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Hillary Clinton's Drive for Delegates Hits New Bump; Scott McClellan Fires Back at Bush Administration Over Allegations in his New Book; Chinese Earthquake Leads to Landslide Problems
Aired May 29, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've taken the liberty of preparing the invitations. Ellen will be given away by the Republican candidate for president at a ceremony held on the Bush ranch, unless we hear any objection.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Great.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Jeanne is always causing a little trouble, isn't she?
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Try to stir it up.
PHILLIPS: Final check of this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Who has more credibility -- Scott McClellan or the White House? 91 percent of you said McClellan, 9 percent believe the White House.
Thanks for voting.
ROBERTS: "CNN NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
You'll see events come into the NEWSROOM live on Thursday, May 29th.
Here's what's on the rundown.
Hillary Clinton's drive for delegates hits a new bump. Democratic Party lawyers make recommendations on disputed delegates.
HARRIS: Scott McClellan's tell-all book zooms to number one on Amazon.com. Today the former Bush spokesman taking heat from former co-workers.
COLLINS: Urgent problem overhead. The space station toilet poops out. For the crew, it's "Issue #1," in the NEWSROOM.
We're going to start this morning with severe weather. We have Jacqui Jeras standing by to tell us a little bit more about what is happening in the Midwest -- Jacqui?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: That's the pattern.
COLLINS: Yes. We'll be watching closely with you.
Jacqui, thank you.
And remember, if you would -- when the weather becomes the news, send us your iReports. You can go to CNN.com and click on iReport or type ireport@CNN.com and to your cell phone. And remember, stay safe.
HARRIS: And breaking news. The army set to report troop suicides the highest in decades.
Let's get right to CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
And Barbara, I guess just a couple of days ago you indicated this number was coming.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Everybody here knew this number was coming in the Pentagon. It was expected and it is not looking good, Tony.
Later this afternoon, the army will report publicly that the number of suicides in 2007 did reach record levels. The data now indicates 115 troops committed suicide in 2007. That is up from 102 the year before. It has been a fairly steady climb since the war began.
There are a number of suicide prevention programs in place in the military. But the army is very concerned about this. Top officials say what they have found is about -- tragically about one-quarter of the suicides are committed while a troop, while a soldier is on deployment overseas in the war zone.
But the majority of them, they are finding, are actually -- take place once the soldier returns home to their home base. It's an interesting question with not a lot of good answers.
Most of them are young men and a lot of it parallels what one sees in civil society. Young people with problems that they seem not able to cope with. But in the military, the key difference is these are young men, mainly, with access to firearms. And that is how most of these suicides happen -- Tony.
HARRIS: How frustrating is this for the military? I'm wondering if the military feels it's doing everything it can right now or if, perhaps, they are searching for answers.
STARR: Well, I think it's a combination of both. And I think we will hear both later in the day. They have put a lot of programs in place. But make no mistake. This is not the number they wanted to see.
HARRIS: Yes.
STARR: This is something that concerns them a great deal. And, you know, when you combine with this, with the thousands of troops with diagnosed cases of posttraumatic stress syndrome, there are a lot of questions about the mental health of some of these young people in the military.
It should be said, hundreds of thousands are able to complete their deployment successfully, but everybody is concerned, of course, about those who are not able to do so.
HARRIS: That's a very good footnote. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us this morning.
Barbara, thank you.
STARR: Sure.
COLLINS: Today he is speaking for himself.
Scott McClellan, former White House spokesman, fired back at the Bush administration over allegations in his new book. Now he is responding to that criticism.
CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry is in Salt Lake City this morning with more on the story.
Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
The president here doing some fundraising for John McCain. But the focus, of course, on that big book. And Scott McClellan today basically standing his ground amid questions about his judgment and his motives in writing this book on NBC's "Today" show today.
He basically spoke out and said that his purpose here in writing the book is to try and change Washington, make it less toxic. He says he believes that when the president first came to office he thought things would change. He believed the president when he said he'd be a uniter. But he thinks the president basically failed in that.
And McClellan says he became disillusioned over particular episodes. One, when he was sent out to the White House podium to say that Karl Rove and Scooter Libby were not involved in the CIA leak case when, in fact, they were. And also, upon learning that the president had declassified some intelligence to help sell the war in Iraq.
McClellan stopped short of using the word lie, but he did suggest that the administration manipulated that intelligence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, FMR. WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: You get caught up in trying to sell this war to the American people. Paul Wolfowitz went and said publicly that the rationale that we all agreed on that would be the best selling point for this war was the weapons of mass destruction and, obviously, the connection to Iraq.
And much of that information was based in what could be substantiated. But at the same time, as we accelerated the build-up to the war, the information that we were talking about became a little more certain than it was. The caveats were dropped. Intelligence -- you know, contradictory intelligence was ignored.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: So what's so damaging to this White House is the fact that one of their own is now basically making one of the Democratic cases against the war in Iraq. That's very frustrating to his former colleagues in the White House, of course, who also point out that they believe that Scott McClellan is not changing the tone in Washington by writing this book.
They think he's actually making it more poisonous by speaking out like this. And they're now speaking out themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice over): The gloves are coming off. White House officials initially would not comment on Scott McClellan's explosive new book, claiming President Bush used propaganda to sell the war in Iraq.
But now, former colleagues are charging the tell-all is a betrayal of the president's trust.
DAN BARTLETT, FMR. COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: All I will say is that there's an enormous amount of disappointment among those who are closest to Scott. This is not the Scott we knew.
HENRY: Former White House insider Dan Bartlett lashed out telling CNN it's, quote, "total crap," for McClellan to write the media was soft on the administration.
BARTLETT: The fact of the matter was the weapons of mass destruction weren't there. The intelligence was wrong. But that doesn't make people out to be liars or manipulators or propagandists.
HENRY: No reaction yet from the president himself who delivered the Air Force Academy's commencement at a bitterly cold Colorado Springs.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Your parents are proud of you and so is your commander in chief.
HENRY: Matching the tone of the official response from current White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, who declared McClellan is disgruntled.
"For those of us who fully supported him before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled," Perino said. "It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew."
MCCLELLAN: The world is better off and America is more secure because Saddam Hussein was removed from power.
HENRY: McClellan's predecessor Ari Fleischer said if Scott had such deep misgivings, he should not have accepted the press secretary position as a matter of principle.
But a former White House insider said McClellan's account has credibility because his long proximity to Mr. Bush gave him a window on how the war was prosecuted and he may now be being pangs of conscience.
JOHN PODESTA, FMR. CLINTON W.H. CHIEF OF STAFF: The fact that we went to war based on, to some extent, propaganda I think he's come to the conclusion as to the American people have that it was a bad mistake of judgment on behalf of the president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: So where does this leave the Bush/McClellan relationship? You remember when Scott McClellan stepped down -- he announced it on the south lawn of the White House -- Mr. Bush said that one day they'd both be in Texas basically sitting in rocking chairs together, reflecting on the old days.
Scott McClellan was asked about that this morning. He said he's not even sure whether he and the president will ever speak again, let alone sit in some rocking chairs together -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, probably not surprising after everything we've heard over the last couple of days.
And quickly, just want to ask you, you kind of touched on it in your piece there. Some of the presidential candidates, all three, I believe, have made mention of this book and Scott McClellan's accusations.
You think it's going to shape at all in any way either the Republican side of things or the Democratic side of things, as we move forward with this election?
HENRY: Well, I think it certainly could help the Democrats try and bolster their case that the war was sold on a false premise. But we've heard that argument before. So I'm not certain that, in fact, -- that that's really going to make a major impact in this particular presidential campaign.
We've heard the argument many times before. Certainly John McCain could be on the defensive about the war in Iraq. That's something Barack Obama certainly wants to talk a lot about. But I do think these arguments have been out there for a long time. Issues like the economy, actually, seem to be playing a lot more on the campaign trail...
COLLINS: Sure.
HENRY: ... than Iraq -- Heidi.
COLLINS: I think your right there. We were just talking about that this morning. And we'll continue to talk about it here.
CNN's Ed Henry for us live this morning in Salt Lake City.
Thanks so much, Ed.
HARRIS: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wouldn't discuss the book directly, but she did have something to say about McClellan's allegation that Iraq and the war there was promoted by propaganda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm not going to comment on a book that I haven't read, but I will say that the concerns about weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's Iraq were the fundamental reason for tens -- for dozens of resolutions within the Security Council from the time that Saddam Hussein was expelled from Kuwait in 1991 up until 2003.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE) will be a guest on CNN's "THE SITUATION ROOM" with WOLF BLITZER. You can catch that Friday. "SIT ROOM" kicks off at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.
A real nail biter to the end. Each and every delegate matters, now words the Democrats are considering a deal, a way to divvy up disputed delegates from Florida and Michigan.
Those states, you'll recall, were punished for moving up their primaries. Their 368 delegates taken away. A deal would reportedly send half the delegates to the convention or seat all delegates with half a vote.
We will hear more about this in a news conference next hour.
And the Democratic National Committee panel meets Saturday to hash all this out.
Right now Clinton has 1780 delegates. Obama has 1,978. 2,026 are needed for the nomination.
We will be watching "DECISION DAY" for the Democrats, CNN's live coverage of the DNC meeting begins Saturday at 9:00 Eastern.
And just ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, John McCain's turf. Can he take it in the fall? A battle for the west. COLLINS: Your wallet, your worries. There are new numbers to crunch this morning. Just minutes ago, we learned the nation's economy continues to grow, albeit at a snail's pace.
The federal government now says growth was a bit better than expected for the first quarter, 0.9 percent compared to the 0.6 percent that was first reported.
We are also looking at new numbers on jobless claims. Those figures just released show a jump of 4,000 new job seekers last week. One big factor in the economy, of course, oil prices.
At the top of the hour, we're going to be getting an update on U.S. stockpiles. It's expected to show U.S. inventories of crude and petroleum products grew last week and that has helped fuel a slide in oil prices. Trading is now several dollars below last week's high of more than $135 a barrel.
But don't expect to find relief at the pump. Gas prices are at a new record high for the 22nd consecutive day. The national average climbed almost a penny to more than $3.95 a gallon.
Consider it a barometer of what you'll pay at the checkout. Dow Chemical Company says it will release its -- raise its prices, that is, by as much as 20 percent beginning Sunday. The price hikes will affect everything from diapers to detergent.
The executives at Dow took the unusual step of blaming the nation's energy policymakers. Dow says its failure to address rising costs has created, quote, "a true energy crisis."
High food prices, here to stay. A new report warns of worldwide food inflation over the next decade. How that affects you, Ali Velshi, "Minding Your Business," coming up in just a few minutes.
HARRIS: Getting out of town. Tens of thousands heading to higher ground in China. Fleeing possible floods in the NEWSROOM.
ANNOUNCER: CNN NEWSROOM brought to you by...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins.
The Atlantic hurricane season is almost here. So are you ready? Apparently not.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Heading into the home stretch in the Democratic primary season. Hillary Clinton campaigns today in South Dakota. South Dakota and Montana hold the last two primaries on Tuesday. Puerto Rico votes on Sunday.
Barack Obama, taking the day off. He's telling the "New York Times" he's considering a trip to Iraq. John McCain had criticized Obama for not visiting the war zone since 2006.
HARRIS: The Republican senator John McCain campaigns in Wisconsin today. He moves to the Midwest after focusing on his home turf.
CNN's Mary Snow from Los Angeles.
Mary, good morning.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.
You know Senator McCain wrapped up a three-day swing through mountain states. Here in Los Angeles last night, he attended a fundraiser. But you know, Tony, over the past three days, both McCain and Senator Obama have focused on the same three states, just a signal of how much the campaigns are both putting emphasis on what could turn out to be key and pivotal in November.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's wonderful to be here in Nevada. Nevada. Nevada.
SNOW (voice over): Senator John McCain of Arizona making his case in neighboring Nevada.
MCCAIN: Nevada is a western state. I am a western senator.
SNOW: In three days, McCain has taken his message to Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, crisscrossing path with Democratic senator Barack Obama in three traditionally Republican states that are a key battleground.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to fight as hard as we can in these states. And we want to send a message now that we're going to go after them and I expect to win them.
SNOW: Democrats see an opening in the west after tight contests in the past two presidential races, particularly in 2004.
"Denver Post" political reporter Karen Crummy says, even though the states have only 19 electoral votes combined, they can make a difference.
KAREN CRUMMY, DENVER POST POLITICAL REPORTER: If John Kerry in 2004 had won Colorado and Nevada and New Mexico, he would have won.
SNOW: Democrats lost New Mexico in 2004 but won it in 2000. Colorado and Nevada stayed red, but the races were tight. Democrats have made gains in recent years in state elections and McCain is fighting to make sure the trend doesn't translate into a national election.
MCCAIN: I understand our issues. Native Americans of land, of water, of public lands, of dynamic growth and how we handle those challenges.
SNOW: Global warming is another issue, he stresses, along with his support of illegal immigration reform, an issue the campaign hopes will resonate with independents and conservative Democrats. McCain has also been reaching out to the growing Hispanic population in the west.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: But the economy is really overshadowing all those issues in the west, just as it is in the rest of the country, but particularly in Nevada. It has the highest foreclosure rate in the country. And when Senator Obama visited Nevada earlier this week, he made that his focus as he tries to paint McCain as being soft on economic issues -- Tony?
HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE) Snow for us in Los Angeles this morning. Very good to see you. Thank you.
SNOW: Sure.
HARRIS: And Scott McClellan's book is causing a little stir on the campaign trail, to say the least. Find out what's being said, as well as the rest of the day's news about the presidential candidates at CNNpolitics.com, your source for everything political.
COLLINS: Toilets broken. Hundreds of miles from earth. Going is a problem. So when does the plumber arrive? Our space correspondent Miles O'Brien has that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, the most trusted name in news. Now back to the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Frequent flyers, buckle up for the latest cost-cutting move by an airline.
U.S. Airways now says passengers in coach can say good-bye to snacks on all domestic flights. The airline says the bottom line on record fuel costs, no more pretzels and peanuts. U.S. Airways says it will still provide free soft drinks.
Wow.
HARRIS: High food costs, no relief in sight. A new report warns food inflation could be here to stay.
Ali Velshi, in New York, sitting, "Minding Your Business" this morning.
And Ali, if you would, break out this report from the United Nations, from U.N.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony, you know, we've talked about increasing food prices for some time. Some of that is because of the price of gas. The transportation and the production of food, obviously, takes fuel.
But the OECD, the Organization of Economic and Cooperative -- Cooperation and Development and the World Food Organization -- Food and Agricultural Organization have put together this outlook which they put out for the next nine years or so.
And they are saying that, by the end of that nine years, we might see a decline in food price but the average is going to be going up over the next few years because of the following factors.
Global food supplies right now are at record lows. Demand for food because of growth in certain parts of the world is simply outpacing supply. Biofuels, like ethanol, have taken food sources away from, you know, the table...
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
VELSHI: ... and made them into gasoline. So that's increased demand. Weather -- we've had droughts in Australia so that's affected wheat. It's held back new supply. And obviously, there's speculation in food because it trades as a commodity like oil does. So they are expecting big increases, you know, over the next few years in a lot of basic foods.
HARRIS: You know, I'm looking at the note from the co-author of the report who says we are hugely concerned about the poorest nations.
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: And we expect the number of undernourished people to rise. And we recall the food riots...
VELSHI: That's right.
HARRIS: ... in a couple of spots around the country. I'm thinking of Haiti in particular.
VELSHI: Let me show you what has happened to food just in the last eight years, since 2000. This is basic foods. We're not talking about fancy stuff.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: The price of wheat is up 362 percent since 2000. Rice over 300 percent and maize or corn more than 250 percent. These are basics. Now this report that's just come out says we're not looking at such big increases over the next eight or nine years. But take a look at what they're talking about.
Beef and pork compared to the last 10 years will be up 20 percent higher. Sugar 30 percent. Wheat and maize, 40 to 60 percent. Butter, 60 percent and vegetable oil 80 percent.
So the trend is not on our side right now. And that's a big, big problem for all of us.
HARRIS: Hey, give me a second here. Tell me about this radio show this morning.
VELSHI: We are taking...
HARRIS: What's up with that? Yes.
VELSHI: We're taking calls. We're going to be out on -- at 10:00 Eastern on CNN Radio...
HARRIS: Oh terrific.
VELSHI: ... affiliates and on CNN.com. You can listen in. We're streaming it and you can e-mail and you can call us at 1-877- 266-4189.
We want your comments, questions and ideas about the energy crisis that we're in right now. We've called it, "It's Not Just the Gas," which is a fine idea until I realized my face would be right next to that, and there are all sorts of implications around that. So I'm calling it, "It's Not Just the Petrol."
HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE). Heidi had a couple -- has some comments here.
VELSHI: Notice nobody says anything like pull my finger on TV.
HARRIS: You know what? Maybe we can pull that up when you guys are on the air when you're doing your show. I mean we can give folks a little bit of a sample of it, huh?
VELSHI: Well, hope so.
HARRIS: We'll try.
VELSHI: Yes, if anybody has got questions, call in or ideas about things that we should be covering that's -- you know, Tony, that's where we get our ideas from.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
VELSHI: People ask simple questions and we realize that we may have skipped over that. We want to answer questions people have.
HARRIS: All right. Let's work on the technology and see if we can do that a little...
VELSHI: All right.
HARRIS: ... cross platform promotion of the radio show this morning.
VELSHI: Yes. Love it.
HARRIS: Ali, great to see you. Thank you.
VELSHI: Thanks, buddy. HARRIS: And keep watching CNN. Our money team has you covered on all issues impacting, affecting your wallet. Join us for a special report. Ali is on that program along with Gerri Willis. It's called "ISSUE #1, THE ECONOMY" today at noon Eastern only on CNN.
COLLINS: "It's Not Just the Gas." Looks good.
$3.95 for gas, as a matter of fact. Remember when...
HARRIS: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it gets up above $1.25, around $1.30 and so forth, yes, we'll curtail our traveling. Absolutely. We'll have to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Wow. What -- look at that. 66 cents a gallon, 99 cents a gallon. You wondering how long ago that was? We can't afford to drive so we'll walk down memory lane in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Let's get you to the New York Stock Exchange now as we get the business day started.
The Dow starts the day at 12594 after picking up 45 points in trading yesterday. Big day for the markets. A lot of data coming in. A revised number on GDP. A little better than expected, first quarter growth at 0.9 percent. The previous report -- initial report at 0.6 percent. So that's a little better, still pretty sluggish. We are following the markets throughout the morning. Susan Lisovicz right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Bottom of the hour. Welcome back everyone to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Hi everybody. I'm Heidi Collins, adding to China's problems this morning, new pictures from Sichuan province, the side of a mountain literally tearing away. Landslides are a constant threat now causing the build-up of those quake lakes we've been talking about as many as 28 of those lakes now near the breaking point. Efforts to relieve the building pressure are being hampered this morning by bad weather. Already, 158,000 people have evacuated from downstream areas. The official death toll rose today to more than 68,500. There are at least 19,000 people still missing.
There are still more than one million people on alert. They could be the next ones forced to evacuate. CNN's Wilf Dinnick is in Manyang, China this morning with the very latest. Will, what do you know at this point?
WILF DINNICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're by one of those rivers downstream of that monster quake lake that the Chinese government and these people are so worried about. And I can tell you all day they've been coming here watching the water level very carefully. Now as you point out, many people or at least more than 150,000 have been evacuated. But here in this city pf about 1.3 million people, there's a plan to move these people out. But I can tell you many of them have already packed up. We spent the day with some of them shutting down their businesses.
But compounding the problem there, yes, the rain is falling and also there's aftershocks here jolting many of the buildings, people not wanting to live in their homes. So they are sleeping out on the streets in tents, so a lot of nerves here. But I can tell you that the Chinese government, the military engineers are up on that quake lake and they say in the next few days, they going to create a diversion and try to ease out that water but they're not going to know for a while if these people are going to be able to stay out of danger. Heidi?
COLLINS: Unfortunately, it's a much longer process than anyone wants to wait for. Wilf Dinnick, in Manyang, China this morning, thanks Wilf.
HARRIS: Full access for the U.N. in Myanmar. The military government has now approved all visas for United Nations aid workers. That ends a more than three-week delay in getting experts into the badly damaged Miramani (ph) delta. As many as 78,000 people died in the cyclone. At least a million more are homeless. The U.S. has made about 70 relief flights into Myanmar but still can't unload supplies from navy ships directly into Myanmar. The head of the U.S. Pacific command says those ships may leave the area within the next few days if they don't get clearance.
Let me direct you to cnn.com here. Here's what we've done. We have a special page on the devastation in China and Myanmar, complete with links to aid agencies that are organizing help for the region. It is a chance, obviously, for you to impact your world. Let us be your guide.
COLLINS: Want to get this information to you, at least the best that we know it at this point, something happening in Chicago, the video pretty unbelievable. You see that cab there, sort of burnt orange color, pretty mangled up. At first we thought there had been some injuries to pedestrians in the area. You can see, obviously, up on the sidewalk there very near the water. That, in fact, not true according to one of the firefighters in the area. CNN is now confirming no pedestrians have been hit in this accident. Not exactly sure what happened here, but we do know that there are injuries to two people who were inside that cab. In fact, at this point, we know that those injuries are critical, so we are watching this story for you, live pictures from our affiliate there in Chicago, WGN, pretty bad accident in a taxicab. We'll try to find out more and let you know just as soon as we do.
HARRIS: Well, Jacqui, let's stay in the Midwest, why don't we, boy, bad scene there on the ground with that accident. If you are talking about the Chicago skies, looks like a beautiful sunny day there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Here we go.
COLLINS: Not what they want to hear that's for sure. All right, Jacqui, we'll check in later on. Thank you.
HARRIS: As always, when the weather becomes the news, it looks like it's going to be the case again today. We invite you to send along your I-reports. Just go to cnn.com. Click on I-report or type I-report@cnn.com into your cell phone as always in these cases, we ask you to be safe.
COLLINS: Scott McClellan's new book, "Frustrations of a Disgruntled Former White House Staffer" or the straight story from an insider. CNN's Joe Johns takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking on chairs in Texas talking about the good old days, his time as the press secretary. And I can assure you, I will feel the same way then that I feel now.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two years later, that scenario is looking pretty unlikely. The former Bush loyalist calls his book the story of how the presidency of George W. Bush veered terribly off course. And that's just the preface. Some of the sharpest criticism concerns the build-up to Iraq, to which McClellan admits he played an unwitting roll.
SCOTT McCLELLAN, FMR WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY: There have been some that have tried to suggest that we don't have a plan. I know some congressional members of Congress have -- Democratic members of Congress have suggested that. And they are flat out wrong.
JOHNS: Now McClellan says the plan was simply a propaganda campaign to cover up the real reasons for war, which were two-fold. Bush thought it would ensure him a legacy of greatness and lead to a peaceful Middle East. McClellan writes, Bush and his advisers knew the American people would almost certainly not support a war launched primarily for the ambitious purpose of transforming the Middle East. Rather than open this Pandora's box, the administration chose a different path, not employing out and out deception but shading the truth. Case in point, weapons of mass destruction.
BUSH: Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraqi regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.
JOHNS: Back then, however, McClellan toed the party line.
McCLELLAN: It was the right decision to confront what was a grave and growing threat in the former Saddam Hussein and his regime. It was based on solid and compelling evidence and America is safer for it.
JOHNS: Even so, McClellan writes that Bush's decision to invade Iraq based on faulty intelligence brings up an important question. Is Bush intellectually imperious (ph) or as some assert, actually stupid he asks? McClellan goes on to say, Bush is plenty smart but lacks inquisitiveness and has a resistance to reflection. He cites this exchange with NBC's Tim Russert as a prime example.
TIM RUSSERT, NBC: In light of not finding weapons of mass destruction, do you believe the war in Iraq was a war of choice or a war of necessity?
BUSH: I think that's an interesting question. Let's elaborate on that a little bit, a war of choice or a war of necessity? It's a war of necessity. In my judgment, we had no choice when we -- look at the intelligence I looked at that says the man was a threat.
JOHNS: The book also charges that Bush is inclined toward self- deception. McClellan recounts overhearing a phone call on the campaign trail in 1999 where Bush said, the media won't let go of these ridiculous cocaine rumors. You know, the truth is I honestly don't remember whether I tried it or not. We had some pretty wild parties back in the day and I just don't remember. The former Bush aide write he's couldn't believe someone wouldn't remember using an illegal substance like cocaine. The book also slams the White House over the response to hurricane Katrina, calling it one of the biggest disasters of Bush's presidency. McClellan writes that the White House spent most of the first week in a state of denial. At the time, however, McClellan seemed to place the blame on FEMA, not the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are deflecting all the specifics to the FEMA briefing.
McCLELLAN: No. I have given you some updates. But they are the ones who are in charge of operational aspects on the ground.
JOHNS: McClellan also says both he and Bush were duped in the case of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Although when former White House advisers Karl Rove, Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Elliott Abrams were accused of leaking Plame's name to the media, McClellan defended them.
McCLELLAN: They're good individuals. They are important members of our White House team and that's why I spoke with them so that I could come back to you and say that they were not involved.
JOHNS: Now McClellan says he was deceived, writing, I didn't learn what I'd said was untrue until the media began to figure it out almost two years later. The former Bush loyalist did have some kind words for his former boss calling him authentic and sincere. But Bush's attributes get precious little ink in the 341-page book dedicated primarily to his flaws. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: The Atlantic hurricane season is almost here. Are you ready?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Gay couples have reason to celebrate on both coasts. California is preparing to start issuing same-sex marriage licenses on June 17th. That date was picked because the state supreme court has until the 16th to grant a stay of its decision legalizing gay marriage.
On the opposite end of the country, New York is set to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other states and countries. New York's governor has issued a directive telling state agencies to immediately change policies and regulations. Gay rights advocates have fought hard for recognition of same-sex marriages so couples can share health care plans, receive tax breaks, inheritance and stronger adoption rights.
HARRIS: You know about it as a problem, right. plumbing issues. Well, they can be a real pain in the you-know-what. Think about the space station crew. Their only toilet on the fritz. Let's call in --
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We haven't even started and you are swirling the drain here, my friend.
HARRIS: We haven't started. Miles O'Brien. Our space correspondent and, well, he's going to help us understand this problem and they indicate that a fix, Miles is on the way.
O'BRIEN: We're going to get to the bottom of it. Let's roll some tape first of all, take you up to the international space station. Sonny Williams who was up there some months ago, last year actually, demonstrating the toilet. This is, number one, right there. That's --
HARRIS: That's it, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Use of suction, need we say more. One size fits all. And this, my friend is for number two.
HARRIS: Very nice. Well handled.
O'BRIEN: Number two working just fine. Number one, got a problem with a pump. Let's go to the still picture, Michael. OK, once again, number one, number two. And there is a pump. But the bottom line is in the absence of gravity, how do you remove the stuff? So -- and you want to use suction, but you don't want the stuff to get in the fan that's creating the suction. You have a little centrifuge, spins out the liquids. Sends it off to a container and then you put it on a space freighter and down it goes to earth and it burns up. That pump isn't working so well. Matter of fact, it's intermittent. Right now they've got it kind of jury rigged and it's kind of a reasonable set up although they have several back ups. So while you were sleeping, 3:30 this morning Eastern time, take a look at the launch pad. The space shuttle "Discovery" was installed with the number one priority. The 35-pound pump which is the replacement for it and take a look at what they've added to the side of "Discovery." I was looking closely at the video and there it is out of this world service, our number one priority. And everything should be just fine once they get up there.
HARRIS: I guess we'll talk about the real science at another time, huh? The big lab going up.
O'BRIEN: No one is interested. They want to know about this. But you know what, you ask any astronaut, whenever they go and talk to the public, this is the number one question. It also is -- I talked to quite a few of them yesterday. This is the only -- they say, the only down side to going to space that even with the fancy equipment, it's still -- this isn't a lot of fun.
HARRIS: Oh, boy. Got to take care of those basic needs, I suppose. Miles, boy, you handled that very well. Glad it was you and not me. Miles O'brien, thanks.
COLLINS: You guys are so professional.
HARRIS: How about that?
COLLINS: And the delegate goes to -- a discussion about the Democratic dust-up over Florida and Michigan, ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Gas prices, they reach into your wallet and rob your family's budget, four bucks. What next? That's the question everyone is asking. And it's the title of our weekend special "America's Fuel Nightmare" Saturday and Sunday evening, 8:00 Eastern here on CNN.
COLLINS: Federal investigators are expected today at the site of a deadly public transit accident outside Boston. The two-car commuter trolley rear-ended another during yesterday evening's rush hour. The engineer was killed. It took rescue workers several hours to free her body. At least 12 other people were injured. The lead trolley was at a stop light in Newton when it was rear-ended. About 200 people were on both trolleys at the time.
HARRIS: While the tropical depression barrels towards Costa Rica, people across much of the U.S. are bracing for hurricane season. Or are they? Here's John Zarrella.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Neil Rubin is getting a new garage door installed at his home.
NEIL RUBIN, HOMEOWNER: This one is supposed to withstand I think 150 miles an hour or in that area, which is a lot better than I had. Since I have the accordion shutters, why have a weak spot on your house?
ZARRELLA: And the garage door is considered the weakest spot in a home.
JACK TROUT, ELECTRONIC DOOR LIFT: You lose the garage, you lose the roof, you lose the contents of the house. Everything is gone.
ZARRELLA: But a new Mason-Dixon poll conducted for the National Hurricane Survival Initiative found a staggering 95 percent of the 1100 adults questioned didn't know this. And 30 percent said they would not start preparing their homes until a hurricane warning is issued.
CHUCK LANZA, BROWARD EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: All the water is gone from the stores in 24 hours. The plywood is gone from all the larger stores. People need to make those plans early in the season.
ZARRELLA: The survey found bad habits resurfaces that existed before the devastating wakeup call season of 2005, Katrina, Rita and Wilma. An astounding 50 percent said they had no disaster plans or survival kits. Why the complacency?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you've been through it so many times that most of the time it doesn't hit us.
ZARRELLA: Emergency managers say while many people may not be prepared for the long aftermath, they do, in most cases, enough to survive a storm.
LANZA: People still, at the last minute, usually will make the right decisions. The problem is they don't have a plan in place and they haven't bought the supplies they need.
ZARRELLA: And this may not surprise you. The high price of gas is compounding the under preparedness problem. That's because people aren't buying the supplies they need because they are spending so much money to fill up their gas tanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The mental health of the nation's soldiers. The army's suicide rate at a two-decade high.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We all know vitamins are important to our health. What some of us may not realize, however is that age helps determine what types of nutrients we need. That is the topic in this morning's 30s, 40s and 50s series with Judy Fortin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY FORTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You've seen all the supplements on your grocery store shelves. It's like an alphabet soup. Vitamin A, D, E, B-12. So which vitamins do you really need to keep yourself healthy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd say vitamin C and B.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I take multiple vitamins.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say that multi is very important. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: B, C, E.
FORTIN: They are all on the right track. Many experts believe what vitamins you need can depend on how old you are. And nutritionists stress you should be getting your nutrients through the food you eat with a multivitamin for good measure.
KATHERINE TALLMADGE, AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSN: Many studies are showing that vitamin supplements do not get the same results as vitamins from food.
FORTIN: So which vitamin-chocked foods should you be putting in your diet?
TALLMADGE: When we're in our 30s, 40s and 50s, we have to concentrate on keeping lean muscle and bone mass that we've built.
FORTIN: That means in your 30s, get calcium and yes, both women and men need it, even at an early age because your bones begin to lose the mass that makes them strong.
TALLMADGE: In your 30s, calcium, vitamin D, magnesium and vitamin K are all important for your bones.
FORTIN: So eat low-fat dairy products like skim milk and yogurt and don't forget vitamin D. It helps the body absorb calcium into the bones. You can get it from the sun, but getting enough of it that way can be a challenge with a busy schedule.
TALLMADGE: Vitamin D is hard to get enough in food. In fact vitamin D is the only nutrient that I would recommend definitely get from a supplement.
FORTIN: In your 40s and 50s, think about the heart.
TALLMADGE: Those B (ph) vitamins are very important for keeping (INAUDIBLE) levels down which is an emerging risk factor for heart disease.
FORTIN: So turn to whole grains, broccoli and low-fat animal products like lean meat and chicken. All of these can help keep the circulation system healthy. Eat lots of veggies and fruits and don't forget the omega-3 fatty acids. They're also important for the prevention of heart disease because they can reduce inflammation, blood clots and keep blood pressure down. They can also be important for the brain. Studies have shown people with high omega-3 diets have less depression and fewer cases of dementia and Alzheimer's. Judy Fortin. Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown. Trouble in the ranks, the number of soldiers who committed suicide at a 20-year high in 2007. COLLINS: Showdown over disputed delegates. Hillary Clinton's strategy to count Florida and Michigan doesn't add up with lawyers.
