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Clinton Camp Continues Fighting; Sen. Byrd Hospitalized for Treatment of Mild Infection; General Motors Closing 4 Plants; Kenyan Kids Look to School Meals During Food Crisis
Aired June 03, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Brianna Keilar.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, it is coming in fast and furious. It's going back and forth, reports of pending concessions, followed by outright denials, on this, the last day of the historic primary season. This all started with an Associated Press report that Hillary Clinton will concede tonight that Barack Obama has the delegates to win the Democratic nomination. Well, minutes later, the chairman of the Clinton campaign went on our air vowing to fight on.
LEMON: Well, just a few hours left in the presidential primary season. Montana and South Dakota are holding the last two contests with 31 pledged delegates at stake. By CNN's calculations, Barack Obama needs 35 delegates to clinch the nomination. That's putting the focus on superdelegates, such as South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn. He is the majority whip, the number three Democrat in the House, and today he is committed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), MAJORITY WHIP: I've decided to cast my ballot in -- at the convention for Barack Obama. I came to that decision because I do believe that he has elevated this campaign. He has energized our constituents. He is redrawing an electoral map for Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. So here's the question. So if more of these superdelegates head to Barack Obama's camp today and tomorrow, where does that leave Hillary Clinton?
Let's ask our senior political analyst Mr. Bill Schneider. He's the answer man. He knows everything.
So, Bill, what is she likely to do, just in the next few hours?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the answer to your question is 2,118. That's not a joke. That is the number of delegates it takes to win a majority under the current rules in the Democratic Party. He is getting superdelegates more and more almost by the hour now, but she insists he hasn't quite reached that magic number and he doesn't claim to. The question is, will he reach that magic number tonight.
She says when somebody, Obama or herself, has reached that magic number, then she will acknowledge that the nomination has been won. She says it hasn't happened yet. It could happen tonight. It could happen tomorrow. When that happens, she says she will acknowledge that someone has won the nomination.
However, there's a little asterisk. There always is in these things. The little asterisk is she says she reserved the right to appeal the decision of the Democratic Rules Committee, so even if he claims he's reached 2118, she could, if she wants to, say, I don't agree with his delegate count. There's still some challenges left. We're going to take it to the Credentials Committee. I wouldn't expect that to happen, but it could.
LEMON: Who knows? It ain't over till it's over, as they've been saying.
And today, Hillary Clinton supporter Senator Dianne Feinstein, Bill, calling for a ticket with Obama as president, and Clinton as vice president. She says it would unify the party, but it raises a very big question. What role would Bill Clinton play in all of this?
SCHNEIDER: Well, that is a very big question and it's one reason Obama has to think very carefully about this decision. There's an obvious upside if he invites her to be on the ticket. She would have to agree. If that were to happen, of course, it would unify the party. They're not miles apart on most of the big issues. On Iraq, they're both anti-war. They both support expanding the health care system. They're not very different ideologically, so the ticket could work.
But there are some awkward things, things she's said about him, things he said about her, and Bill Clinton, the former president, to be the spouse of the vice presidential running mate, we've never seen anything like it before. As we learned in this campaign, Bill Clinton marches to his own tune. He can say things that Barack Obama might not want to -- want to hear. A campaign has to be under the command of one person, and that's got to be the presidential candidate. So I think he needs some reassurances on that.
LEMON: Bill Schneider, always a pleasure to have you. Thank you so much, sir.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
LEMON: And CNN of course is your home for complete coverage of the Montana and South Dakota primaries. Join the best political team on television for results and analysis. Live from CNN, the Election Center beginning tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
KEILAR: One day after brain surgery, Senator Ted Kennedy is said to be recuperating well at Duke University Medical Center. A statement released by his office points out that he had a restful night's sleep with no complications and the statement also says that Kennedy has been walking the hallways, spending time with his family and actively keeping up with the news of the day. Aides say that he is looking forward to going home possibly in about a week.
And Kennedy's friend and fellow Senator Robert Byrd reportedly will be in the hospital for several more days for treatment of a mild infection. The 90-year-old West Virginia Democrat was admitted last night after feeling lethargic and sluggish. A statement from his office indicates that Byrd is alert, in good spirits and looks forward to getting back to work as soon as possible. Byrd, of course, the country's longest-serving senator. He's been in office since January 3 of 1959.
LEMON: Soaring oil prices are a hardship for millions, a wind fall for some but are they a crime? Well, the Senate Commerce Committee is looking into oil market speculation, which is legal and manipulation, which is not. Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission revealed it's been investigating oil markets for the past six months. But critics say it's not doing enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: The CFTC is not doing everything it can to protect American families and businesses from the possible oil price manipulation.
MARK COOPER, CONSUMER FED. OF AMERICA: I'll be quite precise. $40 for the physical cost of producing crude, the economic cost, $40 for the cartel tax that OPEC and the oil companies put on us, and $40 for speculation. So that two-thirds of the current price is simply put, bologna.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, commodities investor George Soros warned the panel that high oil prices could drive the U.S. into recession.
KEILAR: General Motors is shifting gears closing four plants that made gas-guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs and like millions of its customers, switching to more fuel efficient cars.
Senior business correspondent, Ali Velshi, reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK WAGONER, CHAIRMAN & CEO, GENERAL MOTORS: Our greatest concern is the unprecedented rise in oil prices. These higher gasoline prices are changing consumer behavior and rapidly, significantly affecting the U.S. auto industry sales mix. We at GM don't think this is a spike or a temporary shift. We believe that it is by and large permanent.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: GM is closing four North American truck and SUV plants, cutting truck capacity by 700,000 vehicles; in Canada, the factory that makes the award winning but poorly selling Chevy Silverado pickup truck and its GMC Sierra twin. In Mexico, a plant that builds medium-duty commercial pickup trucks and two U.S. plants, one in Moraine, Ohio, which makes the mid size SUVs Chevy Trailblazer and GMC Envoy, and one in Jamesville, Wisconsin, which makes the large Chevy Suburban and GMC Yukon. The company is also looking at dumping its gas-guzzling Hummer brand.
GM hasn't had a profitable year since 1994 and it won't have one this year either. But CEO Rick Wagoner says its cars and crossover vehicles are selling much better.
WAGONER: Going forward, our focus on cars and crossovers will accelerate. In fact, 18 of our next new 19 product launches in the U.S. will be cars or crossovers.
VELSHI: And it's ramping up production of those types of cars. Starting in September, GM is adding a shift at two of its U.S. plants. One is the Lake Orion, Michigan, plant, which makes the Chevy Malibu, the North American car of the year, and the Pontiac G6. The other's in Lordstown, Ohio where the compact Chevy Cobalt and the Pontiac G5 are built. The Lordstown plant will also be home to a fuel efficient car similar to the Chevy Aveo.
GM's board has also approved money to develop the Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid electric car, which can run gas free for up to 40 miles before it needs a recharge. The Volt could hit showrooms by 2010.
Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. So look at this. One minute the storm is outside the bank. The next it was inside. Surveillance cameras show the incredible force of the tornado that slammed into Parkersburg, Iowa. It happened just 10 days ago. The First State Bank was one of many homes and businesses flattened by that storm later found out to be in the top most tier of tornadoes, an EF-5.
KEILAR: Well, it may seem like a tiny step forward, giving the youngest earthquake victims in China a sense of normalcy though. We'll show you how a simple tent is getting kindergartners back to class.
LEMON: And squeezing the most out of every drop of gas in your tank? Think you already do? Well, wait until you meet the reigning king.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Well, let's check some of the videos that you're into on CNN.com today.
It's no surprise our segment on hypermiling topping the list. Lots of you trying to look for ways to wring every last mile from the pricey gallons of gas.
Then this, the amazing pictures caught on tape of last week's tornado in Parkersburg, Iowa. Let's see. There we go. You can see, this is inside of a bank. And a bank security camera shows what looks like a bomb blast outside of the window there as that funnel cloud bears down on that bank.
And you may not want to quit your day job, Dick Cheney. The vice president apologizing for a joke about West Virginians and inbreeding.
Now you can find more on all of these stories at CNN.com.
LEMON: The plan was simple, slow down cargo ships in waters shared by endangered North Atlantic right whales but shippers objected. Now the plan's fate like that of the whales is uncertain.
Our environmental correspondent, Miles O'Brien, has the story in today's "Planet in Peril."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STORMY MAYO, PROVINCETOWN CENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES: One of the rarest of all the whales.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ENVIRONMENTAL CORRESPONDENT: Marine biologist Stormy Mayo has studied endangered right whales for decades, but even he has rarely seen this.
MAYO: That is beautiful.
O'BRIEN: They making baby whales, but not fast enough to pull back from the brink of extinction. They got their name from whalers who called them the right whales to kill. Slow-moving plankton eaters, easy targets, nearly wiped out. Now a measure aimed at protecting this species is entangled in bureaucracy.
MAYO: It's urgent that that rule is reviewed and passed, and I think that that's not the end of the things we need to do.
O'BRIEN: That rule is a proposal from U.S. government scientists to help this endangered species recover. The idea is require commercial ships to slow down in a 30 mile bubble near ports where and when these whales are migrating. Right now experts say commercial ships kill about two north Atlantic right whales every year. That's a big number, given that only about 300 remain alive.
Biologist Jim Lecky is with the government agency that proposed the rule.
JIM LECKY, NOAA OFFICE OF PROTECTED RESOURCES: If they slowed down to 10 knots there there'd be a much higher viability of survival.
O'BRIEN: Is that a reasonable rule?
LECKY: Yes, I do.
O'BRIEN: But the shipping industry is adamantly opposed. The World Shipping Council, representing more than two dozen companies, refused to talk on camera, but told the government the speed limit would botch tightly controlled container ship schedules and cost money. The council has suggested that ships actually speed up. That a quickly moving vessel will pass through the area quickly and the exposure will be small.
Is that scientifically valid?
LECKY: Would you speed through a school zone? No. It's not.
O'BRIEN: The proposed rule should have got be a yea or nay from the office of Management and Budget last year. Conservation groups and some in Congress say administration officials, especially the vice president's office are stalling.
REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), OVERSIGHT AND GOVT. REFORM CHMN.: There's really no question on the science. The Bush Administration and Vice President Cheney think that science shouldn't bind them. They're going to do what industry wants.
O'BRIEN: We called the vice president's office for a response. A spokeswoman for Mr. Cheney said they don't comment on internal deliberations and she referred us to the White House office of Management and Budget. So we called OMB, and they said they won't comment on an ongoing rule-making process.
Scientists say the weight is killing more whales.
JACOB LEVENSON, INTL. FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE: This is an obvious problem. You lose one female, and that's it.
O'BRIEN: Really?
LEVENSON: Yes. That's it.
O'BRIEN: A federal study concludes slowing the ships down near the lumbering whales will cost shipping companies about $112 million a year, less than 1 percent of the $340 billion east coast shipping industry. In other words, a few cents extra for your toys or sneakers. Environmentalists say it's the right thing to do.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Running out of gas on purpose? Yes. When help is on the way with free fuel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had guys doing it like going to work, and going home from work before. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: A gallon of greed in the NEWSROOM ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KEILAR: Gas prices hit a new record almost every day, today included, and some drivers are literally running on empty, some of them on purpose.
Here's Andrew Luria of our affiliate KOVR.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW LURIA, KOVR REPORTER: You leave your house extra early for work. Of course, planning ahead to account for the expected traffic and also making sure to leave extra time to sit on the side of the road to wait for free gas to just show up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's desperate, but cheap, I guess.
LURIA: And by some miracle, or some tow truck, it does. Some people actually run out of gas on purpose, or at least say that they did, just to get a gallon of free gas on you, the taxpayer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a sign of the times.
LURIA: Will Dunn from Sierra Hart Towing which covers all the area's major freeways says he stops about five times a day for cars out of gas, and the company has 19 trucks out there daily during rush hour. If they suspect a repeat offender, they'll sometimes offer to tow the car to a gas station for free.
(on camera): How many of those people take him up on the offer?
WILL DUNN, SIERRA HART TOWING: Very few. A lot just get in their car and drive away.
LURIA (voice-over): He says it's not a large percentage of people who actually abuse the service, but they are out there. It's never more clear than when they find the same driver waiting for them often in the same spot, and sometimes even in the same day.
BILL LUNA, SIERRA HART TOWING: We had guys doing it like going to work, and then going home from work before. Yes.
LURIA: The tow trucks fill up about a gallon in a car with the hope of helping a driver get to the gas station where they can add the rest. But for those wrongfully taking advantage of that service, they even plan ahead to wait for free gas to appear. There's an easy answer to that old question of what's your time worth? It's about four bucks and change.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And actually, it is a little less than that for most of us. AAA says the nationwide average for regular gas is just under $3.98 a gallon. A lot of you, though, I know paying more than $4 a gallon. That $3.98 is, you guessed it, a record high.
LEMON: The pain of high gas prices is prompting many Americans to leave their cars parked right there in the driveway where they're probably on a very low tank.
You don't want it filled up in the drive way, right, Susan Lisovicz?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
LEMON: She's at the New York Stock Exchange with details on how people are getting around instead. Probably mass transportation, I would guess.
LISOVICZ: Absolutely. It exists and people are using it. The American Public Transportation Association says ridership on mass transit rose more than 3 percent the first three months of the year. That may not sound like much, but it amounts to an increase of 85 million trips. Light rail, like street cars and trolleys are the biggest jump in ridership followed by commuter rail systems and subways.
This trend spreads across the country from Seattle to Baltimore, from Minneapolis to New Orleans. This all comes as gas prices climb to another record high, just pennies shy of $4 a gallon. Yet another example of dramatic changes in consumer behavior, Don.
LEMON: I'm a big fan of the mass transit and I'm sure you are as well. It's kind of tough, too, in some cities to do. But the transit systems are also affected by high energy prices. Aren't prices going up there too?
LISOVICZ: No question about it. Many transit systems are boosting ticket prices. In Washington, D.C., the agency that runs the Metro increased fares in January by the largest amount on record. Here in New York subway fairs were also raised a few months ago. Keep in mind that many transit systems are raising prices not just because of energy, but to pay for needed upgrades too. They're also adding buses and increasing service to keep pace with demand, which requires money.
Speaking of money, oil prices falling nearly three bucks today, sending the price below $125 a barrel. But stocks are falling too. Fed chief Ben Bernanke reiterating today that further rate cuts unlikely because of high energy and food costs. But he says the housing recession and soft labor market continue to weigh on growth.
We're seeing no growth for the Dow. In fact, the sell off has accelerated. Blue chips right now down 140 points or 1 percent. The NASDAQ is down 1 percent. GM shares, which we've talked about rallying all day, have now turned south, down about .6 percent. The auto maker came out with its sales for the month of May. Light trucks, which include SUVs plunged 27.5 percent. And there you go. That's why GM is making big changes, and we'll talk about them in the next hour.
Don and Brianna, back to you.
LEMON: Thank you, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
KEILAR: Painful steps to recovery. We'll show you some of the youngest victims of China's earthquake dealing with fear as they return to school.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is 28 after the hour, and here are three of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
They have seen their classmates killed, their lives have within turned upside down, and now the youngest survivors of last month's earthquake in China are returning to class. They're in make shift tents like this one. Hundreds of school children died in the quake buried in the rubble of their schools.
Senator Ted Kennedy is up and walking around. This is one day after surgery to treat his malignant brain tumor and his office says he's roaming the halls of Duke University Medical Center and experiencing no complications from the three and a half hour operation.
A Greyhound bus on its side here on a northwest Indiana interstate. Several people there suffered minor injuries when this bus flipped over, but all 41 people on board were taken to the hospital as a precaution. No word on what caused the crash. The road was clear and dry at the time.
KEILAR: Of course our big story today is politics, and topping our political ticker, no concessions from the Clinton camp. Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman is denying an Associated Press report that she plans to concede the delegate race to Barack Obama tonight. Terry McAuliffe tells CNN Obama does not have the numbers and until someone does, the race goes on.
Well right now, by our calculations, Barack Obama needs 35 delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination. Only 31 delegates are up for grabs in the Montana and South Dakota primaries where the last contests of the primary season are underway. And that puts the focus on all those important superdelegates.
Now, among them, House majority whip, James Clyburn of South Carolina -- he endorsed Obama this morning, calling the Illinois senator the most electable candidate his party can offer. Clyburn says no matter how the Montana and South Dakota votes turn out, Obama will lead the delegate count and should be the nominee.
KEILAR: Let's go back now to the Clinton camp, and those vehement denials that she is ready to admit defeat. Joining us is senior campaign adviser Maria Cardona.
Maria, thanks for being with us.
MARIA CARDONA, SR. CLINTON CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Thank you, Brianna.
KEILAR: So people have said, Maria, that it's really semantics here, that maybe she will concede that he has the numbers, or that he is undeniably close to having the numbers, but that she will not concede the race. Set the record straight for us. What is she going to say tonight?
CARDONA: What she's going to say tonight is how honored she has been to campaign all across the country, to represent the interests of so many voters in all of the important states where she's been, in all 50 states, in all of our territories. It's been an historic process, and she has been honored to carry the banner of all of those who have felt that they have not had a voice in this process or in the last eight years of this administration.
KEILAR: But, Maria, may she concede, perhaps, that the writing is on the wall, if indeed it is?
CARDONA: Look -- there are -- the delegates aren't there for Senator Obama yet. He is not the nominee. He has not clinched this nomination. So if and when that happens, Senator Clinton is going to continue to make the argument to the superdelegates that she is in fact the most electable candidate in November. At the end of this process, Brianna, she will be leading in the popular vote, which there is no more pure reflection of the will of the people.
She will have won the largest states, the most important swing vote states, and the important demographics that you need -- that a Democrat needs -- in order to put together an electoral map to victory in November.
KEILAR: I should point out, because we've spoken with a lot of experts and they have said it really depends on how you count, if you were to say that she's leading in the popular vote, if you were to count Michigan, if you were not going to -- of course Barack Obama was not on the ballot there.
But let's talk about what some people have called the dream ticket, Hillary Clinton and Barack obama. Some people have said this would be unstoppable. But other people have said, you can't do it because Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, they got too negative with each other and now they have ruined this opportunity.
Do you think that it was maybe silly on the part of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to get so negative?
CARDONA: No. Again, I have always said that I think that this is a process that has been very, very good for our country and very good for our party. And compared with past elections -- you people have short memories. This has not been a very negative election by comparison.
At the end of this process, and both candidates have said this, and I think that it is absolutely true, the party will absolutely come together to focus on beating John McCain in November. Now, of course, I happen to believe that Senator Clinton is the best candidate to beat Senator McCain and to take us to victory in November, and that's going to be what she's going to continue to say until somebody comes up with the number of superdelegates to clinch the nomination.
KEILAR: Yesterday, former President Clinton was speaking to a reporter for the "Huffington Post." He said this about Senator Barack Obama -- he said, they had all these people standing up in his church cheering, calling Hillary a white racist -- basically saying that he let other people slime Hillary Clinton. And that is I think, that's a near quote, if not verbatim.
Is this the position of the Clinton campaign?
CARDONA: No. And I haven't seen that, so I don't want to speak for -- for former President Clinton. I think that what's important here is that both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama have said, and continue to say, that no matter what happens at the end of this process, they will come together, they will unify this party. The supporters will unify this party, and everybody will move toward making sure that we have a Democratic president in November. But again, until somebody gets that number, we will continue to make the argument that Senator Clinton is the most electable.
KEILAR: OK. Well we'll just have to wait then, I guess.
Maria Cardona, senior adviser for the Clinton campaign. We will stay tuned.
Thank you.
CARDONA: Thanks, Brianna.
LEMON: Montana and South Dakota. Here's a little more about the last primary states. First, a fact check on South Dakota.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lewis and Clark first raised the U.S. flag in South Dakota in 1804 when the region was dominated by the Sioux Indians. After Lewis and Clark put South Dakota on the map, literally, it was on a path to settlement and eventual statehood in 1889.
Today, South Dakota is still the same landscape --sprawling prairies, spadlands (ph), black hills, and glacial lakes. So many lakes in fact, the state claims more miles of shoreline than the state of Florida. The economy remains largely agricultural, producing nearly half a billion bushels of corn a year and the most bison in the nation.
The capital of South Dakota, always a good trivia question, is Pierre. But its biggest city, with a whopping 139,000 people is Sioux Falls. The entire state still has fewer than 1 million people; that's fewer than 10 people per square mile. South Dakota's official state nickname is the Mount Rushmore state, for obvious reasons. Mount Rushmore National Park draws nearly 3 million visitors a year, contributing to the state's second largest industry, tourism.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Now we have stats for you on Montana.
The capital is Helena. The state's population is more than 950,000, ranking 44th in the country. The leading industry in the state -- agriculture. The state is rich in coal and petroleum, but also has some of the most impressive vistas. There are 89 state parks and monuments in Montana.
And here's a fact check for you --a fun fact. Montana comes from the Spanish term meaning mountainous.
CNN of course, your home for complete coverage of the Montana and South Dakota primaries. Join the best political team on television for results and analysis live from the CNN Election Center beginning tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
KEILAR: Kenya is just one of the countries where spiraling food costs means shrinking food aid, and bellies as well.
And as CNN's David McKenzie reports, hundreds of thousands of students who depend on school meals could soon lose them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: He went to the shore (ph) --
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Reporter: They are eager to learn at the Starr School (ph) in Kibera. There are over 500 kids here from as young as 3-years-old. They're some of the most vulnerable children in Kenya.
The majority of these children are orphans, left with grandmothers and caregivers, often because of the ravages of AIDS. And here is why many come. The school has a well-established feeding program. Since food became available, attendance has doubled.
For 13-year-old Francis Mutua, the food is his favorite part of school.
FRANCIS MUTUA, 13-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: I get food here at school to help me know that I can be well, healthy, and strong.
MCKENZIE: Francis' mother died when he was nine. He never knew his father. As with many kids here, the food has given him the chance to learn and kept him off the street.
(on camera): School feeding is a life line for these children. For many of them, this is their only proper meal of the day. In Kenya, over 1 million children are on programs like this. But the cost of the simple assistance has almost doubled, and the World Food Programme might have to cut hundreds of thousands from the school feeding program.
(voice-over: Commodities in Kenya have gone up by 50 percent, including (ph) United Nations feeding efforts. There is plenty of food available in Kibera, but many people can't afford to buy it. The price of maize, the staple here, has doubled in the past year. And school feeding in Kenya is in real danger of being downsized to make up for funding shortfalls, unless there is a massive increase in donations.
GABRIELLE MENEZES, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Rising food prices really affect the World Food Programme's operations. We're trying to sustain these levels, but we don't think we can manage it.
MCKENZIE: For children like Francis, it could spell disaster. He even takes some of his own food from school to give to his aging grandmother, who takes care of him. Cutting back on feeding would cut back on his dreams.
MUTUA: I want to be a pilot.
MCKENZIE: David McKenzie, CNN, Kibera Slum.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Debris everywhere. Little is left standing in the way of buildings. We have another view of that storm that hit Parkersburg, Iowa. You remember it -- the EF-5. And you had better take cover -- in the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: A driver who is hyper good getting his money's worth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: He routinely gets 50 miles per gallon in his plain old accord. Twice what Honda promises.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Our Miles O'Brien learns how to go many miles on a gallon of gas next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: One minute, the storm was outside the bank. The next thing, it was inside the bank. Surveillance cameras here showing the incredible force of that tornado that slammed into Parkersburg, Iowa. This was about a week and a half ago. The First State Bank was one of many homes and businesses just flattened by that storm, later found to be in the top most tier of tornadoes, an EF-5. Very destructive. And there are some storms in the forecast today.
Chad Myers, what are you seeing on your radar there?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well so far, we have one tornado watch. And people still don't -- they still can't -- my mom still can't figure out the difference between a watch and a warning, and she's got a son as a meteorologist.
The watch is the first thing. It is usually a big thing, and it lasts for a long time. It's almost the size of a state.
And a warning is when we know that it's on the ground, or indicated by Doppler radar, and it's only going to be about 30 minutes, because we don't think this is going to be on the ground for that much longer than that. So we only have the first stage. The part one, the watch.
No warnings at this point, but we do have storms that are pretty much on the severe side. I mean, can you see hail coming out of any of these storms, a lot of lightning as well. And lightning kills as many people as anything else out there because -- especially out in the middle of farm country, you're out there driving a tractor and you're the highest thing for many, many miles. So be careful as that comes on tonight.
As we take a look though, kind of a wider picture, we are going to have weather all the way from Missouri, all the way back down even into West Virginia. That, at times, will be the focus for later on today. In fact, there's this moderate risk.
We talk about how many different risks there are. There's a slight risk, we're going to get some storms. There's a moderate risk, we're going to get quite a few. Then there's a high risk, which means we're going to get probably 50 or 100 tornado warnings that day. But we're kind of in the middle category today. But it ranges all the way from Kansas City all the way back into Ohio -- that moderate risk for tornadoes, large hail and of course some damaging winds. We already had winds over 70 miles per hour with the system.
For tomorrow, it kind of doesn't move very much. It kind of just shifts a little bit to the north in this frontal system. And people are asking me, why so many days in a row of tornadoes? The humidity is in the air now. There is cold air that wants to try to come back down. It's beautiful up north, but this warm air says, not so fast, and all of a sudden you have that warm and cold clashing, and then you get severe weather -- Brianna.
KEILAR: I'm surprised that there's no pneumonic device to tell the difference between a watch and a warning. Isn't that strange?
MYERS: Yes, you know it should just be part one, part two. I'm not sure. The words are so similar, they both start with "W-A." Sometimes I said, war, warning, wars are really bad, so think about the warning as the bad one. I don't know.
KEILAR: If it's warning, it's storming. We'll work on it; we'll work on it in the commercial break.
MYERS: All right. Fair enough.
KEILAR: Chad, thanks so much. MYERS: You're welcome.
LEMON: As the national average for a gallon of gas closes in on $4 a gallon, many are still wondering how much of this cost comes from speculation, or even manipulation, in the oil market?
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow joins us from our energy desk.
Poppy, everyone wants lower gas prices of course.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Of course they do.
A Senate committee wants it as well. The senators are looking into it. They're dealing with angry constituents. One senator even went as far to say we're dealing with an orgy of speculation in the oil futures market.
Now, last week we found out that government regulators have been investigating the oil markets for six months -- so, since December. They're really looking into the possibility that the price of oil is being illegally manipulated. Well today, the Senate Commerce Committee is drilling for answers on Capitol Hill, looking for someone to be responsible for all of this.
Among those appearing, billionaire George Soros. Soros is a hedge fund manager, also a liberal activist, who says there is an oil bubble in the making. And a representative from the Consumer Federation of America says we are being ripped off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I'll be quite precise -- $40 for the physical cost of producing crude, the economic cost -- $40 for the cartel tax that OPEC and the oil companies put on us. And $40 for speculation. So that two-thirds of the current price is simply put, bologna.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Well, bologna that is costing all of us. Of course, OPEC and the oil companies say they are entitled to their profits. And speculation is, everyone knows, what drives the market, including stocks -- Don.
LEMON: All right. So Poppy, how could these speculators manipulate the market? Aren't they allowed to bet the price of oil will go higher?
HARLOW: Yes, of course. It's a liquid market. Speculation is everywhere.
But there is a difference between speculation and manipulation. Speculation, simply put, is legal. Manipulation, or hording oil, is simply illegal.
Now manipulation most likely isn't done by investors, but rather by a commercial user of oil, like a production company, a shipping or storage company. But speculation is also a factor in driving prices higher as investors pour money in betting that oil prices will continue to rise. You know, Don, that drives the price at the pump up as well.
LEMON: Oh, yes.
So what's the Senate hoping to do?
HARLOW: They're really deciding whether they should pass more regulation or not. Some say that would drive speculators out of the market, that would help. Others say that could actually make the market more vulnerable to speculators.
One professor from the University of Maryland says the CFTC, that's the commission that oversees the energy market, has essentially handed over some of its oversight duties to countries like Dubai. Something he says is a, "outrage." Of course you can bet there is plenty of debate ahead.
We're keeping an eye on it for you right here at the CNNMoney.com energy fix desk. More on our Web site. But it's really interesting, Don. And it affects all of us out there.
LEMON: CNNMoney.com energy fix desk. That is mouthful, Poppy Harlow.
HARLOW: But I said it in one try.
LEMON: You did. You did.
Thank you very much for that.
Speaking of high prices, New York health officials they may love it, but New York smokers hate it. The "it" is the highest tax on cigarettes in the country. The latest hike of a buck 25 -- a buck 25 means smokers will be paying a total of $2.75 a pack just in taxes. Now in New York City, which has its own cigarette tax, the cost of a pack could soar to -- get this -- past $10 for one pack of cigarettes. Convenient store owners aren't happy either. They say the tax will drive smokers to places that don't charge the tax like the Internet and bootleggers
KEILAR: Well, what is hypermiling? It is all about getting your money's worth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: He routinely gets 50 miles per gallon in his plain old Accord, twice what Honda promises.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: That is one driver hyper about hypermiling. Our Miles O'Brien learning how to go many miles on one gallon of gas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KEILAR: An accident. That is what L.A. County's fire chief is calling Sunday's huge fire on the back lot there at Universal Studios. He says that flames were spotted about an hour after workers used a blowtorch to apply asphalt shingles to a building facade. This fire that you're seeing right now, it destroyed several famous streetscapes. But it actually has created a new tourist attraction. Because those who get inside the theme park are getting a peek at the rubble.
LEMON: Drive up the speed limit, roll up your windows, mind the air pressure in your tires. You've heard it all before, and you're still spending a fortune at the gas pump. Well, you may be ready -- I repeat may be -- for hypermiling. Hypermiling. It can save you serious money, but it's serious business.
And CNN's Miles O'Brien, took a spin or two with the master conservationist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Wayne Gerdes may look like he's out of gas. But actually, he's just kind of hyper about saving every drop he can. And I mean, hyper.
WAYNE GERDES, HYPERMILER: We're in neutral, so I'm ready to pop. It starts, we're going. Just...
O'BRIEN (on camera): Wait. You just went. You just -- that was like immediately into drive.
GERDES: There's no point in wasting any fuel...
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Wayne is the reigning king of the gas mileage misers, known as hypermilers. A ride with him is a real eye opener, not to mention a filling loosener.
GERDES: Hold on to your camera. We're going to take it hard.
O'BRIEN (on camera): Yes, I'm going to hold on. I'm going to hold on.
(voice-over): That's what happens when you take a turn without touching the break pedal. Wayne avoids it, like, well, gas stations. He routinely gets 50 miles per gallon in his plain old Accord. Twice what Honda promises.
GERDES: And I'm already going to shut it down. This is an advanced technique...
O'BRIEN: He kills the engine whenever he can. Never tailgates, but does draft behind big trucks. He always drives the speed limit and plans trips as if they were the D-Day invasion.
(on camera): So it forces you to think entirely differently about how you drive. GERDES: Yes. I'm already -- I'm thinking that like three lights ahead of here, in a suburban traffic area. And now I'm going to use what's called a ridge ride.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): In Wayne's world, angry tailgaters are proctologists.
GERDES: Guys that ride your butt.
O'BRIEN: And when they pass him in a huff...
GERDES: They're the mad rabbits.
O'BRIEN: And big SUVs are FSPs as in...
GERDES: ...fuel sucking pig.
O'BRIEN: I almost didn't have the heart to tell him about my Yukon XL. But when he came to New York the other day, he held his nose, plugged in a gadget that displays fuel economy and we were off like a herd of turtles for Hypermiling 101.
GERDES: Gentle, easy, back off a little bit. No sense in racing. Shift to first, because we're going slow enough to first. I want your foot on the brake and I want you to shut off the car at 1100 RPM. And you're working your butt off right now.
O'BRIEN (on camera): It's hard work, it is.
(voice-over): Using his techniques, I instantly curtailed my FSPs thirst for unleaded by 30 percent. But, still a long way from 50 miles a gallon.
(on camera): This vehicle just isn't meant for downtown.
GERDES: You think?
Sorry, I've got to watch my own speed on this.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Wayne started doing this after 9/11 made him reconsider our dependency on foreign oil. He runs a web site with tips. And with gas where it is now, he has a growing, albeit slow- moving, following. He sure made me a believer.
(on camera): Call me hyper Miles.
(voice-over): In fact, you might say I'm pushing the concept.
Hyper Miles O'Brien, CNN, Wadsworth, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: What do you think?
KEILAR: Drafting? Isn't that something you do, you only do that in NASCAR, as far as I'm -- bump drafting. That would be cool. LEMON: I think it was really funny, but it looks a little bit dangerous. But you know what? Miles tried to demonstrate some of these hypermiling tips for our Kyra Phillips, on "AMERICAN MORNING."
Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Never, ever, ever use your air-conditioning, according to Wayne. You know what I'm wearing?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: What?
O'BRIEN: This is an ice vest, this is his ice vest. It's like a NASCAR driver would wear.
PHILLIPS: Just make sure...
O'BRIEN: I'm actually freezing right now. He drives with the ice vest on.
PHILLIPS: OK Miles, you're a multi-tasker. We lost our signal there. But we still have him live.
Miles, we have you live. Give us a little wave there. Now you're a multi-tasker, you do everything at once. Year e-mailing, you're on the phone, you're driving on the phone, you're doing live shots. But let's be real here. This is a lot to concentrate on for the average driver. I mean this could be -- this is dangerous.
O'BRIEN: Here's the thing. Here's the thing.
PHILLIPS: Miles you just cut off the cabbie.
O'BRIEN: I did?
PHILLIPS: Yes, you did.
O'BRIEN: I'm busy talking to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: See, exactly my point. It's happening live on television.
O'BRIEN: Get out of my way, will you! Get out of my way!
Anyway, now, here's the deal. What Wayne will tell you is, always -- never get on the cell phone, and never do a live shot on a national cable network while hypermiling. OK? Those are two rules that you should follow.
PHILLIPS: We just saw reasons why.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Very funny. I'm glad Kyra said it. It looks dangerous.
KEILAR: Yes. It's like -- well it's like a two for there. Hypermiling and bad driving, for sure. Very funny, though.
Well, reports of pending concessions followed by a string of outright denials. A flurry of breaking news on the last day of this historic presidential primary season.
CNN, of course, your home for politics and we are all over it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
