CNN American Morning - Transcript

CNN

SHOW: AMERICAN MORNING 07:00

HEADLINE: Out of Control in Iraq?; Interview With Senator Dianne Feinstein; Michael Jackson Case

GUESTS: Tom Zovko, Dianne Feinstein, Bill Dworin, Andy Serwer, Kelly McCann, Charlie Hamilton

BYLINE: Bill Hemmer, Heidi Collins, Walter Rodgers, Jack Cafferty

HIGHLIGHT:
The U.S. military death toll is on the way up in Iraq.; Interview with Senator Dianne Feinstein.; Interview with Bill Dworin.; 'Minding Your Business.'; Interview with Kelly McCann.; Interview with Charlie Hamilton.

BODY:
HEMMER: In the meantime, and nine minutes past the hour, the issue of rising gas prices now front and center both on the campaign trail and among lawmakers in Washington. According to the Energy Information Administration, the national average for a regular gallon of gasoline now at $1.75. In California, the average much higher, $2.16 a gallon.

Is there a short-term solution to the problem? A question for California Senator Dianne Feinstein, with us now from Capitol Hill.

Senator, good morning to you. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.

SEN. DIANNE FIENSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Good morning.

HEMMER: Take that first question, first. Is there a short-term solution? If so, when do you see it?

FEINSTEIN: I think there are two. The first is, if the administration would grant a temporary waiver to the oxygenate requirement. This is the requirement that we have to use 2 percent of ethanol right now. And what that means is you need 10 to 11 percent more volume of gasoline.

And we can meet our clean air requirements at this time of the year without any oxygenate. So if there were a temporary waiver...

HEMMER: I'm sorry, Senator. If you do your solution, though, you're saying it will not harm pollution in your home state.

FEINSTEIN: That's correct. Right now, a temporary waiver would work very well, and it would increase gasoline volume by 10 to 11 percent.

The second immediate solution is Californians car pool. We have the longest commutes in the nation. And I can tell you, just by my observation, that five out of every six cars have one person in them. So if you car pool on your way to work, you split the price of gasoline.

I think those are two immediate solutions that could reap real dividends. Now, futures on the hint that the administration might do a temporary waiver actually dropped the prices 4 percent yesterday. So I think this would show that a temporary waiver would, in fact, work.

HEMMER: Senator, there are those who suggest that we, as the United States, we should take on OPEC, to paraphrase a comment from earlier in the week. Are you in that camp? And if so, how do you do it?

FEINSTEIN: Well, I think this is not as simple. I know everybody wants to take on OPEC. But I also believe, at least the strategists at Deutsche Bank have said, that the Saudi shipments to the United States in April are very high. Now, if this is true, I think before we take on OPEC, we ought to have a real understanding of what future shipments of oil really are in the United States.

HEMMER: This is quickly becoming a pretty hot button issue in this political campaign season. The White House is saying Democrats have held up the energy plan proposed by this president. Listen to how Scott McClellan phrased it yesterday here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We continue to go from crisis to crisis when it comes to-whether it's electricity or whether it's gas prices. We need comprehensive solutions, not patchwork crisis management. We wouldn't be in this situation today if Senate Democrats were not holding up the national energy plan that the president proposed back in May of 2001.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: All right. That was yesterday, three days ago. Here's what we saw in our survey, Senator: a major problem about rising gasoline prices, 56 percent say yes. How significant is this issue in a campaign season?

FEINSTEIN: Well, sure, it's very significant, because people plan when they go to work how many they spend. Particularly if you're a regular car commuter. And if you have the costs go up 40, 50, 60 percent, and you're into, let's say, $50 tanks of gas, that's a big deal in California.

Now, let me respond to Mr. McClellan. The reason Democrats oppose the energy bill is because it's a bad energy bill. It's same old, same old.

It's giving more tax breaks to oil companies. It's not thinking outside of the box. It's not utilizing what we know can be with modern energy technology: development of hybrid automobiles, creating incentives for Detroit to move much more forcefully in that area. Closing the SUV gas loophole, which if you just bring SUVs up to the mileage requirements of sedans, you save 10 percent on oil imports, a million gallons of gas a day, and about 240 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is the number one greenhouse gas.

These are some of the things you can do. Now, it's a $16 billion bill to give oil companies a bunch of tax breaks. Democrats aren't going to go for that. You know, been there, done that. We want something different, something New, something that speaks to what the future of energy is.

HEMMER: Right. Senator, we have to leave it there. We're out of time. Appreciate your thoughts on this.

FEINSTEIN: Thank you very much, Bill.