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Bill Clinton Stumps for Hillary; Catholic Archbishop Kidnapped in Iraq; Chemical Ali Faces Death Sentence; Students Arrested After Disturbance in Miami High School
Aired February 29, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
B. CLINTON: ... She ran -- she raised the money to start America's first rural development bank to make money -- to make loans to farmers and people who'd lost factory jobs, men and women who wanted to build a new America in the rural parts of our country. Something you've experienced in Ohio. It's a big challenge.
And that's probably one reason she got 70 percent of the vote in the Democratic Party in Arkansas in the primary because they know she changed people's lives. That's what you want in a president, somebody who can make those changes.
In the White House, Hillary led the fight for the Children's Health Insurance Program which gave six million American children health care who did not have it, the biggest expansion of health care since the 1960s. She was changing other people's lives.
She represented our country and 80 other countries. And I still hear people all over the world tell me, "Your wife came here as the first lady and stood up for the right of young girls to be in school. She stood up for the need of poor people in rural areas to get small loans. She helped to bring health care to our area. In Northern Ireland, in the Balkans, when we were fighting and killing each other, she helped to promote a peace process."
You want to restore America's standing in the world overnight, elect Hillary president. They like her out there in the rest of the world. When she went to the Senate, she became the only senator from New York state ever to sit on the armed services committee. This is a big deal in this election, because the next president will be commander in chief and diplomat in chief.
And with Republican cosponsors, she passed bills to get body armor to our troops quicker to save more lives. She passed legislation to guarantee that, when members of the National Guard and reserves are called to active duty, if they get hurt, when they come home, for the rest of their lives they're entitled to the same health- care coverage that regular military personnel get. That's a big deal here in Ohio.
She did something important for young people. Our young people today have faced college education costs going up by 75 percent, private student loan companies gauging them with high interest rates. Hillary just passed a Bill.
As a candidate for president, she took time to fight through her Bill, which guarantees now every student who graduates from college with a student loan burden has the right, the absolute right, the contract to pay that loan back as a small percentage of their income over a longer period of time, so no student will ever drop out of college again because they're afraid to borrow $10,000 more dollars.
So that's my first case. That's the kind of experience you want: the experience of changing other people's lives for the better. Because the president takes an oath of office to uphold the Constitution. The Constitution says the president is the chief executive. Doesn't mean you run the bureaucracy.
It means you, the president, are responsible for taking the good intentions of the campaign and turning them into positive changes in other people's lives. She is literally the best I have ever seen at it in my entire life. And you ought to elect her for that reason.
Second reason you ought to be for her, she's got the right ideas for America's future. John talked about the economy when I was president. Look at the state of the economy today. Everybody is worried about whether we're going into a recession, but most Americans think we're in a recession. Don't you think that's right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
B. CLINTON: Why? Because people are broke at the end of every month. Because the cost of health care and education and gasoline and utilities and now food going up much more rapidly than inflation while incomes are flat. It's not complicated why.
In this decade we went back to Republican trickle-down economics, and over 90 percent of the benefits of this decade have gone to the top 10 percent of earners, about half of that to the top one percent, a lot of that to the top of the one-tenth of one percent, all of which were then showered with tax cuts by the president and the Congress, while middle-class people struggled, and we had to borrow the money from China to buy oil from the Saudis and cover the tax cuts and pay for our soldiers. We never did such a thing in the history of America, and look what happened.
In the 1990s, we had 22.9 million new jobs; in this decade, five million. In that decade, in the 1990s, we had almost eight million people working their way from poverty into the middle class; in this decade five million people have fallen from the middle class into poverty.
In that decade, family income went up $7,500 after inflation; in this decade, family income after inflation is $1,000 lower. And the new jobs created in this decade pay, on average, 20 percent less than the jobs we have lost.
Now, the main reason you ought to be for Hillary for president is that she will restore the middle class, reclaim the future for our kids, and reform the government to take subsidies and tax breaks away from people who don't need it and put it into your future, your job, your education and your health care.
No. 1, by getting rid of the subsidies given to the oil and the nuclear companies, just a couple of years ago when they didn't need it, and putting them into making America energy-independent, with solar energy, more wind energy, more geothermal energy, more biomass energy. You can generate electricity by closing every landfill in Ohio, if you just had a little money to start. And by making every building in this country as energy-efficient as possible. We can create millions of jobs for college graduates, high-school dropouts and everybody in between.
You look around the world today, and I do this work in my current life. I do this work on six continents, helping people become energy- independent with clean energy. The only countries that are rich countries like America and the world, that are growing jobs and reducing inequality and raising incomes, are those who make a serious commitment to energy independence.
Wouldn't you like to take that $300 billion we send every year over to the oil-producing countries and invest it in Ohio and the rest of America, making jobs for your future? That is important.
The second thing she wants to do is regain our lead in science and technology. John talked about that. He is the living embodiment of the trial for the space program and the belief in the investment of technology. There all kinds of jobs in American today that don't have anything to do with space travel that grew out of the fact that we invested in space.
Hillary wants to spend more money to invest and get the politics out of scientific research on everything on new manufacturing technologies, clean energy, the Human Genome Project, and stem cell research to keep more people alive. This is a big deal for your future.
The third thing we have to do if you want to modernize the American economy is provide affordable health care for everybody and stop makes excuses for why America is the only rich country in the world that can't get the job done.
Now, raise your hand if you know somebody without health care. Look around here. Look at this. Now here's what I want you to know. You would not get that response in any other wealthy country in the world. In fact, the question would never be asked, because every other rich country has found a way to provide affordable health care to all their citizens.
And guess what? Because we don't do it, our system costs $700 billion more than any other country's health system would cost us if we dropped it here. If we borrowed the German system and brought it here, the Japanese system and brought it here, everybody would get health care. We would be healthier, and it would cost $700 billion less. That's the size of our trade deficit. We cannot heal the American economy unless we get control of health-care costs. We can't get control of health-care costs unless we cover everybody. It's a big difference between the two candidates.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Former president, Bill Clinton -- former president, Bill Clinton, on the campaign trail for his wife there. Marion, Ohio, touting really, experience the whole time. Experience, experience, experience.
He says that is what his wife has over any other candidate in this competition. Of course, on both sides, McCain and Hillary Clinton are hitting Barack Obama hard on the experience issue, and President Clinton going after him again there. Not mentioning his name, but touting his wife's experience in all of this, saying that if you want to reclaim the middle class, then you need to elect Hillary Rodham Clinton for president.
Also, talking about what she has done for young people and for women around the world.
Clinton versus Obama, McCain versus Huckabee. We're just four days away from the presidential primaries that could settle everything, and we have an extra day to cover it all.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. You're watching our special leap-day coverage of the race to the White House, a chance to bring you even more from our reporters, from the voters and from the candidates themselves.
LEMON: Leap day.
KEILAR: Leap-day coverage. Love it.
LEMON: Leap-day coverage. Got to love it.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live in the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, sitting in for Kyra Phillips.
LEMON: Well, no one covers the campaigns like CNN, with the best political team on television. We're blanketing Texas and Ohio, the two biggest prizes -- prizes in Tuesday's primaries. Our teams are also hard at work in our New York, Washington and Atlanta newsrooms.
Let's start with Texas, with two of our best. Dana Bash is tracking John McCain, and Ali Velshi will tell us how Texas -- Ali, that hat is crazy -- will tell us how Texas voters see the sluggish economy.
John McCain went high tech this morning in Texas, holding a town- hall meeting at the home base of Dell Computer. Our Dana Bash was there, and she joins me now from Round Rock, Texas.
No hat. Just our Dana looking good. Dana, what do you know?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No hat, but a little cattle.
LEMON: Yes.
BASH: Got to get that Texas thing in there for you.
Don, you know, you talked at the beginning there about the fact that this is Mike Huckabee versus John McCain in the Republican race. Tell that to John McCain. Because again today here at this town hall at Dell headquarters, he went after the Democrats. And each day over the past few days now, he's had a different line against them.
Yesterday, he talked about -- he dove into their debate, their internal debate about NAFTA. Democrats, of course, talking about the fact that they don't think NAFTA was a great idea. John McCain yesterday said that he does think it's a good idea and that he's very much a free trader.
Well, today, he tried to tie it to the issue of national security. And again, the issue, from his perspective, of a judgment. What he said is that, by Democrats suggesting that they would abrogate the NAFTA agreement, that is an affront to Canada. Canada at this time has about 2,500 troops serving in Afghanistan. So his point was the Democrats are offending an ally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of our greatest assets we have in Afghanistan today, frankly, are Canadian friends. Very controversial in Canada, their commitment and the suffering and the losses they have faced. And we need -- we need our Canadian friends, and we need their continued support in Afghanistan.
So what do we do? The two Democrat candidates for president say that they're going to unilaterally -- they're going to unilaterally abrogate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Our biggest trading partner, they're going to -- who we made a solemn agreement with, they're going to unilaterally abrogate that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now there you see John McCain talking about the issue that he thinks serves him the best going into the general election. That is national security. Trying to make the point that the Democrats are simply trying to put their domestic issues, their -- their connections with labor unions and people who perhaps were hurt by this free trade agreement, trying to put that ahead of what he thinks is an important national security issue to think about, which is our ally in -- the U.S.'s ally in Canada.
Now, the reality is, Don, that Canada, actually, just last week announced that in 2011 that they are going to pull out of there, about 2,500 troops from Afghanistan.
But the point that McCain was making is that it's a very controversial thing for a country like Canada to have any troops in a war zone. And they are -- the Canadian troops are on the front lines in Afghanistan. He's saying, you know, why do this? Why risk ruining or hurting relations with Canada when they're taking a risk for the U.S. -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Dana Bash in Round Rock, Texas, for us. Dana, thank you very much. And you've got to get a cowboy hat.
BASH: Thank you.
LEMON: And the next time we'll put you on with a cowboy hat. Thank you very much.
We've got a lot more political news coming up on this leap day. Next hour, we'll take you to Mansfield, Ohio, where former President Clinton speaks at a rally. And later, we'll go live to Waco, Texas, where Hillary Clinton is campaigning. Also, we'll hear what Barack Obama had to say today in Houston. And our Bill Schneider joins us with the new polls from Ohio and also from Texas.
We also want to tell you about some developing news we have here in the CNN NEWSROOM, and it's concerning that Ricin, deadly Ricin that's found in a Las Vegas hotel room. Here's the very latest that we know now. This is according to the "Associated Press."
Police say a man is in critical condition after the deadly toxin Ricin was found in a Las Vegas motel room. The police there are saying the man has been in a coma since he was found in his room at the Extended Stay America Hotel. That happened today.
He was one of seven people hospitalized after the Ricin was discovered. And police say they -- most were examined just as a precaution. They also say they don't think any foul play was involved, but the FBI says the case appears to be -- want to make that clear -- doesn't appear to be terrorism-related. Does not appear to be terrorism-related.
Not sure how the man had the vial of powdered Ricin in his room, but Ricin is made from processing castor beans and can be extremely, extremely lethal. So the very latest on that is that one man is in critical condition after the deadly toxin Ricin was found in a Las Vegas motel room. And several others were treated.
We're expecting a 2:00 p.m. -- or is it 2:30? -- 2:00 p.m. press conference. And as soon as we have -- that happens, we'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
KEILAR: A Christian cleric is in the hands of kidnappers this hour in Mosul, Iraq. Faraj Rahho, a Chaldean Catholic archbishop, was seized after celebrating mass, and three of his guards were killed.
Let's go straight now to Baghdad for details and NEWSROOM's Kyra Phillips.
Kyra, what are you hearing?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Brianna, that's basically the information that we have, according to Mosul police. And we just got off the phone with them just a few minutes ago.
Those gunmen kidnapped Chaldean Catholic archbishop Faraj Rahho just after they shot dead three of his guards in the al-Nour neighborhood. That's in northern Mosul outside of Baghdad. It happened about 5:45 local time.
Apparently, Rahho was getting into his car after he left the al- Safina (ph) church in that neighborhood. The gunman then attacked his car, kidnapped him, and killed the three guards.
Now, this happened back in 2005 to his predecessor, as well. He was kidnapped, returned within a day.
I also want to make clear that this is not the cardinal that we profiled a few months ago. This was not Emmanuel Karim Delly (ph). This is one of his archbishops who has been kidnapped.
And you may be wondering what the Chaldean Catholic Church is here in the Middle East. It's actually connected to the Vatican there in Rome. But it's a Middle-Eastern style of the Catholic Church. And it's very common that this happens in these areas, attacks on the church in Mosul, but in particular these kidnappings, because of course, they're going for the ransom money.
KEILAR: And Kyra, I want to ask you, because there's also another development today in Iraq having to do with the man who's really popularly known as Chemical Ali. What can you tell us about that?
PHILLIPS: That's his infamous name, Chemical Ali. First, it was Saddam Hussein. Now it's his closest confidant. Chemical Ali will now get a taste of his own medicine, Brianna. And that's death. And for many Iraqis here, they're asking what took so long.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): To Iraqis, he is Saddam Hussein's cousin, his right-hand man and a ruthless killer. To the rest of us, Ali Hassan al-Majeed is known as Chemical Ali, Saddam's weapons of mass destruction guru.
He earned his infamous nickname in the late 1980s after ordering brutal attacks using poisonous gas and chemical agents on the Kurdish people. It was called the Anfal campaign. That's Arabic for "spoils of war."
After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Chemical Ali was tried and convicted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Nearly 200,000 Kurdish people and guerillas died.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he oversaw an eight-phase military campaign in which thousands of Kurdish visitors were gassed. The inhabitants were disappeared. People were -- the survivors, who weren't shot or gassed, were herded up into prisons and then taken to kind of concentration camps. PHILLIPS: Now Chemical Ali is set to die. His execution has been approved by Iraqi president Jalal Talabani and his counsel. He will be hanged for his crimes.
This was one of the most infamous of those attacks, a strike against the Kurdish village of Halabja with mustard and nerve gas. More than 5,000 men, women, and children were murdered.
Saddam Hussein's regime targeted Kurds, because he saw them as allies of Iran during the almost decade-long war between the two countries in the 80s. During his trial, Chemical Ali showed no remorse. He denied ordering the use of chemicals against civilians but defended the military operation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In his mind, he was a warrior. He was locked in armed conflict. And he was responding to that, and the nation was imperiled from assaults from Iran and from the threat of Iran during that war. But of course, there is another way of looking at this, which is that, in the end, he actually ended up assaulting innocent civilian populations.
PHILLIPS: Chemical Ali was hated and feared by most Iraqis, and his perceived arrogance always made it clear to the U.S. and the international community that nothing or no one could stop him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He managed to kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and mass graves in the south can speak for itself. And the whole world kept silent then.
PHILLIPS: Until now. Within 30 days, Chemical Ali will be executed and silenced for good, giving the final word to Iraqi and Kurdish families who have suffered his cruelty for almost three decades.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And there's another former Saddam regime member on Death Row, Brianna. Former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Tai. He was also convicted for the Anfal murder spree.
However, many Sunnis and U.S. officials don't think he should be executed. Why? Because al-Tai is still popular among Sunni Iraqis. As a matter of fact, he's considered one of Iraq's military men, not a Saddam henchman. Only recently Sunnis have been brought into the political fold, and it's paying off its progress. So if al-Tai is executed, it could certainly anger those Sunnis -- Brianna.
KEILAR: CNN NEWSROOM's very own Kyra Phillips. Thanks for that report from Baghdad.
LEMON: The battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, it could boil down to Ohio and Texas. Our Bill Schneider will join us with the latest poll numbers from both states.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK, it was breaking news early -- earlier in the NEWSROOM.
Betty, I understand we may have some sort of resolution to this story in Miami?
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, there's been new developments. Everything is back to normal at a Miami high school, or at least as normal as it can be after what happened earlier today, what you were talking about, Don. A disturbance that broke out at the Miami Edison Senior High School.
And as we can see from video taken from our affiliate, WFOR, you can see all of the different officers on the scene. Also, we have learned that more than a dozen students were hauled away in handcuffs. Three police officers and a student have minor injuries.
It's still not determined exactly what the cause of that disturbance was or how this thing played out. But a lot of students, obviously, were involved. But at this point, we have been told by the school that everything is back to normal.
This disturbance started in a lunchroom outside a patio which is adjacent to the cafeteria. And obviously, if this happened during lunch, which it appears it was at least near that time, then a lot of students would be possibly involved in it. Actually, according to Miami-Dade School Board, a couple hundred students engaged in this disturbance. And so obviously you had a lot on your hands there for officers.
Again, three officers had minor injuries, as well as one student. That -- appears that things are back to order, although about a dozen students were hauled away in handcuffs.
So we'll continue to follow this and get the latest information. And as soon as we do, we'll bring it to you, Don.
LEMON: Betty, and did you see all those police cars -- my goodness -- on the scene?
NGUYEN: I know. Well, I mean, if you have a couple hundred students involved in this disturbance -- I mean, some call it a disturbance. Other wire reports say it was a fight or maybe even a protest. So we need to get to the bottom of exactly what sparked this.
LEMON: Yes. Let us know when find out, Betty.
NGUYEN: OK.
LEMON: Thank you.
KEILAR: Well, let's talk...
Let's talk politics now, continuing our leap-day extra political coverage with CNN's Ali Velshi. I never get tired of that graphic. I just think it's too cute. He's in Texas. He's talking politics. He's also talking pocket books with voters, finding out how they view both the White House race and the slowing economy.
Ali right there in front of the Alamo. Nice to see you again there in San Antonio. What's going on?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we're standing here waiting to talk to you guys at high noon in Texas. I get why the hats work, because there's a big sun beating down on me and lots of people out there, which means lots of people I can talk to about the economy.
We've got oil above $100 a barrel still this week. We've got those markets dropping. We've got talk about inflation. We've got a recession. Yesterday, President Bush said we're not in a recession; we're in a slow down. We have numbers that confirm that at the end of 2007 the economy has definitely slowed down but not to the point that it was a recession.
So I've asked people around here what they think about it. I must tell you, there are some people who say things are OK. You know, Texas as state has a lower unemployment rate, Brianna, than the rest of the nation.
But there are times -- I mean, I'm in San Antonio. San Antonio does have some issues in terms of a slightly higher unemployment level. People are definitely feeling the point of -- the pinch of inflation.
So some people agreed that we're not in a recession, but I talked to some other people. Here's an example of what one man told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Bush, I believe, doesn't know what he's talking about, because this is a recession. What are they going to do about these gas prices going up, where you can't even afford to go anywhere? You know, because they're just being outrageously upped in prices. And people with the wages that we make now, we just can't keep up with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And that's what it comes down to, wages not keeping up with the cost of things that you buy. That's the bottom line. I mean, we don't have to have scientific explanations of the economy. Americans will spend money if think they're going to continue to earn money and perhaps earn more money than they did the previous year, because prices for things go up.
We saw wholesale inflation in 2007, Brianna, up seven percent. That is more than double -- it's almost closing in on triple -- what the rate of inflation that is comfortable is.
So that's where the problem lies. When it comes down to jobs and income, that's when people start to get worried in the United States. They start to not spend as much and buy replacements for the things that they have, as we are expected to do here in America -- Brianna.
KEILAR: CNN's Ali Velshi, free spending his rebate check on western wear. Thanks, Ali.
LEMON: Texas and Ohio. Hillary Clinton's counting on both states to help her stop Barack Obama's momentum. We'll check in with our Bill Schneider, who's got some new poll numbers from both states.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Economy and now -- we've been talking a lot about the economy. Now we want to show you the big board at the New York Stock Exchange, down now 216 points. Of course, that's a big concern. Our Susan Lisovicz is checking all of that. In fact, she's at the New York Stock Exchange.
We're going to have her in just a little bit talk about this, but down some 200 points. A little more than three hours -- right? -- before the trading day is over. So not sure where it's going to end up. But again, very disturbing. Down 200 points so far in the trading day.
We'll check with Susan in just a bit.
KEILAR: Texas going to play a big role in whether Barack Obama can keep his momentum going. We'll be hearing what he had to say as he rallied supporters today in Houston.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: No rest for the weary. The presidential candidates are going nonstop with the next big round of contests just four days away. The two states everyone's watching, Texas and Ohio of course. And we've got a lot of extra coverage on this extra day we get this year, this leap day from the best political team on television.
By almost any measure, though, this has been a rough month for Hillary Clinton, except financially. The Clinton campaign reports a huge boost in contributions, more than doubling its take from January.
Our Suzanne Malveaux joins us now from Waco, Texas. Suzanne, I think it was like, what, $34 million she raised this month.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thirty-five million dollars, really a dramatic increase from January. The Clinton campaign very pleased about this. But, Don, they're going to need every dollar, every dime of that money. They're going to throw it into Ohio, and here of course in Texas.
This is where Senator Clinton is going to be later today, really in President Bush's backyard, Waco, Texas. This is the place where she is pushing for her national security credentials. That is what this campaign is emphasizing to voters. There are basically two things that they're trying to do.
They're trying to set up contrasts with Senator Barack Obama's record, but also one of her aides said, basically to take this national security card away from Senator John McCain. They believe that he's going to play that up big. So they need to kind of knock him down as well. What are they doing? They're emphasizing what they say is her experience, her judgment, these types of things. She's going to be here with some military brass, talking about that, will do some endorsements as well.
But also we saw today the Clinton campaign releasing a brand-new ad in Texas, and it sets up this kind of crisis scenario. Take a listen, Don.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call. Whether it's someone who already knows the world's leaders, knows the military, someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world. It's 3:00 a.m.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now it's a 30-second spot. It's called "Children." And essentially, what it does, it sets up the question if it's 3:00 in the morning and your children are safe and sound and there is some sort of crisis situation that happens, who is it who you want to be commander-in-chief to pick up the phone and deal with that crisis?
Well, there are some people are looking at this ad, the campaign of Barack Obama, the campaign of Senator Barack Obama. On the one hand he responded to it, saying that is a legitimate question, but in the same breath he accused the campaign of fear mongering, much like he said the Bush administration has in using this kind of crisis scenario to generate undue concern and to undermine his own credentials. Take a listen to how he responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRES. CANDIDATE: The question is not about picking up the phone; the question is what kind of judgment will you exercise when you pick up that phone.
(APPLAUSE)
In fact, we have had a red-phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And, Don, this is a very important issue for both of these candidates. You can understand why they're emphasizing this really just in the days before the critical primary. That is because there are a lot of military families, a lot of veterans, homeless veterans. Both of these groups going -- both of these candidates, rather, going after that critical group. Both of them trying to prove they have the experience to deal with and have plans to deal with those very important issues for those groups -- Don.
LEMON: Suzanne Malveaux in Waco, Texas. Suzanne, thank you.
KEILAR: Our latest poll of polls in Texas shows Barack Obama leading Hillary Clinton 49 percent to 44 percent. Seven percent of likely Democratic voters are unsure. But in Ohio, Clinton leading Obama 48 percent to 40 percent. The rest there, 12 percent undecided. So let's bring in our senior analyst, Bill Schneider. He's with us from Washington.
And, Bill, looking especially at Texas, what can Clinton do in the next three days to win over those undecideds?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: I think she has to play to her strength. And her strength is that she promises to deliver for voters who feel economically pressured and distressed. I'm not sure a negative campaign against Obama is likely to work.
For one thing, he plays off that, by saying that's the old politics. He offers something new, something positive. He offers inspiration. He inspires, she delivers, and I think that's one reason why she's doing better in Ohio, because Ohio has a larger population of blue-collar voters, union voters, economically distressed voters, who have been hurt by trade. They're looking for a president who can deliver.
KEILAR: Obviously the conversation for the Clinton camp is -- we're talking about the poll of polls for Texas -- 49 percent for Obama, 44 percent for Clinton, 5 percent there in between them. But in light of what happened in New Hampshire -- and refresh our memory there -- are these polls really going to tell us what's going to happen Tuesday?
SCHNEIDER: No. Polls never do that. Polls are a snapshot in time. And these polls were taken, most of them, in the last week or so. They tell you what's happening at the time they were taken. What happened in New Hampshire was things changed between the time those final polls were taken and the last day or two of the campaign when there were a lot of voters, particularly women, and particularly older women, who decided -- went from unsure to Hillary Clinton, and they voted in large numbers for her, and they saved her campaign in New Hampshire. That's what happened.
KEILAR: They're not a crystal ball, for sure.
SCHNEIDER: No.
KEILAR: Let me ask you this, the Republican Party, even President Bush, which is kind of unusual, stepping up the attacks on Barack Obama. Some people might say that's because they presume he's going to be the Democratic nominee. Others might say it's because they would like to cut him down because they would rather run against Clinton. What do you make of that?
SCHNEIDER: I think they presume he's going to be the Democratic nominee. I'll take answer A in that choice. The same happened in 2004. The very minute, the very day that John Kerry, it was clear after Super Tuesday in 2004 that he was going to be the nominee, the Bush White House started going negative on him and started accusing him of being a flip-flopper. The second it's clear to them at least, not to many -- not to all Democrats, but to the White House and the Republicans that's likely to be Obama, which seems to be what they've decide, they start going after him to soften him up, so that's exactly what they're doing.
KEILAR: All right. Always enlightening, our senior political analyst Bill Schneider in Washington. Thanks.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
LEMON: Barack Obama is crisscrossing Texas ahead of the state's all-important Democratic primary on Tuesday. He's got three events today, three events. Among them, a town hall this morning in Houston. And let's listen in now .
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: And I do want to take a moment to respond, because the press is, I'm sure, curious to an ad that Senator Clinton is apparently running today. It asks a legitimate question. It says, who do you want answering the phone in the White House when it's 3:00 and something has happened in the world? It's a legitimate question.
We've seen these ads before, they're usually the kind that play upon people's fears and try to scare up votes. I don't think these ads will work this time because the question is not about picking up the phone. The question is what kind of judgment will you exercise when you pick up that phone?
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: In fact, we have had a red phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer. George Bush gave the wrong answer. John McCain gave the wrong answer.
I stood up and I said that a war in Iraq would be unwise, would cost us thousands of lives and billions of dollars. I said that it would distract us from the real threat that we face and that we should take the fight to al Qaeda and Afghanistan.
That's the judgment I made on the most important foreign policy decision of our generation. And that's the kind of judgment I intend to show when I answer the phone in the White House as president of the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: More political news coming up on this leap day. Next hour, we'll take you to Mansfield, Ohio where former president Bill Clinton speaks at a rally and later, we'll go live to Waco, Texas where Hillary Clinton is campaigning this afternoon.
Also, we'll hear what Barack Obama had to say in Houston and we'll hear from John McCain at a town hall meeting in Round Rock, Texas. We'll also check in with our political round table to talk about all the latest developments.
KEILAR: Once Ricin, a deadly poison, gets into your body, you know that's pretty much it. No antidote, no mercy. Coming up, we're going to show you why Ricin and your cells just don't mix.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, an ambulance carts off people who may have been exposed to super-toxic Ricin. It's believed to have turned up last night in a motel suite in Las Vegas. The FBI is on the case and considers it criminal not terror.
They consider it criminal and not terror. Though whoever left the stuff has not been caught or identified, the "Associated Press" reports one person who came into contact with it is in a coma. A tiny amount of Ricin, a very tiny amount, can kill you.
And here to talk about that, exactly what Ricin is and other stuff about this case, our Elizabeth Cohen, our medical correspondent to tell us what this stuff does to your body. Not good.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it's not good and it's not good within really a matter of hours. And you said super-toxic. This is how toxic it is. The Ricin that would fit on the head of this pin could kill you.
LEMON: And you can't even see -- I mean, this is ...
COHEN: Right, it's so tiny. Right, right.
LEMON: ...such a little tiny pin.
COHEN: Right, little tiny pin. Put Ricin on there and you or I could die from just inhaling it just right now or from ingesting it by accident. It is really, it is incredibly, it is super-toxic stuff. So, we're talking 500 micrograms can kill someone.
What happens initially is that someone just wouldn't feel well maybe six to eight hours after eating or breathing this stuff in, depending upon the circumstances. The person would feel nausea, the person could start vomiting and just not feeling well.
And then slowly -- there, actually not that slowly, things start shutting down. The person's lungs fill up with fluids and they go into respiratory distress, meaning that they basically can't breathe. And death can occur quickly within 36 to 72 hours. There is no antidote.
So, we mentioned -- or Don mentioned that one person is in a coma. There's not a whole lot they can do for that person except what doctors call supportive care, which means fluids and oxygen if he needs it and things like that.
LEMON: Just hoping he'll work his way out of it.
COHEN: But, yes, just hope. And that was the person who found it, that's the person who's in a coma.
LEMON: OK, so, if you said, you know, the guy is in the coma and then you got this on the head of a pin. So, if I'm at that hotel, or at that motel, should I be worried about this?
COHEN: No, that's what the authorities tell us. This is a worry for the person who was right there, the person who found it. They've also taken to the hospital the hotel employees who came to help this person and the police officers who also came to the scene.
So, the people who were right there, sort of within breathing distance, if you will. Those are the people they're worried about, not the guy who's five doors down and certainly not people who are on other floors. At this point, they're worried about the people who were right there. And also, it's not contagious, so they didn't get the ambulance workers, for example.
LEMON: OK, OK, so again, a very small amount, though, but does an everyday person need to worry about Ricin?
COHEN: No, and as a matter of fact, when you look through the medical history, there really aren't that many people who have suffered from Ricin. And the reason why it's not just all over the place. It's not like car exhaust, you're not just going to run into it. If you've been exposed to Ricin, it's because somebody made you exposed to Ricin, someone did it to you.
In the 70s, there was a report of someone putting it on the tip of an umbrella and then stabbing someone with the umbrella. So, it's kind of James Bond type thing ...
LEMON: Yes, yes.
COHEN: ...that'll get you sick. You don't have to worry about running into it wherever you go.
LEMON: OK, all right. And Elizabeth, we want to remind our viewers too, at 2:00 ...
COHEN: Right.
LEMON: ...2:00 Eastern time, there's going to be a press conference to talk about this Ricin -- it's a scare, but also this one person as well who is in the hospital from it.
Thank you very much for this.
COHEN: Thanks.
KEILAR: The Food and Drug Administration has just finished inspecting a drug factory in China that makes the active ingredient in heparin, that is the blood thinner that is under recall, linked to four deaths and hundreds of sick patients. FDA inspectors say they found problems with some of the factory's procedures, but they still haven't determined the source of the problem. The FDA admits that the factory haven't been checked out before it started selling the drug. LEMON: Well, he's wanted in New Zealand in the murder of his wife and in Australia for allegedly abandoning his kid, but is found here in the U.S. by his fellow countrymen bound and fit to be tied.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: It's back to New Zealand for a magazine publisher accused of killing his wife and then abandoning his three-year-old daughter at an Australian train station. Nyan Schwe (ph) was caught yesterday in suburban Atlanta with the help of some apartment residents from China who recognized Schwe from the media, pictures seen in the media. Now, police say the group hog-tied Schwe with his belt and his pants and then they sat on him until police arrived. He's expected to be extradited promptly.
And CNN's Rusty Dornin will have more on this wild story and this capture later here in the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: He took a deal in Georgia, pleaded guilty to murder and got a life sentence instead of the death penalty. But convicted murderer Gary Michael Hilton may still face the executioner. A Florida Grand Jury has indicted the 61-year-old drifter for the murder of 46-year-old Cheryl Dunlop. Her decapitated body was found late last year in a national forest near Tallahassee.
Well last month, Hilton pleaded guilty to the beating and decapitation murder of 21-year-old Meredith Emerson, a Georgia woman he met while hiking in the north Georgia mountains on New Year's Day. Hilton is also suspected in the death of two elderly hikers in North Carolina.
For the best crime coverage on the Web, check out CNN.com/crime. It is a new effort from our friends at truTV and CNN.com. Go behind the police statement into the courtroom like never before at CNN.com/crime.
KEILAR: Well, forget the "News Weekly," candidates taking their campaigns to the "Celebrity Weekly's."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: For millions of people, they are a guilty pleasure. Now, candidates are showing up in tabloid magazines trying to make a voter connection.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Open a bag of chips, curl up with a dishy talk show and a tabloidy celeb magazine, turn to your favorite section, "Stars, They're Just Like Us!"
Yes, well, so are presidential candidates, though Barack Obama jokingly asked "Us Weekly" ...
LARA COHEN, NEWS DIRECTOR, US WEEKLY: Don't show my cellulite. No embarrassing pictures of me.
MOOS: He really is just like us. "I pick up groceries. I ride with my kids." At least they didn't show him yawning with his mouth open like they did Kurt Russell. Instead, they showed him spicing up his gumbo.
Thanks to "Us Weekly," we now know answers to questions like ...
(on camera): His favorite show on TV?
L. COHEN: Oh, it's "The Wire."
He told me that his favorite food was chili.
MOOS (voice-over): Favorite ice cream: mint chocolate chip. The celebrity magazine is the latest frontier in presidential campaigning, allowing candidates to show themselves ...
L. COHEN: Looking like human beings instead of just a constant (ph) politician.
MOOS: And gaining access to 12 million mostly female readers.
(on camera): There's Barack sandwiched in between Brangelina and Owen and Kate dating again.
(voice-over): And look who else showed up in "Us Weekly" back around Super Tuesday. "My Worst Outfits Ever" featured Hillary playing fashion police on herself. She supplied the self-deprecating captions, "Now you know why I stick with pantsuits."
L. COHEN: You can't really go wrong with that carpet coat right there.
MOOS: Captioned "I'm a big believer in recycling, even carpets."
Hillary's campaign did "Us Weekly," but blew off "Vogue." Columnist (ph) Liz Smith said the campaign thought "Vogue" would be "too elitist" and "too glamorous."
Nothing glamorous about this. And there's Barack Obama answering questions like "Does wife Michelle have a celebrity crush?" Yes, on Stevie Wonder. Obama says he's been teasing his wife about pushing the performer off the stage ever since Stevie Wonder fell at an Obama rally and then there was the question the "Us Weekly" interviewers save for last.
L. COHEN: It was an interview ender.
MOOS: The question Bill Clinton probably regrets answering.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm dying to know, it is boxers or briefs?
B. CLINTON: Usually briefs.
MOOS: Obama kept it brief, saying he doesn't answer those humiliating questions, but that he looks good in both. When asked if he's a cool dad, he said pretty cool, citing his dancing a while back on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show." And now, he's busted a move again on "Ellen." He's just like us except we're not trying to dance to the White House.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: An extremely deadly poison turns up in a Vegas motel room and the cops can't question the guest. He's in a coma.
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