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The Lobbyist and John McCain; Obama and Clinton Face to Face in Debate Tonight

Aired February 21, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again. You're with CNN. You're informed. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Developments keep coming in on Thursday, 21st of February. Here's what's on the rundown.

The lobbyist and John McCain; what was their relationship? The candidate says what you'll read in the "New York Times" today is not true.

HARRIS: The stage is set for a Texas-sized showdown. Obama and Clinton face to face in a CNN debate tonight.

COLLINS: Flying the wild blue yonder with the blue angels. Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes on gravity, in the NEWSROOM.

A hit and run smear campaign, that's how John McCain's advisers describe a report questioning his ties to a lobbyist eight years ago. This morning McCain along with his wife responded to the "New York Times" article. The paper says McCain aides were worried in 1999 about appearances of a close relationship with the female lobbyist. The paper says they were concerned it would undermine his record on ethics reform. McCain denies the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm very disappointed in the "New York Times" piece. It's not true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Lobbyist Vicki Iseman represented clients with business before McCain's senate committee. The Times says aides confronted the senator and Iseman. McCain says they never confronted him. Both McCain and Iseman deny she received any special treatment and say they never had a romantic relationship.

Dana Bash is covering the story from us. She is live from Toledo, Ohio. That is where Senator McCain held his news conference just a couple of hours ago.

Dana, what is the mood now of campaign officials in reaction to all of this?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, inside the campaign, Heidi, they're really actually in combat mode. There was definitely a bit of shock and surprise that this story was going to come out yesterday after knowing that it was a potential for months because the "New York Times," that's how long they had been investigating it.

So you know, inside the McCain campaign, they talked to his advisers, they are using words like gutter journalism and talking about how this is a smear from the "New York Times."

It was a very, very different tone that John McCain standing with his wife Cindy decided to take. He was very subdued, wanting to make clear that he -- you could tell sort of in his approach that he wanted to make clear that he's got nothing to worry about.

In terms of the facts of this story, what he did is he came out and said it is simply not true on pretty much every point that it's not true; any suggestion that he had a romantic relationship with that lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, not true that he used his influence and position in the senate, particularly in the Senate Commerce Committee, to help her with her clients in the telecommunications industry. And also said it's not true that he was confronted as the "New York Times" reported by some of his aides who said that they were worried, very worried back in the year 2000, more than eight years ago, about his relationship with her and what it would mean for his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: At no time have I ever done anything that would betray the public trust nor make a decision which in any way would not be in the public interest and would favor anyone or any organization.

CINDY MCCAIN, JOHN MCCAIN'S WIFE: Obviously I'm very disappointed in the "New York Times" and, more importantly, my children and I'm not only trust my husband but know that he would never do anything to not only disappoint our family but disappoint the people of America. He's a man of great character and I'm very, very disappointed in the "New York Times."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Disappointed is definitely the buzzword from the McCains, as you heard there. And Senator McCain admitted that he also is disappointed because he realizes that when you watch him on the campaign, when you listen to him, every single place he goes, Heidi, and you know this, he tries to make the point that the voters should elect him as president because he wants to change Washington. He wants to change the corruption in Washington. He wants to change undue influence in Washington. And this story in the "New York Times" directly has a potential to undermine that because it suggests that he is doing exactly what he's rallying against. That's why you have seen the McCain campaign fight very, very hard against these allegations. You know, particularly since they say and point out that there are a lot of anonymous sources in this story. Heidi?

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Dana Bash coming to us from Toledo, Ohio, this morning. Dana, thank you for that. As you just heard Dana say, he has built a reputation as a reformer. John McCain's name associated with campaign finance reform. He cosponsored a bill with Democratic Senator Russ Feingold to overhaul campaign fund-raising. It passed the Senate in November 2002. The law bans so-called soft money, those unlimited donations from corporations, unions and wealthy contributors.

HARRIS: And deep in the heart of Texas, that's where the Democratic presidential candidates are campaigning today. It's where they will face-off tonight here on CNN.

Barack Obama trying to keep the momentum going after ten straight primary and caucus wins. He leads in the overall delegate count. Both he and Hillary Clinton are criss-crossing the state ahead of the March 4th primary.

Clinton is counting on Texas and Ohio to get back in the game. She's banking on support from the large Hispanic population of Texas to help her win.

They are veteran bloggers, astute political watchers and under 30. Ed Lavandera looks at how young voters are getting into this election.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVADERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Young voters of a certain legal age drown their political sorrows in this Austin, Texas, pub. It's a two-year tradition. The group called Drinking Liberally was organized by 27-year-old Ben Andrews, to get him and others through the last of the Bush years.

BEN ANDREWS, COLLEGE STUDENT: I was told I was sounding like a broken record.

LAVANDERA: With a laptop surfing blogs and news articles, the conversation isn't about Britney Spears or Paris Hilton, it's all politics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The war is very important to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basic description of the situation is that he's a corporate lawyer, which I like very much.

LAVANDERA: Across the country, young voters are mobilizing, marching for both Democrats and Republicans. Some campaign events sound and feel like rock concerts. These voters are known as the millennial generation. In the last presidential race, exit polls showed they opted for John Kerry by a 9 percent margin over George W. Bush. Voter turnout jumped 9 percent and Rock the Vote predicts an even bigger jump this year.

HEATHER SMITH, ROCK THE VOTE: It's just a whole new generation. We're the millennial generation. We're not our older brothers and sisters of generation x. We're paying way more attention to politics this election season. It's exciting. LAVANDERA: Mary Dixon studies voting trends. She says this generation is also lured in part by You Tube satire. And a close race that has a reality TV feel, which candidates will be voted off the island next.

MARY DIXON, VOTING ANALYST: They can participate by creating their own You Tube videos. They can participate by e-mailing their friends, texting their friends. There's a whole different way of looking at the campaign and I think candidates are playing catch up to that.

LAVANDERA: On the Republican side, young voters have been important to the Huckabee and Ron Paul campaigns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's been a candidate spouse.

LAVANDERA: Back at the pub, Neil Sinhababu says young voters are motivated to turn out to vote.

NEIL SINHABABU, COLLEGE STUDENT: Just had a lot of really gripping things happen in the world over the last -- in America over the last -- since Bush got elected, the Iraq war, stuff like that. It just gets people into, oh, my goodness, how can we keep this from happening again.

LAVANDERA: Until Election Day, there won't be a last call here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Obama, Clinton, head to head, face to face tonight. Don't miss the Democratic presidential debate hosted by CNN along with Univision. Campbell Brown moderates our live coverage from Austin, Texas, beginning at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific, only on CNN, your home for politics.

COLLINS: Developing this hour. A strong earthquake hits Nevada. We have now learned from authorities that the least one building collapsed and a truck stop was evacuated. That happened in a town of Wells. Severe weather expert Rob Marciano is telling us 6.3 magnitude quake was relatively shallow. It hit six miles deep near the Nevada/Utah line. There are also reports of cracked walls and foundations and other buildings including an elementary school. There are no reports of serious injuries. The quake was felt across eastern Nevada, Utah, as far away as southern California.

HARRIS: Hit job, the missile puts the falling satellite into the bull's eye. Mission accomplished? In the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

He's no angel but he can soar, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. No, I did not write that, Sanjay. On a medical research mission. You don't want to miss it, either, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Bush getting down in Liberia. Man! Look at this. Well, actually homes before this he was behind a table just sort of taking it in. And then look at this! Shake it like a salt shaker. The president showing off his dance moves with Liberia's leader, Ellen Johnson. She is the first woman elected president on the continent. This is President Bush's last stop on his five-nation Africa trip.

Liberia is a country founded by freed slaves. Now is struggling to recover from 14 years of civil war, President Bush is promising new education, aid and help to children.

COLLINS: Well, it's not every day you get the chance to soar with an elite squad of fliers. What's it like? Dr. Sanjay Gupta flew with the navy's Blue Angels and takes us along for the gravity-busting ride.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I feel good. It's a little nerve wracking. No question about it. I'm about to fly out of an airplane, faster than the sound. And luckily the pilot, I trust. He's like a very trustworthy guy. So now all the physiology, all in my head, I get to do something that I rarely do as a doctor. I get to experience something that I've only learned about in textbooks.

Right when we took off, we hit 6.61 Gs right away. That was remarkable. I felt good there.

This is what it looked like from the cockpit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a deep breath. Ready, hit it. Four Gs. Now breathe. Are you with me?

GUPTA: I kind of passed out. We were in an inverted loop going up and I lost it for a second. I'm not sure exactly what happened there. But it was one of those wild things. You lose your color vision. Everything gets a little gray. You're not seeing clearly. For me it got more blurry than anything else.

I did exactly what I thought I would do, which is toss my cookies at one point. I loved it. The first 20 minutes were great, the middle 20 minutes, not so good for me, last 20 minutes I wish I could have more time again. So that was basically my experience there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well-done.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Shake it off.

To get your daily dose of health news online, logon to our website and you will find the latest medical news and information on diet and fitness, CNN.com/health.

HARRIS: More than just a restaurant job but gives a sense of pride.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without this job I would feel inferior, he signs. I don't know where I would be or what I would be doing if I wasn't working here.

HARRIS: You know, but he's one of the lucky ones in a land where the deaf feel left out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Bull's-eye. U.S. navy missile shot down a dying satellite on the first try last night. The pentagon says it will take a day or two to determine if the missile destroyed the satellite's fuel tank.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JAMES CARTWRIGHT, JOINT CHIEFS VICE CHAIRMAN: We have a bunch of techies that are trying to work their way through the data. They want something that they can really be absolutely sure of before they will come to that conclusion. I know one of the pieces of data we have thus far is enough to be conclusive. We have a high degree of confidence based on the imagery that we have and of the destruction pattern that the missile impacted the satellite in the area of the tank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The inoperable satellite was loaded with 1,000 pounds of toxic propellant fuel.

HARRIS: Let's talk more about this mission. CNN's Miles O'Brien joins us now from New York. Miles, maybe I'm about to go off the reservation here.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You? Hard to imagine.

HARRIS: Would we be off the reservation if we thought of this shoot-down as a practical test of the theory surrounding a proposed missile defense system?

O'BRIEN: Well, put it this way, Tony. Even if that wasn't a goal, didn't it do just that?

HARRIS: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: Right.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: Then I rest your case.

HARRIS: Thank you, sir. O'BRIEN: No, I mean, it's pretty amaze that they were able to do this. We're talking about a closing rate. In other words, the combined speed of the two objects, 17500 mile answer hour for the satellite, another 5,000 or so miles an hour for the missile. That's 22,000 miles an hour. I don't know what the speed limit is there, Tony, but that's serious stuff. Look, oh, check that out.

Now, that's what tells you right there that they in all likelihood, I would bet the mortgage, hit that hydrazine tank we've been talking a lot about because there's nothing on that satellite aside from the hydrazine that is explosive. This is a kinetic kill. It's a bullet, essentially.

And, okay, the pentagon probably says it's all about the hydrazine. We didn't want the hydrazine to drop. But certainly have a real world application that we as taxpayers have been spending a lot of money on all these years, this ballistic missile defense.

HARRIS: Let's ask the follow up then, how dangerous is this hydrazine propellant?

O'BRIEN: It's bad stuff. In the short term it can give you all kinds of respiratory difficulties like inhaling ammonia or chlorine. Long term, it's a cancer causer. You don't want people to be associated with hydrazine.

What did separate this dead satellite from others is that it failed from the get-go. And as a result, it had years and years worth of hydrazine just sitting in that spherical tank that never got used. And so, you know, that's a legitimate concern. I can see why they wanted to go after that and remove the possibility that it would hurt somebody.

Having said all that, hey, it was super secret, too. Do you want those circuit boards landing in china where they can reverse engineer it and start peering back at us? That's the other unstated officially possibility for one of the reasons that they did this.

HARRIS: Thanks for joining me wherever I was on or off the reservation.

O'BRIEN: No. Wherever you like, that's where you are. I'm happy to go there with you.

HARRIS: Miles, great to see you. Thanks, man.

COLLINS: It's a fast food restaurant where the patrons get chicken and the employees, a sense of pride. Here's CNN's Aneesh Raman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Like any other KFC, this one's all about the fried chicken. But unlike the rest, to place an order here you point. All of the workers at this KFC are deaf. He has worked here for 14 years since this restaurant opened and says the job is about a lot more than a paycheck.

I want to prove to everyone that if there is any difficulty dealing with me, it's from their side, she signs, not mine. I want people to see me as normal. Everyone here wants to be seen as normal. And this is one of two KFC shops in Egypt run only by the hearing impaired.

AHMED EL-CHOURBAGY, DIR. OF OPERATIONS, KFC EGYPT: It helps them to actually society and treat them normally. It helps them to get married.

RAMAN: Yeah, love KFC style. He just got promoted to manager.

Without this job, I would feel inferior, he signs. I don't know where I would be or why would be doing if I wasn't working here.

And that's the issue, estimated that more than 2 million people in Egypt are hearing impaired. And at a time when many are having difficulty finding work, they feel increasingly left out. There are centers like this one to help the deaf learn skills. And to educate deaf kids who just a few decades ago were largely ignored. But the mindset here seems as old as the machines used for training.

Take the ministry of social solidarity, the ministry in charge of helping the country's deaf. You think a least they would have a deaf employee, right? Not so, says the director general.

Samir who has a job typing letters for parliament says he's lucky to have found work. The past is better than now, he signs. In the past there were fewer deaf people so it was easier to find work. Now the government isn't doing anything and there are more of us.

His wife, this KFC is critical to survival. They're not just married, they're parents of two girls who can both hear just fine. He says his daughters are now his ears and his voice, and his is a remarkable story that of Egypt's deaf is unfortunately the exception, not the rule.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: He's got the momentum, she's got the blues. Hillary Clinton and her must-win predicament.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back once again, everybody. Is it Friday yet?

HARRIS: Not yet. One more day.

COLLINS: It's been a really long week for me.

HARRIS: I'm sorry, did you just get -- I shouldn't point that out. Hi Heidi. Welcome back.

COLLINS: Thanks. How are you?

HARRIS: Great. Good to have you back.

COLLINS: Thank you.

HARRIS: Good morning, everyone.

The John McCain camp calls it a smear campaign. This morning McCain with his wife by his side responded to a newspaper report questioning eight years ago. "The New York Times" says McCain aides were worried that appearances of a close relationship with the female lobbyist would undermine his record on fund-raising and ethics reform. McCain says he has never done anything to betray the public trust and he's disappointed in "The Times" article.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: All of these, quote, anonymous former aides. You know, the staff of the commerce committee was around 100 to 150 staffers, as I recall. I've had -- it was one of the largest staffs on any committee. So, quote, former aides and former staffers could certainly encompass a large number of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, represents clients with business before McCain's senate committee. "The Times" says aides confronted the senator about Iseman. McCain said they didn't. They both deny she received any special treatment and they both say there was no romantic relationship.

COLLINS: A runner-up 19 times in a row. Can Hillary Clinton turn her campaign around in Texas and Ohio?

CNN's Candy Crowley is part of the best political team on television.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRES. CANDIDATE: Y'all do it big in Texas.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He is rolling. She is limping. And he's getting into position. The '08 campaign moves into Texas and Ohio.

H. CLINTON: And this campaign goes on. And this campaign moves forward.

CROWLEY: The pressure on Hillary Clinton is huge, outlined in stark terms today by her super surrogate.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If she wins in Texas and Ohio, I think she will be the nominee.

B. CLINTON: If you don't deliver for her, I don't think she can be. It's all on you.

CROWLEY: Barack Obama blew her out again last night in Wisconsin and Hawaii. He stomped on her in the headlines today, a big endorsement from the Teamsters union.

JAMES HOFFA, PRESIDENT, TEAMSTERS UNION: This is not about the Clintons. This is about Obama and the momentum he has that I think everybody detects out there, that we really have a phenomenon of him having the opportunity to win in November.

CROWLEY: It is also a timely endorsement from a union with 60,000 members in Ohio and 17,000 in Texas. And it comes as exit polling numbers show Obama has secured for the moment the lion's share of what she once dominated, working-class voters. She needs them back.

H. CLINTON: Now, others might be joining a movement. Well, I'm joining you on the night shift and on the day shift.

CROWLEY: Her campaign says she's been losing because she's been outspent and he's been under-scrutinized. They say they're better funded and in friendlier territory in Ohio and Texas there. There is no hint of a major overhaul. But there is an urgency to her.

H. CLINTON: But it is time to get real, to get real about how we actually win this election and get real about the challenges facing America. It is time that we moved from good words to good works, from sound bites to sound solutions.

CROWLEY: And there is a 10-0 confidence to him.

OBAMA: Contrary to what she has been saying, it is not a choice between speeches and solutions. It is a choice between a politics that offers more of the same divisions and distractions that didn't work in South Carolina and didn't work in Wisconsin and will not work in Texas.

CROWLEY: And then there is an aggressiveness to John McCain, hitting Obama for saying he would go into Pakistan if there was good intelligence showing Osama bin Laden was there and Pakistan refused to act.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The best idea is not to broadcast what you're going to do. That's naive.

CROWLEY: Think of it as practice for the fall campaign.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Austin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Obama/Clinton, head to head and face to face tonight. Don't miss the Democratic presidential debate hosted by CNN, along with Univision. Campbell Brown moderates our live coverage from Austin, Texas, beginning at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific, only on CNN, your home for politics. Quickly want to bring this to you as well, just into the CNN NEWSROOM now. A lot of people are responding to this "New York Times" article that came out this morning regarding John McCain and alleged relationship with a lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, many other things alleged in the article as well.

Have a comment now and reaction from Mike Huckabee. Here's what he says. Quote, "I campaigned now on the same stage and platform as John McCain for 14 months, and I only know him to be a man of integrity. Today he denied that any of that was true. I take him at his word. I have no further comment other than that. I think for me to get into this is completely immaterial. Again, I only know him, what I know him to be, and that's a good, and decent and honorable man." There you have a statement from mike Huckabee there.

Stay with CNN. We are going to have must have more on the candidates as they look ahead to the March 4th's contest now. Join us for the "CNN BALLOT BOWL" today at noon Eastern. Remember CNN equals politics.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Hollywood's burning with Oscar fever. The gold rush is on. Entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson is at the Hollywood history museum.

Good morning to you there, Brooke.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

And you know we're actually just steps away from where the red carpet has been rolled out for Sunday's Oscars. And it's fitting that we're here because a number of costumes, and exhibits and memorabilia are on display from some of Oscar's top contenders. The founder and president of the Hollywood History Museum, Donelle Dadigan is with us.

DONELLE DADIGAN, FOUNDER AND PRES. OF THE HOLLYWOOD HISTORY MUSEUM: Good morning.

ANDERSON: Good morning. Thanks for having us.

DADIGAN: Glad to.

ANDERSON: Let's talk about some of these amazing exhibits. This one really caught my eye. Because here is this really bizarre oxygen- propelled weapon that Javier Bardem's character uses in "No Country for Old Men." These are all the orginals from filming, right?

DADIGAN: Absolutely. And what we fondly call as the human cattle prod or the air gun. Actually only one of these props as made because of its dangerousness. So this is a very momentous prop, and it's the only one in existence, and, of course, it's here in the Hollywood museum.

ANDERSON: It scares me again just looking at it, takes me back to that film and his performance. And over here we have "Juno," nominated for best picture. Ellen Page also a nominee for best actress. Look how petite this girl is. This is what she wore in the movie.

DADIGAN: Yes, this is when she met Jennifer Garner for the first time, and when her father helps her out of the house on the way to the hospital to deliver the baby. And the baby bump is quite something, this prosthetic. She is such a tiny little girl underneath it all.

ANDERSON: That's the prosthetic she wore?

DADIGAN: The very one, yes.

ANDERSON: Interesting. And you know, it doesn't matter if something is damaged, or tattered, or even in this case with Sweeney Todd, splattered with blood. You guys, when you receive it, you don't alter anything, you just put it right in the display for everybody to see.

DADIGAN: You're absolutely correct. In fact, these flaws and quotes make it all the more interesting because it relates to the exact scenes in the film when they were shot.

ANDERSON: OK. And you've got the blue, shiny suit. This was a good scene, Sacha Baron Cohen faces off with Johnny Depp.

DADIGAN: Oh, yes, when he sells Pirellis magic elixir in the open marketplace.

ANDERSON: Well, these are fascinating exhibits. And I know any film buff would be happy to see them up close and in person. Donelle Dadidgan, thank you so much for sharing.

DADIGAN: Well, thank you so much for being here this morning.

ANDERSON: Of course.

Heidi, more than -- actually more than 7,000 displays here at the Hollywood Museum. They've got Hannibal Lecter's gel cell and also mask from "Silence of the Lambs." So pretty much anything you want to see.

COLLINS: Good chianti, or whatever that line.

HARRIS: And some fava beans.

COLLINS: Fava beans, that's right. That's right.

All right, Brooke Anderson, nice to see you. Thanks.

HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, they'd rather fight than switch. African-American superdelegates feel the heat to change their support.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: I want to take a moment to get back now to the story we've been covering throughout the morning here. The "New York Times" reporting in today's edition about John McCain's alleged links to a female lobbyist. Her name is Vicki Iseman. She is a telecommunications lobbyist whose clients had business before McCain's Commerce Committee.

And this is a piece that dates back to McCain's relationship with Iseman back during the 1999/2000 years, and in 2000, specifically, the presidential campaign. During that time, advisers grew a bit concerned, that they thought McCain was spending too much time with Iseman.

John McCain in a news conference from Toledo, Ohio, this morning, denied everything in the report and we have just received this statement from Bill Keller, the executive editor of the "New York Times." He writes on the substance, we think the story speaks for itself. On the timing, our policy is we publish stories when they are ready.

In quotes, now, "ready means the facts have been nailed down to our satisfaction. The subjects have all been given a full and fair chance to respond and the reporting has been written up with all the proper context and caveats. This story was no exception. It was a long time in the works. It reached my desk late Tuesday afternoon after a final edit and a routine check by our lawyers. We published it."

So Bill Keller, the executive editor of the "New York Times" standing by the reporting on John McCain in this morning's edition.

COLLINS: Should they follow their hearts or their constituents? Some African-Americans superdelegates face a tough choice.

Here now, CNN's Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Representative Emanual Cleaver, a Democrat from Missouri, is also a superdelegate who pledged his vote for Senator Hillary Clinton last August.

REP. EMANUEL CLEAVER (D), MISSOURI: I would have endorsed Senator Clinton even if I had known that at one point, Senator Obama would become the frontrunner.

LOTHIAN: Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus would like nothing more than to convince him to switch his allegiance.

CLEAVER: I don't think there's been any twist-the-arm pressure. The pressure has been applied to some of my colleagues.

LOTHIAN: While his fellow superdelegates have been getting the hard sell, Cleaver says in his case, the pressure has been more light- hearted.

CLEAVER: It's all in a jovial manner. Nobody is threatening each other.

LOTHIAN: In this tight race where the Democratic nomination might be decided by superdelegates, the battle is on for every vote. Representative David Scott of Georgia, once a Clinton superdelegate, recently switched his pledge to Obama, saying he wanted to reflect the vote of his constituents.

The Congressional Black Caucus has been reaching out to other influential members, like Representative John Lewis, also of Georgia. As of now, Lewis says he is still supporting Clinton, despite recent reports that he was shifting his allegiance.

The national online advocacy organization Color of Change has posted a petition, asking Congressional Black Caucus members who are superdelegates to pay attention to how their constituents are voting.

JAMES RUCKER, WWW.COLOROFCHANGE.ORG: Well, it's bewildering that the representatives from those areas would actually cast a superdelegate vote for Hillary Clinton, undermining the will of the voters.

LOTHIAN: For now, Representative Cleaver says no amount of pressure will change his vote.

CLEAVER: I don't think that I can give someone my commitment to support them and then change because the day has become cloudy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Obama, Clinton, head-to-head and face-to-face tonight. Don't miss the Democratic presidential debate hosted by CNN along with Univision. Campbell Brown moderates our live coverage from Austin, Texas beginning at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific, only on CNN, your home for politics.

HARRIS: You know, we use Google for all sorts of things, search, e-mail -- e-mail? You can use Google for e-mail? Maps and our health records? I'm really behind the curve here. Is this a bigger dose of Google than we really want?

There she is, Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us -- I'm really behind the curve here. I didn't know you could use Google for -- all right, I'm listening.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: Another lawsuit is expected to be filed today in that discredited 2006 Duke lacrosse sexual assault case. Thirty-eight current and former players will name the university, the city of Durham and others as defendants. Among their claims, invasion of privacy.

Three players accused of raping a stripper at an off-campus team party are not part of the lawsuit. The charges against them were dropped and the court took the unusual step of declaring them innocent. The prosecutor was disbarred. The accused players later reached a financial settlement with the school.

Are your eyes playing tricks? You might think that's a train coming down the tracks. No, it's a Pontiac.

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HARRIS: And once again, we are starting to get even more reaction to the story in the "New York Times" this morning. McCain -- John McCain as you know and his wife responded to reports in the "New York Times" this morning, questioning his ties to a lobbyist eight years ago. The "New York Times" says McCain aides were worried about appearances of a close relationship with a female lobbyist and that those appearances would undermine his record on fundraising and ethics reform.

We had a statement standing by the report from the "New York Times" just a few moments ago and now, a statement from Alcalde & Fay, this is the company that Vicki Iseman works for. And, quoting here, "The allegations and malicious innuendo reported by the "New York Times" yesterday are completely and utterly false. Alcalde & Fay's relationship with Senator McCain has been professional, appropriate and consistent with his legislative, jurisdictional and constituent duties.

The story is based upon the fantasies of a disgruntled former campaign employee and is without foundational merit. Ms. Iseman is a hard-working professional who's 18-year career has been exemplary and she has our full support. It is beneath the dignity of a quality newspaper to participate in such a campaign of character assassination."

That from Kevin Fay, president of the company. And of course, more on all of this at the top of the hour in the CNN "BALLOT BOWL."

COLLINS: It's a train, no, it's a car, heading down a commuter rail track in Portland, Oregon. Surveillance video caught the action. Police say a drunken man drove for nearly a mile inside the rail tunnel on Saturday. Nobody was hurt, but the car caused $60,000 in damage to the track. And officials -- there you go -- let's look at it again. Officials had to use heavy equipment to remove the car. Police say the man told them he was just trying to get home.

Do you know someone in their 80s, 90s, maybe even 100-years-old? Our Ben Wedeman kept right on counting when his -- when he met this next woman in Israel.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five-year- old Yad (ph) sits in his great, great grandmother's lap. Mariam Ammash claims to be a record-breaking 120-years-old, which would make her six years older than the next contender, Edna Parker of the United States.

For a woman her age, if that's her age, of course, she's a veritable spring chicken. She lives on her own and keeps an eye on the neighborhood.

"She really looks after herself," her 54-year-old son Muhammad tells me. "She watches what she eats and she walks all over the place."

She does seem remarkably fit, doubly so when you consider she would have given birth to Muhammad when she was 66-years-old.

(on camera): The secret to Mariam's longevity is lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, no processed food, and no alcohol and tobacco.

(voice-over): She is a bit hard of hearing, and doesn't recall the details of life two centuries ago, during which time she would have seen the fall of the Ottoman Empire, three decades of British rule and the creation of Israel almost 60 years ago.

But while rulers came and left, Mariam, a bedouin, was busy keeping track of her ever-expanding family. Her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on, number well over 400. She survived two husbands, but when we asked if she's on the lookout for a third, the answer was an emphatic no. Though she does say she has lots of offspring she's trying to marry off.

She had only two documents to show us, her Israeli passport and identity card, which puts her year of birth, there is no birthday, at 1888. Now, back then, record-keeping was a bit more lax, so there's no way to ascertain whether she really is 120 years young. But then again, who are we to argue with our elders?

Ben Wedeman, CNN, (INAUDIBLE), Israel.

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COLLINS: Wow, inspiring story for sure.

CNN NEWSROOM does continue just one hour from now.

HARRIS: "BALLOT BOWL" is next with the latest political news from the best political team on television.

I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Have a good day, everybody.

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