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Can Clinton Catch Obama?; Fit Nation; Ricin Found in a Las Vegas Motel Room, Man Hospitalized

Aired February 29, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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


BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: A hotel guest gets sick, and then he gets sicker. Two weeks later, a friend finds deadly Ricin, a poison, in his room, and then the mystery begins.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Las Vegas police have so many question, but the sick man can't offer any answers. He's in critical condition and he cannot speak.

Hello everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters here in Atlanta.

KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in today for Kyra Phillips. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A second test confirms the substance found last night in a Las Vegas motel room is Ricin. It was found in the room of a man who is now in critical condition, and it turns out he went into the hospital about two weeks ago, complaining of breathing problems. So, what is still unclear is why he had this Ricin in his room in the first place.

And CNN's Kara Finnstrom has the latest on the investigation.

And, really, it's just a matter of so many questions more than answers at this point, it seems, Kara?

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely, Brianna, a lot of questions still out there.

We got two key piece of information out of this press conference that was held just within the last hour. And the first is that these further tests did confirm that this white powder that was found inside this hotel room here in Las Vegas is Ricin. This is a substance that is so poisonous that just the amount that's on the tip of a pen can kill an adult, so a very dangerous substance. And again, that has now been confirmed.

The second important piece of information is that this man who is in the hospital right now was staying in the room about two weeks ago where this product was found. And he is suspected to be suffering from Ricin poisoning.

He has been losing consciousness. He's unable to talk. He actually called, himself, of his own volition, about two weeks ago on February 14th and asked paramedics to come because he said he was having trouble breathing. And that is one of the first signs of Ricin poisoning. Now, what's happened since then is, no one has stayed in that room. And now we fast forward until yesterday, when a friend or relative of this man actually went to the hotel to gather up his belongings and found this container with this powder in it and actually turned it into management.

We hurt from local authorities today, who say in the hours since that powder was actually turned over, it's just been an incredibly stressful time for the city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHY SUEY, METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPUTY CHIEF: I will tell you that for the last 12 hours, our efforts have been on the containment and cleanup of the area and areas where there could have been exposure.

At this point, we have all those areas cleaned. We are now going forward with an investigation. Once we do find some information, we will come back and give you more information. But, at this point, our entire effort was focused on the public safety and containment of those areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FINNSTROM: Now, seven other people they thought could possibly have been exposed to the substance. They have been watching them, and the good news is, none of them have shown any of the symptoms of Ricin poisoning.

We should also note that there's no definitive test for Ricin poisoning, so they can't confirm that this man who is in the hospital was actually exposed to that. But his symptoms, they say, certainly suggest that.

So, Brianna, right now, a lot of questions remaining, how this man, whether he was a victim, he happened into this room where this poisonous substance was or whether he brought it there, very unclear. They stress he's not a suspect at this time, so how this actually got there and what -- whoever put it there intended to do with it.

KEILAR: All right, Kara Finnstrom for us there in Las Vegas, thanks so much for all the details.

LEMON: When you have situations like this of public concern, Homeland Security is often involved.

Our Jeanne Meserve is our homeland security correspondent. She joins us now to tell us about that -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Homeland Security really is just monitoring the situation at this point in time. They have not even sent out any sort of national alert to state and local officials advising them about this situation.

The FBI, on the other hand, does have some boots on the ground in Las Vegas. They have a field office there. They are assisting in this investigation. Certainly, any of the federal agencies would be willing to chip in and help if Las Vegas required it. But this is a major police department. As you heard in the press conference, they are well equipped.

At this point, they are handling the bulk of that investigation. Now, I will say that law enforcement here in the Washington area did receive an advisory earlier this morning that was sent out giving local law enforcement the latest on the situation out there.

And several agencies did weigh in. HHS, DHS and the CDC all contributed some bits of information to that advisory that went out, as I say, just in this local area. But for the time being, this is an investigation that really is in the hands of officials out in Las Vegas -- Don.

LEMON: CNN's homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve. Thank you, Jeanne.

MESERVE: You bet.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: Let's turn now to our leap day edition of the CNN political ticker. A new CNN poll of polls among people likely to vote in the Texas Democratic primary finds Barack Obama leading Hillary Clinton by four points, 48 percent to 44 percent. The Republican poll of polls gives John McCain a 28-point lead over Mike Huckabee in Texas.

KEILAR: Our poll of polls in Ohio has better news for Clinton. Among lightly Democratic primary voters, she holds a seven-point lead over Obama. That's 47 percent to 40 percent, John McCain, a 30-point lead -- 3-0 -- over Mike Huckabee in the Republican poll of polls.

LEMON: And speaking of Mike Huckabee, Mike Huckabee's best campaign weapon is back. But even Chuck Norris faces an uphill battle helping Huckabee catch up with McCain. The actor and karate expert has rejoining Huckabee in Texas, hoping to bring back some of the excitement he brought to rallies in Iowa and New Hampshire. Huckabee, as you know, trails McCain by a huge margin in the race for Republican delegates.

KEILAR: We continue our leap day extra political coverage with CNN's Ali Velshi. He's in Texas. He's talking politics and pocketbooks with voters in San Antonio.

Hi, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, I have got to say, OK, we have got the CNN Election Express over here.

And you get the impression that I'm riding this thing all over Texas. But I actually don't touch it. We have a driver. We have a whole crew of us. Six of us. There are six of us. And there's an engineer on the bus. His name is Jordan (ph). Jordan and I have traveled much of the country together. And he tells me -- a little while ago, he say, you know what? You're depressing me. You and your business reports, and doom and gloom, and it's just depressing.

So, I'm going to do something a little different this time. I'm going to tell you I have got the Alamo over my left shoulder. It's almost 172 years to the day that the battle for the Alamo ended, the final battle. It was a 13-day siege. The Texans or what were then known as the Texians lost. And many of them were killed, including Davy Crockett. That was almost 172 years to the day, so a little piece of history for you.

I know that probably wouldn't fulfill what I'm supposed to do for you, because we're talking about business. So, for you and for Dale (ph) and to all of you out there who think that it's -- it's all miserable, we went out and found some people in San Antonio who said, no, despite what you all say about the recession and all that, it's not all that bad. Listen to this.

Oh. All right. Unbelievable. See, this is the curse. I thought I had people, but maybe I didn't. We actually talked to very few people who said, it's OK. It's not that bad. We're not in a recession. They're earning money. They're doing just fine.

We actually spoke to a gentleman who said it's all doom and gloom. It's because we all hear about the doom and gloom all the time. That's the problem. And I actually said, I said, is it us? Is it the media?

He says, no. He said, it's just that people are forecasting all these bad things, and it leaks out, and that's what people start thinking.

So, there's an attitude out there that it's not that bad and that, if everybody didn't just talk the economy down, it might not be that bad. Earlier in the week, one of the major homebuilders in the United States said the same thing. They reported a massive loss and then said, it's this constant talk of recession that's getting everybody down.

So, I should tell you, while, overwhelmingly, the Texans I meet are complaining about the economy, they're saying gas prices and inflation are major, major issues, in some areas, housing and jobs, but gas prices and inflation definitely the two biggest ones I'm talking to, we have a very small minority of people who say, it's really not that big a deal -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, sorry about those phantom sound bites. We should tell our viewers that some of these optimistic people, they really do exist.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: We're just having a little technical difficulty.

VELSHI: It's the same people who are talking the economy down. They took those sound bites away.

KEILAR: All right, Ali Velshi, in front of the Alamo, thank you.

LEMON: And our senior politics correspondent, Candy Crowley, joins us from Mansfield, Ohio.

Candy, Bill Clinton is out on the trail for his wife. We heard him at 1:00 hour here Eastern speaking on her behalf. Is there any evidence that he is helping her at this point?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely.

And I will tell you why. This is a different Bill Clinton than the one we saw in Nevada, the one we saw in South Carolina, who was making the headlines every day with not-so-great stuff, at least as far as she was concerned.

Since then, his speeches have remained about her. It's been, here's why she's the best candidate to become president. Here's why she ought to be able to take care of child care issues or whatever the issue is. So, he's out promoting her, rather than defending her.

So, it's sort of a sea change in his tone. Is he helping her? Look, this still is a man who is very popular among Democrats. He still draws good crowds. This is his third event. He's still drawing good crowds here in Mansfield. So, yes, he does help her.

It was interesting. He rarely mentions Barack Obama. But today he said her opponent wants to make his an election about change vs. experience. If that's so, said Clinton, if this is only going to be about change, then Hillary's going to lose.

But he doesn't think it's only about change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So what you have to decide is how do you choose between someone who says I am the change, I embody change, because I have not been involved in the struggles of the '90s, of this decade, and no one who was involved should possibly be president, because we have to start all over again?

Hillary says, you ought to choose me because the experience I have is making change. I have been a change-maker all my life. I believe I am called to make other people's lives better.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

B. CLINTON: I think that's a better argument.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Now, some of the commentary has been, well, Bill Clinton, when he's up there, he reminds people of the '90s. He looks like old-school politics. But the fact of the matter is, Don, among Democrats, the '90s were pretty good times. And they obviously think that would be a good place to go back to.

LEMON: Hey, Candy, yes. I'm getting lots of conversations here in my ear, but I was listening to that earlier. And it was just very interesting. He talked about the economy, you know, during the Clinton administration. He goes, what happened to that? What happened to our sense of national security?

But I have to ask you at this point, at this point, because these two -- Tuesday is going to be very important for her -- what is her strategy after all -- for all of this?

CROWLEY: Another interesting question, because we all thought after these 11 losses in a row that we would see some big sign, some big change in strategy.

But what they have done instead was play to her strength. And that's what they have been doing all along. She does not tend to have the big crowds. She tends to prefer, although this is one there, as you can see, she tends to prefer those more intimate, kind of roundtable, when she does -- she's able to talk about policy and plans, because the campaign believes, Don, that, if in fact she can get out the word that they need to focus on what the risks are ahead, what the stakes are in this election, that they will naturally turn to Hillary Clinton.

They are also counting on the territory here in Ohio. They think there are many more Clinton voters here, working-class, those who make under $50,000 a year. She has been working very hard in rural areas, also along the West Virginia/Ohio border, where we do have union members, working-class voters that she believes she can turn out for herself.

And, as you saw in that poll, certainly the outlook is pretty good for her here -- Don.

LEMON: And, Candy, I was listening to you and I was also listening to the guy on the P.A. behind you, who is saying President Clinton is going to come out shortly and speak. And, then afterwards, he's going to sign autographs. So, get up front if you want your autograph signed.

But, again, thank you very much for that, Candy.

CROWLEY: All right.

LEMON: And we're going to take Bill Clinton's speech here in the NEWSROOM if that happens before 4:00.

KEILAR: It's one of the last visual reminders of what once dominated the New York City skyline. We're going to be live in Lower Manhattan for the end of a symbolic era.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. This is a leap year. And this is a leap day. And we decided to take advantage of it. So, on this, February 29, all day long, we're bringing you extra coverage from the best political team on television. It's something you will see only here on CNN.

The next big showdown in the race for the White House is just four days away. The presidential nominating contests will be held in two big states, Texas and Ohio, and two little ones, Rhode Island and Vermont. Ohio and Texas with a combined 334 delegates at stake are key to Hillary Clinton's hopes of overtaking Barack Obama.

KEILAR: It's been almost six-and-a-half years since the Twin Towers cast their long shadows over New York City. Now, through all of that time, city officials held on to a reminder of what was there, reluctant to let it go. Today, though, they had no choice.

CNN's Allan Chernoff is in Manhattan. Hi, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna.

Well, until this morning, a sign stood across the World Trade Center that really was from another era. Indeed, it was an anachronism. This sign was a sign for tourists basically describing the World Trade Center. It said in part, "Now, every weekday, 50,000 people come to work in 12 million square feet of office, hotel and commercial space in the seven buildings of this city within a city."

Even after the World Trade Center's destruction, that sign still stood across the street from ground zero. This morning, workers from the Alliance For Downtown New York removed the sign. And they did so because it was getting damaged from construction, construction for an expanded subway station downtown.

Pretty incredible that it was able to survive 9/11, but was a little bit of a victim of construction of a subway station down there -- Brianna.

KEILAR: And are there other artifacts that are going to be preserved, Allan, other artifacts from ground zero?

CHERNOFF: Yes, actually, downtown, on the site of the World Trade Center, there still remains a staircase. It's called the survivors staircase, about 15, 18, stairs. It's in the northeast corner of the Trade Center, and it's right near that construction site that you're looking at right now.

And this is a staircase that's going to actually be taken out whole and then preserved. And it will be placed in a museum that will be at ground zero. But a lot of people feel very sentimental about that staircase, because it really was a staircase to survival for hundreds and hundreds of people.

KEILAR: All right, and so good that they're preserving that. It really is.

Allan Chernoff for us there in New York, thanks.

LEMON: Four days and counting until the next presidential nominating contests, we have got a lot to talk about in our political roundtable, from fund-raising to Republican attacks on Barack Obama. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Jennifer Marnell lost nearly 200 pounds, but that meant more than just changing her body. It also changed her career.

Sanjay Gupta brings us a "Fit Nation" success story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER MARNELL, LOST 180 POUNDS: In most of the pictures I didn't have a smile on my face.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jen Marnell was 27-years-old, 300 pounds, and very unhappy.

MARNELL: I didn't realize how depressed I was, because my family loved me regardless, no matter what. It was the struggle with being overweight all my life. I was overweight from the time I was about 8 years old.

GUPTA: One day at an amusement park, Jen was kicked off of a roller coaster ride because of her size. And that moment, she began undoing 27 years' worth of bad habits.

MARNELL: I just broke down in tears and that was really the final straw.

GUPTA: Jen started her weight loss doing exercising on her own at the gym and quickly moved up to group classes. When she reached her goal weight of 120 pounds, almost a 200-pound weight-loss, she started a new career, as a personal trainer.

MARNELL: Good job.

It's just made life a whole lot more exciting, more adventurous. I'm able to take more risks and I can do, you know, do more things. Really took the weight off my shoulders, literally.

GUPTA: Jen says her experience adds authenticity to her can-do message. After all, she's been there.

MARNELL: It can be done, you know through hard work and dedication. It's not going to be easy. You know. But it can be done. My name is Jennifer Marnell and I lost 180 pounds.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Four days and counting until the next presidential nominating contests, we have got a lot to talk about in our political roundtable, from fund-raising to Republican attacks on Barack Obama.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: OK. This is a leap year and a leap day, and we have decided to take advantage of it. So, on this February 29th, all day long, we're bringing you extra coverage from the best political team on television. It's something you will see only here on CNN.

KEILAR: They're called Democratic primaries or Republican primaries. But, in Texas and a lot of other states, that describes the candidates, not necessarily the voters.

CNN's Ted Rowlands met some Texas Republicans who want to help pick the Democratic nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Bill Waters is a Houston businessman who claims he's always voted Republican, until now.

(on camera): You're a true-blue Obamacan?

BILL WATERS, TEXAS REPUBLICANS FOR OBAMA: I just call myself a Republican for Obama.

(LAUGHTER)

ROWLANDS (voice over): Waters is part of the Texas chapter of Republicans for Obama, a Web-based group claiming about 700 members nationally who are Obama converts. Waters says there's one big reason he's crossing the aisle -- the economy.

WATER: The Republican Party has abandoned my principles. They spend like drunken sailors. I don't see Obama saying he's going to cut spending, but I don't trust the Republicans when they say they're going to cut spending.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm shaking hands, and somebody will whispered to me, Hey, Barack, I'm a Republican. But I support you. And I say, Thank you. Why are we whispering?

ROWLANDS: It's a good line on the campaign trail, but is it really happening in significant numbers? If it is, Texas, where the race is close and it's an open primary, is a state where Republicans voting for Democrats could matter.

ART BRENDER, TARRANT COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR: I don't see a voting pattern to it.

ROWLANDS: Art Brender is the Tarrant County Democratic Party chair, which includes historically Republican-leaning Fort Worth. He says about 7 percent of the early votes cast so far in this county's Democratic primary are from people with a Republican voting history.

BRENDER: If there was any really significant Republican crossover vote, it would be much higher than 7 percent.

ROWLANDS: Some Republicans voting Democratic are doing it for strategic reasons.

ALLAN SAXE, VOTED FOR CLINTON: I voted for Hillary Clinton.

ROWLANDS: Republican Alan Saxe, a political science professor at U.T. Arlington says he voted for Hillary Clinton because he thinks she's stronger on national security than Obama. But, more importantly, he says he voted for Clinton...

SAXE: Because I believe that Senator Clinton will be easier for the Republicans to defeat.

ROWLANDS: Outside an early voting location in Arlington, we found a handful of self-identified Republicans who claim they had voted for Obama or Clinton for various reasons.

Doris Nolen voted for Obama because she doesn't like Clinton.

DORIS NOLEN, VOTED FOR OBAMA: I think he'd make a wonderful president. I like him.

ROWLANDS: But, she says, she's planning on voting for John McCain in November.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Arlington, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, by almost any measure, this has been a rough month for Hillary Clinton, except -- except financially. The Clinton campaign reports a huge boost in contributions more than double its take from January.

On that story for us from Waco, Texas, our very own Suzanne Malveaux.

Double its take -- $35 million. Nothing to sneeze at, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Nothing to sneeze at at all, Don. This is really a significant amount of money. And her campaign says that they are going to spend every dollar and every dime of it, looking forward to Ohio and Texas, putting that into advertising. And one of the things that you're going to see is really a message that has been defined -- that has been targeted to a certain group. That is looking at the national security issue.

She is going -- presenting her credentials before the American voters for two reasons here. They say they are contrasting her own national security experience record with Barack Obama's. But they also say, as one aide put it, is that they want to deny Senator John McCain the national security card.

That is a very strong card to play here, a very strong hand, because of his experience as a veteran, a war hero, Senator Armed Services Committee, all of those things, that she is going to have to go up against him, potentially, as well.

So what you're going to see here are endorsements. You get to see her talking about veterans, the military.

And then we also saw a brand new ad today that is airing in Texas. And she outlines this kind of scenario -- kind of a national security crisis.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 3:00 a.m. And your children are safe and asleep. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It's a 30-second spot. It's airing here in Texas. It just started today, Don. And what this essentially does, it asks a question it's 3:00 in the morning, your kids asleep, who would you rather pick up the phone as commander-in-chief and take care of a national crisis, that type of situation?

Now, Senator Obama addressed this ad directly, saying that he thought that that was, in fact, a legitimate question. But at the same time, in the same breath, as a matter of fact, he slammed Senator Clinton for what they are calling fear mongering.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: 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?

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, the reason why this is such a contentious issue for both of them, they are looking at the voters in Texas in particular, those military families, those homeless veterans, all of these people who are looking to the issue of the Iraq War and they're looking to the issue of leadership on the national security fund, who is the stronger candidate.

Senator Clinton believes that she is. And we are going to see her fairly shortly here.

This is in President George Bush's backyard, Waco, Texas, if you will. But so it's going to be standing with a retired general, a four star general, Wesley Clark, who's endorsed her campaign, also with some other military brass to address these national security credentials. This is what they are trying to put forward in a very direct way, in a very aggressive way, leading up to the Texas primary -- Don.

LEMON: Thank you very much for that, Suzanne.

They're bringing up -- they're definitely bringing out the big guns today and probably up until Tuesday.

We thank you so much for your report.

As a matter of fact, Bill Clinton is campaigning on behalf of his wife in Mansfield, Ohio. As soon as he comes up and he's speaking, we'll bring that to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

In the meantime, we want to move on and talk about those ads and this subject that we have been talking about. We've got a lot on our political plate this Friday before the March 4th primaries.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are battling for Texas and Ohio. Clinton gets a big boost in fundraising -- you heard Suzanne talk about that -- while Republicans step up their attacks on Barack Obama.

And joining me now, our CNN senior political analyst, David Gergen. He is in New York. Democratic strategist Doug Schoen -- Douglas -- I call you Doug, probably. He is in Washington. And CNN contributor and Republican strategist Amy Holmes in sunny Los Angeles.

Amy, I heard you talking about the weather and how beautiful it is.

AMY HOLMES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's gorgeous.

LEMON: Lucky you.

First off, out of the gate, though, I want to talk about these new ads that Hillary Clinton -- that's been playing for Hillary Clinton. And you saw it in -- Suzanne had it there. Let's look at it -- it's real quick. Look at it again and I want to talk to you guys about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 3:00 a.m. And your children are safe and asleep. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: David Gergen, good idea? Good strategy here?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ADVISER: Well, we've seen this phone ad before in other campaigns. I think the first time -- Doug will remember this. I think the first time may have been in the Jesse Helms campaign, when he was run for reelection to the Senate. And he used it effectively then, and, as I recall, as a result against a black candidate, Harvey Gantt. And Helms went on to win that race by some margin.

I think it has less impact today. But I have to tell you the other thing that's really, really interesting to me is how -- we've seen it three days in a row now -- that how Barack Obama -- you know, something's playing on television. You all are putting something on CNN, where they're, you know, capturing an attack against Obama. He actually picks up the language from the attack and then turns it back on the attacker and makes his own rebuttal, his own ad, in effect. And he gets right back into the same news cycle.

So you hear the attack, but you hear him rebutting it.

LEMON: Yes.

GERGEN: And usually the rebuttal has been pretty effective. It's a very clever, aggressive way to understand. He understands -- obviously, he and his team understand television very well.

LEMON: And, but, you know, it is. It's very clever, as you say. But how do you fight against someone like Senator Jay Rockefeller, who is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, coming out endorsing Barack Obama today, saying, you know, he -- as far as the red phone, we had a red phone moment when it came to Iraq. He got it right. Jay Rockefeller is saying he's the only one -- of the few, I should say -- one of the few who got it right.

Dave -- Doug, I should say?

DOUGLAS SCHOEN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes, I think the real answer is that Hillary Clinton is perceived by the voters as being a stronger leader, more tested, better in a crisis. This ad goes to her strength without going negative on Barack Obama directly. It raises a new front in the campaign. It also appeals to women voters, who are concerned about their children. I think it's a very effective thrust in the waning days of the election.

LEMON: OK. Let's talk about Republicans here. And, first of all, I want to show our poll of polls. And then I'm going to bring Amy in.

On the Republican side -- oh, well, let's do the Democratic side first -- 48 percent Obama, 44 percent for Clinton, 8 percent unsure. And then on the Republican side, we don't have it, but I know it's 47 to 40, that John McCain is leading Mike Huckabee there.

What is -- what is -- I mean, does McCain really need a strategy at this point or does he just need hold course here, Amy?

HOLMES: I think he needs to hold course. I think he's doing the right thing by being in Texas and, you know, making that pitch, campaigning aggressively. We know that Texas has a large Evangelical community, that it's still let's face it, a little bit skeptical of John McCain. This is his, you know, continuing struggle with that percent constituency. But for -- you know, John McCain should by no means should rest on his laurels. We still have a long ways to go until November and he has a party to coalesce behind him.

LEMON: OK.

Hey, Amy, I wanted to get you in more and all of you guys in more. But, unfortunately, we have breaking news. And we really appreciate it.

We're going to be -- it's a leap day. Lots of coverage here. And I hope to see you guys tonight on prime either with Wolf or Anderson and one of those guys. So thank you very much for joining us.

SCHOEN: Thank you.

HOLMES: Thank you.

LEMON: The breaking news that I want to tell you guys about is from Florida. Remember that power outage we covered earlier in the week, where we had hundreds of thousands of people without power?

Well, now I'm being told that it's been determined that it was human error -- human error that caused all of these people to lose power in Florida. It really caused chaos for a lot of folks there.

There's a teleconference going on and we're trying to dip into that and get that for you so that we can bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Meantime, real quick, back to political. We told you that Bill Clinton was campaigning in Mansfield, Ohio. We heard him earlier in Ohio at a different campaign stop, earlier in the CNN NEWSROOM. Just about 12:45 he started speaking. He's talking about his wife's experience. Now he's in Mansfield. He's speaking now.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Two conclusions. Number one is we are going to change this country, because everybody knows we have got to change the direction of our economy to restore the middle class and reclaim the future of our children.

(APPLAUSE)

B. CLINTON: And reward work and family again. And we have to restore America's standing in the world for peace and prosperity and cooperation. So we are going to change the country.

And the second conclusion that I've drawn is that most voters actually like both these candidates. And they're trying to figure out who they should vote for. Now, if you've got a hard choice you make, you know, as you get closer to the election, your ardor for both of them may fade for one or the other.

But the truth is you have two intelligent, compassionate, articulate people arguing their case. One says you should vote for me because I embody change, because I haven't been involved in anything that's happened before. I wasn't involved in any of those fights of the '90s. I'm kind of proud of those fights myself.

(APPLAUSE)

B. CLINTON: But anyway I wasn't involved in any of those fights. And so -- or anything that happened in this decade much, and that's what we need. We need to turn a new page. We need to generate more people coming in, more new people. We just need to forget about the past and go to the future.

Hillary says that the reason we teach history in school is because those who forget about the past are condemned to repeat its mistakes. And she doesn't want the past either. She wants the future. But you need to elect a proven change maker -- someone's who's always made a difference in people's lives in every single position she ever held, all of her life, long before she was an elected official.

(APPLAUSE)

B. CLINTON: I think that's the better argument.

And so for those of you who are for her, I want to ask you to listen to the points I make and use them to persuade other voters. There are plenty of people here who haven't made up their mind in this state. And for those of you who are undecided who are here, I hope I can sway you.

I was in Texas the other day and a woman in the back of my crowd had a homemade cardboard box sign that said "Persuade Me, Bill."

(LAUGHTER)

B. CLINTON: So after the speech, she came up with her box she said, OK you made the sale, now sign the box.

(LAUGHTER)

B. CLINTON: So here's my argument. Based on what I know of the presidency and what I understand to be the challenges of this country and the world, I do believe she's the best qualified person I've had a chance to vote for in a long time. And here's why. All over the world today, everybody knows we live in an interdependent world. All that means is we can't escape each other. And you just have to look around this crowd. Look at us. The world should work and America should work the way this crowd is.

Look at us. We're here without regard to race, our age, our gender, our physical ability, our relative disability. We're all here together in a world that is growing together. This is the way the world ought to work and it sure is the way America ought to work. We ought to say we celebrate our differences. Our common humanity matters more. We want a world of benefits, shared opportunities and shared responsibilities. That's the way the world has to work.

(APPLAUSE)

B. CLINTON: And to get there, we have to deal first with this whole mass of economic problems. We read every day in the paper is America teetering on the brink of recession? Most Americans think they've been in a recession for some time. Don't you think that's right?

(APPLAUSE)

B. CLINTON: Most American's most Americans are broke at the end of every month. And I want to talk about why. We have operated one more time in this decade under a totally discredited failed economic theory that if you just cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans enough, everything will be fine.

Well, let's look at what happened and let's compare this decade with the one before -- not to go back, but so we can go forward.

In this decade, over 90 percent of the benefits have gone to the top 10 percent of earners -- half of that to the top 1 percent, a lot of that to the top 1/10 of 1 percent.

Now, what happened? You heard what Joe Vince (ph) said. In the last decade, we had almost 23 million new jobs. In this decade, five million. In the last decade, almost eight million people worked their way from poverty up into the middle class. That's the American dream.

(APPLAUSE)

B. CLINTON: In this decade, in this decade, five million people -- many of them working people -- have fallen from the middle class into poverty. That's the American nightmare. In the last decade, family incomes rose.

LEMON: All right, we have some breaking news. Brianna is going to tell us about it. It's coming from California?

KEILAR: Yes, well, we're understanding, coming from our affiliate KKAL, is that there is the possibility of a gunman on this high school campus. Blair High School in Pasadena, California. We can see some of the kids coming out of the school there you see them there with their hands on their head. That appears to be a law enforcement officer carrying something. I can't make it out.

This is Blair High School. It is in Pasadena, California. We can see here -- it's tough to see, but we've been seeing some of the kids coming out of the school -- there, you can see them there -- with their hands on their head. That appears to be a law enforcement officer carrying something. I can't quite make out what it is.

But, again, this is Blair High School. It's a high school in Pasadena, California. And we're hearing from our affiliate and we're also getting pictures from our affiliate, KKAL, that there may be a gunman on this high school campus. Still a lot of details that we don't know yet. And as those become available to us, we are going to bring you more details.

But here's some video from moments ago. You can see a lot of kids on campus. This may be a high school administrator here on the right. We can't quite tell. But the kids coming out of buildings, it appears, with hands on their heads.

Reports from our affiliate KKAL that there is the possibility of a gunman on this campus -- Blair High School in Pasadena, California.

Guys, do we have anymore information at this point?

LEMON: Well, in the wake of these school shootings, this is procedural, when you see these kids doing this. This is one way they lockdown the students and they get them into the classes. And usually there is a safe area where they have them go into one of the main buildings, where they can be secure.

So what you're seeing now, the kids doing proced (ph) -- going procedurally, as the administrators and the police and whoever is in charge there would have them do. We often see this when we have situations of this nature.

But, again, we don't know if it's a confirmed shooting yet, but we're hearing reports of a possible gunman.

And this school is called Blair High School. It's in Pasadena, California. Again, we're monitoring aerials. This is from our affiliate, KKAL. And you can see the logo of the school there in front. And, again, as Brianna has been reporting, these are live pictures, what you saw were the kids walking. It was new video that was in just moments ago.

But we're going to promise -- we're going to get you more. We promise to get you more as soon as we get it.

But, again, what we know now, so far, it has not been deemed a school shooting, but it has been deemed a possible gunman inside of the school. Obviously, the school is on lockdown. Kids are coming out -- the students there -- with their hands on their head. Details to come right after a break right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. More details on our breaking news just into the CNN NEWSROOM.

What you're looking at is Blair High School in Pasadena, California, where there's been a report of a possible gunman on the campus here. And just moments ago, we saw students going into one of the buildings, being escorted by police officers with their hands over their head. Again, procedural when situations happen like this. That's what you're seeing there on the right side of your screen there, those students there. And just moments ago, we saw police with guns drawn walking around the school. We don't know exactly what that means. But, again, this is a report of a possible gunman, not a report of an actual shooting on campus. And they're getting emergency procedures -- there you see the officers with the guns there -- emergency procedures in place, trying to figure out exactly where that gunman is, if there is, indeed, one.

We'll continue to update you here in THE NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: Four days now ahead of the big pivotal Ohio and Texas primaries. The campaign trail is hot.

That is where we find Senator Hillary Clinton. She is campaigning at a rally right now in Waco, Texas.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the great honors of being first lady and of being a senator is the time that I was privileged to spend with our troops -- here at home, in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Bosnia, Kosovo and places around the world.

I remember particularly a trip to Bosnia where the welcoming ceremony had to be moved inside because of sniper fire. And I had a chance to visit two forward operating bases to meet with the young men and women who were there clearing land mines in the countryside, trying to establish some relationships with the people of that war torn country.

I was struck then, as I have been many times since, by what a great model our troops are for the rest of the world. You know, when you go

(APPLAUSE)

H. CLINTON: When you go, as I've gone, to Pakistan and Afghanistan, to Turkey, to Iraq, to Kuwait, to places near and far, and you go into a mess hall where you have a meal or you stop by and visit in the barracks or the tents with the people who are there far from home, you see America at our best. You see every shade of color, every color of eyes. You see every ethnic origin, every religious affiliation. You see America. These are the best that our country has to offer and an example of what

(APPLAUSE)

H. CLINTON: Of what America stands for.

KEILAR: All right, we're listening in to Hillary Clinton at a rally at (INAUDIBLE) Commons here in Waco, Texas.

We also want to tell you a little bit about another story we're going to be hearing more about after the break from Miles O'Brien.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: Boy, the inspector general taking a look at the FAA and the way it inspects parts inside the airliner you're going to fly next. Many of them could be substandard. The story is coming up on the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. You're here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We have some developing news bring to you. It's happening in Pasadena, California. We've been following reports of a possible gunman inside of Blair High School -- Blair High School in Pasadena, California.

Just moments ago, we saw the students with their hands on their heads being taken to a safe place inside of the school. There's that video just into the CNN NEWSROOM right there. And, also, we saw officers with guns drawn sort of searching the premises there.

And just looking at the Web site for this Blair school, they say that it's the Blair International School. It provides an environment where a shared community by staff, students and parents for learning cooperation.

And now, it's seven through 12. We've got a mister -- is it Mr. Harvey?

BINTI HARVEY, PASADENA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: Miss Harvey.

LEMON: Miss Harvey. Sorry, folks are talking to me here.

HARVEY: That's OK.

LEMON: And, again, this is breaking.

Miss Harvey, you're with the school. Tell us what your position is with the school and what you know.

HARVEY: I'm of the director of communications for Pasadena Unified School District. I've communicated with the principal and he shared, as you said, that the police are investigating reports from a student that another student had a weapon on campus.

And the immediate response was to move all of the students into classrooms, to put the school on lockdown. And since about a few minutes before noon today, the police have been searching the premises of the school floor by floor, room by room, as well as searching every student to ensure that there are no weapons on campus and to identify the individual who has one if, in fact, that report is confirmed.

The principal...

LEMON: So...

HARVEY: Go ahead.

LEMON: So, Miss Harvey, you're just investigating now reports of a possible gunman?

HARVEY: Exactly.

LEMON: No shooting here?

HARVEY: Exactly.

LEMON: And everything that we've been seeing procedural, when we see the kids with hands over their heads, you're taking them into a place that is confined so that you can make sure that they're safe?

HARVEY: Exactly. Exactly.

LEMON: OK.

HARVEY: So the next step will be as, you know, each of the rooms and the students are sort of cleared by the police as being safe, that they will be evacuated and transferred to a safe place -- perhaps the football field or somewhere else on campus, again, to just ensure that the entire campus is safe and to keep the students calm.

So we'll continue to, you know, wait for the results from the police. They're doing a very thorough search right now. And we're just waiting for those results.

LEMON: All right. Great.

Thank you so much.

HARVEY: All right.

LEMON: Binti Harvey, director of communications for the Pasadena Unified School District.

Again, sort of reiterating what we said, reports of a gunman actually, but a possible gunman. Not an actual school shooting. And, again, everything that they were doing was procedural to try to make sure the kids were safe. And the police are looking around to make sure that everything is OK. They're looking for a gun.

We're going to have more on this report that -- besides this, that Miles O'Brien has been speaking of, talking about those leaked reports about aviation and safety and what have you. We're going to get back to our Miles O'Brien and have more on that.

It should be a little bit later on. Is he going to do this? Is he going to do this in "THE SITUATION ROOM" or are we -- we're not?

OK. We believe he's going to do it in "THE SITUATION ROOM". Pardon, people are talking to me and it's very busy here.

KEILAR: There's a lot going on here.

LEMON: A lot of breaking news. Absolutely.

Also, the market is down today 324 points. And there you hear it, the closing bell on Wall Street. And that's it for us.

KEILAR: That's right.

LEMON: You do the honors.

KEILAR: Let's go now...

LEMON: Thank you. Thank you for being here this week, by the way.

KEILAR: ...to "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Oh, thank you very much. And let's head to Wolf Blitzer now.

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