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American Morning
Huckabee Wins in Iowa; Romney's Fight; Unemployment Rate 5 Percent, Sky Traffic; Spears' Troubles
Aired January 04, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, a lot to tell you about from a variety of different standpoint, this morning, shall we say. It's Friday, the 4th of January. Thanks very much for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Yes, a lot of big winners last night. Not much to say for their victory. They're off to New Hampshire already and getting ready for the next big early voting block of the year. And it was a huge night though for both Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama. Riding the momentum, right into New Hampshire this morning, after winning the Iowa caucuses. Let's take a look.
Obama made history last night with an eight point victory over John Edwards. Hillary Clinton in third place. And a record number, a first time caucusgoers showed up to vote for Obama. More than half of them said they wanted a candidate who would bring about change which has been Obama's theme from the start.
And also, a lot of people, six months ago, had not really even heard of him out of obscurity. Former Arkansas Mike Huckabee, taking Iowa with a nine point lead over Mitt Romney. Pulling in single digits just weeks ago, he didn't have the cash or the organization of some other candidate. He did have a populist message. Entrance polls showing also that religious voters, especially the evangelical vote, put him over the top.
ROBERTS: Months and in some cases years of planning all for one night. Now just hours after the dust settles, "The Best Political Team On Television" is figuring out what it all means for the nomination race. We're talking with their national chief correspondent, John King, this morning and also, Dan Lothian, is up there in New Hampshire checking in on all of the candidates as they start campaigning there right out of the box. No sleep having just arrived from Iowa. Let's begin with John. John, what do the results of Iowa last night show us about what is on voter's minds?
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's fascinating, John, because we spent a lot of time in the last month talking about how important Iraq is and the economy to Democratic voters. Illegal immigration, the economy, and healthcare to Republican voters. But if you want to look at the results of Iowa, on the morning after, as the candidates now shift to New Hampshire, you can sum it all up with one word.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Iowa's verdict is changed.
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Years from now, you'll look back and you'll say that this was the moment. This was the place where America remembered what it means to hope.
KING: And more change.
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A new day is needed in American politics, just like a new day is needed in American government and, tonight, it starts here in Iowa.
KING: The first votes dramatically reshape the race for president in both parties. New and different, winning out over candidates more familiar.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now you know, we have always planned to run a national campaign.
KING: And with deeper pockets.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You win the silver in one event, it doesn't mean you're not going to come back and win the gold in the final event and that we're going to do.
KING: On now to New Hampshire and Barack Obama senses a chance to deliver the knockout blow.
OBAMA: They said this day would never come. They said our sights were set too high.
KING: Democratic turnout was way up and Obama's victory was convincing. Senators John Edwards vowed to fight on. While Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd bowed out. But the biggest question among Democrats is whether Senator Clinton has the resilience that became her husband's trademark.
CLINTON: Who will be the best president on day one? I am ready for that contest.
KING: Questions for Republicans, too. Evangelicals powered the big Huckabee in Iowa. But the former Baptist preacher faces more difficult to reign in Libertarian New Hampshire. Senator John McCain is the favorite there now and under attack by Romney, who can ill afford to lose again. McCain says his rival is ignoring Iowa's lesson.
JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That negative campaigns don't work. They don't work there and they don't work here in New Hampshire. They're not going to work.
KING: Round one, changed just about everything. Round two, now just five days away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And round two already under way this morning, John. The interviews, the candidates coming on the program. Some of the events already in New Hampshire. You see, they are changing based on Iowa's verdict. Governor Romney talking about getting things done. You will learn a lot about politicians when they lose. How they pick themselves up. We are going to learn a lot in the next few days about Senator Clinton, about Governor Romney, and about what the voters, in a bigger setting now. Primary, not a caucus. It's a bigger universe of voters. What do the Democrats want their party to be? What do Republicans want their party to be? We are in a fascinating moment. In a completely volatile election.
ROBERTS: This is the first completely non-incumbent race in 80 years. The turn out that we saw there in Iowa. Records on both sides, Democrat and Republican. What does it say about the intensity of the electric going forward in this election?
KING: It says the electorate in both parties is engaged and very interested in this election. If you're trying to sum up what last night meant, you'd have to say, there is still much more energy on the Democratic side, just like we saw in '06. The turnout among Democrats way up in Iowa. That was the state Gorge W. Bush carried. It's a swing state. It can go either way. Small state from the electoral map perspective. A potentially a very important state. This morning, you would still say, while Republicans are interested in their race, still not sure who in their candidates, there is much more intensity and energy on the Democratic side.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we'll see how it plays out as the days and weeks continue. John King, thanks.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Some other headlines this morning in a revelation in the CIA tapes investigation. A lawmaker warning the CIA back in 2003 not to destroy those interrogation tapes saying it would, quote, "Reflect badly on the agency." It was California Congresswoman's Jane Harman's who publicly released that letter just the day after the Justice Department launched a full investigation. It refers to a classified briefing in which then CIA General Council Scott Mueller told panel members that al Qaeda suspect, Abu Zubaydah, was being quote, "Waterboarded" which makes the suspect feel like his drowning.
The CIA destroyed the tapes in 2005 saying, it was done out of fear that they could compromise the identities of the interrogators.
Investigators from Britain Scotland Yard are in Pakistan right now. Looking into the assassination right now of Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. President Pervez Musharraf has acknowledged reports that evidence was destroyed because the crime scene had been quickly hosed down after the attack. Musharraf says a Taliban commander is responsible for the assassination.
And a top U.S. diplomat is on the way to Kenya to help end the post election violence there. So far, 300 people reported killed and a 100 thousand people left homeless after nearly a week of looting, fires and riots. Kenya's main opposition party claims that the vote count after last week's presidential election was rigged. ROBERTS: It's coming up on 7 minutes after the hour.
We're also tracking extreme weather in California, potential for devastating rain, snow and mudslides. Just take a look at that radar picture there. Particularly up here around Lake Tahoe, where you see that blue turn into pink and then white. That is dumping a lot, a lot of snow.
Pictures from Sacramento here. The area pounded with heavy rains and strong winds and there is a blizzard warning for the sierras. Up to ten feet of snow expected in some areas with whiteout conditions and winds of up to 145 miles per hour. Our Reynolds Wolf is in the middle of it. He is in Truckee, California. Reynolds, what is it like there right now. I mean, you are fogged up this morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: In the meantime, in Georgia, they are stepping the search now for a missing hiker. 24-year-old, Meredith Emerson. She was last seen New Year's Day, when she went hiking with her dog in the mountains. Police say, there are looking for a man in his 60s, who was seen talking to her on the trail. CNN's Rusty Dornin has been following the developments from Union County, Georgia. Tell us a little bit more about who police say this man may be.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what happened is one of the witnesses saw a license plate in this parking lot, when they traced that plate, it came back to Gary Michael Hilton. He is 61 years old. Police believe he is the last person or one of the last people to have spoken to Meredith Emerson and they very much wanted to talk to him. Now, meantime, her friends and family say, this was not a woman who would get lost. She knew her way around the woods.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORNIN: What happened to 24-year-old Meredith Emerson and her black lab, Ella, as they hiked familiar trails in the mountains of North Georgia, New Year's Day? Friends found her snow covered car. A water bottle and the dog's leash. Now police say, they are looking for a person of interest. Gary Michael Hilton, 61 years old, who may have been one of the last people to have seen or spoken with Emerson. Witnesses say he was, weather beaten, carrying an old pack, and had few or no teeth. According to police, witnesses say Hilton was seen talking to Emerson on the trail while their dogs played. Now police want to talk to him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to find out who he was and kind of talk to him and see what happened. What their conversation was throughout the day.
DORNIN: A witness told police that a white minivan belonging to Hilton was seen in the Parking lot of the trail-head where she disappeared. Friends, family and co-workers joined search and rescue teams hitting the trails where she was last seen. Frigid temperatures meant the search had to be called off at sunset. Friends say Emerson is very athletic and knew the trails here. Her former martial arts instructor described her as strong, 120 pounds of pure tough, he said.
PEGGY BAILEY, FORMER MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR: She's got a good chance because of who she is and what kind of physical shape she was in and her knowledge of the trails and her level headedness and ability to not do anything risky.
DORNIN: Her friends set up a website, helpfindmeredith.com, asking anyone with information to contact police.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORNIN: Now, as it turns out, it was the volunteer rescue teams and a few of the rescue teams that got called off. I just spoke to a man. They ran six dog teams out here last night. And the temperature, as you can see, there is still snow on the ground here and went down into the teens. You can get an idea here of what it looks like. Very heavily wooded, mountainous areas we're up about 4,500 feet. They will be having a little briefing here later this morning and they will have more rescue teams back out there, searching for Meredith Emerson.
Kiran?
CHETRY: All right, Rusty Dornin for us in Georgia, thank you.
ROBERTS: Well, al Qaeda apparently said to deliver its first message of 2008. Your "Quick Hits" now. A new video is expected from Adam Gadahn. An American charged with treason in 2006. He last appeared on a video back in August, threatening new attacks on foreign embassies. The FBI is offering a million dollar reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
A powerful car bomb attack at a bus in Southeastern Turkey. Four Kurdish rebels arrested this morning, suspected of killing at least five and wounding more than 65 others, including dozens of Turkish soldiers. The government says, the attack appears to be in retaliation for Turkish air strikes against Kurds in Northern Iraq last month.
And only Britney Spears could steal the spotlight from the presidential candidates. The police were called to her house last night. She was taken away on a stretcher. What sparked the whole thing? What is happening to her now? That is coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
Plus, a chance for her to become the comeback kid. Number two. Hillary Clinton comes in third in Iowa. How will it change her message on the trail in New Hampshire? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Here is a look right now at Senator Hillary Clinton's rally. This is being held in Nashville, New Hampshire, this morning. Not wasting any time, even though she came in third place in the Iowa caucuses. She was very confident yesterday saying, we're going to get up tomorrow and keep pushing as hard as we can. It looks like that's what they're doing. The theme of the event, "Time to Pick a President."
In fact, it's going to be Hillary and her husband. Former President Bill Clinton is joining her there. He is getting ready for a five-day blitz before the primary there on Tuesday as well. So, we'll look quickly at a rally taking place for Hillary Clinton this morning in New Hampshire.
ROBERTS: Well, Hillary Clinton is trying to shake off her third place finish in Iowa, focusing fully on New Hampshire now. Does last night's result pose a big problem for the New York senator? Joining us now is Carl Bernstein, CNN contributor, also author of the book "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton." And you know Hillary Clinton like not many other people do. What do you suspect is going on in the Clinton campaign right now?
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think the real question is what is going on with Hillary Clinton. She is wounded. The last time she lost an election was in high school. And Bill Clinton lost the governorship once and ran for Congress. His first time out and lost. This is not something the Clintons are accustomed to and certainly not by his inspirational and stunning figure of Obama last night in that speech. And so, they have to regroup and come up with some kind of new message, because what was rejected last night was the basis of this idea of the restoration of the Clintons to the White House.
ROBERTS: Let's take a look at how some of the voting broke down, particularly among women, whom she had really reached out to appeal to. Here is the way that it shaped up. Barack Obama got 35 percent of women, compared to 30 percent for Hillary Clinton, and 23 percent for John Edwards. Why did he appeal to women more than she did?
BERNSTEIN: I'm not sure. You know, I think that there is a dynamic in this campaign that began in Philadelphia with the debates, where until then, she was still moving well, and then the question of probity, the question of being fast and loose with facts came down on her by her opponents and she's been saddled with that ever since. That's always been a problem for her. She's going to have to find a way out of that. And at the same time, never bet against Hillary Clinton.
ROBERTS: Yes. Many people have and have lost.
BERNSTEIN: She is smart. She is resourceful and she is also a very compelling human being, which is really what this story is about. Because when she is at her most resourceful is when her back is to the wall. And this is not an unfamiliar position for her. At the same time, you know, she had become someone whose life had changed in the Senate. She's been in charge. She said a very interesting thing, if I heard it last night correctly. She said, "I'm in charge of this campaign." And I went like that.
And I said well, she is going to take this thing over, just as she took over the impeachment and she, from here on in, going to try to run this enterprise and, at the same time, she has got to do it in such a way, as people want this restoration of the Clintons floral to the White House. This is a big job.
ROBERTS: A lot of these candidates now, want to be the agent of change. Let's just listen to a little bit of how Hillary Clinton put that in the last few hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class and, to me, that is the most important job the next president will have, here at home, because if we don't begin to pay attention to the people who do the work and raise the families and make this country great, we will not recognize America in a few years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: She said she wants to change the status quo, but here is what our entry polling in the caucuses last night showed us about who voters believe could be the greatest agent for change. Look at this. 51 percent for Barack Obama, followed by Edwards at 20 percent, Hillary Clinton at 19. What's influencing those numbers?
BERNSTEIN: Well, it's not just the numbers. It's the two speeches. Listen to that speech which was her stump speech that she gave and listen to the soaring rhetoric, really a great speech, the likes of which we haven't heard in a long time in American politics from Obama last night. That is one of the reasons that there is a sense, I suspect, that many voters have. Look, here is an African- American who is running credibly for president of the United States.
She thought she was going to be the first woman to run credibly -- not only run credibly, but win the presidency. And as I say in afterward to this book, here she has been up-ended in the excitement category by this very compelling figure. She's got her work cut out for her. Don't bet against her.
ROBERTS: Not a position, she likes to be and she loves to be the center of attention. Carl Bernstein, thanks very much. The book is called "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton." Carl Bernstein, just at we should mention in paper back form. Good to see you again, my friend.
BERNSTEIN: Good to see you, thanks.
CHETRY: Still ahead, Iowans are saying the economy is one of their most important concerns. We're going to tell you why they chose Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee to help fix it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. You know, both Republicans and Democrats in Iowa say that the economy is either the most important issue or a close second for them. So, why did they think Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama were the best choices to help the economy? Personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here now. Good to see you this morning. Thanks. GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to be here.
CHETRY: We will start with Barack Obama.
WILLIS: This is fascinating.
CHETRY: The candidate of change.
WILLIS: Right. It's all about change. When you look at the people who led last night, it's not just change on political issues, it's change on economic issues. Barack Obama, here you see, some of his many suggestions for the economy out there. A 10 percent mortgage tax credit for folks who don't itemize, helping out those people. One thing that on his list. And automatic enrollment and employee retirement plan. Right now, you know, you have to put your hand up and say, yes, I want to be part of the retirement plan. He believes that people are hurting themselves. He thinks the government should step in and tell employers that they have to enroll folks.
CHETRY: That's also interesting. What about some of the other candidates?
WILLIS: Let's talk about Clinton, for example. She is also more activists and more change when it comes to the economy. She, of course, suggested creating a $1 billion fund to help people in foreclosures. You know, that's the bail out. This is so controversial with so many people. She wants Wall Street though, to get involved in fixing the mortgage crisis. You know, she sort of plays both sides. She wants government involvement. She also wants some solutions from the industry.
Let's look at Edwards here too, because he also has some interesting, out of the box ideas. He wants to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2012. Keep in mind. We are just under 6 bucks an hour right now. That would be a very big change. And of course, he suggest, I think this is really interesting, and maybe it would have save us from the mortgage crisis. A commission to review financial products. So, there would be a Financial Product Safety Commission, just like there's a Consumer Products Safety Commission right now. That would look at these products and say, hey, this is good for you, this is not working for us. An interesting idea.
CHETRY: So, in most of those cases, they are all talking about adding government, adding steps, and adding more government involvement.
WILLIS: Yes. Change, change, change.
CHETRY: On the flip side, from the GOP candidates or from the two leading ones, Mike Huckabee is talking about what he calls a fair tax. It would be eliminating the IRS and talking about this National Sales Tax. That is getting a lot of critics as well.
WILLIS: I know. That is a very big change. OK. Sit back and imagine a world without an IRS, can you? I can't. I mean, it's really out of the box. Also, highly controversial. Some folks call it regrets and they say, it would penalize poor people. You know, the lower you are on the income scale, the more you spend on living day- to-day, grocery, and consumption. So, it could penalize them more. It's highly controversial as I said, but that is a real out of the box idea. (INAUDIBLE) veto to control spending. You can see, he is really suggesting things that are very, very different.
Romney, however, is a little more in what we've seen in the past few years. Let's lower corporate taxes. Let's make the Bush Tax cuts permanent. You can see, this is more similar what the Bush's have been doing.
CHETRY: That's right. Very interesting stuff as we talk about how this affects people's pocketbooks and their economic outlook for the future as well. Gerry, good to see you.
WILLIS: Good to see you.
CHETRY: Be sure to watch Gerri, by the way, this weekend at the "Open House." She is going to be looking at the road to recovery for the mortgage meltdown. Also, how to get out of your debt hangover and some ways to save big year. It's all happening, Saturday 9:30 a.m. eastern right here on CNN. Also, Saturday and Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
ROBERTS: And 27 minutes after the hour. Here is Betty Nguyen at the CNN center in Atlanta with a look at what is ahead on "CNN Saturday Morning." I bet you don't have a story as good as we have this morning, Betty?
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, we've got a lot of stories, though, John. Good morning. We are on the campaign trail as it shifts from Iowa to New Hampshire. What will it take to persuade the independent voters in the Granite State and how will candidates change their strategist? We're going to have the latest.
Plus, camouflage to designer gowns? Yes, one young woman goes from army sergeant to beauty queen. Find out how Miss Utah is breaking down stereotypes.
And you probably won't be able to see the mountain tops around Lake Tahoe this weekend. Let's give you a look at that. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf has the latest on this huge winter storm. T.J. Holmes joins me, "CNN Saturday and Sunday Morning," beginning tomorrow at 7:00 eastern. I know you'll be watching, John.
ROBERTS: Certainly will. Betty, thanks very much. We'll see you tomorrow.
And Britney Spears is in a Los Angeles hospital after being taken from her home on a stretcher overnight. That story and today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: This is actually a rally for Hillary Clinton this morning in New Hampshire. Landed early this morning. We had video of that. She is actually, even though she came in third place in Iowa last night, hitting the ground running, maintaining some positivity and saying they are not going to worry about it. They are going to move on to New Hampshire. She's enlisting former President Bill Clinton as well and he will get out there and put his feet to the pavement the next four days.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Some of us remember the original of that song in the 1960s in the Monkees Show.
CHETRY: I also know the Monkees but I would just tell you that most people today. I'm a very young 42. Welcome back. It's January 4th. I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
ROBERTS: I'm John Roberts. Good morning to you. It was a night to remember in American politics. Democratic Senator Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee have won the Iowa caucuses. Obama became the first African-American candidate to do so. John Edwards took second place, Senator Hillary Clinton all the way in third. Record-breaking number of first-time caucus-goers put Obama over the top.
CHETRY: And Mike Huckabee also. He went from dark horse to front runner in just a few months with little money and not much of an organization. Now that he is on top, can he keep that going in New Hampshire? I spoke to him earlier on AMERICAN MORNING and asked him if he can do as well in that state where he won't get as much support from evangelical Christians that put him over the top in Iowa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not just the religious vote. It's the vote for people who care about their country and their children and who really believe that a lot of folks in Washington have been paying more attention to their next selection than they have to the next generation of young Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Recent polls in New Hampshire show Huckabee in fourth place among republicans.
ROBERTS: Mitt Romney has hit the ground running in New Hampshire trying to put last night's second place finish in Iowa behind him. Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, I asked him what a Romney presidency would look like and if he would go as far as President Bush has in trying to spread democracy throughout the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Democracy is a big word and it's much bigger than a vote. You want to make sure to have a true democracy that you have the underpinnings of a democracy which includes the rule of law and education system, free press and so forth. So you want to establish some of those features, some of those foundational elements so that ultimately you can have democracy. I don't rush in saying let's have a vote. I look instead to say how can we strengthen the core of a nation such that people there are ready for principles of democracy. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The latest New Hampshire poll shows Romney in dead heat with John McCain. Join us on Monday. AMERICAN MORNING will be live from New Hampshire on Monday and Tuesday beginning at 6:00 a.m. eastern and the best political team on television will bring you the primary results as they happen. CNN's coverage begins Tuesday evening at 8:00 eastern. Kiran?
CHETRY: Just in. New employment numbers released minutes ago. Ali Velshi at the business update desk with a look for us. Hi Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, sorry to do this to you but ever since I've been back in the New Year, nothing but news. The unemployment rate for the United States is 5 percent. It's the highest it's been in over two years. That just in from the Department of Labor. The unemployment rate was expected to go from 4.7 where it was up just one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.8 and it jumped to 5 percent and the number of jobs created in December just 18,000. Most people will tell you to keep up with the growth in the United States we need to have at least 100,000 jobs a month and some people think even substantially more. Just 18,000 jobs created, 5 percent unemployment rate. Stock futures have turned. They were positive and now turned sharply negative on this news. More than a hundred points down. The dollar is dropping on this news and there is now renewed speculation that when the federal reserve next meets again on interest rates, which will be on January 30th, there are likely or at least at this point, the betting is they may consider cutting rates again to try to keep this economy going.
Remember, we talk about home prices in 2007 being lower, energy prices being higher but the one thing that was holding this all together was the jobs number, the fact that unemployment in the United States was relatively low. We have had that number creeping up. Now 5 percent. That's a number that starts to concern people that if they lose more jobs over the course of the next year, we don't gain enough, that is going to put some heavy pressure on the economy, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. We will keep an eye on that throughout the morning. Thanks a lot, Ali.
ROBERTS: It's 35 minutes after the hour now.
Our next guest is going to be busy covering the race between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, as well as Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Mitt Romney and others. John Clayton is a senior reporter for "The Union Leader." He joins me now from Manchester, New Hampshire.
Good morning to you, John. So Mike Huckabee comes roaring into New Hampshire with a head of steam and a 23 percent national sales tax. How is that going to go over there?
JOHN CLAYTON, SR. REPORTERS, THE UNION LEADER: That is going to go over big in New Hampshire, you're right, John. This is the only state in America that still has no state sales or income tax and a proposal like that is not going to fly like the planes you hear flying in here right now.
ROBERTS: The candidates come in this morning. Does he have any issues that really resonate with voters well there? How is he going to do based on his stance on the issues?
CLAYTON: I think the Iowa results in New Hampshire will be viewed as an anomaly. It was pitched to an evangelical audience that does not exist in New Hampshire. He had a brochure that is a proven Christian leader. Here in New Hampshire that same brochure just said a proven leader. So obviously he knows he has to fine tune his here.
ROBERTS: What about Barack Obama? The democrats are all very close on the issues but if the Iowa votes said anything last night, is that voters, at least in that state, see him as the real agent of change in the democratic side of this race. How is he seen there in New Hampshire?
CLAYTON: He is seen in a very positive light right now. As of this week, a CNN/WMUR poll showed that 60 percent of the registered democrats were undecided coming into this election. With five days to go, I think more than anybody Obama will get a huge bump coming out of Iowa with the undecided voters. Hillary Clinton has a real challenge ahead of her.
ROBERTS: So John, what are the most important issues in New Hampshire and how do they differ than Iowa?
CLAYTON: I think probably the ethanol issue is big in Iowa and not playing in New Hampshire at all. Although it is 5 degrees here now and ethanol heater in the truck wouldn't hurt. I think it's about personalities now. Primaries, I think people tend to vote with their heart instead of their head. Now this is about passion and I think Obama has incited a lot of passion. Hillary Clinton has a huge machine here in New Hampshire but what she needs to do is embrace voters emotional like Edwards and Obama seem to do in Iowa. It's a tough task with five days to go but her husband, Bill Clinton, has a huge reservoir of goodwill in New Hampshire and he is on the ground and running with her the next five days.
ROBERTS: You will see a lot of Bill Clinton in the granite state the next few days. Barack Obama last night proved he has huge support last night among independents and some 40 percent of the voters there in the granite state are independents. Could he potentially capture them all? Or could Ron Paul, who also had a pretty good showing last night in Iowa, siphon off some of those voters?
CLAYTON: That is the beauty of the New Hampshire primary. The independent voters can hold their cards until the last moment and register on the spot. Ron Paul may have a shot here. I think if he is going to have a shot anywhere, New Hampshire is fertile ground for Ron Paul but I think Obama has so much swing coming out of Iowa that is the guy to watch in terms of where the independents go.
ROBERTS: John, our viewers look at all of these contests and they say what does it mean for what might happen in the nomination and the overall general election. Is New Hampshire a more accurate indicator than Iowa of how this race may eventually turn out?
CLAYTON: I think it really is. I think we tend to look at Iowa as a nice civics lesson. It's about consensus building and you know a product comes out that might not be pure. New Hampshire is the first pure election. One voter goes in and closes the curtain behind them and casts their vote for one candidate. New Hampshire is different in many ways and I think the outcome come has a lot more bearing. Guys like Pat Robertson and Dick Gephardt and Paul Tsongas have had great showings in Iowa and went nowhere in New Hampshire.
ROBERTS: It's fun to watch the next few days. John Clayton of the New Hampshire Union Leader, good to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.
CLAYTON: See you next week, John.
ROBERTS: Good luck the next few days.
CLAYTON: See you next week.
CHETRY: There is another delay for the space shuttle "Atlantis." NASA pushing the launch off until later this month or February so they can fix a problem with a fuel gauge. Flight originally scheduled for December.
And a good end for a rough year at the nation's airports. 80 percent of flights were on time in December and only September was better. The strong finish is not expected to save the year from going down as the worst on record.
We brought you this story yesterday. The army's new helmet packed with sensors to analyze brain injuries. This morning, CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us to talk to a soldier about the new head gear and the wealth of information it could reveal coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Coming up 43 minutes after the hour.
High tech help is coming to soldiers on the battlefield in Afghanistan and future battles as well. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a brain surgeon. He has been looking at the new potentially life saving helmet that some soldiers are going to be issued.
Good morning to you, Sanjay. We've heard about this new helmet in the NFL and actually college football. Is this similar technology?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There are some similarities here, John. An important point is that traumatic brain injury has become a signature injury of this war. In fact, I'm sort of stunned by some of the numbers. We just found out 3,294 soldiers as of June 30th, 2007 have suffered from traumatic brain injury. Those are the ones who report it. As you know it can be sometimes vague symptoms so it may be under-diagnosed. About 70 percent caused by bomb blasts. How do you measure the forces that some of these soldiers incur when a bomb goes up, how much acceleration, how much does the air change around their head at that time? That can he hard to measure. It causes the traumatic brain injury and long-term memory lapses and all sorts of different things.
Take a look at the animation there and see what happens. There is such a thing coming out now sort of a better helmet, if you will, a smart helmet to try to measure some of the forces. And I have to say, we started making some calls to the U.S. army yesterday and they were gracious enough to actually send not only a helmet but Major Bill Schaffer, who is here with me, to give us a sense of actually happens here. Thanks for flying down and showing us this.
MAJOR WILLIAM SCHAFFER, ASST. PRODUCT MANAGER: Thanks for having me.
GUPTA: This is a standard helmet you've brought here but it has something different inside.
SCHAFFER: Yeah. Thanks for having us.
GUPTA: Sure.
SCHAFFER: The soldiers in Virginia, we are focused on ensuring we have the newest equipment and right now, we are focusing on improving the advanced combat helmet. This device that we are talking about right now is the helmet sensor.
GUPTA: There it is inside there.
SCHAFFER: This is it here. The helmet sensor will measure impact and overpressure on the advanced combat helmet. This is one of the systems that is internally mounted.
GUPTA: Right.
SCHAFFER: It's got 512 megs of memory and it will record the blast to the helmet and will be downloaded later for --
GUPTA: I think that's interesting as well. You take that little sensor out of there and you hook it up to your computer to the laptop computer some.
SCHAFFER: Right. This is essentially a micro chip. You have to remember, just a few years ago, they were using a steel pot.
GUPTA: Right.
SCHAFFER: Now we've got an advanced helmet and this is part of the advanced combat helmet. This is the externally mounted helmet sensor. The soldier will have this on his head and he'll go into combat zone and download this every 30 days.
GUPTA: Does this make soldiers safer?
SCHAFFER: Well, essentially this will make soldiers safer in the long run. This is going to collect data that will be used by academia, the government laboratory. Last June, PEO soldier were directed to establish consortium to find tests and field these helmet sensors. We are already started fielding the sensors to the 101st air assault.
GUPTA: They will be used this spring. Thank you very much. This is an interesting demonstration. John, I should point out this is not being used to directly measure effects on the brain right now but sort of incident detectors, giving a sense really how much acceleration, how much force the bombs generate and useful information for sure, John.
ROBETS: Absolutely. We have seen just the amount of research and the advances in medical science as a result of studying all this is incredible. Sanjay, thanks very much. Be sure to catch Sanjay's own show "HOUSE CALL" this weekend on CNN.
CHETRY: Another story we've been following this morning. The sad saga continues for pop star Britney Spears after paramedics taking her out of her home on a stretcher in the overnight hours after apparent dispute over custody with her children and her ex-husband Kevin Federline. One of the police officers at the scene saying she was intoxicated. Our Lola Ogunnaike, as well as legal analyst Sunny Hostin, will join us after the break with new details on this situation and what it means for her custody fight.
Also ahead, think we've covered every angle of the presidential race? Wait till you see what people captured with their own camera phones. Your political viral videos ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We've been talking politics all morning after the Iowa caucuses but there was another story that reared its ugly head, I guess you could say, this morning. Britney Spears being taken to the hospital and there is video of her being wheeled into a stretcher to a hospital. I think it was Cedars- Sinai Hospital in L.A. and apparently undergoing psychological examination after she was taken from her home in a stretcher last night. Police say it all started when she reportedly refused to give her sons back to her ex-husband Kevin Federline. He has custody of them and she has limited visitation. AMERICAN MORNING's Lola Ogunnaike and Sunny Hostin, our legal analyst, join us on the strange developments. What is the separating rumor from what is confirmed now about what happened?
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another year, another drama for Britney Spears. We do know right now she is in Cedars-Sinai and undergoing psychological exams and drug tests and they are trying to figure out what exactly the controlled substance she was under is. So the police arrived at her house at about 8:00 yesterday and there to mediate a custody dispute and it ended up taking them three hours to get Britney to finally hand over her children and then Britney was wheeled out on a gurney and taken to Cedars-Sinai.
There was a rumor floating around Jaden her youngest son was also taken to the hospital but CNN has confirmed that the kids are actually with Kevin Federline so Jaden appears to be okay.
CHETRY: Sunny, how does this factor into the ongoing legal investigation, the custody battle and the fact she has been told before she has to undergo drug testing?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Absolutely random drug testing. I think this does not bode well for Britney Spears. I think it is very likely she may lose custody of both of her children. At the break, I was looking through reams of orders that the judges have put in place here and let's all remember that she had 50/50 custody with Kevin Federline when this first started. Now he has full physical custody of the children. On October 3rd, he specifically said, the judge specifically said to her a missed drug test or refusal to submit to a test shall be deemed by the court as a failed test. He also said at that point the visitation shall terminate immediately if any conduct or action by her endangers the minor children and we now know that she was apparently intoxicated.
CHETRY: That is according to police at the scene. They described her condition as intoxicated.
HOSTIN: Exactly.
CHETRY: But does alcohol count as well?
HOSTIN: It absolutely, absolutely counts. They were supposed to avoid alcohol, both parents, 12 hours before taking custody of the children. That was part of the court order. We know on October 17th this judge did suspend her visitation rights because she had complied with his orders and I don't think he will be reluctant to do it again. My guess, it's a guess you but there is some legal foundation here. I think that it's possible that she'll lose her children.
OGUNNAIKE: At this point, it's just too high profile a case but it comes at a really bad time. 2007 was obviously horrible for her. But she could have staged a comeback. She had an album and it debuted at number 2 on the billboard charts area. Her hit single "Gimme More" is still be played in clubs. It's still being played on radio. She would have her career and she would have her children.
CHETRY: You feel bad for the kids when you hear about this stuff.
OGUNNAIKE: You really do.
HOSTIN: She makes Jamie Lynn look like the good one again.
CHETRY: Maybe she is. We will continue to follow this. Thanks to you both for being with us this morning.
HOSTIN: Thanks.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: 54 minutes after the hour now. The "CNN NEWSROOM" is minutes away. Heidi Collins is here with a look at what is ahead. Good morning.
HEIDI COLLIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Here is what is on the rundown today. Iowa winners Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee dash to New Hampshire this morning. Third place Clinton campaign regrouping ahead of next Tuesday's primary.
And a hiker vanishes on a mountain trail this morning the search intensifies in Georgia. We will hear from the hiker's roommate coming up next hour.
Pop star Britney Spears arriving at a hospital by ambulance for a mental evaluation. As you just heard on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll have more on that story as well as any breaking news when it happens. You're in the NEWSROOM top of the hour on CNN. John?
ROBERTS: We will see you then.
The excitement of the Iowa caucuses captured by our I-reporters with their camera phones, your viral videos ahead.
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ROBERTS: About two minutes to the top of the hour. A record turnout last night in the Iowa caucuses. Many of you captured the moments with your cell phones for us.
CHETRY: We solicited those I-reports and the people came through yesterday. Our Veronica De La Cruz has been looking through this morning. A lot of excitement yesterday in Iowa.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lots of excitement. We were talking about how Barack Obama was able to turn out the youth vote and I want to show you some I-reports to prove it. Let's take a look at this. Barack Obama, he won the support of, what, 57 percent of people under the age of 30. Lots of I-reporters coming in. This first one is from Stephanie Larue and she sent us a bunch of snapshots as she caucused for Obama. This is Stephanie. She says the whole experience was exciting and couldn't believe the turnout of the caucus. Take a look at this room, lots of young faces in this room. Take a look at the entire crowd. You may see college-aged voters and said Obama got 60 percent of the votes in her caucus and was awarded two delegates.
A lot of people were surprised why Hillary came into third. Yesterday, Hillary as you remember was handing out shovels to make sure that the voters would come out, right? Maybe her supporters were just too darn tired by the end of the night from all of the shoveling! This is a photo where they scooped up about a city block and a half of snow. There you go.
CHETRY: The original point was her precinct captain was to do the shoveling for them so people could be at the polls.
DE LA CRUZ: Fascinating look at what happened inside the caucuses because we weren't allowed in so a lot of our I-reporters getting the images for us. ROBERTS: A good look at things going on in there.
Lots of stuff going on in New Hampshire as well, a live picture, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire. There they are.
CHETRY: Chelsea there, too.
ROBERTS: Yep. So we're going to see a lot of that and him, too, in the next five days. Wow.
CHETRY: We will be up there as well. Monday and Tuesday out of New Hampshire, you won't want to miss a minute. We will speak to the candidates and get a feel for the voters and talking about the issues that are going to determine this vote.
ROBERTS: We hope to see you then. Thanks for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. See you on Monday.
CHETRY: Have a wonderful weekend.
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