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Continuing 2008 Election Coverage

Aired January 13, 2008 - 14:00   ET

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

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon and welcome to another edition of the CNN BALLOT BOWL. I'm Mary Snow in Clawson, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. And along with me is Jim Acosta in Nevada. Hi Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Mary, I'm Las Vegas. Place your bets for today's round of Ballot Bowl here on CNN, where you the voters get to hear the candidates in their own words. Over the next four hours you will hear the candidates giving their speeches unfiltered. Some of those speeches will be taped, some of them will be live. But all of them will be coming to you the viewers on CNN for the next four hours and it should be quite a day to get caught up on where the candidates stand on the issues and how this campaign is shaping up. Mary?

SNOW: Yeah, so much going on. A big calendar and take a look at the map that we're going to be putting up. This month alone we have four primaries and caucuses. Michigan is the next primary. Then a week from today, voters in Nevada and South Carolina will have their time to decide on the 26th Democrats in South Carolina go to the polls. Then, of course, the 29th is the Florida primary.

ACOSTA: I'm in Nevada where the Nevada caucus will be taking place on the 19th that is one week from today. That is the big next democratic contest in this race for the presidency. It is already heating up. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been barnstorming this state over the last couple of days. We heard from Hillary Clinton just a few moments ago. She had a speech here inside the sheet metal workers' union here in Las Vegas, it's a key union here in the city of Las Vegas, where she was firing up her supporters talking about the economy, talking about the foreclosure crisis in this state. Let's hear a little bit of what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe with all my heart that our country must have not just a change in direction but a change of heart. We have got to start listening to one another. We've got to start seeing one another. Ruben and I went door to door the other night, in and out of the homes of hard-working people, people who get up every single day, they do see their kids off to school, they go off to work, and they do the very best they can to pursue the American dream. And for the last seven years they haven't had a lot of help from our White House. They've been pretty much on their own, haven't they? People feel invisible. I hear that across Nevada and across America. You know what? We're going to deliver on common sense because it's common sense that built this country, to help us achieve our common purpose. The common purpose of America is progress. Not just for the wealthy and the well connected but for everyone. Every single person deserves to have a shot at the American dream. That is why I'm running for president. I don't believe this election is about me. I've never believed that elections are about the speeches you make or the TV coverage you get. Because when the cameras turn off, when the lights are down, what are you going to do to help somebody have a better life? What are you going to do? I have worked with each of my friends from the congress here to do just that, to try to provide better health care for women, particularly Latino women, to try to cut the dropout rate for Hispanic youngsters, to try to provide better job training opportunities so that anybody willing to work hard can get a job that will give them a shot at a better future. And I know very well that right now people are nervous. I hear it everywhere. When your neighbor's home is foreclosed on and all of a sudden there's a vacant house next door and the neighborhood begins to look a little different. The weeds are growing. Maybe some people are in the neighborhood now that weren't there before. And you're worried whether your kids are going to be safe when they go out to play. That's not a campaign issue. That's a human issue. That's how we live. That's who we are. That's what we care about. I'm offering in this campaign solutions to our problems. I believe that that's what you elect a president to do. You elect a president so that we can have a problem solver, someone who brings people together and sets our goals high because this is America. We should aim high. We set those goals high, and then we work together to achieve them. I'm asking for your support here in Nevada because I've already produced results for the people of Nevada. Children have health care in Nevada because I helped to start the children's health insurance program. National Guard and reserve members have health care because I joined on a bipartisan basis with Republicans and over the threat of a veto from President Bush passed legislation to take care of those who take care of us. Children get vaccinated against childhood diseases because of a program that I helped to start. People have job training and opportunities because of work I've done in the senate. I know what it takes to be a president who delivers to the American people. And I promise you that if you give me your support going into the caucuses on Saturday, I will never forget you. I will never forget Nevada. I will be there for you. And together we will make history. Thank you all so very much! And God bless you!

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: There's the former first lady, the junior senator from New York, Hillary Clinton, who was holding all of the good cards coming out of her win in New Hampshire, trying to double down on the momentum that she built up there. And is now in Nevada in anticipation of next week's caucus on January 19th, next Saturday. One of those persons -- one of those supporters who is going to try to help her get to the finish line here in first place is the former secretary of housing and urban development during the Clinton administration Henry Cisneros and I welcome in the former mayor of San Antonio as well. Thank you very much Henry for spending some time with us. Your man in the race, Bill Richardson, dropped out. Now you're throwing your support behind Hillary Clinton. Why?

HENRY CISNEROS: Well first of all I was with Bill Richardson out of lifelong loyalty and frankly as a Latino, I thought that the first Latino to run for president ought to get the backing of our community for as far as he could take it. Bill ran a noble race. I was pleased to see Wolf Blitzer, your colleague at CNN, compliment him this week on his contributions to the election. It was historic. But this week he concluded, he'd come to the end of the road and he took it like a man and stepped out. I support the candidate that I think can now make some very substantial history and that is Hillary Clinton. Not just because she'll be the first daughter, sister, mother, wife to be president of the United States, but because the real history we need made is to address this question of health care, inadequacy of health care for our people, teachers and adequacy of education so our young people could compete in the world, the harnessing of jobs, particularly when the economy is starting to look soft, and I think we need somebody who can make it happen. My judgment was from my vantage point in the Clinton administration watching Hillary up close, she has the tools, the skills to actually make these things happen. That's what we need.

ACOSTA: Let me pick up on that because some people have argued and it's been suggested that because she was a first lady during the Clinton administration, obviously being the spouse of the president, that perhaps the lessons, the experience doesn't perhaps transfer over quite as well.

CISNEROS: Well, you know, you could say that, I suppose, about some first lady situations, but Hillary Clinton was not your run of the mill first lady. She was involved deeply in policy discussions. She herself is a trained lawyer. She was active as first lady of Arkansas before. She has strong ideas about issues. She's been a U.S. senator in the intervening years at a time of immense challenge for our country, including 9/11. She's the senator from New York. She's been right where she needs to be in terms of learning, seeing, enacting, and I think ready to lead the country.

ACOSTA: All right, Secretary Cisneros, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it. Have a safe trip back to San Antonio.

CISNEROS: Thank you very much.

ACOSTA: Thank you very much. And as we saw earlier today during this big event here in Las Vegas, Mary, there was a big sign behind Hillary that said together with Hillary, I can definitely say we were not in New Hampshire anymore at that moment, seeing the Spanish language scroll across the banner behind Hillary Clinton. You know that all too well being in Michigan where the Republicans have a big contest coming up in just a few days. Isn't that right Mary?

SNOW: Yeah they certainly do, Jim. On Tuesday Republicans have a primary here. In case you're wondering why Democrats aren't here, democrats and Republicans both got punished for moving up the primary here in Michigan. Democrats are largely ignoring the state after the democratic national committee stripped the delegates from the convention this summer. Republicans getting half those delegates. So that's the reason why you're seeing Republicans campaigning here. We have so much more to bring you this afternoon. Candidates on both sides of the aisle in their own words, unscripted. Coming up next we're going to be hearing from former senator John Edwards. He's campaigning in South Carolina. And on the Republican side, Senator John McCain campaigning here in Michigan. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: Welcome back. You're watching a special edition of CNN's Ballot Bowl, a chance for you to hear from presidential candidates out on the campaign trail in their own words. I'm Mary Snow in Clawson, Michigan, the state where Republicans are gearing up for their next fight on Tuesday. Earlier today, Senator John McCain spoke in Warren, Michigan. He is hoping to build on his victory in New Hampshire to this state, one of the big topics here, the economy. Here is Senator John McCain in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My friends, I just want to discuss a couple, three issues with you very quickly. The first one is, obviously, what about the state of Michigan? As you know, there's been some discussion about jobs in Michigan. I understand it's been difficult for this state. I understand the statistics. You understand them far more graphically and painfully than I do. We know that this state has been through very difficult times, and when I was discussing it the other day, I had -- at the debate, I had to give straight talk. As I gave the straight talk to the people in South Carolina who have lost the textile mills there. The textile mills are not coming back to South Carolina, but jobs are being created. Jobs are leaving the state of Michigan that have left and will not come back. But we're going to create jobs. We're going to create a new economy. This is the smartest technological place in America. We have the smartest people here. We can do it. We can create jobs. We can create jobs here. We can -- we need to cut taxes here. We need to invest in technology. My friends, Detroit once saved the world. Michigan once saved the world in World War II. They can do it again. There's technology out there that exists today, and we need to have the government help with research and development. My friends, there's hybrid cars, there's battery-powered cars, there's hydrogen. There are all kinds of existing and awaiting technologies that we can develop and, again, restore Detroit supremacy in the automotive industry in the world. I'm not pessimistic, I'm optimistic.

The best and most productive workers in the world reside in the state of Michigan, my friends, and they can compete with anybody. And I'd like to say a word about something you know about. There was recently an agreement between labor and management which was remarkably good to relieve some of these legacy costs where labor and management sat down together. That's the essence of what we need to do. Now, my friends, there's another part of this problem, this issue, and that is the workers who have been displaced. My friends, we are a Judeo-Christian valued nation. We cannot leave people behind. We left people behind in the industrial revolution more than a century ago, and we didn't do anything about it. Well, we can't do that. We cannot leave these people behind. Now, I'm going to give you some straight talk. There's a half dozen federal programs today that are supposed to take care of displaced workers. It doesn't work. It doesn't work. But what we can do, we can go to our community colleges -- there's one right here in this county that's suburb -- and have them design and implement education and training programs to give these workers another chance. They deserve it. We can give it to them. We can give them another chance.

Now, small example. Couple of years ago I met a guy who owned a trucking company. They imposed very strict driving rules on truck drivers. He had no truck drivers. He went to the local community college, he gave them the money and said, train truck drivers for me. Now he's got a supply of truck drivers. Our community colleges all over the state of Michigan, which are the best in the country, can design and implement education and training programs to meet the new economies. By the way, you know, in this discussion that's been had, I'm interested in the front page of "The Daily News" today that says experts back up McCain's jobs claims. Not only the experts back up my claim, but they also agree that our future is ahead of us in Michigan. Let's not look back. Let's look forward. Give these workers another chance, my friends. I'm committed to it. I believe in Americans, and I believe in the productivity of these workers. You've just got to give them the education and training necessary, and we'll restore Michigan back to its pre-eminent place in America and the world that it once held. Let's keep that going.

So I want to just assure you again as president of the United States I'm not going to go to the wealthiest and the best-off places in America. I'm going to come back here to Michigan and I'm going to sit down and work with the local people and work with the legislature and the governors and the senators and the congressmen and we're going to bring Michigan back up. I want to commit that to you my friends, and I know we can do it. I've been in the state enough. I know the people. They're great and wonderful people. It's the heartland of America. We cannot and will not leave them behind.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: There you have it. Republican presidential hopeful Senator John McCain talking to a crowd in Warren, Michigan, earlier today about his plans to help restore jobs here in Michigan. This is the state with the highest unemployment rate at 7.4 percent. The national average is about 5 percent. John McCain and his chief rival here, Mitt Romney, have been in a tussle this week over exactly what to do to help Michigan. Governor Romney is saying he wants to bring jobs back here to the manufacturing sector. John McCain as you just heard him saying these jobs aren't coming back. That he wants to train people and go on to create new jobs. You'll be hearing from Governor Mitt Romney later today. When we come back from this short break, stay with us. We're going to head back out to Las Vegas with Jim Acosta and also Bill Schneider will have the very latest CNN poll. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. More of the CNN Ballot Bowl in a moment but first, we want to keep you up to date on the developments out of Jacksonville, North Carolina. The investigation of what was once a missing person's case and now appears to be more of a murder investigation involving Marine Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach. You're looking at some recent video that was shot in the backyard of what is being described as the primary suspect's residence here. We understand through some of the recent images you could see that the investigators there removed a large item right there as they take it to look at it a little bit closer at the evidence there. It is believed that earlier, according to investigators, that some charred remains believed to be that of the Lance Corporal were found in the backyard of that suspect. The suspect is Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean. The search, the national search, is under way right now. He, too, was a marine and also believed to be the suspect in a rape case involving Ms. Lauterbach. She had accused him of raping her. She was 8 1/2 months pregnant mid December when she was reported missing. We expect a news conference to take place right there out of Onslow County there in North Carolina just about five minutes from now. Of course, when that happens we'll bring that to you live. Meantime, we want to take you right back to the Ballot Bowl being hosted by Jim Acosta and Mary Snow.

ACOSTA: I'm Jim Acosta in Las Vegas, Nevada. Place your bets. We are back with another round of Ballot Bowl. I'm standing outside of the sheet metal workers' union in Las Vegas, Nevada where Hillary Clinton just wrapped up a campaign event. Meanwhile, I can tell you behind me, there are some caucus goers in training. After this event, they decided to go ahead and start training people on how to caucus next Saturday because it's a relatively new phenomenon here in Nevada. But meanwhile, we want to take you to South Carolina, all the way back to the east coast, where John Edwards, many people say is in the process of a make or a break push through the palmetto state. Let's listen to him right now. He's at an event, a town hall meeting in his home state where he was born. Here's John Edwards. JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They make $4 to $5 billion a year just acting as the intermediary. We get rid of the banks, we use that money to actually send kids to college instead of for the profits of big banks. And we've actually, in order to make certain that this idea which I had years ago would work, my wife Elizabeth and I started a model college for everyone in a community very much like this in eastern North Carolina called Green County, and we started it a couple of years ago, raised the money for it privately. So far, it's been a huge success. And the reason is because parents like the idea that their children have to work for it. They don't just give it to them. You know, a lot of us worked when we were in school. I had a lot of jobs working when I was in school. I was the first person in my family to be able to go to college. Probably like some of you, I had a lot of different jobs. I remember one of the jobs was unloading tractor trailers for UPS. You spend a summer night unloading a tractor trailer for UPS, you'll go home and study. I'm telling you. It gets your attention.

And the other thing is, the young people don't graduate with such a crushing burden of debt. There's so many of our young people faced with that every single day. All these things are aimed at the same idea -- making sure that middle class families and low-income families can send their kids to college because that is the stepladder. It is. I could never have done what I've been able to do in my life without a college education. My father and grandparents, they worked very, very hard to give me the chances that I've had. Just like your parents did and your grandparents did. They worked and they struggled and they sacrificed and they did it so that you could have a better life. Well, if we're going to make certain that our children and grandchildren have a better life, we've got to make it easy for them to get a college education because that is the ticket in today's world.

I tell you another thing we need to do. If we're really going to stand up for the middle class in this country, we need a trade policy, not NAFTA, not CAFTA, not these trade deals that have cost America millions of jobs. Because you ask anybody in North Carolina or South Carolina, where the mills have closed, the jobs have left, what these trade deals have done for working families, they have been devastating for working families. And what has been the good for America? The only good has been to pad the profits of the biggest corporations in America. You know what happens is not hard to understand. The big companies, they pick up here, close their mills, go overseas, take their jobs with them and they hire people to do the job for 10 cents on the dollar, no environmental standards, no labor standards, no nothing. They make more money. But the American middle class and working people in this country are struggling and struggling terribly. We have a health care system in America that is broken. It does not work by any possible measure. We've got 47 million people in this country who wake up every day with no health care coverage. 47 million. The cost of health care. The premiums have doubled over the last decade or so. People who have health care coverage are worried about losing it. They're worried if they get laid off, or if they change jobs. People feel locked into their job because they've got to stay in that job because they don't want to lose their health care coverage. My mother actually went back to working at the post office when she was getting older because she needed to have health care coverage for her and my father who had a heart condition. We're no different than families like them all over the country.

Now, by the way, even people who have health care coverage have a terrible time with the big insurance companies. You know, over and over and over -- I was with a family last week. Some of you will remember this story. It was in the news. There was a young woman named Nataline Sarkizia, she was 17 years old. She had needed a liver transplant operation. Her family had health care coverage with one of the biggest insurance companies in America. Her dad was a working man, and he had been paying his premiums for years and years and years. So when it came time for her to get a liver transplant, the company denied coverage. They wouldn't pay for it. So what they did is the doctors went to the insurance company, the nurses went to the insurance company, and the family pleaded with them. Then they said no again. Finally, people started literally picketing and marching in front of the insurance company, and eventually they caved in, notified the family they'd pay for the liver transplant. The problem is it was too late and a few hours later she died. This should never happen in the United States of America. Never. Everybody should have health care coverage. It ought to be mandated by law. Everybody ought to be able to take their health care with them wherever they go. Every American, if you get laid off or you move, your health care ought to go with you. You get sick, you ought to be able to go in the hospital and know that your health care coverage is going to pay for it. People should not be denied health care. It can't be just a benefit for the wealthiest Americans or a privelege for the wealthiest Americans. It ought to be a right for every single American to have health care coverage in this country.

(APPLAUSE)

ACOSTA: And that was former North Carolina senator, former vice presidential candidate John Edwards. He just wrapped up -- or he's in the process of wrapping up an event in South Carolina, the state where he was born and a state that he won in 2004. But he is not doing so well in the polls right now, his numbers show that he is pretty far behind Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in that state.

And speaking of numbers, Bill Schneider, our political analyst, will be taking a look at the numbers coming up here on BALLOT BOWL when it continues.

We'll be right back from Las Vegas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: I'm Jim Acosta in Las Vegas, Nevada for another addition, round if you will, of BALLOT BOWL 2008.

And we are keeping track of all of the events happening on the campaign trail and the race for the White House over this weekend. And we've heard from Senator -- former senator John Edwards earlier today, heard from Senator Hillary Clinton, and it's a very interesting race that's shaping up after what happened in New Hampshire, a big surprise there. She has a lot of the momentum right now.

And we want to bring in CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider to break down some new polling numbers that have come in. And Bill, you're in Washington. Tell us, what do these new poll numbers show? Who are the new frontrunners?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the new national frontrunners -- first of all, John McCain on the Republican side, who won the New Hampshire primary, his support has gone up 21 points over the last month. He won New Hampshire. Hillary Clinton won New Hampshire. She's the Democratic frontrunner. Her support has gone up nine points. What happens if you put them against each other? Look, you get a near tie. It's going to be a long election night if they're the nominees. When we tested Obama against McCain, also a near tie.

Right now, McCain looks like the most electable Republican. We also tested Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani against both Obama and Clinton, and all three Republicans lose to the Democrats by double-digit margins. Only John McCain runs a close race.

ACOSTA: And, Bill, as John McCain said the other night during his victory speech in New Hampshire, he's a little too old to be referred to as the comeback kid.

SCHNEIDER: Right.

ACOSTA: But he is doing quite well right now and has gone from political roadkill to political road warrior. He is on fire in this race. Why is he doing so well?

SCHNEIDER: Because he has very high personal favorability ratings, higher than any of the other Republican candidates. Look at Hillary Clinton compared with John McCain. And we asked voters how unfavorable and favorable they feel towards them.

About the same number of people like them. A majority in both cases, 53 and 54, but Hillary Clinton has much higher negatives than John McCain, 47 percent don't like Hillary Clinton, only 29 percent by comparison, a lower figure, don't like John McCain. So, with McCain, what he has going for him is high personal favorability.

ACOSTA: And that is certainly working for him right now. What is so surprising and so interesting about these poll numbers is that we really don't have a sense as to, you know, where this election would come out if it were held today. I mean, it seems like a slight edge for the Democrats. Why is the race so close at this point, do you think?

SCHNEIDER: With his high favorability, why is it so close? Because Hillary Clinton is a Democrat and voters are very down on the Republican party right now. When we asked them about their feelings about the two parties, most voters said they liked the Democratic party, right there on the left, 55 percent favorable, but their view of the Republican party is unfavorable.

This race, Jim, is close because you've got two forces that are pulling voters in opposite directions. The desire for change is pushing voters to vote Democratic, but McCain's personal favorability is making him a very competitive candidate, the most competitive of all the Republicans.

ACOSTA: Bill Schneider, thanks very much for that analysis. And Bill Schneider, the senior political analyst here at CNN, keeping track of all of the latest numbers in this campaign.

And coming up next, we want to head back to Michigan. We're going to swing back up to the big Midwestern battleground that is coming up here on Tuesday. Mary Snow is keeping tabs on that race. And she'll be joining us coming up next as BALLOT BOWL continues here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back. I'm Mary Snow in Clawson, Michigan. And you're watching a special edition of CNN's BALLOT BOWL, a chance for you to hear the candidates, the presidential candidates in their own words unscripted.

We're going to be going next to hear from Rudy Giuliani, the Republican presidential candidate. While a number of Republican candidates are here in Michigan gearing up for Tuesday's primary, Rudy Giuliani has had an unconventional strategy, really focusing on the state of Florida. He's hoping to win there and then go on to Super- Tuesday, February 5th, where there'll be 22 primaries taking place that day. That strategy is being put to the test. We're going to be hearing live from Rudy Giuliani later this afternoon in the 4:00 hour. He's in Florida.

Earlier this week, he was in Melbourne, Florida, where he unveiled his tax plan. Here he is in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've had tax cuts before. President Kennedy cut taxes. The economy was stimulated and grew. President Reagan cut taxes, the economy was stimulated and grew. President Bush cut taxes. Exactly the same thing. When you cut taxes, you liberate the potential of the American people and unlock the genius of the free market.

This past June, I unveiled my 12 commitments to the American people. One of them was to cut taxes and reform the tax code. Another was to restore fiscal discipline and cut wasteful Washington spending. Month after month, we've detailed a number of these proposals, including these tax cuts, and now when we pull them all together, they really add up to something quite historic. If they were you all enacted, the ones that we've talked about and the ones we're going to talk about today, it would be the largest tax cut in the history of the United States.

And that is exactly what we need to stimulate our economy, to stimulate our private economy, and to say to investors all over the world that America is a place to invest because America is a place in which we're committed to growth.

I'll fight for each one of these reforms, each one that we talk about. We might not win each fight. When I was mayor, I didn't win each fight, so we put these out there as our list of the things we're going to fight for. We will fight for each one of them. We may not get all of them, but if we get enough of them, as I have in the past, then we will create that stimulus that I'm talking about.

And over the next couple of weeks, we're going to talk about the other important aspects of this plan. There are really three parts to it. One are the tax cuts that we're talking about today and that we'll show you today. Second is reducing spending and plans for doing that and we'll do that as we move along. And third is getting control of the regulations.

The three ways in which you can drive jobs out of America is to overtax, overregulate and overspend. So, we got to get control of all three. Today, we're going to talk about the tax part of it.

So, let me just briefly describe to you what it entails. The first and maybe most exciting part of it is America needs a flatter, fairer, and simpler tax system. The federal code is now nine million words. The United States Constitution is about 5,000 words, by comparison. Nine million words. And I'm not sure they all make sense.

Americans spend approximately 6.5 billion hours each year filling out various tax forms, keeping records, learning the rules. The cost of complying with taxes are estimated at something like $200 billion a year. When the federal income tax was first introduced in 1913, when it was first introduced, do you know it could be filed on one page? One single page.

So, what we propose is: let's have a one single page federal tax form as an option. Here it is. I know you can't see it. It's kind of small print. But it's still -- you can still read it when you get up close. You will have the option, if we get this passed, of being able to file your taxes on one single page. It'll be called a fast form.

It's a form that allows you to put your income and the critical deductions that are important to the American economy. It's a fair and simple tax form, a fast tax.

It'll offer every American an opportunity for a tax cut and it will allow them to preserve the major deductions that have some real implications for our economy like the mortgage interest deduction, the charitable deduction, the state and local taxes deduction, the child tax credit deduction, of course, the personal exemption, and then the new health care exclusion that I've talked about that I think will revolutionize the way in which health insurance is purchased and the cost of health insurance.

That's basically the key to it. There's room for each one of these. And then, there are just three tax rates, 10, 15 and 30 percent. Ten percent of the first 40,000, 15 percent of the 40,000 to 150,000 and then 30 percent after that. And that -- you'll be able to fill out this form. It'll be easy to do. It will not require a great deal of sophisticated judgments and very difficult analyses.

You don't have to file this if you don't want. If you prefer to file the long form, God bless you, you can do it. It may save you money. Might make sense for you to do it. You might want to do this just because you don't want the aggravation.

But this is what I believe in. I believe in giving Americans choices, giving them options. After all, it's your money. It's your choice. This will save you a great deal of time. And in most cases, it should save you money.

A family of four earning $80,000 per year here in Florida would see their estimated federal income tax burden reduced by $2,207 approximately or 24 percent decline. A family of four that's earning $120,000 per year would see their estimated federal income tax burden reduced about $7,014 or 36 percent reduction. That's money that you get to keep in your pocket.

And part of the reason that I believe in tax reduction is, I believe where we can, if I can leave money in your pocket, you'll spend it more intelligently than government will. You'll spend it more creatively than government will. You'll spend it in ways that produce jobs for other people. You know, you'll invest in something, you'll buy something.

That will mean that a store expands by an employee or two or maybe a business expands by a couple hundred employees or so when they see that they're looking at a growing economy and it makes sense to do that.

So, this is the major reform. In and of itself, it will result in a tax savings, as I've described, but it also will make the tax code a lot simpler -- a lot simpler to understand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: That was Rudy Giuliani earlier this week on his tax plan, economy, becoming such a big issue on the campaign trail for both Republicans and Democrats as concerns grow about the slowing economy.

Later this afternoon, we'll also be hearing from Rudy Giuliani in the 4:00 hour. That will be a live event. Rudy Giuliani spending so much of his resources in Florida. This is yesterday's headline showed us that some of his senior staff members have agreed to go without pay for this month, while they focus on the January 29th primary there.

Coming up, we're going to also check in, get the latest headlines, including the very latest on the investigation into the murdered pregnant marine.

You're watching CNN. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. BALLOT BOWL will continue in a moment, but first a look at other stories making headlines today.

Officials in North Carolina say charred human remains have been found in the backyard of a man linked to the disappearance of 20-year- old pregnant -- a pregnant marine. Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach has been missing for nearly a month now. She had accused the suspect, Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean of raping her. Police say they believe the remains in Laurean's backyard are that of Lauterbach's.

There may not be a positive I.D. until Monday. However, a nationwide manhunt is under way for Laurean. Investigators tell CNN that he left a note to his wife saying Lauterbach had committed suicide and that he, Laurean, had buried her body. We're expecting a news conference any minute now and we'll bring that to you live as it happens.

Another grim discovery, this one made off the Alabama coast. Just hours ago, Mobile County deputies say they discovered one of four children who were allegedly hurled off the Dauphin Bridge earlier this week. The search began Tuesday after authorities say the children's father confessed. He now says his confession was coerced. Nonetheless, the father is facing four counts of murder.

An Ohio man has been charged with murder and arson in the deaths of his wife and her four small children. Police are trying to sort out what happened inside this burned house near Cincinnati. The woman had been stabbed. She and one of her children were found dead inside the house. Three other children later died at a hospital.

And President Bush is in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain today making history. He's the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country. Mr. Bush and Bahrain's king were presented swords which they both lifted over their heads as dancers performed. The president praised Arab leaders for their gains in democracy with their recent elections. Mr. Bush is trying to generate support among Arab countries to contain Iran's growing influence in the region.

And some people in the south are cleaning up in the aftermath of deadly powerful storms. Mississippi's governor has issued a state of emergency for several counties. Thursday's storms caused widespread property damage and are being blamed for at least two traffic deaths. Experts are confirming three tornadoes sliced across Alabama late last week, and one had 150-mile-an-hour winds.

And crews in Kentucky say storm damage could total half a million dollars. Experts say a phenomenon called rain-wrapped tornado may be to blame, rain so heavy it hides the tornado from radar.

And O.J. Simpson is back in a Clark County, Nevada jail cell after prosecutors say Simpson broke one of the conditions of his bond. The 60-year-old arrived in Las Vegas last night. He's accused of contacting one of the co-defendants in his upcoming kidnapping and robbery trial. His next scheduled court hearing is slated for Wednesday.

More BALLOT BOWL right after the break. Coming up, live events from Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney from Michigan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: I'm Jim Acosta in Las Vegas, Nevada, a sight of the upcoming Nevada caucuses, coming up next Saturday, January 19th, the next battleground state for the Democrats in the race to the White House.

My colleague Mary Snow is in suburban Detroit, right outside the motor city where the Republicans have a little contest coming up in a few days, right, Mary?

SNOW: They do, Jim. I'm in Clawson, Michigan. And Republicans are ready for another test this coming Tuesday. You might be wondering why Democrats are not here. That's because there was a dispute between the Democratic party and the state, Michigan moved up its primary. Bottom line is the Democratic candidates are largely avoiding the state.

But there are Republicans vying for primary victory here. And two of the main contenders, the chief rivals, Senator John McCain and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. We're going to be hearing from both of them at live events this hour. Former governor Romney will be in Battle Creek, Michigan, and Senator John McCain will be here in Clawson where we are right now.

Mike huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas left Michigan earlier today, had been campaigning in the state yesterday. And he is now back in South Carolina, a state that he is hoping to win. Earlier this week, he was in Greenville, South Carolina, talked about a number of issues, including some social issues that -- including abortion.

Here is Mike Huckabee in his own words from Greenville, South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would pray we never have to send our military into battle, but one thing about it if we do, we're going to have the best military on the face of the earth, the best trained, best equipped and the most ready.

(APPLAUSE)

HUCKABEE: And those who engage them will wish they hadn't. And when they are engaged, they'll not go in with a light footprint. They will go in with both feet. And when they go in, we will not allow the politicians to interfere and interrupt with the battlefield decisions of those who are in command. We will let them do their work.

(APPLAUSE)

HUCKABEE: And we not only will send them there with what they need to get their mission done, but when they come home, we will do our mission, which is our obligation, a moral obligation, and make sure that they don't stand in line for the benefits that veterans ought to receive.

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