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American Morning
Obama Leaves for London Ahead of G-20 Summit; U.S. Warships on the Move to Monitor North Korea Launch; Clinton Not Ruling Out Iran Talks
Aired March 31, 2009 - 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: All right. And good morning to you once again. Glad you're with us on this Tuesday, March 31st. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Difficult to pin Charles Rangel down at the best of times.
CHETRY: Well, it's one minute after the hour right now. A look at what's on the agenda this morning. The big stories we will be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. President Obama is about to leave Washington any moment now, heading to Europe, where he's a tough week ahead. He's trying to persuade other nations to follow his lead on rescuing the economy. Perhaps in terms of global stimulus. Will his popularity translate into results? We're traveling with the president.
And Wall Street's down day, not weighing too heavily on the world markets right now. In Asia, Hong Kong closing up slightly. Japan's Nikkei closing down. In Europe, where trading is underway, the markets are up. And right now, Dow Futures as well up ahead of today's opening bell.
We're also following a developing story for you out of France. A bad economy making for some tense times. There is a siege taking place right now at the U.S. Caterpillar plant. Workers there holding four managers hostage and demanding they make concessions on plans to eliminate more than 700 jobs.
But happening right now, you're looking live at the White House where President Obama is about to make his way to Andrews Air Force Base where he'll leave for Europe. It's a big trip. He's going to be visiting five nations over eight days. And his first stop is the G-20 Summit in London. The president will then head to France. He's going to be meeting with the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. Then a quick trip north to the border, to Germany, to sit down with NATO leaders. And following that summit, the president will head to a European Union conference in Prague. The president then wraps up his trip next Sunday in Turkey.
And throughout his trip, President Obama is expected to get an earful over the global financial crisis and also his plans to help kick-start the economy. CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux will be traveling with the president and she has a look ahead now. SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, President Obama hopes to signal a new way of doing things, to restore U.S. standing and credibility overseas during his first real test abroad. Now he's going to be meeting with leaders from more than 40 countries and all of them feeling the pain of this economic downturn.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): As candidate Barack Obama, he was a European sensation. Now as president, he arrives in the midst of a full-blown economic crisis.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The response that people have to our administration and the steps that we've taken are ones that are restoring a sense of confident and the ability of the United States to assert global leadership.
MALVEAUX: First stop, London, England, for the G-20 Summit, where the leaders of 20 countries who, together, represent more than 85 percent of the global economy, will tackle the worldwide economic meltdown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fire has continued out of control and spread to hit most of the world. You've had, you know, devastating impacts on global trade. You've also seen seas of potential instability with unemployment and protest ranging from (INAUDIBLE) into China.
MALVEAUX: Already, in anticipation of the international gathering, protests are raging in many European streets, some of it squarely directed at the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of anger at the United States, or that national actions or national attention led to this crises, even if, in reality, it was also international as well.
MALVEAUX: In London, President Obama will meet with Queen Elizabeth II and the leaders of Britain, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India and South Korea. His message, the recovery of the U.S. economy is tied to the economies around the world.
OBAMA: All of us are going to have to take steps in order to lift the economy.
MALVEAUX: But just five months ago at the last G-20 Summit held in Washington, D.C., most of those same leaders who pledged to fight for protectionism and support free trade have broken their promises. So the question is whether this time will be any different.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last statement was really a toothless tiger. Everyone ignored it, and went ahead and enacted protectionist measures, 17 out of the G-20.
MALVEAUX: Even President Obama is accused of back pedaling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The administration set major commitments to open markets and free trade, but it had allowed things like Buy America to go forward. Are we walking away from those commitments? It's going to be a critical question for the world that it's making a lot of people nervous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Mr. Obama's week-long trip will also take him to France, Germany, the Czech Republic and a predominantly Muslim country, Turkey. The president is going to tackle many issues, including climate change, energy, terrorism, nuclear threats, but to be sure the economy is going to be front and center - John, Kiran.
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux for us. Thanks so much. And Suzanne is going to be Twittering throughout the president's trip. You can follow her by checking our Web site. It's cnn.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: Well, for more of the G-20 meeting, let's turn to our Christine Romans. She is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
George Soros saying that this is a make or break meeting for the world markets.
ROMANS: And he's not the only one. A lot of folks saying what comes out of this G-20 is incredibly important. I mean, you guys have covered this before. But, you know, after a G-7 or G-8 or G-20 meeting, there's a communique that comes out, and his words will be parsed by global markets for whether showing global...
ROBERTS: I've never covered a G-20. G-8 was the highest I got.
ROMANS: Oh I see. Well, listen, finance ministers...
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE)
ROMANS: When finance ministers from 20 different nations get together, I get really excited about things like that. But their communique will be incredibly important. What they are trying to show here is global cooperation. It's incredibly important for the markets. Because the American and, frankly, Western capitalism has been humbled over this financial crisis. This could be the most important gathering of these heads of states since post-World War II, the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire that basically set the infrastructure that we have today.
So why does the president have so much work to do in terms of restoring America's moral authority? Well, the global economy has shrunk for the first time. It's expected to shrink this year for the first time since World War II. The world factories are slowing down.
Our global industrial production is shrinking about 15 percent. It's the first drop in global trade since 1982. And the sharpest in 80 years. And frankly, a lot of people at that meeting are blaming the United States for that. So the president really trying to show that we need regulation, coordination and global regulation, but also on global stimulus. Both of those things he say. ROBERTS: Yes. And when it comes to the global stimulus, you know, the Europeans are just not too fond with that whole about spending money.
ROMANS: No. And Angela Merkel from Germany, she said, look, we spent a lot. And spending money is not what got us here. You know, regulation is their focus as much -- there is a lot on regulation, but you heard from Timothy Geithner, the Treasury secretary, just last week, laying out a very aggressive regulatory reforms. So all of this is critical. And that's one of the reasons why the markets have been nervous this week. People really kind of -- it's really -- I can't -- I can't stress it enough how important it is for the global financial kind of system that there be cooperation and progress here.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we'll see what this brings. Christine, thanks so much for that.
Right now, the U.S. is bracing for an expected missile test by North Korea. U.S. warships now steaming toward the Korean peninsula to monitor the launch, which could happen any day now. CNN's John Vause is following the story for us this morning from Beijing.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm John Vause in Beijing. Warships from the U.S. and South Korea Navy are expected to meet up with two Japanese destroyers and monitor North Korea's rocket launch, expected to happen now within the week.
While Pyongyang claims that it's putting a satellite into orbit, senior officials in Washington say this is just a test of a long-range missile. Even so, they say they will not be shooting it down, instead they have warned this regime that it could be facing U.N. sanctions for violating Security Council resolutions.
And while those warships will be on stand by to destroy any falling debris, analysts say this is a good chance for the U.S. to gather some valuable intelligence to get an up close look at Pyongyang's secretive missile program.
John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: John Vause for us this morning. John, thanks so much.
CHETRY: And President Obama rode to Washington on the shoulders of a Democratic Congress, but will his own party stand in the way of his ambitious agenda? We have Democratic strategist James Carville with some thoughts.
Also, beachfront property. Should San Quentin go on sale? A look at why there may be big money to be made off the notorious prison. It's nine minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Put away your air guitars. We're back.
It's 11 minutes after the hour right now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. President Obama took office with a Democratic majority behind him. Is this a blessing or a curse? The last two Democrats in the White House with Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter saw their top domestic initiatives go down in flames in their first term despite controlling Washington. So how does President Obama avoid following into that similar trap?
Well, joining us from New Orleans, Democratic strategist and CNN contributor James Carville.
And you know, we thought you would be great to weigh in on this since you were there with Bill Clinton. And author Jonathan Chait writes in "The New Republic" that "Democrats have locked themselves into self-fulfilling prophecy when their party controls all of Washington, things tend to go south quickly. The president's popularity plunges, and soon his co-partisans in Congress find themselves scrambling to keep from losing their own seats in the political undertow."
How does President Obama avoid a similar fate, James?
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, he's a colleague. He's got a pretty good bit through Congress already. His popularity is pretty -- is very high. In fact, you know, it has been a problem that Republican stood in lock-step with President Bush and suffered two consecutive defeats here. So I'm not sure that the correct lesson to draw here is that you should split the president. I think it's probably -- it might be the wrong lesson to draw.
But, you know, the Congress has a great deal of inherent power and they like to exercise it. And that's part of something that a president has to deal with.
CHETRY: All right. The article points out, you know, Jimmy Carter came in, he had big Democratic majorities, a filibuster-proof majority. In fact, 61 seats in the Senate. And he had two-thirds of the House being Democrats. Yet he also faced some problems in them with the midterm election ended up losing 15 seats in the House and three in the Senate.
Of course, as you said, there is still a lot of support for this current president. The article is just trying to say that at times, it seems the own worst enemy of the Democratic president can sometimes be the Democratic-controlled Congress.
CARVILLE: Well, that's why we Democrats, we don't all agree. If we wanted to like all follow one person, we would be Republicans and follow Rush Limbaugh, I guess, but we're not. Look, we're probably going to lose seats in 2010. We picked up -- we had big seat pickups in 2006 and 2008 in both the House and the Senate, but if we picked up seats in 2010, probably the end of the Republican Party as we know it.
But I think that the Democrats realize that, you know, that it's really kind of time to govern. And there is going to be a lot of arguments and going to be some changes made. But, by and large, I think that this Congress is going to stick with this president pretty good here for the foreseeable future. CHETRY: So the moderate senators that have been talking about not being able to support a meeting to take maybe a paring knife to his budget, do you think in the end they're going to come through?
CARVILLE: Well, I think -- I think many of them will, and I think that will be a paring knife. No president ever gets exactly what they want. I mean, President Reagan didn't get all the tax cuts he wanted. You know, clearly, President Clinton didn't get everything he wanted...
CHETRY: Right.
CARVILLE: ... in the '93 economic legislation. But I think, by and large, that they don't want to appear to be dysfunctional. I don't think it's in their political interest. Even moderate Democrats appear that way.
CHETRY: The interesting thing, and the most fascinating part about it is when you look at the model of George W. Bush in his first term. I mean, look, the Supreme Court, there's 50 percent of people who felt that, you know, he didn't even necessarily win the election. It was handed to him by the Supreme Court, right? And that, you know, he didn't win the popular vote. But he managed to pass massive tax cuts, he got two wars approved, and he was able to get a lot done by, I guess, staying partisan was the lesson of this article. I mean, do you think that's an accurate assessment of what happened?
CARVILLE: Yes, but there's a footnote to that. He wrecked the Republican Party in the process. And I think anybody in politics, be it Republican or Democrat, look at the current Republican Party and says, for God sakes, we don't want that. And so, yes, he did get some things through by some, you know, really party-line votes and narrow margins, and look where they are now? The most unpopular party in the history of modern polling. So you got to be a little careful here. Politicians take note of that. And as they well should.
CHETRY: James Carville for us this morning. Democratic strategist and CNN contributor in New Orleans, thanks for being with us.
CARVILLE: Appreciate it.
ROBERTS: All right. President Obama just left the White House on his way to Andrews Air Force Base, where in a few minutes' time, he is going to be taking off for Europe. He's the G-20 conference tomorrow in London. He's also going to be meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as well as the Queen. He goes to Strasbourg, France after that, to Kehl, Germany for a NATO meeting, and then he is going to spend a couple of days in Turkey as well. So a big six-city, eight-day trip ahead for President Obama. A live picture there of the White House where he will be taking off in just a couple of minutes. And we'll get him at -- he just took off, actually, sorry, on Marine One, we'll pick him up on Andrews Air Force Base in just a couple of minutes.
And set your clock, because AMERICAN MORNING is starting early tomorrow to bring you President Obama's speech at the G-20 Summit live so join us tomorrow for a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING, starting at 5:00 a.m.
CHETRY: You're talking to me and you when you said set your clock, right?
ROBERTS: Yes, exactly.
Breaking news this morning, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton not ruling out talks with Iran during a critical conference on Afghanistan in The Hague. But can Tehran be trusted? Christiane Amanpour has expert insight.
What do Scott Peterson and Charles Manson have in common other than murder? They both live on one of the most prime pieces of real estate in Northern California. And that's why there is now a push to sell San Quentin. It's 17 minutes after the hour.
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JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Big day in Detroit. You may have heard about this. The Obama administration asked General Motor CEO Rick Wagoner to step down, and he agreed. He agreed, which is good news for Obama. You know, last time he tried to get someone to quit, it took months and even then he had to promise her a job as secretary of state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour now. Let's fast forward to the stories that will be making news later on today. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama's second choice for Health and Human Services secretary has her confirmation hearing. Sebelius goes before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. She's expected to face questions regarding her stance on abortion.
More talk about plea deal in the gun possession case against Plaxico Burress. The New York Giants wide receiver will back in court again today. Defense attorneys and prosecutors haggling over a plea agreement and punishment for Burress. You'll remember, he accidentally shot himself in the leg with unlicensed handgun at a Manhattan nightclub last fall. Oops. He's charged with two counts of criminal weapons possession.
It could be the end of the road for the Hummer. Even though that's -- is that a Hummer? Yes, that's a Hummer. It looked like a Humvee for a second. GM could reveal its fate today. Hummer sales fell 51 percent last year. The worst drop in the industry. General Motors is trying to find a buyer for the brand. Without one, the company might kill the Hummer.
And let's go live now to Andrews Air Force Base, where President Obama is -- I can't see the picture. There we are. Marine One has just landed there at Andrews Air Force Base. They'll be departing in just a few minutes, aboard Air Force One, headed for London, England. On his agenda there in London, he's going to be meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He'll also meet with The Queen, he'll address the G-20 summit, as well as attend it.
And by the way that speech tomorrow will be shortly after 5:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, so we're going on the air an hour earlier here on AMERICAN MORNING, so that we can bring you that speech live. And as well, we'll have full coverage from there with our great correspondents who are in London following the president's trip.
From there he goes on to Strasbourg, France, where he's going to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He goes on to Kehl, Germany, for a NATO Summit. And he's going to spend a couple of days in Turkey as well. I guess going to Istanbul, in the Ankara, the capital there.
I had the good fortune of being on a trip with President Clinton to both Istanbul and Ankara. The trip was so busy we only had 20 minutes to go on a sightseeing tour, so we went to the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the (INAUDIBLE) as well, and got a chance to see a little tiny bit of the city.
CHETRY: It's very interesting, you know, as Candy Crowley pointed out, usually these things are a little bit, you know, of a snooze, if you will. But this year a lot of attention being paid to the G-20 Summit. Very crucial, of course, because of the global financial crisis. But also of the tests that our president is going to be facing as he tries to get some consensus with European nations.
You know, not all European countries are onboard with the global stimulus, most notably, Germany's leader Angela Merkel, as well as France's leader Nicholas Sarkozy, even raising the possibility that he might walk out on the summit saying that he is not going to accept a summit that produces nothing more than, quote, "false success."
So, really, there's going to be a lot of diplomacy that needs to take place, and hopefully, some concrete measures both in terms of regulation and stimulus that help goose the global economy.
ROBERTS: Well, if he walked out of the meeting, it would certainly only be for dramatic effect. Because, you know, there's no question that folks have to work together here if they want to fix the global economy. The question is how much money do you spend? And Angela Merkel, of course, saying, hey, we spent enough money. We can't just keep, you know, digging -- digging a big financial hole to try to get ourselves out of this.
But you can see the ripple effects of the bad economy. Across Europe, even this morning, there's a siege at the Caterpillar plant in Grenoble, France, where hundreds of employees there protesting the imminent layoffs of more than 700 people, barricaded a number of company executives in their offices demanding that they make concessions.
CHETRY: Right. ROBERTS: And we've been following that story this morning. There was also an executive from 3M in Paris who was held for 24 hours by indignant employees. And then, the head of Sony operations in France was also held for a time back in the 12th of March. So there's no question.
And, you know, we see the protesters, too, there in London and across Europe in anticipation of the upcoming G-20 Summit. A lot of anger there in Europe about the state of the economy, and anger, particularly aimed at the United States who, many people believe -- which many people believe is responsible for the beginnings of this global economic crisis.
CHETRY: Right. And again, this is President Obama getting ready to climb out of Marine One there, headed off to London for the beginning of his first European trip since taking office ten weeks ago. And again as we talked about a lot of big issues that need to be tackled. So we're going to see him exiting the helicopter shortly, and then getting on to Air Force One, and then making his way to London, which is his first stop.
ROBERTS: Yes, the door opening now. And Marine will come out. And he'll open the back door, and then salute the president. The president will walk down and walk over to Air Force One. And the trip there, it's only about 6-1/2 hours, I believe. So he'll probably arrive sometime around 4:00 this afternoon, 4:30 this afternoon.
He's got an event at the American school in London, where he'll be meeting tonight with embassy employees. Get a good night sleep, and then prepare for all of the meetings that he is going to have in the next couple of days. You know, tradition, too, that he'll go to Buckingham Palace to meet with The Queen. That's always a welcome event for the president. They really lay out the red carpet there, and being inside Buckingham Palace, too, when you're covering this is quite an extraordinary opportunity as well.
CHETRY: Yes, absolutely. Prime Minister of Britain Gordon Brown saying that, you know, they are making some good progress, the head of the summit. They actually put out a draft communique and they're talking about trying to work together in some way.
And our Christiane Amanpour joins us now to talk more about this.
ROBERTS: There they are.
CHETRY: We see Michelle Obama, the first lady, as well as President Obama stepping out of Marine One there and getting ready to head into Air Force One. One of the interesting things, Christiane, also is to try to make sure that some of these countries don't try to get into protectionist trade policies, if you will. I mean, we've heard it here. You know, buy American, because of concerns about the auto industry and other countries as well that temptation to pull back and worry about yourself first, when we're dealing with the global recession.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right. Just watching these pictures of President Obama and the first lady getting on to their long haul flight to England reminds me that this is the first time he is making an overseas trip. It's the first time as a new president in eight years giving a new American face to the world. And it will be dramatically different, because of the angst over the last eight years of the Bush administration.
I covered President George W. Bush's first trip to Europe. And having seen President Obama as candidate Obama in Germany with these enormous crowds over the summer and then in France with President Nicholas Sarkozy, it's going to be interesting to see how he is welcomed this time.
People still see him as a miracle worker. And yet, there are high, high expectations and, at the same time, this sort of fertile ground for disappointment because they blame the U.S. for this economic trouble. In terms of protectionism and nationalization of industries, many, many people in Europe are very concerned about that. Once you start going down this road, how do you wind it back?
ROBERTS: Remember that first trip of President Bush to Europe, where he was seen as the go it alone gun-slinger and some of the political cartoons of him standing, you know, atop the world with his six guns out and blazing. He is going to be -- certainly Europe will be seeing the American president in a much different light this time around.
CHETRY: And again, here we are watching the president, just that short walk from Marine One into Air Force One there. The president, as well as the first lady, walking up those stairs and getting ready to depart.
It's interesting, Christiane, that you brought that up as well. Because we have a CNN Opinion Research Poll that was just out this morning about this showing that when Americans are asked, they believe, 72 percent asked that they believe leaders of other countries have respect for Barack Obama, our president, when it was George Bush back in February of 2001. That number was just 49 percent.
AMANPOUR: Well, very interesting. And, you know, during the election campaign, polls here in the United States showed that one of the key things that American voters wanted was for their next president to restore America's position in the world. Who knew back then that the economic crisis would be so severe and that he would have to deal with this and almost be the ambassador for things that happened before he became president and, yet, now he has to deal with it. And to see that many in the international community, for instance, in Europe, even amongst allies are not happy with this over stimulus that he wants them to buy into.
CHETRY: All right. Stick with us, Christiane. We're going to take a quick break, and when we come back, we're going to talk more about this. Also a reminder, we're going to be live tomorrow 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time to watch President Obama's big speech with you, also testing the waters for talks with Iran as well. We'll be right back.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. These are pictures of the president and first lady stepping off of Marine One there at Andrews Air Force Base, and getting ready to walk on to Air Force One as they begin their trip around Europe.
Of course a big day tomorrow. We are starting our show at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time so that we can bring you President Barack Obama's speech. He's going to be speaking in London, and we're going to have all of that for you.
But right now, we want to talk a little bit more about another major international development that's taking place right now, coming out of the summit on Afghanistan in The Hague this morning. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is there, and she is there along with some high-level officials from Iran, which is certainly something we have not seen since 1979. She's not ruling out that this could lead to direct talks between the two nations. President Obama already signaling his desire for a new beginning with Tehran. And our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour recently returned from Afghanistan. She joins us now.
Not to jump the gun about this but it would be historic if there was some high-level meeting between our two nations.
AMANPOUR: Yes. You know, the Iranians have been waiting ever since candidate Obama talked about wanting to diplomatically engage with Iran. They've been waiting. All the signals they have given have been positive. Senior Iranian leaders are telling me officials from the office of the Supreme Leader on down that they are ready to play a constructive role, a positive role, more specifically in Afghanistan which is the issue at the moment.
But in general in terms of bilaterally engagement, they are still waiting for the official reach out. It has not happened yet. It will not happen in the Hague, because there you have a Secretary of State and the Iranians have sent a deputy foreign minister. They may be what they call in diplomatist, a pull aside where there may be some conversation between Secretary of State Clinton and the Iranian deputy foreign minister.
But the big substantive discussions are very unlikely to start there. And of course, historically, yes, there has been no relations between Iran and the U.S. for 30 years, but on individual areas of cooperation, there have been. For instance, right after 9/11, when President Bush led the dispatch of the Al Qaeda and Taliban after 9/11. Iran was at the table with the United States in the post-Afghan construction and the development of the government there. So Iran has been with U.S. officials over the last several years in areas of mutual concern.
CHETRY: This year, once again, we are showing viewers live pictures right now of Air Force One departing Andrews Air Force base right now. The President and the First Lady on their way to Europe right now.
And Christiane, we talk a little bit about that significance and the fact that Iran did accept this invitation to come speak about this. What is their interest in making sure that Afghanistan is safe and Afghanistan is able to rebuild as a neighbor to Iran?
AMANPOUR: According to officials who I've spoken to, high, high interest. Because obviously, Afghanistan is on their border, they are threatened both by the narcotics trade and, indeed, by Al Qaeda and Taliban who also see Iran as an enemy. Iranian officials have told me for the last several years, Kiran, that they want to get together with the United States to try to push back the Taliban.
Now, several years later, it is happening and they are going to be around the table. Iran wants to play a positive and constructive role and it wants to be treated as a positive and equal partner in this particular endeavor. And having just come back from Afghanistan, what is clearly necessary is not justified against corruption and narcotics, but there is this competition for allegiance going on right now which is driving some people out of economic desperation into the arms of the Taliban.
What they want is to see the U.S. and the international community make good on their promises of several years ago when they promised to develop the economy there. Nobody is talking about western style Jeffersonian democracy. One is talking about a representative government, lack of corruption and economic alternative.
ROBERTS: And there is Air Force One on its takeoff roll out of Andrews Air Force base for the six hours and change flight over there to London. And you know, Christiane, when we look at the places that he is going. He is going to London. He is going to Strasbourg. He's got the NATO meeting in Germany as well and a couple of days in Turkey. How do you analyze the trip? Why adding Turkey on to this particular trip?
AMANPOUR: Turkey, obviously, massively important. A huge NATO ally and a huge U.S. ally. It straddles Europe and Asia. There have been talks for years whether Turkey is going to join the European Union. There are obviously conditions which neither the European union nor Turkey feel had been fully met yet for that to happen. But it's a huge populist, moderate Islamic nation.
Now, you know President Obama said that he was going to make a speech to the Muslim world in his first 100 days. Apparently, this is not going to be it, but it is a very vital nation and it not just has relations with Europe and with the United States, but also Turkey, one of the few Muslim countries with relations with Israel, for instance. So there is a lot of work.
Plus, it is engaged in some of the NATO activities of the United States and others around the world. So Turkey, a very important - very important country.
ROBERTS: All right. So the next picture will be the touchdown in England and then full coverage of the president's speech tomorrow morning. Again, special time beginning at 5:00 a.m. Eastern daylight time here on the most news in the morning. Christiane, great to see you. Thanks for coming in.
General Motors and Chrysler given weeks, not months to restructure, by the White House. So will it work? We're breaking down the President's plan with former presidential candidate Mitt Romney. That's just ahead.
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JON STEWART, HOST "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": Chrysler has been given 30 days to partner with, this is true, Italian auto giant Fiat or they will go bankrupt. Ah. Meanwhile, for everyone else out there.
OBAMA: Starting today the United States government will stand behind your warranty.
STEWART: Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of here! So that's the mysterious White House 3:00 a.m. phone call everyone is always talking about? Yes, hey, White House, my name is Jim, I'm in New Hampshire. My new piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Fiat-Chrysler still under warranty, needs a jump! You're going to want to wake the president.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. The executive vice president of Ford breaking some news on AMERICAN MORNING saying thanks, but no thanks to taxpayer money. GM and Chrysler, meanwhile, given weeks to make big changes and the president is keeping bankruptcy on the table. So will the president's plan work?
Joining me now, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney who is in Chicago for us this morning. So what do you think, governor, of the president's plan? You know because we hear reaction across the spectrum from the republican party some like it, some don't. What do you think?
MITT ROMNEY, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think a lot of people expected the president just to cave and to write a big check and to hope for the better. I'm glad that he's expressing some backbone on this saying to those guys, hey you got to get your house in order or you guys are gone and you're going to bankruptcy. That is something I think he should have said months ago.
There were a number of us that said that bankruptcy or a bankruptcy-like process was something that was needed to get GM and Chrysler, you know, on their feet again. But by the way, kudos to Ford for running itself independently and apparently making a go of it on its own.
ROBERTS: Let me just bring you back to what you were saying about bankruptcy. In fact, you authored a column on it, let's pull a quote from that. You said, "in a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers rather than seal their fate with a bailout check." Do you still think that that is the best idea to allow these companies to go into bankruptcy and restructure and then emerge?
ROMNEY: Well, it's clear that just writing checks is not the answer. It really keeps the bondholders and the UAW and other stakeholders from the necessary haircuts that allow these companies to be competitive. You either have to go through a bankruptcy process, a pre-packaged bankruptcy or special legislation, giving the - an entity the power to get these companies through these difficult times. Or if the parties want to do it voluntarily, great. But if they can't do that, apparently at this stage, it's looking like they haven't been able to. Then you're going to have to have that kind of a club to get these companies to be able to restructure their excessive costs.
ROBERTS: You know, a couple of minutes ago, Jon Stewart made the joke about the government backing warranties here. The government has gotten involved into so many things, backing warranties, guaranteeing bank accounts, buying your toxic assets. There was an interesting line in "The New York Times" this morning quote, it said "it means that the government now is not only the ultimate guarantor of savings accounts and insurance policies but it will also cover that blown transmission."
The question that I had is in the next 30 days why would anyone buy a Chrysler and in the next 60 days why would anyone buy a General Motors product when they don't know what the future of these companies are going to be, regardless of whether the government is backing the warranties?
ROMNEY: Well, that's in fact why a number of folks, myself included, as you pointed out, said last November don't just write checks because you're sealing the fate of these companies, unless you help them restructure. Give confidence to the American people that they are going to be here forever. If you don't do that, why, just putting $17 billion into them is going to be wasted and, also, ultimately, seal their fate.
You've got to get these companies back on a track where it shows that they can be successful and viable. That can only happen if they are fundamentally restructured. Just writing checks, just saying you're going to protect warranties, that's not enough.
ROBERTS: I need a one word answer from you. You know, Mary Matalin thinks you're going to run again in 2012. You've been doing some things that many people believe would lay the foundation for a run in 2012. Will you, this morning, rule out a run for the presidency in 2012?
ROMNEY: That is a horizon too far away to possibly speculate on. I love what Yogi Berra said. I can't get it exactly right, but it's something like this. I don't like forecasting, particularly if the future is involved.
ROBERTS: All right. There you go. But neither ruling in nor ruling out this morning. All right. Governor Romney, it's good to see you again. Thanks very much for coming in. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right.
When you thought the worse might be over, Fargo has a new nightmare to deal with, as well as cities in bordering Minnesota. The heavy snow. The latest test for the town's levee. So, can they take another beating?
And congress is tackling a big issue. Even the president is weighing in. It's college football. It's the playoffs versus the bowl system and almost everyone, who knows what the heck I'm talking about, has an opinion on it. Well, now Congress is taking action. It's 43 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
A developing story right now. A major snowstorm putting Fargo, North Dakota, on the edge of disaster again. We have melting ice and snow and crashing waves and it could put those man-made levees to the test along the Red River. Our Rob Marciano has been following this story for us.
Yesterday, we thought -- we knew that obviously the snow wasn't going to help but it's not the melting that's causing the problem, right? It's simply the storm itself?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And it's a slow mover. That's the main problem. A quick check, Kiran, at what is happening with the flood levels -- 40.81, that was the crest, and we're below that but we're still in major flood stage and will be in that for the next several days. So, the fact that the rivers are where are still putting pressure on those levees. And this storm continues to pound them with not only with snow but wind, more importantly. And Fargo for the entire time will be on the cold side of this system.
So, winter storm warnings and blizzard warnings still posted for parts of the Dakotas, mostly eastern and south Dakota under a blizzard warning with windy conditions, six to 12 inches of snow on top of what they've already seen possible today. And again those winds will be battering the levees, not only today, but through tomorrow as well. The storm will be very, very slow to move out.
Chicago and Seattle, rain and wind today. You'll see some delays. Minneapolis, rain and a mixture of snow in there too, Memphis and Nashville. And if you're flying to Anchorage, still some problems with some ash there. They're having to re-route some planes there. 59 degrees with a high temperature in New York. It will be 64 degrees in Atlanta. Kiran, back up to you.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob Marciano for us. Thanks, Rob.
Why is Congress in a fight over football? Playoffs versus the bowl system. Even the president is weighing in. Yes. No joke! 48 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Forget the economy and forget all the other global concerns. Congress is set to tackle one of truly pressing issues of our time! Because just like you, every football season, lawmakers and even President Obama agonize over the complicated college ranking system.
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OBAMA: It is about time that we have playoffs in college football! You know? I am - I am fed up with these computer rankings and this and that and the other. Get eight teams, the top eight teams right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide on a national champion.
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ROBERTS: Our resident football fanatic, Carol Costello, is on this story. She joins us live from Washington. You know, Carol, after we reported the story earlier today somebody e-mail me to say this is a joke, right? No, it's not a joke.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's not even football season, and now the Senate is on board for this. There's a lot of passion surrounding this issue, John.
You know, after watching the excitement of March madness, college football fans, they are wondering why they can't have their own sort of madness. Well, lawmakers are, too.
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COSTELLO (voice-over): If you're tired of all that depressing economy stuff, take heart. The Senate's anti-trust subcommittee will hold hearings on - yes, the cost of consumer goods, the price of gas, the cost of text messaging. And the BCS. As in the Bowl Championship Series. Congress wants to change the way college football determines its national champion. You should have known it was coming.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: The BCS system is anti-competitive, unfair, and, in my opinion, un-American.
COSTELLO: Utah senator Orrin Hatch has been steamed ever since the BCS bypassed the Utah Utes for the national championship game despite a perfect record of 13-0 last season. Florida got in and became national champion, despite losing one game during the regular season. Senator Hatch is not the only one steamed either.
REP. JOE BARTON (R), TEXAS: In every other NCAA sport, every other college sport, they have a playoff.
COSTELLO: On the house side, Congressman Joe Barton has introduced legislation pressuring the BCS to have playoffs instead of using its mathematical method to determine a national champion.
BARTON: We're not mandating they have to do it. We're simply saying you won't get all of the TV advertisement and the revenue and the team that wins the game can't call itself a national champion unless it's the result of a playoff system.
COSTELLO: The BCS's formula for determining which teams qualify for its five bowl games is complicated. This is its mathematical formula. Translation? The BCS averages the per set totals of the Harris Interactive Poll and "USA Today" coaches poll and various computer polls to come up with the rankings to determine which teams go to major bowl games. If you still don't get it, don't feel bad. It's become a national joke.
COSTELLO: Lawmakers feel confident they can persuade the BCS to switch to a playoff system now because the Senate, the House, and even the president...
OBAMA: That's why we need a playoff.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: ... are all on the record for change.
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COSTELLO: And as you said, John, President Obama has gone on the record saying playoffs are the way to go. But lawmakers should expect a fight. The BCS told me, "we understand people in D.C. need to respond to their hearts and constituents. We think the leaders of higher education are the better group to manage post-season football." So them fighting words, John.
ROBERTS: The one lawmaker who said anti-competitive, I think that was Orrin Hatch, wasn't it? Does that mean that maybe they will try to get the Federal Trade Commission involved here?
COSTELLO: They're going to see if they violate anti-trust laws. That's what Senator Hatch is after. Those hearings are set maybe for the fall, maybe sooner and he is not saying exactly when.
ROBERTS: And again, we got to tell people at home. This is not a joke. They really are upset about all these. Carol, it's great to see you. Thanks so much for that.
A lot of folks, by the way, have been outraged about this and sending us lots of messages online. We want to hear from you, join the conversation. You can follow us on Twitter at AMFix or call us at 1-877-my-am-fix. Or hang out with us all day, log on when you get to work also. Cnn.com/amfix -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. We have some breaking news right now.
Certainly, it's no secret that these are difficult times for many of the nation's newspapers. We're just getting word right now that The Sun Times Media Group, which is the owner of the "Chicago Sun Times" and many other suburban newspapers, today voluntarily filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the aim of trying to reorganize operations and also settling a tax liability and making the company fit for a new buyer.
This is according to its Web site. They say it was a difficult decision, but essential for the company to "re-establish itself as a self-sustaining profitable operation that is worth fighting for." So again, the owner of the "Chicago Sun Times" filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy this morning.
We're going to take a quick break. Fifty-six minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
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CHETRY: And welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. The most popular videos right now on CNN.com, R&B singer Rihanna sporting a new tattoo. There you see it. Right under her armpit there. An image of a gun over her rib cage. Rihanna's tattoo artist tells CNN that the ink represents strength and power.
Well, here's a novel idea. We first told you about earlier in the show. Should the state of California sell off San Quentin prison, prime beachfront real estate to help solve its budget headaches? Well, the land is worth over $2 billion. Finding a new home for the prisoners though may be tough. State lawmakers are holding a hearing on the idea later today.
And it's no laughing matter. Could be an April Fool's Day joke that's not funny for many. It's a computer worm scheduled to strike up to 10 million computers tomorrow. It's know as the conficker. It's a worm that infects computer and spreads automatically without any human interaction. For tips on protecting your software, you can head to cnn.com.
ROBERTS: Right now, President Obama on his way to Europe. Air Force One took off a little more than half an hour ago. His first stop, the G-20 summit in London. And this reminder for you and you. Starting early tomorrow morning, we are, yes, here on AMERICAN MORNING at 5:00 to bring you President Obama's speech at the G-20 summit live. So join us tomorrow for a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING starting at 5:00 a.m. Eastern. Set your clock.
Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you back here again bright and a little earlier tomorrow.
CHETRY: Dark and early tomorrow, 5:00 a.m. Eastern time. Right now, here's CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins.
