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American Morning

State Officials Working to Remove Blagojevich; Kodak Suspends 401(k) Match; Home Fuel Oil Prices Down 18 Percent; Oprah Opens up About Weight Gain

Aired December 10, 2008 - 08:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: It's 8:00 right on the nose here in New York. A look at the top stories this morning. American's chief envoy to North Korea, Christopher Hill said talks with the secret communist regime have reached a stalemate. A summit between six countries is being held in Beijing, trying to find a way for Pyongyang to account for its nuclear activity. That was seen as a major step in trying to disarm North Korea.
As Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich celebrates his 52nd birthday, there is new speculation this morning that state officials could be working to remove him. Blagojevich remains free on bond facing charges of conspiracy and fraud. The lieutenant governor is calling on her boss to consider a provision in Illinois' constitution to voluntarily step aside.

And you may notice that some people are missing from your office today. Well, organizers in California have dubbed this "Day Without a Gay," asking supporters of same-sex marriage to, quote, "call in gay to work today." They hope to show much of the country relies on gay and lesbians. The day also coincides with International Human Rights Day.

Back to our top story this morning. The political crisis deepening as the corruption case against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich comes more clearly into focus. Allegations that the governor was seeking a high-paid job for his wife, campaign funding and cold, hard cash. The governor was also allegedly contemplating naming himself to Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, hoping that it would help for a run for president in 2016.Special Investigations Unit correspondent Drew Griffin is in Chicago for us this morning with more on this case that's still unfolding.

Hi, Drew.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Hi. The drama continuing, Kiran. We're actually outside the governor's home, waiting to see if indeed the governor is going to go to work today, as his own attorney said that he would. But as you said, this is a wide- ranging political scandal, stunning, Kiran, even by Chicago standards.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): According to prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, if you wanted something big in Illinois, you had to pay the governor. Pay to play. The fabled Wrigley Field, "Chicago Tribune" journalists and most stunningly a U.S. Senate seat.

PATRICK FITZGERALD, U.S. ATTORNEY: Governor Blagojevich has taken us to a truly new low.

GRIFFIN: That new low comes because the governor actually gets to appoint whomever would take over Barack Obama's now vacated Senate seat. And according to federal prosecutors, Blagojevich has been secretly recorded discussing his intentions to auction the seat off to the highest bidder.

FITZGERALD: The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave. The governor's own words describing the Senate seat, quote, "It's a (bleeping) valuable thing. Thing you just don't give it away for nothing."

GRIFFIN: How much? The complaint says $500,000 to a million dollars. The pay to play scheme as prosecutors alleged also included trying to get "Chicago Tribune" journalists critical of the governor fired in exchange for state help selling the tribune's Wrigley Field ballpark.It had been an open secret all over Illinois that the Feds had Blagojevich in their sights ever since the conviction this year of political fixture and real estate king, Antoine Rezko.

In October, Fitzgerald placed court-approved wiretaps on the governor's home phone and his political office.On Monday, Blagojevich addressed the media that had reported just last week the Feds wiretapped him.

GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), ILLINOIS: If anybody wants to tape my conversations, go right ahead. Feel free to do it.

FITZGERALD: This wiretap I can tell you from the FBI agents who participated in this wiretap investigation were thoroughly disgusted and revolted by what they heard.

GRIFFIN: If convicted of the charges, the governor could spend a maximum 30 years in prison, a place where his predecessor, the former Illinois Governor George Ryan, now resides. Illinois's current governor has not commented since being released.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Kiran, many in his own party calling on him to resign. The legislature meeting next week to at least strip him of the power to appoint that Senate seat. But, get this, even if the legislature passes a bill to strip the governor of the power to appoint a U.S. senator, the governor would still have to sign it to make it a law. Right now, that governor, at least through his attorney says, he's innocent.

CHETRY: And you also said that he's possibly going to show up for work today?

GRIFFIN: That's -- we're seeing a lot of activity outside of the house. I'm not sure if this is a new security detail changing hands or if he's going to move. But his attorney told "The Tribune" yesterday, expect the governor even on his birthday and the day after his arrest to show up at his office.

CHETRY: Wow. Fascinating stuff for sure. Drew Griffin digging into all of it for us. Thanks.

ROBERTS: Well, while the scope with the governor's allege corruption has rock the State of Illinois, federal prosecutors make no suggestion that President-elect Barack Obama knew anything about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FITZGERALD: I'm not going to speak for what the President-elect was aware of. We make no allegations that he's aware of anything and that's as simply as I can put it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The President-elect for his part said he was saddened and sobered by the news about his state's governor, but he insists that he knew nothing about the alleged pay-to-play tactics to fill his vacated Senate seat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so we were not -- I was not aware of what was happening. And as I said, it's a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that, I don't think it's appropriate to comment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)ROBERTS: Let's bring in CNN's Elaine Quijano now. She is live in Chicago.And Elaine, that statement that we just heard from the senator-elect appears to contradict something that his own senior aide David Axelrod said, that he knows that the president-elect did talk to the governor about that Senate seat. What's going on?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Just a couple of weeks ago, Obama senior adviser David Axelrod talked to a local TV reporter here in Chicago and said that Obama had talked directly to Governor Blagojevich about his Senate seat.Well, then, late yesterday, Axelrod released a written statement correcting his comments from a couple of weeks ago saying, quote, "I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the president-elect had spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy."

They did not then, or at any time, discuss the subject.Now, we should make clear once again that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has said there are no allegations about the president-elect in the complaint filed yesterday, but there are still some unanswered questions. It's not clear yet who on the Obama team might have had conversations with the governor or people in the governor's office about this issue. We just don't know the answer to that right now.

John? ROBERTS: Can we expect to hear anything else from the president-elect on the situation today? Some people are saying this could be a real test of his leadership, how he responds to it.

QUIJANO: Well, you know, we don't expect to hear from the president- elect today. There aren't any public events on his schedule right now. Certainly that could change. But a lot of facts still coming out. A lot of unanswered questions still very much out there. But clearly, this story has become a huge headache. A huge distraction, if you will, for the Obama transition team just 41 days before inauguration.

John?

ROBERTS: Yes. And we'll be talking more about this, by the way, with our Roland Martin and Jeff Toobin coming up.

Elaine Quijano for us this morning in Chicago. Elaine, thanks so much.

Kiran?

CHETRY: So, you can bid on Obama's seat on eBay? Not the chance to become a senator, but the actual wood and leather seat that Obama once sat in as the Illinois state senator. So far the bids have topped -- no way.

ROBERTS: What?

CHETRY: $50 million.

ROBERTS: Wow. That can't be real.

CHETRY: No.

ROBERTS: Someone stuck that in. We'll see if they pay up on it.

CHETRY: Yes, exactly. Well, as oil prices keep dropping, heating your home this winter is going to cost less unless you're someone who tried to lock in when gas and oil prices kept rising over the summer. Are you trapped with this higher price? Gerri Willis is going to tell us.

Also the -- Oprah, she's calling it her drug choice. Now that she's hit 200 pounds again, she's opening up about what she calls her food addiction. A struggle that she shares with millions. It's nine minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Breaking news this morning from Kodak. Gerri Willis tracking the story for us.

It's not good news for people who are working for Kodak?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: No, it is not, John. Yes, we just got confirmation from the company Kodak this morning that they will suspend -- temporarily suspend -- their 401(k) match for employees. Kodak has about 14,000 employees, about half of them are eligible for the 401(k) benefit.

Now, Kodak joins a long and growing list of companies that are suspending that match. GM and Ford, of course, the auto industry in big trouble. But also Frontier Airlines, Cushman Wakefield, Vail Resorts, the line of these companies, long and growing.

I also want to talk to you, guys, today, though, about home energy costs. We've been talking a lot about that this morning, and, of course, the good news here is the government says if you heat with home heating oil, your costs are going down.

Let's take a look at those numbers. The government estimates the cost on annualize basis here, $1,570 for heating your house. That's down $383 from last winter. I confess that, you know, I have home heating oil. It was so expensive last winter. I can't tell you how it affected our budget like a lot of Americans. But why is this happening? Of course, it's because oil prices are going down. Light sweet crude, right now, well below $50 a barrel, at $42.07. That's just amazing. Down, down dramatically.

ROBERTS: That's what your dollar, less than it was, six months ago.

WILLIS: 147, this summer, it's crazy.

CHETRY: So, if you were somebody who put off making the decision, you're in better shape, unfortunately, than someone who tried to lock in, thinking, maybe this is going to keep rising.

WILLIS: Let's talk about the lock-in. Because people can pay about 600 bucks to get out of the lock-in on their home heating oil prices, right? And that just doesn't make economic sense. Why is it happening this way? Well, for the people who supply home heating oil, they're caught right in the middle because they're buying it from wholesalers, and when you lock in your price, they lock in at the same price with the suppliers. So, they're caught in the middle.

ROBERTS: Well, it depends on how much oil you use, though. You know, if you're talking about a 300-gallon oil tank, which is pretty much typical and that lasts you a month, maybe a little bit, you might actually be better than break that contract.

WILLIS: Well...

ROBERTS: You'd have to do the math. Do the math.

WILLIS: It all depends. You have to do the math and make sure that it makes sense for you. I can tell you, we had to have two of those every month. So, it all depends...

ROBERTS: Two of those? Oh, you know, well, the math might work out for you, though.

(CROSSTALK) WILLIS: ...on how efficient your furnace is.

ROBERTS: Because if you're saving $2 a gallon on the oil, which you could.

WILLIS: Right.

ROBERTS: You know, you fill that up a couple of times, $600 goes by pretty quick.

WILLIS: Do the math as we say.

ROBERTS: Yes.

WILLIS: I think it makes a lot of sense. You know what's interesting here is a lot of people are trying to convert to natural gas-fired furnaces, because it will be cheaper in the long run. Of course, the upfront costs, tens of thousands of dollars to do that.

ROBERTS: As you well know.

WILLIS: As I well know. But, you know, hopefully, at the end of the day when you sell that house, it will be worth more.

CHETRY: Makes you want to throw in another sweater and some long underwear to call it a day.

WILLIS: Do I get any points for being green?

ROBERTS: Put another log on the fire, Martha.

CHETRY: You do. You do, Gerri. Thank you.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

CHETRY: So, you know, the Illinois governor allegedly tried to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat. Well, now meet a representative who was said to be seriously considered for the job. We're going to hear what he has to say about the corruption surrounding this Senate seat now. It is 15 minutes after the hour.

ROBERTS: The queen of talk up to 200 pounds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Oprah did this to tell people, you know what, I'm human.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Oprah Winfrey going public about her decades-long struggle with weight. And how her famous friends made her face what she calls her addiction. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": Oprah Winfrey's in the news. In a recent interview, Oprah Winfrey said her weight is up to 200 pounds. On the bright side, 180 pounds of that is wallet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Hey, there's always a bright side. Day-time talk queen Oprah has battled with her weight, of course, for years. She's discussed it candidly with viewers on her show. Many of us have followed her ups and down through the years and the readers of her own magazine as well. And Oprah says that she's actually addicted to food. And weight is, of course, an issue for millions of Americans. It's usually, though, more personal and private. But Oprah is, again, bringing her battle out in the open. And Alina Cho has her story for us this morning.

So, what's she saying about this -- you know, this admission herself that she's now 200 pounds?

ALINA CHO, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, she says she turns to food for comfort. You know, a lot of people do, Kiran. You know, over the years, we have all watched Oprah's very public battle with her weight, her ups, her downs, everything in between. She's been very honest about her struggles, but the new cover of "O" magazine caught a lot of us by surprise. By Oprah's own admission, she now weighs 200 pounds, a benchmark, and she's the first to admit, she's not proud of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): How did I let this happen again? It's the cover story in the new issue of Oprah Winfrey's magazine. She said she's gained 40 pounds since 2006, hitting in her words the dreaded 200 -- 200 pounds.

ELISA ZIED, AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION: I think Oprah did this to tell people, you know what, I'm human. You're human. A lot of us deal with this issue.

CHO: An irresistible topic on "The View".

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": They would have to water board me for me to say my weight.

CHO: Oprah's public weight struggle has gone on for decades.

OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: I have lost as of this morning, as of this morning, 67 pounds. This is what 67 pounds of fat looks like.

CHO: That was 20 years ago, Oprah in her skinny jeans. She lost that weight on a liquid diet. In 1994, she ran a marathon. But in May of this year, Oprah says she hit bottom and almost skipped out on a show with Tina Turner and Cher.

WINFREY: How do you feel, though, about getting older?

CHER, SINGER: I think it sucks.

CHO: Oprah said she was the one who felt awful. Next to them, she says I felt like a fat cow. I wanted to disappear. How did it happen? Complications with her thyroid condition, combined with what she calls her drug of choice -- food.

WINFREY: It's an egg pasta with mint garden vegetables.

CHO: 200 was the magic number for her.

DR. DAVID KATZ, COLUMNIST, "O" MAGAZINE: I think so, yes.

CHO: Dr. David Katz writes a monthly column on nutrition for "O" magazine.

KATZ: With all the resources that Oprah has comes an awful lot of responsibility, a lot of stress and food often is the band aid that we apply to much of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: Now, Oprah says over the past year or so, she's been so embarrassed about her weight that regular "O" magazine subscribers will notice that she never shot a head-to-toe cover. She simply didn't want to be seen. Now she says she's making more of an effort to eat healthier, to work out more and in the coming year, she has a new goal, Kiran, not to be thin necessarily. She wants to be healthy, strong, and fit.

CHETRY: Right. Because it's about the habits. I mean, you can technically lose a lot of weight --

CHO: That's right. She lost 67 pounds on a liquid diet.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Right. Which is not necessarily realistic.

CHO: That's not realistic, and she gained the weight right back. I mean, listen, the nutritionists we talked to said you need to set small, realistic goals. Maybe it's not snacking at night. Maybe it's brushing your teeth so you don't eat more, or maybe it's working out twice a week instead of no times a week. They say it's a cycle. It works like a cycle, but not a vicious cycle, it's a healthy cycle.

CHETRY: Oh, we love Oprah anyway, by the way.

CHO: We do. We do. And you know what, I think it's important to note, too, that a lot of nutritionists say if she just lost 10 percent of her weight, that would be 20 pounds over six months. That she could be a lot healthier. It would go a long way. And that's less than a pound a week. So what she's doing is right. She's on the right track. She just needs to stick with it.

CHETRY: Right. Good for her. Alina, thanks so much.

CHO: You bet.CHETRY: John?

ROBERTS: Just when you thought he went back to fixing leaks, Joe the Plumber is back in the spotlight. And he is making some controversial comments. See what he said about John McCain and Sarah Palin.

And the governor of Illinois charged with trying to sell Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. Out on bail, and for the moment, still free to appoint Obama's successor. As incredible as that might sound. We look at the legal and political implications coming up. It's 22 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is now on federal custody on corruption charges. The governor, they say, conspired to sell the U.S. Senate seat held by Barack Obama. Remember he left it vacant? He was trying to sell it to the highest bidder. I don't want to say he was brazen about it, but he did it on eBay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Certainly safe to say that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has had happier birthday. He's turning 52 today and he's facing federal corruption charges. Accused of wielding his power for profit. The Illinois governor was elected on a promise to clean up government after his predecessor went to prison.Well, joining us now to talk about the legal and political fallout from the Blagojevich scandal, from Chicago, CNN political analyst Roland Martin, and with us here is CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.Roland, let's start with you. I first met Blagojevich when he was a member of Congress. It was in Belgrade during the Kosovo War in 1999. He came up with Jesse Jackson trying to free three American soldiers who were being held by the Serbs. At that point he seemed like a really good guy. What happened?

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, absolutely. I mean, look, he was very well liked. In fact, in 2004, after John Kerry lost the presidency, Blagojevich actually had his eye set on running for the White House, some of the initiatives -- The Health Care Initiative for Children. Also, there's targeting video games.He was thinking to run for president in '08. But, of course, what's amazing, John, his father-in-law, Alderman Richard Mayo, bust this guy publicly by saying he was trying to shake down folks for seats in a big public role. And so, he was under investigation from the moment he came to the governor's mansion. And so, this is frankly, I think, just the final straw in what has been a tumultuous rein for two terms as governor of Illinois.

ROBERTS: And Jeffrey, this is outrageous, even by the standards of Chicago and, in a broader scope, Illinois politics. We've seen lots of things happen in that state, but nothing like this. JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: That's true, John. You know, three governors have gone to prison since the 1970s in Illinois. So, it is not exactly shocking to see political corruption in Illinois. But the brazenness of this, the cynicism, the delusional nature of the guy on these tapes is extraordinary.I used to prosecute political corruption cases here in New York. I never saw anything like this. And the fact that the FBI felt that this guy was so dangerous to Illinois that they had to arrest him in his house at 6:00 a.m. yesterday tells you how extraordinary this case is.

ROBERTS: What about the implications, Roland, for Barack Obama? He was on "Meet the Press" over the weekend. He was asked about the potential of Caroline Kennedy becoming the senator from New York, filling the seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton? He said, quote, "The last thing I want to do is get involved in New York politics. I've got enough trouble in terms of Illinois politics."He's got pressured, what he was saying there. You know, Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor said no indication that anybody at the Obama campaign -- the Obama transition office knew anything about this. But it does attach him in some way.

MARTIN: You know what? I have use the example of football. You know, when you guys were turning punts and then he wants to get his gut out of the way, he goes, hey, hot ball, hot ball, hot ball. Stay away. That's what the Obama folks are probably telling his all team. Stay totally away from Blagojevich.And look, he's been a toxic candidate -- toxic elected official really for the past several years. And so he was, frankly, not happy. He was not more involved in Obama's presidential run. But even in this state, you don't have a lot of folks who really want to spend time around him because of the federal investigation. So Obama is probably saying, look, keep the investigation going. Move forward. I won't comment. But we will have nothing to do with any of this.

ROBERTS: Right. And, Jeff, some people are suggesting that this is a real test of Barack Obama's leadership to see how he deals with this. You know, David Axelrod came out a couple of weeks ago saying, yes, the president-elect has had some conversations with the governor about this. Barack Obama said yesterday I've never had any conversations with him about it. David Axelrod had to come back and say, oh no, I was wrong in what I said.But does he need to go through his incoming administration with a fine-tooth comb to find out what may or may not have been said?

TOOBIN: Well, certainly, ethics will be important. But I think there's a more specific problem for Obama. His signature initiative of his first year is going to be the stimulus package, spending on infrastructure. Well, one of the projects that Blagojevich was apparently shaking people down for was the supposed greenway, a highway. He was shaking down the contractors.So, the question a lot of people are going to ask is, are these stimulus projects, these infrastructure projects, are they really for the good of the country, or are they pork for politicians to shake down people with? And that have nothing to do with the environment or the economy. That, I think, is the problem. Is that what -- when you talk about government spending, you know, Obama's talking about it as a good thing. But Blagojevich is making it look like a corrupt thing.

ROBERTS: Yes, who knew the first --

MARTIN: And John, there's no guarantee.

ROBERTS: Yes.

MARTIN: John, there's no guarantee that we have a federal project, things will all go like you want it to go.

ROBERTS: Yes, of course.

MARTIN: We have a possibility this is happening in Illinois or Louisiana. But you're right, it's a matter also of public confidence. And the problem with this state is, it's accepted. Folks are like, you know what, it's the cost of doing business. That is really the most dangerous thing where the people say, we're used to it.

ROBERTS: We got it. We got to run, guys. But thanks for you analysis on all of this. Good to hear from you. Roland Martin, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks. Appreciate it.

TOOBIN: OK, John

MARTIN: Thanks, John.

CHETRY: It's 8:30 right now here in New York, a look at the top stories this morning. There are several reports in the U.K. saying that nearly all British troops in Iraq will be headed home in June. Britain has about 4,000 troops serving right now in the country. Sources say that all but 300 will be withdrawn in the next six months. There's been progress in a southern city of Basra. That's where most British troops are serving. It's cited as a reason for that draw down.

Well, the FBI is investigating a suspicious letter containing white powder that arrived at Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's office in Juneau. The letter was actually addressed to Palin's predecessor, Frank Murkowski. The powder will be sent to a lab for testing. It's not clear if it's related to similar letters that have been sent to other governors the day before. Tests showed that the powder in those letters was nothing dangerous.

CNN's award-winning series "Planet in Peril," battle lines debuts tomorrow night. And it looks at how the world is becoming more dangerous as natural resources gets more and more scarce. Lisa Ling joins us now with a sneak preview of a story of major significance to and, of course, tragic waste as well. Hi, Lisa.

LISA LING, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Well that's right. We visited Chad and it's one of the last strongholds where the African elephant can still be found roaming in the wild. We brought a clip for you to check out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are talking you know $225,000, probably worth of ivory here.

LING: Just in this room we are looking at a gold mine on the global market, huh? So where is it all going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Africa.

LING: A recent study by C.A.R.E. for the wild international said the top two markets for ivory are China and the United States. So, by consuming ivory, are people indirectly fueling these militias?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. If you look at these guys' ability to do what they do with the proceeds from those activities, then if you're consuming it, obviously you're the provider for those people.

LING: Nothing can prepare you to see what the demand for ivory does to a single elephant. On the same day we'd seen the elephant herd from the air, we had just returned to camp when rangers radioed in the worst kind of news. The adviser for the anti-poaching patrol and he says they just found a fresh elephant carcass about two miles from here and he's going to take us over there to see it.

There are a few signs when you know you're near a fresh elephant carcass. First, you'll see the vultures hovering in the sky. Second, a smell consumes the entire area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's stinky.

LING: Then, you see it. Oh, my god.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: It must have been just unbelievable to have to witness that firsthand. And the efforts to stop it as well. People are just as passionate on that side.

LING: It's true. And I think that the most devastating about this is this is a creature that's roamed the earth for thousands of years. It's the largest land-roaming animal on the planet. And the numbers of the African elephant have been reduced dramatically. And it's just for their tusks, to meet the ivory demand in the United States and in Asia. So, it really says a lot about humanity that we have sort of looked the other direction while this species is about to go extinct for vanity items like wall carvings.

ROBERTS: Why are the efforts to curb poaching not working to the degree that they should? Is it the area that they have to cover is too large? Or is there enough money for enforcement, these guys are just ruthless and will go out there and do anything?

LING: All of those things. The Chadian government is actually very proactive and is really trying to protect this species of animal, but it's become so lawless. You know, Chad's neighbor is Sudan, and so allegedly rebels from Sudan have been amassing on the border and waiting to come in to the park. And they're killing these elephants in such a widespread way to fuel their conflict.

ROBERTS: Yes, when the poachers got more firepower than the enforcers, difficult to keep them in check.

LING: That's right. There are eight rangers who patrol the whole park, so it's a challenging one.

ROBERTS: Fascinating stuff. Lisa, looking forward to it. Thanks very much. Remember, the second installment of CNN's award-winning series "Planet in Peril, battle lines" debuts tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN and until then, I just want to remind you that we are going green to remind you not to miss it. As you may have noticed the little CNN logo down the corner of your television screen is a lovely shade of green, reminding you to be there tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

CHETRY: Great stuff, Lisa. Thank you.

LING: Thank you.

CHETRY: Well Illinois Governor Blagojevich faces a shocking list of allegations, two charges alleging that he tried to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat. One congressman said to be under consideration for the job is going to be joining us. What does he think about all of this and the big scandal in his state?

Also, what's the best way for the president-elect to quit his smoking habit forever? He says he chews Nicorette gum, how about acupuncture? Hypnosis? What's Obama's best bet for quitting? It's 35 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Barack Obama says he is promising not to smoke cigarettes while in the White House. I don't know, is that a big issue for the American people? Do you care if he smokes? I tell will tell you something, if he fixes the economy, he can smoke a bong in the White House. Please, please, thank you, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, that was Jay Leno making light of Barack Obama's addiction to cigarettes. Obama says he's quit smoking but admits that he falls off the wagon now and then. So what is the best way to quit the habit once and for all? Is it hypnotism? Is it acupuncture? Is it good, old-fashioned will power? Can you imagine a president under hypnosis. Well, our Lola Ogunnaike reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is really hard. This is the hardest thing that a person can give up.

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: So how many times have you tried to quit in the past -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once I had a heart attack, so that was instinctive, but then I just picked it up again.

OGUNNAIKE: President-elect Obama is a smoker as well, what advice would you give to him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he trying to quit?

OGUNNAIKE: Can't he have a little puff? Just a little puff?

DR. MARY O'SULLIVAN, DIR. SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM, ST. LUKE'S- ROOSEVELT CTR.: The idea of addiction is that there are people who could do that and not relapse, but a person who has addiction can't do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never tried to quit, even when I've been sick and it hurts you to smoke, I would still go out and smoke.

OGUNNAIKE: If someone comes to you and they say I want to quit smoking, you say show me your ears.

JUHI SINGH, ACUPUNCTURIST, PATRICK MELVILLE SALON & SPA: The ear has been used for centuries to calm addiction. The needles are inserted at specific points that release chemicals in the brain.

RICK WELLMAN, COLOR DIR., PATRICK MELVILLE SALON & SPA: I like this because it's a lot more - it is a lot more tailored towards my needs because I fell it's a little more customized instead of running out and getting a patch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tried cold turkey, the patches, the gum, nothing works. I think it's all in here.

JEFFREY ROSE, CLINICAL HYPNOTIST, ADVANCED HYPNOSIS CENTER: All trance or hypnosis is it's just a narrowness of attention and focus, and absorption in one thing where you're not distracted. I help them to be able to do that. To be resourceful enough to reject that. To associate so much pain with cigarettes and so much pleasure while not smoking.

OGUNNAIKE: If you had to give President Barack Obama advice about smoking, or not smoking, what would you say?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would just say don't do it. Don't. When I have kids I'm going to tell them what my parents should have told me, I'm going to beat you, you shouldn't smoke. It's terrible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's setting a bad example for kids.

OGUNNAIKE: So do you think it's impossible for President Obama, or do you think he can actually pull this off?

O'SULLIVAN: I know he can do it, absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He should stop smoking and so should I. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: You know, both of us now quitting smoking is one of the hardest things in the universe to do.

CHETRY: Yes. You really have to just - the willpower just to say you don't want to do it anymore.

ROBERTS: And the rate of recidivism you know going back to it is striking.

CHETRY: But once you can get over that hump, you just - you can't even stand the smell of smoke, so that's - for many of us, right?

ROBERTS: Most of the rest of your life if you always want one.

CHETRY: No, I can't stand the smell of smoke. Ah, smokers!

ROBERTS: But you probably still secretly want one, right?

CHETRY: No. There's many things I secretly want but not that.

ROBERTS: Well, the president-elect apparently does.

It's coming up at 41 minutes after the hour. Joe the plumber is back, and he's making some controversial comments about John McCain. What he says made him feel dirty on the campaign trail and what he thinks about Sarah Palin now.

CHETRY: I secretly want a Big Mac.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK FITZGERALD, U.S. ATTORNEY: He tried to sell the appointment to the senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama. The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave. The governor's own words describing the senate seat, quote, "it's a bleeping valuable thing, thing you just don't give it away for nothing."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, with allegations that Illinois Governor Blagojevich was trying to sell Barack Obama's open senate seat, anyone he now appoints would be facing a huge backlash perhaps. One man listed as a possible successor was Congressman Danny Davis, and yesterday he said he didn't want to rush to judge the governor. He joins me now from Capitol Hill.

Congressman Davis, great to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us. You did say yesterday that people are innocent until proven guilty and that you want to give Governor Blagojevich the benefit of the doubt. Do you still feel that way given some of the new details that have come out today? REP. DANNY DAVIS (D), ILLINOIS: Well, actually I still do. I've read many of the charges and the charges, of course, are there. But we do have a judicial system that says that you're innocent until proven guilty. Sure, the governor has been charged. It's put the pallor over the process in terms of the Senate seat. And in all probability, the governor will probably not get the opportunity to make the selection. I understand that the Illinois general assembly is poised to go in to session and pass a law that calls for a special election. I would suspect that that's what's going to happen.

CHETRY: Well, ironically, though, if he does not step down, he's free on bail. It's his birthday today. Apparently, he's planning on going to work today. If he doesn't step down, he would be the one to sign that right into law. So there seems to be some growing pressure for him to step aside. Do you think he should?

DAVIS: Well, I don't think that he's going to step aside and I'm not calling for his resignation. Even if he did not sign the legislation, I'm almost certain that it would be overridden that his veto would be overridden. I think all of this is being sorted out right now and I don't want to jump to the conclusion that the governor is guilty of all of the charges that have been leveled against him. But I do think that the state of Illinois must move ahead. And I think a good way to do that certainly would be to have a special election. That way there's no taint. There's no possibility that anything went awry. I mean, I find the whole scenario to be incredible. It's still a sad saga. It's a sad day for the voters of Illinois. And it really is a sad day for the institution of government.

CHETRY: You know, you were with Governor Blagojevich as recently as thanksgiving. He openly praised you. He called you a good, decent man. You don't find a lot in politics. He also called you a strong candidate for the Senate seat, for that position. Did you ever get the sense that there were any strings attached if he were, indeed, to appoint you?

DAVIS: No, I don't think there would have been. As a matter of fact, there has never been any hint of impropriety or quid pro quo in any conversations that I've ever had with the governor or anyone representing the governor. Not only in regards to the Senate seat, but in regards to any other projects, programs, support for things that I may have asked the governor's office for.

CHETRY: You know, there's also a big mystery surrounding this senate candidate number five in these wire transcripts. Governor Blagojevich saying, we were approached, paid to pay. These are his own words in these transcripts that, you know, he'd raise me 500 grand. Do you have any idea who this candidate five could be?

DAVIS: You know, I don't think it's any of the individuals who have been prominently mentioned as possible appointees. I don't think any of me colleagues or any of the individuals would fit that description. And so I have no idea whatsoever as to who candidate five may have been.

CHETRY: Right. In light of all of this, do you still want this Senate seat? Would you want the position?

DAVIS: Well, I would want the Senate seat, because the seat is not based upon the antics or actions of the governor or anyone else. I mean, the people of Illinois deserve to be represented. And they're going to have to be represented one way or another. And certainly I enjoy representing them in the House and would also enjoy representing them in the Senate.

CHETRY: Congressman Danny Davis from Illinois. Thanks for joining us this morning.

DAVIS: Thank you.

ROBERTS: 48 minutes now after the hour. And CNN NEWSROOM is just minutes away. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center. She's got a look at what's ahead. Good morning, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, John. That's right. Here's a check of what we're working on in the NEWSROOM. Auto agreement in principle. We look at the sticking points now, still to be worked out in the big three bailout loan.

What happens now in Illinois? A governor facing corruption charges and a Senate seat, of course, still to be appointed. We'll talk about that.

Plus, unrest in Greece. More riots today over the police killing of a teenager. And now a labor strike to talk about.

We get started at the top of the hour, right here on CNN. John.

ROBERTS: Heidi, we'll see you then. Thanks very much. Just about 11 minutes away now.

Just when you thought he went back to fixing leaks. Joe the plumber is leaking some unflattering information from the campaign trail. See what he said about John McCain and Sarah Palin, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: You remember him? That was Joe the plumber back in October campaigning for the McCain-Palin ticket but here's what you didn't know perhaps. During a radio interview with conservative Glenn Beck he said he was appalled by Senator John McCain in the campaign trail and felt dirty after some of the things that he saw. CNN's Deb Feyerick joins us now with more and all of these. My goodness.

DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dirty indeed.

ROBERTS: What's leaking?

FEYERICK: Whatever you do, do not mess with Joe the plumber. He will take you on. Regular Joe became the darling of the republican party after confronting Barack Obama on taxes. Thereby launching charges of socialism is now going after John McCain. During a radio interview with former CNN host Glenn Beck, the part time plumber and newly published novelist shares his insights on the republican maverick.

VOICE OF JOE WURZELBACHER, "JOE THE PLUMBER": When I was on the bus with him, I asked him a lot of questions about the bailout because most Americans did not want that to happen, yet he vote for it... At the same time he's talking about how he's going to make somebody famous if they even think about putting pork in the bill? Yes, we all know how much pork was in the $700 billion bailout package and why did he vote for it? And I asked him pretty direct questions and some of the answers you guys are going to receive, you know, they appalled me, absolutely...

You know, I was angry. In fact, I want to get off the bus after I talked to him.

FEYERICK: Now Joe, whose real name is Sam Wurzelbacher says the reason he didn't get off the buss was because Barack Obama scared him even more. In the radio interview Wurzelbacher is critical of the GOP party, saying republicans didn't put forth a real candidate and in a not so veiled reference to Obama he says that when Adolf Hitler came to power, the first thing he did was take away people's guns. Now, his one area of praise was reserved for Sarah Palin.

(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)

WURZELBACHER: Sarah Palin's absolutely the real deal, you know, I only got to spend a short amount of time with her, but, you know, it has been asked if I felt any presence when I was with John McCain or Barack Obama. You know, with Sarah Palin i don't want to say I felt a presence, but she definitely had energy and she definitely wanted to work for the American people. And it disgusts me on how often they try to bash her just for her sincerity.

(END AUDIOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now, Joe says he has no plans to run for office. Instead, he will just keep overseeing his national watchdog group. John.

ROBERTS: I guess you also don't want to get off the bus because you don't want to walk home from Altoona.

FEYERICK: You never want to be dropped off in Altoona, not without a secondary mode of transportation.

ROBERTS: Altoona is a lovely place. But you don't want to have to walk home from there. But he just took John McCain and threw him off under the Straight Talk Express.

FEYERICK: Absolutely. He really did and he said that he's now the one doing the straight talk, not John McCain. So it's a little bit of bickering there.

ROBERTS: Amazing how things change.

FEYERICK: And don't forget, he stood up John McCain. Remember?

ROBERTS: That's true. I remember that. Joe the plumber, stand up. I guess he's not here. Deb, all these campaign memories we're going to have. Thanks so much for that.

FEYERICK: Anytime.

ROBERTS: 54 minutes after the hour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (voice-over): First the nanny wants to be a senator.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Drescher goes to Washington.

Then the governor stole the headlines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Blagojevich, the Blagojevich administration, Governor Blagojevich.

CHETRY: Jeanne Moos on how to tell the story when you can barely say his name.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you're dealing with a name this long, this unpronounceable, there's only one thing to do.

CHETRY: You're watching the most news in the morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. There are two high-profile senate seats to be filled. And as we've seen all too clearly in Illinois, there may be more than one way to get the job. Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOOS (voice-over): An itty-bitty tattoo on a Kennedy, a former nanny.

FRAN DRESCHER, ACTOR: Miss Drescher goes to Washington.

MOOS: And a Senate seat for sale on ebay? Who knew that replacing this guy and this gal in the Senate would be so interesting. Is it possible that former "Nanny" star Fran Drescher could hustle her way, into the Senate seat Hillary Clinton's expected to vacate?

DRESCHER: I think I pulled a hustle muscle.

MOOS: She might not be able to muscle her way into the Senate, but this political and cancer awareness activist is serious about asking to be considered. Meanwhile, another of the potential candidates was having her tattoo analyzed. Caroline Kennedy reportedly got tattooed on a dare from her brother and cousin. OK, it's nothing fancy like this Hillary tattoo on some guy's thigh or this Obama tattoo. But who expects to see any tattoo, even a faded butterfly on a Kennedy? But all that fades in comparison to the news about this guy, allegedly selling President-elect Obama's senate seat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blagojevich.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Governor Rod Blagojevich.

MOOS: You figure the prosecutor knows how to say it.

FITZGERALD: Governor Blagojevich, the Blagojevich administration. Governor Blagojevich.

MOOS: When you're dealing with a name this long, this unpronounceable, there's only one thing to do. Shorten it to blago as they did in the blogosphere. That G-Rod are his nicknames in Illinois. This kid posted on youtube tried to spit out the whole thing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is going to jail next?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blagojevich.

MOOS: As for the governor himself spit out when secretly recorded by prosecutors.

FITZGERALD: Fire all those bleeping people, get them the bleep out of there, I've got this thing and it's bleeping golden. I'm just not giving it up for bleep in nothing. Bleep them.

MOOS: The governor even called the President-elect a bad name. The next thing you know some joker puts Obama's senate seat up for auction on ebay quoting what the governor allegedly said.

FITZGERALD: It's a bleeping valuable thing.

MOOS: In this story the unprintable meets the unpronounceable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Illinois governor Blagojevich.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: I learned how to say his name a long, long time ago while I was in Serbia, so I had some local knowledge there.

And a live picture of the Governor's house right now. Apparently he's going to be headed out for work. You see the security detail there ready to escort him. Some people are sort of struck with incredulity that he would go back to work today.

CHETRY: Yes, bailed himself out yesterday. Business as usual. It's actually his birthday as well today if I'm not mistaken and his lawyers speaking for him say he's innocent and it's going to be proven and he's going to go to work as usual.

ROBERTS: In this country there's the presumption of innocence and we have to give him that, but certainly a lot of people are suggesting that this is just one of the strangest cases in politics they have ever heard.

CHETRY: And we're going to keep following it, of course, and all the latest developments here on CNN. We want to say thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

ROBERTS: Right now, here's CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins.