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CNN Saturday Morning News

Rebel Fighting in Chad; Candidates and Voters Getting Ready for Super Tuesday; The Economy and Consumers; Extreme Weather Causing Delays

Aired February 02, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, everybody, from the CNN center right here in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello there folks, I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could start your day here with us.

We do have to start with a tense situation that's unfolding right now in the central African nation of Chad. CNN reports that hundreds of rebel fighters have closed in on the capital there after clashing with government troops. The U.S. and French embassies are working to evacuate staff members because of security concerns.

High ranking German diplomatic source tells CNN rebel fighters entered the capital from several directions. And the source said heavy gunfire could be heard earlier. The Parliament building being ransacked. Of course, we will continue to follow development in this developing story and we'll continue to bring you those updates.

NGUYEN: We want to give you some politics now in this country and a busy final three days leading up to super Tuesday. The presidential candidates moving across the country for a whole host of events. In fact, people in ten states will have a chance to see the candidates live today. So, let's start with the democrats and how they're doing.

CNN's Jim Acosta is live in Hartford, Connecticut with the latest as people are gearing up for Super Tuesday -- Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty. It's like Groundhog Day for these candidates. They're going to be waking up this morning and moving on to different states today essentially giving the same speeches over and over again.

Consider Barack Obama's schedule. He is going to be in Idaho then moving to Minnesota and Missouri. Hillary Clinton will be out in Los Angeles. Both of these candidates are starting out west and they're making their way east in this race for delegates, ending up here in all places here in Connecticut on Monday which has ementaled (ph) as one of these battleground Super Duper Tuesday states. There are some 60 delegates up for grabs here.

The "Hartford Courant" has endorsed Hillary Clinton whereas some of the local congressmen here in the state have endorsed Barack Obama and with 20 states up for grabs and so much at stake, these candidates are basically at this point focusing on those last-minute undecided voters which is why Barack Obama is making appeals to working class voters. He has had trouble with those Dunkin' Donut voters. He is more of a Starbucks' voter.

And Hillary Clinton meanwhile is making the case that she is the candidate of real change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am excited. I am so incredibly excited about what we can do again in our country. I am tired of the fear mongering and the fatalism that has undermined our capacity to dream big and to set big goals and to move into the future with confidence and optimism.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We talk about living wage. Teachers, you know, I have been traveling across the country. I'm meeting teachers who are working in doughnut shops after school lets out just to pay the bills and then they're digging in their pockets to buy school supplies for their school, for their class because the schools don't have enough money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And with so much ground to cover, the campaigns would probably like to clone their candidates on days like this, but the next best thing is to send out the chief surrogates across this country. And Barack Obama has that in John Kerry, the 2004 nominee for president in the Democratic party. He will be out in California stumping for Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton has her chief surrogate, the former President Bill Clinton. He will be down south where he can do a lot of good for here down there.

And there has been some talk today of the groundhog seeing the shadow and six more weeks of winter. Well, for these candidates if they can have six more weeks of this campaign on either side. They'll probably take it. It is unlikely that one of these candidates will emerge as the big winner on Super Tuesday. It's going to be tough for either one of these candidates to really sweep the table.

NGUYEN: That's what I wanted to ask you quickly, Jim. You know, we watched the CNN Democratic debate and they were downright friendly. So, do you expect the rhetoric to really ratch it up especially that tough talk as they go into Super Tuesday so someone can really pull ahead.

ACOSTA: You know, that's an interesting question, Betty. Because there were such an adverse reaction to that on either side. When both of these candidates got negative, it really did not go over well as we saw down in South Carolina where Hillary Clinton and even at times Barack Obama has had trouble when he's gone excessively negative. So I think that they're going to draw the contrast.

Barack Obama is bringing up Hillary Clinton's vote to authorize the Iraq war. That's a difficult sticking point for her so I think we're going to see some of that but that was a love fest out in Los Angeles. And I think it would be harder at this point for them to go really negative after what we saw out there in L.A. I think they're going to keep it positive, at least that's what a lot of the political observers seem to think. We just have to wait and see.

You know, the former president is out there in the campaign trail. And he's been a surprise at times. It would be interesting to watch, fascinating to watch just how these candidates sharpen their messages in these last days of the campaign leading up to Super Tuesday.

NGUYEN: That's true. It is a bit of a horserace and if someone is trying to pull ahead of the other and we'll see how it shakes out on Super Tuesday if there indeed is a clear winner. Thank you, Jim.

HOLMES: All right. We'll turn to the Republican side now. It pretty much has boiled down to a two man race. Those two men are not Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. Sorry, guys, it's not just the case for you right now. John McCain and Mitt Romney we're talking about. McCain has the momentum. Romney, he's got the dough.

CNN's Mary Snow is now live from New York this morning. Good morning to you, Mary. What's happening in New York?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, T.J.

New York is the second richest delegate state in the primaries for Republicans. So the candidates are going to be making their way to the northeast. But they were battling it out in California and while Senator McCain might have the momentum and Mitt Romney the money, they don't have a lot of time. Three days, 21 states up for grabs for the Republicans. Senator John McCain has been racking up endorsements.

Yesterday, the "L.A. Times" was the latest to add to the list. This of course after winning the endorsement from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger out there in California. Senator McCain's theme has been national security, also unifying the Republican party.

Mitt Romney is hoping that conservatives will rally around him and he's been tapping into that discontent among conservatives toward Senator John McCain. Mitt Romney pouring $35 million of his own personal fortune into his campaign and he is hoping to stop Senator McCain. He's targeting states pretty carefully.

Mike Huckabee though says it's not a two-man race, he's in it. He wants to get those conservative voters. He's been courting evangelicals and he took a jab at Mitt Romney calling saying that he had just recently reached in his words political puberty, taking a swipe at Mitt Romney over some of the change in his position such as abortion.

Here's a little bit of what the candidates have to say on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the polls, I think there is a very good chance it could be over on Tuesday. But I think there's still a lot of undecided voters. But I'm hoping that we can -- the sooner we get that done, the sooner I can go to work on uniting the party.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My friend Senator McCain is a wonderful person, is a national hero and I respect him. No, he's a person I respect greatly and he has a number of things that are great strengths of his but he happened to say that the economy is not his strong suit. Well, at a time like this in a country like this, I think it's important to have a president for whom the economy is his strong suit.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm counting on you and the people of Arkansas to help us next Tuesday because if we can get these states like Arkansas and Oklahoma and Missouri and Tennessee and Alabama and Georgia, I'll be on my way to becoming the 44th president of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: In Alabama is where you'll see Mike Huckabee today. Senator McCain will also be campaigning in the state of Alabama, also Tennessee and Georgia. Mitt Romney taking a pause from the campaign trail this morning. He's going to be in Utah for the funeral of Gordon Hinckley, the president of the Mormon Church who passed away earlier this week. Mitt Romney will be attending his funeral -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Mary Snow for us on the story there in New York. Mary, thank you. Always good to see you.

SNOW: Good to see you.

HOLMES: And folks, we're giving you another chance to hear from the candidates. Catch replays of this week's Democratic and Republican debates from California, the last debates before Super Tuesday. We'll be playing them back to back tonight starting at 7:00 Eastern.

NGUYEN: Well, did you know that for the first time in four years, the country lost jobs. Yes, this latest employment report is adding to concerns about a possible recession. The Labor Department says employers cut their payrolls by 17,000 jobs in January. President Bush says it's all the more reason for lawmakers to approve an economic stimulus plan and get those rebate checks in the mail.

HOLMES: And of course, folks not feeling too good about the economy that means you're not just going to run and start spending the cash. Watch your budget so, of course, that in turn hurts the economy.

NGUYEN: The cycle there. So, while the government is working on getting you more money to spend, some major retailers are giving you new reasons to spend with them.

CNN's Alina Cho takes us shopping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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, a big flat screen like this. It's incredible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thousands of products up to 30 percent off. Why now: the Super Bowl.

TRACY FERSHWEILER, 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: I'm here to buy baby stuff and I see TV at a good sale price. I'll grab that.

CHO: With rising gas and home heating oil prices and Americans losing their homes, money is tight and retailers know it.

MITCHELL SPEISER, TELSEY ADVISORY GROUP: The consumer is very soft, very weak right now and value does drive transactions.

CHO: In Seattle, even Starbucks is offering coffee for a buck.

Fast-food restaurants are all pushing their dollar items too. McDonald's dollar menus might seem like a draw in this economic environment. But the company stock is actually down 20 percent from last month's all-time high. The company's CEO says it's strategy is recession resistant but not recession proof.

Wal-Mart hopes bargain prices on things like flat panel TVs will be too much to resist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gas prices and in general 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 Giants fan and I need the big TV for the Giants game.

CHO: Alina Cho for CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Makes perfect sense.

HOLMES: Big game, big TV, got to have it.

NGUYEN: Why not?

HOLMES: What was that line? The lady in there for baby food. Hey, if I see a flat screen on sale, I'm going to buy it.

HOLMES: That's what the economy needs though. Some folks like that.

NGUYEN: Spend your money, folks.

HOLMES: Talk about this economy, and some folks that have some money to spend, Exxon-Mobil. $1,300 a second, Betty.

NGUYEN: Not an hour but each second.

HOLMES: A second, $1300 buck folks. That's how much money Exxon-Mobil made in record shattering fashion last year. Consumer groups have accused the oil industry profiting at the expense of drivers, of course, who are facing the high gas prices. Exxon-Mobil says it earned more than $40 billion last year. $11 billion of that in the fourth quarter alone and those are the highest quarterly and annual profits ever for a U.S. company.

NGUYEN: Well, yes, have you seen gas prices lately? Of course. It all goes in line. Well, some extreme weather to tell you about today. Look at this. An ongoing weather nightmare in China. The government is adding up the bill from days of heavy snowstorms and they're estimating some $7 billion in losses from destroyed homes, work stoppages and damaged crops. And there's even worse news, more snow is expected and that means more trouble for travelers.

Look at all these people. Hundreds of thousands are still waiting at train stations. They're all desperately trying to get home for the lunar new year which is on Friday.

Well, one Amtrak is still stranded right now in the Sierra Mountains near Donner Pass. This video of another Amtrak train that was also stranded but then pulled back to spend the night in Reno. So, they were able to get out of there. The track became blocked yesterday when a snowplow clearing the rails got stuck.

About 155 passengers are still on this stranded train and Amtrak says they are OK. They have heat, electricity and food. They'll get going again soon on to Chicago once the snowplow is clear off the tracks. We are following this story all morning. We're going to get you a live update next hour from Amtrak.

HOLMES: All right. We got a live update now from our Reynolds Wolf. He's checking on things for us. Airport issues, that folks have been for the past couple of days in the Midwest. We hear, it's a mess going on that's been around New York.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They had some nasty times there. We're certainly going to try with that this morning. But let's go back to California for a few moments, Donner Pass, Donner Summit. That is right about here. You're not seeing much activity for the time being. They're getting a welcome break.

However, you've got all this moisture coming in from the Pacific that's going to sweep its way eastward. And as it does so, we're going to see the snow up again. Part of the Sierra can see anywhere form one to three feet of snowfall through the weekend.

Winter storm watches posted for parts of the Sierra Nevada back into the Cascades, even into the northern and central Rockies. Not only are we going to be dealing with some heavy snow but also some wind gusts. Wind gusts topping 100 miles an hour at the highest peaks. That's certainly going to be a rough time for many people there. Things are getting better in parts of the Midwest and the Northeast.

And for Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney, of course, we're looking at about six more weeks of winter according to Phil. Cloudy skies there. Temperatures nearing the 20s, warming up to about 30 degrees. In spots like New York, a lovely day expected with partly cloudy skies and temperatures mainly into the 50s.

Now, you see the rat there on the side of the screen. That's is Punxsutawney Phil. He was talking about spring. I think we'll be calling him prince but today he's a rat and he's going to stay that way.

Let's go right on to New York and show you what we have there. Great shot we have fro Central Park. Skies are mostly sunny, expecting a pretty nice day for you. Cooler temperatures as we make our way into the workweek and thankfully a chance of rain back in New York. You can never have too much of that. But we may be seeing some snow showers forming out in Buffalo, possibly into places like Schenectady.

That is the latest into your forecast. Let's send it back to you at the news desk.

NGUYEN: I think it will keep people indoors. After all, there's a big game tomorrow, right?

WOLF: There you go. I think people are going to be a little bit preoccupied tomorrow.

NGUYEN: Exactly. Always get to look at the brighter side of it all. Thank you, Reynolds.

HOLMES: And next up here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, folks we got a story you really want to see about a soldier who was wounded in Iraq.

NGUYEN: Oh, yes. He motivated troops in Iraq and now he hopes to do the same for the New York Giants.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, here's a look at what's making news right now.

HOLMES: First here, a jury finds actor Wesley Snipes not guilty of federal tax fraud. Instead, however, he was convicted on three misdemeanor charges for not filing his tax returns. Snipes could face up to three years in prison, may have to pay millions in back taxes but he did avoid the more serious charges in this case. NGUYEN: Well, they tied the knot, according to reports. Oh yes. The Associate Press French President Nicholas Sarkozy and model turned singer Carla Brunei got hitched at the presidential palace today. The couple met in November just weeks after Sarkozy divorced his second wife.

HOLMES: Well, the New York Giants calling him their inspiration.

NGUYEN: A WestPoint football star turned Iraq war veteran's life has been changed forever. And CNN's Barbara Starr has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Lt. Col. Gregory Gadson commanded hundreds of troops in Iraq but his time in the war zone ended that day he was coming back from a memorial service for some of his soldiers.

LT. GOL. GREGORY GADSON, U.S. ARMY: I remember a boom, a muffled boom. But I knew exactly what happened to me. I mean, it was sort of a -- I couldn't believe, I kind of sit... one of the first things I said to myself is I can't believe this just happened to us.

STARR: It was an IED.

GADSON: I just said, God, I don't want to die in this country. And that's sort of the last thing I kind of remember as I was laying down on the ground.

STARR: Gadson's lower body took the brunt of the explosion.

GADSON: When I arrived here, I still had both my legs. My legs were still on and intact.

STARR: The same legs that helped make him a football star at West Point. He's number 98. But medical complications set in. Gadson told his doctors to amputate both his legs. He hoped prosthetics will make him walk again. Some days Gadson confronts the darkest feelings.

GADSON: To me the bad days, they're just you know, you just, it's like you've been swallowed by a blanket and you just can't pick yourself up emotionally. I mean, it's just like you have just been beat down and you just can't hold your head up. I know, I mean there was one day I think I cried for about 24 hours.

STARR: A long-time fan of the New York Giants, he was the guest of the team early this year when they turned their season around with a come from behind victory over the Washington Redskins. And he was on the field two weeks ago for the coin flip as an honorary co-captain during the NFC championship game. Giants head coach Tom Coughlin says Gadson is an inspiration. Gadson says he gets inspiration from the younger wounded troops around him and insists he's no hero.

GADSON: I don't feel like a hero. I feel like I was doing my job and the real heroes, I think are the ones that don't make it back. STARR: Barbara Starr, CNN, Walter Reid Army Medical Center.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Amazing determination and just spirit that he has.

HOLMES: And I'm sure the Giants will have him on their minds when they suit up tomorrow.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. A lot of people excited about that and what about this?

Now that the Fed has cut interest rates again? Are you thinking of spending a little money, like, I don't know, refinancing your mortgage? How about taking out a car loan?

HOLMES: Well, what do lower interest rates really mean for you?

CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis has the answers coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the second time in just over a week. So what do lower interest rates mean to you? Well, CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis has some answers.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi, Betty.

Another Fed rate cut this week may have you thinking about saving or borrowing. Here's some tips to keep in mind. The Fed rate cuts are great for borrowers. And if you're thinking about re-financing our mortgage, there's no better time than the present to start doing your home work. 30-year fixed mortgage rates are at some of their lowest levels in two years.

Plus, if you live in a high cost area like California or New York, you may benefit from an increase in the conforming loan limit that's part of the proposed new stimulus package.

But make sure you protect your savings, rate cuts may be great for borrowers, but they're not great for savers. If you have some money tucked away in a savings or a money market account, your interest rate will probably take a hit. And if you have a C.D. that's maturing soon, you'll also see lower interest rates.

So, it's up to you to find the best saving tools. Check out your local bank but make sure to go downline into bankrate.com or search for credit unions to find out opportunities. Make sure to cast a wide net to find the best opportunities. Your money market or savers account should be just a temporary place for your cash.

Once you have your emergency cushion in place, now is an opportune time to move out of savings and into longer term investments like the stock market and if you have a long perspective, start looking at broad-based index funds like the ones offered by Vanguard or Fidelity. This is an inexpensive way to get access into the stock market.

Coming up at 9:30 a.m. Eastern on "OPEN HOUSE," America looks at 2008. This is the CNN's financial security watch your economy, your health, your future. We're taking the campaign trail to your home. Find out what the candidates proposals mean to your money on a special election edition of "OPEN HOUSE," 9:30 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN -- Betty?

NGUYEN: Some great information and this is a little information for you too. You know it's Groundhog Day and what did the groundhog say?

HOLMES: Yes, he said what -- more winter.

NGUYEN: More winter.

HOLMES: Six more weeks of winter. But can you believe this guy? Can you really believe that rat looking things ...

NGUYEN: He pulled out of his nice, warm, cozy home.

HOLMES: Probably just lying to us for getting him up.

Well, Josh Levs actually know the truth about whether or not we should believe this guy. He joining us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's Groundhog's Day. Yes.

NGUYEN: Feeling excited about it?

HOLMES: I'm good. I can't believe we don't have a day off.

NGUYEN: I woke up just waiting to hear what the groundhog would say. Josh, you watched it live with us.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was very exciting, wasn't it?

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: Teeming with excitement. Now we know what to expect for the next six weeks. Right?

NGUYEN: More winter, lucky us.

LEVS: Six more weeks of winter.

HOLMES: If you can believe this guy.

LEVS: There he is, this little critter. A little bit of information you might want to know.

If you go to groundhog.org, it will tell you this whole background of this guy. For example, I know, T.J. has been asking me all day what his official name is?

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