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Midwest Floods Disaster; Obama Rejects Public Financing; Militants on the Run in Afghanistan?

Aired June 19, 2008 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again, everyone. You are informed with CNN.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on this Thursday, June 19. Here's what's on the rundown.

Twice as much water rushing through a Mississippi River levee breach doubles in size, and now residents rush to bolster another barrier.

HARRIS: Danger downstream. Days before the river crests, concerns about levees holding in east St. Louis.

COLLINS: And Barack Obama takes heat. The Democrat's decision to forego public financing gets a McCain campaign shout-down -- in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Life along the Mississippi River. The floodwaters and the disaster deepen this morning. A massive levee failure in Winfield, Missouri, has doubled in size. It is now a staggering 300 feet wide.

Some 50,000 acres are under water. Floodwaters are swallowing homes and farmland and racing toward a secondary levee. Sandbagging efforts are under way. People to the east are being ordered out of low-lying areas.

More than 20 levees have been swamped along the Mississippi River. More are at risk as the surging river heads south. And each day more communities brace for levels to crest.

What a story.

Among the filthy, polluted waters, pigs swept from their farms yesterday. A tough decision for safety officials. They say they had no choice but to kill about a dozen pigs. They were rooting around on a levee. The fear, the pigs would have weakened the levee and put a town at risk.

COLLINS: As we just showed you a few minutes ago, President Bush will tour the flooded areas of Iowa a little bit later today. I believe he's probably in flight right now. But for downstream communities bracing for rising waters, all efforts are now focused on shoring up the levees.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Hannibal, Missouri. That's the hometown of author Mark Twain.

Good morning once again, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

You know, Mark Twain used to say that the Mississippi River will always have its own way. And no matter what kind of engineering skills people have, wouldn't be able to prevent that. You know, and so it's a real test going on now between what Mark Twain said years ago.

The manmade levees you see here in the distance and all the sandbagging that has been going on here for several days, and the Mississippi River, which has already spilled out of its banks -- that tree line you see there in the distance, that is part of Hannibal. And some of that is just on the outside of the levee here.

Much of that is already under water. There are a couple of businesses, a railroad, a couple houses under water as well. But officials here hoping that they will be able to contain it just on that side of the levee as they have worked to build it up another three feet or so to prevent any kind of further flooding.

And they feel confident at this point that they will be able to survive and have no flooding in here in the town. Mark Twain's boyhood home is just a few blocks off of this levee, so they feel confident that that is not in danger.

And of course, all eyes a little bit further downstream in Winfield, where that levee has been breached as well. In fact, it's actually been the levee breaches in various parts along the river nearby here that has eased the burden here as water has spilled into farmland. It's actually caused the water levels her to go down a little bit.

City officials say they expect it to go up a little more. But as I said, they're still confident it won't spill over the banks here.

COLLINS: Yes. We're going to be talking with the mayor here in just a second.

Ed, we certainly appreciate it.

Ed Lavandera in Hannibal, Missouri.

Thank you.

HARRIS: Winfield, Missouri, a massive breach in a levee, and a second one is now in danger. Hundreds of National Guard troops are scrambling to fortify that levee.

Let's get the latest on this developing situation.

Joining us on the phone now is Winfield mayor, Harry Stonebreaker.

Mr. Mayor, thanks for taking the time to talk to us.

You know, let's get to the most pressing issue right now, which seems to be the efforts of the National Guard and everyone else, I suppose, that you can muster to fortify that second levee.

Oh, he's not on the phone with us? He dropped off the phone? Oh, OK.

All right. We will try to get Winfield Mayor Harry Stonebreaker back on the phone and get an update on the situation in Winfield in just a couple of moments.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Mayor Harry Stonebraker is on the line with us.

Mr. Mayor, thanks for your time this morning. Are you there?

MAYOR HARRY STONEBREAKER, WINFIELD, MISSOURI: Yes.

HARRIS: OK. Great.

Of real concern right now is the stability of that second levee. We understand the first levee breaks, and now there is real stress on that second levee that is protecting so many of the residential areas of your city.

Talk to us about the efforts of the National Guard and everyone else that you're using to secure or better secure, raise the height, of that second levee.

STONEBREAKER: Well, we really -- we still think we're going to hold the second levee, the Pin Oak levee and the McLean's (ph) Creek levee. We think we're going to hold it as of now.

HARRIS: Now, why do you think that you'll be successful in holding that second levee?

STONEBREAKER: Well, because we've got a hundred people down there. They've been sandbagging 24 hours around the clock. And I think our efforts may pay -- of course, it may not, you know. It's nothing sure. But with the effort, I think it may hold it.

HARRIS: How many people do you have on the other side of that levee in harm's way, should that levee give way?

STONEBREAKER: Approximately 100 homes on the east side of the railroad tracks. That is what we refer to as East Winfield. There's about approximately 100 homes over there, give or take a few.

HARRIS: Have you ordered any evacuations yet? STONEBREAKER: Most of them have moved out.

HARRIS: OK. We've been talking about this in terms of the history of the area. Have you seen anything like you're seeing upstream, what is happening in your area right now in terms of the acreage lost? Have you seen anything like this?

STONEBREAKER: You know, we've seen something just about like this in '93.

HARRIS: Something like this in '93?

STONEBREAKER: '93.

HARRIS: OK. Well, the best of luck to you, Mr. Mayor. And we will be checking in with you just to get an update on how that second levee is holding. But thanks for your time this morning.

STONEBREAKER: Okey-doke.

HARRIS: Man, he sounds really busy. And it's understandable. He has his hands full.

Farms and homes swamped by floodwaters. Allan Chernoff on the economic and personal toll from the floods. A live report at the half hour.

COLLINS: A big announcement from Barack Obama this morning. He will not use public money to finance his run for the White House.

Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley is here to explain why this is such a huge deal.

This ever happen before, Candy?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Never.

COLLINS: That's why it's a huge deal.

CROWLEY: Exactly.

COLLINS: There you go.

CROWLEY: I mean, there's that, and there's politics to it, obviously, but never in a general campaign has a presidential nominee not taken public financing. So that's more than 30 years. Beyond that, I mean, we obviously know that Barack Obama can raise money.

It does put John McCain at a money disadvantage. He raised, McCain, under $100 million during the primary season. Barack Obama raised over $272 million.

Let's think about that. That's a quarter of a billion dollars in the primary season.

So there is the financial disadvantage that it gives McCain, but McCain picks up some political points they think over there. And that is, they say, listen, Barack Obama signaled that he was going to take public financing. Now that he's learned he can raise all this money, he's changed his mind. So there's that angle.

There's also the angle of who's the real reformer when John McCain wants to work through the system. A system designed to take big money out of politics. And we could probably argue over the next three decades whether it did.

Now, the Obama camp says, listen, you know, we are campaign finance reform, because, though, we've raised big money, much of it's come in little donations. So, you know, people giving $200 don't expect they'll get invited to the White House.

So it's that -- that's going to be the argument. And certainly the McCain camp has already begun to hit this pretty hard.

COLLINS: Yes. So I think that's really interesting, to see how it plays "politically." And what does that really do for John McCain moving forward? I mean, does it make it impossible for him?

CROWLEY: No, it doesn't make it impossible, it just makes it difficult. Money isn't everything, but, boy oh boy, it surely helps.

COLLINS: It sure helps.

CROWLEY: Now, I mean, I think what you're going to see is this will further empower some of those outside groups, some of whom can raise limitless amounts of money to talk issues.

COLLINS: Like who? Who are we talking about?

CROWLEY: Well, I mean, we're talking about groups that have issues. So if you are promoting wildlife preservation...

COLLINS: Sure.

CROWLEY: ... and this is a big issue in the campaign, and you are pro-wildlife preservation, you can run an issue ad. You can run it from funds that you get, and they're not regulated.

Now, there are others that are regulated. PAC money, those political action committees, that is regulated. But they were all over during the primary campaign pushing one candidate or another. So I think you'll see a lot of that.

And it's just -- it will be really interesting to see how McCain, who's already in a lot of kind of disadvantages because of the view of the Republican Party right now by the voters, to now have this to kind of work against is going to be a real, real challenge.

COLLINS: It is surprising. That's for sure.

All right. CNN's Candy Crowley watching the political front for us as usual.

Thank you, Candy.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Heidi.

HARRIS: A crackdown on mortgage fraud. Some 300 arrests, and mostly small-scale operations in Texas, Florida, Chicago and elsewhere. In all, the feds say a billion dollars was lost.

We should be hearing more from officials this afternoon.

And there's this -- two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers arrested for alleged securities fraud today. They are accused of misleading investors about the risky subprime market.

COLLINS: Are Taliban fighters on the run now? NATO and Afghan troops move in to move terrorists out of villages.

A live report from the front lines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Pushing Taliban fighters out of southern Afghanistan, a joint offensive by Afghan and NATO troops.

CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is joining us now by phone from the capital, Kabul.

So, Nic, what is the very latest on the fighting there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it appears that the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is claiming this offensive by 1,100 Afghan troops and about 300 Canadian NATO troops as a success. He says they've driven out the Taliban from this district just northeast of Kandahar. A strategic district, an important economic and farming district.

He said that 56 Taliban have been killed, as many more perhaps wounded. However, it does seem to have the indications of other Taliban battles, where the Taliban has said they'll mass, they're stand and fight. When they realize that they're outdone and out- manned, then they fight for a while and run away.

We've seen large numbers of Taliban do that. There are indications that may be the case this time. But certainly the Afghan government, President Hamid Karzai, claiming this as a success. He sent four planeloads of troops to Kandahar to fight in this battle.

COLLINS: Well, Nic, you know, it's interesting, because back here we've been hearing reports of all of these militants coming into this area and them actually taking control of these different villages. And then we heard, well, no, maybe that is not the case.

So I guess it begs the question, how vulnerable are Karzai and the U.S.-backed Afghan government really?

ROBERTSON: In this particular area just northeast of Kandahar, it was an area where the local warlord, if you will, was loyal to President Karzai. He died late last year. The area has been in flux, the Taliban threatened to move in, locals asked the president to take decisive action.

He took a different course of action. So that, suggested by the locals, the Taliban has gained a foothold.

Then after that massive prison break over the weekend in Kandahar, where 400 Taliban were sprung from jail in a suicide bombing effort to break open the walls of the jail, the Taliban were reported by villages to have taken control of up to a dozen villages in that area. It's something that obviously the Afghan government couldn't stand by and let happen. And President Karzai has acted quite strongly and is getting credit from the Afghan population for it right now -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Nic. We sure do appreciate it, coming to us by telephone.

CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, from Kabul this morning.

HARRIS: Is Iraq the next frontier for western oil companies? The Iraqi government is close to signing service deals on its biggest fields, the first major western oil agreement since the 2003 invasion. The contracts will go before Iraq's cabinet for approval.

COLLINS: Doctors tell you your baby needs shots, but do they need all of those vaccines at once?

Elizabeth Cohen with what you should ask your doctor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, this is getting to be kind of a crazy mystery here. It's happened again. A sixth human foot found yesterday in a shoe north of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Now, all six feet were in the shoes, the first turned up in August. Investigators are attempting to determine if they are from four plane crash victims who disappeared in the region in 2005. Still, that would not explain why there are five right feet that have been found in addition to a single left foot.

COLLINS: Well, I don't know. Maybe that's a medical story we should be following, too. It's a weird one, for sure.

But this one has definitely generated a lot of discussion. Your baby feeds shots, and lots of them. But you are worried about a possible link between vaccines and autism.

Of course, we should also say, as Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now to explain, what you as an empowered patient can do, that there really is no definitive link, medically -- at least most doctors will tell you that -- between autism and vaccines. But, you know, it's something I'm going through right now with my little guy. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure.

COLLINS: And I have definitely thought about it.

COHEN: Oh, sure. I mean, how can you not think about it with all the news?

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: For example, Hannah Pauling (ph) was in the news in March, a little girl who developed signs of autism almost as soon as she received five vaccines at once. And her parents won a case in so- called vaccine court.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: She, it turned out, had an underlying disease...

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: ... and may doctors think that what the vaccines did was triggered this underlying disease that of course most children don't have.

But the bottom line is, is that if parents are concerned, you can talk to your doctor. I talked to many pediatricians who said, look, I don't think there's a link between autism and the vaccines.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: But, you know what? If a parent wants something done differently, I will work with them.

COLLINS: That's what I did.

COHEN: Right. That's what you did. And it worked.

COLLINS: Schedule it out a bit. It was interesting, at least what I learned, anyway, and you can help me with this. But, you know, you're supposed to have five vaccinations at the two-month period, four shots and one oral.

Well, you know, we chose to do two. And then we're going to wait a little while and do two more. But then there's a certain amount of time to wait in between in order to make those vaccinations effective, is there not?

COHEN: Right. For many of these -- actually, you are the model parent for our first suggestion that we have.

COLLINS: Mom, are you listening?

(LAUGHTER)

COHEN: And that is, you can talk to your doctor -- can I spread out vaccines? Some will do it and some won't. And what Heidi's saying is you don't want to come back the fext day for vaccines. For some of these, you need to leave about at least a month's waiting time, because these are live vaccines. And either you do it all at one time or you wait at least a month. That's what doctors are telling me.

Now, there's some reasons not to spread out vaccines. If you delay a vaccine, that means your child may get that disease in the intervening time. But it's a discussion to have with your doctor.

And let's talk about the second tip that we have for parents.

COLLINS: OK.

COHEN: You can ask your pediatrician, does my child need that booster shot? A booster is given -- your baby is not there yet -- but a booster is given after you get a first round of shots. And then a couple of months or a couple of years later they need a booster to enhance their immunity.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: Not all kids need it. Sometimes that first round of shots did the trick.

COLLINS: How on earth do you know?

COHEN: There's a blood test. It's called checking titers. It's sort of a strange phrase.

COLLINS: Yes, titers.

COHEN: But checking titers. And you can say to the doctors, can you check my daughter's titers for chicken pox to see, do we need the vaccine or is she OK the way she is?

Now, insurance might not pay for it. You might have to dish out the cash yourself. But...

COLLINS: And it's another sort of injection for the kid.

COHEN: And it's another injection and another office of visit and all of that. But the doctors I talked to said, you know what? We would be willing to do that.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, that is interesting. I did not know that at all.

COHEN: And there are some other -- we have some other tips for parents.

COLLINS: OK.

COHEN: And you can go to CNN.com/health. It is it up there right now. And you can find out, is there any changes that I'm allowed to make as a parent... (CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: Yes, and I love that because it is an empowered patient type thing, because, you know, you should be able to ask those questions of your doctor.

COHEN: Right. And if a pediatrician says, don't ask, we're doing it my way or the highway...

COLLINS: Leave the practice.

COHEN: Yes, it might be time to leave the practice.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: That's right.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much, Elizabeth Cohen. Appreciate it.

COHEN: Thanks.

COLLINS: And just as a quick reminder, Elizabeth's full story, and to get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, go to that Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library, and information and diet and fitness. The address, CNN.com/health.

HARRIS: Boy, take a look at this picture. Green pride in Boston this morning. Man!

Crowds celebrating the Boston Celtics' first hardcore championship in 22 years. Celtics players, coaches, staff and family in those World War II era amphibious duck boats.

COLLINS: Is your mom there?

COHEN: I think my mom is there. Yes.

COLLINS: There she is, waving furiously!

COHEN: Hi mom!

HARRIS: Yes.

You know, carrying the players and the staff and family for this big parade this morning. And for those fans not able to get close to the parade, large television sets have been set up in Boston Commons so that folks can take a look.

And you know how I love a good beat-down. And boy, that's what happened Tuesday night.

The Celtics beat down the Los Angeles Lakers.

Bye-bye, Kobe. Bye-bye now. Bye-bye. 131-92 Tuesday night in game six of the NBA championship series. Way to go, Boston. I can't believe I'm rooting for the Boston Celtics after growing up a Lakers fan. But there you have it.

COLLINS: A city if the path of potential danger. Back to the story we've been following for days here on CNN, the fear levees won't hold back the water in east St. Louis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back again. It is about 11:30 Eastern time now, Thursday morning.

I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris.

The swollen Mississippi River, all eyes on the swollen Mississippi River, surging downstream this morning, flooding more towns and cities in its path. In Winfield, Missouri, officials say a levee breach has now doubled in size to 300 feet wide. Residents east of the town in low lying areas were ordered to evacuate.

The Army Corps of Engineers says water may overflow another four to five levees in the St. Louis area today. More than 20 levees have been swamped along the Mississippi River. Across the Midwest, farms and fields are under water. Right now President Bush is on his way to get a firsthand look at the flood damage.

COLLINS: One of the cities in the path of the flood, East St. Louis, Illinois. There's concern the levees protecting that city may not hold.

We're going to get more now on the threat from Drew Griffin of our special investigations unit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the Illinois side of the great river, East St. Louis is sitting precariously in the path of a potential disaster, and all that protects it and its residents from the floodwaters of the Mississippi are four levees that no one can guarantee will hold.

TIMOTHY KUSKY, SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY: These ones have already been determined by the Army Corps of Engineers by FEMA to be structurally deficient and in danger of failing at heights of about 40 feet.

GRIFFIN: And I see hotels, I see a casino, I see all of downtown East St. Louis. We're not talking about acres and acres of flooded corn here.

KUSKY: No. We're talking about 155,000 people who live here, we're talking about 50,000 jobs, we're talking about oil refinery, we're talking about major businesses. We're talking about major development in this part of the country.

GRIFFIN: Tim Kusky professor of national sciences at St. Louis University is one of the foremost experts on what causes levees to fail. He outlined in a book exactly how New Orleans' levees would fail two years before it happened. Now he's concerned what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina could happen here.

The immediate fear is subterranean cracks, leaks in these earthen dams that will expand as the pressure from the rising floodwaters continues. It's called seepage. Enough seepage can create the kind of blowout that can erode the levee from the bottom up.

One stop on our tour, the professor pointed out, it's already happened.

KUSKY: This is water that's come underneath the levee. Pretty certain this is water coming from underneath the levee.

GRIFFIN: And this is a sign of a particular failure in a levee?

KUSKY: It's a sign of under seepage and the under seepage is the first stage of dangerous conditions that can lead to levee failure. It has to get a lot worse than this, but this is the first stage, and this is a warning sign.

ROBERT BETTS, CITY MGR., EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS: This is serious. This is serious business here. This is great Mississippi doesn't play, and it's showing you that today as we stand here now. We see the water seeping underneath our feet.

GRIFFIN: East St. Louis city manager Robert Betts is now reviewing the city's evacuation plan. He says he will have inspectors monitoring for more leaks until the immediate danger passes. But this is not a new problem. Last August the Army Corps of Engineers concluded the levees that are supposed to protect metro East St. Louis are at risk of failure due to structural deficiencies.

The Army Corps has offered to help the three counties in the area try to fix the problem, but says it will take time and more than $100 million. The river is expected to crest here sometime Monday.

Drew Griffin, CNN, East St. Louis, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Meanwhile, next hour, President Bush is due to arrive in the flooded Midwest. He says government aid will soon follow. Congress is moving toward a $2 billion package of disaster assistance now. More than 28,000 people have already registered for FEMA relief aid. But only 9 percent of them have flood insurance. Three million quarts of fresh drinking water have been handed out along with more than 200,000 ready to eat meals. The government has also provided 13 million sandbags in the area, that's enough to reach from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco if laid side by side. Wow.

If you would like to get involved by helping victims of the flooding in the Midwest, please go to our impact your world web page where you'll find links to several organizations that are stepping in to offer assistance, that's at CNN.com/impact.

HARRIS: Farms and fields under water, the economic and environmental impact of the floods will reach far beyond the Midwest to your local grocery store.

More on that now from Allan Chernoff. Not sure where we will find Allan at this moment. There he is.

Boy that is a rapid flow you're standing in there, Allan, in Oakville, Iowa.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Tony.

Have a look at the strength of this current right now. I can tell you there is some major environmental impact that's being suffered as a result of it. This all coming out of the Iowa River. A levee broke back on Saturday, and the water is still flooding over. I'm standing now on a gravel road.

Behind me, miles and miles of farmland all under water. You know what's happening over there. The topsoil is being carried out, but it's not only damage to the topsoil. Most of this is corn farmland, and to plant corn you need a tremendous amount of fertilizer, particularly nitrogen, about 160 pounds of nitrogen per acre.

What happens when you get this type of current, this type of flood?

It's carried out eventually much of this will go down the Mississippi River, which is way down over there. The Mississippi will carry this nitrogen into the Gulf of Mexico and it will build up something known as the dead zone. This has been building for years and years, and a flood like this is absolutely catastrophic to the dead zone. That is an area filled with very high concentrations of nitrogen. It is an area where sea life cannot exist.

Tony, very, very difficult environmental consequences over there. On the economic side, of course, boy, we're talking big dollars. Not only for the infrastructure, the roads, the bridges, the rails, the homes, and, of course, the businesses shut down, but also, of course, for the farm economy. $3 billion is the estimate right now from the Iowa farm board in terms of the losses -- 3.3 million acres.

Now, they are hoping that if the weather holds farmers will be able to do at least some replanting, but it certainly is not going to save this year's crop. That means less corn, the price of corn is already way up, way over $7 a bushel. And obviously that's going to put pressure on all sorts of products made with corn. Even soda, energy drinks. So many products have corn in them, corn syrup, and, of course, we're talking about a lot of soybeans as well, since Iowa is the number one producer in the nation of both corn and soy beans -- Tony.

HARRIS: Boy, we use so much corn in feed to livestock. You can almost envision the price -- well, the prices are going to go up on everything. Allan Chernoff for us in Oakville, Iowa.

Al appreciate it. Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Michelle Obama taking cues from first lady Laura Bush. It all came out on "The View."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Gas prices are still high, but they're headed in the right direction, anyway, down. Still, high prices have caused Americans to change their driving habits. Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange with more on that.

Hi there, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.

Gas prices are down for the third straight day. AAA saying national average fell two-tenths of a cent to $4.07 a gallon. So prices have fallen a whopping seven-tenths of a cent from Monday's record high. It is a itty biddy tiny little drop there. But it is going in the right direction, you're right. The national average is still 7 percent higher than last month and more than 35 percent higher than it was a year ago Heidi. So, I don't think anyone is clapping just yet.

COLLINS: Probably no cause for celebration just yet. Still high prices they're starting to actually affect demand?

ELAM: I think that's definitely the case. The federal highway administration says Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer miles in April '08 than in April '07. We've seen a decline of nearly 20 billion miles so far this year and a drop of 30 billion miles since November. Just for a little fun fact here, that's the equivalent of about 160 roundtrips to the moon.

Ouch, that's a lot.

Mary Peters says Americans are burning less fuel that's because energy prices are changing their driving patterns. Past trends have shown that Americans will continue to drive despite high gas prices but what we tend to do is shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles. And it should also be noted that SUV sales are down about 38 percent in May from a year ago. If you're going to say that there's a downside to all of this, it may be this -- less gas usage means fewer tax dollars for federal highway improvement so you may have a bumpy ride to and from work if that's the case where you live.

All right, taking a look at the markets. Stocks are struggling for direction after see sawing around the flat line. The markets are right in the red. Had to check because they keep moving around, despite a sharp decline in oil prices, oil is down more than two bucks right now. The Dow off 30 points, 11,999. Slipping back below 12,000 there. We haven't closed below 12,000 since mid March. NASDAQ barely in the green at this time.

Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: Ouch. All right Stephanie, thank you. Appreciate it.

HARRIS: Senator John McCain's wife Cindy is in Vietnam today. Our John King caught up with her in Hanoi. He asked her about comments she made that were seen as a shot at Michelle Obama's patriotism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You did step forward at one point in the campaign when Mrs. Obama had said for the first time she was proud of her country. You did step forward and say, well I have always been proud of my country.

You saw a reason to say that didn't you, some political opening?

CINDY MCCAIN, SEN. JOHN MCCAIN'S WIFE: No, it was nothing planned. I'm an emotional woman when it comes to service to our country. I've watched many people's children leave and go serve. This is something that is the fiber of the McCain family. It was nothing more than me just saying, look, I believe in this country so strongly. I think she's a fine woman, she's a good mother and you know, we both are in an interesting line of work right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Cindy McCain spends much of her time in Vietnam doing charity work.

COLLINS: Michelle Obama turning on the charm, tackling ugly rumors and pitching for her husband with the ladies on "The View."

Our Randi Kaye has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Conservative blogs have called her an angry black woman, even accused her without evidence of using the word "whitey." One way to tackle ugly rumors on the blog is with the ladies of "The View".

MICHELLE OBAMA, SEN. BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: I have to be greeted properly.

KAYE: For nearly an hour, the misses who might be first lady talked about everything from politics to pantyhose. No, she doesn't wear them. She also defended her now-famous comment critics called unpatriotic.

M. OBAMA: Of course I'm proud of my country. Nowhere but in America could my story be possible.

KAYE: Her story is something you'll be hearing more of. Her stump speech is getting a makeover as the campaign attempts to reposition her.

M. OBAMA: I'm a girl that grew up on the south side of Chicago. My father was a working class guy.

KAYE: Less controversy, less heartache for the campaign.

M. OBAMA: People aren't used to strong women.

KAYE: Political expert Larry Sabato.

LARRY SABATO, POLITICAL ANALYST: If you're a candidate for first lady, probably the best thing you can be is innocuous.

KAYE: Sabato says softer settings like "The View" and the style section are good venues for avoiding controversy.

SABATO: The idea is to let that candidate for first lady get known in a softer forum. Have the personality come out. Have the roles as mother and as wife come out. Be known. That's going to be attractive to a lot of women and men.

SHERRI SHEPPARD, "THE VIEW" CO-HOST: Does Barack take out the garbage still?

M. OBAMA: No.

KAYE: A new "Washington Post" ABC News poll finds about half of those questioned view Michelle Obama favorably, including 54 percent of the women. Nearly 9 in 10 African-American polled view her positively, compared to about half of white women.

(on camera): As audience members filed out of "The View" studio, many told me they were impressed with Michelle Obama, they thought she was funny and relaxed. They felt like they got to know her.

M. OBAMA: My name is Michelle Obama.

KAYE: Mrs. Obama shared she's taking cues from first lady Laura Bush.

M. OBAMA: There's a reason why people like her. It's because she doesn't sort of fuel the fire.

SABATO: You do not want a first lady candidate taking any positions that are harder edged than her husband because it raises questions about who's really going to be governing in the White House.

KAYE: Instead, Mrs. Obama shared stories about her girls and the struggles of parenting during a presidential campaign.

SHARON BYRD, AUDIENCE MEMBER: Made her a softer image. That's the way I thought it was, anyway. It was good.

KAYE: Does Michelle Obama need softening?

BYRD: Maybe a little. I think we all do.

LAURIEBETH WILLIAMS-YOUNG, AUDIENCE MEMBER: She stands up for what she believes in. Her family is first and I give her high praise.

KAYE: Exactly what the Obama campaign wants to hear. Barack Obama needs women in his corner. Michelle Obama may help get them there.

SABATO: The less she says and does the better it will be. The less she is on the front pages, the less she is profiled, the better it will be for the Obama campaign.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Neither rain nor snow nor gloom of -- wait a second here. What about skyrocketing gas prices? The post office tries to adapt.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Two doctors, a general, a judge, all among the recipients of the presidential Medal of Freedom today. President Bush presented the honors in a ceremony at the White House. It was good to see too. This year's honorees, pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson, AIDS expert, Dr. Anthony Bouchy(ph), the late Congressman Tom Lantos, former joint chiefs chairman Peter Pace, former health and human services secretary Donna Shalala and Federal Judge Lawrence Silberman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Medal of Freedom is the highest civil honor a president can bestow. The award recognizes outstanding individuals who have been leaders in their chosen fields, have led lives of vision and character, and have made especially meritorious contributions to our nation and the world. Today we add the names of six remarkable Americans to that select list.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The Medal of Freedom was established by President Truman in 1945 to honor civilian efforts in World War II. It was reinstated by President Kennedy in 1963 to honor distinguished service.

COLLINS: With the high price of gas, you've probably made some changes in your driving habits. So has the post office.

CNN's Ted Rowlands reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It isn't his money, but Carlos Martinez still finds it shocking that he pays almost $70 to fill up his mail truck. He says a few months ago it cost about half of that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's bad for the postal people, for everybody.

ROWLANDS: Rising gas prices are costing the U.S. postal service millions. The postal service says with more than 200,000 trucks in its fleet, just a one cent increase in gas translates to an incredible $8 million annual expense.

PAT DONAHOE, USPS DEP. POSTMASTER GENERAL: In the last year we spent $1.7 billion for gasoline and diesel, it's going to go up by about $600 million this year. So this fuel increase has really put some pressure on us.

ROWLANDS: Unlike other businesses like FedEx who recently raised prices, the postal service can't easily do the same thing. The only source of revenue for the post office is postage. So the easiest way out of the mess would be simply to raise prices, which they could do if regulators agree it's needed. However, postal officials say at this point that isn't something they want to explore.

DONAHOE: Truthfully, we want to stay away from that. Every penny you raise the stamp has a dampening effect on the volume of the mail. So we'd rather focus on efficiency.

ROWLANDS: So the postal service is adding more walking and bicycle routes and using GPS to make existing routes more efficient. One move that hasn't worked out is using flex fuel vehicles. They bought 30,000 of them like this one in San Francisco, many are basically useless when it comes to saving gas because there's no ethanol available nearby.

The long-term plan is to eventually replace the entire fleet with some sort of alternative fuel vehicles. But because there's no clear choice yet, that's years away. For now, they're hoping to cut costs using the most basic transportation -- a carrier's own two legs.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: New river carved out, a levee breach sends rushing water through farmlands today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: OK, we wanted to show you some more video here because it's getting good.

HARRIS: Love it. COLLINS: These are crowds celebrating the Boston Celtics' first hardcore championship in 22 years. Celtics players, coaches, staff and family out for this morning's big parade, and a whole bunch of friends, obviously. Quite a few people there, live shot for you now. The Celtics beat the L.A. Lakers, 131-92 Tuesday in Game 6 of the NBA championship series.

Good for them. Fun in Boston.

CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.

HARRIS: "ISSUE #1" with Gerri Willis and Ali Velshi starts right now.