Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Aid to Myanmar on the Way; Violent Arrest in Philadelphia Caught on Tape; Delta Airfare Price Hike; Clinton Under Pressure to Quit
Aired May 08, 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: We'll be asking you about that in our "Quick Vote" this morning.
We begin though with breaking news on the growing crisis in Myanmar. Just moments ago, the United Nations said one of its relief planes has landed in the country after days of being denied permission to enter. U.S. planes are still being blocked though. The top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar says the number of people killed from the deadly cyclone could hit 100,000 if survivors do not get food and fresh water quickly.
Right now, 23,000 people are known dead, 42,000 others are missing. Our representative from the World Food Programme just spoke to CNN International about the relief effort.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BANBURY, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: The World Food Programme is fully prepared now to respond to the needs in there. We have food. We have personnel. We have portable offices, generators, boats.
We're loading them on a plane literally now in Phnom Penh. Those planes are really to fly. We have about four planes ready to go today to Yangon to start offloading the people, the supplies, the food. We just need the permission so we can do our job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And the spokeswoman for the United Nations World Food Programme, Bettina Luescher, joins us in a few minutes time with what she has learned this morning. We'll get reports from CNN's Dan Rivers as well. He's one of few western journalists who are inside Myanmar.
Also, breaking news at one minute after the hour from Russia. Russia's parliament confirms Vladimir Putin as prime minister. There was no question that Putin was -- not much question at all as to whether or not Putin was going to become the prime minister handpicked by the new president, Dmitry Medvedev. And the big question here is exactly how much power is Putin going to have?
In Russia, it's the presidency that's got the majority of the power, but there are some speculation that may be things might change there and hand more power to the prime minister. So we'll keep watching that story for you. Pressure is building on Hillary Clinton to quit the race for president. But instead of throwing in the towel, she is upping the ante. Clinton put up another $6.4 million of her own money for the presidential run. She told reporters in West Virginia that she is staying in until there is a nominee, and she is going to work hard to become that nominee.
Three more undecided superdelegates are now Obama superdelegates, and a party elder and Clinton family friend says it's time to step aside. CNN's Dan Lothian is live in Charleston, West Virginia, site of the next contest next Tuesday for us. Good morning, Dan.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Senator Clinton will be holding a rally here at the state capitol later this morning. Twenty-eight pledged delegates up for grabs in this state. Senator Clinton currently leading Obama in this state and for now, no signs of backing down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a new day. It's a new state. It's a new election.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): Hillary Clinton stays defiant on the stump in West Virginia despite a growing number of calls from within her own party to concede the Democratic nomination for president.
BOB SHRUM, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: There is no metric that's left, popular vote, pledged delegates, number of states won. There's no metric that's left by which she can win this nomination.
LOTHIAN: But the embattled senator from New York disagrees hitting the campaign trail extra early Wednesday morning after her stinging defeat in North Carolina and her narrow win in Indiana. Now, it's on to West Virginia.
CLINTON: West Virginia is one of those so-called swing states. Democrats need to win it in the fall. I want to start by winning it in the spring.
LOTHIAN: But while she was pushing ahead, her camp suffered another defection. Former presidential nominee and long-time friend of the Clintons George McGovern says he changed his mind and for the sake of party unity, he's backing Obama.
GEORGE MCGOVERN, FMR. DEMOCRATIC PRES. NOMINEE: I hope that as soon as it's reasonably possible, and as soon as Hillary feels the time has come for this to all get behind our nominee and win that election next November.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Again, the concern among Democrats is that the longer that this battle goes on, it will only hurt the Democratic Party. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn't feel that way. She says that as long as she wants to compete, that the races should go on, John. ROBERTS: Yes, there's a real split in the Democratic Party. Some people would like to actually see it get to a floor fight in the conventions, and others are saying, no, no. End it soon, end it soon.
LOTHIAN: That's right.
ROBERTS: Dan Lothian for us this morning. Dan, thanks very much.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Michigan Democrats are coming up with a new plan to get their delegates seated at the National Convention. They want to give Hillary Clinton 69 delegates and Barack Obama 59. The parties' rules committee has until the end of the month to decide whether to approve this proposal. Michigan and Florida were stripped of a combined 366 delegates for holding their primaries too early.
And that brings us to the latest delegate count. Obama has 1,845 total delegates. Clinton, 1,686; 2,025 is the magic number needed to win the nomination. In the superdelegate race, Obama now trails Clinton by 10. He picked up five superdelegates since the North Carolina and Indiana primaries. Clinton added one.
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh says he wants Barack Obama to be the Democratic Party's nominee, and he's calling on all superdelegates to publicly back Obama saying he's the weaker of the two nominees and can't get the support of regular working class Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Barack Obama has shown he cannot get the votes the Democrats need to win, blue collar, working people. He can get a fit (ph) snobs. He can get wealthy academics, and he can get the young, but he cannot get -- he get the black vote, but that's about it, and Democrats do not win with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Never one to hold his tongue. At one time, Limbaugh urged Republicans to vote for Clinton to keep the Democratic nomination split -- John.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning. The House is expected to pass a bill today to provide $300 billion in loan guarantees to homeowners at risk of foreclosure. The bill also offers a $7,500 tax credit to first-time home buyers. President Bush is threatening a veto saying that the plan costs far too much and bails out lenders and speculators instead of helping out struggling homeowners.
Americans are knee deep in debt. The latest report from the Federal Reserve says personal debt rose more than $15 billion from February to March of this year to a total of $2.6 trillion. Analysts had predicted just a $6 billion increase. The report includes credit cards and fixed payment loans but not mortgages and home equity loans. More than 43,000 U.S. troops classified as medically unfit for combat since 2003 were sent to war zones anyway. "USA Today" reports that most of the troops are in the army which is doing most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pentagon records do not list how serious the health issues were or whether they were treated before deployment.
CHO: We have breaking news out of Philadelphia overnight. The third and last suspect wanted in the weekend murder of a police officer is now under arrest. Tensions remain high in the city. Six police officers have been taken off street duty while the department and the D.A.'s office investigates a separate violent arrest that was caught on tape.
CNN's Jason Carroll is live for us in Philadelphia this morning. Jason, good morning. What has the reaction been there?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there has been a lot of reaction from the city, and I have to tell you that the videotape is extremely damaging. But both the city's mayor and police department say despite what you see on the tape, it does not reflect the way the city's police officers were trained.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): The video captured by a Philadelphia news helicopter has stunned the city and embarrassed its police department. It shows what happened late Monday night after police stopped three men suspected in a shooting. At least a dozen officers repeatedly kicked and beat the men after pulling them from their car.
MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER, PHILADELPHIA: I don't like what I saw on the tape. I think we need to be very clear about that. Again, the officers are trained professional law enforcement people. We have very high standards here in Philadelphia, and what you saw on the tape is behavior that is unacceptable.
CARROLL: City officials say the officers have been under stress ever since this weekend when one of their own, Officer Stephen Liczbinski, was shot and killed responding to a bank robbery.
COMMISSIONER CHARLES RAMSEY, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPT.: Police officers operate under stress all the time, but there are periods of time when quite frankly there's more stress than you'll have during other periods of time.
CARROLL: The beating lasts for more than a minute. The mother of one of the men, Lionell Dyches, who was kicked by the officers says there's no excuse.
LEOMIA DYCHES, LIONELL DYCHES' MOTHER: I don't believe it's stress.
CARROLL: What do you think it is?
DYCHES: You see 14 white police officers beating three black males and a dog. In the area where I live at, I see it constantly.
CARROLL: The three men beaten by police are in custody facing charges ranging from attempted murder to aggravated assault in connection with Monday's shooting. The attorney representing the three men say it's the officers who should be facing criminal charges.
SCOTT PERRINE, LIONELL DYCHES' ATTORNEY: They should be dismissed from the police force, and they should be charged as criminals because that was criminal behavior. That was not police work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And just a bit of an update, last night a suspect was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski. As for the officers involved in Monday's shooting, basically at this point six of them have been placed on administrative leave. We are being told that more officers are expected to be placed on leave during the course of the internal investigation -- Alina.
CHO: Well, a dozen officers may have been involved in all of this. CNN's Jason Carroll. Jason, thanks. And a programming note, we will be talking with the mayor of Philadelphia and the police commissioner live in our next hour -- John.
ROBERTS: Coming up now, Alina, on 10 minutes after the hour, a lot of extreme weather rips across Oklahoma. Funnel clouds spotted and storms are on the move. Rob Marciano tracking all the extreme weather for us coming up.
And Delta hikes airfares again as sky high oil prices hit the airline industry. Why your next flight could cost you. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business", just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: You know, the other day I made the fatal error of touching the magic oil barrel...
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You shouldn't have done it.
ROBERTS: ... havoc has reigned since then.
VELSHI: It really has. It has not taken a break since then. Oil hit $123.93 yesterday. Before paring back just a little bit to $123.53 which, of course, is still a record for the highest price at which oil has settled.
So this is a bit of an issue and we took a little break from oil records for a few days, if you remember, and that resulted in a few days of breaks from gasoline records. That, too, is over. We have a new record price for a gallon of gasoline, $3.65 a barrel, which means if it went up a cent a year, just for round numbers, that would double.
ROBERTS: Look at that. It's like a cent a year right there.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROBERTS: $2.65.
VELSHI: That's it. That's what I'm saying, and we have seen that rate of increase. We took a break from it for a few days. Now, I'll just tell you one of the direct effects of this, of course, is airline fares. We have another fare increase that was started by Delta Airlines last night.
Our friends at Fare Compare let us know about this late yesterday evening. Delta has tried to increase airfares by $20 on a round trip fare. It's the 15th attempt by a major airline in 2008 to increase airfares. Ten of those 15 attempts have been successful.
At this rate, we are on track for 40 increase attempts versus 23 last year which is why folks are saying if you are looking to book a trip for this summer, do it now. Airline fares are not going to get any cheaper than they are at this point. So, interesting thing to think about.
A lot of people try to game the system and say let's book a little later. These fuel surcharges, which is something in fairness to the airlines, they're hit with, so they pass it on. No relief in sight.
CHO: Yes, and you pay more here and if you're traveling internationally you pay more there.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: You pay more because your dollar is low.
CHO: That's right.
VELSHI: So that's exactly the problem. So that's -- this piece of news, airline fares going up again.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: OK.
CHO: Hillary Clinton says she's not quitting despite a cash crunch. New calls for her to drop out, and a new sign this morning some are ready to call Barack Obama the winner.
Plus, a line of extreme storms pounds Tornado Alley. Rob Marciano tracking it all for us. Hey, Rob, good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Alina. It's all moving east. We had seven reports of tornadoes yesterday. Lots of damage. We'll show you the video and show you where it's all going when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MARCIANO: Check out this video coming into CNN from two tornadoes that touched down yesterday right in Oklahoma City; 120- mile-an-hour winds knocked down some of these trees and power lines. Big old oak trees. Look at that, just torn up out of the ground and twisted over.
About 13,000 people lost power during the height of the storm. It's one of several tornadoes that touched down yesterday. No reports of fatalities or injuries, so that's good news this morning.
Good morning, I'm Rob Marciano. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. As mentioned, seven reports of tornadoes yesterday. Let's run them down where they exactly were and where they're heading.
Here is your Google Earth animation to show you what happened yesterday. Austin, about three tornadoes just to the east there and up towards Lubbock there was a report of a tornado. Zooming into the Oklahoma City area, which by the way in acreage or square mileage is one of the largest cities in the country, two tornadoes in the western part of town. This one more acres by the Wiley Post Airport and this one in Yukon which incidentally is the hometown of Garth Brooks.
All right. Where's this thing doing? Here's the storm. It is slowly pushing off towards the north and east, and out ahead of it we have a fair amount of moisture here stretching all the way to New York City. So this thing is beginning to stretch out. That doesn't mean it's really losing its punch.
We do expect to see severe weather across parts of the mid and deep south and the southeast. Pretty decent line of thunderstorms right now heading across the Mississippi in through northern Mississippi, the state that is, towards Tupelo and ending just west of Nashville.
St. Louis to Paducah up through Evansville, Indiana, you're looking at just some moderate rainfall this morning and the rain stretches in through the Ohio Valley and through the Allegheny plateau, up and over the Appalachians, the Poconos, and into New York City proper and up through Boston. So everything getting a little piece of the action here.
You're going to see some decent amount of rain today and then in through tomorrow as well. So keep that umbrella handy. Alina and John, back there in New York.
ROBERTS: Will do. You know, it's beautiful out there now, and it's really warm. So you had to know something bad was coming.
CHO: It was beautiful yesterday, so, Rob, thank you for that.
MARCIANO: You got it.
CHO: All right. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." The government pushing a new drug to help smokers kick the habit, but critics warn this so-called miracle drug may be a dangerous problem or may have one. ROBERTS: And Hillary Clinton vowing to fight on, but she is facing a tough battle to raise money and maintain support. More of Clinton's battle ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. You've heard don't drop the beer at a baseball game. Well, how about don't drop the baby. Take a look at this "Hot Shot" from last night's Mets-Dodgers game.
Deep to right center off Ryan Church's bat, a fan makes a nice grab with a kid in his arm. Take a look at that again, and the kid got the souvenir. He's holding the ball. Kid got a souvenir in the end.
ROBERTS: Look at that. Fast hands.
CHO: Let's have one more time, and we need the close-up.
ROBERTS: Look at that. He even had to jump a little bit, too.
CHO: That's some dexterity, huh?
ROBERTS: Sign him up!
CHO: It's a good thing he didn't drop the baby going for the ball. All right.
Well, if you've got a "Hot Shot," send it to us. Head to our Web site CNN.com/am and follow the "Hot Shot" link.
ROBERTS: Totally cool about the whole thing too. Sitting there --
CHO: That's right.
ROBERTS: Former senator and close Clinton friend George Mitchell is the latest person to call for Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race, but she's vowing to say in the race until her party has a nominee despite being short on delegates and money.
We want to hear from you on this. Here's the question we're asking. Pretty frank question this morning. Is it time for Hillary Clinton to drop out? Yes or no?
Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. And then, did I say George Mitchell?
CHO: Yes.
ROBERTS: You know, I said George -- and you know who else said George Mitchell? Wolf. Wolf said George Mitchell yesterday.
CHO: George McGovern. An easy slip of the tongue.
ROBERTS: Well, Wolf and I are in the same boat together this morning.
Also send us an e-mail. We'd love to hear what you think about it. Again, CNN.com/am. George McGovern, not Mitchell.
CHO: Sincerely.
ROBERTS: Wolf, buddy, I'm there with you.
CHO: We have breaking news this morning from the cyclone disaster zone. How can aid get into the country before it's too late for tens of thousands of people? Up to a million are homeless.
We're going to get an update from the U.N. next, and get a report from our own Dan Rivers, one of the few western journalists on the ground in Myanmar.
And climbers light the Olympic torch on top of Mount Everest. The pictures from the top of the world ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm staying in this race until there's a nominee, and I obviously am going to work as hard as I can to become that nominee. That is what I've done. That's what I'm continuing to do. I believe that I'm the stronger candidate against Senator McCain, and I believe I would be the best president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: There you have it. Senator Clinton vowing to fight on for the presidential nomination, but with only a half dozen contests left and the superdelegates starting to turn toward Barack Obama, more and more there are calls for her to quit the race, and some are outright calling Obama the winner. In fact, check out the new edition of "Time" magazine.
Tara Wall is the deputy editorial page editor for the "Washington Times" and former senior adviser for the Republican National Committee. Hey, Tara, good morning.
TARA WALL, "WASHINGTON TIMES": Good morning.
CHO: You know, what a difference -- what a difference a couple of days makes.
WALL: I tell you.
CHO: You know, there are increased calls for Clinton to drop out, but she says, as you well know, full steam ahead. She says if she wins four of the next six contests she should stay in. So make the argument to me why she should drop out.
WALL: Well, I mean, it's -- listen, the math is certainly not in her favor. I think, you know, she's certainly trying to save face. Kudos for her for trying to do that.
But certainly I mean, listen, the math is totally against her. He's got about 1,800 delegates. She's got about 1,600. You only need 2,000. She literally would have to get nearly 70 percent of the vote, 70 percent of the white vote in fact, and the odds are truly stacked against her.
He's got the money. She's dwindling in cash. She's having to spend her own cash. He's got an overwhelming amount of the delegates. He's got the support. He's got the popular vote.
You have more delegates who are actually leaving her, superdelegates who are leaving her camp and going to his. I just don't know what it serves, and I think that for the party itself, it is causing a division within the party, and it's going to further cause harm the longer she draws this out.
I don't see her going past June, but at this point she's really got to be thinking long and hard about what her next steps are and what she wants to accomplish.
CHO: Well, you know, to be fair though, you know, Clinton supporters will say, listen, if you seat the delegates in Florida and Michigan, you know, we are going by a different formula, different math, and we could still win the nomination. Not only that, some superdelegates tell our own Candy Crowley, listen, there's less than a month left in these contests. Why not ride it out?
WALL: Listen, it's ridiculous to even consider Michigan and Florida. For that to be on the table is completely absurd, and you will have -- there are many in the party who would agree that Michigan and Florida are not even in the equation because, first of all, they disobeyed the rules. They violated the rules. They were warned by the DNC what would happen should they move up their primaries.
They blithely decided, arrogantly decided to do it anyway, and now they want, you know, to be able to say, well, we're sorry. We want to count now. That doesn't work in the scope of what the rules are. You have to follow the rules.
Now, if you want to have a conversation about, you know, the system and how it is, you don't do it in the middle of a presidential campaign. That's going to have to be for another time. And Howard Dean really has shown a lack of leadership in this area as it relates to what's going on with the superdelegates and these states. And I think that's another conversation the party is going to have.
These folks will get an opportunity to vote in the general election, and I think if anything they need to blame their state parties for the fact that their votes won't "count."
CHO: All right, Tara, I want to talk about Rush Limbaugh a little bit.
WALL: Sure. CHO: As you well know, the conservative radio host has called on his listeners to vote for Senator Hillary Clinton because he thinks that Barack Obama is the weaker candidate in the fall. Let's take a listen and we'll talk on the other side.
WALL: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: We have successfully created chaos. We have done our part to expose Obama through our support of operation chaos effectively using the Clinton campaign as our foil, and Obama and the Democrat Party are the weaker for it. Every objective has been met and surpassed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: What do you make of this?
WALL: Well, you know, obviously folks can vote how they want to vote, where they want to vote. It is a free country. You know, Democrats have voted in Republican primaries and vice versa.
You know, again, I mean, I've said before I don't understand why a Republican wants to vote in a Democrat primary. That, you know, escapes me, but, you know, listen --
CHO: It's called a spoiler vote, a spoiler ballot.
WALL: Well, and again, Democrats have done the same to Republicans. I think that quite frankly Hillary Clinton should be thanking some of those Republicans who voted for her. I think the Republicans though -- most of the Republicans that did vote probably voted for Barack Obama, you know. He does have some support. He's crossed over, been able to appeal to independents and conservatives and Republicans.
I think that she actually -- we might be having a different conversation had some of those folks not voted for her. She may not have even won Indiana quite frankly.
CHO: Well, that's one way to look at it. All right. Tara Wall, deputy editorial page editor of "The Washington Times," always great to see you. Tara, thanks.
WALL: Great. Thanks, Alina.
CHO: John?
ROBERTS: Just crossing the half hour. New this morning, Senate Democrats are working to impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies. It would also roll back $17 billion in tax breaks for those companies. The Senate Republicans strongly oppose the plan, and President Bush would likely veto it.
Reverend Al Sharpton is free this morning after he and more than 200 others were arrested during protests of the Sean Bell verdict. Hundreds of demonstrators crowded streets and blocked bridges in New York City to protest the acquittal of three officers in Bell shooting death on his wedding day. Bell's fiance and a survivor of the shooting were also arrested and released.
A pill held as a wonder drug for smokers who were trying to quit is now being recommended by the U.S. public health services even though it's been linked to depression and suicide. The drug is called Chantix. It's made by Pfizer.
Consumer advocates warn that there was not enough information about the Chantix because it has been on the market for only two years. The new guidelines mention the risks, but say Chantix is the most effective at helping people quit smoking.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, we're following breaking news out of Myanmar this morning. Much-needed aid is finally reaching the country. After two days of delays, the military junta there, the government allowed a United Nations plane into the country.
A new satellite images showed just how devastating the weekend cyclone was. This is the before image. Take a look there. You can see farms, trees, even buildings if you look very closely. Then the after photo shows after the storm, almost nothing. Just obliterated. CNN has the only TV reporter inside Myanmar and Dan Rivers filed this report a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The situation here in Southern Myanmar is continuing to deteriorate. There are reports of fist fights as people scramble to get food there. The remaining stocks of rice are beginning to run out. There's still very little in the way of aid that we've seen here on the ground. There are army soldiers deployed by the Myanmar military junta. We're hearing dreadful stories of hundreds of dead bodies left lying in the fields decomposing, of people really completely at their wits end.
As you can see behind me, the houses around these parts have been flattened by cyclone Nagis. There is just a terrible hopeless situation down here and these people need help immediately. Dan Rivers, CNN, Southern Myanmar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Just a tragic situation there. And a U.N. plane is on the ground in Myanmar, but American planes still being denied access to the county. Bettina Luescher is the chief spokeswoman for the United Nation's World Food Programme. She also was an employed CNN some years back.
It's good to see you, again. What's the state of relief operations there?
BETTINA LUESCHER, UNITED NATION'S WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Well, it's a huge need there on the ground. We were able to send from Italy a plane together with the Italian government. The World Food Programme sent urgently needed aid supplies in. We also this morning got in seven tons of this high energy biscuits. So all of that has landed in Yangon. Let me explain about those high energy --
ROBERTS: Yes, what is a high energy biscuit?
LUESCHER: This is a high energy biscuit. It basically has all the nutrients and vitamins a human needs to survive. So we brought in seven tons. They arrived. That's enough to feed some 17,000 people for a day. So it's important, aid has arrived, but of course it's very, very little. We have to do much, much more.
There is still a lot of red tape and we need to really gear up this operation. The good news is we have people on the ground. WFP has an ongoing aid operation. We have been delivering rice to people for the last three days.
ROBERTS: Because you had some stores of supplies...
LUESCHER: Exactly.
ROBERTS: ...In country.
LUESCHER: Exactly. But we need much more. We also need much more because many people can't cook. That's why these biscuits are so important.
ROBERTS: Can the World Food Programme do it itself or does it need the support of other countries like the United States, like the European Union to adequately address this crisis?
LUESCHER: Well, of course, we need funding for all these operations. The U.N. on Friday will make an appeal for funding for this big operation.
ROBERTS: But do you also need other countries logistical support? The United States has got six C130 sitting on the ground in Bangkok that can't get into the country. Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister was looking for a resolution at the United Nations to say -- hey, basically go invade the country to get these supplies in.
LUESCHER: Well, we think it's important to talk to the Myanmar government, and we are in close contact with them. We have got valuable cooperation. The first steps have been taken, but it's taking too slow. It has to go much quicker. It's important to talk to them. There's no other way than dealing with the situation --
ROBERTS: How far behind are you, Bettina, because of this two- day delay?
LUESCHER: Well, it's not just a two-day delay. Of course, you know, the whole thing happened already on Saturday. By now it's Thursday. And we're losing valuable --
ROBERTS: I meant a two-day delay between the time that the Myanmar government said, yes, we want aid from the outside to the time that it allowed it in.
LUESCHER: You now, it's only very little that has come in, so that, of course, is hurting us. We need people, we need planes, we need helicopters, we need food, water, sanitation. We need to get all of our experts from all over the World Food Programme and the other U.N. organizations and NGOs in the country.
So it's crucially important that the visas are being issued and that staff can get on the ground. It's a huge operation. Look at the pictures. So much of the whole coastal area is under water. The boats have been destroyed. You cannot reach areas and apparently only a very few helicopters have been operated by the Myanmar government.
ROBERTS: And the only way to get it into those areas -- those areas were mostly under water anyways because they were predominantly rice paddies. And now, you know, all of the roads have been washed away. All of the cart paths. Everything that you would need to get food in so is getting it in by helicopter the only way?
LUESCHER: That is one of the ways of doing it. Another way, of course, is boats, but all of that has to be secured. It's really crucially important that people get in on the ground. We have lots of experience with situations like this. I personally, for example, was in the tsunami region. We know how to do this. We did it together there with military forces like the U.S.
ROBERTS: You just need the cooperation.
LUESCHER: We just need the cooperation. It's crucially important.
ROBERTS: Bettina Luescher from the World Food Programme. Thanks for dropping by this morning. We'll keep checking back with you on the progress.
LUESCHER: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Albeit slowly here. We're trying to get some relief supplies to this people.
LUESCHER: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Good to see you this morning. Good luck with that.
LUESCHER: Thank you very much.
ROBERTS: Alina?
CHO: All right, John, thank you. You know, coming up, the Olympic torch has reached the top of the world. We're going to have the pictures coming up.
Plus, Ali Velshi here "Minding Your Business."
Hey, Ali, good morning. ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Every month we get information from the government about airport delays. We've got that information for you. When we come back we'll tell you which the worst airports are in the United States for delays and arrival arrivals. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING and we're coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. The Olympic flame has reached the top of the world. And we have the pictures. Chinese climbers last night completed the final leg of their assent to the peak of Mt. Everest. Live television showed the climbers holding a specially designed torch. They had to wear oxygen masks, too.
China hopes the event will take the focus away from the protests over its rule on Tibet. Mt. Everest straddles the border in the Himalayas between Tibet and Nepal. Flame making its way to Beijing for the Olympic games in August.
ROBERTS: You want to be careful with those flames around oxygen masks as well.
VELSHI: 2008, might be time to go virtual with the Olympic flame.
ROBERTS: 39 after the hour. Ali Velshi here with my favorite topic. My (INAUDIBLE) airport delays.
VELSHI: Yes. Airline airport delays.
CHO: Oh yes, one every week at least.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: The Bureau of Transportation statistics which is a branch of the Department of Transportation issues these numbers every year. Every month actually telling us how airport performance was. March, which is the month we're reporting on, was the second worst month for delays and cancellations like since the Wright brothers started flying or something like that.
It's not really, but it's like the second worst month that they have data from. I can't believe that before they started having data, it was worse than it is today. But let's take a look at the worst airports for departures from January to March. The first quarter of this year.
Chicago O'Hare was the worst airport for the whole period. Newark Liberty Airport here in New Jersey was the worse airport for delays in March. Now let's look at the worst arrivals. I don't know which one matters more to you because either way you're going to be late.
But late arrivals, again Chicago O'Hare wins the prize for the worst late arrivals for the whole quarter -- January to March. New York's La Guardia wins for just March.
So as -- for those of us who travel between Chicago and New York, that's probably one of my most common trips, that's the kind of thing we go through. It is the worst month for on time performance, the second worst month ever.
CHO: It never gets better, does it?
VELSHI: No, I mean that's just one of those I would love to say, it's fantastic, they're all taking off and landing on time. One of these days.
CHO: It's very unfortunate.
All right, Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: OK.
ROBERTS: Still Mike Huckabee, right, dropped out of the race a long time ago. Indiana primary, gets 10 percent. Gets 17 percent in the state of North Carolina. It's like he's still in the race.
VELSHI: No kidding.
ROBERTS: But he's out there. He's on the stump for John McCain and Mike Huckabee will be joining us a little bit later on this morning -- actually, probably about 10 minutes' time or so. So, make sure you stick around for that. We'll ask him about John McCain. And we'll ask him how he thinks the Republicans should attack the Democrats.
It's something interesting from Mitt Romney yesterday. So, we'll check with Mike Huckabee a little bit later on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 43 minutes after the hour. Two powerful tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma City causing a chaotic broadcast from meteorologist Rick Mitchell of our affiliate KOCO. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK MITCHELL, METEOROLOGIST, KOCO: Just so you know there's a lot of craziness going on here at the station. I believe we had just a wind gust over 100 miles an hour. Yes, go ahead, anybody who doesn't have to be in here --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: They're inside and the tornado is outside. We experienced something like that at CNN in Atlanta a few weeks back. We know what it's like.
Many of the station's workers had to huddle in the bathroom during the storm last evening and right in front of the station, winds up to 120 miles an hour snapped trees in half. Rob Marciano at the CNN weather center tracking the extreme weather.
Bring back some memories, Rob?
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much.
CHO: Fighting on when it's nearly impossible to catch the front- runner and when party big shots are telling you to get out. Well, that's Hillary Clinton's situation right now. But Republican Mike Huckabee has been there, done that. We're going to ask him what he thinks she should do, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. A police sergeant and five police officers in Philadelphia have been pulled from street duty while city officials investigate the beatings of three suspects by officers during a traffic stop. The incident was all caught on tape by a news helicopter. It happened while police were investigating a triple shooting.
And our legal analyst, it's Sunny Hostin. She's a former defense attorney in New York as well.
Sunny, we've got the D.A.'s office involved, the police department and the city. What's the status of the investigation so far?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you mentioned, we know that there are parallel investigations going on right now, Alina. We know that Internal Affairs is involved. We know that the D.A.'s office is involved as well. We know that there's a commission involved looking at it.
And investigations are really about gathering facts. And the facts that are key right now that we know is that we have one police sergeant, we have five officers removed from street duty. We don't know if they're on paid or administrative leave, but we know that they're on leave. We know that police stopped the suspects' car while investigating this triple shooting and that they believed that these suspects shot at other people.
And so, there's some indication that they believed that there were guns involved, but unfortunately for the officers in this case, they found no guns.
CHO: Right. No weapons in the vehicle.
HOSTIN: No weapons at all. So, I think those are really the key facts here right now.
CHO: I think it's important to point out that emotions were running high. There was a fatal shooting of a police officer in Philadelphia over the weekend. 400 homicides last year in Philadelphia alone. Some experts have said -- you know, listen -- there is a lot of leeway in terms of police force. I mean, is that the case?
HOSTIN: You know, that is the case. And I have worked with police officers of course having been a prosecutor and having been a defense attorney, but look at this tape, Alina. I mean, it's pretty excessive force and really it's really about the facts and I think when you look at it it's going to be kind of difficult for a defense attorney to defend these officers at this time because it's pretty clear that they are --
CHO: State of mind will be very important, right?
HOSTIN: I think state of mind is going to be important, but really it's about what happened, and now we sort of know what happened because there's a video showing beginning, middle, end here, and I think while certainly police officers have broad, broad latitude and broad leeway, was this force excessive? Was it justified?
CHO: Well, you can bet they'll be looking at that tape very closely. As many as a dozen officers involved. Sunny Hostin, our legal analyst. Sunny, thanks.
HOSTIN: Thank you.
CHO: And a programming note. We're going to be speaking to the mayor of Philadelphia and the police commissioner coming up in our next hour.
John?
ROBERTS: Former Senator and close Clinton friend George McGovern is the latest Democrat to call for Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race. But she's vowing to stay in until her party has a nominee despite the fact she's short on delegates. The math certainly not with her and she's also short on cash. Had to lend her campaign $6 million of her own cash.
We want to hear from you. Is it time for her to drop out? Take a look at this. Right now, ouch, 70 percent of you say yes. 30 percent say no. We also want to hear from you via e-mail as well. Send us your thoughts at cnn.com/am and follow the links that say "Contact us." And we'll read some of this for you next hour.
Catastrophe still in the making.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A terrible, hopeless situation down here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Help for cyclone victims kept outside. A CNN exclusive inside the disaster zone.
ROBERTS: Plus, Christiane Amanpour on what the world can do. >
Plus, low on cash, high on charisma and came up short. What advice does Mike Huckabee have for Hillary? He joins us live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton is setting a furious campaign pace crisscrossing the country today from West Virginia to South Dakota and Oregon. But many Democrats today are calling on her to quit. Republican Mike Huckabee was in a similar situation a couple of months ago when he was trailing John McCain. So he knows something about calls to get out of the race. Governor Huckabee joins me this morning.
Governor, it's great to see you again. It's been too long.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, thank you, John.
ROBERTS: I think we should, you know, institute a policy that we need to have you on once a week regardless whether there's news or not.
HUCKABEE: Whether I need to be here or not?
ROBERTS: Exactly.
HUCKABEE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: So you've heard of all these calls for Hillary Clinton to get out of the race and as I said you know something about that. What's your sense in this? Should she stay in or is it time for her to get out?
HUCKABEE: Well, most of the people calling for her to get out are the supporters of Barack Obama or their party people who aren't affiliated with her. Until George McGovern, there really hasn't been a call from her own supporters, and that's what people seem to forget.
Her supporters are still with her and it's when they start calling on her to quit that she's got to start listening. And I think that there was a seminal moment when George McGovern stepped up and that has got a sting deeply and personally to Hillary and to Bill Clinton.
ROBERTS: So you think that was a really important moment yesterday when he came forward and said it's time to get out.
HUCKABEE: Well, because of the long-time, personal relationship dating all the way back to 1972. But you know, John, one of the things that people forget, because it's easy to play horse race with this and say, gosh, she ought to drop out. She's playing by the rules that the party set. Just as I played by the rules the Republican Party set.
You know, it's frustrating to those of us who spend all of this time, effort and money, we get our supporters out there, we play by the rules that we're handed, and then somebody says it looks like the game is going to end a different way than you want it so why don't you quit.
And what if we did that in Major League Baseball? What if we did that in NFL football? Once the team got four or five touchdowns ahead, we just said look, it's pretty inevitable here, the math doesn't work, let's end the game.
Is that the way we ought to play it? So I've got to give Hillary some credit that, yes, it doesn't look like she's going to get the nomination, but she entered this thing to play to the finish line, and I think that's what she's attempting to do.
ROBERTS: Well, you know, the teams may keep playing when one team is six touchdowns ahead but the fans tend to leave the stadium. No question about that. Certainly, it seems to help Republicans, though, the longer this race goes on, at least that's what Rush Limbaugh thinks. He was encouraging his supporters to go out there and play in the Indiana primary because it's an open primary. Listen to what he had to say about that whole thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: We have successfully created chaos. We have done our part to expose Obama through our support of operation chaos effectively using the Clinton campaign as our foil and Obama and the Democrat Party are the weaker for it. Every objective has been met and surpassed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: There's some evidence, Governor, that perhaps his call to arms there in Indiana did have some effect. How much do you think it helps the Republican Party for this Democratic race to go on until the very end and maybe even continue on through the convention?
HUCKABEE: John, it's not the race that is problematic, it's the rancor. As long as the race goes on, look, Hillary and Obama are on page one and John McCain is on page seven.
Right now he has to really fight for some stage time. What hurts the Democrats is if this process becomes rancorous and really gets mean and ugly, and it's beginning to get a little more that way, that's when it hurts Democrats. Otherwise, it lets them have, sort of you know, the stage to themselves.
If they could have a very civil race and elevate the discussion about issues it could in fact help them. I think the tough thing is the longer this race goes on for them, the more inevitable it becomes that whoever gets the nomination, most likely Obama, has just about got to pick the other, Hillary, to be the running mate.
ROBERTS: You know, all of the focus of course in North Carolina and Indiana was on the Democrats because of the ongoing race, but let's look at the Republican side of the coin there. You got 10 percent of the vote in Indiana. You got 12 percent of the vote in North Carolina. I think one out of four voters didn't vote for John McCain. Is that an indication he's still got some problems particularly with conservatives?
HUCKABEE: No, I think it's more an indication that there were folks that, you know, saw their names on the ballot, they have been supporters let's say of mine and other candidates from the beginning, and they wanted to make the statement that, hey, they're hanging in there with us.
I don't think it's an indication of how they're going to vote in November. It was just, you know, an attitude of saying this is who I would like to see, but they're going to coalesce behind John McCain. I have, others will, and we're going to have a strong finish line. I think we're going to win the presidency in November.
ROBERTS: Are you fully comfortable with John McCain, particularly on this issue of judges and the fact that he is not a supporter of a human life amendment which you said basically is a bedrock conservative principle that needs to be addressed by the next Republican president?
HUCKABEE: Well, I wish he supported it, but he's a whole lot closer to it than either Hillary or Obama and he at least is pro-life. So that's some comfort for me. You know, there are always opportunities to try to convince a guy that a human life amendment is good and here's the reason.
A human life amendment says that you can't have 50 different versions of what's right and what's wrong just like we decided that about slavery. That we decided no person should own another person. It's the same principle. You shouldn't have geographical limitations of something when you say that you ought to protect the dignity, worth and value of a human life.
ROBERTS: So are you fully bought in to John McCain or there are still some areas there where he could do some work to satisfy you?
HUCKABEE: I'm totally with him. I'm campaigning for him and with him and plan to do everything I can to help him. Does that mean we agree on 100 percent of the issues? Don't have to. Politics isn't about getting 100 percent. Heck, my wife doesn't even agree with me on some things, John, and I've been married to her coming up on 34 years. So --
ROBERTS: It's all about getting 50.1 percent, isn't it?
