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American Morning
Obama Considering a Trip to Iraq; Scott McClellan Burns Bridges with Tell-All Book, Responds to White House Criticisms; Does McCain Need to Mudsling to Win?
Aired May 29, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And new information this morning about Barack Obama and a possible trip to Iraq. His campaign told CNN last night the senator is considering it, but he's not taking McCain's bait.
It's been two years since Obama's last visit. McCain recently invited Obama on a trip to Iraq, a move Obama's campaign calls a political stunt. McCain insists the Democratic front-runner will change his stance though once he realizes what's happening in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Glad to hear that Senator Obama is now "considering a trip to Iraq." It's long overdue. It's been 871 days since he was there, and I'm confident that when he goes, he will then change his position on the conflict in Iraq because he will see the success that has been achieved on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And news of this potential trip comes as we see the candidates head to the final stretch of the primaries. As of today, there are just five days until the final two contests in South Dakota and Montana. We've got the countdown clock rolling, of course, and our Candy Crowley now has the latest for us from the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So this is where the class of 2008 applies.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In his only stop of the day, Barack Obama paid a leisurely visit to a school in suburban Denver.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to fix No Child Left Behind. We have to provide the funding we were promised, give our states the resources they need, and finally meet our commitment to special education.
CROWLEY: While Obama drifts to the end stage of the primary process, he's under continued assault from John McCain. McCain suggesting Obama wants to surrender in Iraq without knowing what's happening there. He is itching for a fight and a headline.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now why is it that Senator Obama wants to sit down with the president of Iran but hasn't yet sat down with General Petraeus, the leader of our troops in Iraq?
CROWLEY: McCain is getting reinforcement from the Republican National Committee, which put up an online clock on its Web site counting the days that have passed since Obama's last trip to Iraq more than two years ago. Late in the day, Obama said he is considering returning to Iraq before the November election.
With the Democratic primary season in its twilight days, Hillary Clinton soldiers on. Her campaign sent a memo out to superdelegates last night complete with charts and graphs rearguing that she will win in the fall and Obama may not.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have not gone through this exciting, unprecedented, historical election only to lose. So you have to ask yourself who is the stronger candidate?
CROWLEY: Montana and South Dakota hold their last of the season primaries Tuesday. But before that is Saturday when members of the National Democratic Party meet to mull over the fate of Florida and Michigan, renegade states who violated party rules. Clinton wants all their delegates seated anyway. Obama says he's willing to compromise, but a staff memo says under party rules both states should lose at least 50 percent of their delegations.
Either way, Clinton could not overtake Obama's lead in elected pledged delegates, but she could get closer to him, strengthening her superdelegate argument. Big, big fight this Saturday.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Thornton, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A quick programming note. CNN's live coverage of Decision Day begins Saturday morning at 9:00 Eastern. We're going to have full coverage of the crucial meeting that will decide the fate of Florida and Michigan's primary votes on CNN and CNN.com.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: New York State is now going to legally recognize same-sex unions that have been performed in states that allow gay marriages. So same-sex couples who got married in Massachusetts or Canada will get the same treatment under New York law as other married couples do. This would affect everything from tax returns to fishing licenses. New York does not allow gay marriages though.
And in California, same-sex marriages can start taking place on the 17th of June. The State Supreme Court has until June 16th to decide whether to rule on any requests for a rehearing. Earlier this month, the state's ban was ruled unconstitutional clearing the way for counties to issue marriage licenses. Opponents want the issue to be put on the ballot in November.
And investigators are expected to arrive this morning at the scene of a train collision that happened just outside of Boston. One person was killed and 12 others were injured. These are new pictures from the scene from affiliate WCVB. One train rear ended another at a stoplight during the height of rush hour on Wednesday. The engineer of that train died in the accident.
PHILLIPS: We're also following breaking weather news. A tropical depression is brewing in the eastern pacific off the coast of Costa Rica right now. Forecasters say it's expected to strengthen into a tropical storm and make landfall along the coast of Nicaragua late this afternoon. The Atlantic hurricane season begins actually on Sunday.
And experts expect this season to be quite stormy, but despite the red flag from scientists, a new study just out this morning says that people along the coast are not listening. CNN's John Zarrella explains.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it may be human nature to get complacent about some things, but it hasn't been three years since Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Yet the results of a new survey are very disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Neil Rubin is getting a new garage door installed at his home.
NEIL RUBIN, HOMEOWNER: This one's supposed to withstand I think 150 miles an hour in that area which was left embedded (ph) in the head. And 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, CONTRACTOR: 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 1,100 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 CO. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: All the water is gone from the stores at 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 resurfacing that existed before the devastating wake-up 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 we've been through it so many times that, you know, most time it doesn't hit.
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 decision. Problem is they don't have a plan in place, and they haven't bought the supplies that they needed.
ZARRELLA: And this may not surprise you. The high price of gas is compounding the underpreparedness problem. That's because people aren't buying the supplies they need because they're spending so much money to fill up their gas tank.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Hoping to reach people with their message to get prepared, the National Hurricane Survival Initiative has produced a 30-minute program that will air on television and cable stations from Maine to Texas -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, John. A look back now at the 2007 hurricane season in your AM extra.
There were 15 named storms. Five made it to the hurricane status. Only two were severe storms.
Dean and Felix both made it to category five status. Dean was blamed for more than 20 deaths after cutting across the Caribbean and making landfall in Mexico. Felix tracked further south and hit near the border of Honduras and Nicaragua.
ROBERTS: Political mudslinging. Dirty politics or a good way to win a race? We're going to ask a veteran practitioner of political dirty tricks. What he thinks the candidates need to do to win, coming up.
PHILLIPS: And quake karma. Sharon Stone's comments about what caused the earthquake in China. Her ads pulled, her movie is not playing. Find out what the bombshell was.
ROBERTS: And they didn't just jiggle the handle. We'll tell you how the crew of the space station managed to temporarily fix a broken toilet, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Rather ominous music this morning, and there's a reason for that. Just a nickel away from $4 is the national average for a gallon of gasoline, although a lot of people are already paying much more than that, right?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: About one-third of the nation's population is paying $4 a gallon or higher. Gasoline hitting $3.95 now, a little bit above that. Definitely headed toward $4. Let's have a look at the map and see who is paying more than $4 a gallon.
There are now 11 states plus the District of Columbia. A little earlier I was wondering I hadn't seen Rhode Island there. Rhode Island has slipped in the $4 club. Indiana has slipped out, by the way, so there are 11 states you're looking at that are paying $4 there.
Another five states that are within a nickel of $4 a gallon, Indiana is back in those five states along with Florida, Maine, Ohio and Oregon.
It is affecting the way we behave, particularly when it comes to buying cars. We heard Ford saying that it is switching production out of some of its trucks and SUVs. We now have reports that Ford may actually be laying off reports of up to 2,000 people as a result of that.
Honda has also announced some changes. It makes the Honda Pilot and the Ridgeline, the truck at a plant in Ontario. It is switching that manufacturing to a plant in Alabama to concentrate that manufacturing in Alabama, because the plant in Ontario makes some Honda Civics is now going to concentrate on those Honda Civics because it says that demand for the smaller, more fuel efficient cars is growing there.
We're going to be talking a lot about gas and oil and the price -- the effect of the price has on you and, frankly, everything that's outside again. I'm beginning to think maybe that name --
PHILLIPS: "It's Not Just The Gas," Ali Velshi.
VELSHI: Yes, I don't know --
PHILLIPS: "It's Not Just The Gas."
VELSHI: Without my picture and name there, that board works better.
PHILLIPS: Ali Velshi, full of wind.
VELSHI: Yes. So we're doing the show called "It's Not Just the Gas." It's live on CNN radio at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Guys, you got (INAUDIBLE) on the floor. From the floor, anyone?
VELSHI: In fact, we're welcoming -- we're welcoming your calls. The phone number there 1-877-266-4189 from 10:00 a.m. Eastern. No sound effects, please.
If you need that number again, it will be on the AMERICAN MORNING Web site. That really seemed like a good idea when we came up with that name. "It's Not Just The Gas," it's a lot more than the gas. I didn't know my picture would be there.
ROBERTS: It works on so many different levels. I think you got to bag that title.
PHILLIPS: Whooh.
VELSHI: OK, let me think that one.
PHILLIPS: The gloves are off, and we're not just talking with Ali Velshi.
We're talking about White House loyalists attacking Scott McClellan for his tell-all book on life as a Bush insider. Now, the former press secretary is defending himself.
ROBERTS: Plus, escaping the fire. One family's terrifyingly close call with a raging inferno that was heading straight for their home.
PHILLIPS: And later, cue Tom Petty. Our Rob Marciano free falling. An experience of a lifetime for him as you can imagine. We're going to talk about why he did it, why he took the leap. A leap of faith, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Fifteen minutes after the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Some relief this morning aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts turned plumbers have come up with a temporary fix for their broken toilet. They have rigged a urine bypass and will use water to flush out the system instead of the normal suction.
But it's not ideal and the crew is going to welcome the arrival of a new cosmic commode being sent up this weekend aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
Joining us now to talk about the trouble here is CNN's space correspondent Miles O'Brien. And from Martian Landers to space-borne commodes.
MILES O'BRIEN, SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Sublime to the ridiculous. I guess here we go.
ROBERTS: What's the problem?
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, let's -- first of all, why don't we go to space, shall we? Sunny Williams, who is a space station astronaut, a little while ago actually gave a tour a few months ago. And there you see that device. That is for number one. OK?
(LAUGHTER)
And I think we need not explain further that the use of suction is very important in the absence of gravity. This is for number two. Once again, suction being very important there.
Now, here's the trick. Let's go to the still if we could for a moment.
The trick here, John, is that you're using air to create suction to go down this, OK? And you don't want any liquids to get into the fan which is creating the suction. There's a little centrifugal device that does that, separates it out. That's what's broken.
And so, they're having to kind of jury-rig around this. The other facility here is working just fine. So what they have done, the Russians make this facility --
ROBERTS: Oh, it's Russian.
O'BRIEN: It's Russian made.
ROBERTS: That explains it.
O'BRIEN: No, careful now. Careful.
The Russians have flown a part. It came in a diplomatic pouch across the Atlantic. It arrived -- let's go to the space shuttle -- on the launch pad is the space shuttle Discovery due to launch on Saturday, due to dock at the International Space Station at 3:30 this morning. The part went right inside the Discovery, and 35 pounds and all.
ROBERTS: This is really an extraordinary emergency plumbing repair. You don't just call the local plumber. You got to call the Russians who sent it over the diplomatic pouch.
O'BRIEN: Right.
ROBERTS: And then they put it on the shuttle to get it out.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know how much a shuttle flight costs, right? About $500 million. So let's try to figure out what this plumbing bill is.
But suffice to say -- this guy has nothing to do with the story, but suffice to say, when the space shuttle Discovery gets there, this will be their number one priority.
ROBERTS: So when is it getting there? How much longer they have to do it --
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: It is going to launch on Saturday. It will dock on Monday. In the meantime, the cosmonauts and astronauts up there have figured out a work around so to speak. There are other ways to take care of things up there. They have backups and backups.
ROBERTS: Now, the next time your toilet overflows or runs on, just remember it could be a lot worse.
O'BRIEN: It could be worse, yes.
ROBERTS: You know, everybody has plumbing problems, yes?
O'BRIEN: Certainly the older we get.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Goodness.
PHILLIPS: Miles, how much does a space plumber make?
O'BRIEN: Well, let's do the math on that. We've got seven astronauts and a $500 million launch. So, yes, that's a pretty decent living.
ROBERTS: Of all the places to have a plumbing emergency.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it's a long way from home.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: That's the way you don't want to have us.
O'BRIEN: Long way from home.
ROBERTS: Miles, good to see you. Thanks.
O'BRIEN: All right.
ROBERTS: Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Well, it's been a pretty busy week for NASA. Happening right now on Mars. The robotic arm aboard the new Lander is being deployed. It's happening one day late because a satellite used to relay commands temporarily shut down its radio this week.
The Lander's arm will dig into the frozen soil and ice looking for evidence of past or present life. NASA expects pictures of the arm's movement today.
And we're getting reaction to claims made by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. Dan Bartlett, McClellan's former boss at the White House, is going to join us later this hour.
Also, Sharon Stone saying sorry to an entire country. Why she's taking back comments that a massive earthquake may have been karma.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, taking off. Rob heads for the heavens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're at 2,000 feet. Not even halfway there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: He's not breaking the sound barrier or any records, but he's definitely going for the ride of his life. A firsthand look at what it's like to free fall, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 23 minutes after the hour now.
Sad, sour grapes, total crap. That's what some of Scott McClellan's former colleagues are saying about his new book bashing the White House that he once served as press secretary. He claims the Bush administration used propaganda to sell the war in Iraq.
PHILLIPS: Now the accusations are pretty stunning given McClellan's long-time relationship with President Bush. But he's not the first former insider as you know to tell all about the Bush White House.
CNN's Carol Costello has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It appeared to be beautiful, as beautiful as the relationship made in the world of politics can be. That's Scott McClellan on his last day as White House spokesman.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, FMR. W.H. PRESS SECY: Mr. President, it has been an extraordinary honor and privilege to serve you for more than seven years now.
COSTELLO: Now it's safe to say McClellan has burned that bridge and incinerated many more. His book, "What Happened," is a scathing account of the Bush administration's policies, so negative the president's new spokesperson, Dana Perino, says, "We're puzzled."
Ari Fleischer, who was McClellan's boss at the White House, says passages in the book don't sound like Scott. Others weren't so kind.
Former Bush Homeland Security adviser Fran Townsend says McClellan's book is, well, ill-timed.
FRAN TOWNSEND, FMR. HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: For him to do this now, frankly, strikes me as self-serving, disingenuous and unprofessional.
COSTELLO: The conservative blog Red State said, "What a scumbag." And Rush Limbaugh called him another Republican turncoat.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: They'll throw anybody under the bus, even their own grandmothers to have a seat of power with the libs, get their approval. Not just Scott McClellan. He's the worst example of it lately.
COSTELLO: Unflattering kiss and tells about the Bush administration are a dime a dozen. Spilling the beans: former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, former Iraq Envoy Paul Bremer, and former Senior Economic Adviser Larry Lindsey. From a psychological standpoint, that's not surprising. Analysts say the Bush administration demanded loyalty and suppressed dissent. A perfect recipe for rebellion.
DR. GAIL SALTZ, PSYCHIATRIST: When you see someone commit what appears to be an act of revenge and do it in a potentially very self- destructive way, you have to wonder about the guilt that they feel, right? Because they're asking for punishment in a sense.
COSTELLO: And Scott McClellan is certainly feeling a backlash, but ethicists look at it another way.
BRUCE WEINSTEIN, BUSINESSWEEK.COM: There is no statute of limitations on telling the truth, and he may be alienating people. But he may very well feel that and perhaps justifiably so, that it's more important to be truthful and to let the American people know what was actually happening.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Of course, only Scott McClellan can explain why he wrote this book and we should have an answer soon. He's about to hit the interview circuit to promote his book -- Kyra, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Carol Costello for us this morning. Carol, thanks.
And breaking news this morning, former Press Secretary McClellan standing by the claims in his memoir that bashes the Bush White House. McClellan's former colleagues have called him disgruntled, said the book was nothing more than sour grapes.
McClellan said on NBC's "Today Show" this morning that he is not surprised by the bitter reaction to the book and that he was disappointed by the president's performance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NBC'S "TODAY SHOW")
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, FMR. W.H. PRESS SECRETARY: The White House would prefer that I not talk openly about my experiences, but I think there's a larger purpose to this book and that is the message I just talked about. It's really about looking at this permanent campaign culture in Washington, D.C., and talking about how can we move beyond it?
When I went to work for President Bush back in 1999, then Governor Bush, I had all this great hope that we were going to come to Washington and change it. He talked about being a uniter, not a divider. This was a president that had a record as governor of Texas of being a bipartisan leader, of someone who brought people together to get things done. An approval rating well into the 70s.
And then we got to Washington and I think we got caught up in playing the Washington game the way it's played today.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: Let's bring in CNN's Ed Henry for more reaction to McClellan's explosive tell-all and the interview this morning. Ed, you had a chance to listen to what McClellan was saying over at NBC today. Did he acquit himself of all the allegations that have been leveled at him?
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he seemed to be pushing back somewhat hard on all these points, John, and pressed about the fact that Dana Perino, the current White House press secretary, said that he's disgruntled. He insisted he's not. That instead, he said he's disappointed and disillusioned as you heard a little bit in that clip.
He thought the president was going to change Washington. Instead, he thinks the administration got caught up too much in the partisan games, as he called it. And he was also pressed on what he meant about the administration using what he called propaganda to sell the war in Iraq. He was asked directly, did he think the president, the administration in general lied?
And the way he answered it was that he felt that they focused on WMD to sell the war and that over time they became "more certain and caveats were dropped about that intelligence to make it sound more grave," make the threat sound more grave. That obviously sounds a lot like what critics of this administration, Democratic critics, have been saying for a long time about the war and selling the war.
And obviously, that is why the White House and people -- former White House officials like Dan Bartlett are so upset because this is giving the administration's critics so much fodder.
And finally, on the point of well, then why didn't you resign? Why didn't you resign much sooner? He was pressed on that.
He insisted that he gave the president the benefit of the doubt. He had a lot of trust both in Mr. Bush and his foreign policy advisers, and obviously admittedly it would be very difficult for Scott McClellan to have spoken out years ago in real time about this because the administration was so loyal, the circle of advisers.
But on the other hand, you do have to wonder why Scott McClellan waited years and years, not just to speak out but to write this book. He's been out of the administration now for almost a couple of years, John.
ROBERTS: Definitely a big question about that. Ed, thanks very much.
We're going to have more on the McClellan book controversy coming up in just a few minutes when former White House Counselor Dan Bartlett who was Scott McClellan's boss joins us. That will be in about 15 minutes' time -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And working with President Nixon to bringing down Eliot Spitzer. Our next guest has years of political dirty tricks up his sleeve, and he says that John McCain needs to sling some mud to win in November as well.
Is it all fair in love and politics? Roger Stone has worked for Republican presidents including Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. He joins me live from Florida.
Good morning, Roger.
ROGER STONE, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Good morning.
PHILLIPS: So let me get this straight. Reading about your background, before you were a teenager you were reading Barry Goldwater's book, "The Conscience of a Conservative." Then at the age of 13, you were taking the train to New York to work on William Buckley, Jr.'s mayoral campaign. And then at 19, you say you played a part in the Watergate Scandal. Is this true and what triggered that passion?
STONE: It's all true. The Goldwater book made me a Republican zealot. I was a little disappointed in Barry because he didn't seem to want to win. There was no pragmatic side of him. He told voters a lot of things they didn't want to hear, wanted to sell the TVA in Tennessee, wanted to end Social Security when he was campaigning in Florida.
So I was looking for a more pragmatic form of conservatism, one that could win elections. That led me to my relationship with former president Nixon, and I guess the rest is history.
PHILLIPS: Well, the rest is history, and you have developed this sort of history, reputation of hard-ball tactics. You're referred to as a dirty trickster. You even -- defined your campaign rules as attack, attack, attack, never defend, and admit nothing, deny everything, launch counter attack.
Why do you believe in this method?
STONE: Well, it's been with us since the beginning of the republic. I mean Abraham Lincoln's opponents put out flyers that said he was a mullato. We accused Thomas Jefferson of having relationships with his slaves. Grover Cleveland was accused of having an illegitimate daughter which I believe he did.
The only difference is they used to use flyers and handbills. Now we use TV and the Internet to spread information. But one man's dirty trick is another man's political civic action. Everything I do, everything I have ever done has been legal.
Politics isn't bean bag and losers don't legislate.
PHILLIPS: OK. It may be legal, but you have definitely been criticized. Just a few descriptions of you here. A state-of-the-art sleaze ball, a little rat, an actor who likes to assume poses. Donald Trump even saying you're a stone-cold loser and you take credit for things that you never did.
What do you say to your critics? Do you revel in this rip session?
STONE: No, not all. The problem is when you win somebody loses. And losers, like the ones you just referenced, always have something nasty to say when they lose.
The point is, I'm a veteran of eight national Republican presidential campaigns. I have handled senatorial and gubernatorial candidates -- all across the country. I believe in winning. I believe in doing whatever is necessary to win short of breaking the law.
PHILLIPS: But are you saying...
STONE: That's what American politics is about. You don't win.
PHILLIPS: But are you saying a candidate can't win unless you play dirty?
STONE: No, I don't think that has anything to do with being dirty. I think that a candidate has to be confrontational on the differences between them and their opponents.
I don't advocate that John McCain attack or rip Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, but I think we have to recognize that in a presidential campaign, there's going to be more than just those two people sitting at the table. You have Moveon.org. You have organizations like the Swift Boat Veterans. They're all going to have a voice.
There's going to be -- plenty of criticism of Barack Obama. There will be plenty of criticism of John McCain.
PHILLIPS: All right, let me ask you.
STONE: All those voices will be at the table.
PHILLIPS: All right. If you are such the strong dirty trickster in this regard, I know that you're a supporter of John McCain but just -- let's say you were advising Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain. What would you advise Hillary Clinton right now to win this campaign?
STONE: Well, first of all, I don't think that race is over, even though everybody else seems to. I think that there are at least several news organizations digging into the public record of Michelle Obama and some of the things that she has said and done. I continue to hear from credible reporters that that information will get published before the Democratic national convention.
So a story like that, as we saw with Reverend Wright, can roil the entire presidential race. So that race, in my opinion, is still not over.
John McCain needs to be himself. John McCain is a reformer. John McCain does have a solid conservative record. John McCain is different than President Bush on a number of key issues like global warming. I think contrast, not dirty tracks, contrast is the answer to McCain's winning this election. He's got to demonstrate his vision and how it's different than the other two.
PHILLIPS: Roger Stone, interesting talking to you this morning. I'll be interested to see what you'll be up to in the next few months. Thanks for your time this morning.
STONE: Well, whatever -- whatever it is, it will be interesting.
PHILLIPS: Yes, it always is. Thanks, Roger -- John?
ROBERTS: At 34 minutes after the hour, here is what's new this morning.
Barack Obama's campaign is telling CNN that the Illinois senator is considering a trip to Iraq. John McCain had strongly criticized Obama earlier in the day for not visiting Iraq in more than two years.
Investigators are expected to arrive this morning at the scene of a trolley collision that happened just outside of Boston. One person was killed and 12 others injured. New pictures coming in from the scene from our affiliate WCVB. One trolley rear-ended another at a stoplight during the height of rush hour on Wednesday. The engineer of that trolley died in the accident.
And we're watching a developing tropical depression in the eastern Pacific. Expected to strengthen into a tropical storm within the next 24 hours as it approaches the coast of Nicaragua.
PHILLIPS: Sharon Stone is saying one billion sorries this morning. That actress is apologizing to China for suggesting an earthquake that's killed tens ever thousands of people may have been the result of bad karma.
John Vause is live in Beijing for us right now -- John?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Miss Stone says that she is now so sorry, so very, very sorry that she wants to help with quake relief, that she'll have plenty of work to do to try and make amends with some very offended people.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE (voice over): Sharon Stone is perhaps best known for uncrossing her legs in the movie "Basic Instinct," but now in China she's infamous for this.
SHARON STONE, ACTRESS: They're not being nice to the Dalai Lama who is a good friend of mine, and then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, "Is that karma when you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"
VAUSE: The 50-year-old actress made those comments last week at the Cannes Film Festival. By suggesting China's crackdown in Tibet earlier this year was responsible for an earthquake, which as killed tens of thousands, she sparked outrage here, especially on the Internet.
"Sharon Stone is retarded," posted one blogger.
"If she had basic compassion, she wouldn't have said those things," says this woman.
"It's very irresponsible," says this man. "She needs to apologize."
Fashion house Christian Dior which has widely used Stone's image here for years is now in damage control telling CNN the actress has been dropped from their advertising in China. The company's Shanghai headquarters issued this statement.
"We absolutely disagree with her hasty comments and we are also deeply sorry about them."
China's government noted that apology but added, "We've also noticed that -- what's her name? Sharon Stone? She should do more to promote understanding and friendship between nations."
And one of China's biggest cinema chains says it will no longer show her movies.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And Sharon Stone has four films due out in release in the next two years. And those comments may now have alienated more than a billion potential moviegoers. And that's what you could also call karma -- Kyra?
PHILLIPS: John Vause, live from Beijing. Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Protecting America's senior citizens from prescription drug dangers. We've got some important advice on how to become an empowered patient.
Sharp new exchanges between John McCain and Barack Obama on Iraq. Coming up, we're going to get McCain supporter Rudy Giuliani's take on the back and forth.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, apparently it's an experience you can't describe until you're actually free falling to the ground at 121 miles per hour.
Rob Marciano, that's all you could do, was 120 miles an hour?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, actually we did 138 at one point. Yes.
PHILLIPS: You folks (INAUDIBLE)
MARCIANO: Got there safe. And I've never really liked Tom Petty, but I guess I do now.
ROBERTS: What?
MARCIANO: I did not like him.
PHILLIPS: How can you not like Tom Petty? Come on.
ROBERTS: Do my ears believe what they just heard?
MARCIANO: I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
PHILLIPS: Old '67 convertible cruising...
ROBERTS: The south will rise up, Rob, against you for that.
MARCIANO: Well, I live in the dirty south, as you know.
PHILLIPS: He likes Kid Rock. There's a big difference between Tom Petty and Kid Rock.
ROBERTS: Oh well, OK.
MARCIANO: You know that's for sure. You know, in the news big time French skydiver trying to jump from -- you know it's just been fascinating to me as both a weather geek and enthusiast, so -- you know, whether you're jumping out of a high altitude balloon or an airplane, free falling to the earth is certainly one heck of a ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (on camera): With all this excitement about that French skydiver that wants to jump from 130,000 feet, kind of got me fired up to jump myself. Much lower, about 14,000.
Here at free fall adventures in Jersey, we're going to give it a go.
(Voice over): I get geared up with safety instructor Range Luga(ph).
(On camera): I'm a little nervous.
RANGE LUGA, SAFETY INSTRUCTOR: You need a harness.
MARCIANO: All right. Is there at all a chance for this to come loose from you?
LUGA: No.
MARCIANO: Never happened?
LUGA: Never happened.
MARCIANO: Not once?
(Voice over): Range and I will be hooked together for the jump in tandem, a way for beginners to sky dive.
(On camera): A tight fit. All in the name of safety.
(Voice over): There's a lot to remember when you're falling at 120 miles an hour, like when to pull the rip cord.
LUGA: Safe altitude to pull is 5,000 feet.
MARCIANO: Pulling the cord later could make a skydiver land too fast and lose control of the chute.
(On camera): If you jump from 130,000 feet you need a pressurized spacesuit, a helmet, oxygen, the whole nine yards. From 14,000 feet, an altimeter, some goggles, not even a helmet, for me not even a parachute, because I don't know what I'm doing.
That's what Range is for. Do you know what you're doing?
LUGA: I know.
MARCIANO: You got the chute?
LUGA: I got the chute.
MARCIANO: Let's do it.
LUGA: Let's do this.
MARCIANO (voice over): Our group climbed to nearly 15,000 feet. I was getting light headed and antsy. Others, not so nervous.
(On camera): These things in my stomach, are they supposed to be there?
(Voice over): My turn to jump.
(On camera): All right. Let's give this gravity thing a try! Let's do it!
(Voice over): Gravity pulls me quickly downward while the plane's motion forces me sideways. Soon our velocity is locked in. All I hear and feel is the wind.
(On camera): Whoa! Yes! Oh, man, that was crazy.
LUGA: Craziness.
MARCIANO: That was fantastic.
Well, it was like -- it was like on a roller coaster ride. Your heart pounding. You're losing your breath. A little chilly. But it's just unbelievable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Pretty good view up there, too. I can imagine what it looks like from 130,000 feet. I'm not about to try it, but I certainly applaud those who do. I found out later that apparently two dozen people die every year in skydiving accidents. Not so much the tandem.
I mean having Range on my back certainly helped. The guy shooting the video, his name was Dave -- I kid you not -- his name is Dave Pancake. His real name. And he's never had an accident.
PHILLIPS: Thank you pancake.
ROBERTS: Luckily he hasn't lived up to his name (INAUDIBLE).
PHILLIPS: Rob, oil spot.
MARCIANO: Take a look at this. That was only 14,000, 15,000 feet. This video from way back in 1960...
PHILLIPS: The Colonel.
MARCIANO: The Colonel, you bet. Joseph Kittinger back in 1960 set the highest free fall record at 102,000 feet. He fell for four minutes, 36 seconds, reached speeds up to 614 miles an hour, and "New York Times" says that there was a malfunction in his right glove so his hand swelled up to twice its normal size because pressurization issues.
That is just nutty to me. And hopefully in August Mr. Fournier will break that record at 130,000 feet.
ROBERTS: I guess if you have pressurization problems in your glove there's only one way to fix it, and that's to get back on the ground, right?
MARCIANO: Quickly. Yes.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much.
MARCIANO: OK.
ROBERTS: Protecting America's senior citizens from prescription drug dangers. We've got some important advice on how to become an empowered patient. We'll have it for you right after the break.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS (voice over): Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, street sense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Given the panhandlers on the street is not helping.
PHILLIPS: A plan to get people to change their habits sparks a fierce debate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Biggest problem is to insult the dignity of poor people. PHILLIPS: Turning parking meters into homeless meters. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Flames raced through a church in Los Angeles overnight. It took more than 150 firefighters about an hour and a half before they were able to contain the fire. No one was hurt. An arson team is investigating the fire's cause.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED RESIDENT: This is right next to our home. People -- it's OK, Joey. Now get in. Get in. I don't know, man.
UNIDENTIFIED RESIDENT: There's no one there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And dramatic home video as a family escapes a wall of flames heading straight for their home in California, Santa Cruz Mountains. The parents and their 7-year-old daughter just barely got out with their lives. No one was injured, but when they returned their home was gone.
PHILLIPS: Prescription drugs can have dangerous, even deadly interactions and the problem is more acute for senior citizens who are generally taking more medications, and in some cases, too many.
Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has more now on how to avoid drug dangers by becoming an empowered patient.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Nancy Burns is 71 and lives on her own. She says she's doing great. But that's today.
A few years ago out of nowhere she started acting strangely.
NANCY BURNS, MISDIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMER'S: I was slurring my speech. I was running into walls.
COHEN: And leaving odd voice mails for her daughter, Kelli Phillips.
KELLI PHILLIPS, DAUGHTER: I had four or five messages from my mother wanting to know what day it was, what -- if it was morning or nighttime.
COHEN: Phillips helped rush her mother to the emergency room where a neurologist diagnosed Alzheimer's disease.
Devastated, Kelli and her brother got a second opinion from a geriatrician. The geriatrician informed them it wasn't Alzheimer's at all. Instead Nancy's medications were causing all the problems.
K. PHILLIPS: My brother and I looked at each other and it was like we knew it. We knew it was something to do with all of the medications that she was on.
COHEN: At the time Nancy was taking eight different prescription drugs, many of which don't mix well.
(On camera): Of course, only a doctor can make medication decisions, but there is something that you can do it to be an empowered patient.
Take a look at this Web site. You can type in the names of the drugs that you're taking and the site lets you know if the combination of drugs could make you sick.
(Voice over): Nancy Burns talked with her doctors and over time they found four drugs that could treat her health issues and not cause her any problems.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen joining us now live here in New York. Great to see you.
COHEN: Good to see you, too. Great to have you here.
PHILLIPS: You're from Atlanta. I know. This has apparently gotten worse over the years, right? Why is that?
COHEN: It has gotten worse because, you know what, Kyra, we're in the age of specialization. So an elderly person will have one doctor for the heart, one for the knee, one for the hip, and they're prescribing medications often without talking to one another and those medications often don't work well.
So the solution to this is you've got to appoint one doctor, the captain of the ship, bring in all the prescriptions and say, look, this is everything she's taking, and you don't know about some of these. Is everything here OK?
PHILLIPS: There's also logging on to your "Empowered Patient" Web site...
COHEN: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: ...and you can get...
COHEN: Because we have lots of hints for what to do when you're in the situation.
PHILLIPS: You always do. You can log on to that, of course, at CNN.com/health. Go to Elizabeth's column. You can learn all kinds of great stuff.
Thanks, Elizabeth. COHEN: Thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS (voice over): Iraq attack.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He does not have the knowledge or experience to make the judgments.
PHILLIPS: McCain calls Obama out. Rudy Giuliani weighs in. Should Obama put boots on the ground in Baghdad?
Plus, all or nothing.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is by no means over.
PHILLIPS: Hillary Clinton fights for a full share of Florida. James Carville on whether that could keep her in or out. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Glad to hear that Senator Obama is now, quote, "considering a trip to Iraq." It's long overdue. It's been 871 days since he was there, and I'm confident that when he goes, he will then change his position on the conflict in Iraq because he will see the success that has been achieved on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Senator John McCain says he's glad to hear Barack Obama is considering a trip to Iraq and says, quote, "It's long overdue." McCain has been hammering Obama for not visiting since 2006.
Former presidential candidate and current McCain supporter Mayor Rudy Giuliani joining us now.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER NYC MAYOR: Good morning.
PHILLIPS: Good to see you, again. This is our favorite topic.
GIULIANI: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Every time you and talk about Iraq, we seem to get into a nice lively discussion.
GIULIANI: Right.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about Senator McCain saying Obama needs to visit Iraq. He even suggested, hey, we can go together.
Here's how Obama responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't like the idea of using a trip to Iraq as a political stunt. I think it's a very important, when I'm there, to listen to the troops, listen to the commanders on the ground, and...
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you planning to go anytime soon?
OBAMA: And -- I suspect that before the fall election I will be taking another visit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Should they go together?
GIULIANI: I think it would be an interesting thing to do. I mean -- nobody has ever done that before. It would be an interesting thing to do if they went together. It would show possibly trying to figure out a position here that's in the best interests of the United States, the best interests of the troops.
Most important thing is, you know, your position on it and also, are you going with an open mind?
PHILLIPS: Not only an open mind, but let's have a reality check here.
You really -- if you're going to visit Iraq, you have to visit Iraq, not just cruising through Baghdad. John McCain caught a lot of heat when he went through the markets and said, hey, I feel safe.
GIULIANI: Well, I...
PHILLIPS: Well, of course, he had an incredible entourage.
GIULIANI: Right.
PHILLIPS: And he was with General David Petraeus. I mean there's a difference between making a little pop-in visit and really mingling with the troops, the Iraqi soldiers and seeing what's going on in that country.
GIULIANI: Most important thing actually is not so much where you go but who you talk to. I mean -- and basically getting from the troops their evaluation of whether they're being successful, what else they need to be successful. That's the part that I would find the most important. Listening to them and listening to their views on this because we get so much from the politicians.
We get so much from the media. How about a little time spent with the troops and finding out what they believe?
PHILLIPS: And it takes more than a couple days.
On the subject, of course, of Iraq. Scott McClellan, we've got to talk about this book. Your first...
GIULIANI: Yes, that's the whole idea of this, right?
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly.
GIULIANI: That's why he's doing it -- to get us to talk about it.
PHILLIPS: Let's get down and turning here to the conversation.
GIULIANI: Right.
PHILLIPS: Scott McClellan coming out and saying, making this case that the Iraq war should have never happened. Let me just read one quote.
He says, "Bush and his advisers knew that 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."
The White House shading the truth?
GIULIANI: Why did Scott McClellan shade the truth?
PHILLIPS: He's saying he didn't have all the information.
GIULIANI: He's saying he was part...
PHILLIPS: That he got deceived.
GIULIANI: He never -- well, he never raised it when he was there, ever. Never once went to anyone and said, you're making me -- you're deceiving, you're making me do it, you're requiring me to do it. You're not telling the truth.
Seems to me it comes with a great degree of incredibility when it's written two or three years later. You had the chance to do it then, and you're selling it for $27.95 a copy.
PHILLIPS: But let's talk about the deception issue and shading the truth. I have had lead generals and admirals tell me, I drank the Kool-Aid. I had intelligence people come and tell me there are weapons of mass destruction, we've got to go to war, and the next thing they knew they were sitting back thinking, boy, we got duped.
GIULIANI: There hasn't been a war that we've ever been in where you haven't had that kind of controversy and that kind of confusion.
There hasn't been an administration who hasn't had a Scott McClellan, whether it's some of the people leaving the Clinton administration saying terrible things about Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan or -- so you got to take this with a -- this is part of the territory and this is what happens when you want to publish a book and you want to get CNN and NBC and FOX and everybody else to talk about it.
PHILLIPS: Do you think he's a traitor or is he a hero?
GIULIANI: I don't know. It depends on the eye of the beholder, right?
PHILLIPS: Well, the question is, what do your eyes say?
GIULIANI: But I mean the reality is having been a mayor, having been a United States attorney, having been in positions of confidence, having been a staff member myself in the Reagan Justice Department and the Ford Justice department, there's going to be a degree of confidentiality that you have in dealing with these things and with people.
And you know, I always view this -- whether it was a Bill Clinton presidency or a Bush presidency, I view these kinds of revelations with a little bit of skepticism, and having written a book and seeing the kind of pressure a publishers puts on you to say sensational things so you can get on television gives me even more skepticism.
PHILLIPS: But he's not the first insider to come forward...
GIULIANI: Not the first one.
PHILLIPS: ... and to criticize like this. But...
GIULIANI: And not the first one to have ultimately been proven wrong.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about the information coming forward. Now another insider saying all these things. Senator John McCain still associating himself with the president. Even earlier this week, he attended this fundraiser.
You always make me really nervous when you get that smile and that smirk.
GIULIANI: You know, associating yourself with the president is the kind of thing they used to say about organized criminals.
PHILLIPS: OK. No, but -- well...
GIULIANI: He's the president of the United States.
PHILLIPS: But this is somebody -- I mean let's look at the overall -- he's got the lowest overall ratings...
GIULIANI: Maybe because of...
PHILLIPS: ... in history that a U.S. president...
GIULIANI: Maybe because of reports like this constantly in the media.
PHILLIPS: And you have John McCain -- well, let's talk about this fundraiser with President Bush. I mean let's listen to what Barack Obama had to say about this. Let's start there.
GIULIANI: I'm sure it'll be very objective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: He's holding a fundraiser with George Bush behind closed doors in Arizona. No cameras, no reporters. And we all know why. Senator McCain doesn't want to be seen hat in hand with the president whose failed policies he promises to continue for another four years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Why don't we see President Bush and John McCain arm in arm, hand in hand, like we have in past years coming out together, speaking engagements? Why not?
