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Aired January 13, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN, ANCHOR: Welcome back to "Ballot Bowl 2008." I'm Jim Acosta standing by in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the race is heating in the democratic nomination, battle for the White House. And the Nevada caucuses are coming up less than a week away, next Saturday. And we're seeing all of the candidates vying for the democratic nomination not just here in Nevada but also in South Carolina. And we'll show you all of that as much as we can over the next couple of hours. My colleague, Mary Snow, is up in Michigan following the republicans as the gear up for the primary on Tuesday. Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. We're in a suburb of Detroit. And voters here go to the polls in just two days. Now, over the next couple of hours we're going to be providing snippets of speeches, some of them live, some of them on tape. This is a chance for you to hear directly from the candidates as they are out vying for their party's nomination out on the campaign. They are vying to get your attention and your votes. We have a busy schedule in the next couple of hours. Jim.

ACOSTA: Thanks, Mary. That's right. And on the agenda, on the game plan, if you will, for the next couple of hours. We have a couple of events coming up shortly that you want to watch. Barack Obama will be addressing supporters in a Pentecostal Church here in Las Vegas. In just a few moment, the crowd inside that church is getting fired up at that moment. And when Barack Obama enters that room, that place is likely to get very noisy very quickly with the crowd there very enthusiastically waiting for Barack Obama. And then later on in the hour, we also want to get you down to Pampano Beach, Florida where Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City is still banking on a big victory down there in Florida to get him back in the thick of this race. So, we'll check in with Rudy Giuliani as soon as we can. And so now, we want to get back to Mary Snow up in Michigan, where Mary is keeping tabs on the republican race. And as soon as we can get you to Barack Obama's speech to this church here in Las Vegas, we will. For now, we'll take it to Mary.

SNOW: Yes, Jim, here in Southfield, not too long ago, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, republican presidential hopeful held a rally here. After that rally, he came out and spoke with us. We'll take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: And joining us here for the "Ballot Bowl", republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. Governor Romney, thanks for joining us.

GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks, Mary.

SNOW: You know, we were watching your events here in Southfield, Michigan and you're talking a lot about the economy. This is such a crucial issues in this state. Why do you think you have the right message for Michigan?

ROMNEY: Well, I spent my life in the economy. I have worked in the private sector all my life. I've work with companies that were in trouble and worked to try and turn them around, sometimes successfully. I worked at the Olympics to help turn those games around very successfully. And I worked as a governor to learn how and the pulse of government you can make a difference there as well. That combination of private sector experience, living in the economy is what America needs right now. And so what Michigan needs is to turn around the auto industry and other jobs here. I'm counting very deeply upon that industry and others related to it.

SNOW: And just talking to voters here, I mean, it's such a daunting task, not only you have tens of thousands of jobs lost in the past several years in the auto industry but people also saying that they're having a real crunch with their mortgages here. How do you turn that around? What can a presidential candidate do in order to turn things around?

ROMNEY: Well, first of all, you do no harm. And when you pass massive cafe requirements that are like a mandate in an industry and then provide no support for the industry at all, no special tax treatment, no help with regards to research and technology investment. But instead, just say here, see if you can swim with that anvil, that's not helping. Secondly, you should invest in technology, basic science and research like we do in defense and aerospace and the space area so that we can develop new products and technologies that can propel the industry forward. And finally, of course, you want to help people, homeowners here and stop the mortgage crisis as it expands from Michigan into other states. You just can't sit back in Washington and hope things get better. You got to take action, not all actions at work as well as you hope but doing something is a heck of a lot better than doing nothing and having someone who spent his life in the private sector is exactly what Michigan needs.

SNOW: You spent a good part of your early life here in Michigan. Kind of an emotional day for you the other day. You went to visit the state capital and saw a portrait of your father when he was governor here in the state. What does it mean to you to be back here in Michigan campaigning for president?

ROMNEY: Well, it's really very tender as you might imagine because not only was I born and raised here but I campaigned for my dad in all three of his campaigns and my mom in her campaign for the Senate. So, I visited every county in Michigan. And I miss them a lot. They're buried here. When I go and see their portraits, it touches my heart. This is a place where memories are very, very deep and where if you will I recognize that Michigan is personal. When I grew up, Michigan was the pride of the nation, the envy of the world. We have to be that again. We can't just stand back and say it's too bad that those jobs are gone forever. Baloney! We can help build this sector, this transportation sector in America again to help lead the world. We're not going to do it by just sitting back with our hands in our pockets.

SNOW: And when you're addressing the crowd, you also said when you're in Michigan, it's nice to be in a place where you don't hear many accents. What did you mean by that?

ROMNEY: Well, I meant you don't hear any accent meaning the Midwestern accent that you're used to is the accent that seemed perfect. If you're in the south, southerners think there's no accent. That's what I meant.

SNOW: OK. Finally, with so much focus on Michigan. So many people are saying that this a must win state for you. Is it?

ROMNEY: Oh, no. It's one of the states I'd like to win. And I'm planning on winning in Michigan but right now there have been three contests. I won one. I've won two silvers. That's the best medal count of any other individual in the race and I won more votes for president than any other republican in the race. So, I'm going to keep battling at least until February 5th and anticipate that I'm going to get this nomination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: That's former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney stopping by after his event here in Southfield, Michigan. And we're now joined by our Alex Marquardt. You are a producer with CNN who has been embedded really with the Romney campaign since he got here to Michigan. So much pressure now because he lost Iowa and New Hampshire. Give us a sense of what his schedule has been like, is it just been jam-packed and has he been consistently saying on message in terms of his economic theme?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN, PRODUCER: It's been on and off ever since he got to Michigan. On Friday, he said from the get-go he would be here through the primary on Tuesday. He's not going to leave unlike some of his rivals. And he's had a pretty intense schedule. He had a long day yesterday. He stopped at five different events, giving the same message of bringing jobs back to Michigan and emphasizing his Michigan roots, relatively light day today with only two events because he's gearing up for a speech tomorrow at the Detroit Economic Club. And again, back on the road, Marathon Mitt hits up a lot of events tomorrow ahead of Tuesday's primary.

SNOW: You know, I just had to ask him if this was a make-or-break state for you, and he is saying no, he's pressing to go on. But do you feel that sense of pressure that this is a state he really wants to win?

MARQUARDT: Absolutely. I mean he says time and time again, at the top of each event, at the beginning of each event this is personal for me. This is not only a state that he wants to win for personal reasons because his father was governor here, and he has his roots but also because in the grand scheme of things, it's a very important state. So, you can tell he's really making the final push.

SNOW: And just being at these events, you get a sense that voters are really angry, too, about the whole economic situation.

MARQUARDT: Yes, absolutely, you can tell here today was one of the biggest events I've seen since we got to Michigan and a lot of people, you know, they've been hit hard by the economy, the lack of jobs, their high unemployment rates. So, when Governor Romney comes out and says he's going to get, he's going to bring jobs back to Michigan, invest in the state of Michigan, get the automotive industry back on track, the crowd really respond.

SNOW: Alex, thanks for checking in with us.

MARQUARDT: Thank you, Mary.

SNOW: We appreciate it. And we're going to go back and check in on the democratic side and for that we're going to switch now to Las Vegas and Jim Acosta standing by there. Jim.

ACOSTA: Thanks, Mary, very much. And coming up in just a few moments on "Ballot Bowl," you will hear from one of the big MVPs in this race. Barack Obama, he is right now talking to supporters at a Pentecostal Church here in Las Vegas. We'll get to that in just a moment. Stay with us. You're watching "Ballot Bowl" on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: And welcome back to "Ballot Bowl '08." I'm Jim Acosta standing by in Las Vegas, Nevada, where you are now looking live at Barack Obama's next upcoming event. He is, in just a few moments, expected to address supporters at the Pentecostal Temple Church of God and Christ here in Las Vegas. But as we await the words of the Illinois senator we want to go quickly to Jon Ralston who is a political reporter with the "Las Vegas Sun," who can help us tee up this event with Barack Obama. Over the last few days, we've been hearing Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton go at it, John, here in this town. It's been really fascinating to watch these two candidates go at each other because they seem to be the only two contenders in this state as it stands at this point. What is your sense of the race right now in Nevada? What are voters here paying attention to? What do they care about? And which of these candidates you think is appealing to these voters right now?

JON RALSTON, POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, I think the way you described it is very accurate. I mean they've really been going at it in this state. They went right from New Hampshire. Hillary Clinton was here first then Barack Obama, then Hillary Clinton, then Barack Obama. And I think they're really starting to be much more frontal about each other than we've seen in this race. I think Hillary Clinton is still showing that she needs to change her approach and Barack Obama is changing his a little bit too and starting to go after her a little bit. You saw Hillary Clinton on another network today talking a lot about Barack Obama more than she has in the past. I think he's going to start talking about her more.

As far as Nevada goes, there are no public polls here for almost a month and a half. The last one showed Hillary Clinton well ahead but I don't think those polls mean much at all, especially, remember this is a caucus state and after we saw what happened with polls in other places, I think most people now see this race as very tight and Barack Obama getting the culinary union's endorsement being a huge deal for him. Although now there's been a lawsuit filed that he's trying to diminish the impact of the culinary union by taking precincts out of where else here in Las Vegas, the casinos.

ACOSTA: Right, Jon. I was going ask you about that. The casinos are going to be looming large on caucus day. There's going to be will be more than black jack happening at those casinos. Is that right? On caucus day if all goes well for supporters of Barack Obama. It sounds as if what is supposed to happened is there's supposed to be some caucusing events happening where on the strip where so that these casino workers can participate. Is that right, Jon?

RALSTON: That's right. It's a game of a different sort. It's not black jack. It's called caucusing which is a gamble in of itself and now that gamble is even more high stakes because you have a lawsuit filed that would attempt to block those casino workers from actually caucusing in their casinos. These are nine what are called at-large precincts on the strips. They were created specifically for this caucus to allow them access to caucusing.

It's a very busy weekend next weekend here in Las Vegas. It's a three-day Martin Luther King weekend. How are they going to get off work? This was designed originally to make accommodations for them. But now, some people have filed a lawsuit, people inside the democratic party and the teachers union saying that these people will be getting special dispensation that others are not getting. And that the delegates that they could get awarded there are disproportionately valuable to the ones that had been, that are going to be accrued elsewhere. It is clear that there is a political component to this because this delegate plan, the way this is set up has been out for almost a year now. And no one has raised any objections since when, until the culinary union which would stand to benefit from those precincts endorsed Barack Obama.

It's largely being tied to Hillary Clinton supporters. Her supporters have not filed the lawsuit but a lot of people are connecting the dots to her campaign. And this morning, she seemed to indicate that she have sympathy for those who filed the lawsuit.

ACOSTA: I can't hear Jon anymore. Well, Jon Ralston, political reporter with the "Las Vegas Sun," thank you very much. We've enjoyed the coverage in "The Las Vegas Sun." It is interesting to see how the casino industry's impact on this race is taking shape. So, we'll be checking back with you with the coming days and keeping an eye on how this thing shapes up.

We are still looking at the Pentecostal Church here in Las Vegas. You can see Barack Obama sitting in the pews there waiting for his moment to come up and address these supporters here. Stay with us. We're going to get back to Obama after the break here on "Ballot Bowl." This is "Ballot Bowl '08" on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SNOW: Welcome back to CNN's "Ballot Bowl," a chance for you to hear directly from the presidential candidates. I'm here in Michigan. In two days there will be a primary here. Republicans have been competing in that race. Coming up, we're going to be hearing from Rudy Giuliani who's been campaigning in Florida. He's at an event coming up this hour but we're going to head out now to Las Vegas where Jim Acosta is standing by, covering the democrats. Jim.

ACOSTA: And one democrat in particular right now, Mary. Barack Obama is at the podium. He is standing in the pulpit inside a Pentecostal Church in Las Vegas. He is addressing supporters there. Let's dip in and hear what the Senator has to say.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kelvin Atkinson, Rose McKinney James, they are just wonderful friends. We're so grateful to them. And this young hot shot, we know he's going places, Senator Steven Horseford. Let's give him a big round of applause.

I am so grateful to be here. You know, almost a year ago, I stood on the steps of the old state capital in Springfield, Illinois. That is the building where Abraham Lincoln served for many years before he went to Washington. It's the city where I served for seven years as a state senator before going to the United States Senate. I stood there in front of 17,000 of my best friends and it was cold that day. It was 7 degrees. That's cold. It was. And I announced an unlikely journey to change America. Now, I had to tell you, I chose to run for president not because of some long-held ambitions.

I know people have been looking into my kindergarten papers to see how long ago I was thinking about this, but that's not why I ran. I didn't decide to run because I thought it was my turn or it was somehow owed to me. I chose to run because of what Dr. King called the fierce urgency of now. The fierce urgency of now. Because I believe there is such a thing as being too late. That hour is almost upon us. We are in a defining moment in our history.

Our nation is at war. Our planet is in peril. The dream that so many generations fought for feels like it's slipping away. You see it in your own lives. Working harder and harder for less money, never paid more for college, or health care or gas at the pump. It's harder to save and it's harder to retire. Many folks trying to keep up, maxed out on the credit cards. Now, they can't do it anymore. They took out a home equity loan only to discover that their housing prices is going down and they got caught by unscrupulous lender. They've got an adjustable rate mortgage and now they're at fear of losing their home. And the worst part is people have lost faith, lost confidence that their leaders can or will do anything about it.

No wonder they've lost faith. We were promised seven years ago a president who would be a uniter. But we got one a president who couldn't even lead the half of the country that voted for him. [ applause ] We were promised compassionate conservatism. And instead we got Katrina, and wiretaps and a neglect of the poor and the needy all throughout the country. We were promised a more ethical and more efficient government. And instead we have a Washington that is more corrupt and more wasteful than it was before. And the only mission that was ever accomplished was to use fear and falseness to take this country into a war that should have not been authorized and should have never been waged, that has cost us billions of dollars, and thousands of lives and has not made the American people more safe. That's all we got.

So, it's not surprising that people are frustrated. But what I've been saying throughout this campaign was that we can change this country if the American people make a decision to bring about change. I started this campaign saying we cannot wait to fix our schools. We cannot wait to fix health care so everybody has decent care. We can not wait for good jobs with good wages and decent benefits. We can't wait to change our trade laws so we're not shipping jobs overseas. We can not wait to bring this war to an end. And what I was betting on the American people were tired of waiting as well. [ applause ]

I understood that the American people had come to realize that the capacity to solve these problems no longer existed in a broken and divided politics, that we needed something new. We need something different. A politics that is based on our common values and our common ideas. A politics that wasn't about tearing somebody down but was about lifting the country up. A politics that wasn't based on spin and PR and saying whatever you think will get you elected but was based on honesty and truth and straight talk with the American people.

And most of all, most of all I was betting on all of you, the American people, to bring about change. Because change in America doesn't happen it's from the top down. It happens from the bottom up. It happens because we are a decent people and a hardworking people. We're not as divided as our politics would suggest. And we are willing to work hard and sacrifice for future generations. And if we could just mobilize our voices together and challenge the special interests in Washington and challenge ourselves to be better. And I knew there was nothing. No problem we could not solve and no destiny that we could not fulfill.

And I just want to that over the last few weeks, that faith I've had in the American people has been vindicated. Because they have stood up and they have said, it is time for change. The time for change has come to America. And we are willing to vote for it, and we're willing to fight for it and organize for it and march for it. They know the time has changed. The time for change has come.

ACOSTA: And there's Barack Obama addressing supporters at a Pentecostal Church here in Las Vegas, Nevada. We want to sneak in a quick commercial break but we'll come back to Senator Obama in just a few moments. This is "Ballot Bowl" on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL, a chance for you to hear directly from the presidential candidates from the 2008 race as they are on the campaign trail. On the Democratic side, Senator Barack Obama right now is speaking at a church in Las Vegas. We're going to go there in a short amount of time. But first we want to head down to Florida where Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani is right now talking to a crowd in Pompano Beach. Hear he is.

RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We'll make sure we give the death tax the death penalty. We know that people in Florida are very concerned about natural disaster because of the impact that can have on people here in Florida. Natural disasters can have impact on people all over the country, not just in Florida. It can impact in California; it can have an impact in New York, South Carolina, all over the country. Really, the federal government has to be there as a backstop. That is why I support a national catastrophic fund not just to help Florida but to help the entire country.

I needed help, New York City needed help. The federal government was there, the other states were there, Florida helped us, all the states helped and the federal government helped us. We're in this together. We have to be ready for anything, we have to ready for anything that nature has in store, or anything these terrorists have in store for us. Which is why we have to have a strong Homeland Security Program.

And our goal, our goal in Iraq is to win. Our goal in Iraq is to have victory. Our goal -- our goal is to have a stable Iraq that will act as an ally for us. A war that we will win it by staying on offense to defend this country. The best defense is a good offense. Everyone knows that, right? And we need a stronger military. We need we need a larger army, marines, navy, air force, coast guard, all of the services need to be enhanced so that we're ready for any of the challenges that might come our way and to deter people from wanting to challenge us.

The best way the achieve peace is through strength. We've made 12 commitments to the American people. I hope you share them over the next couple of weeks as we bring people out to vote. I hope you share with them our vision for change. I know some there are some Democrats that talk a lot about change. When you hear the word change, you have to say to yourself, change in what direction? Good change or bad change?

Let me tell you what the Democrats have in mind. The kind of change they have in mind is to take the change out of your pocket, that's the change they have in mind. Right? They want to raise taxes. That's a bad change. We want to lower taxes. That's a good change. They want to go on defense. We believe we should be on offense. They want to give you socialized medicine. We went to give you private options to afford your own health insurance and you make the decisions with your doctor.

You know what our campaign is about, the day before the early voting starts. I thank you have very, very much for your support. We will be back and we will be campaigning here in Florida. I want Florida to send a message to the rest of the country like Florida has done before, that Florida counts. Florida will make its own decision. And that Florida will have a big turn out. And I want your vote. I want your support. I want to you to get me other people that vote for us and that support us. Thank you have, have much and god blesses you. Thank you.

SNOW: You hear Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani telling that crowd in Florida he wants them to send a message to the rest of the country. He's been heavily concentrating his stake in Florida. He is hoping to win there, and then go on to Super Tuesday, an unconventional strategy that he's been betting on. He has also been hitting on familiar themes of health care and contrasting himself with Democrats.

We have lots more to come up; Senator Barack Obama is speaking at a church in Las Vegas, Nevada. We're are going to be going back out there live after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Back in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jim Acosta, BALLOT BOWL'08. We're going to get back to Barack Obama, who is holding a big stack of chips here in Las Vegas in anticipation of this Saturday's Nevada caucus. He's speaking to a full house if you don't mind throwing that in; at a Pena Costa church right now let's listen.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIATE: The slaves fought against that evil system with their prayers and their hope, that is what allowed them to resist. That's how a president was able to chart a new path to ensure we would not be half slave and half free. That's how the greatest generation fought fashionism, defeated Hitler. Lifted themselves up out of a great depression. How unions won the right to organize that is how women won the right to vote. How young people traveled down south to Selma and Montgomery and they sat in and they were beaten, they went to jail. Some of them died for freedom's cause. That's what hope is. Imaging and then fighting for, then working for it. What didn't seem possible before? That's what, that's what god asks of us. That's the essence of faith. It's easy to be hopeful when things are going easy. That's not faith or hope. Hope is when things are hard.

In the face of difficulty. The face of uncertainty, hope keeps you going. That's what is need right now, in this country, in our politics. That's why we are trying to provide. Let me close by just saying this, I feel that I may have abused my time here. I can't do it by myself. I am confident in my capacity to lead this country. I wouldn't be running if I wasn't. There was a time when I wrestled with should I run or not. But, sometimes all you can do is present yourself and say, god, do with me what you will.

I was reminded; I gave a sermon down in Selma about the story of Joshua. How after Moses had seen the promised land and found out he couldn't go, found out the torch was being passed to Joshua, Joshua said lord, I'm not ready, I'm not as brave as Moses. The lord said, be strong and have good courage. I will be with you. We're proud of that Joshua generation. We're in the as great as Moses and the Moses generation. We didn't have to brave the dogs and the fire hoses and the billy clubs. We've had it easier because of what the Moses generation did. We stand on the shoulders of the Moses generation.

We're still called to do our part. When we don't always feel like we are as great as those that preceded us, we have to trust in the lord that he has a plan for us. I also know that know Joshua can ever lead unless there are those that are behind him. And that's the moment that we're in right now. We're on the brink, the cusp of doing something important. We could make history. Not by the way just, I know everybody is focused on racial history. That is not what I'm talking about that. We could be the first time in a very long time where a grassroots movement of people of all colors black, white, Hispanic, Asian rose up and went up against the princes, the powers of prinapalities (ph) and actually won a presidency. We're in that moment now but I got to have you with me.

If you believe that we can change, if you believe we can fix our schools, if you believe we can provide health care for every American, if you believe we can send every child to college, if you believe that we have to give our children the same chances our parents gave us, if you believe that we have to keep the dream alive for those that still hunger for justice, still thirst for opportunity, if you're not willing to settle for what the cynics tell you you have to accept. But are willing to gather with me to reach for something higher.

If you are willing to stand up with me and caucus for me on Saturday, then I am convinced we will not just win the Nevada caucus, we won't just win the Democratic nomination, we won't just win the general election, but you and I together, we will remake this country and we will remake the world, thank you, everybody, god bless you.

ACOSTA: There was a fiery speech from Barack Obama talking about not only the differences between he and Hillary Clinton but also talking about in very stark language the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and how that movement is propelling he hopes into the White House here in 2008. He took time to talk about Hillary Clinton a little bit. When he said it is not my turn, I don't believe that the presidency is owed to me; he said he is running for different reasons. And talked about what Martin Luther King once said, the fierce urgency of now.

We will be getting into more of this discussion about Martin Luther King and how the Civil Rights leader has reemerged in this campaign as it has come a bit of an issue between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that is a little bit later on BALLOT BOWL.

But first I want to swing it back to my collogue Mary Snow, who is up in Michigan. A little more to say about what's happening in Florida and Rudy Giuliani. Is that right?

SNOW: That is right Jim. You know, the Republicans are really spread out this weekend campaigning in several different states. We're in Michigan; there will be a primary here on Tuesday. We've been talking about John McCain, and Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee campaigning in the state. Rudy Giuliani has been campaigning in Florida. Susan Candiotti has been traveling with him this weekend. And Susan you know we just took a snippet of the last event. We heard Giuliani telling the people of Florida; send a message on January 29 the day of the primary. It seems that's where he is placing all of his bets, right?

CANDIOTTI: He's bypassing Michigan and by passing Nevada. He is spending all of his time and money in effort here in Florida. And his message is vote for me. If you don't, it could put a serious damper needless to say on his strategy. To put all of his eggs in this one basket, virtually he wants to win here in order to build a head of steam to take him into tsunami Tuesday. He's currently in the lead in Florida, a single-digit lead. If he doesn't win here, he could be in trouble of raising the money that it will take to move on. As the weekend began, some of his top staffers gave up their salaries voluntarily so that the money could be more spread out here Florida that is how crucial they think this state is.

Now he had a bit of a controversy today here in Florida. When he appeared earlier today in Little Havana at their annual Three Kings Parade a huge event, especially in a Hispanic community. A controversy because he was riding in a fire truck. The fire truck has the local union's logo on it. Some of the local fire fighters that belong to that union take issue with Rudy Giuliani, and disagreed with the way he carried out his job in New York, even in the pre-9/11 days.

They draped a huge American flag over that logo. They put out a statement of support for him from his former fire and police commissioner Howard Savard (ph) who said there's no better friend to firefighters than Rudy Giuliani. But regardless of that controversy Mary, his message here continues to be more troops to fight the war on terror, better health care options. More tax cuts, less government spending and less government regulation. There are 16 days to go here on the state. The absentee ballots have already gone out. As you may have heard the mayor say early voting starts tomorrow. So the message is get out there and vote if you can.

Mary.

SNOW: Susan, the Republican candidates here in Michigan have really been focusing on the economy. You mentioned it's one of the issues that Rudy Giuliani has been stressing. How big on an issue is it there in Florida with the candidate?

CANDIOTTI: It's a very important issue for everyone. Particularly here, as you know Florida has one of the hardest hit states in terms of foreclosures. It's of great importance here. There's a housing slump here in particular. Other issues are important; immigration is a big issue here and health care, especially with the senior citizen population here in Florida.

SNOW: Susan Candiotti thanks for checking in with us.

And we're going take a quick break, stay with us. Coming up we'll get the latest headlines including the very latest on a big storm that is heading toward the northeast. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. Back to the BALLOT BOWL in a moment, but first these headlines. The dragnet tightens for 21 year old marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean; he is accused of killing a pregnant marine in North Carolina. Police now confirm their prime suspect was spotted in Louisiana, approximately 16 hours ago. Yesterday authorities dug up burned remains in Laurean's backyard; they are believed to be those of the 20 year old Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child.

On the coast of Alabama the search for children allegedly thrown by their father from a towering bridge has lead a second body. A search team made the discovery today on the shore of a bay near where the body of an infant was found yesterday. The father is being held on capital murder charges in Mobile County.

And a nor'easter will make for a pretty messy start to the work week in and around New England. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras who is tracking this monster storm and she is in the Severe Weather Center. Good to see you Jacqui.

JERAS: Good to see you too Fred. The storm system itself has not developed yet. We have a couple of different elements coming together and we'll watch for the low to develop later on for tonight. Not a whole lot out there right now. May not look like much when you go to bed tonight. But overnight tonight and then into early tomorrow morning, you'll be waking and you will be seeing a lot of snow along with a lot of gusty winds as well. This will be the first significant winter storm for you for places like New York City and Boston. This is going be the one that takes the cake thus far.

Someone here is going to seeing up wards of a foot of snow. Most of these warnings don't kick in until later on tonight. We are looking at six to twelve inches of snow Boston, likely four to eight inches in New York City. It will change from rain to snow. When that happens has a great bearing on how deep the snow will be.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much.

The Golden Globe Awards in a nutshell. Tonight the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will announce the winners in a one-hour news conference format. Celebrities didn't want to cross the picket lines. Watch it all unfold right here on CNN, Golden Globe results as they happen on tonight's "Larry King Live." Plus some surprise guests. Don't miss it tonight 9:00 pm Eastern.

More BALLOT BOWL on the way. You'll hear from John Edwards, Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson just to name a few. The candidates in their own words, unfiltered right here on CNN your place for politics.

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SNOW: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL, a chance for you to hear directly from the presidential candidates and their unfiltered campaign appearances across the country today. I'm Mary Snow, Southfield, Michigan. We're watching Republican candidates ahead of Tuesday's primary. Out in Las Vegas, Jim Acosta is keeping tabs on all the Democrats. Jim, you had a busy afternoon too right?

ACOSTA: Absolutely Mary. Barack Obama just rapped up his speech here at a Pena costal church here in Las Vegas, and Barack Obama is holding some pretty good cards in this state. He has some key endorsements. He is really trying to turn out not only the African American vote here but the Hispanic vote. And in a speech that he just delivered to this packed church, he talked about the Civil Rights Movement, talked about Martin Luther King and also drew some contrast between himself and Hillary Clinton, but he returned time and again to language of the Civil Rights Movement, comparing his presidential run to the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s. Talking about he that was a historic moment and how he feels that he and his campaign are in the middle of an historic moment.

And it is interesting that he brought that up, because right now, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton appear to be in a bit of a controversy over Martin Luther King the civil rights leader, reemerging in this campaign as a bone of contention between these two candidates over some comments that Hillary Clinton made about the Civil Rights Movement and whether or not Civil Rights legislative would have been passed had Johnson not been president. So we will get into that controversy a little bit later on in this hour. But in the meantime let me throw it back to you, Mary. To hear some more about how the Republicans are doing up in Michigan and down in Florida.

Mary.

SNOW: The main theme here has been the economy. With Michigan so hard hit, the unemployment rate in the state is at 7.4 percent, compare that to the national average of 5 percent. So it has really been at the forefront of campaign appearances here.

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