Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Obama's Message to India; Putin The Pedal To The Metal; Camelot On The Campaign Trail; Queen of England on Facebook; Hillary Clinton for President?
Aired November 08, 2010 - 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: Good morning to you. It's 8:00 here in New York, on this Monday morning, November 8th. Glad you're with us this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for joining us. Lots to talk about this morning. Let's get you caught up in what happened overnight.
President Obama delivering a big speech this morning in New Delhi, India. The president announced he's endorsing India's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. We're live in New Delhi, with why this is such a big deal.
CHETRY: Camelot on the campaign trail. It was 50 years ago that John F. Kennedy was elected president. "Life" magazine was with him throughout that long campaign, thousands of photos were taken. We're going to show you some of the images that have never seen the light of day until now.
ROBERTS: And talk about "The Royal We," Queen Elizabeth on Facebook. You may not be able to friend or share your vacation snapshots with her, but the queen on line will be something to see. Richard Quest will tell us from London -- just ahead.
CHETRY: First, though, President Obama with a message this morning for more than 1 billion people. Speaking last hour to the Indian parliament, the president talked about the growing ties between the U.S. and India.
ROBERTS: The president also used his speech to endorse India's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry travelling with the president. He joins us now live from New Delhi. And, certainly, one thing you can say is that when you have 1 billion people and economy that's roaring at 8 percent, that's a country you just can't ignore.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And the president has been making that point over and over during these three days, John. You're right. The economy roaring here despite the global economic crisis; also the energy needs here makes India a huge player on the climate change debate.
Also, obviously, being neighbors with Afghanistan, Pakistan and China, all big, big nations with what's happening all around the globe. And specifically on Pakistan, the president's been taking heat on this trip for maybe not taking a tough enough stand with Pakistan, certainly India would like to see him call Pakistan a sponsor of state terror. The president obviously more diplomatic than that and saying, look, they're making some progress, but certainly, a lot more progress needs to be made in terms of cracking down on extremists.
But all of this adding up to, as you noted, the president just moments ago saying he now endorses having India play a much bigger role with the United Nations in particular. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As two global leaders, the United States and India can partner for global security, especially as India serves on the Security Council over the next two years. Indeed, the just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a United Nations that is efficient, effective, credible, and legitimate. That is why I can say today, in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed United Nations Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Nevertheless, we need to have a reality check, which is that this could take years down the road to actually become a reality. And also, the U.S. is being cagey about the details in whether or not, for example, they will push for India to actually have veto power if they were to get that permanent seat, like the other members. And so, that's critical to find out exactly how all of this will play out, John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, he certainly brought his economic message about jobs back home. You heard that referred to a few times during his speech.
HENRY: You're right, Kiran. I mean, the bottom line is this White House is very sensitive to the fact that the president is sort of globe trotting right now in Asia, just days after that midterm election whereby his own estimation he took a shellacking largely because of frustration back home about the economy and jobs. The president being aggressive about framing this whole trip about trying to increase U.S. exports here to India.
He announced over the weekend $10 billion in new contracts for companies like Boeing and General Electric to ship products here at India. And those were products that are going to be made in America. So, the president says it will create over 50,000 jobs back home in America.
Meanwhile, tonight, he and the first lady are going to be the guests for a state dinner from the Prime Minister Singh and his wife. You remember, last year, when the Obamas hosted them for a state dinner at the White House, it didn't go according to plan when the Salahis were the party crashers. You can bet security is going to be intense tonight, John and Kiran.
CHETRY: We've got -- we got "The Real Housewives of D.C.," she was on that, Michaele Salahi, after that night. So, we'll see what happens.
All right. Thanks so much, Ed.
HENRY: Yes. They don't want a repeat of that.
ROBERTS: Is there a "Real Housewives of New Delhi" that we need to be aware of?
CHETRY: Probably.
HENRY: I haven't seen it.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Ed.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ed.
All right. Also new this morning: Qantas Airline's fleet of A380 jumbo jets remains grounded for at least the next three days. The airline CEO says there are new problems that they discovered with the planes' engines. They found this out as they were investigating the engine blow-out that forced one of the jets to make an emergency landing in Singapore last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN JOYCE, CEO, QANTAS: Oil leaks have been discovered in the turbine area of three engines. We have removed these engines from the aircraft for further testing. We are now planning that the A380 fleet will remain out of service for at least the next 72 hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Meanwhile, Emirates Airlines is announcing that its super jumbo A380s will make their much anticipated return to New York today just days after the airline launched daily flights to Houston as well as Los Angeles.
ROBERTS: Well, how about this for an extraordinary story of survival? A family of four missing at sea for nearly a week is safe this morning. They were rescued on Saturday, some 2,300 miles from Hawaii by the Coast Guard and a New Zealand air force crew.
The family, two adults and two children were discovered drifting in a 13-foot boat.
In our 7:00 a.m. hour, we spoke to the Coast Guard Captain James McCauley who was part of the team that rescued the family. He says they were dehydrated but otherwise OK.
CHETRY: Well, 45,000 people hit the ground running in the 41st New York City marathon yesterday. Edna Kiplagat from Kenya finished first for the ladies. She completed the run in just two hours and 28 minutes. Just 20 seconds behind in second place is Oregon's own Shalane Flanahan. That's the first American women to finish that high since 1990.
And then there was Ethiopia's Gebre Gebremariam, who won the men's race in just two hours and eight minutes. That, by way, that was his first marathon ever. So, congratulations. Way to start your career off with a bang.
ROBERTS: First marathon ever for another fellow who ran yesterday, Chilean miner number 12 Edison Pena. He stole the show at the big race. There he is crossing the finish line. Oh, aw, does that knee hurt?
He's been called a "running miner" because he ran through dark tunnels in his boots while trapped underground for 69 days -- nearly sidelined by knee pain that hit him at mile 18, but he stuck it out, finished in five hours and 40 minutes and got a welcome ice pack on the left knee.
CHETRY: There you go. He got a medal and a Chilean flag wrapped around his shoulders as well. Congratulations.
Well, meanwhile, Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center for us.
Not a bad day to run a marathon, though, yesterday.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I don't -- I don't know if there's ever a good day --
CHETRY: I mean, it's never a good day in my opinion.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: But if you have to run and at least it was cool.
MARCIANO: Exactly. Boy, my hat's off to everybody who completes that. It's quite an accomplishment and congratulations.
Yes, it was cool. They prefer cool, but not too cool. It's cool and windy right now, and in some cases, wet and just flat-out miserable. We've got a storm that continues to spin its way off the gulf of Maine, including Cape Cod and much of New England, just in it right now.
In the lower 40s in Boston and it's blowing sideways, a Hartford, Westerly reporting sleet and snow with wind gusts over 40 miles an hour. Some of this is sticking to the roads so just be aware and take it easy. Also, another big storm is rolling into the Intermountain West. We'll have video of what that looks like.
Meanwhile, in between, from Chicago to Colorado Springs to Dallas, we're looking pretty good, albeit chilly in the Southeast this morning, temperatures close to freezing in spots. So, winter right around the corner.
Congratulations again if you ran the marathon.
ROBERTS: Right around the corner for some people, but got right in the middle of it here in the Northeast. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
ROBERTS: Still to come this morning: planning on doing some traveling for the holidays? Well, plan on paying more for it. We're "Minding Your Business" -- coming up.
It's eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Eleven minutes past the hour.
New this morning: Officials say there is no danger after two nuclear power plants had to be shut down last night within minutes of each other. A radioactive water leak was discovered at the Vermont Yankee Plant in Vernon, Vermont. Less than an hour later, a transformer exploded at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in New York, causing that plant to shut down. Both facilities are owned by the same company, Entergy Corp.
ROBERTS: In Haiti, they are cleaning up after Hurricane Tomas, which made a bad situation there even worse. The rains caused severe flooding in some areas, at least six people have died, and there is concern that the storm could make Haiti's cholera outbreak even worse.
CHETRY: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says sanctions aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons are having an impact. Gates says he disagrees with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a military threat is the only way to influence Tehran. But also Gates says, when it comes to Iran, all options are on the table.
ROBERTS: In western Missouri, two freight trains collided -- one of them apparently backed into the other -- obviously backed into it pretty quickly there, looking at the results. It happened 40 miles northwest of Kansas City. All the cars were empty and, fortunately, no one was injured in that mishap. That's -- well, it left quite a mess.
CHETRY: Yes, it did.
Well, Eddie Bauer coming under fire for a new sales pitch. The clothing giant launched a week-long Remembrance Day sale last week in Canada. The event is not sitting well with some veterans who don't like the idea of putting a commercial spin on a day that traditionally a time for reflection and respect for those who sacrificed their lives war. So far, Eddie Bauer is not commenting on the criticism.
ROBERTS: Yes, it's like a Memorial Day or a Veterans Day sale. Not good politics.
If you are flying home for the holidays, be prepared to pay up. "USA Today" reports there are fewer seats to go around, thanks to cost-cutting by the airlines. With demand up and supply down, that adds up to bad news for travelers.
Here is an example. Delta nonstop from Boston to Minneapolis over Thanksgiving weekend will cost you -- cha-ching -- $859. That is a 60 percent increase over last year.
CHETRY: You can go to an all inclusive in Cancun for four days for that, but you wouldn't get to have the joyous time with your family if you did.
ROBERTS: Yes, no place like Minneapolis at Christmas.
CHETRY: Well, if you use your iPhone as an alarm clock, check the time. There is a glitch in the phone's software that means it won't recognize the end of Daylight Saving Time. A lot of phones may get an extra hour of unwanted sleep. To fix the problem you need to reset your alarms.
ROBERTS: As I discovered this morning.
Still to come, President Obama busts some move while on his diplomatic tour of India. We'll go to look at his steps and another president who also found himself dragged out on the dance floor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Fifty-seven channels and nothing on. Now, it's 500. It's 17 minutes after the hour. Here are some of the stories we got us talking this morning.
Conan O'Brien's return to late night television just hours away now. His new show debuts tonight on our sister network TBS. Last night Conan tweeted, just tried on my suit for tomorrow's premiere. I've got 12 hours to lose 35 pounds. Again, Conan's comeback tonight, TBS, 11:00 p.m. eastern.
CHETRY: There you go. Lea Michelle from "Glee," you know, the girl who had all everybody crazy with GQ photo spread.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: She'll be on, too. Good luck, Con. Hope it's good.
New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, not mincing words when talking about some of the newly elected members of Congress. I'm sure this will come back to bite him. He's traveling in Hong Kong. Bloomberg said this to "The Wall Street Journal," quote, "If you look at the U.S., you look at who we're electing to Congress, to the Senate, they can't read. I'll bet you a bunch of these people don't have passports. We're about to start a trade war with China if we're not careful here only because nobody knows where China is, nobody knows what is China is," unquote.
ROBERTS: Yes, sounds to me --
CHETRY: Referring to?
ROBERTS: Sounds to me like there's going to be response to that. Probably sooner rather than later.
How about President Obama busting a move in Mumbai? He was visiting some school children, relaxing and watching the first lady dancing with the kids when the students, of course, pulled him on over to the dance floor, too.
CHETRY: Yes, there you go. He looks reluctant too say the least, but he's going for it. There he is. And of course, it brought back memories of 2007 when President George Bush, he went all in as well during this Rose Garden ceremony. He's joined African tribal dancers, and he started doing his own improv at a couple of points. There you go. Taking over the drums.
ROBERTS: The memorable moment in presidential history. And Vladimir Putin putting the pedal to the metal topping 150 miles an hour behind the wheel of a Formula 1 race car. The prime minister is drumming up publicity for Russia's first grand prix racing event schedule for 2014. That's not the only race he signed where it has that Putin is planning another run for president of the Russian federation in 2012.
CHETRY: There you go. Well, how about this one? This is a sneaky play. Watch this quarterback. This is Driscoll Middle School in Corpus Christi, and we're going to show it full (ph) so you can see it. OK. He's pretending that he's going to walk over and ask for some help from the sidelines, then his center hands him the ball, take a little a stroll, and then he streaks for the end zone. The defense had no idea what was going on. So, it ended up being a 67-yard touchdown. And one of the great trick plays you'll ever see.
ROBERTS: I'd like to see that again. Can we roll it again?
CHETRY: See what he did at the beginning. Here we go.
ROBERTS: OK. So, he takes the snap, and then --
CHETRY: Why are they letting him walk? They should have tackled him from the second he started walking.
ROBERTS: They should have pummeled him. What was that all about?
CHETRY: I don't know. This is why you only see it -- this is a high school game, right?
ROBERTS: Middle school.
CHETRY: Middle school.
ROBERTS: Let me take the snap. Hang on, let me -- kids are all standing there like what's going on?
CHETRY: Try that in the NFL, we'll see how well that works. Well, next on the Most News in the Morning, marking the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's election as president. We're going to see some never before seen photos courtesy of "Life" magazine. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Twenty-two minutes past the hour right now. Just fifty years ago today that America elected John F. Kennedy president. And during the 1960 campaign, "Life" magazine dispatched its best photographers to cover the future commander in chief.
ROBERTS: They took thousands upon thousands of photographs, most of which were never used. But to honor today's anniversary, Life.com is featuring a series of more than 30 never before seen images of Camelot on the campaign trail.
Ben Cosgrove is the deputy editor of life.com. He wrote all the captions for these photographs and brought some of them along with him. First of all, so, 50 years later, it's a significant anniversary, but why did you decide to go back through the archive, find some of your favorite photographs and put them out there?
BEN COSGROVE, DEPUTY EDITOR, LIFE.COM: Well, I think the main reason is because of the 50-year anniversary, the significance of that date, the fact that we're in a very sort of polarized divisive time politically in the United States. I think the 1960 was the height not only of Kennedy's coming into his own but also of "Life" magazine as a publication. It was an extraordinary publication, weekly publication, the finest photography magazine ever.
And we wanted to go back and find as many photographs as we could that really told the story of Kennedy on the campaign trail before he became president, when he was still something of an unknown to the United States.
CHETRY: Right. It's interesting because these are not the iconic Kennedy photos that you're used to seeing. They paint a whole different picture. A couple of the standard images, one is where you see John F. Kennedy. He's standing on a chair, and this is at a crowd in West Virginia, almost no visible security, and then you see a little kid, if you can see it, on the bottom right-hand side of the screen.
Let's drop the banner just for one quick sec so we can see it actually. And the kid is just standing there holding a pretty real looking toy gun right next to him.
COSGROVE: Yes. The most extraordinary aspect, I think, of these photos for us is we were going through them, not only was the number of really excellent photos because "Life" sent so many great photographers out on the campaign trails, with all the campaigns, but was the lack of security. These guys were out there on their own to a large degree. They were wandering, not wondering, they had purpose, but they were walking thorough hotel hallways. They were walking into crowds. They were shaking hands with seemingly very little if any security. So, and it's impossible to look at these photos today and not know what happened three years later in Dallas and have a sense of real certainty that we will never see a campaign like this again. The access to the candidates was extraordinary. And I think "Life" captured that really, really well.
ROBERTS: You know, unless you're talking about a candidate who is a president running for office again or a vice president just running for president for the first time, you do see in the early going at least, there is the definite lack of security.
COSGROVE: Sure.
ROBERTS: Once they become the nominee and they go out there on the campaign trail, security all over them.
COSGROVE: That's right.
ROBERTS: This is an interesting photograph as well that we want to bring up. It shows then candidate Kennedy signing an autograph, and we talk about the celebrity of President Obama during the 2008 campaign, but here's the guy who started it all.
COSGROVE: Yes. Kennedy really was something of a rock star. I'm sure that he would not enjoy that characterization, or maybe he would. I don't know. But this was a period right before the British invasion. Beatle mania was right around the corner. Elvis Presley and Sinatra before him had shown that crowds would sort of lose themselves if they found a charismatic figure that they could let loose with.
CHETRY: Right.
COSGROVE: And Kennedy was perhaps unique among American politicians until Obama in that regard.
ROBERTS: There's a little bit, not exactly the same, but a little bit of a companion photo that we want to show. A ticker tape parade in New York City for a candidate.
COSGROVE: Yes, this was during the campaign.
CHETRY: That's amazing.
COSGROVE: I think when all of us who were looking at these photos before we chose the photos that eventually ended up in Life.com, looked at this picture, we thought, oh, a ticker tape parade for the victor in (INAUDIBLE) of heroes in Manhattan. But then, it's actually in October before the actual election. I mean, yes, New York has always been a strongly Democratic state, but this is extraordinary.
CHETRY: You mean, they wouldn't have done one for Nixon? I love this, by the way. This is John F. Kennedy in a phone booth. And you say that the story behind it is really interesting. He's talking to a housewife in New Jersey.
COSGROVE: That's right.
CHETRY: He was grabbed by a guy who said, hey, talk to my wife. So, what did he say to her?
COSGROVE: That's right. Well, this is at the Statler Hotel in Los Angeles during the convention in July of 1960. And Kennedy made his way out in the hallway, either to collect his thoughts or maybe to go to another meeting, it's unclear. And somebody who's on the phone, a business man who's on the phone said, hey senator, come over here and say hello to my wife.
So, he got on the phone and said, hello, this is Senator Kennedy. I hope you're taking care of your husband and then he got off the phone. And the fellow who handed him the phone told the photographer later that he was sure that his wife thought he was drunk and was -- that could not -- not Kennedy was drunk but he, the husband, was drunk.
ROBERTS: There was a moment (ph) in the campaign travel in 2000 where Al Gore was on a river boat, and it was tipper's birthday, and he put a couple back and grab people's cell phones and was calling their kids at home. That was an interesting moment.
COSGROVE: Right.
ROBERTS: JFK and Jackie. A lot of photographs of them. And it's amazing when you think Jack Kennedy was only 31 years old when the election campaign was ongoing. And you see these pictures of them and you think wow, Camelot, what an amazing relationship. Of course now, retrospect a lot of it was a sham.
COSGROVE: Yes. In retrospect, it was a sham. I think these photographs show that there was a genuine attachment and attraction between these two people. He was, as you mentioned, he was significantly older, even though, he was still very young. He was 43. Nixon, by the way, was only four years older, which most people don't recognize.
CHETRY: Right.
COSGROVE: He was a very young candidate. But Jackie and Jack Kennedy, while we know now that there were huge dividing forces in their life, primarily on his side and his infidelity and other things, he and she seemed to really be comfortable with each other. And there seems to be a real affection there in these photographs. And I think that was genuine. I also think that they were extraordinary people dealing with incredible tensions and his ambitions.
CHETRY: Right. Did the campaign bring them together or make it more difficult for their personal relationship?
COSGROVE: I don't know. I think it probably was -- they were forced together at times when they had to go from event to event to event. So, clearly, they spent a lot of time together. But I think it would be difficult for any spouse to see their significant other out there on the campaign trail receiving the adulation that Jack Kennedy received and not feel a bit sort of left out of the loop in a way.
ROBERTS: There's one other photograph I want to show here. And this is not of Kennedy, but it just sort of speaks to the campaign and how much fun it would be. Look at this. All of the photographers on the back of the car.
COSGROVE: Right. This is a Paul Schutzer photo. Paul Schutzer was one of Life's finest photographers. He was killed 1967 at the age of 37 in Israel during the Seven Day War. But he was a very young, technically brilliant, ambitious photographer here. And this shows the kind of play or just enjoyment of the work that all of the photographers, not just "Life" photographers but the media had on this campaign. They were having a good time, and part of that was because of Kennedy and his team.
ROBERTS: It was great when the cars had wings like that on the back.
COSGROVE: The style was very 60s.
ROBERTS: All more than 30 photographs on the Life.com Web site are just extraordinary to look at for history buffs. Thanks very much for being with us.
COSGROVE: Thanks.
ROBERTS: You want to check out the portfolio, again www.life.com.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, we're crossing the half hour right now, time to look at this morning's top stories. President Obama in India and on a mission. Last hour he spoke to India's parliament. In the speech the president announced he is endorsing India's bid for a permanent street on the United Nations Security Council.
ROBERTS: A family of four lost at sea for nearly a week is safe this morning. They were rescued Saturday some 2,300 miles from Hawaii by the coast guard in a New Zealand air force crew. The family, two adults and two children, were discovered drifting, listen to this, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a 13-foot boat a 15 horse power motor.
Coast Guard officials say they were dehydrated but not suffering much more than that.
CHETRY: Qantas Airlines says their A-380 jumbo jet fleet will remain grounded while the airline looks into oil leaks discovered in three of the planes' engines. Qantas grounded the fleet last Thursday after an A-380 one was forced to make an emergency landing after its engine blew out in Singapore.
ROBERTS: Well, they already have a Web site, a Twitter account, even a YouTube channel. CHETRY: Yes, but now Britain's royals have taken social networking to the next level. The queen is on Facebook. Richard Quest is live in London for us this morning. Did she friend you yet?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, you've got to hand it to this age old institution, the monarchy. They have an ability to generate hype and hoopla that is really quite extraordinary.
I'm looking at the page at the moment on my computer screen here. And the Facebook page, it's actually the British monarchy, it's not Queen Liz or Lizzie or queen with a big hat. It's the British monarchy.
You can't friend her, you can't pretty much do anything you do if you wanted to go to, for example, Facebook.com with anybody else. But what you can do is you can say you like her. I can feel your excitement at that prospect.
And so far more than 60,000 people have agreed that they like it and are now reading and seeing pictures of her majesty the queen and her family.
ROBERTS: There is more of a fan page. Why is the palace doing this?
QUEST: John, you're showing a distressing knowledge of Facebook, front pages and all of this. We're into deep water I can tell.
They're doing it because the palace firmly believes that whatever avenue is available in the modern technology, they need use it. So yes, they were very, very quick, and they are terribly proud of their website, which is excellent for pictures, for history, for archive, all of that sort of stuff. Same with Twitter.
On the Facebook page you get more what the queen is doing, you're going to see pictures. I think there's no question, I remember seeing the story when the queen got her first iPod and the story, in fact, of course, of President Obama gave the queen some technology. But the fact is the palace is determined to be seen that however you want to get information on the royal family, they are going to make sure you can.
CHETRY: Now you can like the queen on Facebook. Pretty cool. Richard Quest for us, thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Richard.
Hit a guy while he's down why don't you? President Obama's post election reflection had the "Washington Post's" Dana Milbank wondering if things would have gone differently under President Hillary Clinton. He joins us just ahead.
CHETRY: Also a new report finds fast food marketing to your kids is out of control. We'll break down some of the unhealthiest kids meals there are. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up on 38 after the hour. We know that President Obama took a shellacking in the midterm elections and took it pretty hard with comments like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is something that I think every president needs to go through. This is a growth process and an evolution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, when our next guest heard that he couldn't help but recall this Hillary Clinton speech from the 2008 election campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: When there is a crisis and the phone rings at 3:00 a.m. in the White House, there's no time for speeches or on the job training. You have to be ready to make a decision.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, would President Hillary Clinton have been better prepared to handle the nation's current troubles? The "Washington Post's" Dana Milbank raised the question in his latest column and he joins us now live from Washington.
Good to see you this morning. So you talked to some of Hillary Clinton's former advisers. What do they say what if anything she might have done differently?
DANA MILBANK, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, "THE WASHINGTON POST": John, I don't think they take satisfaction. I was trying to draw them out on this.
What nobody can really say is that the unemployment rate would be better, the Democrats would have lost fewer seats. But I think what we can say is Hillary Clinton's tool kit is better for this environment. Even back during the campaign when the economy was important but it wasn't the all consuming issue it is now, she was out there in November of 2007 talking about the danger of derivatives and other instruments. Every day there was an economic message.
And it really didn't catch on for her back then because a lot of the primary was about her war vote.
What's interesting is perhaps if the vote were held in this environment people would see her experience, the fact she'd been through the debacle of 1994 and that she'd sort of studied it all with her husband, would indicate that, in fact, she is a bit of a better match for this environment.
ROBERTS: You talked to them about health care as well. And health care became such a huge national conversation, and to some degree such a huge preoccupation with the administration. What did her former aides tell you they would have done with health care?
MILBANK: There's no doubt that she would have had to attempt health care just as President Obama did. What they say is that she probably would have pulled the plug earlier. She wouldn't have allowed it to consume 15 months while everybody in the country was worried about the economy.
Most likely that would have meant striking a deal, getting some of the politically palatable elements allowing you to keep your health insurance when you switch between jobs, health insurance for children. But you know, it's highly speculative. We can't know for sure. She probably would not have handed things over to Nancy Pelosi to the same extent Barack Obama did just knowing the personalities involved.
ROBERTS: Now, in the statement that got you thinking about the president, he used the word "evolve." Every White House evolves, and Hillary Clinton's White House should she have won the presidency would have evolved as well, wouldn't it?
MILBANK: Of course everybody evolves. In the context of what the president was saying there is, look, Ronald Reagan was up here in 1982 after taking a hit, Bill Clinton in 1994 after taking a hit. He seemed to view it as inevitable.
And I just wondered whether somebody who had been through '94 in the White House already might have been able to see that coming, make a better connection.
Remember, Hillary Clinton's base was that disaffected working class voter from the rust belt. Those are the very people who abandoned Obama and the Democrats on Election Day. There is reason to believe because she had that sort of visceral connection to them she might have been able through her message, if not necessarily through her policies, to have maintained that more.
ROBERTS: Here is an interesting statistic. It's a figure from a CNN Research Corporation poll. When you look at favorability ratings, Hillary Clinton for outstrips president Obama. Hers are 62 percent, his are 48 percent. Of course it's always easier to be more popular when you're not the president.
But should the White House, would the White House be wise in 2012 to try to capitalize on that if they are facing a difficult race which at the moment it looks like they are going to. Would they be better to have her on the ticket with president Obama as opposed to Joe Biden, particularly looking ahead to maybe launching her in 2016?
MILBANK: It's everybody's favorite parlor game in Washington now. Everybody's denied it all around. But it's fun to speculate, and why not keep doing that? Hillary Clinton is popular. I like to say polling well is the best revenge. But the truth is that's because she's out of the spotlight and because she's dealing with a relatively successful area that this administration has had that she's not blamed for the economic troubles.
So, as soon as she got thrust back in that spotlight she'd be tarnished in the same way. So, I would find it extremely unlikely that Joe Biden would step aside for her. But that's not going to stop any of us from talking about it.
ROBERTS: What do you think she's going to do in 2016?
MILBANK: Well, she talks about a happy retirement. But you know Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, and I suspect that if there's any chance that there's a possibility of getting elected in her future, she'll take it. The only thing that cures that disease that makes you seek the presidency is embalming fluid.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: I don't know that the Clintons are the sort that would be bound for retirement. And you suggested in your column, too, that they don't quit, they kind of move on to the next job.
MILBANK: That's true. And there could be others in her future. But from first lady to senator to secretary of state, but she's definitely got presidential bug in here. So I don't take at face value that she's going to be taking up golf in 2016.
ROBERTS: It's six years from now so we've got a lot of time to think about it. Dana Milbank from the "Washington Post," great to talk to you this morning. Thanks.
MILBANK: Thanks a lot, John.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Thanks, John.
Well, a very chilly start to your Monday for much of the east. Take a look right now. This is looking Atlanta where they are waking up to the upper 30s. And Rob Marciano is going to be along with the forecast that includes snow, albeit light snow, but snow in some areas in the northeast, right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Hey, the music is starting a little early this year. But apparently so is the snow. There is a look at Central Park this morning; 41 degrees, 47 degrees a little bit later and sunny. But we're hearing reports this morning of light snow in West Hampton, on Long Island and also rain mixed with snow at JFK Airport.
ROBERTS: Oh, boy.
CHETRY: Get you in the mood early?
ROBERTS: No.
CHETRY: Sleigh bells ring?
ROBERTS: I want --
CHETRY: Are you listening?
ROBERTS: -- I want July back again.
CHETRY: Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center. So technically it's snowing here in NYC?
MARCIANO: Oh man, go clear out the shelves of the grocery store and get the kids home from school. It's going to get nasty.
I'm kidding. But yes, we've got some snowflakes that are coming down. And you know, it wasn't too long ago you guys are talking about the heat. It was a record-breaking hot summer and we we're looking forward to fall. Well, here it is.
Low pressure, not really moving today, continues to spin Atlantic moisture back into relatively cold there. Not at all levels of the atmosphere so we've got some snow, we've got some sleet, we've got some freezing rain in spots. And as a matter of fact, some rain in spots of New England and yes, the snow mixing in at times across parts of Long Island including JFK and out towards the West Hampton.
But the bulk of the rally nastiest stuff is Boston through Worcester, where we're seeing some snow. It's snowing right now in Worcester, Massachusetts where the winds are gusting over 40 miles an hour. Of course you could be at Mount Washington where wind is gusting over 70 miles an hour. And it's -- and it's freezing rain right now.
Some of the snow mixing in down to New Haven as well; again, we don't expect a whole a lot of accumulation with this. Most -- mostly it's going to have to be well north and west of the I-95 Corridor. And there you see some white starting to mix in there along parts of eastern Long Island and through what -- yes about where West Hampton is. We are starting to see a little bit of snowflake mixing in as far as the radar is concerned.
And yes, maybe -- maybe on some grassy surfaces you might see some pick up. But it will be slick north and west of I-95 so just be aware of that. And be careful out there it's going to be a slow go for sure.
Out west we have another storm that's rolling into places like Salt Lake into the Wasatch (ph) and into the Tetons as well. And here's what it looked like over the weekend in Sutter (ph) Springs, California just east of Sacramento.
Winter storm warnings are posted for the Sierras tonight, one to two feet potentially, so what you are looking at here is small potatoes for what the -- what you're going to see later on today and tonight.
If you are travelling today we do have ground stop right now in Boston. We've got hour-delays in -- in Newark and La Guardia and that's where we expect to see for the remaining of today. Thirty to 60 minutes delay potentially in Philadelphia and some wind delays potentially in Las Vegas, maybe some delays in Salt Lake City as well.
Not to mention the cold air across part of the east and southeast, 26 degrees yesterday in Charlotte, Jackson, Kentucky 27 and Miami got all the way down to 53 in between the cold nastiness, it should be nice from Chicago to Colorado Springs to Dallas.
Take it easy on the way home today, guys.
CHETRY: Yes, you can't -- you can't even escape it in Florida. It's not even that warm down there.
MARCIANO: No. All the way -- a record breaking cold of 71 in Key West yesterday. So embrace it, John.
ROBERTS: It's unbelievable.
MARCIANO: Embrace it. You were just sweating two months ago.
ROBERTS: I know, and I like the sweating thing. I -- I -- you know get me to Key West, come on. All right, thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
ROBERTS: Looks like it's all systems go for the two additions to this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade here in New York City. The two new balloons, Kung-Fu Panda -- there it is -- and Greg Hefly (ph) "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" were tested for parade worthiness this weekend. It appears they came through with flying colors. And the next time you'll see them is going to be in the air for the 84th Annual Macy's Parade on Thanksgiving Day.
CHETRY: Nice.
ROBERTS: And still to come, if you're a parent you're going to want to hear this story before taking your kids out to their favorite fast food joint. A new study finds that out of 3,000 different kids' meal combinations just a handful of them are considered healthy. We'll break down the worst offenders -- just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, if you're a parent you want to hear the next story or this might not be that much of a surprise to you depending. A new study showing just how unhealthy most kid meals are.
ROBERTS: Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen joins us now. And we've got some staggering findings to report here, Elizabeth. What -- what have we got?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The folks at Yale University decided to take a look, John, at fast food meals that are marketed to kids. And believe it or not there's actually thousands of different combinations.
And what they found is that only 12 of them, that's right, just 12 of them, met what they considered were the nutritional standards for preschoolers, kids ages two or three, because we all know that kids ages two and three eat things like Happy Meals.
So let's take a look at some of the offenders; some of the ones that had the highest number of calories. Take a look at this. At Dairy Queen: a cheeseburger, fries, soda, and the dilly bar is 973 calories. KFC: popcorn chicken, biscuit, soda and string cheese is 840 calories. And here's a third one for you, Taco Bell: you get a bean burrito, a cinnamon twist and soda, that's 760 calories.
Think about those numbers: 900 calories, 800 calories, 700 calories. A preschooler is supposed to have about 1,200 calories in a whole day. So, if you're eating 800 calories in one meal it's easy to see how kids might get to be heavy.
Now, we wanted to get a reaction from the fast food industry. And unfortunately they haven't gotten to see the study yet because it's not released until there is a press conference coming up this morning.
However, we could give them the gist of it and here's what they had to say. Their reaction is that numerous surveys show the increasing number of healthful options in kids' meals and nutritious offerings in children's meals is the number one food trend in quick service restaurants. So in other words, what they're saying is there are options. You don't have to get the bean burrito with the cinnamon twist -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: No, you're right. And there are healthier options, a lot of them are offering, you know, carrot sticks and celery sticks, apples. The problem is getting your kids to eat the ones that taste better -- or that are better for you. They want the ones that taste better.
COHEN: Right. That's right. So that's why this is partly a responsibility for parents, but I have to say as a parent it can be very difficult to tell your child to get celery sticks instead of French Fries; it's not impossible but it is tough.
Let's take look at some numbers that I think kind of illustrate the point here: 84 percent of parents say that they have taken their child out for fast food in a given week. All right -- 84 percent. That is really high taking their kids to fast food weekly.
And if you take a look at the ads, there are 21 percent more TV ads aimed at kids for fast food than in 2003. That's a pretty sharp rise. I don't know if the tail's wagging the dog or what's going on here, but kids are certainly telling their parents, hey look what I saw on TV, let's go get it.
ROBERTS: So, if you want your kid to be healthy you might want to skip the dilly bar. Right?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: All right.
COHEN: Especially if they are two.
CHETRY: Thanks Elizabeth.
ROBERTS: Thanks Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: A couple of minutes to the top of the hour; we'll be right back
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Yes. We're going to ring the bell. It's last call for us. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. We really appreciate you being by. We'll see you again bright and early tomorrow morning.
CHETRY: Yes, we hope you have a wonderful weekend. Happy Friday -- kidding.
ROBERTS: Wish it was Friday.
CHETRY: I'm not going to get (INAUDIBLE) again. We've got four more --
ROBERTS: I'm with you on the Friday thing today.
CHETRY: We have four more good days ahead of us before we worry about that.
"CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips starts right now -- hey, Kyra.
