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American Morning
Powerful Earthquake and Sparking Fears of Tsunami in Southeast Asia; Blizzard Conditions Cause Huge Pileup on Interstate 20; UBS is the Latest Bank to Post Huge Loss; Fight for Your Money
Aired January 30, 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: Good day. Thanks very much for joining us on this Wednesday, the 30th of January. It's a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts on the Oval Office. Good morning to you, Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. It's not really "The" Oval Office unless something major changed in the primaries last night. I didn't even know you were running. By the way, you're...
ROBERTS: You're right. It's not really the Oval Office. It's in the Reagan Presidential Library.
CHETRY: A pretty neat replica this morning. And we'll get into that a little bit more. But, of course, the big news this morning was the big win for both John McCain and an arguably a big win for Hillary Clinton, maybe more symbolic last night in Florida.
Only McCain, though, taking home the spoils. Hillary gets no delegate. McCain now won 36 percent of the vote to Mitt Romney's 31 percent. And since Florida is a winner-take-all state, he gets all 57 Republican delegates. Rudy Giuliani coming in a disappointing third. He is expected to drop out and endorse McCain today. Here's CNN's Dana Bash with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John McCain's hard- fought Florida win brings something new to the GOP race. A front- runner.
JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our victory, might not have reached landslide proportions but it is sweet, nonetheless.
BASH: But Florida was a crushing blow to former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. GOP sources say now plans to end his candidacy and endorse McCain after a disappointing third-place finish at the state he staked it all and at an election night speech talking about his campaign in the past tense.
RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The responsibility of leadership doesn't end with a single campaign.
BASH: Second place went to Mitt Romney, who raged a bitter Florida battle with John McCain and signaled with his not so subtle jab, he's not done. MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You see, Washington is fundamentally broken and we're not going to change Washington by sending the same people back just to sit in different chairs.
BASH: Vowing to press on, Romney's campaign now calls this a two-person race heading into next week's 21-state Super Tuesday primary, even though Mike Huckabee's fourth-place finish leaves him down but not out.
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're playing all nine innings of this ball game.
BASH: McCain's Florida victory came marginally from older voters, Hispanics and GOP moderates, but with all the more significant because who was not allowed to vote. Independents, who propelled his earlier wins.
MCCAIN: And as I have been repeatedly reminded lately, an all- Republican primary.
BASH: Still, McCain knows full well many poor conservatives have long distrusted that he's one of them, so he added a line to his speech. An olive branch.
MCCAIN: The judges we appoint to Federal benches must understand that that is there only responsibility and leave to elected officials their responsibility to make the laws they enforce.
BASH (on-camera): For McCain, that talked about judges or that he's a proud Reagan conservative. Those are all buzz words aimed at what he knows he needs to do next. That is reach out and in some cases mend fences with key conservatives in his own party, as he gets closer to being its presidential nominee.
Dana Bash, CNN, Miami, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: So what does McCain's victory in Florida mean for the Republicans hopefuls heading into Super Tuesday? Before they get there, the candidates are making a stop tonight here at the Reagan Library in California for a live debate right here on CNN, starts at 8:00 Eastern.
Chief political correspondent for politico.com, Mike Allen, is up early, because there's so much excitement in the air today.
Mike, what are you expecting at tonight's debate, and how will last night's victory for McCain factor in this?
MIKE ALLEN, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO.COM: Well, good morning, John. I love this setting. I keep looking for Barney.
ROBERTS: It's good to have you here at the Oval Office. Where's Miss Beasley too? She should around here, too. ALLEN: Exactly. Exactly. Well, debate tonight looks very different more than we thought. For one thing, there would just be five people on the amazing set that CNN has built overlooking the Air Force One here. And this is really Governor Romney's last chance to make the case that he is a conservative, Senator McCain isn't. This is Senator McCain nomination to lose.
Coming out of last night, he's got a big, big head of steam. And California is the crown jewel of Super Tuesday and as the debate, this could be right here at Ground Zero.
ROBERTS: Certainly, McCain is carrying a lot of confidence after yesterday's victory in Florida. Listen to what he said last night in his victory speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Our party has always been successful when we have, like Ronald Reagan stood fast by our convictions. I intend to make my stand on those principles, and I am confident we will succeed in this contest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So he's saying he's going to succeed in this contest. He is going to be the nominee and he is going to do it on Reagan principles. Reaching out to conservative, but he lost among conservatives yesterday. Mitt Romney soundly beat him. Does he have any hope of bringing them to his side? Will the sheer force of momentum now say to conservatives, better get on this train?
ALLEN: Yes, I think that's smart. He looks like a winner and people like a winner. And having Mayor Giuliani with him today is going to make a big difference in some of these big states that are coming up on February 5th.
A little news for you, not only are they doing their event today, also Mayor Giuliani is going to campaign with Senator McCain tomorrow. Can you imagine the media oxygen that's going to suck up? Leaving Mitt Romney just five days to make a tough case. So it's an uphill battle and conservatives in Washington, I can tell you, are talking about, is there a way to stop this? Do we really want to give in the keys to the Oval Office?
You saw the endorsement of Governor Romney by Liz Cheney, the vice president's daughter, State Department official. That's the leading edge of some Washington conservatives saying we want to stop this.
ROBERTS: Every time Rush Limbaugh goes on the air, he takes the flame throw over to John McCain.
ALLEN: That's the three points. Almost all the talk radio hosts are saying this is not a conservative. In fact, some of them are saying that they would vote Democrat or stay out. ROBERTS: So I know that this is looking into the past, but it's not too far in the past. What happened to Giuliani? Here was the guy that led in the national polls all along. Florida he was leading. It was his firewall, collapsed.
ALLEN: Yes. It was a mother of all miscalculations. He thought he could stay out of the race, stay out of the conversation, but while he was down in Florida having what people are now calling his winter vacation, other candidates were mixing it up, they were the ones that were getting the coverage and getting the money.
And so he was not getting any new replenishment. And so in analogy, you might try as a racetrack, as someone running a race. You can be a good sprinter, but if you're starting from a standing stop and the other guys have had a few laps, you're in a tough stop.
ROBERTS: Right. Well, I guess a real lesson for the future that despite the front loading of these primaries, buzz and momentum in the early states really counts for a lot.
ALLEN: You can skip Iowa or New Hampshire, not both.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks very much. Mike Allen from thepolitico.
ALLEN: Have a great day Mr. President.
ROBERTS: Good to have you here this morning. Thanks.
And keep it right here on CNN. The Republicans face-off live from the Reagan Presidential Library, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and it's an incredible set that we built around the old Air Force One here.
Tomorrow night, it's the Democrats turn. They're going to Hollywood. The Kodak Theater in Los Angeles -- Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, Hillary Clinton celebrated her win in baby Florida. Had all the trappings of a victory party with crowds, cheers, sounds of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5." No delegates awarded though. The Democratic National committee stripped Florida of delegates after it moved up the primary date. Clinton, though, vowed to make them count.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D-NY) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am thrilled to have had this vote of confidence that you have given me today, and I promise you I will do everything I can to make sure not only are Florida's Democratic delegates seated, but Florida is in the winning column for the Democrats in 2008.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: If Florida's 210 delegates do get seated, Clinton may not get as many as she won in last night's vote. Florida may need to hold another primary or caucus to decide how many delegates go to each candidate.
CHETRY: New this morning, a powerful earthquake, sparking fears of a tsunami in Southeast Asia -- 6.2 earthquake hits off of the coast of East Timor early this morning. About six miles deep into the sea. Officials in Indonesia said it was strong enough to trigger a tsunami. So far, no reports of any big waves or injuries.
Congress voting to extend a law that lets the government eavesdrops on suspected terrorists inside the U.S. Lawmakers have two weeks to figure out how to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA.
Civil Rights activists say that the law is too broad. That it allows the government to spy on Americans without oversight. The White House is pushing its final updated version saying Congress must give the Intelligence community the tools it needs to protect the nation.
New legislation in New York State would require convicted sex offenders to register their online screen name. It would allow social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to monitor their activities online. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called it the most comprehensive, toughest law in the nation to keep minors safe online.
MySpace and Facebook had been criticized for not doing enough to stop predators from joining their sites. Cuomo said this new legislation should make it easier for them to act -- John.
ROBERTS: Coming up, Kiran, on nine minutes after the hour now. UBS becomes the latest bank to post a huge loss because of the mortgage troubles in the United States. The Swiss Bank says its fourth quarter loss will include around $12 billion and losses related to the U.S. subprime mortgage market and $2 billion more in other residential loans.
If you're looking to refinance your home or even pay off your mortgage, more relief could be headed your way. The Fed meets for a second day and is widely expected to cut interest rates again. Our senior business correspondent, Ali Velshi, live at the Chicago Board of Trade. He's got more on that.
So 50 basis points, is that where the betting is going today, Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. There's two kinds of betting on this. There's the betting that goes on right here and the indication is that it will be 50 basis points, although, the Fed has surprises. And there are some, some bets on Fed futures that it will be a quarter of a percentage point. However, the survey of the investment banks which deal with the Fed says 50 basis points.
So Ben Bernanke we know has just showed up at the meeting in Washington, D.C. I'm in Chicago, because when the Fed drops rates, it will affect your prime rate but the trading that goes on here is going to affect the fix mortgage rate right now. A fix mortgage -- a 30- year fix is now trading at about 5.6 percent. You can do better than that but that's the average.
Take a look at how Fed funds rate, which is the rate that Bernanke and groups had compares to a mortgage rate. A 30-year fixed mortgage rate over the past five years. They don't work in lockstep. That's something to remember, but look at the right side of that screen. Right towards the end. You'll notice that as the Fed has been cutting rates in the last few months, the mortgage rate has been going down as well.
So if the Fed cuts rates again today, that should be a discount for everybody who holds any type of loan, whether it's an adjustable loan that is tied to the prime rate or a mortgage rate. We'll be following that very closely.
The other thing, John, that we are going to be looking in exactly 20 minutes, is the first reading of the GDP for the fourth quarter of 2007. The GDP is the broadest measure of economic activity. It will be a good indication about whether we are in or headed for a recession. I'll be live here with that in 20 minutes -- John.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it. Ali, thanks very much. Let's hope the news is good.
Now, let's take it back to New York and here's Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks, John.
Well, firefighters in Texas have their hands full with fast- moving wildfires, 50 mile-an-hour winds fanning the flames. In fact, there's a look at this 2,000 acre fire that's burned and dozen buildings were destroyed in that fire right there and, of course, as we said, the wind adding to the troubles.
Well, from fire to ice in the Midwest. Blizzard conditions responsible for a huge pileup on Interstate 20. This happened in Minnesota. Temperatures dropped dramatically from 36 degrees to one degree below zero. All of that taking place in a matter of 12 hours. Driving condition is a mess. A lot of people reporting whiteout conditions on those roadways.
And take a look at this. The damage and destruction left behind in Indianapolis, Indiana. High winds ripped through a trailer home. A mobile home park in Indiana. Two people were killed. Trees and power lines knock down. Power outages also forcing schools to cancel classes today.
Our Rob Marciano is tracking all of the extreme weather for us and he joins us now with more. Rough going in parts of the Midwest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Kiran, you should come here to California if you want snow. We've got snow within eyesight of the Reagan Presidential Library here.
Hey, some of America's biggest brands are working to get you spending again. We sent AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho out to see if you're buying it.
And addiction and faith, the president of the United States says he suffered from one and was saved by the other. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta on that and the ways that you can kick addiction. Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: And we're back live from the Oval Office here at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. This is a half size replica of the Oval Office. Upstairs in the main part of the museum section of the library, there is a full size replica down to the very last detail. This one is similar to it, but the other one is just so much more intricate. We hope to get a look at that a little bit later on today.
To this morning's "Quick Vote" question. After yesterday's win in Florida, can John McCain unify the GOP? Right now, 26 percent of you were saying yes, but the vast majority, 75 percent, say no. Still time to cast your vote. Head to cnn.com/am. We'll continue to tally your votes throughout the morning. We'll bring you a final look in about 40 minutes or so -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks, John.
Well, he's talking about it before. Rarely this openly and candidly, President Bush in Baltimore talking about what helped him stop drinking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Addiction is hard to overcome. As you might remember, I drank too much at one time in my life. I understand faith-based programs. I understand that sometimes you can find the inspiration from a higher power to solve an addiction problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is at our medical update desk in Atlanta and these faith-based programs do often have a great success.
Are they vital, in your opinion, to breaking addiction habits or can you also do it in other ways, without worrying about that, and can you do it without medical help?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, look, there's no absolute one program that's going to work for everybody out there. There are the faith-based programs that you mentioned. There are also programs that are more focused on medications. And other ones that are more focused on, sort of, gradual steps of recovery. So, again, it's going to work differently for different people.
Faith-based programs in particular have been around for about 50 years, in their current and sort of incarnation. They're about 200 of them or so in the country. And they work in very different ways. And we talked to people at Faith-Based Centers yesterday. And they say, look, we are not medical centers.
So for example, our counseling is done by peers. Peers whose actually had success in trying to break addiction or whatever it was that they are facing and they really sort of focused on three things. Spiritual transformations, developing a community of people that can help get the person out of their addiction, and forgiveness. And so that's sort of a tenants, if you will, of a faith-based program -- Kiran.
CHETRY: The other option?
GUPTA: Well, the other options really have to do with, for example, 12-step programs, alcoholics anonymous. Medication, for example. There are certain medications we know now better than ever before, that can actually target the craving centers in the brain. They sort of target that area of the brain that is responsible for euphoria when you take a drink or some substance and sort of blunt that a bit. So you don't have that euphoria.
A lot of the data that comes out of the National Institute on Drug Abuse will actually say a combination of medications together with counseling seems to be the most effective -- Kiran.
CHETRY: It's also interesting, because you can also put that with people quitting smoking. They have found that, you know, sometimes it's a combination of many things together that helps people ultimately kick that habit as well.
GUPTA: That's a great example, because with smoking, nicotine can be part of the addiction, certainly. But it can also be anxiety to some extent. So those two things together need to be targeted for someone to quit smoke. That's something that we reported on quite a bit. So absolutely, sometimes the combination of those things.
CHETRY: Very interesting. And as we said, very interesting for the president to be so candid about his past troubles with addiction. Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
CHETRY: New numbers coming in this morning in the next few minutes, about whether or not the U.S. is in a recession. Ali Velshi is watching it for us live from the Chicago Board of Trade. Straight ahead.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING. The fight for your money.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: $550 for a TV with flat screen like this? It's incredible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's incredible. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Deep discounts on everything from flat screens to fast food. How America's biggest brand names are trying to get you spending again. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: This is just one of the cutest pictures I think I've ever seen. This is a wobbly baby giraffe in your "HotShots" right now. There she is. That's little Margaret getting bottle fed. She was born ten days ago. Look at the eyes. So cute. She was born two weeks early. She is actually the world's smallest known giraffe at a mere five feet. She could soon reach 18-feet tall, though. And she is having a little trouble suckling. You can even see from the picture. That's why she was getting hand-fed out of that bottle. But there's Margaret. Congratulations to her mama.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: She's all American too.
CHETRY: She really is. She's got the neck of a supermodel, Rob. Hey, if you have a hot shot, send it to us, to our Web site, cnn.com. Forget it, how about the legs, too? A mile long. Include your name, where you're from and a little bit about the picture or video and please make sure the image is yours and not someone else's. That's my favorite. Forget the polar bears, John. I love that giraffe.
ROBERTS: Sorry. I'm a polar bear fan. You can have your giraffe and the long legs and all that. I like the cuddly polar bear.
Hey, there is news this morning of lay-offs at Wal-Mart headquarters and Starbucks possibly, get this, closing stores. The reports in today's "New York Times" come as these big brands are trying to get you spending again.
We sent AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho out to see if customers are drawn to these pitches to your bottom dollar. She's at McDonald's in New York City and joins us now.
Good morning, Alina.
CHO: Hey there, John. Good morning to you.
Here at McDonald's, the dollar menu has been a mainstay for more than five years. In fact, it's been so successful that Wendy's and Burger King followed suit. Now, the difference now, is that at least at McDonald's, same-store sales are flat. Times are tough. So there are more ads about those dollar menus. Retailers around the country want customers to know if you're coming to our store, you're going to get a deal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Wal-Mart has its own economic stimulus plan, rolling back prices on everything from food, to clothing, to flat screen TVs. $550 for a TV with flat screen like this? That's incredible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's incredible. It's incredible.
CHO: Thousands of products up to 30 percent off. Why now? The Super Bowl.
TRACY FERSCHWEILER, WAL-MART STORE MANAGER: Now is when the customers need the savings. This is a huge week for us. The Super Bowl and preparation, it's the eighth biggest sales week of the year.
CHO: Veronica McNeil has two kids. She recently lost her job, her husband is an iron worker, and the family is feeling the pinch.
VERONICA MCNEIL, SHOPPER: If I'm here to buy baby stuff and I'd see a TV at a good sale price, I'll grab at that.
CHO: With rising gas and home heating oil crisis and Americans losing their homes, money is tight and retailers know it.
MITCHELL SPEISER, TELSEY ADVISORY GROUP: The consumer is needless to say very soft and very weak right now. And value does drive transactions.
CHO: In Seattle, even Starbucks is offering coffee for a buck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spicy Chick'n Crisp, just the right amount of kick, just a buck on the BK value menu.
CHO: Fast food restaurants are all pushing their dollar items too.
(on-camera): OK, great. Thank you. McDonald's dollar menus might seem like a draw in this economic environment, but the company's stock is actually down 20 percent from last month's all-time high. The company's CEO says its strategy is recession-resistant, but not recession-proof.
(voice-over): Wal-Mart hopes bargain prices on things like flat panel TVs will be too much to resist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gas prices are just -- in general everything -- everything I buy is a little more expensive today than it was yesterday.
CHO: So why buy a TV?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I'm a Giant fan, and I need the big TV for the Giant game.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Die-hard fan. So if you'll excuse the pun. The Super Bowl gets the pass even in these hard times, but it is safe to say and the experts all say that January and February are typically promotion months, but the discounts these days do appear to be deeper. Everyone agrees that is driving people back into the stores. The big question is, will they spend more money while they're there? And nobody knows. It's too soon to tell. What I can tell you, John, is right here in my hand, I do have a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit with hash browns. That's for Kiran. We're heading right back up to the studio, about 20 blocks away. I would ask you what your order is but well, for sure, at the Reagan Library in California.
ROBERTS: Yes. By the time it got here, it would most definitely be cold. Alina Cho for us this morning. Alina, thanks -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Plus, you're already filled up on jelly beans this morning anyway, right? You're at the replica library, that's what you eat.
Well, the most news in the morning continues. And we're just moments away from the release of an economic report that could indicate whether or not we're in a recession. One of the indicators out there, Ali Velshi is going to break it down for us. He has a live report coming up from the Chicago Board of Trade.
Also, a family vowed to do all it can to save their baby daughter, and who wouldn't? But do you know your insurance company's lifetime coverage limit? Sanjay has a closer look at this now.
Hey, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Good morning again, Kiran. We talk a lot about the uninsured in this country and the underinsured as well. It is now the number one cause of bankruptcy, medical bills. We'll show you one family's struggle and what you can do about it. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And welcome. It is Wednesday, January 30th. I'm Kiran Chetry, in a pretty boring old desk here in New York compared to where you're sitting this morning, John.
ROBERTS: Yes. Good morning to you, Kiran. I'm John Roberts at the Reagan Presidential Library.
I thought I'd give this a little bit of a sit-down behind us to see how it feels. I've always wanted to do that. My fellow Americans -- just to see how it feels. I became an American citizen just after 9/11. But unfortunately, Kiran, I wasn't born in this country, so, can't be president. This is as close as I'll get this morning, but it's pretty interesting. You know, a lot of fun here today at the library.
At any rate, Ali Velshi is at the Chicago Board of Trade this morning, and just getting some news in on gross domestic product, an indication of whether or not this country's in a recession.
Ali, what are the numbers looking like? VELSHI: 0.6 percent is the real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2007. Let me tell you what that means. That means that's the measure of all economic activity. Goods and services produced in the United States by Americans in the last three months of 2007. That is dramatically lower than it was before that. It is even lower than the estimates. It is half as much as the estimates. Now, let me tell you, John, negative growth means lower than zero, this is 0.6. It is on the right side of positive, which doesn't indicate recession but it does indicate a real slowing in the economy, from the quarter before that.
The other thing is these are preliminary numbers that get adjusted over the course of the next few weeks. So, this does play into the fears that U.S. economic growth is slowing dramatically. If this number were below zero if would have indicated that a recession may be under way or may have begun. This doesn't mean that it isn't, but it also doesn't give a clear indication that there is a recession. It just adds more uncertainty in the spot, pretty much guarantees that the Fed will take action in a few hours from now and cut rates.
A lot of people around here are now saying that that is moving into the camp of a half a percentage point cut of interest rates this afternoon. That will bring the prime rate down to six percent. That's the rate against which many people have their adjustable loans and will probably affect mortgage rates. So, right now we have a lower than expected fourth quarter GDP. This is one of the most important economic numbers around. We'll continue to follow how trading goes as a result of that, but that is not good news, John.
ROBERTS: Hey, Ali, really quickly, is the true definition of a recession, two quarters of negative growth? It's got to be below zero, or people recalculating saying a dramatic dip like we took in the fourth quarter is an indication of a recession, it doesn't actually have to go below zero any more?
VELSHI: Yes. They definitely broadened it out. There used to be two quarters of negative growth. Now it's thought of as an extended period of slower economic growth extending over a few months. So, you don't actually have to have the negative growth, you just have to have slowing in the economy on several levels. There are many people, as you know, more than two thirds of the people polled by CNN, an opinion research poll, say we're already in a recession.
Almost another quarter say we're headed to one. At some point in people's lives it tends not to make that much of a difference if the economic conditions are slowing. This does not say recession necessarily, it say economic growth is slowing.
ROBERTS: All right. Ali Velshi for us at the Chicago Board of Trade this morning. Ali, thanks. Now, let's go over to New York. Here's Kiran.
CHETRY: OK. I still can't get over John at that desk. The way the shot is too. It's big John, big desk. Well, more winter storm warnings today in the Midwest. There were some severe thunderstorms, tornadoes including fierce winds that blasted the region. Deadly in Indiana when a mobile home was tipped over because of those winds. In Minnesota, it was icy cold and blizzard conditions causing all the problems including this - a 20-car pileup.
There's a look at the aftermath. This was on interstate 90. Windchill warnings throughout the state. It feels like 30 to 40 degrees below zero in some places. Rob Marciano is tracking this extreme weather for us and you know what it's like to try to get anywhere when you're in whiteout conditions on the road, it's terrifying.
MARCIANO: And they're widespread, those whiteout conditions and even Michigan state police are now saying don't go out if you don't have to especially across the northern parts of lower Michigan. I know we threw around the term extreme weather. This definitely is extreme, my friends.
Let's take a look at the map and show what you kind of storm this has been, and where it's going and what we have to look ahead to, which is another developing storm. The big story, though, here today is going to be the vicious wind and frigidly dangerous cold air that's coming on the back side of this system that's now pushing off the east coast. The main energy from it s heading north into Canada. So the frigid temperatures are going to be the main deal. We'll show you some wind chills.
Show you some other stuff and get you through this weather cast. Minus 34 is what it feels like in Minneapolis. Minus 18 in Chicago. This time yesterday in Chicago, it was in the 40s. so, a drastic drop-off in temperatures in some case, in some places. 50 to 60- degree drops in about 12-hour period. High winds warning posted as this storm rolls into Canada. Winds could gust up to 60 miles an hour from Cleveland to Erie to Buffalo to Rochester to Syracuse. And that does not include the lake-effect snow that fires up as well. You'll probably get some whiteout conditions from that, and next winter storm watch is out.
Speaking of storms, we want to take you to China. I've been talking about this story for the past, really, almost couple of weeks. At a standstill. Folks trying to get around to celebrate the lunar new year. It is improving somewhat as far as the transportation goes, only 200,000 people now stranded at train stations as opposed to half a million. But 30 million of China's 1.3 billion people are said to have been without power with this vicious storm.
And also snow across the Middle East, in Jerusalem, from Amman to Jerusalem, the Wailing Walls, folks, kids getting out there to throw snow balls. I mean it happened, but it's pretty rare, especially getting this much. Definitely, some wacky weather going on around the rest of the world, making my job...
CHETRY: My dad was talking about snow in Katmandu in Nepal although very rare, you see it up in the mountains, not in the valley. So, what the heck's going on? Why is there so much snow?
MARCIANO: Well, blame it on La Nina. Some people could even say in a round about sort of way that maybe global warming might be messing with our weather patterns. We'll have to wait and see. But it's definitely making things interesting.
CHETRY: All right. Rob, thanks.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: We get plenty of snow out here in California as well.
Hey, you got health insurance, but do you know your insurance company's lifetime limit? We're getting a look at just what can happen with one medical crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM ZEIGLER, FATHER: In the end, it costs us everything. I mean, we're lucky to still have our house and our car, but that's about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Even if you're thinking you have excellent insurance, you're going to want to hear what our Dr. Sanjay Gupta found. We'll tell you next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, you think you have good health insurance but do you know that your health insurance company has a lifetime limit and just how close can you come to surpassing it with just one medical crisis. Tens of millions of Americans are just one illness away from financial disaster. Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks into America's health care crisis. He has a broken government special on this and you know, you think you're covered and then you read the fine print.
GUPTA: That's right. I mean, we talk a lot about the uninsured in this country, around 47 million. There are a lot of people who are underinsured as well, as you mentioned. And there are people who think they're covered but it turns out they're really not. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAWN ZEIGLER, MOTHER: I'm OK. Are you OK?
GUPTA (voice-over): Dawn and William Zeigler were living the quintessential American dream as real estate brokers in Las Vegas. Plenty of money, nice houses, fancy cars. And then Dawn got pregnant, with twin girls.
WILLIAM ZEIGLER, FATHER: We were excited. And then we found out, it was twins. Then I was nervous.
GUPTA: But Brooke and Alexa arrived early. Too early. And little baby Brooke was in serious trouble.
D. ZEIGLER: When she came out she was blue.
W. ZEIGLER: And they had to resuscitate her. We didn't know that we had to have surgery with you know, within ten hours.
GUPTA: And then another surgery and then another. Over the next 18 months, she had nine operations including two open-heart surgeries. She was airlifted to hospitals in California, then Indiana. The Zeiglers never thought about the cost because they had insurance, excellent health insurance.
GUPTA: Did you worry about it at all?
D. ZEIGLER: Not at all.
GUPTA: And yet today, this well to do couple is now broke and filing for bankruptcy. Insurance paid for a while, but there was a lifetime limit of $2 million for Brooke's expenses. It may sound like a lot but it was nowhere near enough.
W. ZEIGLER: Especially when some days, $30,000, $40,000 a day to keep her in the ICU. You know, the days of the operations, they were $100,000 days. In the end, it cost us everything. We're lucky we still have our house and our car, but that's about it.
GUPTA: But that wasn't the worst of it. After months of intensive care, Brooke's heart finally gave out. Brooke Zeigler was just 18 months old when she died. A year later, a bill arrived in the form of a legal judgment.
(on-camera): You owe Riley Hospital $700,000?
W. ZEIGLER: And they just do this for in one, her unpaid medical expense.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: So many people file for bankruptcy in 2006 and the vast majority, or the greatest number of those are actually due to medical bills. It's now the number one cause of bankruptcy in United States, Kiran.
CHETRY: Oh, that story is just so heartbreaking, especially to know that the little girl didn't make it after all of that. Is there anything people can do about this?
GUPTA: Well, you know, with their particular situation, the Zeigler situation. Again, they thought they were covered. They did have good insurance but it wasn't enough. The problem is once Brooke got sick, they just had no options in terms of getting more health care insurance. Sometimes you can appeal to the hospital, try and reduce their fees but oftentimes they do what the Zeigler's did. They just liquidate their assets and eventually then try to file for bankruptcy.
CHETRY: What a tragedy in so many fronts. Sanjay, by the way, has big special on this coming up. It's called "Broken Government: Healthcare, critical condition." That's tomorrow night at 11:00 p.m. Eastern time, right after the presidential debate.
Sanjay, there's also some news that's just in right now. Brand new information regarding soldiers and traumatic brain injury, the long-lasting, emotional and physical effects of concussion. Explain for us.
GUPTA: Yes. You know, Kiran, this is interesting. We know now that traumatic brain injury has become the signature injury of this war. It's one the most common, one of the most vague as well, difficult to treat sometimes. We're getting some new numbers as well -- 40 percent of soldiers who lost consciousness during a concussion, 40 percent went on to develop post-traumatic stress disorders.
These are very large numbers. A lot of people suffering these concussions out there. The PTSD, that's obviously that's going to last a very long time. Why exactly this is happening and what people are trying to do about it in terms of treatment, screening ahead of time, treatment afterwards. We're going to have much more on this tomorrow as well, Kiran.
CHETRY: Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thank you.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: A big win for John McCain in Florida, Kiran, but not all republicans seemed happy with the results. Our Veronica de la Cruz has got the latest reactions from the blogosphere ahead.
And this Oval Office is the replica of the Oval Office at the White House. During the time when Ronald Reagan was president, we're going to get behind-the-scenes tour of it, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It isn't easy to skim up profit on a dairy farm. Revenues are slim and the hours are utterly daunting.
AMANDA ST. PIERRE, OWNER, PLEASANT VALLLEY FARM: We get mild three times a day. We operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
O'BRIEN: But here at the Pleasant Valley Farm, Vermont's largest, finding a new way to make ends meet by capturing what comes out the ends of their 2,000 cows. They stay flushed by pushing the pooped into a big digester. The newer (ph) sits for about three weeks generating a lot of methane which in turn generates enough electricity to power 500 homes.
MARK ST. PIERRE, OWNER, PLEASANT VALLEY FARM: We used to spend $200 a day on electricity to run our dairy and now are selling $1200 of electricity a day.
O'BRIEN: About 4500 customers of Central Vermont's public service had volunteered to pay about one-third more for cow power.
LOUIS DUPONT, FURNITURE MAKER: We just love the idea of that money staying in Vermont as opposed to going to, you know, Saudi Arabia or even Canada.
AMANDA ST. PIERRE: We're hoping that we can pay this project off between five to seven years.
O'BRIEN: The price tag of the system is about $2 million. Not a solution for smaller farms just yet. One other thing, the digester make as dairy farm odorless. In the end, that would be priceless.
Miles O'Brien, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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ROBERTS: Coming up to 11 minutes to the top of the hour.
Now, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is over 150,000 square feet filled with history. Opened back in 1991, more than a million visitors have been through it since then. Visitors can follow Reagan's life from childhood to his days to the Oval Office. The library and the museum holds more than 50 million pages of presidential papers and 1.6 million photographs. And joining us now to tell us more about it and give us a tour of the Oval Office that we've been in is Duke Blackwood. He is the director here at the Reagan Library.
Great to see you, Duke.
DUKE BLACKWOOD, DIRECTOR, REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: Welcome, John.
ROBERTS: We should point out first of all that the Oval Office that we're in is sort of a facsimile of the replica that's upstairs?
BLACKWOOD: This is for the Discovery Center and this is for the kids who actually have learning processes here.
ROBERTS: This is for children and we're here this morning. How does it differ from the one that's upstairs, which I understand, I haven't been to it yet but it's a detailed exact replica of the way the Oval Office was when Reagan was president.
BLACKWOOD: The one upstairs is exactly as he left office. Exact to scale, and all the furnishings et cetera. Here, it's about three quarter scale because the kids are three quarter scale and this is for learning purposes. The kids will be able to sit at the desk, and go through a scenario and learn that way.
ROBERTS: Now, this is the Resolute desk that has served so many presidents. This is a facsimile of it. This is the second one. Right? You have two of these here?
BLACKWOOD: Right. The Resolute desk was a gift to Rutherford B. Haze. And one of the interesting story is that when Ronald Reagan came to Washington, when he put his chair and he was too big, so he had to have the White House carpenters actually build a two and a half inch platform to so he could fit underneath it.
ROBERTS: Yes. And you can actually see that. I think here at the bottom of the desk, it's an addition put on. I've seen the real Resolute desk that's in the Oval Office now. George Bush, Bill Clinton also used it. I think there's five of these in total in use across the country, these replicas. Two of them here, one at the Clinton library, one at the Carter Library and one at the Kennedy Library?
BLACKWOOD: Yes, because a lot of people can't actually go to the real Oval Office so when they come here to the Reagan Library or to the other presidential libraries, it's a great experience for them and sometimes it's quite emotional.
ROBERTS: And it's a very famous desk. We all remember that picture of John Kennedy Jr. underneath, when this panel was not there.
BLACKWOOD: That's right.
ROBERTS: Under there playing when his dad was president. There's so much nostalgia here. And I got a chance to tour the 707, I've never been on it before, I've flown on the 747. It just takes you back. You have a document here, a book that really takes you back in the Reagan presidency. It's his official diary?
BLACKWOOD: This is an extraordinary piece of history. No other president has written as much as Ronald Reagan has. And he wrote five full volumes every single day when he was in the Oval Office. Excuse me, in office.
ROBERTS: We should point out that you should wear gloves when you handle this, but we want you to read an excerpt from it. What have you got for us?
BLACWOOD: Well, this is about the assassination. It says, "Getting shot hurts. Still my fear was growing because no matter how hard I tried to breathe, it seemed I was getting less and less air. I focused on that tiled ceiling and prayed, but I realized I couldn't ask for God's help. At the same time I felt hatred for the mixed up young man who had shot me. Isn't that the meaning of the lost sheep? We are all god's children and, therefore, equally beloved by him. I began to pray for his soul and that he would find his way back to the fold."
ROBERTS: Very powerful. I guess he wrote that after he, you know, he recovered in the hospital.
BLACKWOOD: It was about a week later.
ROBERTS: Remembering back at his time in the emergency room at the George Washington Hospital.
BLACKWOOD: Yes, sir.
ROBERTS: Very powerful. Duke, thanks very much for getting up early. I know it's extraordinarily early for you.
BLACKWOOD: No problem.
ROBERTS: I appreciate you coming in and sharing a piece of history with us.
BLACKWOOD: Welcome to the Reagan Library.
ROBERTS: Thank you. It's great to be here. Kiran.
CHETRY: You look a bit too comfortable in that Reagan Library. We'll have to talk about that. Senator John McCain celebrating a big primary win in Florida and our Veronica de la Cruz has been scouring the blogs this morning for reaction. She joins us now to tell us what she found.
John just looks right in place there, doesn't?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: He does. He's very presidential looking. All right. Let's get to the blogs. Always a mixed bag when you check out these blogs. I want to start this morning with the right, conservative bloggers especially those leaning way to the right seemed somewhat worried about McCain's win.
Ed Morrissey from Captain's Quarters writes this "In the GOP, there exists a very real resistance to McCain, and that could find it self focusing on Romney as the anti-McCain."
Martin Knight writes on redstate.com that he would ultimately vote for McCain over a Democrat, he has this to say. "I'm not going to lie to myself and say that I voted Republican. I'm not going to deluded enough to think the McCain White House would be anything other than a high altar to compromise an accommodation."
Here's the front page of the "Huffington Post" this morning. The headline, Florida retires Giuliani. Lots of bloggers this morning mocking the former mayor, but Stephen Green from the blog pajamas media makes this prediction, "Get ready to see a move. McCain- Giuliani bumper stickers at the Republican convention, if not sooner."
And what was conspicuously missing from the conservatives blog this morning, the Hillary bashing that usually pops up when she does well. Senator Clinton picked up the most votes in Florida. As you all know, wound up with 150,000 votes. The McCain did in his race and Paula Leevee from the "Democratic Daily" noted, "Democrats came out in droves in a state that the candidates did not campaign in."
Of course, we don't know at this point if the Florida results will ever mean anything for Senator Clinton but of course, it's something that we will be tracking very closely.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good. Veronica, thanks.
DE LA CRUZ: Of course.
CHETRY: Here's a quick look at what NEWSROOM, "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM -- what's next for Rudy Giuliani after losing the Florida primary? Republicans head to super Tuesday real estate for tonight's CNN debate. Wall Street looks for another interest rate cut today. A U.S. diplomat calls violence in Kenya ethnic cleansing. Frigid air, strong winds slam the Midwest, and a van hit by not one but two trains. "NEWSROOM," top of the hour on CNN.
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CHETRY: Boy, I give you this morning, a pretty shot overlooking Central Park in New York City. It's 46 degrees right now. Feels like about 39, but still, boy, compared to what folks in many parts of the country are dealing with, we're downright lucky today here in New York City. Before we let you go, we want to take a look at the "Quick Vote" this morning. And we ask can John McCain unite the GOP? After his big win in Florida last night, 28 percent saying yes. Majority though, 72 percent do not think he can bring the party together. To all of you who voted, thanks very much -- John.
ROBERTS: And keep it right here on CNN tonight, because the republicans face-off live from the Reagan Presidential Library. It all begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Tomorrow night, it's the democrats' turn. We take them to Hollywood, the Kodak Theater, where the Oscars are held in Los Angeles. Again, tomorrow night, 8:00.
Kiran, I forgot to mention, when we were with Duke Blackwood, the director here at the museum that of course there was the requisite bottle of jelly beans on the president's desk. These can be yours too. This is the special eagle logo jelly bellies available in the Ronald Reagan Museum store for $24.95. do you want me to bring you back some?
CHETRY: I've actually toured the jelly belly factory there. I think it's Vacaville, California. Actually came up with the blueberry flavor just for Ronald Reagan. They need to make a big portrait of him with the big red, white and blue flag and so it was born.
ROBERTS: And it's in here. There's a blueberry right there. There's a lot of other flavors as well. He certainly liked a wide variety of jelly bellies.
ROBERTS: That's going to it for us. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you tomorrow from outside the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
CHETRY: Sounds good. Meanwhile, "CNN NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins starts right now.
HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. And I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday, January 30th. Here's what's on the rundown -- McCain and Clinton, juiced by Florida, sprinting to super Tuesday. Will it be curtains for one of the losers today.
HARRIS: Mobs, machetes and murder. U.S. diplomat says blood letting in Kenya has descended into ethnic cleansing.
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