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Extreme Weather in Midwest; America's Fuel Crisis; Bleeding Jobs: Auto Industry Hit Hard; Aftershocks and Flooding in China Threaten Millions of People; Deadly Earthquake Hits Greece; President Bush departs on European Tour; Laura Bush's Surprise Visit to Afghanistan
Aired June 09, 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: Indiana's government call it's a radical deluge, and these folks in Wisconsin and Minnesota would no doubt agree. Huge amounts of rain cause deadly and devastating floods, and it's not over yet.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: It's not a force of nature, but it sure feels like one. A constant surge in energy prices draining Americans' wealth and sense of well-being. We can't make gas any cheaper, but we can make your money go farther this hour.
Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And we're trying to offer you some solutions today...
KEILAR: Yes.
LEMON: ... for issue #1.
Hello everyone. I'm Don Lemon.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Right at the top, we're talking about extreme weather. It is one of our top stories today, and we've got it covered right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Rising waters and rising temperatures. A weekend of storms leaves much of the upper Midwest soaked and thousands without power. The governors of Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana call on Washington for help.
And the nation's capital, meantime, is baking, along with much of the East Coast. Blistering heat is forcing schools to close early and some cities to open cooling centers. And to add to that misery, scattered power outages everywhere.
Any relief in sight for any of these folks, Chad Myers? That's the big question.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'll tell you what, Don.
LEMON: Yes. MYERS: I was talking to somebody else in my ear, so I didn't quite hear you, but this has been a nine-inch rainfall deluge for Minneapolis and up toward Racine and Milwaukee just in the past, really, week, week and a half. And Milwaukee, you focused those 9 inches really in just a couple of days.
We now have a new severe thunderstorm watch box. I'm not really worried about tornadoes today, but we could see some wind and also some hail damage, right on down through into St. Louis and into Memphis as well.
The precip totals, this is what the rainfall computer model thinks is still going to happen. Not what happened. Those numbers are ridiculous, when some areas, over 10 inches of rain fall in the past 72 hours.
It's a stalled front, one that won't move. One low on top of another low, on top of another, and they keep running over the same areas. And so the rain showers are in the same area, and so you just can't stop the rain. One storm comes in, then it dries out, and then right behind it is another storm.
In Creston, Iowa, just to give you an idea, on Thursday and Friday, they got hit by two separate tornadoes, two separate days, because the storm didn't movement. One cell moved over them. The sun came back up, and then another cell came on top of them the very next day. And that's been happening up and down the mid part of the country.
If we could just spread this rain around. It just so far isn't happening.
And it is extremely hot across the Northeast. Heat warnings, heat advisories all the way from Boston, right on down even into the Carolinas, the low country. And look at Central Park right now -- 94. That's not the heat index, that's the temperature in the shade -- Don.
LEMON: Gosh. That is the temperature. And I think...
MYERS: Brutal.
LEMON: ... that entire area is going to be really tough.
Hey, Chad, will you stand by with me? Because I'm being told now by our producers, just as you were doing that, we have someone from Racine, Wisconsin, on the telephone, and we want to talk to him. It's Chief Kevin Bush. He's with the Racine County Fire Department.
Chief Bush, thanks for joining us today in the CNN NEWSROOM.
KEVIN BUSH, RACINE COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: You're welcome.
LEMON: How are you doing there?
BUSH: We're doing actually very well. The situation is somewhat stabilized. We've dealt with all the issues pertaining to citizens being in peril, and now we're just dealing with the water.
LEMON: Yes. Tell us about how many people, or do you even know how many people had to leave their homes and how much damage you have there?
BUSH: Yes. We've had 30 to 35 residents that have had to vacate their homes. We were forced to take some of them out by boat. In total, perhaps 75 homes, a high school, and a couple of commercial buildings are affected by this as well.
LEMON: Go ahead, Chad.
MYERS: To the Lake Michigan area, is this water going to run off quickly, or it's going to sit here for a while?
BUSH: Well, we're hoping it runs off quickly. The river is what is affecting the city at this time. And the river dumps right into Lake Michigan on our eastern shore. But the river hasn't crested yet. We suspect it will sometime after 1:00 our time.
MYERS: Today?
BUSH: Today. If the weather service is correct, our river should be at 11 feet, 6 inches when it does crest, and that is three feet over the previous record.
MYERS: That is three feet over the previous record for Racine, Wisconsin? Are you kidding me?
BUSH: Yes. That's exactly what we were told this morning in the meeting in the emergency operations center at Racine County.
LEMON: Wow. Yes.
MYERS: So, I mean, we talk about hundred-year floods. That's an on-record flood. I mean, it doesn't get any bigger than that.
BUSH: No. And that's exactly what we're talking about, and the mayor characterized it this morning in a news conference as just that. It's a 100-year flood with all the associated problems.
MYERS: Wow -- Don.
LEMON: Yes. It's just unbelievable. Hey, Chad -- hey, Chief Bush, thank you very much. We wish you the best.
BUSH: Yes, sir. Thank you.
LEMON: All right. Thank you.
Chad, it's just an unbelievable situation. I think we're finding out there that -- I don't know, do we know that they set a record with flooding there?
MYERS: It's still coming up. No, he said the river is still coming up. It's still rising. And then we talked about how close it is to Lake Michigan. It will eventually just dump very quickly, but it's just all that water that was to the west of them. They had tornadoes on the ground on Friday night, too, and all that water is still coming in and across Racine, and eventually dumping into Lake -- it's just taking some time.
LEMON: Yes. So, Chad, we've got floodwaters there, and in the East Coast we have temperatures, what, 90s, reaching 100 somewhere?
MYERS: Oh, 100 degrees for...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Yes.
MYERS: And you know what? We get video of some areas. There are at least 100 towns probably, Don, that look just like that.
LEMON: Yes. Yes.
MYERS: So we get video, we'll put it on. Not that we're just not talking about your town.
LEMON: Yes. And the reason I mentioned that is because we have our Reynolds Wolf, Chad, who is in Washington, D.C., where people are facing extreme heat today. He's going to join us in just a little bit to tell us exactly what's going on.
That's a live picture of the Mall. Isn't it beautiful? Just a beautiful day. But not a great day to be out.
And look at this guy coming into the foreground. This guy is jogging in this heat, something we've been telling people you may not want to do on a day like today, Chad.
MYERS: I can't even walk under the trees, Don. And he's running.
LEMON: Yes. We've got to get out of this, but we'll be back.
MYERS: Fair enough.
LEMON: And we'll check in with you and with Reynolds in just a little bit.
Thank you, sir.
KEILAR: Feeding your family, filling your tank, keeping your job, it's getting harder to do those things these days, especially if you have a car or if you work in the car industry. We know it, your know it, so we're not going to recite a list of problems today. Instead what we're doing is giving you solutions all day long.
It's the economy. It's your money, of course. And it's issue #1 here on CNN. So let's start with gas prices, now topping four bucks a gallon. People in several states have already been feeling this for a while. Now, are we in for more spikes, or will this fuel bubble burst?
Let's bring in Ali Velshi. Oh, we see so much of Ali. I know her doesn't like to tell us...
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Will you speak to me one day when gas is two bucks a gallon and oil is like 40 bucks a barrel?
LEMON: No. No.
VELSHI: Listen to Don. No.
KEILAR: Of course not. I think we will, at least when it starts to dip and it's not a regular thing for sure, right, Ali?
VELSHI: Right, because that will be like breaking news. Oil has gone down, gas has gone down. Well, listen, you don't have to worry about that anytime soon. We only seem to be seeing these prices going one way.
Oil is a little bit lower than it was on Friday afternoon around this time, thankfully, but we saw a record on Friday, $139 a barrel. We saw oil crossing $4 a gallon this past weekend.
What the effect that that has had is that, you know, people are really worried about what this is going to mean for the economy. A recent poll that CNN and Opinion Research Corporation has taken indicates that 42 percent of people think the economy is the number one issue in America, and some, more than 70 percent, think that gas will hit $5 a gallon before the end of this year.
Now, we heard, Brianna, from the Saudis a little earlier who said they would like to convene some sort of meeting of countries that consume and produce oil and come up with some sort of a strategy, because even the Saudis have now said that the price of oil is unsustainable at these levels. A little earlier I spoke to the Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, and I asked him about all of the discussion about the role of speculation in the price of oil. How serious it is, how much of the price of oil is being driven by speculation.
He didn't seem to think much of it was at all. Listen to what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: I don't believe financial investors are responsible for -- to any significant degree to this price movement. This is supply/demand. Financial investors are on both sides of the market. They're long and they're short. They don't set trends, they follow the trends.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VELSHI: So that's what we got from the treasury secretary.
Again, there are a lot of people who think that maybe 30, 40, 50 percent of the oil at these levels might be due to speculation. Again, not an indication that's necessarily illegal, just that people are making more money investing in oil and not using it. They're not the end users than they would investing in something else.
So that's the situation we're stuck with at the moment -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Well, let's talk about this announcement today coming from Saudi Arabia. President Bush recently went to the Middle East. He asked for a little relief from the Saudis and was told no for the second time in a year.
VELSHI: Yes.
KEILAR: So what kind of sign is this? Is it a good sign? Is it going to make a difference?
VELSHI: Well, that's interesting because, yes, they said no to him, and they didn't seem to think that there was a problem with the price of oil. Now a Saudi official, in fact, according to The Associated Press, saying that the price of oil is unjustified at these levels. Unjustified.
So we're unclear at to what this means and what they plan to do about it. So we don't know what this meeting is and what they are going to do.
Can they increase their output? The bottom line is we have very little difference between the amount of oil that is produced on a daily basis and the amount that is used. And that's going to be one solution to getting a little more oil on the market.
But again, we're going to have to see where this goes, because it hasn't really affected oil markets too much today. They were down about the same amount of money before this announcement came out. We're still looking at oil that's trading around 136 bucks a barrel.
KEILAR: All right. Maybe a first step towards action. We'll see.
VELSHI: Right.
KEILAR: Ali, thanks so much.
VELSHI: OK.
LEMON: Shutdowns, layoffs, and uncertain futures. The auto industry is especially hard hit in tough times. Thousands of workers are being forced to retool their lives.
And our Deborah Feyerick talked to some. She is live in Livonia, Michigan, near Detroit. Hi there, Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Don.
Well, you know, for many auto workers who are used to physical labor, going to school is not their first choice. It's often their last choice when they realize that the only option they have is to develop new skills. But experts say there's lots of jobs to be had -- manufacturing, electronics, the medical industry -- it's just a question of knowing where to look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice over): Thirty-eight-year-old Michael Almada grew up in Michigan knowing he was destined to work at one of the big three car makers.
MICHAEL ALMADA, NURSING STUDENT: My father and my cousins worked at Ford. A lot of friends I knew worked at Ford. It's a big family.
FEYERICK: But the auto industry got hit hard. Shifts were cut. Overtime pay disappeared. And after almost 10 years handling heavy machinery, Almada realized it was time for plan B.
(on camera): Did you know immediately that you were going to go into nursing?
ALMADA: Pretty much, because I gave it some thought when the rumors of the buyout were happening.
FEYERICK (voice over): In fact, nursing is one of the most popular jobs in Michigan for out-of-work auto workers like Almada. The pay is good, demand is high, and in many cases automakers are picking up the tab -- four years of tuition for training as part of certain buyout packages.
(on camera): Did you think about long term when you made the change?
ALMADA: Sure. There's never going to be a shortage of sick people, you know?
FEYERICK (voice over): Almada, who is married and who spent five years as an Army medic, just finished his second year at Michigan's Oakland University. Tasondra Watkins, a former DaimlerChrysler assembly line worker, will graduate from there as a nurse in January.
TASONDRA WATKINS, NURSING STUDENT: From the plant where I came from, there were a lot of people talking about starting nursing programs, because we know that the medical profession, primarily nursing, has a shortage.
FEYERICK: And even though Almada thinks the auto industry likely pays more than nursing, he says he has no regrets. In fact, some of his cousins still work at the plant.
ALMADA: Being on the outside of it actually feels a lot better than being on the inside.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Now, while class is out here at the Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan, we spoke to one man who heads the retraining program. He says that he expects in the next couple of years, the number of adults who are coming to this school will top 60 percent. The majority getting retrained -- Don, Brianna.
LEMON: Deb Feyerick in Livonia, Michigan.
We appreciate that. Thank you, Deb.
Do you have a question about where the economy is heading or questions about your credit, gas prices, food prices, anything else? E-mail them to issue1@cnn.com.
KEILAR: Well, it's just crazy. That is how one New Yorker describes the blistering temperatures being felt all along the East Coast.
And CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is sweating it out right now in the nation's capital.
Reynolds, I was home this weekend in D.C. It was so hot, I drank a lot of water, and for good measure I had a lot of ice cream.
How are you handling it?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Doing OK. Check this out. Check out this little instrument I have that tells -- really tells the story.
This is a look at your heat index, above the century point at this time. It has been as high as, say, 115 at times, a little bit higher than that.
We are getting a little bit of a breeze, which makes things a little more bearable, but still, temperatures are temperatures. And we're expecting the high to rise up to around 99 degrees this afternoon for much of the nation's capital.
But despite the heat, we've had plenty of people out and about. In fact, you see a lot of tourists way over there at the Capitol walking around, making the most of their vacation, because you have to remember, this is a major destination. A lot of people have planned a long time to come here over these next couple of days, and unfortunately it coincides with just intense heat.
Now, take a look at this for me. Just a little bit. Follow me over here.
You'll notice, you see a couple of blue chairs set up, what appears to be a cooler. And then farther off in the distance you see a nice tree with the people who were sitting in the chairs now sitting in the shade. What a difference it makes just to get out of the sun's direct rays.
The sun here has just been brutal. The heat has just been fantastic for many, many places. I mean fantastic bad.
And speaking of the heat and ways to handle it, let's bring in CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, please, give me a couple of pointers. What three things can people do to try to deal with these incredible warm temperatures?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Reynolds, it sounds like you're already doing some of them, which is to get yourself out of the heat, if possible. But let's go over the top three things that you ought to do to avoid heat stroke.
Number one is hydration, hydration, hydration. Keep drinking. Even if you're just sitting around in the heat, you're still sweating. You need to keep hydrated.
Also, take rest breaks. If you're working out in the heat, you're in even more danger than if you're just hanging out. So take break it's you're working.
And chill out. Very simply, like what you did, bring the chairs out into the shade, or get inside into the air conditioning. Just get to something cooler as soon as you can.
WOLF: OK. Well, that sounds like some great advice. Certainly some people have taken that, that good advice.
We do see still some people out here touring, a few people still running in this heat, believe it or not, still getting out there and making the most of the weather. The skies are clear, it looks pretty. But still, the heat is just brutal.
COHEN: It certainly -- it certainly looks that way.
LEMON: Yes. And I can't believe, Elizabeth, that people are out running.
Hey, Reynolds, don't go anywhere.
They're out running. Do you see Reynolds has that dark T-shirt on?
COHEN: Yes. Yes.
LEMON: Reynolds, where's your light T-shirt? You're not supposed to wear dark colors in the heat because it absorbs the heat. Don't you know that? You're a meteorologist.
WOLF: OK. A couple of things for you. Number one...
LEMON: Number one, shut up, Don. WOLF: It was either going to be this, or it was going to be a yellow and green purple polka dot shirt. OK? When have you to make a fashion choice here -- OK?
Number two, it's dry fit. It's a really good idea...
LEMON: OK. I got you.
WOLF: ... I'm thinking, because it's very lightweight and all that stuff. So that certainly makes things a little bit easier.
LEMON: We were just having a little fun with you, Mr. Meteorologist. Don't take it too personally.
WOLF: Absolutely. Well, you know, one of the best ways you can find out about a story I guess is to really experience things. So I'm going to go do some jogging, and you guys go back to whatever you're going to do in your nice, cool school, OK?
LEMON: All right, Reynolds.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: See you in a little bit. OK.
We'll keep that up.
But yes, seriously, though, I mean, you're supposed to wear light colors, things that don't cling to you, what have you, so -- because it's really serious. We're having a little fun, but people get heat stroke and...
COHEN: Absolutely.
KEILAR: And drink water.
LEMON: Yes.
We've got to move on, but we're going to continue to talk about this all day because we're having problems all over the country with flooding and with heat as well.
In the meantime, we're going to talk about drilling in the Arctic. Should we stop looking east and start looking north for oil? Our Miles O'Brien will join us with the pros and the cons on all of that.
KEILAR: And one down, two still standing. We're going to talk with two of our political experts about the battle between John McCain and Barack Obama.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. The economy, of course, is issue #1, and we're following that all day today for you in the CNN NEWSROOM. In the meantime, we have some developing news. We reported during our "ISSUE #1" hour at 12:00 Eastern here on CNN that Saudi Arabia is calling for an oil conference between oil producing and consuming countries to discuss soaring oil prices. They are calling on that. We're hearing that meeting, details about this meeting haven't been finalized, but again, Saudi Arabia is calling for this oil conference.
We're going to continue to update you on this developing story as we get more information here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Meantime, this is a great segue, because we want to talk about drilling. Would drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge help ease America's fuel crisis? Well, it depends on whom you ask.
Let's go drilling for answers with CNN's Miles O'Brien.
Miles, you heard the breaking news. I wonder if that will help as well.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, maybe so. But you've got to look at the numbers.
LEMON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And the numbers really are staggering.
We are such an oil-thirsty nation. Seven billion gallons -- excuse me, barrels per year. Seven billion barrels. That is a tremendous need.
So let's talk about ANWR, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is constantly brought up by politicians as a possibility. Zoom in, northern part of Alaska. This area, by the way, is about the size of the state of South Carolina. Let's zoom in a little bit closer and we'll talk with you about the area in question here.
This red area here is the area that would be the area where oil exploration would occur. You're familiar with Prudhoe Bay, of course, over there. That's where the pipeline begins its trek of oil down to -- ultimately into our SUVs here in the lower 48.
Now, let's talk numbers, shall we? How much oil resides underneath that part of ANWR? It's hard to figure, of course, but let's talk about the ranges, shall we, for just a moment.
On the low end, it appears it could be 1.9 billion barrels. All right -- 1.9 billion barrels. On the high end, it could be 16.
We don't know that for case, but the 1.9 billion is a 90 percent chance that that is there. OK, that sounds good. Is that worth going after, given the fact of all the wildlife that is there?
Now, let's talk now about U.S. consumption. OK? We talked about that, 7 billion a year.
So let's do the math here in just a moment. If it's 1.9 billion, that low end, versus 7 billion a year, how long would that last? That would last about three months.
If in the high end, if there is in fact that higher amount of oil there, it could be possibly two years. So the question is, when you look at what is there -- and we have some pictures of this beautiful wildlife reserve -- it's got 39 separate species of land mammals, it has hundreds of bird species, 300 bird species, back, grizzly and polar bears -- is it worth it for an amount of fuel which could be as little as three months of what we need?
And here's the real kicker, Don, when you think about all of this. If we started working on ANWR right now, started doing the drilling, getting the pipelines in place, the transportation, do you know how long it would take to get a single drop of that oil refined into your car?
LEMON: I don't, but I'm sure you do.
O'BRIEN: Ten years.
LEMON: Oh my gosh.
O'BRIEN: Ten years.
LEMON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: So when the politicians talk about this, I want everyone to keep that in mind. It is a drop in the bucket, no matter -- even in the high end, it's still a drop in the bucket. It's 10 years away. And it is a very precious place.
And to the extent that we focus on this as a solution, instead of talking about conservation and other ways of getting us around and powering our economy, I think we do ourselves all a disservice.
LEMON: All right. Hey, Miles, thank you.
Before you go, can we switch the subject to a little bit lighter note here?
O'BRIEN: Yes, of course.
LEMON: Scotty (ph), can we get a two-shot of Brianna and Me? Can we say something?
Miles...
O'BRIEN: Yes?
KEILAR: Happy birthday, Miles.
LEMON: Happy birthday, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Oh, no kidding.
LEMON: Twenty-five again.
KEILAR: Ah, shucks.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Twenty-fourth anniversary of my 25th.
KEILAR: Love it.
LEMON: Which means you're 49. You're saying your age on the air?
O'BRIEN: Yes. I'm entering my 50th year now. Yes, and no Grecian Formula. That's all me. No weave, no nothing.
KEILAR: You have great hair, Miles.
LEMON: The producers are saying in our ear happy birthday, and wrap.
So you know how that it is. All right, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Enough of the birthday. Wrap.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, sir.
KEILAR: Thanks, Miles.
LEMON: Really, happy birthday.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
LEMON: And we want to tell our viewers, your money, your concerns, all of course issue #1. We're following the latest economic news in the NEWSROOM all day long for you.
And be sure to check out our Web site for in-depth coverage and analysis. That address, CNN.com.
KEILAR: Let's take a look now at some new pictures that we're getting in from Wisconsin. We told you there's a whole lot of flooding in the Midwest -- Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana.
This is the Wisconsin Dells, and you can see here the remnants of homes. This is a vacation spot there, and we have a report from our affiliate WISN that three homes just were completely swept away.
You can see that obviously areas that were never covered with water before have now just become raging rivers. These are live pictures that you're looking at here.
And guys, what are we seeing here?
LEMON: It looks like people shoring up some short of levee.
KEILAR: Is this a levee or dam?
LEMON: Yes. KEILAR: This is a dam.
Is this the dam that they thought is possibly compromised, Katie (ph)?
We're checking on that. We'd heard something about some concerns in the area, so we're just going to check on that and see what's going on. But you can see obviously this is an area where a lot more water is coming through than normally comes through. And some workers there are making sure that everything is as it should be.
But again, this is the Wisconsin Dells, a vacation spot in the area. And over the weekend, just heavy rain, even tornadoes in the area, damaging wind, and now the aftermath, which is the water. So much water, a lot of people being flooded out of their homes. A lot of evacuations, and even some people losing their homes in this.
We're going to continue to follow this right here in the CNN NEWSROOM and bring you the very latest on this.
Meantime, Hillary Clinton is out, you know that. Well, now all eyes turning to the Barack Obama/John McCain showdown. We will bring you the latest on that and we'll talk with our experts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Take a look at these new pictures into the CNN NEWSROOM.
If you're a Midwesterner, you know this area. This is the Dells. A lot of folks from the Midwest -- I've even gone here -- go here on vacation every summer because it's a beautiful spot.
But look at what happened here because of the flooding here. This home is just swept away, at least half of it. And we have reports from our stations -- our affiliates in Wisconsin near the Dells that at least two homes have been swept away.
The Dells, you may want to know, why is it called the Dells? Because it's formed like rock formations on the Wisconsin River. That's where it gets its name from. It's really beautiful out there.
But again, about five million annual visitors here vacation. Some people do live here, but mostly, most of the time, it's a tourist spot.
If you look at also some of the new video on the other router that you have Scotty (ph), that's one of the hotels or lodges that you'll see there along the river, the Wisconsin River and also -- there's another lake there, Lake Dealton. So, there you go. And now they're shoring up that dam that is being compromised here.
So we're going to continue to check on this story.
We told you that issue No. 1 today in the CNN NEWSROOM was not only the economy, it's also the weather, and we're following that from coast to coast. Flooding in the Midwest and heat in the northeast, as well.
Filling up at the pump means cutting back elsewhere. A CNN poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation asked whether buying gas has taken money away from other household spending -- 55 percent say yes. The poll also asked whether the price of gas has made you consider a more fuel-efficient car -- 71 percent say it has.
KEILAR: Oil prices are dropping today, but the recent surge is leading to even higher costs for travelers. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with the latest on that.
Hi, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Perfect segue. It's taking away from other things, right Brianna?
The high cost of energy -- the national average for gas is now above $4 a gallon for the first time. And air fares are soaring too. American Airlines kicked off the latest round, raising most round-trip fares by $20. Major carriers have done this a dozen times already this year, or more, to offset soaring oil prices. United, Delta, U.S. Airways quick to match. This follows, of course, the unprecedented run up in crude oil prices last week.
Farecompare.com, which tracks these rate hikes, advises business travelers and vacationers to lock in prices as soon as possible, because more fare hikes are likely.
A gallon of jet fuel has soared by nearly 80 percent from a year ago. That makes the nearly 30 percent increase in gas prices seem almost tame. Almost -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Almost, almost tame.
And let's talk airlines. Some looking to merge in order to cut their costs. But there is one big deal and it's really hit a roadblock. What's the problem here?
LISOVICZ: Well, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Brianna, is urging the Justice Department to reject the proposed deal between Delta and Northwest. He says it would lead to even higher fares and crummier service for consumers. Congressman James Oberstar is from Minnesota, which happens to be the home base to Northwest Airlines and he's also concerned about jobs there.
Jobs -- that was a big story in Friday's sell off, as was oil prices. But guess what? This time oil prices are sliding, down more than $4 a barrel, but still really high, above $134 a barrel. Airline stocks, however, remain under pressure.
The overall market, you can't really call this a relief rally after Friday's nearly 400-point drop. Check it out. The Dow Industrials right now, hanging in there, up 40 points. They had turned negative in the last hour. They had been up more than 100 points earlier in the session. Tech stocks under pressure the whole day. The NASDAQ Composite right now down 32 points, or 1.25 percent -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Better than Friday for sure, Susan.
LISOVICZ: That's right. On both count, both stocks and oil.
KEILAR: Definitely.
Thanks, Susan. We'll check in with you again next hour.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
LEMON: Time now to check some of the stories we're working on for you today in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Gas prices are topping 4 bucks a gallon, and many of you think it's only going to get worse. A new CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll is out. It suggests 86 percent of Americans surveyed think prices will top $5 a gallon this year.
Nearly a third of Indiana's country -- countries declared disaster area after record flooding from 11 inches of rain. I should say Indiana's counties.
There's more rain in the forecast. Right now, Marines and National Guardsmen are trying to keep a levee from flooding at a town south of Indianapolis.
Senator Edward Kennedy is back home in Massachusetts a week after surgery in North Carolina to treat his brain tumor. He told reporters, it's good to be home. And the senator now faces chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
KEILAR: Hillary Clinton is out, and now all eyes turning to the Barack Obama/John McCain battle. We'll check in with two of our political experts.
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KEILAR: The long Democratic battle for the White House draws to a close. With Hillary Clinton out, Barack Obama and John McCain step up their push for campaign funds. We've got a lot of issues today on our political plate. Joining us now from Washington, Patricia Murphy with citizenjane.com and Michael Scherer, "Time" magazine's Washington's bureau correspondent.
Thanks guys so much for being with us.
PATRICIA MURPHY, CITIZENJANE.COM: Hi, Brianna.
MICHAEL SCHERER, WASHINGTON BUREAU CORRESPONDENT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Thanks for having us (ph).
KEILAR: I'm wondering -- so Hillary Rodham Clinton throws herself unequivocally behind Barack Obama, giving him her support, asking her supporters to support him. What is the real risk here though, that her supporters either won't vote, or that they'll go over to John McCain? What do you think it is?
SCHERER: Early on, or late in this primary, we saw something uncovered in Ohio and Pennsylvania, which was a real concern to Barack Obama. Working class white voters were going for Hillary Clinton by significant numbers. The question is whether those -- that group of people, especially in those key swing states, are able to come back to Obama, or whether they represent something broader. Maybe there were people like them, who are less political, who aren't as liberal, who just have bad feelings about Obama, or haven't been sold on his message. That's the question.
I think the Democratic base of the party will rally behind Obama. We still have four months to go. It's a long time.
KEILAR: But Patricia, what do you think here? Do you really think that someone who is in line with the ideology of Hillary Clinton would go all the way over to John McCain?
Because if you look at Obama and Clinton, they're really not that far apart, but they've stark differences from McCain.
MURPHY: They're so similar on their policies that if this were a decision that was made solely on reason and the facts, most of those voters, in fact all of those voters, would go over to Barack Obama.
The women in particular who I have spoken with, who are still not quite over to Obama yet, they're not ready to go over to him from Hillary Clinton, are those who have concerns about his experience. Hillary Clinton was their favorite. John McCain is their second favorite, based solely on his experience. Yet again, if you do go and start looking at the policies -- and I think that most of these women will do that, these are feminist voters, mostly liberal, mostly very dedicated to the policies of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- I think most women will end up, who voted for Hillary Clinton, will end up with Barack Obama.
KEILAR: So it's not necessarily about the issues. Obviously a lot of voters make their decision based on personality, as well as experience. I know that both of you listened to Hillary Clinton on Saturday when she suspended her campaign. She really spoke, for the first time, this is what a lot of folks were talking about, -- the historic nature of her candidacy, about how she has come so far, obviously been the only woman to have a very successful candidacy.
I think the interesting thing she really said, to me, that I heard, was 18 million cracks in the highest-remaining glass ceiling. Should she have gone this route before? Should she have focused more on this during her campaign?
SCHERER: I think there's no question that those early months in Iowa where she was trying to appear as the unassailable front runner candidate who is running a machine-like candidacy, who is ready to hit the ground running on day one, but was not willing to show any other emotion, or any other part of her own personality, that in retrospect was a mistake. I think it's almost universally recognized now that in the final months of this campaign, especially when it became clear that Hillary Clinton didn't really have a way of winning this nomination, she was able to really turn it on on the campaign trail.
She was able to be herself, to really talk about, in personal, direct ways, the things she really cared about and that works with voters. Voters want someone they can relate to.
KEILAR: Patricia, you're with citizenjane.com. This must be something that so many of your users are talking about. What are they saying?
MURPHY: They're really split. And this is one of the areas where you see a split among generational lines.
The older women are so dedicated to Hillary Clinton. They're worried that they don't see another woman in the pipeline, particularly for the Democrats. They don't see a natural successor to Hillary Clinton to come up behind her. They're not saying, well don't worry, in four more years we'll have somebody else who is great. They don't see that.
But the younger women really don't feel that way. They don't feel that same way --
KEILAR: But Patricia, do they think that she would have had more success if she had promoted herself in this way before, really saying some of the things that she said on Saturday, before in her campaign?
MURPHY: I that think the older women heard that message loud and clear the minute that she got into this race. I think there's a lot of debate as to whether she should have just been more emotional and more open overall there.
I think there was a risk behind her making this just sort of a gauntlet of feminism. I don't think that would have really resonated, particularly with those middle class voters voting on the economy. It's not really that kind of a time right now. So I think that would have been too risky, but she did it at the end.
KEILAR: And certainly her campaign perceived that to be a risk.
Patricia Murphy with citizenjane.com. Michael Scherer with "Time" magazine. Thanks guys for being with us.
MURPHY: Thanks for having us.
SCHERER: Thanks for having us.
LEMON: All right. Let's talk issue No. 1. Gas prices nationwide are now above $4 a gallon. We're all feeling the pain, but some are feeling it much more than others.
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has the energy fix from New York.
Hi, Poppy. That's a long name you have there, CNNMoney.com -- Poppy Harlow.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I know. It's long.
But we're here with some important news today. It's people in rural America that are really getting hit hard, Don. What's going on with these soaring gas prices is that people that don't live in big cities have to deal with not only those high gas prices, they're dealing with relatively low incomes, not to mention a glut of gas- guzzling pickup trucks.
Nationwide, 4 percent of our take home pay goes to fuel. That's according to Global Insight. But take a look at this map here. I want to show you what's going on. People are paying a lot more in places like Alabama, up in the Appalachians, up in Montana, up in Wyoming, because their pay is relatively lower than in the big cities like in New York and L.A., where we are seeing those record-high gas prices. So they're paying really staggering amounts.
Let's get into some specific examples for you here. The Oil Price Information Service says in one rural county in Alabama, the percent that they're paying out of their paycheck for gas surpasses 16 percent. That's a huge amount of their take home pay. And a lot of parts of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, West Virginia, people are spending easily more than 13 percent of their take home pay on gasoline.
Now, compare that to a relatively affluent county in New Jersey, right near where we are here in New York. They're paying just a tame 2 percent of their take home pay on fuel.
"The New York Times" also had a very interesting report today, saying some farmers are going as far as lending gas money to their workers just to get them to come to work. It's becoming increasingly common to find vehicles stranded on the side of the road that have run out of gas until their owners can cobble up enough cash to pay for that gas.
So some really staggering statistics there, Don. Long commutes, no public transportation. A lot of these people in rural America are being left with few options.
LEMON: Yes. And we're getting people in our iReports saying they think it's going to be $5 by the end of the year.
Poppy Harlow, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you.
HARLOW: Sure.
KEILAR: Bringing law and order or is it marshal law? A police department puts up check points to stop crime.
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KEILAR: I know the victims of violent crimes last year won't be too impressed. But by the numbers, there were fewer of them in 2007 than 2006. The FBI's preliminary figures show a drop of 1.4 percent, that is overall. Property crimes like burglaries and thefts were also down, as was arson.
However, it wasn't a uniform trend nationwide. Violent crimes fell more than 5 percent in the northeast, but they rose nearly 1 percent in the south.
LEMON: Police so often ask, what's your purpose for being here?
If you're driving around Washington, D.C., you may well hear that question from police, whether you've done anything wrong or not.
CNN's Kate Bolduan reports.
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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even after the funeral, Anthony Mincey's family cannot believe it's real.
TAWANDA MINCEY, VICTIM'S SISTER: This belief, still hoping he's going to come in. I have music of his I've been listening to just to hear his voice and I still think he's here. It's just unbelievable that he's gone.
SHIRLEY MINCEY, VICTIM'S MOTHER: He was just a straight, outgoing guy. Wasn't never no problem to no one.
BOLDUAN: The 35-year-old son, brother, and entertainer was shot and killed in northeast Washington just over a week ago. He was one of seven people killed in a 24-hour period.
D.C. police are scrambling to stop the blood shed.
CHIEF CATHY LANIER, WASHINGTON POLICE: We're going to just lock that area down. To the best of our ability we're going to lock it down and we're going to implement check points.
BOLDUAN (on camera): The check points are road blocks. Anyone driving into this neighborhood must have what police call a legitimate purpose. They live here, are visiting a friend, or are attending a community event. If not, police will turn them away.
LANIER: We will very quickly know when someone pulls up to the check point it's a resident that lives in the neighborhood, versus somebody who has been maybe scanning the area. But we're looking for anything that doesn't look right.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Police have used similar tactics in other high-crime areas in New York. Some civil rights activists say the measure borders on martial law and violates residents' privacy rights.
MARK THOMPSON, NAACP POLICE TASK FORCE: Nobody should really be in a position that when they come home in the evening, or when they go to and from, or when their friends and relatives want to come visit them, that they need to be checked, or surveyed, or scrutinized.
BOLDUAN: The American Civil Liberties Union is considering legal action to fight the D.C. check points. But Anthony Mincey's family supports the initiative, saying something must be done.
T. MINCEY: This will be with me until I'm buried in my grave -- the way they took my brother. He's now a statistic.
BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Gas prices, we know they're high. You know they're high. So what do you do about it? We'll show you how to save some money and make your summer drive smoother.
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KEILAR: More Chinese troops are joining the effort to keep an earthquake created lake from flooding and more than a million people downstream are depending on them, for that. Troops using explosives and anti-tank weapons are blasting rocks and mud, slowing the drainage of the still-rising lake in Sichuan province. That is the site of the last month's deadly earthquake. A magnitude five aftershock yesterday triggered new landslides in the area, heightening concerns about flooding. But for now, officials say the lake's dam is safe.
And one day after a deadly earthquake hit Greece, officials there warning that a strong aftershock could strike the southwestern part of the country at any time. Dozens of aftershocks have already jolted the area but have been relatively small. The 6.5 magnitude quake yesterday, killed at least two people, it injured dozens. It destroyed about 70 homes and it damaged more than 250.
LEMON: It is a farewell tour of sorts for President Bush. He left Andrews Air Force Base this morning, for a six-nation tour of Europe. First stop, Slovenia, for tomorrow's U.S. European Union Summit. He plans to push NATO allies to stick to their military commitments in Afghanistan. Also on Mr. Bush's agenda, stop in Germany, Italy, France, Britain and northern Ireland. First Lady Laura Bush, will meet up with her husband on his European trip after her surprise visit to Afghanistan. During her stop in Kabul, Mrs. Bush got to see coalition troops from New Zealand, perform a Mali (ph) warrior dance.
Well, the first lady spent about nine hours in Afghanistan. Her visit was meant to highlight progress made since the fall of the Taliban.
KEILAR: A judge has just tripled the bond for a suspected drunken driver charged with killing a 14-year-old Georgia boy. Jeanette Easen (ph), plowed into a family's home early yesterday, running over the sleeping teen. Her truck pushed him through the wall into his sister's room, pinning the girl. It took hours to free her, but she is going to be OK. Cops say Easen couldn't even walk on her own when they arrested her. CNN affiliate WSB reports, she was at least two -- she has at least two prior DUI convictions on her record.
LEMON: Let's check out some the videos many of you are watching today at CNN.com. A double-murder mystery in Oklahoma. Two young girls were shot and killed as they took a walk down a rural road. The best friends had been enjoying a weekend sleep over at one of their homes.
Fierce thunderstorms hit Connecticut, with lightning streaking down and hitting a beach side pavilion. One person was killed and four others were hurt. They were all taking shelter waiting for the storm to pass.
And cleared after 19 years in prison. Our Thelma Gutierrez, talks to the California man about life after exoneration.
Find more on all these stories at CNN.com.
KEILAR: The rain came down and it didn't stop. The water rose and entire neighborhoods were lost. We've got personal accounts of the flooding disaster ahead in the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: As gas prices rise, so does the price of food. What it means for charities trying to feed those in need.
And do you have a question about where the economy is heading or questions about your credit, gas prices, food prices, anything else? E-mail them to issue1@CNN.com.
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KEILAR: Everybody talks about the soaring price of gas. Well, this hour we are doing something about it. We can't make it any cheaper, of course, but we can make your money go further, this hour.
