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American Morning
Tony Blair Interview; Piracy on the High Seas; Richardson to be Nominated Commerce Secretary
Aired December 03, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And we're coming up to 7:00 here in New York. A look at the top stories this morning. In just a few hours, President-elect Barack Obama will name another power player to his economic team and another Clinton original, appointing New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to Commerce secretary. Obama will be relying on Richardson to bring much needed jobs and businesses to the U.S.
And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in India overnight. She's there to try to diffuse the situation between India and Pakistan after the Mumbai terror attacks that killed nearly 200 people, six of them Americans. India is blaming an Islamic terrorist group based in Pakistan for the massacre. U.S. officials are urging Pakistani cooperation in the investigation and authorities are now interrogating the only gunman taken alive.
Pirates firing on an American cruise ship with 1,000 tourists on board. The company spokesman says the captain may have saved the day gunning the engine, ending up outrunning the six Somalia hijackers and two small boats. No one on the ship was hurt.
The attack, though, raising new fears of blackmail on a colossal scale as pirates go after bigger and bigger ships.
Brand new this hour and only on CNN, former president Bill Clinton in his first interview since Barack Obama named his wife secretary of state.
Anjali Rao from our sister station CNN International caught up with him in Hong Kong and asked the former president about his wife's reaction and also how involved he will be in the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: I think she was shocked. She first read about it in the newspaper, the speculation.
ANJALI RAO, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Really?
CLINTON: Yes. And she -- it was, I think, a very wise decision by the president-elect and I think she made the right decision. But for her it was hard. She adored being in the Senate.
I think my involvement will be what our involvement with each other's work has always been, that is, all the years I was a governor and president, I talked to her about everything. And I, you know, found her advice invaluable and I'm sure that we'll talk about all this. I mean I really care about a lot of these profound challenges that our country and the world are facing. But the decisions will have to be ultimately the President-elect Obama's decisions. I'll just try to be a helpful sounding board to her. But I don't think I will do any more than that unless he asked me to do something specific, which I'm neither looking for nor closed to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And we're going to have more of that exclusive interview with President Clinton coming up at the bottom of the hour. John?
ROBERTS: Also developing this morning, major political news affecting the balance of power in the Senate and Barack Obama's agenda. The Democrats now saying good-bye to their chances of a filibuster-proof super majority after losing the runoff in Georgia.
What a difference that four weeks made.
CNN's Dana Bash was there as the results came in and has the latest for us from Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has been a wrenching month long runoff campaign here in the state of Georgia. But in the end the Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss won with a pretty healthy margin over the Democratic challenger here. That's Jim Martin.
Now what this means on a national level is that Democrats in the United States Senate now will not have the 60 vote majority, a filibuster-proof majority that they were hoping to get. And that was a major part of Senator Chambliss's campaign here.
He said elect me because I will be a firewall against Barack Obama's agenda in Washington and here tonight he made clear he intends to keep that promise.
SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: I look forward to working with him, but when he wants to raise your taxes, when he wants to tinker with the Second Amendment, when he wants to -- when we wants to make proposals with respect to healthcare that are going to take your choice of choosing your doctor away from you, then I'm going to be the 41st senator to stand up and say no.
BASH: Because of the national implications, Florida's Senate race and part of because of the fact that this was the last time voters were going to go to the polls in the 2008 cycle there really has been a big spotlight on the state of Georgia.
Millions of dollars have poured in and that has fueled television ads that voters here have been bombarded with throughout the last month while other voters around the country have been able to get a respite from that.
And we've also seen political celebrities, Democrats and Republicans, from Bill Clinton to John McCain and Sarah Palin, parading through the state of Georgia. But in the end, the Republicans did pull it off. And certainly they are celebrating here not just because of this particular race but because of the fact that Republicans have not had a lot to celebrity about lately.
And this certainly gives them at least a mental boost to a party that has been demoralized. They said here tonight that this may be the beginning of their ability to get beyond their big problems and start rebuilding.
Dana Bash, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And time for the Tuesday ticker, even though it's Wednesday. We're going to do yesterday's ticker. Actually it is Wednesday, we're going to do Wednesday ticker.
Breaking news in the only undecided race left in 2008. Democrat Al Frank getting a boost in Minnesota, thanks to 171 ballots that went unaccounted or uncounted on election night.
The Franken camp now says that the incumbent Senator Norm Coleman's lead is down to just 50 votes now. The official tally shows Coleman up by 340.
A move that could make things even tougher for the Republican Party two years from now, Florida senator Mel Martinez says he will not run again. Congressional source said Martinez is just, quote, "ready for the next chapter."
Right now it looks like 19 GOP seats will be up for grabs in 2010.
Former First Lady Barbara Bush is back home this morning. She was released from a Houston hospital a week after having surgery performed on a perforated ulcer.
Doctors say Mrs. Bush, who's 83 years old, will stay on a liquid diet for another week but they say she is in excellent condition and is recovering as expected.
For more up-to-the minute political news and our Wednesday ticker, just head to CNN.com/ticker.
CHETRY: Well, with the allegations of torture damaging America's image around the world, a group of retired generals and admirals meet with Barack Obama today and will ask for a clean break with the Bush administration on how terror suspects are interrogated.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now.
So what are they hoping to accomplish, these retired generals?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kiran, as you know the big issue facing Barack Obama as he takes office next week is this one of interrogation techniques. You know the army, the U.S. military, has one standard outline in the army field manual, the CIA has another, which includes these so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, things like waterboarding, which, by the way, the CIA says it hasn't used in five years.
So, today, the Obama transition team -- I'm not sure they're going to meet with Obama himself but his transition team will get some advice from retired some distinguished retired senior military officers who want to really see the U.S. make a clean break with the Bush administration policies.
Among them the former U.S. Central commander, Marine General Joseph Hoar, Retired, who told the Associated Press that they have a fairly extensive list of things that they think should be done and undone. That includes clear rules against interrogation tactics that could be seen as torture, an end to this so-called extraordinary rendition where the CIA captures terror suspects abroad and then holds them in secret prisons, and closing the Guantanamo prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
These are pretty thorny issues because they get right at the heart of what the CIA can do to get the intelligence needed to protect the United States. And many of these issues are going to fall to the new CIA director assuming Barack Obama replaces Mike Hayden, which we expect he probably will do. But at this point, Kiran, we have no idea who that new CIA director might be.
CHETRY: Right. And then realistically speaking, when you talk about something as big and complicated as closing Guantanamo Bay, how realistically are we talking in terms of a timetable for that?
MCINTYRE: Well, just yesterday Defense Secretary Gates said it would be a high priority. You know he's advocated closing it all along. But he said it would probably require an act of Congress. And the practicality is can they really close Guantanamo? Are they going to essentially end up moving it and all of its problems to the United States?
That's something that's going to have to be worked out.
CHETRY: Jamie McIntyre for us this morning, thanks.
Well, the rise and fall of an NFL star in February. Plaxico Burress caught the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII. Now he's suspended facing criminal charges after shooting himself in the leg all in less than 10 months.
ROBERTS: Plus we know that too much alcohol is bad for your heart. Now a new study gives guidelines for middle aged women. How much is too much. We're paging our Dr. Gupta. He's got the answers for us.
Eight minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, if you think you overdid it on your Christmas tree, try this one out. 72 feet tall covered with 30,000 earth friendly LED lights.
Tonight New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, will light the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. It's just down the street here in Manhattan. Also on hand for some holiday music tonight, Harry Connick, Jr., Tony Bennett, Beyonce, even the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus.
Well, in years past, the Cabbage Patch dolls, Tickle Me Elmo and Nintendo's Wii console held its title, but this year no one toy has emerged as the must-have gift from Santa. Instead retailers are banking on solid sales of video games for Christmas.
(LAUGHTER)
Don't bank on solid sales of anything this Christmas.
Video games could see a 15 percent jump over last year, though, compared to 2.2 percent overall. So somebody's expecting a green Christmas this year.
CHETRY: Cabbage Patch dolls. Wow, that's a blast from the past.
ROBERTS: It seems so '70s, don't they?
CHETRY: I was so excited. 1983 was when they first came out and I had one. I was so excited. And it was the happiest day of my life.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh yes, I didn't one of those. I got a tape recorder. It's my favorite thing I got for Christmas.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: I got a lump of coal.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Yes, right.
ROBERTS: Charlie Brown?
CHETRY: Christine Romans is here right now. And you know, we talk about this. We -- had you break this down for us last week...
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: ... and again this week. Where this bailout money is going because in the end it's all of our money. It's taxpayer money. $700 billion...
ROMANS: Right. Exactly. And the GAO does this big study, the first congressionally mandated study, of where the money is being spent. Is it being spent the way we think it's being spent? Do we even know how's the oversight?
And they come up with, big surprise, it needs better oversight. It needs better staffing, it needs better facilities, it needs a better transition to the next president, it needs a lot of things. And immediately you saw some people in Congress jumping up and saying, look, we want better oversight. What's the treasury doing? We want the treasury to spend our money better.
Id like to remind everybody that your Congress gave the OK to do this. So you can jump up and down and say, hey, we don't like what you're doing with your money, but you gave them the money to spend.
So let's take a look at where the money has gone. The treasury has to take another -- has to ask Congress for the next chunk, the next $350 billion. But they've spent a lot of it. $250 billion has been earmarked for banks. They haven't spent quite all of it yet there, but it has been set aside for the banks.
$40 billion for AIG. $20 billion for consumer lending. That was, I think, last week. They said they were going to loan that to the New York Fed for a big consumer lending facility. $20 billion for Citigroup, that's on top of the other $25 billion that Citigroup got, and about $20 billion left for the treasury secretary to spend.
So that, show me the money. Show me the money. That's where the money has gone so far.
CHETRY: There you have it.
ROBERTS: Nothing up on sleeves.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROMANS: So well -- oversight comes, I guess, in 2009. Treasury says it's working on it and has its own compliance facility and programs that it's working on. So treasury understands that it's got to -- it's got to do a better job coming up with some sort of compliance for how this money is going out to door.
CHETRY: All right. Christine, thanks.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, he used the Internet to build a massive donor network. And when the books are closed on Election '08, Barack Obama could be the billion-dollar president. Is that the price of democracy?
It's 14 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice over): Superstar in super trouble.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: The law is the law and it has nothing to do with sports. Everybody should be treated equally.
ROBERTS: First he shoots himself in the leg, now there are serious questions of a cover-up. From the Super Bowl to facing jail?
You're watching the most news in the morning.
ANNOUNCER: "Minding Your Business" brought to you by...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 17 minutes after the hour now. And time to fast forward and check on stories that will be making headlines later on today.
We told you about it yesterday and today Congress's commission on WMDs and terrorism will release a new report saying that terrorists are more likely than ever to try to hit the United States with a nuclear or biological attack in the next few years.
Another day, another Cabinet announcement. At 11:40 Eastern this morning, Barack Obama expected to announce his nominee for commerce secretary. Former campaign rival turned supporter, New York Mexico governor -- New York Mexico? New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson.
CNN will, of course, bring you that live.
Also, today, GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, will release a new study showing that three out of four Americans favor either same-sex marriage or civil unions. That's in spite of voters passing ballot initiatives like California's controversial Prop 8, which bans gay marriage that was passed on Election Day.
And Grammy nominations will be announced tonight in a live primetime special with performances by the Foo Fighters, B.B. King and Christina Aguilera. CD sales slump, the message seems to be if the record industry is on the way out, the music industry is still kicking.
And that's what we're following for your this morning.
CHETRY: Well, New York Giant Plaxico Burress was the star of last year's Super Bowl but after shooting himself in the leg Friday at a New York nightclub, he faces not only an angry NFL but a real angry New York City mayor and possibly some prison time.
Jason Carroll is following this one for us. He's already been suspended, right, for the season.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Already suspended. The mayor very angry, very critical of a lot that's being going on. New York's mayor says not only should the NFL star be held accountable for what happened but he also says anyone who gave him special treatment following the incident should be punished as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice over): Plaxico Burress was the picture of a sports hero after this Super Bowl winning catch.
Not any more.
Now Burress faces gun possession charges after accidentally shooting himself in the leg at a nightclub Friday night and he's also facing an angry mayor.
BLOOMBERG: The law is the law and it has nothing to do with sports. Everybody should be treated equally.
CARROLL: Who questioned if Burress' celebrity status helped him avoid the legal process.
BLOOMBERG: The police only found out about this because of an -- a story on television. The hospital didn't call and the Giants didn't call.
CARROLL: State law requires hospitals to inform police if they treat a patient who's been shot. Police say New York Presbyterian did not immediately call. A hospital spokesman says an individual is suspended pending an investigation.
But the mayor also called out the team. The Giants released a statement saying, "As we started to get a sense of what we were dealing with, we did, in fact, notify NFL security, which then contacted the police."
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL POLITICAL ANALYST: Plaxico Burress is in a world of trouble because his celebrity status seems to at first have helped him but now may well be hurting him.
CARROLL: Late Tuesday, the Giants fined and suspended Burress ending his season. But will he get jail time? New York City's strict gun laws call for a mandatory minimum 3 1/2 year jail sentence for illegal weapons possession.
Since the law passed two years ago 550 suspects have been convicted and Mayor Bloomberg wants Burress to get no special treatment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The public glare on the celebrity when charged with a serious crime, I always think is a detriment to the -- to the celebrity.
MICHAEL MCCANN, SI.COM LEGAL ANALYST: The public generally believes that athletes are above the law, that celebrities in general and that persons with money are above the law. And I think what Mayor Bloomberg has done with his comments is to say, wait a second, I'm not going let that happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, we'll see what ends up happening. Burress's attorney did not return our calls for comment. The NFL star is out on $100,000 bail and he's scheduled to return to court on March 31st where he's expected to enter a not guilty plea.
CHETRY: Wow. It will be interesting to see what happens, as Bloomberg was saying he wasn't notified by the hospital. Somebody's been suspended. So I don't know if there's criminal charges stemming from that as well.
CARROLL: And we'll see if he -- someone tries to get a plea bargain out of this.
CHETRY: All right. Jason Carroll, thanks.
CARROLL: All right.
ROBERTS: A CNN exclusive. One on one with former president Bill Clinton, his first interview since his wife joined Team Obama and the first time that he's talking about opening the books.
And maybe the scariest pirate attack yet. An American cruise ship under fire. When thousand tourists in danger. This morning, for the first time, they are talking about terror on the high seas.
It's 21 1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: When the books are finally closed on this year's election, Barack Obama could become the first billion-dollar candidate. It sounds impressive and why not? But what does that mean for our democracy?
Special correspondent Frank Sesno joins us from Washington this morning with his perspective on all of this.
So does he set a new bar, Frank? If anybody wants to be president from here on in, you got to raise about a billion dollars? And that's just for the next cycle. Probably more after that.
FRANK SESNO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean it is breathtaking, John. Just breathtaking. Barack Obama raises $750 million for the campaign cycle. He raises $100 million for the DNC. He raises $50 million for the host committee at the convention.
He's raising money for the inauguration. He's raising money for the transition. He could tap $1 billion. You know what? That would be more than George W. Bush and John Kerry raised combined in 2004 and that was a record setting year.
So does it raise the bar? You bet it does.
ROBERTS: What does this mean about public financing then? I mean when you get your, your little pot of $85 million to run the general election campaign. Is that dead?
SESNO: Maybe. Certainly it's on life support. And a lot of people on the campaign finance side are saying, you know, we're going to have to rewrite these rules. Now there are people who are saying, look, this is a good thing. This goes to the grassroots.
Barack Obama has connected with maybe close to four million people. His campaign says most of these were small donations. You've heard from Linda Douglas and transition team that, you know, lobbyists and corporations and unions need not apply when contributing to the inauguration. So a lot of people say this is truer democracy. This is real freedom of speech. But there's a dark side to this, too, because I think what it does is it sets up candidates who are more driven by personality, by charisma, maybe even by populism to connect with people and it does un-level the playing field.
So if you're a quiet candidate with a brilliant mind you're going to have a hard time.
ROBERTS: So we are talking about the negative aspects. You know, is there a certain sense of almost hucksterism that has crept into the campaign year and in some forms are trying to raise money?
SESNO: I think you can say that. I mean, there are -- there are people -- look, if you go to Obama's Web site, which we've done, you can find this today. I printed it out. I thick we have it right here.
"Make a donation today and get your own official Obama keychain. This holiday season celebrate our historic victory with a limited edition sterling silver Obama keychain."
I mean if you got more than one you have to fill out the form and you have to -- you know, you can give as little as $30 or as much as a $1,000 or if you're really feeling (INAUDIBLE), you click other and fill in the blank.
So, John, if you want a lot of keychains and you want to help the transition here's your chance.
ROBERTS: There's a certain sense of home shopping network quality with all of that.
(LAUGHTER)
SESNO: Well, I mean, maybe, maybe this is a good thing. Maybe this is the way we can bail out the auto companies and fix the budget deficit. Just, you know, put the White House up for sale. Pens, pencil, electric razors. Who knows where it stops?
ROBERTS: I mean there's a lot of interesting Air Force One memorabilia you can probably get some good coin for.
SESNO: Jellybeans. I mean let's go on -- you know, on eBay and do it.
ROBERTS: Frank, it's always good to see you. Thanks, pal.
SESNO: Good to see you. You know we got a whole new way of raising money.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Frank.
CHETRY: 27 minutes past the hour. A look at the top stories this morning. Detroit's automakers making a second bid for a bailout on Capitol Hill. They are asking Congress for $34 billion to stay alive. General Motors warned that it could go under if it doesn't get $14 billion right now. All three CEOs are pledging to sell their corporate jets, cut back their salaries to a buck a year if Congress is able to come through.
And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in India overnight. She's trying to diffuse the situation taking place there between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai attacks that killed close to 200 people. Six of them Americans.
India is blaming an Islamic terrorist group based in Pakistan for that massacre. U.S. officials are urging Pakistani cooperation in the investigation. Indian authorities are interrogating the only gunman taken alive.
And still no holiday jump in gas prices. In fact, the exact opposite. A gallon of regular now down to $1.80, according to AAA. Down a penny overnight. 77 days in a row, we've seen a drop in gas prices. This is the lowest we've seen them in close to four years.
Also brand new this morning and only on CNN, former president Bill Clinton reacting to his wife's secretary of state nomination.
Anjali Rao from our sister station, CNN International, caught up with him in Hong Kong and the former president talked about what he had to reveal and set aside to clear the way for Hillary's nomination.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: She's going to be secretary of state and I operate globally and I have people who contribute to these efforts globally. I think that it's important to make it totally transparent, say who the donors are, and let the people know that there's no connection to the decisions made by America's national security team, including the secretary of state.
So everything else that's part of this, I have no problem with. I think it's a good idea. I think my involvement will be what our involvement with each other's work has always been, that is, all the years I was a governor and president, I talked to her about everything.
And I, you know, found her advice invaluable and I'm sure that we'll talk about all this. I mean I really care about a lot of these profound challenges that our country and the world are facing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The former president also said that Hillary was shocked by the news then -- that she first found out she was in the running for secretary of state from a newspaper.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: We're following another brazen pirate attack this morning. This time the target was a tourist cruise ship sailing in the gulf of Aden. And for the first time we're hearing now from passengers who were on board during this frightening experience.
Our Alina Cho is following the story for us. And she joins us. You can imagine we hear about all of these hijackings of you know, cargo ships, even that big oil tanker but a cruise ship that really raises the stakes.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: It certainly does. You know, as you mentioned We have heard about Somali pirates going after those cargo ships but going after cruise ships really does add a new dimension to all of this, John, especially when you think about the potential for ransom payments from tourists. Now this latest incident as you mentioned happened on Sunday. It happened in the Gulf of Aden. That's in the Indian Ocean between Somalia and Yemen. The cruise ship which is called the MS Nautica was carrying more than 1,000 passengers and crew. The ship came under attack by six pirates and two small vessels. They came within 300 yards of the cruise ship and they fired eight shots.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARILYN MACHUM, TOURIST ON BOARD NAUTICA: We went to breakfast. We sat down and the captain said there were suspicious boats following us, we should all go to the corridors or to our cabins.
WENDY ARMITAGE, TOURIST ON BOARD NAUTICA: It was a surprise. They did fire shots.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Thankfully no one was injured. The cruise ship's captain ordered everyone inside as you just heard there. It actually sped up the ship to outrun the pirates. Now this isn't the first time that a cruise ship had come under pirate attack in the area. But it certainly is the largest cruise ship to come under attack. And this year alone incredibly, pirates have attacked 100 ships off the Somalia coast. Right now those pirates are still holding 13 ships. More than 250 crew members, including a Saudi tanker carrying two million barrels of oil.
Now John, as for the MS Nautica, that cruise ship that came under attack. It is continuing its 32 day cruise from Rome to Singapore and I'm sure right now that the alcohol is flowing.
ROBERTS: I would imagine. Sounds like a mouse taking on an elephant but they seem to be quite effective about it. Alina Cho this morning. Alina, thanks.
CHETRY: Well one of the biggest challenges facing the next president is one that no president has yet been able to solve and that's the conflict in the Middle East. Former Prime Minister of Britain, Tony Blair is a special envoy to the region. He's going to talk about the potential for peace during the Obama administration when he joins us live in just a couple of moments.
Also, First Lady Laura Bush is joining us live from the White House. We're going to see how she's decorating this year and also how the first family is celebrating their last Christmas in Washington. She also has advice perhaps for the Obamas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on 36 minutes after the hour. When it comes to snow in Chicago the city's mayor may be playing with fire. That's because Mayor Richard Daly reportedly said the city plans to cutback on plowing side streets. It's an effort to save money. He says from now on crews will scale back on plowing at night and on weekends to avoid paying overtime costs.
Jacqui Jeras in the weather center in Atlanta tracking extreme weather today. I've got just a couple of words for Mayor Daly there and that's Mayor John Lindsay, New York City, 1969, 15 inches of snow. You got to plow the streets so the proletariats gets a little upset.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. People aren't going to be real happy about that not getting around. It's expensive, though. What was it? Like $500,000 total or something like that just to clean off two inches in Chicago from Monday. So that's a lot of money but they're going to need to clean off the streets again later on today. We got some snow showers to the north of there moisture trying to make its way into the Chicago area. Now we could see a little rain snow mix to start you out. I think it's going to happen around noonish or so. But by afternoon we'll start to see the falling temperatures, we'll see the snow coming down and you could see a good two to five inches before all is said and done.
This little clipper tip system making its way across the midwest. We could be seeing a little snow this morning in Omaha towards Des Moines into Milwaukee and Chicago through the afternoon. It's going to get real heavy in lower parts of Michigan, especially a little lake enhancement in there coming off Lake Michigan. We could be talking maybe a good foot or two before the end of the week in lower parts of Michigan.
All right. Behind this front, man, it is cold out there. 21. That's as good as it's going to get this afternoon in Minneapolis. 38 in Kansas City. 35 in Chicago. We'll see 40s across much of the east. Yesterday Denver, Colorado hit 69 degrees. Today a nippy 34. We also have cold air across much of the southeast. Temperatures in the 20s and 30s here. Frost and freeze advisories extend into parts of Florida including you in Jacksonville, none towards Gainesville, even in South Florida, a little bit on the frosty side this morning.
Temperatures will be covering though as we head into the afternoon hours. And for the most part a pretty quiet day outside of that snow, John. We'll see some showers and thunder showers across the deep south real late this evening.
ROBERTS: All right. They can still can use the rain. Still suffering from the some drought down there.
JERAS: Bring it on.
ROBERTS: Jacqui, thanks. Great to see you this morning.
JERAS: You too.
CHETRY: So how much TV is too much for children? There are some new guidelines for parents. The health issues that are now being connected to time spent watching television. Before your kids reach for that remote again what you need to know.
Also, the crazy deals you can get right now on a car. Desperate dealers are going outrageous lengths to get you to drive one. What's it going to take to move America to buy. Buy one, get one free? You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to "the most news in the morning." President- elect Barack Obama's nomination of Hillary Clinton to be secretary of state is creating a lot of speculation over what a Clinton state department will mean for the Middle East and Mid East peace.
Joining me now from Washington, is the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now an official envoy for the Middle East Quartet.
And thank you for joining us this morning, Mr. Prime Minister. You know, you perhaps know better than anyone some of the challenges that Barack Obama's going to be facing in the region. As Prime Minister you were a real ally for then President Bill Clinton, in trying to solve this crisis. And he made that a top priority. Ultimately though, was unsuccessful in reaching any type of resolution.
Do you think that the nomination of his wife, Hillary Clinton, signals a renewed commitment to engagement in the region?
TONY BLAIR, FMR. BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think it's a really strong team. You've got the president himself, of course. The vice president Joe Biden, who's very experienced in these issues. Hillary, I think, will be a really, really strong Secretary of State.
She knows the area, she knows the issue inside out. And of course, you've then got General Jones, who's actually been working with me on the Israeli/Palestinian issue out in the Middle East for the past few months. So, actually, I think there's every chance that we've got as strong as a team as we possibly can to take this issue forward, which is necessary.
CHETRY: Absolutely. And of course, you know former President Bill Clinton well. You spent a lot of time with him when you were both in office at the same time. What type of behind-the-scenes role do you envision him having?
Do you really think he's going to be able to stay out of it, given that this was such a passionate issue for him when he was in the White House?
BLAIR: Well, I mean I think, you know, Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and I think she will take this issue on. And you know, I don't really want to get into the ins and outs of what role President Clinton plays or doesn't play. But I think the important thing is that we have an opportunity now, actually, there are certain things happening on the ground out there that offer us some slender signs of hope. And we've got to build on those. We have a political process.
We are creating from the bottom up, some real capacity on the West Bank, at least in the Palestinian territory. There's economic growth is happening there. The tourist numbers, for example, in a place like Bethlehem, have doubled in the past year. And there are real opportunities to take this issue forward. We've got to take it forward.
And I think the great thing about Hillary, because she's in her own right, got every knowledge about this situation and the rest of the President-elect's team, is that they're sufficiently familiar with this. I think, you know, we're not going to be starting from day one, from square one, if you like. It will be building on what has happened and building with people who've got real knowledge and real expertise.
CHETRY: There seems to be a widely held view in the Arab world and among some in the U.S. and its allies that you have to really engage Iran and make Iran a global player, try to find some way to neutralize the problems with the nuclear ambitions. And that's a key part of Mid East peace.
When you take a look at Senator Hillary Clinton's stances, as a candidate she said Iran might be obliterated if it launched a nuclear attack on Israel. That Jerusalem should remain Israel's undivided capital. And she also voted to label Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.
Will some of those previous stances make mediation more difficult?
BLAIR: I don't think so, to be honest. Because I think what people in the region want to see -- and it's not just Israel that's worried about Iran. There are many Arab countries that are worried about Iran, as well.
What people want to see yes, engagement. But engagement with a very strong, tough message. Which is that Iran should cease its nuclear weapons ambitions and stop supporting terrorism around the region. Now, I think you can engage, but with a tough and strong message at the same time and I'm sure that's what she'll do.
CHETRY: I got you. And one of the other things is when you look at all the problems that are going on right now. I mean, we have a global financial crisis, home foreclosures here, the bailout. We've got a lot of difficulties here domestically.
Do you believe that the Mid East -- some sort of resolution with Israel and the Palestinians is a top priority, or should be the top priority of the Obama administration?
BLAIR: Well, I think it will be a priority. And it's right that it should. And you know, part of the problem with -- when you're in a position of being prime minister or president is that, you know, the issues don't just come sequentially one at a time.
Yes, you've got the major global economic crisis. But, as we can see from recent events in Mumbai, in India, we've also got a major terrorist threat that still threatens Democratic countries, the world over.
And in the Middle East, you know, my view very strongly now having been in this envoy role, even more strongly then when I was British Prime Minister. Is that resolving the Israeli/Palestinian question in a way that protects Israel's security, that gives justice to the Palestinians. Resolving that issue is of fundamental importance to the security of that whole of that region and therefore, of the wider world.
So, you know, in a sense, I think the priorities in some ways declare themselves. And I could no doubt with the strength of the team that the President-elect's appointed. this will be a priority.
CHETRY: Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister. Great to speak with you this morning.
Thank you.
BLAIR: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Well, she's got the tree. She's got the decorations. And she has an appointment with "the most news in the morning." First Lady Laura Bush will be here live to tell us how the first family is celebrating their last Christmas in Washington.
Plus, if you're skipping that drink, because you are worried about your heart. We might have some good news for you. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" just ahead. Coming up now in 47 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to "the most news in the morning." There is certainly a long list of what's bad for your heart. But now a new study suggests for middle aged women, alcohol in moderation may not be one of those things that's bad for you. But there's still a risk. How much is too much? We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" for more. You know you go to a cocktail lounge and you see two drink minimum, maybe we flip that around, two drink maximum.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right and you get to this idea of what is moderate drinking? We say that all the time but no one really knows what that means. Obviously, different things to different people.
There are some good things about alcohol for your heart. It can lower your bad cholesterol as we've talked about in the past. It can raise your good cholesterol. One of the few things that can do that. But this question of what is too much is something that a lot of people have been trying to investigate for some time. So this new study actually followed 30,000 middle aged women, all white women incidentally for over 12 years trying to figure out how much is too much.
And what they found was that more than two drinks significantly increase your risk of atrial fibrillation. So this was something that we're specifically looking at. That is an abnormal heart beat and sometimes can lead to problems like stroke later on.
Now a lot of people will get atrial fibrillation at some point in their lives especially when you start to get into advanced age. But to have this at an earlier age can be a problem certainly. Cutting down that really seems to help. Now I should point out, one important thing here statistically because we talked about this all the time - if you drink more than two drinks, it doesn't mean you're going to get atrial fibrillation.
It means, you're more likely than normal but still your absolute risk is still two percent or three percent. I don't want people to panic if they had more than two drinks and think they're going to start to have a heart problem. But this is a good benchmark for people to keep an eye on.
ROBERTS: I certainly talked to more than a few women who say that they've woken up in the morning feeling like there's a big old trout flapping around in their chest. And that's the atrial fibrillation.
GUPTA: That's right. That's exactly how it feels like. You feel it sometimes. It can also be associated with a shortness of breath. That palpitation like you mentioned, rarely can be associated with chest pain as well. Something to get checked out.
ROBERTS: So we've showed a lot of different, a wide variety of alcoholic drinks, wine, beer, hard liquors. Is there any difference in terms of what you drink in terms of what the effect might be?
GUPTA: You know we asked the same question and the researchers looked at that and they sort of stratified it and said there really didn't seem to be a difference. So if it's 12 ounce of beer, five ounces of wine, or a shot of liquor. And they all roughly the same amount of alcohol, the same amount of calories and they seem to have the same effect in terms of possibly causing this atrial fibrillation.
ROBERTS: And you can't go by raw numbers either, can you? I mean when you talked about mixed drinks. Because you know as people know, some bars water down their liquor. There's a fella here that serves us when we get off the air, on Friday morning. Two of his drinks are like 12 of anybody else's.
GUPTA: You go there Friday morning? That's our real headline.
ROBERTS: It's our 6:00 at night. Come on!
GUPTA: Good point.
ROBERTS: People do look at us a little weird.
GUPTA: If you drink on Friday mornings, there's other problems. That's another segment. ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay, it's good to see you. Thank you.
51 and a half minutes now after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Laura Bush live. With inside information for Michelle Obama. First mom to first mom. Dealing with two feisty daughters in the White House at Christmas.
Plus, a CNN Bill Clinton exclusive.
BILL CLINTON, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: I'll just try to be a sounding board to her.
ROBERTS: His first interview since Hillary's new role. You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well with that and a throw of the switch last night, it is officially Christmas in Washington. And now that the capital tree is lit, the halls of the White House are being decked as well. The executive mansion has been decorated with a unique theme every year since Jacqueline Kennedy started that tradition back in 1961. And we're pleased to welcome right now First Lady Laura Bush. She joins us from the White House with a special look at this year's decorations. Great to see you, Mrs. Bush. Thanks for being with us.
FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thanks so much.
CHETRY: So, this is going to be your last year.
LAURA BUSH: This is our last year.
CHETRY: Yes. How are you celebrating this last holiday season in Washington and at the White House?
LAURA BUSH: Well, we thought a red, white and blue holiday would be perfect both for an election year and for our last year to have a very patriotic theme. This theme, red, white, and blue, is also the theme that the most Americans have written in to me and said - in fact, it's the only theme Americans have suggested. I've gotten letters from people that said, why don't you do a red, white and blue Christmas, so that's what we did this year and I think it looks terrific.
CHETRY: Yes, we see some really beautiful decorations behind you. I think I see one to your left Barack Obama, is he on your tree this year. the president-elect?
LAURA BUSH: I don't know. Is he? Oh, yes, it looks like him. Here's John Kennedy, right there, that's part of it. Absolutely. CHETRY: Well it's certainly beautiful. And you know, as we know you are helping with the transition, if you well, Michelle Obama and her daughters Malia and Sasha, recently visited you and your daughters at the White House. She's going to be raising two young girls just like you did at the White House. What advice did you give her about keeping family time and being able to I guess have a little bit of a realistic situation in what must be quite surreal for young girls?
LAURA BUSH: Well, I didn't really try to give her any advice. But I did say that this can be a wonderful home for a family, and that she can make it that way and she doesn't need to worry about it. That everybody who works here will want to it be perfect for them. They'll want to it be a wonderful home. And that's the way it will turn out. I know.
CHETRY: You know, a lot of people talk about the role of the First Lady and exactly how each woman that comes in to the White House embodies it. There's been a little bit of a controversy over how Michelle Obama will define that role, a professional woman putting aside her career in favor of her husband's and her family. Is that something that is difficult to wrestle with as First Lady?
LAURA BUSH: I don't think so. I think it's something you just get used to. And what really happens is all of our first ladies have brought their own expertise, their own interest to the White House and our country has benefited because of that. And I'm sure that's what she'll do as well.
CHETRY: You know, some have called this the year of the woman for sure. I know you had a great relationship with the secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, do you have any advice for Hillary Clinton as she gets ready to step into this new role as secretary of state?
LAURA BUSH: Well, I wouldn't give her any advice either. But I think she'll do great. I'm excited to watch her. I think she'll do a really good job.
CHETRY: When I last talked to you, you have really taken up the plight of women in Burma, in Myanmar, is that something you're planning to continue even when you exit as First Lady?
LAURA BUSH: I will continue that. The president is going to build a freedom institute with his presidential library, and so it will be a really good vehicle for me as well to continue to talk about Burma, to meet with dissidents from Burma like the young Buddhist monk that I had the chance to meet with when we were in New York earlier this fall. So, that will be a really good vehicle for me to be able to work both with women of Afghanistan as well, to make sure that the freedoms that they've won so far will continue. I know that everyone, as they look around the world at Afghanistan, sends the women there their very best and we want them to be able to succeed.
CHETRY: Well, we thank you for your time this morning. Great to talk to you. First Lady Laura Bush. I'm sure 2009 will be a year of changes for you, and you are headed back to Texas. So we wish you the best of luck and Merry Christmas. LAURA BUSH: Thanks so much and happy holidays.
CHETRY: You too.
