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American Morning
Sea of Supporters Greet Obama in Oregon; China Begins Three Days of National Mourning; Gas Prices Hit New Record High; Shakira and Ricky Martin Hitting the Stage to Fight World Poverty
Aired May 19, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I find that embarrassing that the president of the United States would go over to Saudi Arabia and beg for their help! I'll tell you one thing, if I'm your president, you won't see me holding hands with the Saudis. You'll see me holding them accountable --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Clinton went on to list her ideas including experimenting more with biofuels then send this for automakers to manufacture cars with better gas mileage.
And check this out. A sea of supporters greeted Senator Barack Obama in Portland, Oregon. The crowd stretched half a mile and top more than 75,000. Later Obama declared himself the nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everybody is surprised that I'm standing here. Nobody thought -- well, I appreciate you. But let's face it, nobody thought a 46-year-old black guy named Barack Obama was going to be the Democratic nominee.
(APPLAUSE)
But I tell you what, -- but the reason, the reason this has worked is because of you. You financed the campaign, you set up these grass roots organizations, you decided you wanted to take your government back. And that's what we are going to be fighting for all the way through November.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Obama is in Montana today which votes June 3. Then he moves on to Iowa and Florida, which will be battleground states for the general election. Senator Hillary Clinton campaigning across Kentucky. And then the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is making two stops today. First in Chicago, then down to Georgia.
Well, here's how the primary season plays out. Five primaries with 189 delegates up for grabs. Then tomorrow it's Kentucky and Oregon with a total of 103 delegates. June 1, it is Puerto Rico with 55 delegates. Then on June 3, the last two primaries, Montana and South Dakota with 31 delegates total.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news in on the war on terror. The most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia may have escaped a massive man hunt in Indonesia. Noordin Top is accused of masterminding the Bali bombings and two other terror attacks in Westerners. 240 people were killed in those attacks.
Breaking news this morning. A typhoon in the Philippines. New video just coming in to us this morning. The typhoon strong winds and heavy rains killed 12 people, blew roofs off of buildings and knocked over power poles.
PHILLIPS: And more breaking news this morning. China begins three days of national mourning to remember the tens of thousands of victims of last week's earthquake. Take a listen. Cars in pedestrians came to a stand still as horns wailed at 2:28 p.m. exactly one week after the quake struck.
Meantime, there's word of another disaster in the earthquake zone. China's official news agency says that more than 200 relief workers were buried by mud slides while working to repair roads in Sichuan Province. China is appealing to international donors now for tents for those earthquake survivors. Millions of them were left homeless by the quake.
CNN's John Vause has been taking us inside the earthquake zone for a rare, up-close look at the devastation and some pretty dramatic rescues.
He is live this morning in Beichuan County, China -- John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, about an hour and a half ago we told you about this rescue which is underway here in Beichuan City. Well, a short time ago, they tried one last time listening for any signs of life.
As you can see, they didn't hear anything and now the emergency workers, the search and rescue crews have moved on. In fact, a few people in the quake zone are now expecting any more miraculous stories of survival.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE (voice-over): The images are heart-wrenching. A loan hand reaching out from the rubble. Another man trapped is given a phone to call his wife.
I don't have many expectations for my life, he says. I'll be satisfied if you and me can spend our whole lives together in harmony. The stories have played out on television here in surprising numbers. The girl being pulled out here spent 123 hours under the rubble of what used to be a hotel.
This man survived for six days after his factory collapsed on him. He was lucky to be in a pocket under a door frame. His co- workers weren't as lucky. But the miracle stories of survival are becoming less frequent. Crews are just as likely to be seen spraying rubble with chemicals hoping to prevent the spread of disease.
Outside this school where as many as 200 kids were killed, some parents have left their children's ID cards as a memorial. It's the only building in the small town of Wufu (ph) that didn't make it.
The scene was like a slaughterhouse says this mother. The children were in piles. They were all bodies. Many of the parents say the building was a death trap. Made of cheap shoddy material and unsafe construction.
If this was a decent building, my daughter wouldn't have died, this woman said. A look at the rubble shows that the steel used to hold together the concrete is thin and bendable. According to state media, almost 7,000 school buildings collapsed during the earthquake and government officials have promised to find out why that number is so high and they say the guilty will be severely punished.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And Kyra, possibly in the distance here you can see the emergency crews -- what they are doing is standing on one of the great big boulders which came down off the mountain. They're actually calling out to this (INAUDIBLE) some were look like possibly someone may have heard that someone was still inside that building.
This has just started actually in the last ten, 20 minutes or so. They had a crane that went up earlier to try and find, to look inside that building to see if anybody was there. But really as these rescue operations go down, the hope really is slowly diminishing by the hour really here -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: At the same time, John, it's just amazing to see the fact they are still pulling survivors out of that rubble. John Vause, appreciate the update there.
Well, some of the biggest names in music banning together for a common cause. See what brought Shakira and friends to the world's greatest cities.
And it sounds like the plot for a '60s sitcom. A family strikes oil in their backyard. One day, you're shooting at some food and up to the ground came a bubbling crude, that story ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: For the 12th straight day gas prices hitting a new record this morning. The AMERICAN MORNING gas gauge shows the average price for a gallon $3.79 according to AAA. That's up from $3.47 last month and $3.18 from last year.
Black gold in a backyard. That's what one man in Indiana found. And now he is tapping his own oil well. Starting at a tank and sending it to Ohio for sale.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GREG LOSH, FOUND OIL IN HIS BACKYARD: I didn't know anything about oil until I got involved with this. So, now I got the bug. So, it's exciting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You know, the first thing, you know, old Greg's a millionaire, the kin folk said move away from there. I'm only kidding.
It cost about $100,000 to drill the well. And this well only yields about three barrel a day. So even at this prices, it's going to take more than a year for him to make back his money. Greg is certainly hoping that there's that much oil in (INAUDIBLE) hills.
PHILLIPS: The fact that John Roberts can remember the lyrics.
ROBERTS: For the "Beverly Hillbillies," come on.
PHILLIPS: Next thing you know, you're going to see him in a boat, cruising down the freeway.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I remember a burst. You've got the whole thing.
ROBERTS: I can do "Gilligan's Island" as well.
VELSHI: No doubt.
PHILLIPS: Wow.
ROBERTS: Flintstones?
VELSHI: I'll find you a new story that will get us there. This guy is lucky. I mean, honestly, even if it takes him a year, at the price oil is at right now. Then we saw it hitting a $127.82 on Friday. And by the way, it's getting up there. We were just -- when I left my desk a few cents away from that new record.
So on Friday, President Bush was in Saudi Arabia. He asked the Saudis if, you know, could you pump a little more oil and they said not particularly so. So the Department of Energy decided that they were going to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Congress had ordered that and the idea was that was supposed to, you know, give us a little more oil and make prices go down. Didn't work. Let's tell you a little about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. There are four sites. It's the world's largest supply of emergency oil. Four locations in Texas and Louisiana. It can hold 727 million barrels. We're about 96 percent capacity right now. We're refilling at 76,000 barrels per day. That is going to stop.
Now, if you were refilling at that rate, it would still take us another year to fill it up completely.
It was open in 1977. It was used for emergency purposes during desert storm. Then in 1995, they suspended the filling of the reserves. Then after September 11 -- the 9/11 attacks, they were ordered to start refilling them again. They were used again during hurricane Katrina when oil supplies were cut off because of damage to pipelines. And in 2008, it exceeded 700 million barrels for the first time. That's about 58 days of supply the way we use oil right now.
ROBERTS: They'll be old salt mines, right?
VELSHI: Salt mines. Exactly what they are. They're salt mines. And by the way, they're building a new one in Mississippi. So, it will be five all together.
ROBERTS: Imagine how much it's going to cost to fill that.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks.
Late night politics. John McCain tries to win over the crowd on "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE." We'll show you how he did, coming up.
PHILLIPS: And Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Weather Center, tracking out extreme weather for us.
Hey, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Kyra. Hey, John.
Yes, those fires continue to burn across the state of Florida. We'll have the latest on the weather condition there. And it is hot out west. Record temperatures expected. We'll tell you where on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JERAS: Nearly 100 wildfires are burning right now across the State of Florida. Fires have already burned some 40,000 acres. The biggest blaze is in the Everglades and has created dense smoke in the Miami area and across much of South Florida. Officials say that fire is only 20 percent contained.
(WEATHER REPORT)
JERAS: Hey, John and Kyra, can we show you this video? This is unbelievable, if you guys haven't seen this yet. Scientists have discovered a very unique colony of tens of millions of starfish-like creatures. They are deep under water just south of New Zealand.
They're dubbing this brittle star city and say they found some new species and think it will make a significant contribution about understanding life under sea. These things live arm tip to arm tip and wave their arms in the air trying to catch their food. Cool, but, I don't know, do you agree with me -- kind of gross too?
ROBERTS: Well, you know --
PHILLIPS: I don't know. I wonder --
ROBERTS: Life under the sea takes on different forms and it's -- you know --
PHILLIPS: Appreciate the beauty, right?
ROBERTS: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? To a starfish, they probably look pretty good.
PHILLIPS: There you go.
ROBERTS: Jacqui, thanks very much.
You're watching the Most News in the Morning. Shakira and Ricky Martin jamming for a good cause. See why these Latin superstars are banding together. We'll take you on a backstage pass.
PHILLIPS: Plus, a political first, not only in California but the country -- installing the first-ever African-American woman as the leader of a legislative body. We're going to meet her, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to give you this piece of advice -- Democrats, I have to urge you do not under any circumstances pick a candidate too soon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you don't think Hillary should drop out?
MCCAIN: Absolutely not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cool it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You cool it.
MCCAIN: That's right. Fight amongst yourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: John McCain offering up some advice for the Democrats on "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" weekend update.
Time now for our "Quick Vote" question this morning. Who will be America's first female president?
Right now, 33 percent of you say it will be Hillary Clinton. 67 percent of you think it will be someone else.
You can also e-mail us. Just go CNN.com/am and follow the links that say "e-mail us." ROBERTS: Shakira and Ricky Martin are hitting the stage to fight world poverty. And a couple of billionaires are opening up their wallets to help.
Our Harris Whitbeck has got the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Crowds gather in two of Latin America's most iconic capitals. The excitement, contagious.
It's not every day the region's biggest names in entertainment gather in song. And never before have they come together like this for a common cause. Ricky Martin, Shakira, Miguel Bose -- just a few of the dozens of Latin American artists hoping to use their music to launch a movement against child poverty in the region.
SHAKIRA, ENTERTAINER: It is very important that we are here today insisting on demanding from our state, our heads of state and our government and the private sector and the civil society as well to make bigger efforts and to also create bigger budget for our children's needs, especially in the areas of nutrition, education and early childhood development.
WHITBECK: The movement is called ALAS -- wings. And it's got some powerful backers. Between them philanthropist Howard Buffett and Mexico's Carlos Slim have pledged more than $200 million to child development programs in the region.
(on-camera): But ALAS' founders say it's about more than just the money. They're hoping the music will help change people's attitudes about the problems children face in Latin America.
RICKY MARTIN, ENTERTAINER: Every artist on stage in this event has a different approach of how to attack social issues and they are all welcome. We just have to see it in a round table and let's see how to attack.
WHITBECK (voice-over): And there is plenty to attack. 60 million children in Latin America live below the poverty line. And one-third of all children in the region don't get beyond elementary school.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And an estimated 350,000 people attended the two concerts in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.
PHILLIPS: California's political first. Meet the first African- American female to be speaker of the House. Find out how she shattered the glass ceiling and she joins us live.
ROBERTS: Plus, counting down until the next big battle grounds in Kentucky and Oregon. Barack Obama declares himself the nominee. We'll take you out on the campaign trail with our Candy Crowley.
PHILLIPS: Plus, the new alarm from the earthquake zone. See what scientists, spies and nations working together, straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Karen Bass is making history. She is the nation's first African-American woman to be speaker of the House. And she has worked it out for her, too. California faces a $15 billion budget gap, but she can take it on.
Karen Bass joins us now live from Sacramento.
So great to see you this morning. What an honor. How are you feeling about this and the fact that you have made history?
KAREN BASS (D), CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY SPEAKER: Oh, I'm feeling just fine. Very excited about stepping up and taking over. So it's been -- tomorrow will be one week.
PHILLIPS: Wow. And I can't just imagine what's ahead. Look, I want to touch on one of the main points about what you said in your speech with regard to your state. And then I want to talk about the making history part of things.
BASS: Sure.
PHILLIPS: But you actually said in your speech that California is a giant in crisis because of its budget deficit. You also went on to say that the budget needs to have the same attention as a natural disaster. What is your plan of action?
BASS: Well, we got started actually the day after my swearing in when the governor released his budget. And we do have a terrible deficit. And my plan is to address the deficit this year, but to also put in place a commission that would actually look at the economic structure, the tax structure of California because I anticipate that we will have a budget deficit next year as well.
I'm certainly hoping it won't be as large as it is this year. But we do expect the problem to continue for a few years.
PHILLIPS: All right.
Let's turn the corner now. Making history, women leaders. We've seen them across the world. What is taking us so long to see a female running for the presidency?
BASS: Oh, boy, I'm not sure. But it sure has been an exciting year, hasn't it? I mean, we have a speaker of the House in Washington, D.C., and I'm very happy to step up here. But here in California, the former speaker, Fabian Nunez, was very good in appointing females to be as key part of his leadership team.
PHILLIPS: You know, I was reading an article came out in "The New York Times" actually overnight. I was reading it this morning. And it was talking about sexism playing a huge role in this race for the presidency. And then on the other side of things, Geraldine Ferraro, who I know that you know, first woman to be vice presidential nominee in a major party.
She said with regards to Hillary, -- she raises whole women candidacy to a whole different level than when I ran.
What do you think, do you think sexism has played a big part in this presidential race. And can you at all identify with what Hillary Clinton has dealt with this year?
BASS: Well, absolutely. I mean, the legislative bodies are definitely, predominantly male. And in the State of California, we have term limits. And we've seen a number of women come in office but we've also lost a number of women as well. And when women term out they're not necessarily followed by men.
Well, the presidential year has been very exciting. I do have to tell you, though, that I'm a big Barack Obama supporter. I supported him when he ran for Senate. But I know that Hillary Clinton has faced a lot of challenges and I think a lot of times when women run or when women are in leadership position, if they are strong, they are considered too tough. If they are not strong then they are considered weak.
So you're kind of caught between a rock and a hard place. And I'm sure she has felt that she's been in that position many times throughout this campaign.
PHILLIPS: And that brings me to the next. You mentioned supporting Barack Obama, and that's why -- a big reason why I wanted to talk to you because you can kind of feel the women's side of things here, you can feel the African-American side of things here.
So, your take on Barack Obama making history, first black candidate here, could you identify with him as you were stepping up to your post and watching him in what he is dealing with regard to race?
BASS: Oh, absolutely, I can identify with him. And I have to tell you that I was very excited about his candidacy when he ran for Senate. And I was excited because here you have a community organizer. You have somebody who has walked the streets, knocked the doors in Chicago, and knows what the problems are that people face.
And my background as a community organizer as well and the first time I met the senator was when he was running. I had just finished my primary. So I have been very excited about his candidacy because I think that he has brought so many people into the process. I mean, you saw the crowds in Oregon yesterday. I think they were over 50,000, 60,000 people there to watch him.
PHILLIPS: The turnout was unbelievable.
BASS: Absolutely. PHILLIPS: So what do you think? Will we see a black president before a female president or a female president before a black president?
BASS: Well, I think given the way the race is going, that we will see President Barack Obama being inaugurated next January.
PHILLIPS: Final question, I want to leave it on this note. I remember when this happened. Your daughter, Emilia, and her husband, Michael, killed in a car crash. I know that was really tough for you, but you endured for months and months, did this inspire you to keep going and reach this post, no doubt your daughter would be so darn proud of you as we talk this morning?
BASS: Well, thank you. You know, I think when you lose a child as I did, my only child, you never overcome that, you don't. You just learn how to continue on, you learn how to manage, and I know that she would want to see me continue on.
And I miss them dearly. I think of them every day. They were at the prime of their life and everything was going well and then suddenly they were gone. So, I just carry on as do many other parents around the country who have lost their children.
PHILLIPS: Well, I know she's looking down on you and root you on. Karen Bass making history this morning and talking to us for the first time. Appreciate your time. Good luck to you.
BASS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Twenty-nine minutes after the hour now. And breaking news from Afghanistan. Australian soldiers mounted a major operation today, trying to cut off a Taliban supply route in Southern Afghanistan. Australia has more than 1,000 troops in the country. They say that this separation is of huge tactical and strategic significance.
And more breaking news now. A powerful Sunni political party is speaking out this morning saying they want the most severe punishment for a U.S. soldier who used a copy of the Koran for target practice. U.S. commanders apologized for the accident, but Sunni leaders now say that is just not enough.
A radical call for Muslims to take up arms against fellow Muslims. A new audio tape said to be from Osama Bin Laden calls for attacks against Arab leaders. It accuses them of protecting Israel and sacrificing the Palestinians. This is the second Bin Laden message in three days.
The presidential candidates are making their rounds before another crucial Tuesday. Senator Barack Obama is bypassing Kentucky and Oregon where the next votes are tallied tomorrow. He will campaign instead in Montana which votes on June 3. Senator Hillary Clinton is campaigning across Kentucky. And the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain making two stops today, first in Chicago and then on to Georgia. Our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, joins us now live from Lexington, Kentucky.
And I imagine Candy that Hillary Clinton is hoping for another big showing today as she did in West Virginia to try to change a few minds of the superdelegates out there?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, that is what this is about at this point. So when voters go to the polls tomorrow in Kentucky, and in Oregon, what Hillary Clinton is looking for is another huge win and another argument that she is appealing to the base of the party, that really the Democrats need to win in the fall. So, it also was about racking up delegates as you know, because what the Clinton campaign would like to do when we come to the end of the primary process is, a, argue that they have the most popular votes, they are behind at this point but not by much, and argue that they have closed the gap in the pledge elected delegates.
So, this is, of course, about Kentucky, but it's also about the signal that it send to those superdelegates who are yet undecided and those who might change their minds.
ROBERTS: Barack Obama is not stopping by Kentucky between now and tomorrow. Tomorrow, in fact, he is going to Iowa. Looks like he's increasingly focusing on the fall election, the general election campaign. And let's listen to what he said last night where for the first time he seemed to declare himself the winner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Let's face it, nobody thought a 46-year-old black guy named Barack Obama was going to be the Democratic nominee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, was that a declaration there, Candy? And if it was, how might that affect people?
CROWLEY: Well, my guess is that today, you will hear the Obama campaign saying he takes nothing for granted, but looking at the math they believe that in fact, after tomorrow, that they will have won the majority of pledged delegates. They have been pointing out in the Obama camp for a couple of weeks insofar as they know, no one has ever lost a nomination after winning most of the pledged delegates.
So, obviously, I think this was a little ahead of himself. I think you might see them sort of dial it back a little. But he's really straddling two worlds here.
I talked to somebody in the Obama campaign last week who said, listen, you know, at the moment, John McCain is out there throwing free shots. And we really need to get out there. So, it's interesting that in the next couple of days, previously that Obama has been in Missouri, he's going to Iowa and he's going to go to Florida. These are all swing states. So, clearly, this is a campaign that has one foot in the primaries and one foot in the general election. ROBERTS: Still important contests on the line tomorrow though. Candy Crowley for us from Lexington, Kentucky this morning.
Candy, good to see you, thanks.
And here's how the next couple of weeks are going to play out. Five primaries left with 189 delegates up for grabs. Tomorrow Kentucky and Oregon, have a total of 103 delegates on June 1. It's Puerto Rico with 55 delegates. And on June 3, the last two primaries, almost over, Montana and South Dakota with 31 delegates.
PHILLIPS: Almost over. But oh, so long to go. A lot of intense scrutiny.
Alina Cho is here with other stories.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we will look at every last detail.
PHILLIPS: That is true.
CHO: Good morning, guys. Good morning, everybody.
You know, we could learn as soon as today what caused Senator Ted Kennedy's apparent seizure. Doctors now are waiting for test results after Kennedy fell ill over the weekend and was rushed to the hospital. They do say he is out of immediate danger and preliminary tests show he did not suffer a stroke as originally feared.
In Texas five judges, two hearings a day over three weeks, hundreds of child custody hearings begin today in that enormous polygamous case. The fates of the 464 children removed from a polygamous compound will be settled. Their parents will learn what, if anything, they can do to regain custody. The state is still waiting for DNA results to figure out parentage. That will take a couple of weeks. The children remain in the meantime remain in state custody.
Nearly 100 wildfires are burning right now across Florida, already burned some 40,000 acres. The biggest fire is in the Everglades, and that has prompted a visibility advisory in South Florida. Officials say that fire is about 20 percent contained.
And look out Garth Brooks, there's a new king coming in country music for the fourth straight time, Kenny Chesney won entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards otherwise known as the CMAS. But there was a twist this year, for the first time the winner was determined by fan vote on the internet. Chesney who won was against the idea. He said it turned the award into a "sweepstakes" to see who can push people's buttons the hardest on the web. Kind of like "American Idol." Chesney now ties Garth Brooks' record as entertainer of the year. He is one behind the group Alabama.
PHILLIPS: I love Kenny Chesney. One of the best concerts I have ever seen.
CHO: I can't say I'd vote.
PHILLIPS: No, oh, you have to. Yes, I've talked to his mom one time.
CHO: You are talking to a Madonna fan.
ROBERTS: Kenny Chesney watches this program ever morning. Congratulations, Kenny.
CHO: I know he does.
ROBERTS: First of all, not that he's up early watching today because of his win last night. He's a good friend of Kyra's.
CHO: He is. Congratulations.
CHO: I wonder who he was with. Was he kissing his mom or his girlfriend? That's what I was trying to figure out.
CHO: I'm not sure. I'm hoping for concert tickets now.
PHILLIPS: Can you investigate?
ROBERTS: You better get this music.
PHILLIPS: You got to learn how to two-step, come on Alina.
CHO: Oh, men. I can only do so much.
ROBERTS: In addition to the Madonna, we will throw you a little Kenny Chesney.
CHO: Thank you.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Alina.
Not just temporary receptionists through summer, find out who is hiring former corporate bigwigs as temps.
PHILLIPS: And new concerns coming from the quake zone in China's nuclear facilities. What has the U.S and China been doing? Straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Breaking news now from China. The confirmed death toll we are told is more than 34,000 now. This is from last week's earthquake. It's expected to top 50,000, we are told. China's official news agency says that more than 200 relief workers were buried by mud slides while working to repair roads in Sichuan Province. China now appealing to international aid donors for tents for the survivors that have been left homeless by this quake. And China is also observing three days of national mourning for earthquake victims.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP) PHILLIPS: Overnight, China came to a stand still as horns wailed. You can hear it. 2:28 p.m. exactly one week after that quake struck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, that earthquake is prompting new concerns this morning. And it has scientists, spies and nations working together.
CNN State Department correspondent, Zain Verjee, shows us how.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: It's where the quake hit China that set off alarm bells among Washington spies and scientists.
This is the area of the quake in China, but it's also an area that is very important to China for another reason. What is it?
HANS KRISTENSEN, FOUNDATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS: The quake has happened right in the heartland of China's nuclear weapons production area. There are three major facilities, one here where they design the weapons, one here they assemble them and one up here where there's a nuclear plutonium production reactor.
VERJEE: How high are the chances of radiation leaks?
KRISTENSEN: It's hard to say. It really depends on the damage. It is a very severe accident. And some of these buildings are old, going back to the 1970s. We just don't know how strong they are.
VERJEE: China says it's checking.
WANG BAODONG, PRESS COUNSELOR, CHINESE EMBASSY: I believe that the Chinese government is preparing for every consequences.
VERJEE: And after an extraordinary request from China, the U.S. is sharing satellite images of damaged roads, bridges and dams. U.S. intelligence official tells CNN it's also keeping an eye on China's nuclear facilities to look for damage. What concerns you the most right now?
KRISTENSEN: Well, right now it is either the release from the reactor here itself if it was damaged, or the nuclear reprocessing facility they also have here where high level radioactive waste could leak into the river that you could see running right through the area.
VERJEE: No sign of leaks so far, experts say. But given the danger, the close watch continues.
Zain Verjee, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Progress in the relief efforts in Myanmar to tell you about. For the first time the military government allowed a United Nations official into the area hardest hit by the cyclone. And U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has been given permission to visit there as well. He's going to arrive in Myanmar on Wednesday. Tomorrow, Myanmar will begin a three-day mourning period for cyclone victims, according to the Associated Press.
And if you would like to help the people in Myanmar and "Impact your World," head to CNN.com/impact to find the aid agency that are helping out there.
PHILLIPS: Possible new cause for allergies and asthma in kids. It's linked to how much mom felt which when she was pregnant.
ROBERTS: And they're not your everyday temps. Where and why executives and bigwigs are showing up as daily hires.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, betting on a winner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the guys are walking about "Big Brown."
ROBERTS: Inside the unusual marriage of horse and household name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wouldn't be doing it if we didn't think there was a nice return on it.
ROBERTS: Inside Big Brown's marketing deal ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on 44 minutes after the hour. It is another workplace revolution. Companies lay off thousands of employees, and those at the top find work as temps, but they are not your ever day temps.
Polly Labarre is a CNN contributor. She is also author of "Mavericks at Work" and shows us where the jobs are.
When people think of temps, they think of receptionists. They might think of accountants who are brought in during tax time. There's a new twist on this.
POLLY LABARRE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Sure, this isn't your traditional notion of a temp. It's really a whole new marketplace for on demand top talent. And what's happening is companies are waking up to the fact that there are pools of talent whether you are looking at stay at home moms, or the recently laid off who are available with tons of experience and knowledge and are interested in new ways of working. So, it's sort of a massive re-ordering going on in the world of work around how you tap into talent and how companies need match up to talent needs.
ROBERTS: You know, you can see there would be a market for somebody who can do sort of yeoman type of work or something like an accountant who is brought in because facts and figures never change. But to bring in an executive, how do they learn the company quickly enough?
LABARRE: Well, think about - in most companies you're employed 100 percent of the time but you probably working on 60, 70, 80 percent capacity depending on what you are doing at any one time.
ROBERTS: Unless you work at CNN, then you run 150 percent.
LABARRE: Exactly. We're all running at 150 percent at a time. But what if you hired someone for 20 percent time and they gave you their all because it was the right person for the right project at the right time? So, there are a lot of new agencies and networks, the whole human capital infrastructure that is actually emerging to match up talent to companies.
So, some examples, so one great pool of talent of course are stay at home moms. These are people who left the workforce at the peak of their talent. And they are three years out on the playground and maybe want to exercise their brains a little bit, how do they get back into the workplace?
Web sites like momcorps or on-ramps.com actually help network them into jobs, whether it is a project repackaging pharmaceutical companies whole process or it's a bunch of moms get together and create a whole MBA course.
All kinds of project work consulting work and even operational work. And then we have this incredible model on the west coast called Business Talent Group, which is like a creative artist agency for executive talent. And what they see is there's a lot of senior level talent that's interested in give me a project, give me exciting new work to launch something, but I only want to do it for three to five months. So, again it is what talent wants, but companies are finding this cost effective and also a source of real innovation and ideas.
ROBERTS: It sounds like it's a longer commitment than your typical temp who might be brought in in terms of a week or so, you are talking months here?
LABARRE: It ranges. Some of these networks actually just enlist your help for a day or two. There are some things called your encore or the big idea group. But you're really about give me an idea, give me a little bit of your time. But most of these are two weeks, three weeks to three months to five months, it really is a range of activities.
ROBERTS: All right. Great. Go looking.
Polly Labarre, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away. Tony Harris at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead.
Tony, good morning.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Kyra Phillips, wow, good morning, Kyra. Good morning, everyone.
The finish line inches closer in the CNN NEWSROOM. Barack Obama draws a rock star size crowd in Oregon. I'm not sure -- rock star -- well maybe the Stones. 75,000 people. Hillary Clinton keeps on keeping on in Kentucky. Both states vote tomorrow. 103 delegates at stake.
Emotional outpouring in China, the country marks one week since the tragic quake. And with gas hitting another record high today, an Indiana farmer is pumping oil instead of plowing corn.
HARRIS: We also hope to get an update on Senator Ted Kennedy's condition. NEWSROOM just minutes away at the top of the hour on CNN. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Tony.
Well, a child's allergy or asthma linked to how mom was feeling when she was pregnant. Medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, has a new study for us.
Hi, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. Kyra, we all know that pregnant women should stay away from alcohol and cigarettes. But what damage can stress do to an unborn child? We will have that when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A new study links stress during pregnancy with allergies or asthma in a child. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now. Pretty stunning development about this. I guess it sort of makes sense, right.
Everything that we interact or people we interact with, Elizabeth, right affects what happens in our bodies?
COHEN: Right, people don't always realize, Kyra, that the stress in your head can affect your hormones, can affect your whole body. So, what happened in this study is that Harvard researchers looked at more than 300 pregnant women, and they measured stress levels, they gave them questionnaires and then they looked at levels of something called IgE in the baby's umbilical cords after they were born.
Now, let's talk a little about IgE and about what they found. They found that the women who were under higher stress had higher levels of IgE. IgE is something that is linked to asthma. The more IgE you have, the more likely you are to have asthma. So, they haven't absolutely made this conclusion, but it makes them wonder, gee are these kids going to be more likely to grow up and have asthma. That would certainly make sense. The researchers said their conclusion, stress is a social pollutant. That is how they phrased it, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, how stressed were these moms? Do we know what kind of jobs they were doing, anything about their lives that is we know?
COHEN: Yes, some of these moms were really quite stressed. These women all lived in the inner city, and they had stress like they were worried about violence, they were worried about guns, they were worried about abuse, some of them probably were experiencing abuse. Those kinds of things. So it's not clear what stress means for pregnant women when they don't have that kind of stress, when they have just lower levels.
But we definitely know stress is never good. It is not a good thing. So, let's talk about some ways that pregnant women can manage the stress in your life. A good diet, working out, taking walks even can help with stress. Recognize your mood swings and try to get help if you feel like you are starting to have them. Also shoring up support systems is so important during pregnancy, get everyone you love around you, helping you feel good -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Mind, body and spirit.
Elizabeth, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: John.
ROBERTS: Fifty-two minutes after the hour. Big Brown just one step away from the first triple crown in 30 years. The come from behind win is paying off big time for its corporate sponsor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... And just cruising in the lane. He looked in the rear-view mirror and nobody was there. He wins the Preakness. No one has ever been close to Big Brown.
ROBERTS: He won that race in third gear. Big Brown just one victory away from delivering the first triple crown in 30 years. After winning the Preakness on Saturday, now UPS is trying to ride Big Brown success.
PHILLIPS: And CNN's Richard Roth is there at the tracks out of Belmont Park where Big Brown arrives today.
Hi, Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.
I guarantee you on June 7th where I'm standing now it's going to be mobbed. Big Brown headed towards Belmont Park this morning, expected here later in the day. For Big Brown and a corporate giant, it is a case of what can brown do for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH (voice-over): Big Brown is racing to the big apple, sprinting for potential horse racing news. Big Brown triumphed in the Preakness stakes just two weeks after the Kentucky derby. He is on the verge of capturing racing's elusive triple crown.
But a different and larger Big Brown also stands to be a big winner. UPS, the global package shipping company also known as "Big Brown" is sponsoring their namesake, the horse and the jockey. Horse and drivers are making hay together. In fact, UPS delivered some to the horse's owners at the derby.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are excited to be partners with you guys and are very happy.
RON ROGOWSKI, UNITED PARCEL SERVICE: We wouldn't be doing it if we didn't think there was a nice return on it.
Rich, on behalf of UPS, welcome to the 43rd street facility.
ROTH: Big Brown's co-owner Rich Schiavo gave the morning pep talk to ups drivers last week.
RICH SCHIAVO, CO-OWNER "BIG BROWN": The two big browns have some things in common. It is hard work, it's dedication, and it's a passion for winning.
ROTH: With some recent high profile racing fatalities, sports marketers say the Big Brown combo is high risk but big reward for UPS.
BOB DORFMAN, BAKER'S STREET PARTNERS: It is an opportunity, the horse itself is named Big Brown. They almost don't have to do anything else, except sit back and watch the horse win because every time you hear Big Brown,you think what can Brown do for you.
ROTH: It has created a Big Brown buzz.
MIKE CHIRICHELLA, UPS DRIVER: I tell you, all the guys are talking about Big Brown.
ROTH: Who is faster Big Brown the horse or you in the big brown truck?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, big brown. He (INAUDIBLE) so he's the fastest
ROTH: But the owner of Big Brown the horse should stay alert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our relationship is one that hopefully this is just the start of it, but it's one that --
ROTH: Don't get run over by Big Brown. Did you ever get hit by the horse?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Big Brown has been described as a monster by one of the losing jockeys in Saturday's Preakness race. He stands a very good chance of winning the triple crown, though there is a Japanese horse "Casino Drive" who I just saw getting washed down on the back stretch who is a potential stretch. John and Kyra.
ROBERTS: All right. Richard, if "Big Brown" happens to win the triple crown at Belmont on the 7th, likelihood that we will probably never see him run again, yes?
ROTH: There's a good chance of that. The stud breeding rights are so valuable, they just syndicated him for $50 million. It would be great if he could race at least to the big races in the fall. But sadly for race fans, what happens is the horse does a great job, wins the triple crown and then goes off to the breeding shed and you never see him win again. Very different than other years when horse racing was king in America.
ROBERTS: Richards is this a side of you that has been buried behind the stack of newspapers in your office? Richard Roth the horse racing fan.
ROTH: I have been a racing degenerate for years. No, you have to branch out. John, you should get out more. You know, it's not just about politics. You should be out more petting some animals like I have been.
PHILLIPS: Richard, he's going to go to Nascar in the fall and follow Dale Jarrett in the UPS car, that's going to be part two.
ROTH: Well, I have a limit --
ROBERTS: Talk about getting out, I don't know how he gets nice to see him from behind the stack of papers.
Richard, good to talk to you. Thanks, buddy.
Time now for a final look at our Quick Vote question this morning. Who is going to be America's first female president.
Thirty-two percent of you said, it will be Hillary Clinton, 68 percent think that it's going to be somebody else.
PHILLIPS: We've also been reading your e-mails as well.
Affan from Washington said this one: "I believe Hillary Clinton will be the first female president. After 8 years of Obama as his vice president, she will run and win in 2016. Mark my words."
ROBERTS: And this one from V in North Wales, Pennsylvania: "Nancy Pelosi will be the first woman in the White House as president and will get a great running mate for Obama if Edwards isn't the choice." Thanks so much for writing in. Thanks so much for voting. And thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you again tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Betty Nguyen starts right now.
