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Up Close and Personal with the Presidential Candidates; Interview with Democrat Barack Obama; Speeches by Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.

Aired January 27, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back to CNN'S BALLOT BOWL. I'm Dana Bash in Orlando, Florida. BALLOT BOWL is our chance and something we've been doing quite a bit on the weekends to show you what we as political reporters get to see on the campaign trail. We get to see the candidates unfiltered as they try to appeal to voters in all of the contest states. I'm -- of course, I'm in Florida because there's a very important contest state in just two days on Tuesday for Republicans: 57 delegates at stake here and that is why the Republicans are crisscrossing the state trying to get every last vote they can. I'm going to go over to colleague, Jim Acosta who is in Memphis, Tennessee, who is covering Hillary Clinton there earlier today. Hi, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Dana. Hi. Hillary Clinton was here in Memphis earlier today and she is already making her way down in your direction I should mention but we'll get to that in just a moment.

Coming up over the next hour: You're going to be hearing from all sorts of different candidates on this race but most importantly, we have some live events coming up that we want to take you to. John McCain is campaigning in Orlando, Florida and his rival from the city of New York, Rudy Giuliani, is campaigning in Cocoa Beach. Those two live events coming up both critically important as both of those candidates vie for the upcoming not Super Tuesday but upcoming primary there in Florida where Dana is standing by at this very moment and as I just mentioned, Dana, you will be having some company down there in the Sunshine State. Or you're probably already are having some company from a certain Democrat in this race, Hillary Clinton. Yes, she was in Memphis earlier today stomping for votes and what is an important Super Tuesday state here in Tennessee. But all of a sudden, the Florida primary for Democrats is becoming very interesting and Hillary Clinton is saying, despite the fact that the National Democratic Party has essentially spanked Florida for moving up their primary date and basically nullified all of their delegates, declared them invalid, Hillary Clinton is now saying that she wants to make those delegates valid and not only make them valid but put them in her quarter. She'd like to set those delegates in her column if should she win coming up on Tuesday night in Florida. And now some people might say, in the Barack Obama campaign had said that while this is just a beauty contest because these delegates don't count, it doesn't really matter who wins but Hillary Clinton is thinking and her campaign is thinking is coming out of what happened in South Carolina, it wouldn't be such bad idea to put a symbolic victory in the win column and so, she can go down to Florida on Tuesday night, which is what she's planning to do, she's planning to watch the returns in Florida, Tuesday night, if it turns out that she has won the Florida primary, symbolically or not symbolically, that is a bit of TV juice, a little bit of PR juice for her campaign and it might in a sense, blunt the momentum that Barack Obama is taking with him out of South Carolina. You know, Hillary Clinton, she took a thumping down there in the Palmetto State, Dana, and she's in your state tonight, which is very interesting. Something a lot of us did not expect.

BASH: That's right. We'll see if she were doing something that every candidate is doing and that is she's raising some money. That's what she's doing today here in Florida. But you're absolutely right. Florida is a state where Democrats have really boycotted because they didn't have much of a choice. The national party made clear that they were upset with the Florida Democratic Party because they moved up their primary like Republicans did to this coming Tuesday. That is not what the national party wanted in this very compressed calendar. So, the National Democratic Party has said, you know what, we're not even going count your delegates. That's why the Democrats have been boycotting here but, as you said, Jim, all of a sudden after her loss - a big loss yesterday in South Carolina, she's now going to be here on Tuesday night clearly looking for a headline that says Hillary Clinton wins the Florida primary as she said the skeptic or cynic might say, that's all she's looking for and that's all she's going to get -- a headline and sort of the appearance of a big win when reality is in terms of the hard numbers, she won't be getting very much even if she does win in this state of Florida. So, it is quite interesting Jim, the right (ph) to see the sort of the shift in tactics and the shift in perception that at least the perception she's trying to give about what kind of position she's in and the big picture here, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes and we picked up on this last night when she arrived in Nashville, Tennessee. Obviously, she wanted to get out of South Carolina and sort of start fresh here in the Volunteer State and as she was talking about looking toward to super Tuesday she not only mentioned the state of Florida, she also mentioned that there is a primary contest of some sort happening in American Samoa (ph). So, you know, when the candidate is out there are talking about American Samoa (ph), the importance of delegates and the importance of being able to put together the right kind of math to get those delegates in your column is critically important. That's what candidates are thinking about at this time. You know, when they're talking about American Samoa, it's getting serious, Dana, I think in terms of the delegates.

BASH: BALLOT BOWL American Samoa (ph), I can see it already, Jim. Thanks, Jim. You know, we're talking about the Democrats and the delegates but on the Republican side, the person who is leading right now when it comes to delegates is the former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney. And he - just like every other Republican pretty has been campaigning very, very hard trying to capture the 57 delegates that the Republican Party says is at stake here on Tuesday in the Florida primary. Mitt Romney was speaking earlier today, south of where I am in Miami and he was appealing to obviously, Republican voters but specifically the very small but very potent Cuban-American vote. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is an important time in our nation's history as you know. We face extraordinary challenges around the world in some respects. We face challenges here at home and we look to Washington hoping that Washington can deal with the problems that we have and take advantage of our great opportunities. But time and again as I've gone across the country and talked to people and asked them for their views about what's happening, people say to me that Washington is broken. Does it say it somewhere like that around here? I don't know what it says but the truth is -- Washington is broken. And the reason is this: As you look back over the history of our country in these last couple of decades in particular, you will see people in Washington who have been there a long time making promises but they haven't delivered. They've told us they'd cut back on federal spending but they haven't. They told us they'd solve the problem of social security and help people have a secure social security but they haven't done that. They'd told us they'd reduce or eliminate dependence on foreign oil but they haven't. They'd told us that they'd find a way to live by high ethical standards but they haven't. They told us they'd find way to give us all health care that was affordable and portable but they haven't. They told us they'd make sure that legal immigration was be protected that they would stop illegal immigration but they haven't. And they told us as well that we would have a future that was bright and promising that well, frankly as a future that you and I together will be able to bring to America by changing Washington we will finally be able to bring to America the change that we need as a great land. And you hear from time to time Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and John Edwards talk about -- you hear them talk about the change that they would bring to America and I'm convinced they would change America. It just would not change in the way you want it to change because they take their inspiration from the Europe of old, big government, big brother, big taxes. That's not the right way for America. Instead -- "socialista", who said that? Right there. Instead, we should take our inspiration from Ronald Reagan. You know, the older I get, the smarter he gets. Ronald Reagan did a lot of things for our country. One was -- he taught us that by bringing together a coalition of conservatives, we can lead America towards greater strength. He brought together social conservatives and economic conservatives and foreign policy conservatives and he said, we can strengthen America and that the way to overcome the challenges of the last century and to build our economy was to strengthen America and so, first of all, he gave us optimism. He told us to lift our eyes that we were and we would always be the shining city on the hill. He inspired us and we need to do that again. And he also told us -- he also told us something about our military. He said, for America to have strong families and have a bright future, we need to have a military that will protect us and so, he strengthened our military. Now, Bill Clinton, he reduced the size of our military, brought our troops down, reduced our navy, he reduced our air force and it's time for us to build our military again to give them equipment they need and to give our veterans the care they deserve when they come home. And you know, I listened to Democrats, they are always been critical of the president but they don't talk about one important fact. This president has kept us safe these last six years. And these Democrats as well, they want just to pull our troops out. Did you see them at the debate the other night? You probably didn't but if you did, they just want to pull troops out. They don't care about consequences. They were asked what's more important to you that we win or that we get out? Their answer in every single case was -- get out, but not us. Win is essential and we won't leave until we've won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: There you hear Mitt Romney the former governor of Massachusetts making his pitch to voters in Miami, Florida, earlier today. We want to bring in our producer who has been traveling nonstop with Mitt Romney on the campaign trail, that's Alex Marquardt. Alex, obviously you've been listening to every single stomp speech that Mitt Romney gives. So, we just heard a bit sort of his pitch to voters. I want to ask you as you listen to him, what is his closing argument? What is he really trying to hit home with voters in order to beat John McCain in this neck and neck race here in Florida?

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, Dana, it's kind of reminiscent of Bill Clinton, it's the economy, stupid. It's all about the economy, all of the time. He says that it is the issue that Floridians think is most important. So, he's going around talking about his stimulus plan, which includes elements that are important to Floridians like housing. Florida has been hit pretty hard by housing foreclosures. So, he talks about that. Florida has a lot of retirees, so, he talks about reducing payroll tax to zero for people in the workforce over 65 years old. So, it's all about the economy in the last few days preempt to Tuesday's primary.

BASH: Well, obviously as you well know as you talk about the economy is the issue that Mitt Romney wants to talk about as you say, he thinks that it's up to his strong suit and plays perfectly into the fact that the economy is a huge issue right now for voters but, as you also know, yesterday, John McCain sort of picked a fight with Mitt Romney not on the economy but on the Iraq war saying that Romney backed almost a year ago supported drawing troops from Iraq and as you know, Mitt Romney, said that that's completely false, he didn't say that. Essentially, what he said was he was for perhaps a private but not a public timeline or benchmark for the Iraqi government. What's the fallout today as you've been following Mitt Romney? Has he been addressing this issue?

MARQUARDT: He had already addressed it himself but as you might imagine when he gave reporters the opportunity to ask questions, it certainly came up. A reporter asked him if McCain was lying and Governor Romney just very quickly just said, it's been proven by many in the news media that it is false. To him it seems like it's an issue that's dead in the water, that it really doesn't have any bearing. He says that it's John McCain's way of taking the issues and making it more about Iraq and less about the economy, which Governor Romney believes is the main issue in Florida these days. So, it's one way of -- it's one way of sort of taking the blow from John McCain and making it more glancing and bringing the topics back to the economy which is certainly Governor Romney's comfort zone.

BASH: It is his comfort zone. But you know, I guess the reality is that there are a couple of big issues on the campaign trail particularly here in Florida. One is the economy, what Mitt Romney wants to talk about and the other is national security. And you sort of know that the reason why John McCain has been talking about this issue is because he's been trying to appeal to the veterans vote, he's been trying to appeal on the national security issue that he is the best commander-in-chief. So, it's going to be interesting, Alex, to see as we watch these two men in the last 24 hours compete for the top slot here how these issues and how this dynamics changes. So, Alex, we're going to be back with you obviously, we're going to benefit from your reporting on the campaign trail with Mitt Romney. Thanks Alex for your time and speaking of John McCain, we're going to actually hear from John McCain here in Florida. He's actually in Orlando. And we're going to hopefully hear from him live very, very soon. We're going to take a quick break now. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Dana Bash in Orlando, Florida. Before the break, we were talking about the issue that's really been dominating the Republican race here in Florida and that is a spat between the two men who are vying apparently for the top spot here in Tuesday's primary: John McCain and Mitt Romney. And it started with John McCain essentially picking a fight with Mitt Romney on the issue of the Iraq war. Something that McCain now says, things are going better in Iraq thinks is his strong suit particularly among Republican voters. Now, I want to bring in my colleague, Mary Snow who has been with Senator McCain today to talk about a little bit more about the spat that started yesterday and how it's playing out and particularly, how you think, Mary, voters are dealing with this and sort of reacting to what's been going on on this issue of national security and the war.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT, POLK CITY, FLORIDA: Yes, Dana, it's certainly such a big topic. You know, earlier today here in Polk City, this is fantasy of flight where vintage aircraft are stored and flown which is - if you're wondering what's behind me. John McCain was here and held a round table on national security. And of course, Iraq was a major issue here along with -- he spoke about a number of topics but Senator McCain also spoke with reporters and he was questioned about this spat with Mitt Romney. He was particularly asked whether or not he was categorizing Mitt Romney's words correctly when he said that Mitt Romney had supported a withdrawal from troops in Iraq. Here is what Senator McCain had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He stated and it's well, you don't want the enemy to understand how long they have to lay in the weeds until you're going to be gone. You can only interpret that as having timetable. Timetables at that were what the Democrats and people who wanted to get out of Iraq were pushing for. It was that time when Harry Reid, majority leader of the Senate, said that the war was lost. It was that time when a few of us said, the lowest point, said; we've got to make sure that we send a message to al Qaeda. We will not set any timetables. We will win and we will increase the number of troops which is the way we will succeed in Iraq. You can only read those words as an endorsement of a timetable, which is clearly in my view, would have lost this conflict for us and we would have paid a very heavy price in American blood and treasure. So, they can interpret it any way that they want to. I believe that any objective observer will read the these remarks as a support for a timetable and that in my view would have sent the message to al Qaeda that we were leaving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: That was Senator John McCain reacting to questions about some stinging barbs between him and Mitt Romney through their campaigns. Mitt Romney in Miami earlier today was asked about Senator McCain's remarks, Mitt Romney had said that Senator McCain was being dishonest and that he should apologize for this, that he did not set timetables. Mitt Romney reacting to this spat saying, it was yesterday's news but took a couple jabs of his own at John McCain's plan to boost the economy saying, it would do more to depress the economy and here's what Mitt Romney had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: We have a Republican presidential candidate who's running on a platform that includes putting a new huge charge on gasoline and home heating. Could you imagine natural gas and gasoline going up because he sort of feels that maybe America should pay for global warming? Don't you understand they don't call it America warming. They call it global warming. We don't need to have America have additional costs that the rest of the world doesn't bear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: Mitt Romney there, trying to keep the focus on economic issues. He believes that is his strong point. Senator John McCain keeping the focus on national security issues, thinking that is his strong point and Dana, this is pretty intense leading up to Tuesday's primary.

BASH: It really is, Mary and it really is fascinating as just said to watch these two men try to stay on terra firma if you will, for them on the issue that really they think is best suited for them as you said. Mitt Romney: On the issue of the economy. John McCain: On national security and Iraq war. But the reality is as you know, both issues are likely very, very important to the voters here. We will see which one is going to be most important and which candidate is going to be the best suited for the Republican primary in Florida certainly in just a couple days. Mary, thank you very much for that report and we're actually going to have more from John McCain live in just a short while. We're going to hear from him later this hour. We're also going to hear from the former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani. He is currently spending his 56th day campaigning here in the Sunshine State, a crucial, crucial state for him. A state where he is not doing as well as he has certainly, originally hoped he would do here in Florida. We're going to hear from him and John McCain later in the hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BASH: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Dana Bash in Orlando, Florida. Florida obviously is going to be the next important contest state in just two days for Republicans but we want to talk about the Democrats as well. Last night in South Carolina, it was a very big night for Barack Obama and a very disappointing night for the Democratic candidate, John Edwards. John Edwards was born in South Carolina and yet he only got about two in 10 Democrats voting in that primary to vote for him. He finished pretty much a distant third. Today, he is continuing to campaign in a Super Tuesday states of Georgia. He insists, he and his campaign both insist, they're going to keep pressing on even though he continues to place third across the board in all of these contest states so far. We want to bring you some of what John Edwards said last night speaking to voters there in Columbia, South Carolina, after his disappointing finish.

(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, to give voice to people like the woman I met in Kansas City a couple 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. And we are giving voice to that extraordinary woman in Kansas City, admiring her strength and courage. We're giving voice to all of 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That's former North Carolina senator, John Edwards speaking last night in South Carolina trying to rally his supporters after a disappointing third place finish. But he's talking about his signature issue, which is his fight against poverty, vowing to keep fighting that fight in the next contest states, the two dozen or so contest states that will be on February 5th. That's Super Tuesday.

Up next, we're going to hear from the man who actually won. Had a resounding win in South Carolina last night. That's Senator Barack Obama. Our Suzanne Malveaux went on one-on-one with him a short while ago. We'll have some of that interview just after the break. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's "BALLOT BOWL." We're monitoring a live event, which is what we do here on "BALLOT BOWL." We show you candidates as they speak live to voters trying to get their votes.

Rudy Giuliani is speaking in Cocoa Beach, not far from Cape Canaveral, Florida, which is where the space shuttle takes off. As we monitor that -- we'll come back to it.

But we want to first go to my colleague, Suzanne Malveaux, who is in Birmingham, Alabama. Suzanne had a chance to speak with the big winner in last night's contest up north in South Carolina, that, of course, is Barack Obama.

Suzanne, give us the headline in that interview.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Obviously, it was a big win in South Carolina. And I got a chance to sit down and talk to him really about a sense of what he believes happened there and then also looking ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Congratulations, Senator.

BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: For your big win in South Carolina. You split the white vote with your other two opponents. There was a lot of discussion about race before this vote. Your campaign, the Clinton campaign accusing each other of exploiting the issue. What happened?

OBAMA: I don't want to go over tit for tat what happened last week. It's never been my interest to run a race-based campaign. My message has always been that I want everyone included in a broad coalition to bring about change. That reflects my own life and my own background and that affects how I think we'll solve problems, how we'll provide health care for people who need it and how we make sure that every child in America gets the education they deserve. And how we will have strong energy policy and foreign policy that restores respect around the world.

So I have dedicated a big chunk of my life to moving us beyond some of those old arguments. I think the people of South Carolina responded yesterday in part because they don't to go backwards. They want to look forward. That's part of the reason why we did so well.

MALVEAUX: CNN has confirmed, multiple sources, that you have a major endorsement under way. Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy obviously that's a very big deal for you and this is perhaps a signal that the Democratic establishment that seems to be turning in your corner and turning your way.

OBAMA: Ted Kennedy has not announced that he's endorsed me.

MALVEAUX: You can break news. You can break news on CNN.

OBAMA: Ted Kennedy speaks for himself and does sequentially. I can confirm that I have actively sought his endorsement. I was honored to see Caroline Kennedy write a wonderful op-ed today in the "New York Times" invoking her father and talking about why she was supporting my campaign. I will let Teddy speak for himself.

MALVEAUX: You said last night, part of your speech, we are against the idea that it is acceptable to say anything or do anything to win an election. Do you believe the Clintons are doing that?

OBAMA: What I believe is that we are seeing hopefully the transition away from a culture of politics that a lot of people have participated in and that I have to constantly fight off in my own campaign. And that is the ends justify the means.

I think the means are important because if we get in habits of saying anything, distorting people's records or misquoting them or shading their positions, over time that erodes trust in government. It erodes trust in our elected officials. It's part of the campaign that's developed where we never have an honest debate about where we're going to take the country. Somebody wins and you govern for a while. That's not what happens. Everything is spin these days.

I think that part of what people were responding to yesterday in South Carolina and what they responded to in this campaign is, although I'm far from perfect, I think I have tried to signal that I want to move in a different direction. I want the American people to trust what I say. And if I am uncertain about an issue, I will tell them that we have more work to do before we decide a direction. If I have a disagreement with the American people on a certain issue or at least the majority of them, I will let them know.

I'm not going to poll test everything because I think it will be politically popular because I want, when we make hard decisions around dealing with climate change or we make a hard decision about changing our tax code to reward working families, I want the American people to give me that mandate to bring about that change.

MALVEAUX: What do you think about the Clintons -- do you think it is appropriate this last week?

OBAMA: I think I said last week that there were times when they were presenting my record in a way that I objectively assessed was inaccurate. We want to make sure that gets corrected. But I want to spend more time talking about solving the problems that people are feeling right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Dana, we did talk a lot more about other issues including Congress' economic stimulus package they will give to the president and where that is, as well as how he sees the State of the Union, previewing President Bush's speech about the State of the Union tomorrow. Official Kennedy endorsement is going to happen tomorrow most likely at American University. Obama will be holding a big rally there. That's significant. It's significant because it completes his Massachusetts trifecta. Massachusetts governor and two Senators now backing Barack Obama in a key state for Super Tuesday. Also, because of the Kennedy relationship with the Latino economy and that is something that he needs to strengthen. It will help that he has Kennedy in his corner -- Dana?

BASH: It will be interesting to watch. As you know, Suzanne, Ted Kennedy tries to stay out of the race. In 2004, he backed his fellow Massachusetts Senator John Kerry but it will be very interesting to hear from Ted Kennedy himself as to why he has decided to jump off the fence and jump into Barack Obama's court.

Thank you for that, Suzanne. We appreciate it.

We'll have a lot more on "BALLOT BOWL." We'll come back to the Republican side and come back here to Florida and check back in with Rudy Giuliani who is speaking live in Cocoa Beach, Florida. You want to hear it. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's "BALLOT BOWL." I'm Dana Bash in Orlando, Florida. On "BALLOT BOWL," we bring you the candidates raw, unedited, as they are speaking to voters live on the campaign trail.

Earlier today, we brought you Rudy Giuliani here in Florida, in Boca Raton, trying to appeal to the Jewish community. Right now a different venue. A different Florida venue for Rudy Giuliani. He's at a surf shop in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Let's zip in and listen.

RUDY GIULIANI, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... getting to Mars, winning the war against us, winning in Iraq and Iraq is stable and an Iraq -- finishing the job in Pakistan. Making sure we finish off al Qaeda and Taliban and catch bin Laden.

An America with lower taxes and less spending where our economies are growing, where we are engaging in the global economy and we're winning an America that's optimistic, an America that is confident.

What do we have to be worried about in this country? What do we have to be worried about that we can't solve? We are the luckiest people on earth. We have great strength, great blessings, great ideas and wonderful people.

Of course we have big problems. But we can solve them. And when you have a president that operates that way and brings that out of us -- and I can do that -- but I can only do that if I convince you here in Florida to vote for me. I need your vote. If I win here, we're going right on to the nomination.

BASH: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani signing a baseball -- perhaps a Yankee fan there -- with his wife speaking to voters in Cocoa Beach, Florida, at a surf shop. I want to bring in our producer, who has been traveling and covering the Giuliani campaign in Florida. That's Shawna Shepherd.

Shawna, we have heard a couple times today his pitch to voters but one of the most important things is how these candidates are trying to actually physically get the voters to the polls and get their votes out.

I was with Giuliani a couple days ago and I noticed at one of his events they had people at the event on the phone dialing, getting people to the event but making that venue to try to remind voters to come out and vote for Giuliani.

What are they willing you inside the Giuliani campaign organization ahead of Tuesday?

SHAWNA SHEPHERD, CNN NEWS PRODUCER: The campaign is really getting out there trying to get the vote out. They are stressing their efforts with volunteers so they can get people to events and get people to encourage people to vote sending out flyers, distributing flyers, telling people where they can go vote.

Mayor Giuliani said today that Floridians can vote early in the state, about two weeks in advance of the primary. It's a big reason he decided to focus all of his attention on the state. He spent most of his time campaigning here more than any other candidate and he's asking audiences to vote early. Not often, but early, he jokes. He tells them to vote and also encouraging them to ask five or six people to vote. He's really leaning on this heavily because he's hoping that this will give him the traction he needs on Tuesday.

BASH: You make an important point that we should remind our viewers. Voting is under way here in Florida. The primary is Tuesday. They started voting on January 14th and Giuliani campaign is trying to get out that early vote.

Giuliani has gotten a lot of attention perhaps some negative attention for really talking nonstop about 9/11. Joe Biden made the joke he was subject/verb 9/11. As this campaign closes in Florida, what do you hear with him in regard to 9/11? Is he hitting his experience as hard as he once was?

SHEPHERD: He's using it. It shows he's proven and tested as a leader. He looks at the terrorist war on the U.S. and what he would to as president to help with that problem. But he's stepped up talking about the economy and managing New York City as a mayor and turning the economy around.

He's trying to get into the dialogue with McCain and Romney criticizing each other. McCain is attacking Governor Romney for being a manager and not a leader. Senator Romney attacking McCain for not having enough knowledge on economic matters.

Mayor Giuliani is coming out strong on this and trying to tell voters that he's good on both and that he's the person to vote for because he has both of those qualities where --instead of just one. BASH: Very interesting, Shawna, to see and listen to Rudy Giuliani try to adjust his message even in these waning days of this campaign in Florida where he has spent so much time trying to adjust his message. Despite the fact that he was really counting on a win here in Florida, he's trailing in the polls, probably tying for third place with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

So thank you very much for that, Shawna.

We are going to go to a break. On the other side of the break we'll check in with Ali Velshi talking to voters about the economy. We'll check in and see what he's hearing today. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's "BALLOT BOWL." I'm Dana Bash in Orlando, Florida.

We want to check in with our Ali Velshi on the CNN "Election Express," making his way from the east coast to the west coast. He's actually in California right now.

And, Ali, I believe you are in one of my most favorite places in the entire country on the planet. You're in Palm Springs, California. You are at a wind farm in Palm Springs, California. You have your hat you bought in Arizona there. What are you hearing from voters out there as just made it to California?

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We're two hours from the other ocean. We started six days ago in Myrtle Beach and we have worked our way across ten states almost 3,000 miles.

I got the hat back on. It's windy in Palm Springs but California is one of the biggest Super Tuesday states. The biggest state. 370 Democratic delegates at stake. 170 Republican delegates. And every problem that we've encountered in terms of what people are worried about in the economy across this country plays out in southern California.

In Southern California, immigration is a major issue. California has the highest average gasoline prices in the country. There is oil in California. There is shipping. Those ports depend on what comes in from other countries. The low dollar is of impact here. Outside of Los Angeles, the highest foreclosure rates in the country.

California has suffered from problems Michigan has and problems Nevada has. Michigan, we saw house prices drop because jobs have been lost. In Nevada and Phoenix and the southwest, we have seen house prices drop because there was such speculation in these markets. California has all of that.

This is a state that is very interested in political issues and they want to know what the candidates say about the economy, what they're going to do.

Now, we've been heading across and we'll head into Los Angeles tonight and that's the end of our cross-country trip but what we have seen across this country is people very, very engaged in the political process as it affects their pocketbook. They would like and we have seen this in the last few days every single one of these candidates speaking specifically about economic issues about energy.

Mike Huckabee earlier today talking about fair tax and people decided how they think they are going continue to help this economy.

We go into a very busy week politically and on the economic front. The Federal Reserve is meeting this week on Tuesday or Wednesday. They are likely to cut interest rates once again. President Bush will have to speak about the economy at length in the State of Union address and Americans are listening. They want to know what will happen with markets, with houses, with energy prices and with jobs.

That's the kind of stuff we've been hearing. We'll head into L.A. We'll talk to some more people about what their views are on the economy and bring that to you. After six days and ten states, here we are.

BASH: There you are. It's been quite a ride. Just watching you and watching your cross-country adventure. We're glad to see you there and we'll be looking forward to your reports from Los Angeles.

Thank you very much, Ali.

Ali was talking about the economy. The Republican candidate who thinks he can benefit most from the economy is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. He talks about his private sector experience nonstop.

But over the past 24 hours, he's been forced by John McCain to talk about the war in Iraq. John McCain insisting that Mitt Romney was for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

Just moments ago we got videotape from Mitt Romney explaining and defending himself from John McCain's accusations. Let's take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: Are you concerned about John McCain's recent attacks on your record?

MITT ROMNEY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not at all.

REPORTER: Is there anything he said to divert his attention from lack of understanding of the economy?

ROMNEY: There's no way someone who will lead the nation who doesn't understand how the economy works and he admitted that he just doesn't.

REPORTER: What about the pulling out of Iraq time line?

ROMNEY: Don't have one. Never have.

REPORTER: He says you do.

ROMNEY: He's lying. He's dishonest. He's being dishonest in that regard.

REPORTER: Are you calling him a liar?

ROMNEY: I'm not. I made a dishonest comment. I misspoke.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: There, a little bit hard to hear Mitt Romney but the gist of what he said is he believes that John McCain is being dishonest when he says that Mitt Romney was for a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. That is something we'll hear a lot more about in the next 24 hours.

That is "BALLOT BOWL" for this weekend. Up next, "Lou Dobbs Weekend" is coming. We'll have more "BALLOT BOWL" for you tomorrow. Thanks for joining us.

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