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American Morning
Primary Day: Polls Open in Kentucky and Oregon; Airline Dissatisfaction Drops to Lowest Point; Where U.S. Ranks in the Global Peace Index; Could Oregon's Mail-in Vote Work?
Aired May 20, 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: Which, you know, required a long trip. I had to go to a different polling place. So, yes, mail-in ballot would probably be a good idea.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: As you know, that's what they do in Oregon. We're going to talk to the secretary of state there, and other states possibly might be jumping on.
ROBERTS: Yes, it might be an interesting idea for the next time around. But for the moment, we're still in 2008. And we begin with the "Most Politics in the Morning."
Primary day in Kentucky and Oregon. Polls in Kentucky opening right now at 6:00 a.m. Eastern. They will remain open until 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Most of them will close at 6:00. Fifty-one delegates at stake there and Hillary Clinton is favored to win big.
In Oregon, people, as we mention, have been voting by mail for weeks. They have until 8:00 p.m. Pacific to drop off their ballots. Fifty-two delegates are up for grabs in Oregon. A win for Obama could put the nomination within just a few dozen delegates.
Hillary Clinton making the case that she leads in the popular vote and can still win the nomination.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It may surprise you to learn that I have more votes than my opponent. More people have voted for me to be your president, and I am proud of that. And I sure do want to add a bunch of votes from Kentucky to that total.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people everywhere I go, they are telling me they are ready for change. They want something new. They are ready to turn the page and write a new chapter in American history. And on June 3rd, we are going to bring this nomination to a close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Obama is making a different claim today saying that after today's primaries, he will hold a majority of the pledged delegates. And he is certainly campaigning like he is already the nominee going toe to toe with John McCain. Here's CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton hung in there in Kentucky, all but ignored by Barack Obama and John McCain who went at it over talks with Iran without precondition. John McCain is not just willing to talk about this through the fall, he intends to, in surprisingly accurate terms.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Such a statement betrays the depth of Senator Obama's inexperience and reckless judgment. These are very serious deficiencies for an American president to possess.
CROWLEY: Foreign policy not only plays to his strength, it changes the subject for McCain, who has been caught up in stories about why his reformer campaign took so long to show the door to staffers who are also lobbyists.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
CROWLEY: Obama campaigned in Billings today for the June 3rd primary, but head butting with McCain fits well into the Obama juggle. Look and talk like the nominee.
OBAMA: You know, for all their tough talk, one of the things you have to ask yourself is what are George Bush and John McCain afraid of? Demanding that a country meets all your conditions before you meet with them, that's not a strategy. It's just naive, wishful thinking.
CROWLEY: But try not to act like the primary season is over.
OBAMA: Senator Clinton has run a magnificent race and she is still working hard, as am I.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm sure glad that nobody pulled the plug on this election before we got to Kentucky.
CROWLEY: While Obama fought with McCain, Hillary Clinton was battling the numbers. She will win here in Kentucky, but what she wants is to run up the score to pad her popular vote figure.
CLINTON: With Kentucky votes big, we are going to keep going, and we're going to keep fighting, and we're going to keep making our case.
CROWLEY: It is her case to superdelegates, geography and numbers. She talks popular vote and electoral votes. She talks Ohio versus Alaska, arguing that she wins in states Democrats need to have this fall while his primary victories are in states Democrats can't win.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Lexington, Kentucky. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And the Obama camp says it will have a majority of the pledged delegates after tonight. A symbolic milestone. Here is your AM extra.
A total of 3,253 pledged delegates will be at the Democratic National Convention. That doesn't count delegates from Florida and Michigan, by the way. Half of that is 1,627.
And right now, Barack Obama currently has 1,612. That means he only needs 15 delegates tonight to give him the majority. Still 2,026 delegates are needed to clinch the nomination. Neither candidate is expected to reach that by the end of the primary season, and the superdelegates will put either candidate over the top.
Now, looking ahead to what's next for the Democrats, on Sunday, June 1st, is the Puerto Rico primary with 55 delegates at stake. Then on to Tuesday, June 3rd, the final two primaries, Montana with 16 delegates, and South Dakota with 15.
Get the first results from Kentucky and Oregon tonight at 7:00 Eastern in the CNN "ELECTION CENTER" and set your alarm for an early edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We're already talking about it, 5:00 a.m. start, right here for full results and analysis from the best political team on television.
Now just in to CNN, a presidential apology to Iraq. Iraqi TV now reporting that President Bush has apologized to Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki over the shooting of the Koran by a U.S. soldier near Baghdad. We told you about this yesterday.
That soldier had used the Koran for target practice. The U.S. commander in Baghdad issued a formal apology over the weekend. He actually presented a copy of the Koran, as you can see here the religious leaders. The American soldier has been reassigned back to the U.S.
Also breaking news overnight, gas prices hit another all-time high. $3.80 a gallon. According to AAA, that's 31 cents higher than a month ago. About 60 cents higher than a year ago -- John.
ROBERTS: Amazing tales of survival in China eight days after the earthquake hit there. A 31-year-old man was rescued overnight, freed from a collapsed power plant near the quake's epicenter in Sichuan province.
Dramatic new video was also released showing the chaos and terror immediately following the quake. People and children running from collapsed schools. Rescuers trying to reach victims and carry them out. Nearly 40,000 people were killed.
This morning, China says medical teams from Russia, Japan, Germany and Italy are heading in to help care for the quarter of a million hurt in the earthquake. Five construction workers in San Diego are in critical condition this morning after an explosion at a hotel. It damaged four floors and ripped off a part of the facade. Firefighters think that it was a natural gas explosion.
And in Philadelphia, the mayor and police commissioner say four police officers caught on tape beating suspects will be fired. Three others will be disciplined, and the supervising sergeant who had no contact with the suspects has been demoted.
The video shows officers dragging the suspects out of their car and kicking and punching them while they lay on the ground. The suspects are accused of the shootings of three people on the street corner in Philadelphia.
PHILLIPS: Airline dissatisfaction, a new consumer survey out says that Americans are fed up with the airlines. Find out who the worst offenders are.
Also, a new list ranks the most peaceful nations on the planet. See who is on top and where the U.S. lands, straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning." The polls have been open for eight and a half minutes, but we're already looking forward to them closing. Counting down the hours until the last polls close in Kentucky. That will be at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
In Oregon, the polls don't open today because it's a mail-in vote. They close at 8:00 Pacific time tonight. We're looking forward to the results of that. This mail-in vote has been going on for weeks now.
We're going to talk with Oregon's secretary of state about how it all works coming up, and whether or not it could be a model for other states in the 2012 primaries.
Oh, look at that. We haven't even been done with 2008, we're already looking at 2012.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It was a deep tease. Stay around until 2012.
ROBERTS: Remember the day the pope arrived. I saw a promo on CNN for the Pope's last mass, final day. Boy, he just got here.
PHILLIPS: Americans fed up with the airline prices, the gas prices. So what you're doing now is you are rolling the dice.
VELSHI: No, I'm not going to bother anymore with knowing my information. I decided to put cufflinks on which often reflect my feelings, and these are little dice and they just roll. That's how I'm going to decide what it is. But guess -- oh, look, gas prices are up again. $3.80 is the national average for a gallon of gasoline. Oil prices are up above $127 this year. You know, when we talk about gas, it's the thing that alarms everybody. You can just see those signs and you fill up your car so regularly.
But we know milk prices are up. Food prices are up, and fuel prices are also up which cause airline tickets to be up, and that is adding to Americans' dissatisfaction. There's a survey that comes out every quarter report about airline -- about satisfaction with pretty much everything we do.
The part about airlines came out, the American Customer Satisfaction Index, and it is not looking good. Here are the things that people are worried about when they complain about their airline. No surprise here.
Higher ticket prices, largely because of these fuel costs, overbooked flights. And now, what most of the airlines have done is these extra fees on more than one baggage, one piece of baggage if you're not sort of an elite customer with their frequent flyers.
The airlines that suffered the most in this last quarter compared to last year, Continental took the biggest dip, 10 percent lower than it was last year. U.S. Airways, 12 percent. Sorry, I guess U.S. Airways is bigger because fall (ph) is bigger than 10. And Northwest is off seven percent.
Now, if you look at the good news for airlines, even the airlines that did better in the satisfaction report, look at the percentage differences there. They are puny.
Southwest, up just four percent. American up three percent. Delta up two percent. And American, by the way, this survey was taken before those 10,000 cancellations on American, so I suspect that didn't work into the calculation. So again, no surprise to you all out there that Americans are dissatisfied with the airlines right now.
PHILLIPS: Ten thousand cancellations?
VELSHI: Yes, remember there were those MD-80s were taken out of service. American took all -- they had to inspect them all, so they were taken out and that was before this survey was taken.
PHILLIPS: I didn't realize it was that many.
VELSHI: Yes. Well, it was --
ROBERTS: Thousands of flights.
VELSHI: It's thousands. I'll check that it was. Maybe it wasn't 10,000.
PHILLIPS: Sounded good.
VELSHI: Felt like it, yes. I rolled the dice and it said -- PHILLIPS: Ten.
ROBERTS: I think it was at least two or three.
VELSHI: Which is like a fraction of 10.
PHILLIPS: We're speculating again, kind of like gas prices.
VELSHI: I'll check into the American Airlines thing.
ROBERTS: It was a rock star political rally. Tens of thousands of Barack Obama supporters showing up in Portland, Oregon, over the weekend, but does it matter? Tens of thousands of votes in Oregon are already in the mail.
Plus, Rob Marciano is watching our extreme weather for us this morning. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, John. Good morning, everybody. Extreme heat again across the southwest. Records just falling off the table over the weekend and through yesterday, and they'll continue today. Complete weather is coming up when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. If you live in the northeast, it certainly doesn't feel like spring or summer yet. If you live in the southwest, it feels like summer in a hurry.
Take a look at some of these numbers, what they're waking up to in places like Phoenix and Vegas. Eighty-nine degrees currently, 89 degrees in both those spots. So, you know, hey, that's not chilly. They broke records over the weekend no doubt about it. We've got extreme heat warnings, excessive heat warnings today east of L.A. in through the deserts and through southwest parts of Arizona and Phoenix, including Las Vegas again.
We should probably will see temperatures that will be maybe a few degrees cooler than yesterday but still well over the top. And some of the records that we broke in the past several days are impressive.
Death Valley, 120; Yuma, Arizona, 115; Phoenix, 110. They were 100 on Sunday. That's the first time they've done 100 and then 110 for the first time for the season back-to-back. So they are feeling the heat, no doubt.
And, you know, if this was the middle of summer, we'd be like, it's hot. But this is the first real slam in the face of heat, so, you know, your body is just not used to it. So people out there are certainly suffering.
Meanwhile, spring, winter doesn't want to give up. It's been kind of chilly across the northeast. You got a batch of rain that's heading across parts of the mid-Atlantic into the Delmarva. Baltimore will be seeing a little bit of rainfall as well and just north of Richmond, too. It shouldn't be excessively damaging, but the threat for severe weather will be just to the south across parts of the Carolinas and Georgia. Primary threat will be damaging winds and some large hail. Kyra and John, back up to you and you.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
PHILLIPS: All right. Sardines with your briefcases in your "Hot Shot" now. Does that grab your attention?
ROBERTS: Well, touch on the briefcase.
PHILLIPS: Sounds kind of gross actually. Check this out.
It's rush hour in Japan as uniformed attendants are there specifically to cram the last few riders into cars and keep the trains running on time. Millions of people rely on the subways in Tokyo every morning.
ROBERTS: That poor woman.
PHILLIPS: But if the doors get closed, trains can't leave.
Here I was thinking they had something fishy in their bags.
ROBERTS: They're officially called pushers, too. They are.
PHILLIPS: Go ahead, push me.
ROBERTS: A pusher in Japan is quite different than it is in this country. Look at that. Get her in there.
PHILLIPS: I don't know. Squeeze the blood that high up, you could feel a button.
ROBERTS: So what if you're way inside the car and you need to get out at the next stop. What do you do?
PHILLIPS: Well, you're hosed. You see. Good question. Next, we're in Tokyo. Don't take the subway.
ROBERTS: You're hosed.
PHILLIPS: If you've got -- if you've got a "Hot Shot," send it to us. Head into our Web site, CNN.com/am. Follow the "Hot Shot" link.
ROBERTS: A new list out this morning says that we are a more peaceful planet than we were last year. You might not know what to look at. But how does the U.S. stack up compared to the rest of the world? We're breaking down the list coming up next.
Plus, the candidates' spouses speaking out. Michelle Obama talks about a possible Obama/Clinton ticket, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The polls have been open for about 20 minutes now. Live pictures coming to us from our affiliate out of Louisville, Kentucky, WHAS. Appreciate that.
As you know, Hillary Clinton should be spending the night there in Kentucky, probably celebrating what's expected to be a pretty big win for her in the state's primary. Barack Obama, meanwhile, favored to win in Oregon.
You're watching the "Most Politics in the Morning." Primary day for Oregon and Kentucky, as you've seen. They're going to remain open until 7:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll be following it all -- John.
ROBERTS: Well, the world is a little bit more, a little bit more peaceful now than it was this time last year. According to a new report out this morning, the Global Peace Index ranks 140 countries from most to least peaceful.
Our State Department correspondent Zain Verjee joins us now from Washington. Zain, tell us what is the most peaceful country in the world?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, when we look at some of the pictures on TV every day or we read the newspaper headlines, it's kind of hard to think that anything is improving. But check out a report that crunches the numbers on peace and security. It's called the Global Peace Index. It was founded by an Australian who says the world appears to be a marginally more peaceful place compared to last year.
The report, John, looks at what's happening inside countries as well as how they interact with the rest of the world. So let's take a look at these results.
If you want to book a ticket to a peaceful place this summer and just relax, start planning a trip to the land of the midnight sun, 20 hours of sunlight over the summer. It's Iceland. Iceland comes in at number one on the peace index followed by Denmark, Norway, New Zealand and Japan.
Let's take a look now at the five least peaceful countries. They rank like this. Israel, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and Iraq -- John.
ROBERTS: What about the United States, Zain? Where does it end up in the list?
VERJEE: Well, it's way down on the list. It stands at 97 out of 140. The reason is, is the report is basically taking into consideration a bunch of different factors for the U.S. like it has high levels of military spending, lots of military engagement beyond its borders in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.
And when you look here at home in the U.S., it's got the highest proportion of its population in jail and a high murder rate. And if you compare that to Iceland that's number one on the peace index, there's little violent crime, there's low number of people in jail. Iceland has no army. So it's got pretty low scores in militarization.
ROBERTS: Right.
VERJEE: Have you ever been to Iceland, John?
ROBERTS: No, I haven't. I've always wanted to go. It's an incredible piece of geography and lovely place to visit according to people who have been there.
VERJEE: Yes.
ROBERTS: So this doesn't just take into account what's happening inside the country. This takes into account foreign policy as well.
VERJEE: Foreign policy as well and the level of engagement with other countries. The thing, too, as you know, the reason the U.S. is also lower is because it has agreements with so many other countries around the world that if they're attacked, the U.S. will protect them. So places like Iceland, for example, don't have a standing army so on the militarization scale, they were ranked pretty low. But the U.S. ranks high because it helps out a lot of other countries.
ROBERTS: I got you. Zain Verjee for us this morning. Zain, good to see you, thanks -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: The presidential candidates' spouses coming under fire whether it's Bill Clinton's so-called rants on the campaign trail, Cindy McCain's refusal to release her tax returns, or Michelle Obama's supposed unpatriotic remarks.
Both Mrs. Obama and Mr. Clinton spoke out last night. We're going to hear their message for the primary votes coming up right after a break.
And we want to hear from you. Given the spouses' higher profile in the campaign trail, should they expect to be under fire? Should spouses be fair game? Yes or no?
Head to CNN.com/am to vote. We're also taking your e-mails. Let us know why you voted the way you did. Head to CNN.com/am and click on "email us."
ROBERTS: After five months of primary voting, the Obama campaign is on the brink of a symbolic tipping point. Tonight, John King is at the magic wall to explain. We've got that coming up for you.
And fighting off cancer to fighting off the Kansas City Royals. The incredible story of Jon Lester gets even better, and we'll have that for you coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Now, counting kicks off today in Oregon's primary, the only state to conduct its voting entirely by mail. Voters have had two weeks now to return their ballots, which were sent out on May 2nd. But not everyone thinks a mail-in vote is a good idea. Joining me now, Oregon's secretary of state, Bill Bradbury, in Portland, Oregon. Love that state. Love to visit the coast there in Yaha (Ph). You and I have talked about that before. Good to see you, sir.
BILL BRADBURY, OREGON SECRETARY OF STATE: It's good to see you, and we're very excited here to be starting to count our votes in our vote by mail election.
PHILLIPS: And tell us how this works.
BRADBURY: Well, ballots go out about, like you said, a couple weeks before the election. People vote pretty consistently up to the date of the election, and county elections officials check every signature on every ballot against the voter registration signature of that person.
And then on Election Day today, they start to count the ballots in the morning so that by about 8:00 tonight we will have a pretty good read on -- we'll have over 50 percent of the ballots counted. So our first results that get announced are pretty representative sample of who's going to win and who's going to lose in the state of Oregon.
PHILLIPS: Well, has this improved voter turnout because it's a hassle to stand those lines and have to drive around? Have you seen a difference?
BRADBURY: Yes, we've seen a difference. We've seen a particular difference in lower turnout elections. Presidential elections have always been an incredibly high turnout in Oregon, 86.5 percent in the last presidential election.
So vote by mail probably doesn't increase turnout dramatically in presidential elections. It just makes it a whole lot easier for people to cast their ballot and if they have to work, they don't have to go stand in line for two or three hours. They just drop their ballot in the mail, and it's handled from there.
PHILLIPS: Well, you know, I have to ask you this. Why don't you pay for the postage? A lot of seniors that I know in Oregon saying ask him why they don't pay for the postage.
BRADBURY: Well, you know, we never paid for the gas for you to drive to your polling place. So my attitude is you can pay for the postage because we mail you the ballot. We pay for that postage, so you can pay for sending your vote back in.
PHILLIPS: So how do you --
BRADBURY: And it's not too troublesome.
PHILLIPS: How do avoid voter fraud? How do you verify that these voters are who they say they are?
BRADBURY: Well, basically, the best check you have of making sure that the ballot is from the person that it's supposed to be from is you check their signature. And I just really want to emphasize the counties check every signature. Not just some signatures, they check every signature on every ballot against that voter's original voter registration signature. It is the most comprehensive fraud protection system in elections in America.
PHILLIPS: But I don't think there's any debate that Barack Obama is favored there in Oregon. If you look at the video from Sunday, my gosh, 75,000 people turning out to listen to him speak in Portland, Oregon.
BRADBURY: Right. Right.
PHILLIPS: What is it about Barack Obama that those in Oregon like?
BRADBURY: Well, I think Barack Obama just really speaks about a need for change, and I think most people recognize we need a change, a serious change, from our current administration. And that's certainly true in the state of Oregon, and I think people are really just inspired by it.
And that was the biggest rally that Barack Obama has been to or has had. So that was just really quite inspirational both for Barack Obama and for Oregon.
PHILLIPS: Bill Bradbury, Oregon's secretary of state, we'll follow how it all turns out. It's going to be a big week.
BRADBURY: OK.
PHILLIPS: Thank you so much for your time.
BRADBURY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: OK.
ROBERTS: Twenty-nine minutes after the hour now. Voters have been going to the polls for nearly a half an hour now. In Kentucky, there's a live look inside a polling station in Louisville.
Interesting to note that when we attempted to get some pictures inside a polling place in West Virginia a couple weeks ago, they said if we tried they'd shut the whole place down. But they're happy to have us inside there in Louisville as people are registering their vote.
In Oregon's mail-in primary, people have a little more than 16 hours to drop off their ballots. And while Hillary Clinton is fighting to stay in the picture, Barack Obama is certainly talking like he's already the presidential nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people everywhere I go, they are telling me they are ready for change. They want something new. They are ready to turn the page and write a new chapter in American history. And on June 3rd, we are going to bring this nomination to a close right here in Montana.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The last thing we need is somebody who gives up and quits as our next president. This country is worth fighting for. It is worth standing up for. And it is sure worth voting for tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Doesn't seem to be any question that this series of contests is going to go all the way to the end, which is June the 3rd in Montana and South Dakota.
Our Jim Acosta live with the CNN Election Express. He's in Frankfurt, Kentucky for us this morning.
Jim, a couple very important contests today. What are we expecting?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, what we're expecting is that both of these candidates are going to split these states. Hillary Clinton taking Kentucky and Barack Obama capturing Oregon. And that is essentially because of the demographics and the way they break down.
Hillary Clinton has spent the last four days in this state, getting those working class folk out to the polls on her behalf. She even stood out in front of some barrels of Maker's Mark Kentucky bourbon whiskey over the weekend going back to the whiskey vote here in Kentucky, as she did up in Indiana.
Barack Obama, as Kyra just mentioned, had that huge rally in Portland, Oregon. That is a state that is far more liberal than Kentucky and plays to Barack Obama's strengths.
But the real action is going to be tonight on TV to watch both of these candidates hold what appears to be victory rallies. Barack Obama will not be able to celebrate winning Oregon if that's exactly what happens because the polls close at 11:00 Eastern. Hillary Clinton will be in Louisville, Kentucky tonight.
So Barack Obama is going to Des Moines, Iowa to celebrate what his campaign expects to be essentially a milestone that has been reached. They hope to capture what they are saying to be a majority in the pledged delegates throughout the duration of this campaign.
John?
ROBERTS: Everybody seems to be making some sort of claim to victory here, whether it be in the popular vote, the majority of the pledged delegates. Still, nobody across the official finish line yet.
And Jim, after the contests today, they are turning their sights back to a state that not in play since the 29th of January, but still very much in the news.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. It's a battleground state in the general election and Hillary Clinton will be going down there as well. And we can expect her to make that case once again to include those delegates from -- to seat those delegates from Florida and Michigan and those delegates in distress in both of those states.
And what is essentially happening here on the campaign trail, John, is that at the end of the month, Hillary Clinton is circling the calendar at the end of the month when the DNC's rules committee meets to decide what exactly to do with those delegates in distress. And she is going to be making the case down in Florida, not surprisingly, that Floridians should not be disenfranchised because those states moved up their primary dates.
John?
ROBERTS: Yes, that big meeting coming up at the DNC on the 31st. We'll see what they've got to do about it. Jim Acosta for us this morning in Frankfurt, Kentucky. Jim, thanks very much.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's turn to chief national correspondent John King and the magic wall for a look at how the vote breaks down for the candidates today.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kentucky and Oregon up today in the Democratic contests. Two different favorites. Senator Clinton favored here in the State of Kentucky for much of the same reason she was favored in neighboring Ohio, in Indiana, down here in Tennessee and over here in West Virginia. Most of the state is white, most of it is working class and rural. All of the areas where Senator Clinton has done very well.
To the degree there are African-Americans for Barack Obama to rely on. They would be here in Louisville and to a lesser extent in Lexington, but Kentucky is overwhelmingly favored for Senator Clinton.
A very different story out here on the west coast in Oregon. Senator Obama has done well with more affluent voters, and you will find them here in Portland, down in Salem, and down through Eugene, college towns in Eugene and Salem, the city of Portland. Many affluent Democrats and liberals up there. Barack Obama heavily favored, although look for Senator Clinton to perhaps do better out in the rural areas.
But the story on this primary day is not so much the two states in play but the delegate math at play. Barack Obama believes he will reach a critical achievement tonight. It takes 1,627 delegates to have a majority of the pledged delegates. Those delegates decided on primary and caucus day. Barack Obama begins the night with 1,612.
Even if Senator Clinton wins convincingly by a 65/35 margin in the state of Kentucky, Barack Obama will pass the threshold; pass the majority in pledged delegates which he believes is a critical moral threshold for clinching the nomination.
Then if Obama won by even a smaller margin out here in Oregon, 1,659, he would be well in excess of the majority of pledged delegates and at that point, would be well on his way to the nomination, reaching right out here, almost to the finish line. Senator Clinton still way back here. Barack Obama enters Tuesday's contest needing fewer than 3 in 10 of the remaining delegates. He believes he will be on the verge of clinching the nomination by the end of Tuesday night.
PHILLIPS: And you can see more of the magic wall and the Best Political Team ON Television. Just tune in to CNN Election Center beginning at 7:00 Eastern. Wake up to an early edition of AMERICAN MORNING, 5 a.m. Eastern. John is going to be working the old magic wall, too.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. (INAUDIBLE) practicing, right?
ROBERTS: This is a real honor, yes. John, as we all know, is getting married later this month and he's going on his honeymoon. Whoever thought that things were going to go on so long except for the Puerto Rico primary on the 1st and then Montana and South Dakota. I'll be working the magic wall. I did something similar --
CHO: You're good at it already, though.
ROBERTS: I did something similar at CBS in 2004. You know, very basic --
CHO: I was going to say technology has moved along, hasn't it?
ROBERTS: Just a little bit, yes. Back then we didn't have the iPhone or the magic wall, so.
CHO: As for John King planning that wedding, just when you think you've got it planned just right --
PHILLIPS: I think he did it purposely.
CHO: He probably did.
PHILLIPS: I'm going to take a little break.
CHO: I said are you going on your honeymoon? He said, you're damn right, I am.
ROBERTS: So, what do you get new this morning?
CHO: Hey, we're talking about Barack Obama, you know, and the spouses.
Good morning, everybody. New this morning, just as Barack Obama warns his opponents to lay off his wife, Michelle Obama is talking up her husband on the road. Bill Clinton is doing the same for his spouse. In Louisville, Kentucky, first, Michelle Obama was asked about a possible Obama-Hillary Clinton ticket. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, SEN. BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: One of the pleasures that comes if you are the person that is so honored to be the nominee that you choose the candidate that you think will work best in the kind of administration. And fortunately, I don't have to make that decision. I am so glad that I don't. That's all on Barack, but we would -- we're excited about the possibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: How is that for a politically correct non-answer?
Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton was with his wife in Lexington, Kentucky, and he wasn't settling for talk about the vice presidency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You send her a big victory tomorrow, then it is way more likely than not that she will win the popular vote when all these votes are cast.
(APPLAUSE)
All these people who are saying, oh, well, the delegate race is over, are depending on the Democrats decapitating Florida and Michigan. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard of in my entire life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: There's a catch here. The claim that Hillary Clinton is leading in the popular vote, as many people know, works only when the votes in Michigan and Florida are counted. Those two states were penalized for holding their primaries too early.
A spokesperson for Senator Ted Kennedy says he will be in the hospital a couple more days as doctors try to figure out what caused his seizure over the weekend. An aide says Kennedy is in good spirits and anxious to get back to work.
President Bush called to wish him yesterday and Senator Chris Dodd says Senator Kennedy called him himself and joked the nurses at the hospital were picking on him.
And no confirmation that Senator Kennedy was watching his beloved Red Sox last night but he'd certainly be proud. Boston's Jon Lester pitched a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park last night.
Lester's effort is all the more remarkable because less than two years ago the 24-year-old was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. At one point, he wasn't sure if he'd ever pitch again and now he's cancer-free through aggressive chemotherapy. Boston's general manager says learning to dominate in the big league is one thing, but it's nothing compared to what Lester has already overcome. And that certainly is an understatement.
PHILLIPS: That's a great story.
CHO: Good for him. ROBERTS: It really is.
CHO: Yes, he's 24 years old.
ROBERTS: My brother passed away from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1981. So, to see that sort of a recovery is really, really a triumph.
CHO: It's remarkable. It's remarkable. And the fact that he's just 24 years old and did that last night is incredible.
ROBERTS: Good for him. Alina, thanks.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, an exclusive interview. Find out what he has to say about riding out bad economic times. We'll take you live to London where he sat down only with CNN.
And, are metal bats, aluminum bats, used in youth baseball putting your child in the line of danger? One family says they sure are. We'll tell you why, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Polls are open right now in Louisville. There's a live picture inside a polling station this morning. We're already counting down to those polls closing in 12 hours and 18 minutes. Nothing like looking ahead because that's what we're looking forward to is bringing to you the results tonight on the Election Center. Votes also coming in by mail in Oregon. They have a mail-in ballot there so there's no polls per se.
Barack Obama says that he's going to clinch a majority of the delegates by the time that the votes were counted tonight. Only needs 15 more to do that. Hillary Clinton is hoping that she can still eke out a win in the popular vote and sell that to superdelegates as a reason why she should be the nominee. Coverage of the crucial primaries continues all morning long right here on CNN. Don't forget tonight, all the returns on the Election Center.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is offering some advice for weathering this economic storm. He actually sat down for an exclusive interview with our CNN Becky Anderson. She joins us now live from London.
Becky, he's worth what? $62 million? He's one of the savviest investors. Right? What does he think of what's happening here in the U.S. in this economic slump we're going through?
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let me tell you, Kyra, it is not every day you get to sit down with a man who has just passed his bridge buddy Bill Gates to become the world's richest man. You're right. He's worth $62 billion. His investment fund is worth $200 billion. Just imagine that. He's got cash to flash and he's in Europe to do so.
And that's where I caught up with him. He's made money, don't forget, out of market volatility. He sees opportunities in market volatility. He says he's not a stock picker per se, but he keeps an eye on what is going on and this is what he had to say to me. Just listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN BUFFETT, CHAIRMAN, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: I would say in the United States that in terms of the huge bad news hitting Wall Street and all of that, I think a good bit of that has passed. But I think that the recession could be long and fairly deep as it spreads throughout the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: I don't think Berkshire Hathaway shareholders need to worry too much about that. Remember, he buys into really normal grounded companies and even though the shares are down somewhat in the first quarter as a result of what's going on, he says things long term will be fine. And that's what he said to me.
Basically, he made it seem so easy, Kyra. That's what I felt when I was interviewing him. You know, over ten to 20 years, he said, listen, you will see six or seven recessions over your lifetime. He said it's easy. You just pick solid companies and go forward.
Now, remember, there were seven people -- members of his family, 50 years ago who gave him $105,000 in total to play with. 50 years later that money is worth, get this, $620 million. So everybody is quite happy with what he's doing at the moment and even if the U.S. economy is going to suffer for a little bit, it's good to hear from him that he thinks at least the market volatility may be over.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right. So any tips? Did he offer you a share? Something?
ANDERSON: Do you know how much those shares are worth? Guess. Guess how much a share in Berkshire Hathaway is worth.
PHILLIPS: I couldn't even take a guess, my friend.
ANDERSON: Don't go there. Let me tell you how much it's worth. $125,000, And I just said to him, I don't know if you got me -- have you got me spare shares going. He said he didn't at the moment but to get back to him if I had any cash to flash. $125,000 is what each share in Berkshire Hathaway is worth. Quite a remarkable story.
The guy is 77 years old. I said are you looking to stand down anytime soon? He has put a succession in place. Four people that he's chosen, the board has agreed to. He wouldn't say who they were but they know who they are. Lucky men or women they are, of course. But he says he doesn't want to stand down anytime soon. He famously has said that he tap dances to work in the morning. He said he's not really a very good dancer, but he still loves what he does. It was a real privilege. And there are times on this job where you -- you know -- that you get a real privilege to interview somebody that you really aspire to (INAUDIBLE) or at least put on a pedestal. I've got to say Warren Buffett is one of those.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Well, nothing like seeing him on a motorcycle eating a cream sickle. You know, the flashiest -- cash to flash. I'm going to remember that one. Becky Anderson --
ANDERSON: Cash to flash, very good.
PHILLIPS: New meaning to (INAUDIBLE). OK. John?
ROBERTS: Sounds like she's really angling for a Christmas gift to one of those shares, doesn't it?
With many states facing budget problems, some creative thinking is needed. California looking to porn to help get itself out of the red.
Plus, new questions about metal bats in little league. Hear why one family says they're putting your child in danger. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 48 minutes after the hour now. The parents of a little leaguer in New Jersey are suing after their son suffered severe injuries pitching in a game in which a metal bat was used.
12-year-old Steven Domalewski was hit in the chest by a sharp line drive. His heart stopped for almost 20 minutes causing irreparable brain damage. His family claims that metal bats are unsafe and they're suing Little League Baseball and the maker of the bat and the store that sold it. Let's bring in AMERICAN MORNING's legal analyst, Sunny Hostin.
What's the basis of the lawsuit here?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: John, this case is really about the bat here. The family here is claiming that the aluminum bat used created an unsafe feel. It actually increases the rate that the ball leaves the bat compared to older aluminum and wooden bats giving the fielder and in this particular case the pitcher less time to react.
They are suing the maker of the bat clearly. They are also suing Little League and that is because on the bat it says approved for play by Little League. And they're also suing the sports authority because the sports authority sold the bat. But these facts really are in dispute and Little League disputes it.
You will see that Little League says "Since 2003 all bats are required to meet the Bat Exit Speed Ratio performance limitation which ensures aluminum bats do not hit the ball any harder than the best wood bats." Now as expected the attorney for the family Ernest Fronzuto disputes the claim, disputes the claim, and says that the bat is really very unsafe.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, there's been a lot of studies of this. And some people say that the bat has got a larger sweet spot. There have been some bats, I guess, that the ball comes off a little hotter than others. While it's very rare, we've seen this injury before even when kids are hit with a pitch.
HOSTIN: That's right.
ROBERTS: So does the family have much of a strong case here?
HOSTIN: You know, John, I think that this case is very strong, actually. I mean, when you think about it -- we have a case where kids have died. We have cases where kids have lost their eyes. And so I do think it's a strong case. But the strength of the case is going to depend upon whether or not the defendants knew, knew that these bats were unsafe. And the family is saying absolutely, absolutely they knew that the bats were unsafe and parent should know about that.
ROBERTS: Right. And I guess you'd be hearing people in Little League saying we use these bats because -- A. They might have a bigger sweet spot, let kids get more hits. And they also last longer than wooden bats.
HOSTIN: Yes, yes, they do. But is it really about the money? Or should it really be about safety in this case? I mean, I know I have a child that plays in Little League and I want him now to play with a chest protector and that's something that hopefully parents will take away from this segment.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll keep following this. Sunny Hostin for us this morning. Sunny, thanks.
HOSTIN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Here in panic as the earthquake struck China and they are still pulling people out alive eight days after the quake. We're going to show you the dramatic video as the disaster unfolded.
And will scandal force a New York congressman to give up his plans for re-election. We're going to tell you what Vito Fossella is saying about his political future right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: As spouses of the presidential hopefuls have been defending themselves from criticism and this morning we want to hear from you. Should candidates' spouses be fair game in the campaign? Right now, 46 percent of you say yes. 54 percent say no. Just head to cnn.com to vote.
You can also send us an e-mail if you'd like. Go to our site. Let us know why you voted the way you did. We'll be sharing some of your thoughts in just a little later in the show.
Coming up, the syntax from strippers to six packs to XXX pictures. Are you awake now? This video you should see. The porn solution to a budget crisis, straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And new this morning. Incredible rescues eight days after the earthquake in China. These pictures just in. It shows a miner pulled out alive. He's in stable condition we're told, and then another man was rescued overnight from a collapsed power plant.
New numbers in this morning as well. Nearly 40,000 people have been killed. And this morning, China says that medical teams from Russia, Japan, Germany, and Italy are heading in to help care for the quarter of a million people that were hurt in that earthquake.
And chaos and panic in the street last night after a government warned of a major aftershock. This video was just sent to us from an I-reporter, Joseph Fuschetto. He's a teacher. He said more than 5,000 students slept on the basketball court.
And this new video just released shows that the chaos and terror immediately after the quake. The images are dramatic. They're hard to watch as the disaster unfolds. Here it is now from Bill Neely of ITV News.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL NEELY, ITV NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): This is what happens when the earth quakes and a city collapses. It's 20 seconds after the first huge tremor, but the ground is still shaking. Stay down, stay down someone shouts. Nothing is clear except the terror of tens of thousands.
So many are children clinging to each other, choking, crying, but there's more to come. Another violent tremor. Everyone cowers, the cameras microphone breaks, and then behind them buildings collapse. Everyone is covered in dust again, but those outside are the fortunate.
In a theater, children performing a play are trapped. A wall has fallen on them. Get over there, he says, people need help. They sprint out. Others stagger. Few rescues are painless. There is pain everywhere. Masonry has trapped two girls by the legs. Nearby rescuers work to free another. All over Beichuan, people are running. It's now many minutes since the main earthquake, but there's still panic.
My baby, she says, where's my baby? Another woman seems rooted to the spot. Don't stand here, they say, get out. But many are in a daze. From the rubble, a child is handed down beside a woman barefoot and bruised. He is safe for now. Suddenly yet another aftershock and a call for calm. There may be another tremor within minutes, the official says. You really must get out. But it's not that simple. Scattered on the ground are Beichuan's injured. Falling masonry hitting young and old alike.
