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Obama Wins Big in South Carolina

Aired January 26, 2008 - 22:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening, everyone, I'm Tony Harris. There were lots of questions heading into the South Carolina primary among them questions about race, class and gender. For tonight at least, the answer to the only question that really matters is Barack Obama. He scored a decisive and impressive victory 55 percent to Hillary Clinton's 27 percent and John Edwards came in third. Last hour, Obama delivered a rousing speech to his supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're not up just again the ingrained and destructive habits of Washington. We're also struggling with our own doubts, our own fears, and our own cynicism. The change we seek has always required great struggle and great sacrifice. And so this is a battle in our own hearts and minds about what kind of country we want, and how hard we're willing to work for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Senator Hillary Clinton left South Carolina before the polls closed. She is in Nashville, Tennessee tonight, and she's already turned her focus to the next big contests. Ten days from now, on Super Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I want to congratulate Senator Obama tonight and I want to also thank the people of South Carolina for welcoming us into their homes and their communities. And I want to tell you how excited I am that now the eyes of the country turn to Tennessee and the other states that will be voting on February 5th.

And of course, to the state of Florida, that will be voting on Tuesday. So millions and millions of Americans are going to have the chance to have their voices heard and their votes counted. And I can't imagine any place I'd rather be than right here in Nashville, as we kick off the next ten days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So let's get more on the reaction to Obama's big win. What it means and where we go from here. Our Suzanne Malveaux is standing by at Obama headquarters in Columbia. Our Jim Costa is with the Hillary Clinton campaign in Nashville, Tennessee. And CNN's Jessica Yellin is with the John Edwards campaign, also in Columbia, South Carolina.

Suzanne, let's start with you. If you would put tonight's win for Barack Obama into some context for us.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Tony, South Carolina was a critical state for Barack Obama. And he trounced the competition. You're talking 2-1 when you look at those figures there. And there was a fierce battle that was going on for the African- American vote. He also swept that as well. Some 80 percent. He got a significant portion of the white vote.

HARRIS: Suzanne, I apologize. I apologize. I understand I'm just getting word that Wolf Blitzer is standing by at CNN election headquarters in New York with Senator Edwards.

Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much. And let's speak with Senator John Edwards right now. He's joining us from the Edwards headquarters in Columbia, South Carolina.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us. We heard your speech. This must be a disappointment, though, coming in third in South Carolina.

JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Actually, Wolf, we were very encouraged about what happened. If you look at what happened over the course of the week, we were way, way behind. We moved up during the course of the week. I think it partly as a result of the debate which you helped moderate on Monday night in Myrtle Beach, but also subsequent to that, because I was taking the high road while the two of them were attacking each other personally.

And even in the last couple of weeks, we've had extraordinary online contributions. And I say thank you to all of those who have been supporting us. It puts us on sound financial ground. So we're in a very good place. And I'm actually very encouraged. I'd rather win, of course. But when you look at the progress we've made and we made very good progress this week.

BLITZER: So let's be precise. You're in this. You're staying put. You're not going anywhere. Do you have enough money, enough staff, enough organization to pursue what effect could be a national campaign on February 5th, Super Tuesday?

EDWARDS: Absolutely we do. It's what I was just making reference to. We're on sound financial footing, in large part, because we've actually raised more money online in the last two weeks than the entire -- any other time during the course of my presidential campaign. People are responding remarkably. And it's giving us the strength and the support to make sure that I can give voice to all those people I'm trying to give voice to.

The forgotten middle class, working people, the uninsured, people who are living in poverty, veterans who aren't getting the care and the treatment they deserve. I mean, their calls, is why I'm running for president, Wolf. It has not gone away. And I am in this thing for the long haul.

BLITZER: Hillary Clinton and her campaign say that the voters in Florida should be allowed to have their say this coming Tuesday, even though the Democratic Party has sanctioned Florida and Michigan for moving up their primaries before the schedule that was supposed to let them do so. What do you say to that?

EDWARDS: Well, I stay out of that process, Wolf. I let other people worry about that. My job is to be a candidate for president of the United States. Of course, voters in Florida ought to be able to have their say. But as to how the process worked and what the DNC did, I'm staying out of that.

Here's what I know. I know there are millions of people who are going to be voicing their view about all this and helping shape our party and the future of our country over the course of the next couple of weeks. And then it will continue after that. We clearly have a three-person race. This is very different than any race I can remember in recent history, where we have three of us who are getting a sizable chunk of the vote.

This thing is going on a very long time. I heard Congressman Clyburn say earlier tonight, he thinks this headed to the convention and I think that's a very real possibility.

BLITZER: And will you stay until the convention if necessary?

EDWARDS: I'm so in this for the long haul and to give voice to all those people that I'm speaking for.

BLITZER: Some have suggested you're looking to play the role of kingmaker, to accumulate a bunch of delegates that you could decide where they would go at the convention in Denver. Is that the kind of role you envisage?

EDWARDS: No. The role I envisage is being president of the United States. I still believe very strongly that I'm the strongest general election candidate. I'm the one who can beat what looks like it may be the front-runner, John McCain now. And I hope Democrats will continue to focus on that as we go forward. But the most important thing, Wolf, is for me to speak for people who need a voice in this country. And that's what drives me everyday. It's what gets me going and what keeps me going.

BLITZER: Monday night, the president will be delivering a State of the Union address before a joint meeting of the United States Congress in a national television audience. How do you see the State of the Union right now?

EDWARDS: Oh, we have enormous work to do. We have growing economic inequality in America. We're bogged down in a war in Iraq that needs to be brought to an end. There's a great -- now, those are all the bad problems we're faced with. Having said that, there's a great deal that we could do.

I mean, I have enormous optimism and faith in the American people and what's possible. But we need a president who's willing to take the steps necessary and has the backbone and courage to take on entrenched interests, to speak for those people who are not being heard in this country, to bring this war to an end. And that's what we need in the next president of the United States. And we'll get that about a year from now.

BLITZER: Senator Edwards, good luck out on the campaign trail. Thanks for joining us.

EDWARDS: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And let's go back to Tony Harris at the CNN Center.

HARRIS: OK, Wolf, appreciate it, thank you. And let's get to Suzanne Malveaux. She is standing by at Barack Obama headquarters in Columbia, South Carolina.

Suzanne, thanks for standing by. Again, if you would, put this win for the senator into some kind of context for us.

MALVEAUX: Well, sure, Tony. I was talking about this coalition, and then we saw a really kind of the face of the south, South Carolina, a very diverse crowd. Black, white, young, old.

He's assembled a coalition of young people, of women, of African- Americans, who all support his candidacy. And there was a lot of discussion before about race. It was very, very ugly between not only Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but also the Former President Bill Clinton getting into their fray. It was a lot of back and forth throughout the week.

Ultimately, what happened was is that we saw South Carolina, lots of different voters coming together -- whites, blacks, and women as well. And his message to the people was basically, this is past versus future, that this is what the race is all about. He is obviously trying to capitalize off of the new voters, the young voters that he has managed to bring into the fold here.

We saw a record turnout, Tony. It was unbelievable. They're expecting perhaps 350,000. It topped 500,000. So there is a lot of energy. He is actually going to go on to Georgia as well as Alabama. They're going to try to continue this momentum before Super Tuesday.

HARRIS: Suzanne Malveaux for us tonight at the Barack Obama headquarters in Columbia, South Carolina. Suzanne, great to see you. Thank you.

And now to Nashville, Tennessee, where Hillary Clinton is tonight. Our Jim Acosta is with Senator Clinton. And Jim, good to see you. Senator Clinton gets the silver tonight in South Carolina.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony, but this was a silver that not a lot of candidates would wish for. This for Hillary Clinton was numerically speaking probably the biggest political defeat of her career. So it's going to be interesting to watch her body language, watch the body language in this crowd. And it was as if South Carolina had not happened. It's as if it just sailed right past Hillary Clinton, because she came out here and barely made mention of the defeat in that state, barely made mention of Barack Obama's victory and reminded the voters here that there are lots of contests coming up including the big one on Super Tuesday.

She has gone back to a familiar format for her, one that has worked in the past, and that is the town hall format. We are in the middle of hearing her talking to voters right now, talking and answering questions from voters here. And this is going to be a big test for Hillary Clinton, because she has not had a set-back like this in this campaign.

You know, a lot of people thought that Iowa was a serious set-back to her. But after winning in New Hampshire, winning in Nevada, these types of numbers were not something that this campaign really saw coming. Only in the last few days and the last few hours of this campaign did they see some of the exit polling that suggested this kind of defeat.

So Hillary Clinton's going back to what she does best, she's going back to this town hall formats, trying to connect on an emotional level with voters and taking this case forward. She'll be in Memphis tomorrow at a predominantly African-American church. And we should mention, after all of this talk about the African-American vote in South Carolina, she's at a historically black college tonight. And we picked up one of these bumper stickers earlier, African-Americans for Hillary. So they're not conceding this vote at all, they're going to go after this upcoming contests.

HARRIS: All right. CNN's Jim Acosta for us. Jim, good to see you. Thank you.

And now to CNN's Jessica Yellin at Edwards' headquarters in Columbia, South Carolina. Jessica, John Edwards said to Wolf, just a moment ago, he's not disappointed with tonight's results but come on, he had to expect that he would do better than third in his home state.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's hard to believe that this is not a very disappointing finish for the Edwards campaign. This is the third primary in a row in which to continue your analogy, he has gotten the bronze. He has come in third.

And for John Edwards, this was a state in which he had a fighting chance. He was born here and he won here four years ago. And his campaign aides really felt that he had broken through somehow at the debate on Monday night, that while Barack Obama and Senator Clinton got caught up in slinging mud at each other, John Edwards was able to rise above it. He even ran an ad this week from that debate and he's come out with his message that he represents the grown-up wing of the Democratic Party.

And it's, you know -- they're characterizing it spin, spin, spin, that you know, he's doing better here or did better tonight than they had expected to, and they insist that they will go on and fight in the Super Tuesday states and even beyond, that they will put up ads. But there has to be a point at which, you know, either money runs out or a realization clicks in, that this is a very difficult position from which to wage a campaign.

On the other hand, I can tell you, Tony, his aides insist that if you look at the math, if you see how closely Obama and Clinton are splitting the delegate count, there is a mathematical scenario in which John Edwards can place second or even third all the way along and still somehow become the nominee out of a dead locked Democratic convention. It would require a lot of ifs and a lot of dot, dot, dots. That's what they're hanging on to, and they say they will stay and fight to the end.

Tony?

HARRIS: He does seem determined. All right, Jessica Yellin for us. Jessica, thank you. Appreciate it.

HARRIS: Well, he scored a big win in South Carolina, and now Barack Obama is getting a big name endorsement. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, endorses Obama in Sunday's "New York Times."

In an op-ed piece called "A President Like My Father," she writes, "Sometimes it takes awhile to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible."

Obama has also picked up the endorsement of Missouri's "St. Louis Post-Dispatch." The paper also endorsed Republican John McCain. Missouri holds its party primaries on Super Tuesday, that's February 5th.

And a big boost for Senator McCain in Florida. Just three days before that state's Republican primary, Governor Charlie Crist says he is backing McCain, a man he calls "A true American hero."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST, (R) FLORIDA: I have been thinking about it a lot. And I have to tell you, that after thinking about it as much as I have, I don't think anybody would do better than the man who stands next to me, Senator John McCain. That's an endorsement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, today it was Governor Crist. Yesterday, McCain picked up the endorsement of Florida's only Republican Senator Mel Martinez.

And don't miss the big showdowns in the wild, Wild West next week. The candidates will face off in California. Their last debate before Super Tuesday. That's January 30th for the Republican candidates and the 31st for the Democrats. And you can see them only on CNN, your home for politics.

Now, if you missed any of the candidates' speeches from South Carolina tonight, make sure you stay right where you are. We will be replaying some highlights a little later in the hour.

But next, a mother of two was murdered. The suspect, her husband. But the amazing part of the story is the prosecution's key witness. The murder victim, herself.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, ten years makes a murder case about as cold as it can get, right? Normally, yes. Unless something extraordinary happens. Get ready to hear about something extraordinary. A murder victim's words are finally being heard in court. Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Julie Jensen is dead. Murdered almost a decade ago. From nearly the beginning, police thought they knew who did it. Why? Because Julie left a message behind.

(on-camera): Julie Jensen who lived in this comfortable house in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin with her husband, Mark, and their two little boys. To most outsiders, their life seemed to be perfect. But that was definitely not the case.

In November 1998, Julie went to her next door neighbor's house and gave him a sealed envelope with a letter inside, saying he should give the letter to police if anything happened to her.

(voice-over): 12 days later, Julie Jensen was found dead in her bedroom. An autopsy revealed she had been poisoned with anti-freeze. But a pathologist now says she ultimately died from being smothered. As for that letter she left behind? This is what she wrote.

ROBERT JAMBOIS, PROSECUTOR: I pray I'm wrong and nothing happens. But I am suspicious of Mark's suspicious behaviors and fear for my early demise.

TUCHMAN: Her husband, Mark. And yet his arrest and the case against him was delayed for years, because even though her message from the grave seemed to strong, it almost became useless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Why would such a telling letter that might explain Julie Jensen's death almost become useless? Coming up, Gary will explain and tell us what her husband and his lawyer have to say about a letter that could send Tim to prison for life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK, before the break, Gary Tuchman told us about a mother of two in Wisconsin who was found dead in her bedroom, poisoned with anti-freeze and smothered. Now, this mother is essentially testifying from the grave in her husband's murder trial. Here again is our Gary Tuchman to tell us how she can do that and how it's turned this murder case upside down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Just a few days before Julie Jensen was found dead, she gave a neighbor a letter that said she feared her husband was trying to kill her. Normally a defendant had a constitutional right to confront his accuser. So a letter like this can't be used in trial. But this case has taken a dramatic twist.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that right has been forfeited because of probable cause the defendant had something to do with Julie Jensen not being able to testify. Her four brothers are attending the trial.

Do you think without the letter, he would have been found guilty?

PAUL GRIFFIN, JULIE JENSEN'S BROTHER: That's hard to say.

CRAIG ALBEE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Finally after nine long years, Mark Jensen can clear his name.

TUCHMAN: The defense does not believe Julie Jensen was smothered and says she was treated for depression and killed herself. Writing the letter to frame a husband having an affair with a woman he later married.

ALBEE: She poisoned herself and therefore she did not want or need any help.

TUCHMAN: But the testimony from the grave appeared to anticipate an allegation of suicide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would never take my life because of my kids. They are everything to me. But if anything happens to me, he would be my first suspect.

TUCHMAN: The Jensen boys, who were then 8 and 3, now live with their stepmother while their father is in jail without bond. And the block where they used to live, one neighbor says Julie Jensen's boys were her world.

MARION PACETTI, JULIE JENSEN'S NEIGHBOR: She would not have killed herself under any circumstances because of her two sons.

TUCHMAN: The defense though says allowing the letter is unfair, its contents misleading.

ALBEE: What protection does a letter provide? Open it after my death? I mean, that stuff's out of the movies.

TUCHMAN: But after years of hearings, a jury is now listening to Julie Jensen. GRIFFIN: And in the words of his defense lawyer, finally, I get to say finally -- Julie's voice is going to be heard. Finally.

TUCHMAN: The jury will have to decide if that voice speaks the truth. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Elkhorn, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Boy, what a story.

Something new from our friends at cnn.com and truTV. They've teamed up to bring you the best crime coverage on the web. Go behind the police tape and enter the courtroom like never before at cnn.com/crime. And one of our top stories tonight, a tearful apology from the gunman in the notorious Pamela Smart case. Remember that one? For more, go to cnn.com/crime.

All right. Tons of rain, muddy California hillsides, and this is what you get. Man, the west coast is getting hammered by wave after wave of mean winter storms.

There are voluntary evacuation orders in place for people living in several canyons, anticipating up to eight inches of rain through tomorrow. Enough with the water already.

Up near Sacramento, they're already saturated and fed up with the severe weather. This is the same region, you may recall, that lost power for several days when storms pounded them just about two weeks ago. So, we're talking about a gauntlet of really tough weather sitting out there for Californians all weekend.

Let's get the particulars. There she is, Jacqui Jeras in the CNN severe weather center.

Good evening to you, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: And don't forget, we're going to bring you some of the highlights from the Democratic candidates' speeches after the results in South Carolina. That is coming up for you in about ten minutes from now.

But next, if you're a parent watching us this evening, we've got two hot button issues for your schools and your kids.

First, a superintendent who wants to fire the entire staff at some of his schools because he says they're just not performing. But can he do it?

Also, another superintendent who will go knocking on doors to track down truant students. You won't believe the excuses they come up with.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Fire all teachers. Seems like an extreme move to help America's failing schools get back on track. But Chicago's school chief says it's the only way, at least in his district. Susan Roesgen has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Next year at Chicago's Harper High School, the hallways and lockers may be the same, but all 130 teachers and support staff could be gone.

ARNE DUNCAN, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO SCHOOLS: We have a moral obligation to come in and do something dramatically better for those children now. We cannot wait.

ROESGEN: Chicago's school superintendent wants to fire bad teachers at eight failing public schools. So he's willing to lay them all off and make them reapply for their jobs. Last year, at this one high school, 95 percent of the students flunked the state academic exam.

(on-camera): Here at Harper High School, the principal says the prospect of getting new teachers is fabulous. The teachers' union says, not so fast.

MARILYN STEWART, CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION: How can you blame the teachers when everybody, I mean, there's accountability all up and down the line. There's parent accountability. There's district accountability. There's a principal accountability. There's teacher accountability. There's student accountability. So how can you just blame a teacher who has a child for six hours a day? We're doing our job.

ROESGEN (voice-over): Firing the teachers is not a done deal. Chicago's School Board will vote on the plan next month. Susan Roesgen, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And boy, do we have a hot button debate for you tomorrow night. I will be talking with the Chicago school superintendent, Arne Duncan and the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, Marilyn Stewart. You saw them both in Susan's story there, about this controversial plan. That conversation, debates, argument, tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

And can you believe this? About half the high schoolers in one Colorado District regularly don't show up for school. Now the school chief says he's had enough, and he is taking a very in your face approach to solve the problem. KUSA's Nelson Garcia reports from Aurora, Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NELSON GARCIA, KUSA AFFILIATE (voice-over): If you are skipping school in Aurora today, Superintendent John Barry and his staff are looking for you.

JOHN BARRY, SUPERINTENDENT, AURORA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: I'm Superintendent Barry with the Aurora public schools, and I'm trying to see if we can get our students back in school.

GARCIA: They are going to 100 homes. Some are just empty doorways; others give Barry some hope.

BARRY: You know, she's been absent from school quite a bit.

PARENT: I'll talk to her.

GARCIA: It's all part of a larger effort to cut down on cutting class.

BARRY: And to know that we care about them enough that we want to invite them back.

GARCIA: Barry and Police Chief Daniel Oats are renewing efforts to keep kids in school.

DAN OATES, POLICE CHIEF: Nearly everything that can happen to a truant during school hours is bad.

GARCIA: This truancy problem just doesn't add up. According to Aurora public schools, it considers about 50 percent of all high school students to be habitually truant, leading to 622 crimes committed last year during school hours and leading to 242 arrests. No matter how you cut it, that equals big trouble.

OATS: All of this is preventable. Every single crime that's represented on this chart is preventable, if the child had just chosen to stay in school.

GARCIA: That's why the former Air Force general is here. That's why students will have more access to an increased number of mentors and case managers if they need them. Barry's goal is to cut the truancy rate from 50 percent to zero, one student at a time. One student at a time.

BARRY: I think she was very positive about it. Then she's -- you know, a lot of them are just looking for some help sometimes.

GARCIA: One family at a time. On the education beat, Nelson Garcia, 9 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards. We've got the highlights from their post-primary speeches. That's coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: South Carolina's Democrats choose Senator Barack Obama in a big way on primary day. Here are the numbers with just about all the polling places reporting.

Senator Barack Obama receives 55 percent of the South Carolina Democratic vote. That's more than double the support cast for his nearest rival, Senator Hillary Clinton with 27 percent. Former senator and South Carolina native John Edwards, he picks up 18 percent of the vote and that is a distant third place.

South Carolina gives us a chance to see how the presidential race could play out in key demographics. Let's bring in Charles Bierbauer, the Dean of College of Mass Communications at University of South Carolina and a former CNN politico, who's covered his share of president campaigns.

Charles, great to see you again.

CHARLES BIERBAUER, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA: Thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: So, we look at the South Carolina primary tonight. And some may say, here's what you had here, Tony, blacks and a few whites voted for Barack Obama, and whites mostly voted for white candidates. Or, did something more significant happen in South Carolina tonight?

BIERBAUER: Well, I think something quite dramatic happened in South Carolina. Perhaps the most dramatic event of this campaign so far. I mean, this is a more than 55 percent win. This is more than doubling Hillary Clinton. This is outpolling both of the other candidates. And yes, we do have to look at the demographics and where the vote split along not just racial lines, along economic lines, along education lines.

One thing along geographic lines, Barack Obama won everywhere. All across the state. Hillary Clinton won one county, Myrtle Beach on the coast. John Edwards won I think two small counties. The one he was born in and another very small county upstate. This was extraordinary and it certainly sends Barack Obama into that tsunami Tuesday with an awful lot of momentum.

HARRIS: Charles, how did he do it? Simple question. I'm not sure it's a big answer, but how did he pull this off tonight?

BIERBAUER: He had some help and some of it may have come from Bill Clinton. I think there is a certain degree of backlash involved here. People were not happy and people close to the Clintons.

I spent some time this morning with Donna Brazil, who we know from CNN, but who also was very close to the Clintons. Ran the Al Gore Campaign. She describes this as blood on the floor. It's going to take some mopping up and it's going to take some healing.

And we even heard Barack Obama in his remarks tonight talk about how contentious the race may get but it's for a big prize. Talked about partisanship within his own party, talked about being up against people who will do anything to get votes. And those were messages sent to Bill Clinton and Hillary. But certainly referring to what had transpired in the last week here.

HARRIS: Do you believe that the former president injected race, played the race card in South Carolina, in a negative way?

BIERBAUER: Well, it's hard to believe that Bill Clinton, as savvy a politician as he is, doesn't do things with some calculation. You know, we saw the Clinton campaign panic after Iowa. Started hitting heavily up in New Hampshire, pulled that one out. Even surprising the pollsters and the pundits who thought Obama was going to win.

And some people were looking at the polls here which were running 10 percent, 12 percent, maybe 14 percent in the last couple of days and saying, there's a chance Hillary can turn this around like New Hampshire. This wasn't New Hampshire. Not only did she not turn it around, that gap doubled in the last two days.

HARRIS: And Charles, I'm curious. You listen to the victory speech tonight from Barack Obama. So positive, so uplifting. You've heard those words time and time and time and then change. And then, you've heard those words again and again from him. But as I'm watching it tonight, I'm wondering, how do you beat that, if you're a competitor? If you're Hillary Clinton? If you're Romney? If you're McCain? How do you stop that message? What do you do?

BIERBAUER: Don't look at the faces that were behind him. A lot of young faces. A lot of enthusiasm. The way to change a campaign, to change an election, is to bring new people onto the scene. And Barack Obama seems to be the one candidate who can do that. So the challenge for anyone, be it Hillary Clinton or be it the Republicans, is to counter that.

You've got your core, you've got your established partisans who are behind you. But Obama's bringing new people into the mix. Look at the numbers. Over 500,000 people voted in this primary today. That's a substantial increase. And you have to attribute that to Obama reaching out and inspiring some folks.

So what do you do? I guess if you're Hillary, you've got to take some solace in the fact that we're going into 22 different states, some of those big states where she's going to have power and she's going to have organization. Some of those states, many of those states that don't have the substantial African-American vote here. And I'm always wary of casting it as a bloc because it isn't. But the Hispanic vote that will be coming out in Florida where there are no delegates. But California, California, California, that's a different game.

HARRIS: Right. It is something. Charles Bierbauer. Charles, great to see you as always. Thanks for your time tonight.

And let's show you more of Senator Barack Obama's passionate response to his big, big win in South Carolina. Here's the senator addressing supporters in Columbia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're up against the idea that it's acceptable to say anything and do anything to win an election. But we know that this is exactly what's wrong with our politics. This is why people don't believe what their leaders say anymore. This is why they tune out. And this election is our chance to give the American people a reason to believe again.

(CHEERS)

OBAMA: But let me say this, South Carolina. What we've seen in these last weeks is that we're also up against forces that are not the fault of any one campaign but feed the habits that prevent us from being who we want to be as a nation.

It's a politics that uses religion as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon, a politics that tells us that we have to think, act, and even vote within the confines of the categories that supposedly define us. The assumption that young people are apathetic, the assumption that Republicans won't cross over, the assumption that the wealthy care nothing for the poor and that the poor don't vote, the assumption that African-Americans can't support the white candidate, whites can't support the African-American candidate, blacks and Latinos cannot come together.

We are here tonight to say that that is not the America we believe in.

(APPLAUSE)

CROWD: "Yes, we can! Yes, we can!"

OBAMA: I did not travel around this state over the last year and see a white South Carolina or a black South Carolina. I saw South Carolina.

(CHEERS)

OBAMA: I saw crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children alike. I saw a shattered mills and homes for sale that ones belong to Americans from all walks of life, and men and women of every color and creed who serve together and fight together and bleed together under the same proud flag.

I saw what America is and I believe in what this country can be. That is the country I see. That is the country you see. But now it is up to us to help the entire nation embrace this vision.

(CHEERS)

Because in the end, we're not just against the ingrained and destructive habits of Washington, we're also struggling with our own doubts, our own fears, our own cynicism. The change we seek has always required great struggle and great sacrifice. And so this is a battle in our own hearts and minds about what kind of country we want and how hard we're willing to work for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Again, with 55 percent of Democratic support in the state of South Carolina, the Obama campaign now heads to Florida. Coming up after the break, hear how Hillary Clinton addressed coming in second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Senator Hillary Clinton is already trying to put the loss in South Carolina behind her. She's in Nashville, Tennessee, talking about the future, the Florida primary and the contests coming up on Super Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to congratulate Senator Obama tonight and I want to also thank the people of South Carolina for welcoming us into their homes and their communities. And I want to tell you how excited I am that now the eyes of the country turn to Tennessee and the other states that will be voting on February 5th.

And of course, to the state of Florida, that will be voting on Tuesday. So millions and millions of Americans are going to have the chance to have their voices heard and their votes counted. And I can't imagine any place I'd rather be than right here in Nashville, as we kick off the next ten days.

Now, of course, when anybody says the word "Nashville," it's always connected with singing. And I promise you, you will not hear a word out of me. I do not want to in any way sully the reputation of the music capital by contributing my less than meager talents. But it is a great treat to be here with all of you and to have a chance to talk with you, and really that's what I want to do tonight. I know the crowd is a little bigger than we anticipated. But I intended to come...

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON:...I intended to come here tonight to continue the conversation I started a year ago, to talk with the people of our country about what it is we can do together to make sure that we keep faith with this country we love so much.

I know that it's often said the difference between a politician and a statesman is that the politician looks to the next election and the statesman looks to the next generation, and I want this election to be about the next generation, the students here at TSU and all the young people who are here tonight and across Tennessee.

And what I have heard traveling around our country is, of course, the optimism and the resilience that is the character of the American people. But I've also heard a lot of concerns and worries. People are worrying about their jobs, worrying about what's happening to the economy in general, worrying about their health care, worrying about college affordability and how they're going to be able to complete their education, worried about our country's standing in the world and how we can restore our reputation, our leadership and our moral authority.

So there's a lot we can talk about tonight. And I want us to just to imagine, even in the size of this crowd, that we're just talking. We're just people having a conversation about what we believe and what we want, what we hope, and that we're looking for solutions to our problems, because I think there isn't anything America can't do if we put our mind to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: You know, there is a good reason Senator Clinton is already moving on. Barack Obama won more than twice as many votes as she did in South Carolina. And as we've told you, John Edwards came in third. You'll hear from him after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Senator Barack Obama celebrating a big win tonight after a sweeping victory in South Carolina's Democratic primary. We have more from the Democratic candidates in their own words. Here's John Edwards after coming in a distant third in South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to join Senator Clinton and President Clinton in congratulating Senator Obama. Now, the three of us move on to February 5th, where millions of Americans will cast their vote and help shape the future of this party and help shape the future of America.

Our campaign from the very beginning has been about one central thing and that is to give voice to millions of Americans who have absolutely no voice in this Democracy

(APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: To give voice to people like the woman I met in Kansas City a couple of years ago, who told me the story of working full-time and not being able to pay both her heating bill and her rent and having to come home every night in the winter and dress her children in all of their clothes, in their coats, put them under blankets and put them in bed together so they could stay warm.

And she told me the story of getting them up every morning, out of the bed, fully clothed, with their coats on, feeding them and sending them off to school and praying, praying that no one would find out what was happening in her home, because they would come and take her children away from her.

No one should live like that in the United States of America. We are better than that.

(APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: And we are giving voice to that extraordinary woman in Kansas City, admiring her strength and courage. We're giving voice to all those Americans whose voices are not being heard and their voices were heard today in South Carolina. And so I say if you are worried about your health care or you don't have health care in America, your voice will be heard in this campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We will be back with a quick wrap of the South Carolina primary straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: CNN calls it. South Carolina's Democrats choose Senator Barack Obama in a big way on primary day. Here are the numbers. With just about all of the polling places reporting, Senator Barack Obama receives 55 percent of the South Carolina Democratic vote. That is more than double the support cast for his nearest rival Senator Hillary Clinton with 27 percent. Former senator and South Carolina native, John Edwards, he picks up 18 percent of the vote and a distant third place.

I'm Tony Harris. Thanks for joining us in the CNN NEWSROOM. "BROKEN GOVERNMENT: CAMPAIGN KILLERS" is next.

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