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Potomac Primaries are Under Way; General Motors Offers Buy-Out Package; Project Lifeline Announced to Address Mortgage Crisis

Aired February 12, 2008 - 10:00   ET

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


JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: ... Some photographs of a prosthetic pregnancy that a woman might use to hide a suicide bomb, that sort of strange looking photographs taken with what looks like to be a mannequin. They say that in many cases a women might have less suspicion than a man would and so might have greater luck accessing a target.
It says women have been used particularly successfully in Sri Lanka and in Iraq. Once again, absolutely no intelligence that terrorist organizations are going to be using them here. But they just want to make officials aware of the possibility and the tactics that they might use. So this assessment went out.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: All right, understood. Thanks so much, CNN's Jeanne Meserve, our Homeland Security correspondent. Thank you, Jeanne.

MESERVE: You bet.

COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Stay informed all day right here on the CNN NEWSROOM.

Here's what's on the rundown. A parade of voters making choices right now in the Potomac primary. An extensive coverage of the presidential race all day on CNN.

And the mortgage rescue plan getting bigger. We'll tell you who's covered. The announcement coming live this morning.

And a good stretch of heartland real estate in a deep freeze. An I-Reporter's view of the ice falling today, Tuesday, February 12th. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Unfolding this morning, battle along the Beltway. Presidential primaries are underway this hour. Voters are making choices in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. We're calling them the Potomac primaries. But the key word may be momentum. Republican front-runner John McCain is looking to sweep the three contests. Underdog Mike Huckabee rejecting calls to drop out of the race. Meanwhile, Democratic Hillary Clinton could be looking at another sweep by Barack Obama. Today, she's traveling to other states and focusing on delegate-rich contests in Ohio and Texas.

Republican front-runner John McCain may appear unconcerned heading into today's primaries but many conservatives are concerned about his candidacy. Here's CNN's Dana Bash. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No big rally, no music, not even voters here. John McCain's only campaign event ahead of Maryland's primary was as low key as his strategy now, look ahead and look unconcerned.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're doing fine. We have 700 and some close to 800 delegates and the last time I checked Governor Huckabee has very few. So I think I'm pretty happy with the situation that we're in.

BASH: But he got crushed by Mike Huckabee over the weekend in Kansas, by Republican voters not ready to accept McCain as their nominee. Lost Louisiana, too. Why does he think Huckabee is still wining?

MCCAIN: Because they like him. I never expected a unanimous vote.

BASH: The McCain campaign knows full well he's losing votes from conservatives who don't like him and they rush to trumpet the endorsement of well-known evangelical Gary Bauer who briefly sought the GOP nomination himself eight years ago.

"John McCain has dedicated his life to defending human rights around the world, including the rights of the unborn," Bauer said in a statement. Still, McCain deflected questions about his lingering tension, out right rebellion among some conservatives, instead making it seem like a broader Republican problem.

MCCAIN: Our party is dispirited because of spending and corruption, as we all know and we've got to re-energize our base. And also, primaries are tough.

BASH: But skeptical conservative leaders warn that if an already depressed GOP base isn't energized by McCain, it will hurt him in November.

DAVID KEENE, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION: If he did nothing, most conservatives would end up voting for him. The question is how enthusiastically would they campaign for him. If he works at it, he will get the great bulk of them, I think.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: But if McCain doesn't make amends with some GOP conservatives, his campaign insists he'll make up for it with his appeal for independents. In fact, McCain promised here in Maryland that he will come back and compete in the general election and do well against a Democratic rival. That may be a tough feat since Maryland hasn't voted for a Republican president in two decades.

Dana Bash, CNN, Annapolis, Maryland.

COLLINS: Super-delegates, they don't wear capes but they may possess super powers in the Democrat's race for the White House. CNN's Tom Foreman explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One person, one vote, not in the Democratic primaries where the super-delegates are looming large.

TOM DASCHLE, OBAMA NATIONAL CO-CHAIRMAN: And they won't swing as a bloc, but the way they swing could make a huge difference given their numbers and given who we're talking about, people with great respect for them within the party.

FOREMAN: Like Superman, super-delegates have powers that far outstrip those of the delegates elected by voters. There are nearly 800 super-delegates, members of Congress, governors, party leaders. And at the convention they can vote for whomever they wish. That means in Illinois, which has 32 super-delegates, each one's vote will count as much as the combined votes of 13,000 regular Democrats. That rankled even some super-delegates who say voters, not party bosses, should decide the race.

SAM SPENCER, SUPER-DELEGATE IN MAINE: I think they're the best ones to make the decision. I think super-delegates are somewhat outdated and it's not the most Democratic way of doing things.

FOREMAN: Some party leaders say the super-delegate system is a reasonable way of avoiding a deadlock in a tight race. But some voters say on talk radio and on blogs, that they will skip the election or even vote Republican if the supers decide.

Others are suggesting super-delegates should mirror the voter preferences in their home state. But whether such a deal is worked out or not, right now the race is heading down to the wire, where the super-delegates are waiting.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Join the best political team on television for the analysis of the primary returns in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. Watch CNN tonight, 8:00 Eastern, only on your home for politics.

Also in the news this morning, the mortgage crisis spreads beyond sub prime. Next hour the Bush administration rolls out a new plan to help more people avoid foreclosure. CNN's Ali Velshi is live in New York this morning for more on this.

What's the scoop here, Ali?

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Yes. We're about an hour away from an announcement from the Treasure Secretary Paulson about something that they're calling "Project Lifeline." This is meant to address the mortgage payment concerns of more people than the last plan they came out with in December. This is for seriously delinquent mortgage holders, people who are 90 plus days past due on their mortgages. Once you hit 90 days the bank starts foreclosure, it starts initiating foreclosure proceedings on you.

What this will do is wherever you are in that proceeding, if you're 90 days plus past due, it's going to suspend any foreclosure activity for 30 days. A little breathing room, a little time for you and the bank to sit down and come up with a refinancing plan or some other plan.

For now, it involves the six banks that have been involved with the government's working group for some time. Bank of America, Citigroup, Countrywide, JPMorgan Chase, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo. It may extend to others. We're still awaiting details on this which should be coming out around 11:15 a.m. Eastern time. So, we'll bring that all to you as soon as we have it, Heidi.

COLLINS: OK. Very good. Thank you for that, Ali.

And also some news about General Motors offering buyouts now to several thousand of their employees.

VELSHI: Yes, General Motors started this in 2006 and it worked well for them. So, after Ford and Chrysler also did it earlier this year, General Motors now is offering a buyout package deal to all 74,000 of its unionized workers here in the United States. Every UAW GM worker is getting this offer.

People will get $45,000 to $65,000 each as a lump sum, depending on what job you have plus full pension and health benefits if you're prepared to walk away from those health benefits and full pension, you get more money, $70,000 to I think $140,000 as a one-time payment.

The idea here is that maybe 30 or 40 or maybe even more, a greater percentage of GM workers will take this as opposed to sitting around and wondering whether they're going to get laid off or whether there'll be another round of layoffs at General Motors maybe next year or the year after and move on to something else. General Motors can then replace up to 16,000 of those workers with non-unionized workers who would be paid about half as much as the existing unionized workers are being paid.

COLLINS: Well, it's a big deal. All right. Ali, we'll continue to watch both of those stories with you. Thanks so much.

VELSHI: Pretty good.

COLLINS: Also watching the weather. Boy, look at that. Winter mess in parts of the Midwest. Deep freeze in Springfield, Missouri. These pictures taken by I-Reporter Erika Kreplin from Missouri State University. Freezing rain pretty turned the college campus into a great big popsicle. Classes were canceled and Erika says they were completely iced in.

Freezing rain now in Kentucky where it snowed hours ago. They got about four inches in the central part of the state. Thousands of people though are without power and driving a total mess. The 199th birthday party honoring Abraham Lincoln canceled and now First Lady Laura Bush rescheduling her visit as well.

Rob, we keep talking about all these ice and snow, kind of all over from the middle part to the east, you said last time.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it really encompasses a large chunk of real estate. North of the freezing rain is the snow, south is the rain. But even south of that the threat for severe thunderstorms popping up. We've seen a good line move through Texas. So, we do have airport delays to tell you about. As you would imagine, Chicago, ground stop, New York City, La Guardia 30-minute delays.

Providence, Rhode Island, we had delays earlier more than this in places like Pittsburgh. Let's get a live shot of Pittsburgh where they had a ground stop earlier because of fog. Look at that. Yes, you can't see a thing. WPXI, our affiliate out that way, 17 degrees and snowing. Visibility at half a mile. It's not looking good. You will see snow changing to freezing rain back to rain and then snow.

Here's your watches and warnings that are posted. North and west of New York city, you'll see some snow changing to freezing rain. So a little bit of ice there. Then everybody along the I-95 corridor changes to rain. It looks like by tomorrow but north and west of that area, more significant snow and freezing rain. So, the icing situation will continue and these warnings go through Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville and back to Cape Gerardo. Cincinnati really to Dayton, to Columbus really about to get hammered with the heaviest amounts of ice accumulating.

Louisville, you turned over to rain for the most parts south towards Bowling Green. You're looking at some heavy rain at times today as this line continues to push off to the east. Memphis and across the Mississippi, that's where some action is and just moving through Nacogcoches over the Sabine River. Some heavy rain and gusty winds with that line, moving through southeast Texas. Houston, if you're flying through that airport, you might run into delays today as well.

COLLINS: You just like to say Nacogdoches, don't you?

MARCIANO: I do like that. Then you got Nacogdoches, Jaspers. There are some fun names to talk about out there.

COLLINS: Vale, a fun name, let's talk about that next time around.

MARCIANO: I can smell where you're going.

COLLINS: All right. We'll check back later. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: OK.

COLLINS: Democracy in action. Voting is under way in three more primaries, so where do the presidential campaign goes from here? We're going to talk to two party insiders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Passing out pot, available at the push of a button. Say hello to the new marijuana vending machine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The much anticipated Roger Clemens hearing now just a day away. The star pitcher is set to testify under oath to Congress. He's expected to contradict what's in the Mitchell report on drugs in baseball. And Clemens' attorney says that could lead to a perjury investigation. Also set to testify tomorrow, Clemens' former train her Brain McNamee. McNamee told investigators he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone. Former team mates Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch has been excused from testifying tomorrow.

Another former player named in the Mitchell report claims the league knew about performance-enhancing drug use and even condoned it. John Rocker told an Atlanta radio station about a meeting with doctors from the league and the players association.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROCKER, FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYER: Told myself, Rafael Palmeiro and Pudge Rodriguez just on a candid conversation aside, and, you know, just continue with the conversation. Said, look, guys if you take one kind of steroid, you don't triple stack them and take them ten months out of the year like Lyle Alzado did. Dead by the time he was 44-years-old. If you do it responsibly, it's not going to hurt you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Rocker also called the Mitchell report, "absolutely useless." He said investigators could have found a few hundred players who used steroids. The Clemens hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:00 Eastern tomorrow morning. We will be following it closely. You can see the testimony live on CNN.com and our sister network "Headline News."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: We get everything from cookies to Coke at these vending machines. And now, marijuana?

VINCENT MERDIZADEH, HERBAL NUTRITION CENTER: A transaction took all of about ten seconds.

LAWRENCE: Vincent Merdizadeh invented an armored box so customers can get their prescribed drug even when stores like this are closed. MERDIZADEH: It felt like every other system has been automated, why not have medical marijuana be automated, too?

LAWRENCE: Marijuana is illegal under federal law. But with a doctor's prescription, it's legal in California.

ANGEL RAICH, MEDICAL MARIJUANA USER: If I actually didn't have cannabis I would be in a wheelchair.

LAWRENCE: Angel Raich suffers from a brain tumor and nine chronic pain diseases, before a doctor prescribed marijuana she said the pain was unbearable.

RAICH: I was partially paralyzed in the living room floor throwing up in a bucket because I didn't have the strength or the energy to get up and go into the bathroom in my wheelchair.

LAWRENCE: Merdizadeh said the machine offers anonymity and prevents abuse.

MERDIZADEH: If the patient is smoking more than an ounce of week, they might be overmedicating themselves. So, my machine limits an ounce at a week.

LAWRENCE: That ounce isn't available to everyone. Fingerprints have to match the patient's encoded card. It says please touch the fingerprint reader. I'm not in the database obviously so I'll try it with my index finger. The card's declined and won't work. But it will for patients like this, a man who is going blind and often can't get a ride to the store during the hours it's open.

EULOS GAULDING, MEDICAL MARIJUANA USER: It's the perfect thing for me because it's always there, it's always open. It's always ready.

LAWRENCE: But the prescription vending machine or PVM is being closely watched by the DEA. One agent told us "according to federal drug laws... the possession, sale or distribution of marijuana is illegal, regardless of the methodology." The DEA says it reserves the right to unplug the machine and confiscate the drugs inside, leaving some patients not high and dry.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Let's take just a second to look at the big board now. Dow Jones industrial averages up 182 points. That looks -- 181, looks pretty nice. Wish we could close right now -- 2,421 yesterday things gained about 57 points by the end of the trading day. So, we'll talk with Susan Lisovicz coming up shortly. She will tell us the Nasdaq is up, at least right now about 21 points. So, we'll talk more with her a little bit later on. In court today, Bobby Cuts Jr., he is the former Ohio police officer charge with killing his pregnant lover. Today, lawyers will give their closing arguments in the murder trial. Prosecutors say Cutts strangled Jesse Davis over child support bills. Cutts says her death was an accident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBY CUTTS, DEFENDANT: She grabbed me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where at?

CUTTS: She grabbed my arm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

CUTTS: All of the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

CUTTS: And she still -- she's still touching me. And I come back and catch her with my elbow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Davis was nine months pregnant at the time. You're looking at a live shot now inside the courtroom there, in Canton, Ohio. If Cutts is found guilty, he could get the death penalty.

Embassy shut down. Norway closing its embassy in Afghanistan due to an unspecified threat. And Norwegian official would not discuss the nature of the threat nor how long the embassy would stay closed. Last month Norway's foreign minister escaped unarmed when a Kabul hotel was bombed. A Norwegian journalist was killed in that attack.

And for some veterans the fighting doesn't end when they come home from Afghanistan or Iraq. They're fighting demons and, sadly, losing. The Associated Press has obtained new government data on the suicides of returning vets. 144 veterans killed themselves between 2001 and 2005. More than half of them, 53 percent, were National Guard or reserve troops.

That, despite the fact that reservists and guard troops have made up just over a quarter of U.S. military forces serving in the wars. Activists are calling for long-term screening and better access or treatment for returning reservists and guard members. If you need help or know someone who does, there is a toll-free Veterans Affairs suicide hotline and that number, 1-800-273-talk.

And the case against six suspects in the 9/11 attack also likely stretch into the next presidency. CNN's Brian Todd checks on where the candidates stand on the military commission.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Solemn promises from military prosecutors. They want the death penalty for six alleged masterminds of 9/11 but they'll let a special military commission set up by the president make that final call. The overseer of that commission, a former judge, will also decide whether to allow evidence gathered from waterboarding or other harsh interrogation methods. And despite the fact they'll be tried at Guantanamo, the suspects will have legal rights.

BRIG. GEN. THOMAS HARTMANN, DEFENSE DEPT., LEGAL ADVISER: Every stitch of evidence, every whiff of evidence that goes to the finder of fact, to the jury, to the military tribunal, will be reviewed by the accused.

TODD: With all that and the fact that the Supreme Court may still declare this military commission unconstitutional, analysts say it's likely a long way from Guantanamo to the death chamber.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENOR LEGAL ANALYST: Given the pace we've been going, there is no doubt that the fate of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the fate of Guantanamo will not be in President Bush's hands but in his successor's hands.

TODD: How will that turn out? As Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both voted against the creation of the military commission. Mrs. Clinton's reason.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The bill allowed the admission into evidence of statements derived through cruel, inhuman and degrading interrogations.

TODD: Obama's aids tell us he was against it because it limits the suspects' ability to legally challenge their detention.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to close Guantanamo and restore habeas corpus.

TODD: Obama's aides says he favors seeking the death penalty but wants to try the suspects publicly in either civilian courts or more traditional military courts. John McCain's long been outspoken against torture but voted for the military commission.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would declare the closure of Guantanamo Bay and move those prisoners to Ft. Levin Worth, Kansas, and proceed with tribunals, not fair trials but tribunals.

TODD: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama also favor closing Guantanamo. Mike Huckabee's chief advisor tells us he favors keeping it open as long as President Bush does, but the president said he would like to close Guantanamo at some point. Huckabee's advisers says he also favors the military commission as long as there's a death penalty provision along with it.

Analysts say it all adds up to an uncertain road ahead for many detainees and maybe a different legal system in place for them after the next president takes office.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A registered sex offender hits the jackpot but his $10 million prize could land him back in jail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Helping more troubled homeowners, the mortgage crisis spreads beyond sub prime. The next hour the Bush administration rolls out a new plan to help people at risk of foreclosure. It's called "Project Lifeline." The plan applies to seriously delinquent homeowners, those whose payments are 90 days or more overdue. It will allow them to suspend foreclosures for 30 days. In the meantime, they will work with lenders to create more affordable terms. The country's six largest lenders are backing the plan, including Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo.

GM losing money and getting rid of jobs. The company announced this morning it's offering buyouts now to 74,000 workers in the U.S.. That's its entire hourly workforce. The buyout packages are worth up to $140,000. They're being offered to workers represented by the United Auto Workers.

GM is also reporting a huge loss, almost $39 billion last year. That's the biggest annual loss ever for an automaker. But get this, GM says it had a better than expected fourth quarter, earning a narrow profit of $46 million and special expenses are excluded.

A $10 million Lottery prize putting a sex offender in the spotlight. Now police want to know more.

More from Kelley Tuthill of Boston affiliate WCVB.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLEY TUTHILL, WCVB REPORTER (voice-over): When Daniel Snay posed for this photo at lottery headquarters he might have figured someone would find this photo as well, showing Snay as a level-three sex offender register with police at Oxbridge. But that's just part of what happened since he bought a $10 million scratch ticket at this convenience store in Hopedale. It's a story that has people talking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He put his money up, didn't he? They took his money. So he deserves it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you can buy the ticket, why shouldn't you be able to keep it?

TUTTLE: The Lottery agrees. In a statement a spokesman said, "The vast majority of our players are regular, law-abiding, hardworking individuals. The lottery is not authorized to conduct criminal or any other background checks on its players or winners. Snay reportedly told the Lottery he plans to keep his job as a boat hauler.

The manager who sold Snay the winning ticket said the man just looked at his winnings, posed for a quick photo, then went back to work. But authorities in Connecticut may make returning to normalcy more difficult. They're now considering whether to file felony charges against Snay for failing to notify officials when he moved back to Massachusetts. The 56-year-old was convicted six times for assaults on children in the '70s and '80.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: he should give money to the ones that he offended. He should give them some of that for what they went through.

TUTTLE: We were unable to reach Snay, and his lawyer did not return our calls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Snay could now face up to five years in prison. He was actually supposed to check in with Connecticut authorities every 90 days, but they haven't heard from him in more than three-and-a-half years.

An assassination plot foiled in Denmark. The suspected target, a cartoonist. A Danish newspaper reporting the cartoonist is one of 12 who came under fire for the drawing of the Prophet Mohammed. Those cartoons led to demonstrations and riots two years ago. Danish authorities say they made several arrests in what they are calling a terror-related assassination plot, but have not named the intended target.

Masterpieces stolen in broad daylight, likely gone underground where they'll become barter for big criminals.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Swiss police say the heist could be the work of a criminal gang from Eastern Europe. Gone, four Impressionist masterpieces worth more than $160 million. They took the paintings from this gallery in broad daylight. Police say the crooks knew exactly what they were after.

"The burglars acted in a very professional way," this Swiss police official says. "The whole robbery lasted only three minutes."

Quick and brutal. Three men with guns stormed the entrance to the museum and forced security personnel to the ground. Then they went straight to the exhibition room, ripped the masterpieces off the wall, took off in a car and disappeared.

During the escape, some of the stolen paintings may have partially stuck out of the trunk, this policeman says.

Experts wonder why it was so easy for the robbers to take the Impressionist masterpieces. Like the "Blooming Chestnut Branches," Van Gogh painted this just weeks before he died, and this Cezanne called "The Boy in the Red Vest," worth almost $100 million alone.

If the crooks do try to sell the paintings, this man will likely know about it. Julian Radcliff tracks stolen art and knows how criminal gangs operate.

JULIAN RADCLIFF, THE ART LOSS REGISTER: If the police don't succeed in recovering these pictures in the next six or nine months, they may well be offered for sale in 10 or 15 years time having been used in the underworld as a form of currency in the meantime.

PLEITGEN: Just last week, two Picassos were taken from a gallery miles away. Police say that may have been the work of the same criminal gang.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Primary day, will Obama sweep Clinton in Virginia, Maryland and D.C.? Dueling Democrats in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: He went to war, but he came home to save a life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, my son is alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: An Iraq veteran goes beyond the call of duty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Waiting decades to hear I'm sorry. Just hours from now, Australia's new prime minister will make a public apology to a people known as the "stolen generation."

CNN's Hugh Riminton has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 60 years until 1970, it was Australian government policy, to remove mixed-race Aboriginal children from their families in the name of saving them from what was officially deemed to be a doomed race.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it's mine, it's mine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got no say in this.

RIMINTON: Until a decade ago, it was still largely a dirty secret, until a government inquiry and a high-profile movie blew the story wide open. What followed was a mass movement supported by many white Australians to say sorry to the tens of thousands of Australian indigenous people who became known as the "stolen generations."

Former prime minister John Howard refused to apologize, saying the current generation should not be held accountable for past misdeeds, but he did issue a statement of regret. But saying sorry is the first order of parliamentary business for Australia's new prime minister Kevin Rudd.

MARY FARRELL-HOOKER, ACTIVIST: To me, it's so important. It's a small victory for me because I'm still alive. I, you know, I'll hear it.

RIMINTON: Mary Farrell-Hooker counts herself among the stolen generations and today, is a spokeswoman for an aboriginal activist group. But her story reflects the complexities of the issue. She was a mixed-race child, one of 12 children of alcoholic parents. Her father was in jail for raping her sister when her mother was hospitalized after a suicide attempt.

FARRELL-HOOKER: The police came to the school and told me they were taking me to the hospital to see my mum which -- we never went to the hospital.

RIMINTON: Instead, Mary, then age 12, was taken to a series of foster centers. At one of them, she says, she was repeatedly raped by a white house father.

FARRELL-HOOKER: He would actually come into the room and force himself onto me, rape me, molest (ph) me, so I could have sex with him. If I didn't do what he wanted, he threatened that he would do the same to my sister and that he would split us up.

RIMINTON: Her parents came to find her, she says, but were repeatedly turned away. And when she ran away, the police always returned her to her tormenter.

Australia's new prime minister is seeking a new tone of reconciliation but many white Australians, like conservative commentator Piers Akerman are not buying it.

PIERS AKERMAN, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: I think that Australians will be saying sorry for many generations for our friendly (ph) apology now.

RIMINTON: Where conservatives and indigenous activists do agree is that compensation claims will gain new vigor.

AKERMAN: Once you open this avenue for compensation, you're looking at a never-ending source of funding.

RIMINTON: Can Australia finding a way to heal the past without disturbing the present remains a delicate political task.

Hugh Riminton, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A 14-year-old Texas boy is alive today thanks to an Iraq war veteran he had never met, that is until now. Michael Rey of our affiliate KDAF reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL REY, KDAF REPORTER (voice-over): He crossed the street to make a connection with someone who was already a blood brother. Chris Sosata (ph) was about to meet the young boy whose life he saved. Richard Garay from Grand Prairie had aplastic anemia, a type of leukemia.

RICHARD GARAY, MARROW RECIPIENT: I was so weak, I couldn't move. just -- I was pale and very fatigued. When I would stand up, I would have to catch my breath.

DR. JENNIFER COX, CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER: Most of the kids with the same condition that Richard have, die of their disease within five to 10 years.

REY: Richard needed a bone morrow donor. Twenty-seven-year-old Sosata had already given five years of his life to the army, including a year in Iraq. He was giving again, blood, this time, when he filled out a form to give some more.

CHRIS SOSATA, BLOOD DONOR: I thought it was just checking a block and that would be it.

REY: That was during a time when Richard's family was praying very hard.

RAQUEL GARAY, RICHARD GARAY'S MOTHER: That God was good and that he would send us a sign and an angel or somebody will be there for him.

REY: After three years with new marrow in his bones, Richard is healthy again. It's a battle other families a few floors above the celebration still fight. Today, hugs all around.

RAQUEL GARAY: Thank you, my son is alive.

REY: And Sosata's wife and newborn looked on, both families celebrated a life saved.

(on camera): Statistically speaking, the fact that Richard found a match is pretty amazing itself. But one so close to home, Chris comes from San Antonio. In fact, he lives right down the street from Richard's grandmother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Less than a mile away from him grandmother all my life. So maybe it's meant to be. REY (voice-over): During the transplant process neither knew each other by name so Sasayda (ph) made one up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got tired of saying little boy. I just call him Timmy, little Timmy.

REY: And yes, Sasayda plans to keep on giving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never enough, never enough.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: As a Hispanic, Richard faced tough odds in getting his bone marrow transplant. Doctors non-whites are often underrepresented on a national registry.

A speed bump for John McCain -- evangelicals not sold on the Republican front-runner. Can he turn them around?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Barack Obama supporters say he charms and energizes crowds. But he is getting competition from his own wife. Last night Michelle Obama sat down with CNN's Larry King. First topic, her husband's rise since announcing as an underdog challenger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: You know, I don't think anybody could have expected this. I mean, a year ago, although Barack announced with 16,000 people in the frigid cold in Springfield, I mean, I knew this guy had something special to offer. But, you know, where we today is pretty amazing.

LARRY KING, HOST: Was he confident?

M. OBAMA: Oh, he's always pretty confident. Ye, I mean he wouldn't have taken this -- taken us down this path if he didn't think that he had a very good shot at it. And that's something that we talked about. I mean, I looked at Barack as were making this decision, and I said, do you think not only can you do this, but should you do this?

And he looked me in the eye and he said, yes. He said, I can be a good president.

KING: Did you, as wives, will sometimes do, try to put a damper on it?

M. OBAMA: Oh, of course. That's my job. But, you know, the thing that I -- we talked about were the practical aspects of the race -- you know, how would it affect the kids?

And we have a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old -- how would they feel about this? How would we manage our lives to make sure that their lives stayed on track? What would we do financially? Those were the kind of practical issues that I wanted to walk through step by step and sort of know how we would handle this when we confronted it. And when I got the satisfactory answers, I was ready to go.

KING: Did you think the public would take to him as it has?

M. OBAMA: You know, I...

KING: Because you only one race to go on...

M. OBAMA: Yes. Yes.

KING: ... plus local races.

M. OBAMA: You know, I was hopeful. I based it on what we had seen in his career in the past. And every race that Barack has run, he started out as the severe underdog, with people saying that he was too young and too inexperienced, he couldn't raise the money, he couldn't build the organization. We heard that in his U.S. Senate run.

But what we found out was that if Barack could, through strong organization and building a grassroots effort on the ground, could break through the noise and speak directly to the people -- and once people got to know him, know his message, sort of see his heart, his sincerity, his authenticity, then, you know, that always trumped whatever doubts people had.

KING: So now, Michelle, you must give it some thought -- I might be first lady.

M. OBAMA: Go figure.

KING: Go figure.

You must think of that.

M. OBAMA: I have to. Yes.

KING: And what enters your mind?

M. OBAMA: I think wow, what an opportunity. What a platform that I'll have, potentially, to talk about a whole range of issues that could affect the country. What a privilege it will be to have the opportunity to speak to peoples' hearts, to be a part of moving this country in a different direction.

So I try to embrace the exciting parts of it.

KING: So you're ready for it?

M. OBAMA: I'm ready for it, yes.

KING: Ready to be the first black, first female first lady?

M. OBAMA: I'm who I am. I'm ready for it. That's who I am. KING: Do you think there will be a lot of pressure on you if that happens?

M. OBAMA: You know, I -- I just think this is a pressure filled position. I think that anyone who steps up into this sort of level is going to find some -- some degree of pressure. I just don't think about it in those terms. I mean, it's in the same way that I don't think about what might go wrong. I've never spent my life sort of thinking what could go wrong, or else I wouldn't be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Michelle Obama says she doesn't see a rivalry with Bill Clinton, and she says her husband and Hillary Clinton will once again be friends after the nomination is won.

An unsettled base, putting pressure on John McCain, the Republican front-runner still trying to get evangelicals on board.

CNN's Mary Snow now with a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Huckabee received an embrace from Jonathan Falwell, son of the late Reverend Jerry Falwell -- but not an endorsement. Jerry Falwell, Jr. is backing the Republican underdog over Senator John McCain, who in 2000 called Jerry Falwell "an agent of intolerance." The two men later made amends.

It speaks to a complicated relationship between McCain and evangelicals, who are divided in the 2008 race.

Jonathan Falwell says this division is healthy.

JONATHAN FALWELL, THOMAS ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH: And I think what we're seeing today is the culmination of his dream. When he started the Moral Majority in the late '70s, it was not simply that we have one organization, but we have thousand thousands of organizations. Because he knew that strength comes in numbers.

SNOW: Strength in numbers among united evangelicals helped elect George W. Bush as president in 2000 and 2004. In 2008, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, for one, says he can't vote for McCain against a Democrat. Among the gripes, McCain hasn't supported a constitutional amendment to ban abortion and same-sex marriage.

Despite that, McCain is emerging as a likely Republican nominee.

JEFFERY SHELER, AUTHOR, "BELIEVERS": To the extent that evangelicals will not -- have not made the kingmaker role in the nomination fight, I think that suggests that there is not as much influence as some people thought they might have in this election cycle.

SNOW: Author Jeffrey Sheler says a new guard of evangelical leaders like Rick Warren is having influence by emphasizing issues such as the environment and the war. But some conservative leaders say, in the end, McCain needs evangelicals.

TONY PERKINS, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: I do not think that a Republican nominee for president can successfully capture the White House without the active, motivated support of evangelical voters.

SNOW (on camera): And to motivate that support, McCain has been courting conservatives, and he added an endorsement from evangelical leader Gary Bauer to his list.

Mary Snow, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Stay tuned for much more on the candidates as they criss-cross the country. And don't miss a full hour of the CNN "BALLOT BOWL" from noon until 1:00 Eastern. You can join us for live coverage of the candidates as they make their pitches. Remember, CNN equals politics.

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