now with other stories making headlines this morning. Good morning to you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. Again, good morning everyone. 31 minutes after the hour. And new this morning, a house committee will vote today on a bill aimed at helping struggling homeowners get new mortgages. The plan is to give up to $300 billion in new mortgages and homeowners in turn would have to show they could afford to make those new payments. Republicans call the bill a taxpayer funded bailout. The full house will take up the bill next week.
Well, every morning, we bring you stories about how food and gas are getting more and more expensive. And that makes this story all the more unusual, take a listen. Six flags over Georgia is rolling back its prices. Regular admission will drop from $49.99 to $39.99 per person, and that's the lowest price since 2000. The theme park says in this environment families need an affordable option for entertainment.
The State Department calls it a bureaucratic snafu explaining why former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela is on the U.S. terror watch list. Can you believe it? Mandela is a member of the African National Congress, which was labeled a terror group back in the '70s. Congress says it's working on getting members of the ANC off the list. Hopefully by Mandela's 90th birthday in July.
And if you think Los Angels is polluted, try Pittsburgh. The steel city is number one in the country for cities with the most particle pollution. That's the unhealthy combination of soot and exhaust that can cause asthma attacks. It's the first time in nine years the American Lung Association named a city outside California, but for overall population, well, L.A. is still number one. If you want to breathe some clean air, head to Fargo, North Dakota, or Salinas, California.
And she's not quite the karate kid, but you still don't want to pick a fight with her. Take a look at 73-year-old Janine Conner. She just earned her black belt in taekwondo. Take a look at her. She took it up five years ago apparently thinking it was a good way to spend time with her daughter and grandson. Her grandson has since dropped out. Wimp. But mom and daughter are still kicking. She also kick boxes and does strength training and says she's busier than ever. You know, maybe I'm just getting older, but 73 doesn't sound so old. You know, she looks great.
PHILLIPS: Not to her she's old. That's our next bodyguard in Iraq when we head overseas, John.
ROBERTS: We were talking about these grannies appearing at these political campaigns. Maybe she could become a Secret Service agent on the protection detail.
CHO: A good idea.
ALI VELSHI, CNN, SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You should never do martial arts with a caregiver. That's my piece of it.
CHO: Hey, she looks good. Anyway.
ROBERTS: Excellent, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's a short DVD made to help illegal immigrants stay one step ahead of immigration laws and live in the United States illegally, but immigration groups say that that's not the case and that its purpose is just to show everyone in America has rights. Here is CNN's Dan Lothian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Immigration and Custom Enforcement.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This isn't from the evening news. It's actors playing out an illegal immigrants worst nightmare, a raid by immigration agents. The scene shifts to a dark living room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Immigration customs enforcement. Open the door.
LOTHIAN: This might sound like a tip to stay one step ahead of the law, to remain in this country illegally, but the group that produced the DVD says everyone in this country, legal and illegal, has rights.
ANGELICA SALAS, COALITION FOR HUMANE IMMIGRANT RIGHTS OF L.A.: You have the right not to provide information to authorities that could then lead to your deportation.
LOTHIAN: But Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say advice like that only complicates the government's job.
JOHN TORRES, IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: When we knock on the door, people refuse to answer that door and they refuse to cooperate with us, and so it requires us to potentially have agents spend the entire day there waiting for the person to come out.
LOTHIAN: And more hurdles for law enforcement in this scene when a driver fails to cooperate with a police officer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a green card?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will not answer that.
LOTHIAN: A lesson here, don't give more information than you have to.
SALAS: Ultimately, it might mean that you still will be deported, but give yourself a chance.
LOTHIAN: That's why there's this DVD, handouts with cartoons, and meetings with advice for illegal immigrants.
ALI NOORANI, MASS. IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE ADVOCACY: We're not saying run, we're not saying hide. We're saying know your rights. If they're teaching people as to their specific individual rights, that is one thing, but it's entirely a different matter to teach people how to evade the law or to stay here in furtherance of violation of the law.
LOTHIAN: A tug of war between the government trying to enforce the law and advocates fighting to keep immigrants from being deported. Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: 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, just go to cnn.com/live and we'll be streaming them all day long.
ROBERTS: 36 minutes after the hour. You might have seen some of the warnings in recent days, some people saying gasoline could hit $10 a gallon. And here's Mr. Reality Check with us this morning.
VELSHI: Yes. We've been doing the reality check. Look, I can't predict what's going to happen. I can tell you that at the rate at which gasoline has been going up if you said it was going to double in the next year, you've got some math behind you. But I'm going to come back and tell you why I don't think that's going to happen. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Ali Velshi. Let's talk about gas prices. Another record today. $3.62 a gallon for self-serve. That's a national average. And that is another record. 17 days in a row. So how high does it go? Well, listen, it's been rising at the rate of about a cent a day for the last month. Now, obviously if there are 365 days in a year and that pace were to continue, we're at $3.62 now that means, we're going to double in a year. Let me tell you why that's probably not going to happen. First of all, I want to bring you back a few years. Let's look at gas prices back in 2002, and the reason I picked that is that's kind of when gas prices started rising. $1.42 this time of year in 2002. A year later, just $1.54. Not that big a deal. Then we crossed in 2004, we crossed that $2 a gallon line. Where we started talking about are we going to change our behavior? Are we all going to drive little tiny cars? No, we didn't. In 2005, we hit $2.22 this time of year. It started going up a lot that year, and we had Hurricane Katrina at the end of it. By 2006 springtime we were at $2.95 a gallon.
Then we really started talking about changing the way we drive. And we actually did. We pulled back on SUVs and trucks and things like that. By 2007, last year this time, gas was at $3.13 and now we're above $3.60 a gallon. So, as I say, if you add a penny a day to this, by this time next year, by May of next year, we'll definitely be above $7.00. That's the number people have used. Well, I don't know if that's the case because I think that what you have seen since that $1.42 in 2002 is as we have moved up that ladder, people have changed the way they drive. They just --
PHILLIPS: What do you mean change the way they drive?
VELSHI: Change the cars they drive --
PHILLIPS: And how they get around.
VELSHI: How many times you go to the mall, who in the family drives which car...
PHILLIPS: Their daily schedule, they change their routine.
VELSHI: Yes. Change your routine in order to save money on gasoline. Because you can only inflate your tires and keep your windows, you know, closed so much. That's only going to save you so much gas. You actually have to drive less. And that's what's happening, eventually you change cars.
ROBERTS: Somewhere along the line that we changed our behavior by buying four-wheeled behemoths that get 14 miles to the gallon.
VELSHI: Gas was cheap and we love the road. And they're big and tough. And you know, we're all attracted to it. I've done that. We've all --
PHILLIPS: You can throw the whole soccer team in there.
VELSHI: But you know, funny in Europe they get along with these little cars and they manage to buy everything they need and get it home.
ROBERTS: We get picked up every day in a Toyota Camry hybrid.
VELSHI: Really.
ROBERTS: I mean, not to plugged --
VELSHI: They're fantastic.
PHILLIPS: We've gone green.
ROBERTS: Great. I love it.
VELSHI: You guys want to swing by my place?
PHILLIPS: We'll get you.
VELSHI: You guys get in here a little earlier than I do so scratch that. Hey, by the way, thanks to our director Kelly. Notice that back drop?
ROBERTS: It's no longer the (silver bass)ph.
VELSHI: Yes. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Hey, great.
VELSHI: Nice to see you guys.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Ali.
PHILLIPS: Reynolds Wolf tracking all the extreme weather for us still from the snow to the floods. You're a busy man today.
ROBERTS: Got it all.
REYNOLDS WOLF: Absolutely. You know, extreme is really the key phrase here. We've got a big storm system rolling across the central plains that later on today could spell out giving us a chance of some strong storms on one side. On the other, some heavy snow. We'll talk about it coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. This is your big weather story of the day. It's going to be this area of low pressure making its way across the nation where on one side of the system we are going to be dealing with some strong storms and yet on the other the potential for very heavy snowfall. I know the calendar is May, but snow is definitely going to be in the picture. Let's talk about some of the strong storms first. And what we could see with all that moisture coming in from the gulf, a little bit of daytime heating and this frontal boundary also providing lift. Look for a very unstable atmosphere that could bring a chance of some severe storms, large hail, isolated tornadoes, even the potential for some flash flooding.
On the other side of the system, we make our way back into the northern plains, into the Rockies where we're going to be dealing with the potential of some heavy snowfall. In fact, right now near Casper back over to Rapid City, we do see some scattered snow showers farther south into parts of Colorado. Along the i-70 corridor, it is going to be real tough, possibly some whiteout conditions, too combined with the strong wind gusts. As you'll see, anywhere from eight to 16 inches of snow falling into the Central Rockies. But in the Northern Rockies, nine inches of snow, rather feet of snow. Anywhere from one to three feet possible on this May 1st. That is your story. Let's send it back to you in New York.
PHILLIPS: Thank you. Well, this doesn't apply to you. I don't think so, Reynolds. We're talking about shiny lip gloss. It may make you look good. You know, help make you look good. All right. That's, you know, we all - I admit I just put some on. But believe it or not, it could increase the risk of developing skin cancer. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is going to join us with all the details.
ROBERTS: And a pilot vanishes. A ransom is paid, but after a month still no sign of the man. Now his parents are upping the reward. Coming up, we'll talk to his parents about their search.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: OK. Go out in the hot sun, take a magnifying glass and hold it in front you are your lips. Dermatologists say that's what you're doing when you go out in the sun wearing shiny lip gloss. The result may be an increased risk of skin cancer on your lips. Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us again from Washington. So, what is it about this idea of lip gloss that causes cancer?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's all that shine, John. John, I assume you were a smarter teenager than I was, but I remember my friends and I we would put baby oil on our skin when we went out to sunbathe. And that's a terrible idea. That's kind of what lip gloss is, increases the amount of UV rays that are going to penetrate your lips. This could be a problem because lip cancer is the most common form of skin cancer, and it is also the most aggressive. It is much more likely to metastasize to other parts of the body compared to other kinds of skin cancers.
So, how do you know if you have lip cancer. Let's take a look at what some of the signs are. You need to know this even if you're not wearing lip gloss. If you have white or orange spots on your lips, that's not a good thing. You need to go see a dermatologist. If you have a sore on your lips lasting more than two weeks, also not good. If you have peeling, flaking, or chapping, that is also a problem. Now, we ran this theory about the lip gloss by some other dermatologists, John, and some of them didn't completely buy it. It wasn't completely solid. They said show me the evidence. There really isn't a whole lot of evidence, the theory, but everyone agreed no matter what you ought to be wearing a form of sunscreen on your lips just like on the rest of your body. John.
ROBERTS: You know, Elizabeth, I have no idea why you would think I was a smarter teenager than you because I was pretty dumb back in those days and I did the baby oil thing as well.
COHEN: You did, OK.
ROBERTS: But, let's say, you know, a woman wants to wear lip gloss but wants protection as well, how do you do that?
COHEN: Right. There are ways you can still get your shine and also protect yourself against skin cancer. Let's go through the list. First of all, as I said, everyone ought to be wearing a lip balm with an SPF 30 sunscreen because, as a base layer. It's just going to protect your lips. You can also where matte lipstick that's not shiny instead of gloss. I'm not suggesting that for you, John, I just - I really mean women here. Titanium dioxide is another good ingredient to look for in products, and also mix lipstick and gloss or gloss with zinc oxide. That's that white stuff that people use. There are formulations where the white doesn't show up but it still protects against the sun.
ROBERTS: All right. It doesn't have to be the white stuff that you see lifeguards wearing on their nose -
COHEN: Right.
ROBERTS: Or purple or whatever color.
COHEN: Right. They have advanced formulas now where the white part doesn't show up.
ROBERTS: Got you.
PHILLIPS: John might look nice in a light shade of pink.
COHEN: Oh, I'd love to see that.
PHILLIPS: That would make headlines.
ROBERTS: Time to end this segment. Elizabeth, thanks very much.
PHILLIPS: We're all going to be more careful. Gas prices hitting another record high this morning. A national average, I'm not smiling at this, I promise, $3.62 a gallon. We're all not happy with that. It's a 17th straight increase. The situation is becoming a major campaign issue. We're going to talk about that.
And also this morning we want to know which of the candidates' plans you support. Right now, 2 percent of you like John McCain's plan to have a federal gas tax holiday. 15 percent prefer Hillary Clinton's plan to have a gas tax holiday paid for by a tax on oil company profits, and then 83 percent of you support Barack Obama's opposition to a gas tax holiday. Keep those votes coming. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll be checking in on all those results this morning.
Also, we, of course, would love to get your e-mails. A lot of people e-mailing in in support of Obama. Tom from Lexington, Kentucky writes this "when John McCain speaks at his party's convention in Minneapolis, there will be a bridge outside the door lying in the river that will have been stripped of funds for highway repair because of his gimmicks. Americans dumbed-down to accept bonus checks and gimmicks rather are doomed to repeat the last five years of mission accomplished." ROBERTS: Oh.
PHILLIPS: You got your interview coming up with him. You can discuss it with him right there.
ROBERTS: Yes. I don't know, I think I'll let that one slide.
Grace from Tucker, Georgia, disagrees and says "based on the way our family vehicle is driven, with no way to change that, the least we would save with a gas tax holiday is $90, not $30, as Barack Obama says by the way. Even if it were $30, I'd still appreciate it. Saying I would not like it is like saying pennies don't count in this economy, elitist."
PHILLIPS: And this from Zach from Cedar Park, Texas, "doing away with the gas tax on a temporary basis is nuts. It's just another one of those half-baked idea to rob Peter to pay Paul."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Thin air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll do anything we can to get our son back, to bring him home safe.
ROBERTS: A pilot kidnapped. A ransom paid. Still no return. His parents upped the reward and join us live.
McCain campaign.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a plan to make health care affordable and available to all Americans.
ROBERTS: His plans as president. Health care, Iraq, and the gas price relief. John McCain joins us live.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It's a rare case of ransom for a kidnapped adult. And now his parents are increasing their reward. They're offering a quarter of a million dollars for information leading to their missing son and his kidnappers. 26-year-old Robert Wiles disappeared April 1st in Lakeland, Florida. His parents received a ransom note. They say they followed instructions, but they say they never heard that their son's kidnappers. The FBI is now involved in a case that stretches from Florida all around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some individuals of interest we'll call them at this point that we are aggressively pursuing.
PHILLIPS: Robert Wiles dropped out of sight April 1st after finishing work at an aircraft maintenance company in Lakeland, Florida. Robert works for his father's successful company, National Flight Services, which maintains planes across the globe. But colleagues brushed off suggestions he may have been targeted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Customers get upset, they get mad, but nothing like this ever happens. This just doesn't happen in our world, I guess would be the best to say.
PHILLIPS: Authorities say kidnappings for ransom are rare and they're calling on anyone with information to help, and they're asking the kidnappers to send Robert home safely.
They should come forward because, again, we want to bring the ideas to bring Robert back safely. It's going to be a lot better on whoever is involved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Pamela and Tom Wiles are the parents of Robert Wiles. They join us now live from Tampa. Appreciate you joining us. Tom, let me start with you. What's the latest information with regard to what the FBI is telling you?
THOMAS WILES, SON BELIEVED TO BE KIDNAPPED: The FBI is pretty tight-lipped about most of the information that they generate. They've just -- they have informed us that they have numerous agents, they're following up with a lot of information, and that they're -- that they, you know, expect to solve this case.
PHILLIPS: Do you have confidence in the search for your son?
THOMAS WILES: I have been pretty impressed with the performance that I have seen so far. They have a lot of people that are working around the clock. I think they will be successful.
PHILLIPS: Pamela, tell me about Robert and what you want us to know about him as we sort of get to know him in this case in a little more of an intimate way.
PAMELA WILES, SON BELIEVED TO BE KIDNAPPED: Robert is an excellent young man, an extraordinary young man. Everybody -- you ask anybody that he knows, they're going to tell you Robert is full of enthusiasm and creativity. He's very health conscious. He's very strong. He's close with his parents and if he can hear us, I want him to know that we love him very much and that we will work with whoever has him and do whatever it takes to get him back.
PHILLIPS: Pamela, was he struggling at all with work or home or friends or maybe a relationship? I mean, can you make sense of this at all to maybe he might want - I guess maybe go missing and this not be really involved in a kidnapping?
PAMELA WILES: You know, that's -- originally somebody had mentioned that, and, of course, my first thought was it isn't possible, I can't imagine, but I have talked to his friends to -- you know, who are very close to him and asked them. They said no way, Mrs. Wiles. Robert would never just disappear. You know that has been confirmed across the board that everyone who knows him. This is just a puzzle to all of us.
PHILLIPS: Tom, what about you?
PAMELA WILES: Robert wouldn't do this.
PHILLIPS: Were you in a good place, you think, with you son? And was everything OK at home?
TOM WILES: Yes. Very well. I met with for brunch just a day or two before he disappeared. Robert was upbeat and happy. And he and I had traveled a couple of days earlier, down in Miami and back and it was a very, very pleasant uplifting day for me and I think for him also.
PHILLIPS: Well, and you company has been extremely successful. And we've talked about this ransom note and the issue of money and the kidnapping of your son. I want both of you to respond to this. Do you believe that this was a targeted kidnapping?
