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American Morning
McCain Invites Obama to Iraq; Obama Blasts McCain on GI Bill; Bush to Raise Money for McCain; Sydney Pollack is Dead: A Look at His Life and Career; Cracks Found in Canadian Ice Shelves
Aired May 27, 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: McCain's invitation came along with a pretty intense attack on Obama's "inexperience" with McCain criticizing the fact that Obama hasn't been to the war zone since 2006 before the so-called surge happened. Both candidates were on the trail over Memorial Day honoring the dead and talking about their plans as commander in chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are succeeding in Iraq. Every indicator shows that this new strategy is succeeding. Senator Obama was wrong. He wanted to surrender, and I will never surrender.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator Obama took aim at John McCain for opposing a new GI bill that extends education benefits for veterans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Number one is what we just talked about, which is making sure that the GI bill for a 21st century is passed. And although George Bush has threatened to veto it, our intention is to override that veto when it comes back to the House and the Senate because we should make sure -- we should make sure that today's veterans get the same benefit that my grandfather got when he came back from World War II.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator McCain says the bill would encourage people to leave the military after one tour of duty, something he says is unacceptable with two wars going on. President Bush makes a rare appearance with John McCain today to raise money for the GOP candidate. And while the president will help McCain with his cash flow, don't expect to see more than a quick glimpse of the two of them together. CNN's Elaine Quijano reports.
ELAINE QUIJANO, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, it's been almost three months since President Bush formally endorsed Senator John McCain. Since then, the two have not hit the campaign trail together. And while that changes, there's a reason why we won't see many pictures.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): When it comes to raising money, nothing beats the power of the presidency. Supported in part by taxpayer dollars to pay for the trappings of the office, a president can draw big donors to fund-raisers. And Senator John McCain's cash-strapped campaign wants to quietly make the most of it.
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOSE PRESS SECRETARY: The McCain campaign has a practice of having their fund-raisers as closed press.
QUIJANO: There will be some airport pictures of the president and Senator McCain together, but as you noted when he endorsed the senator in March, President Bush understands with his low approval ratings, he'll sometimes need to keep his distance.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If my showing up and endorsing him helps him, or if I'm against him and it helps him, either way I want him to win.
QUIJANO: The two men have a long history stretching back to their bitter rivalry during the 2000 Republican primary fight.
BUSH: I'm also disappointed in John McCain. This is a man who paid for telephone calls in the state of Michigan implying strongly that I'm an anti-Catholic bigot. And I don't appreciate that kind of campaigning.
QUIJANO: And over the next eight years, they worked to bury the hatchet, from campaigning together in 2004 to celebrating the senator's birthday. And now, they've formed a marriage of political convenience. President Bush is still popular among core Republicans who support and money the senator need, while a Republican presidency could ultimately boost President Bush's legacy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: While the president's fund-raising abilities are well- known, the McCain campaign is not disclosing how much is expected from the three fund-raisers President Bush is attending for the senator, with one McCain aide simply calling the amount sizable -- John.
ROBERTS: Elaine Quijano reporting for us at the White House this morning.
I just want to point out before we go any further, that little thing right up there that says "live," it's stuck. This part of the program is live, but there are parts of the program that won't be live this morning. There will be taped pieces and things, but that little live bug will always be there until we reboot it and get it fixed. So I just want to be fully transparent with you this morning.
(CROSSTALK)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: What are you doing with it?
ROBERTS: And now, here's Kyra who is this little live thing here. She is live this morning. Good morning.
PHILLIPS: We are definitely live this morning. We're talking about Hillary Clinton also heading to Montana. She'll be doing that live.
She spent Memorial Day campaigning in Puerto Rico where she's hoping for a big primary victory on June 1st. Hundreds of union workers greeted Clinton with chants of Obama's catch phrase, yes, we can, in Spanish.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Si, se puede. Si, se puede. Si, se puede.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Clinton's message focused on the need to give Puerto Ricans the right to vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe all people are entitled to a representative government at all levels of government. And I believe the people of Puerto Rico should have the right to determine your status and as president I will back you up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Clinton also said that it was "an injustice and an insult" to have Puerto Ricans risk their lives in the U.S. military and not have an equal voice in the vote.
New this morning, flood fears forcing more than 150,000 people in China's quake zones to leave their homes. Soldiers and engineers are preparing to blast through a huge wall of debris and keep a so-called quake lake from bursting. Officials there say that river has been rising at the rate of about six feet a day.
Meantime, the government says it's investigating whether substandard school construction contributed to those building collapses. More than 1,000 children were killed in that quake. The official death toll stands at 65,000 now. More than 23,000 people are still missing.
New accusations this morning about Iran's nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency accusing Tehran of withholding critical information and defying U.N. demands to suspend uranium enrichment. A new IAEA report says that Tehran's nuclear program is intended for military use than to generate energy. Iran says it will continue to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes and has refused to provide documents to support its position.
Security is tight in Myanmar today as the country's military junta decides whether to release the opposition party leader from house arrest. Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for the last five years, and witnesses say that 25 members of her pro-democracy party were arrested today while marching from the party's headquarters to her house. Myanmar's military regime also under fire for its handling of cyclone victims accused of blocking international aid to some 2.5 million survivors.
ROBERTS: Gasoline prices setting another record this morning. Checking the CNN gas gauge.
The national average is -- ching, ooh, ah, that hurts -- $3.93 a gallon. According to AAA, that's up only a tenth of a cent from yesterday but it is the 20th straight jump in a row. Gasoline 34 cents higher than last month, 73 cents higher than this time last year.
A new greenhouse gases bill will take center stage in the Senate next week. The debate will center on how to curb emissions without putting U.S. businesses at a competitive disadvantage against companies around the world. The White House opposes the bill, but all three presidential candidates do support it.
PHILLIPS: French skydiver Michel Fournier is trying again today for a record-setting free fall in western Canada. High winds forced the daredevil to scrub his jump yesterday. Fournier is expected to go up in a helium balloon this hour. It's going to take him two hours to reach his jump point and then he'll plunge more than 131,000 feet from the edge of space above the Canadian province of Saskatchewan before deploying a specially designed parachute.
Now, he's trying to break four free fall records. Fastest free fall, longest free fall, highest jump, and highest altitude reached by a man in a balloon.
Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, well, he spent part of his Memorial Day on the water in Cape Cod just a week after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Kennedy was at the helm of his boat Maya (ph) during an annual sailboat race from Nantucket Island to Hyannis. He was joined on board by family and his close friend, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd. Kennedy finished second, by the way, in his five- boat division.
ROBERTS: It's great to see him out there, isn't it? Great. By the way, we've got the little live thing fixed. It goes on and off now like it's supposed to.
With gas prices well above $4 a gallon in 11 states, it is no wonder that Americans are driving less. Our Ali Velshi breaks it all down for you. That's straight ahead.
And new cracks discovered in Canadian ice shelves, some of them more than 10 miles long and 10 stories deep. We'll ask the scientist who found them what it tells us about global warming.
And Oscar-winning director and actor Sydney Pollack dies of cancer. A look back at his amazing career ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Kind of forgot about high gas prices because Ali was off yesterday.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: A one-day break.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
ROBERTS: Or they weren't driving as the case maybe.
VELSHI: And they weren't driving, Americans were obviously this Memorial Day weekend. AAA predicted that one percent fewer Americans were out on the road compared to last year, and the government has actually predicted that four percent or Americans will drive 4.5 miles less this year than they drove last year.
Doesn't sound like much, but it is the first time that the average that Americans drive is actually down since 1979, and that's got something to do with these gas prices.
Another record today. Look at those prices, $3.94 now. It's just a little under that. $3.94 for a gallon of self-serve unleaded. There are now 12 states -- take a look at these -- where the average is above $4 a gallon for gasoline.
New York is one of them. People were sort of telling me about this all weekend. There are a number of cities outside of those states where gas is above $4 a gallon.
Billionaire investor George Soros said the other day that he felt that this is characteristic of a bubble because of all the speculation in the price of oil. It hit $135 on -- what was it? -- Thursday, and that is the biggest one-day jump since the beginning of the first Gulf War. So there's a great deal and that will tell you.
That's why we sort of think that there's speculation in here because there aren't supply and demand issues that would cause oil to go up by, you know, $5 in a given day. So at the moment, George Soros is talking about the fact that it's a bubble, but he and his very smart people did some analysis on this, I'm going to bring it you later, saying that oil, which has doubled in the last year, could double again if the circumstances are right.
So even when you think it's a speculative bubble, people are not predicting it's going to get cheaper anytime soon. This is really -- we are in uncharted territory when it comes to oil and gas prices, but it is changing the way people drive.
ROBERTS: It's kind of frightening too what the overall effect on the economy is going to be.
VELSHI: It can be dramatic because as we have touched on this show and we will continue to do, food is a very important thing. That's something you can't downsize your food very easily.
PHILLIPS: Right.
VELSHI: So it's having an effect across the economy and many other areas. We'll talk more about that.
ROBERTS: Right. Looking forward to it.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Ali.
ROBERTS: How did you get an office with a window, by the way?
VELSHI: Oh, I know some people around here. Nice, huh?
ROBERTS: Very nice. He's got these monitors behind you.
PHILLIPS: And it's real.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Ali. See you soon.
VELSHI: All right.
ROBERTS: This election not just about the issues. Emotion playing a major role in the race for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man is just so damn inspiring it's really difficult to outinspire him. So you have to find some other kind of emotional tug which you can get people with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Find out how the candidates are trying to win voters by appealing to their softer side.
Plus, an alert for extreme weather in the plains today. Rob Marciano is here with us in New York tracking all of that. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, John. Our window to the world here in the weather department is always the radar and it is lighting up once again. There is a threat.
Plus, the official storm surveyors, how strong were those storms that rolled through Minnesota and Iowa? We'll break it all down for you when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Check this out. A plane split in two. Today's "Hot Shot." Officials say the cargo plane actually crashed at the end of the runway at Brussels Airport in Belgium when it was trying to take off. Nobody on board that Boeing 747 was seriously injured. You might guess just a little frazzled.
ROBERTS: Wow, I would say. PHILLIPS: Yes. There's a new meaning to coach class. But if you've got a hot class or a "Hot Shot" rather, send it to us. Head to our Web site, CNN.com/am. Follow the "Hot Shot" link.
ROBERTS: Well, Rob Marciano is with us in New York again this morning. New threat in the plains and new images of damage left behind by the extreme weather that hit there over the weekend. Good morning to you, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, guys. You know, they have these storm surveyors that go out there and officially take a look at the damage to see what kind of issues they had as far as wind speed goes. When the official results are in for the Hugo, Minnesota storm, that's been rated an EF-3 with winds anywhere from 135 to 165 miles an hour. It was about six miles in length and about an eighth of a mile wide, and as you know, a 2-year-old child was killed in this particular twister.
The one to the south, which happened incidentally within about 10 minutes of each other in Iowa, Parkersburg, Iowa, this one was stronger. And they're rating this at least an EF-3 with winds possibly stronger than 165 miles an hour. This twister was 43 miles in length and at one point over a mile wide. So this one easily could be an EF-4. But in order for them to rate an EF-4, they have to bring another expert in to see if that damage actually coincides with the wind strength.
All right. What are we seeing today? Big picture showing you the rainfall that's going to stretch all the way from the East Coast back to the Midwest. So this system is stretching out quite a bit and as it does so, well, we'll see more people involved.
Oklahoma, east of Oklahoma City, we had a wind gust of 60 miles an hour earlier this morning. So that strong bow echo that typically indicates straight line winds that are humming along in there as it drives to the east towards Fort Smith, Arkansas.
The severe weather threat today obviously includes Oklahoma east towards parts of Missouri. But also as the system stretches out and the cold front stretches off to the east, we have a severe threat across the northeast later on today. Storm Prediction Center is saying we got a slight risk of seeing damaging winds later on this afternoon that being the primary threat.
So heads up here across the I-95 corridor. John and Kyra, we may get rough later on this afternoon.
ROBERTS: All right, Rob. Thanks. Get an update from you coming up soon.
PHILLIPS: A dramatic new evidence of Arctic ice breakup. We're going to show you the cracks in this Canadian ice shelf. Check this out.
Ten miles long, at least ten stories deep. We're going to hear from one of the researchers who discovered this and what it means for you with regards to the environment and also, believe it or not, what we eat.
And legendary film director Sydney Pollack is dead. His films included a who's who of the Hollywood elite. Robert Redford, Harrison Ford, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Jane Fonda, shall I continue? Coming up, a look back at his amazing life and career.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour now, and some live pictures for you this morning from North Battleford, Saskatchewan. That's in Canada, right in the heart of the country. And that is Michel Fournier's balloon that he's about to take off on.
We actually expected that he would have taken off by now. He is going to try to set a world skydiving record, diving from 40,000 meters. That's just over 131,000 feet. He'll be way above what's called the Armstrong Line where your blood "boils" so he'll be wearing a space suit, a pressure suit, a type of space suit when he jumps out.
And, I mean, this is about the most dangerous thing you could ever imagine doing. So he'll be doing that this morning apparently. It looks a little breezy there the way that the inflation hoses are blowing around, but he still plans to go up as far as we know. And we'll continue live coverage on that, dipping in, and we hope to be able to bring you part of his return to earth a little bit later on this morning.
Meantime, "Tootsie," "Out of Africa," "The Way We Were," "The Firm," one man directed them all. Sydney Pollack. He died yesterday of cancer at the age of 73.
His legacy includes working with Hollywood's biggest actors in some of the most memorable films of the last four decades. AMERICAN MORNING's Lola Ogunnaike is here, and a real sad news this morning.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It is sad news, and it caught everyone by surprise, John. I mean, he was sick for nine months and apparently he succumbed to cancer and it's a terrible tragedy because he was such an influential powerhouse in the world of Hollywood.
I mean, if you look at his films and his legacy "Tootsie," this is a revolutionary film. And in 1992, he was directed -- he was nominated for the best director for an Academy Award for Best Director. He didn't win that year, but he did turn around and win three years later for "Out of Africa," which also garnered nominations for Meryl Streep as well.
And he was really known for bringing the best out of actors. He was an actors' director, and he himself enjoyed being in front of the camera as well.
ROBERTS: Well, he was an actor, too. He knew it from both sides.
OGUNNAIKE: He did. And he was also an acting coach and he enjoyed really being in front of the camera himself. He also said that he liked working with directors because he got to study them. So he teamed up with people like Stanley Kubrick and Woody Allen as well. So he was there on both sides.
He really was a triple treat. He was also an executive producer, if you think about the stuff he did, like "Talented Mr. Ripley" as well, working with Anthony Minghella, and things of that nature. So he was one of those people who enjoyed a different view, a view of the world of acting from all perspectives.
ROBERTS: The constant student I think he liked to refer to himself.
OGUNNAIKE: He was a constant student.
ROBERTS: He's always learning. Always liked to learn something new every day. What do you think he'll be best remembered for? You know, long remembered movie like "The Way We Were," the gender-bending comedy of "Tootsie," the sweeping beauty of "Out of Africa," what do you think?
OGUNNAIKE: I think he'll be remembered for those three films. He was primarily known as a man who liked the romance and dramas, the epic romances like "The Way We Were." I mean, who won't forget "Hubbell."
He enjoyed really working with Robert Redford. The two of them teamed up for seven films. But he also seemed to have fun with "Tootsie" as well. Apparently Dustin Hoffman and him didn't get along off camera.
ROBERTS: Really?
OGUNNAIKE: And Dustin Hoffman thought to himself, hey, let's bring that to the screen. You play my long suffering agent and we'll mind this volatile relationship and make movie magic. And it worked.
ROBERTS: I didn't know that.
OGUNNAIKE: Yes. Well, it's a real shame, but he really was a tremendous director, actor, a fabulous human being. He'll be sorely missed, no question about it. Lola, thanks.
OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Well, NASA searching for signs of life on Mars. The Phoenix is sending back fresh pictures from the Red Planet just after its first full day on the ground. The spacecraft's robotic arm holds this tiny little camera for extreme close ups of each grain of soil hoping to find those signs of chemicals and water needed to sustain even the tiniest organisms.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Do you think there's life on Mars? Cast your vote CNN.com/am. Groundbreaking research. New evidence of the Arctic ice caps breaking apart, cracks 10 miles long and 10 stories deep. Find out what that means for you and me right here at home.
And the key to winning this election may not be policy, but emotion. Find out why and which candidate has the advantage. Straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, there's dramatic new evidence of global warming and it's as close as the northernmost coast of Canada. Scientists are concerned that the last remaining North American Arctic ice shelves are rapidly disappearing.
Derek Mueller is a scientist with Trent University. He studied the problem for nearly a decade. He joins us now live from Toronto.
And, Derek, we are trying to figure out a way before we begin this interview, how do we make sense of this to those here, you know, back in the states, when they hear you were seeing these cracks 10 miles long, 10 stories deep? What does that mean for me here at home in my environment?
DEREK MUELLER, TRENT UNIVERSITY: Well, yes, the thing is that the Arctic is changing, and not -- it's really quite startling how rapidly that is occurring. And on a global level, you know, the Arctic and the Antarctic are cooling our planet and stabilizing our climate. If the Arctic, for instance, changes rapidly, then there will be consequences to the rest of the planet with regards to their climate.
PHILLIPS: And what are the consequences?
MUELLER: So it's like the world's refrigerator and it's breaking down.
PHILLIPS: And why is it happening and what are those consequences, Derek?
MUELLER: Well, what is happening is that these ice shelves, they're only five ice shelves left in the Arctic. In the Antarctic, there are lots of ice shelves. Forty percent of the coastline in Antarctica is fringed with ice shelves, but in the Arctic they were never very extensive and now they are disappearing. There's five of them left.
And the Ward Hunt Ice shelf cracked as you mentioned. In 2002, it started cracking up. And now, we're seeing more cracks and other ice shelves along that coastline are also disappearing.
The Ayles Ice Shelf disappeared. It floated away completed in 2005. And the Peterson Ice Shelf, another one nearby, has just lost over a third of its aerial extent. So one-third of that ice shelf has disappeared in just a short three years. PHILLIPS: And, Derek, I don't think a lot of people realize that a whole ecosystem, you know, is a part of these ice shelves and it harbors life. And I remember even being in Antarctica and meeting with these scientists, and they were showing me how this breakup was going to affect our food chain, and how certain fish were going to become extinct. I mean, it's amazing to watch what happens there and how it brings us home and how we live our life.
MUELLER: Yes, we're, you know, a lot of people think of ice and snow as very sterile environments, that there's no life. But in fact, these ice shelves harbor ecosystems that can tolerate the conditions there, the cold conditions. And there are other environments created by ice shelves as well that are disappearing when the ice shelves disappear. So those ecosystems, because these ice shelves are rare in the northern hemisphere, are very rare ecosystems, indeed.
PHILLIPS: It's pretty amazing what you endured, even do what you did. Your expedition, 40 below zero, 40 pounds of gear. It's quite a hike just to see what you had to do and discover there. Derek Mueller with Trent University, appreciate your time this morning.
MUELLER: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Just crossing the half hour to politics now.
John McCain is holding a major fund-raiser today with President Bush. McCain is also inviting his probable opponent, Senator Barack Obama, to take a trip with him to Iraq. McCain says Obama needs a lesson on the situation there because he has not visited the war zone since before the troop buildup back in 2006.
McCain also criticized Obama's lack of experience during a Memorial Day stop in New Mexico.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There'll be a stark contrast between myself and Senator Obama. State like New Mexico, he has no experience or background on any of the vital issues to the people of New Mexico, whether it be water, land, federal issues, or native Americans. And so I look forward to debating here and campaigning here as I have many times in the past.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Obama was also out west and said he is confident that he can win there after people look back at the past eight years of Republican rule.
And after making a final push in Puerto Rico, which holds its primary on Sunday, Hillary Clinton is heading back to the mainland and Montana. This evening, Senator Clinton is expected to hold two rallies there. Montana holds its primary June the 3rd with 16 delegates at stake, together with South Dakota, the last contests of this primary season. Up next for the Democrats, the party's rules committee meets on Saturday to decide what to do about the Michigan and Florida delegations. And on Sunday, as we mentioned, Puerto Rico, and one week from today, the last two primaries -- Montana and South Dakota.
And if Barack Obama wraps up the nomination, the presidential contest will come down to two men who have to move beyond policies and play to the softer side of voters. CNN's Carol Costello explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a powerful tool often overlooked by pundits -- emotion. It isn't a 12-point plan that sells a candidate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Improvement of our agricultural laws.
COSTELLO: It's his or her ability to touch voters emotionally. And let's say Barack Obama has that down.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are offering the politics of the future. We are tired of the politics of fear. We're going to offer the politics of hope.
COSTELLO: Drew Westen who wrote the "Political Brain" says if the race comes down to Obama versus McCain, McCain may have a hard time of it.
DREW WESTEN, EMORY UNIVERSITY: The hard thing for him is -- I think the same problem with Hillary had against Obama, which is the man is just so damned inspiring. It's really difficult to out-inspire him. So you have to find some other kind of emotional tug that you can get to people with.
COSTELLO: And Westen says McCain has found it. His emotional tug comes from attributes many Americans see in themselves -- a maverick yet kind style, courage, strength. In short, McCain is using the politics of patriotism. All are on display when McCain talks of the Iraq war.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But though my duty is neither dangerous nor onerous, it compels me, nonetheless, to say to my fellow Americans, as long as we have the opportunity to succeed, we must try to succeed. And I firmly believe that with a continued right course of action, we will succeed.
COSTELLO: The big question for both candidates is which emotion will tug harder at America's heartstrings -- the politics of patriotism or the politics of hope. Westen says, so far, it seems Obama is strumming the right tune.
WESTEN: What he can do with people is something that, you know, very few people can do. He can pack a hall filled with 15,000 or 75,000 people and have them leaving feeling fired up and excited and enthusiastic. COSTELLO: But don't count McCain's brand of emotionalism out. Polls show he's losing to Obama in a head-to-head match up, but not by much.
(on camera): It's not as if Americans don't care about specific plans to fix the country, but as Westen says when voters go into that voting booth, it matters more to them what kind of person will lead the country.
John, Kyra?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Carol Costello for us this morning. Carol, thanks.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Alina Cho now joins us with other stories making headlines. Welcome back from a -- I hope you had a day off.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. I did have a day off, yes, yes. It was nice. I slept in. Good morning, guys.
PHILLIPS: Were you barbecuing with John McCain and the possible candidates for the VP slot?
CHO: No, I wasn't, but I did barbecue, yes. I had fun. Good morning, guys, and good morning, everybody.
Hey, new this morning. Security gaps in America's ports. A government report out today says terrorists could smuggle weapons of mass destruction into the United States using cargo containers.
The Government Accountability OFFICE report says under a federal program established after 9/11, importers are granted benefits like reduced scrutiny of their cargo in exchange for filing a security plan. The problem, the government says is that many companies were getting the benefit without the full vetting by U.S. Customs.
A 12-year-old West Virginia girl is doing fine this morning after being stung by a scorpion at a Wal-Mart. It's true. Her name is Megan Templeton. She was with her family Sunday shopping for watermelons for Memorial Day when the inch-long scorpion jabbed her finger. She had just seen "Indiana Jones". There is a scorpion scene and she thought the worst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGAN TEMPLETON, STUNG BY SCORPION: I had my hand on the side of the watermelon box and the scorpion crawled out and stung me on the tip of my finger. I thought I was going to get really sick because I thought all scorpions were poisonous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Well, it turns out it was no worse than a bee sting. Wal- Mart says the shipping came from Mexico and that incidents like this, guess what, are rare. As for the scorpion, Megan said she's named it Laura and will take it to school for show and tell. How about that?
And a blockbuster weekend for "Indiana Jones" -- "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which, by the way, is the fourth in the series. Took in an estimated $151 million at the box office over the five-day holiday weekend. Remember that music?
It's the second biggest Memorial Day opening after "Pirates of the Caribbean" last year. "Indy" also raked in $160 million more overseas. Nearly 20 years after the previous movie in the series was released. Harrison Ford, if you can believe it, is 65 years old. I saw the movie.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I saw it, too. It got a scorpion. It plays a part in there. It bites one of the guys.
ROBERTS: We scorpions are pretty good people. We sting once in a while, but we make good pets.
CHO: Scorpio. I'm going to leave that one alone.
VELSHI: Yes. But if you need us, we're right over here.
ROBERTS: Ali's here.
VELSHI: Yes, exactly.
PHILLIPS: You know what? I'll count on you, Ali, to play off that one.
VELSHI: I'm going to -- Listen, if you think high gas prices are stinging you, think about the U.S. Air Force that uses so much fuel. It spends $10 million a day on fuel. And it's a little worried about the prices, too. So, it's got a plan to spend a little less money. I'm going to tell you about that and how it might affect you, when we come back on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Ali Velshi. The U.S. Air Force uses 2.6 billion gallons of jet fuel a year. The gas bill is roughly $10 million everyday and according to the Air Force, a 10 percent increase in the price of a barrel of oil costs them, and ultimately you, more than half a billion dollars more each year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI (voice-over): The Air Force is on a mission.
SEC. BILL ANDERSEN, USAF: We are testing multiple aircraft within the Air Force Aviation Inventory on a blended fuel that includes a 50 percent portion of normal jet aviation fuel made from petroleum and a 50 percent blend of synthetic fuel.
VELSHI: So far, the U.S. Air Force has certified the B-52 to fly on a synthetic fuel blend made from natural gas, but they say they hope to use coal in the future. Performance-wise, they say there's been no downside. In fact, the synthetic fuel burns cleaner.
The United States has the world's largest known coal reserves, more than a quarter of a trillion short tons. That's about 545 trillion pounds.
ANDERSEN: You look at available in the ground resources that this country has. We are considered, based on the amount of coal that's in the ground, to be the Saudi Arabia of coal.
VELSHI: And Montana has the country's largest reserves of coal. The Air Force is prepared to lease out 700 acres of Maelstrom Air Force base to anyone qualified and willing to build and operate a plant to make jet fuel out of coal. The price tag, though, could be $1 billion. Ultimately, the Air Force hopes the coal to fuel model crosses over into the commercial aviation industry.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: And it already has in South Africa, where South African Airlines is certified to use gasoline from coal.
Another lesson, though, that we've learned from ethanol -- increasing the demand for coal could push the price of energy up across the board. Right now, coal is used to generate roughly half of all the electricity that is produced in the United States.
We have to be careful. If we decide that coal is an alternative to gasoline, is that going to make all of our homes more expensive to heat.
ROBERTS: So, it would be the corn effect, only this time, it's coal.
VELSHI: It will be the corn effect, right. But it may not, but it's worth doing all of that figuring out at the front end so we don't have to sit and discuss this in ten years and say, we should have thought twice before we used that coal. Might be a good idea. At this point, everything's on the table.
ROBERTS: All right. Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: OK.
PHILLIPS: Do you believe in Martians?
ROBERTS: Totally. I believe in Martians.
PHILLIPS: OK. I understand you.
The search for life on Mars. Incredible images beamed back from the red planet as the Phoenix probed to surface. We're going to talk to a NASA scientist about the possibility of those aliens that may exist.
Ali is going to bring in, too. Right here on this AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's just about 44 minutes after the hour. Caught on tape -- a killer tornado tearing through the town of Parkersburg, Iowa. The man behind the camera watched as the funnel clouds took a sharp turn and headed right for his parents' house. Look at it coming. They were OK but the home was destroyed. Officials say five people were killed in Parkersburg alone on Sunday night.
Rob Marciano is here in New York today. He's got more on that storm and the rest of the extreme weather threat today.
Good morning, Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Seemed like such a nice day when we left at 2:30 this morning.
PHILLIPS: Really, the air was perfect.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I don't think 2:30 really counts as being part of the day.
ROBERTS: That was still last night.
MARCIANO: Doesn't it feel that way?
PHILLIPS: When you wake up before the flowers, it's a whole another -- yes, life.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
PHILLIPS: President Bush headlines a fund-raising event for John McCain, but you're going to have to look pretty hard to see the two actually together. The politics of raising cash with an unpopular commander-in-chief.
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, boiling mad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm paying $1,200 more a year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Think a gallon is always a gallon? Think again. When the temperature goes up, it might be taking your gas bill with it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you think you're buying ten gallons of gas, you may not be buying ten gallons of fuel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The heated fight that could save you money, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A new high for the price of gas. This morning's AAA fuel gauge report has a gallon of regular going for a national average of $3.93, and you may not be getting what you're really paying for. National correspondent Susan Candiotti has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As if paying at the pump wasn't bad enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gas prices just going through the roof right now.
CANDIOTTI: Now add summer heat to the equation. When gasoline gets hot, its molecules expand. So there's less energy per gallon.
JOAN CLAYBROOK, PRESIDENT, PUBLIC CITIZEN: So, if you think you're buying ten gallons of gas, you may not be buying ten gallons of fuel. The consumer is overpaying for that gasoline.
CANDIOTTI: Consumer Group Public Citizen estimates Americans are forking over an extra $3 billion a year in hidden charges because of hot fuel. For years, the oil industry has used 60 degree gas as its price-setting standard. Using that figure, a car getting 25 miles per gallon would go 500 miles. But that same car using 90 degree gas would go only 490 miles.
JOHN MASON, INDEPENDENT TRUCKER: 78.9 degrees. This is right from the tank.
CANDIOTTI: Florida trucker John Mason drives his rig 25,000 miles a year.
MASON: Just being 70 degrees I'm paying $1,200 more a year at today's prices.
CANDIOTTI: 84.6 degrees. That's a high temperature. Miami fuel distributor Max Alvarez just got a hot fuel delivery, but he says the oil supplier shaved 75 gallons off to compensate him for the heat.
MAX ALVAREZ, SUNSHINE GASOLINE DISTRIBUTOR: If that was not adjusted to me, I would probably have to charge more. So the consumer is getting exactly what they're paying for.
CANDIOTTI: Consumer groups don't buy it and are urging Congress to mandate retro fitting gas pumps to adjust for temperature. Canada has done it for years to compensate for cool weather.
MASON: Everybody wants to do something. Well, here is something. It's right there. The door is open. Get it done. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Well, if these gas pumps were retro fitted, it would probably cost about $1,000 to 2 $2,000 apiece. Oil companies say they're not going to pay for it. Gas station owners say we're not going to pay for it, but if they had to, they say the consumer is going to wind up paying for it in the end.
Back to you John and Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Susan Candiotti, thanks.
John?
ROBERTS: As the Mars Landers prepares to check the planet's soil for signs of primitive life, we want to know, do you think that there is life on Mars? It's this morning's "Quick Vote" question.
Right now, people are pessimistic about the prospect. 34 percent say yes, 66 percent don't think so. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning.
PHILLIPS: Hotspots. John McCain set to lay out the nuclear threat facing the U.S. as he tries to keep his distance from President Bush.
Plus, digging for life.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a space geek's delight.
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PHILLIPS: One small step toward little green men on a mission to Mars. The images from another world, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Postcards this morning from 422 million miles away. These incredible images of Mars are being beamed back to earth from the Phoenix spacecraft getting ready to dig for signs of life underneath the rocky surface.
And joining us now to talk more about the potential for life on Mars and its implications, NASA administer Mike Griffin.
We should point out, too, Mr. Griffin, we got a little bit of a delay on our satellite here so it may make conversation a little difficult but we'll try to deal with it as best we can.
We have seen so far in these pictures coming in from the spacecraft, these odd shapes on the ground. You're calling them polygons, that's the typical name for them, but what do they really represent? What do you think might be behind them? MICHAEL GRIFFIN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Well, they represent territory which has been alternately frozen and thawed, just like you can see in dry lake beds a lot or that we see in Arctic regions on earth. So we think, scientists think, that there might be frozen water, ice if you will, under the ground, and where there is water, there is the potential for life, either extinct life or possibly even present day.
ROBERTS: So what will the Phoenix spacecraft do then to try to exploit these areas where you think there might have been some water?
GRIFFIN: Well, it has an entrenching tool, if you like. It has a shovel on the end of a robot arm. It's a very strong shovel. It can break through the hard crust that we see on the surface, get down to the ice if it's there, and sample it. And we have an elaborate chemical lab on Mars Phoenix. Can analyze what we dig up.
ROBERTS: So what do you think? Do you think there's life on Mars? So your earpiece popped out there. I'll ask you the question again. Do you think that there's life on Mars?
GRIFFIN: Well, I'll have to give you a qualified maybe. I wouldn't be surprised either way. We found that spores can survive a very long time in very harsh conditions. There might have been life on Mars originating in a warmer weather period. It could still be there today. Who knows? That's why we're going there to find out.
ROBERTS: If there is life on Mars, it's going to challenge a lot of our basic beliefs about humans being alone in the universe. What do you think are the implications of the potential discovery of life on Mars?
GRIFFIN: Well, the potential discovery of life on Mars or any other place would -- is one of the fundamental scientific questions of our time. Is it possible that life originated elsewhere in the universe? That's one of the reasons we exist is to go find the answers to those questions.
ROBERTS: And if it turns out that you do find evidence of life on Mars, what is the next step for NASA?
GRIFFIN: Well, that would be a huge step. I don't know. We'd have to drop back and think about that one pretty carefully.
ROBERTS: I'm sure you would. NASA administrator Mike Griffin. Thanks for joining us this morning. Good luck with this mission. It certainly is fascinating.
GRIFFIN: Thank you, John. It's an incredible mission. It was an incredible accomplishment by the JPO and NASA team. And it was a pleasure to be there with them when it landed.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll keep on watching it very closely. Good to talk with you this morning, sir. Thanks very much.
Kyra? First of all, a look at the milestones in the search for life on Mars in an "AM Extra" now. March 2004, the Opportunity Rover sent back evidence that water once flowed over rocks. Scientist conclude the area was once soaking wet. In December of 2006, photographs show new deposits in two gullies on Mars. Scientists say it proves that water activity was there during the past seven years. And in December of 2007, the Spirit Rover finds a patch of silica, a main ingredient in glass likely formed by a hot spring or steam, a potential hot bed for life.
Now, over to Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, I like his answer. It wasn't a yes or no about life on Mars. It was a qualified maybe.
ROBERTS: A qualified maybe.
PHILLIPS: I was going to remember that.
ROBERTS: Definitely it's possible.
PHILLIPS: Exactly. All right. Let's turn to politics now. It's the first time that they're going to be seen side by side since March. President Bush joining John McCain today for a fund-raiser. But you may not see that much of the commander-in-chief. So, why the distance? Well, CNN's Elaine Quijano is live at the White House with more.
Hi, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra. Well, that's right. Over the next two days President Bush is going to be attending three fund-raisers for Senator John McCain. The first will be tonight in Phoenix, Arizona. Senator McCain will also be there. The other two will be tomorrow in Utah. But at each stop along the way, we're not going to be seeing much of the fund-raiser in chief.
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QUIJANO (voice-over): When it comes to raising money nothing beats the power of the presidency. Supported in part by taxpayer dollars to pay for the trappings of the office, a president can draw big donors to fund-raisers. And Senator John McCain's cash-strapped campaign wants to quietly make the most of it.
The McCain campaign has a practice of having their fund-raisers as closed press.
QUIJANO: There will be some airport pictures of the president and Senator McCain together, but as he noted when he endorsed the senator in March, President Bush understands with his low approval ratings, he'll sometimes need to keep his distance.
