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Democratic Race Tight; Mike Huckabee Still Viable Candidate; Hillary Clinton Speaks about Health Care; Chelsea Clinton Stumps for Hillary; Economy Is Big Factor in Voters' Choice

Aired March 02, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL where you get to hear from the candidates in their own words as they talk about the issues and they criss-cross the nation stumping for the presidential race, all from the comfort of your living room or wherever you're watching this.
Right ahead of the crucial Tuesday primaries in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont, we are covering all sides of this story with Mary Snow not far from me in Houston, Texas, site of one of the major primaries, and Jim Acosta holding down the fort in New York City. We'll be joined by one of the chieftains of the best political team on television, Candy Crowley later this hour.

But right now we want to take you to some sound from Senator Hillary Clinton who was stumping earlier today in Weserville, Ohio. She was giving some red meat to her democratic audience talking about the end of the bush presidency. It's always a big seller on the stump. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER FIRST LADY: I know the world will breathe a big sigh of relief when President Bush leaves the White House. But then we have to make -- we have to make it clear that the United States will the leader of the world again. You know you can't be a leader if nobody's following.

And we need to have the world working with us. In order to deal with terrorism and global warming and epidemics and all of those dangers and threats that confront us. And we need a president who can turn this economy around and get it working again to produce the jobs with rising incomes.

That is especially important for Ohio. You know I have spent a lot of time in the last several weeks criss-crossing Ohio with Governor Strickland and other elected officials, mayors, members of Congress and the state legislators who support me. And everywhere I go I meet hardworking people who just want a chance to have the opportunities to be part of a strong and growing middle class who believe with all their hearts they're doing their part and where is their president and where is their government to give them the support they need to be competitive in the global economy?

I have no doubt that we can do this together. It wasn't so long ago that we had a rising economy where millions and millions of jobs were being created. And the average family income in the 1990s went up $7,000. You compare that with what's gone on in the last seven years where the average family has lost $1,000.

And now when you see all that's happening in the world, oil over $100 a barrel, I was down in Southern Ohio. I couldn't believe the prices on the gas stations I was driving by. $3.68 in the poorest part of Ohio.

And I sat there and listened to people telling me they didn't know how they were going to keep getting to work. One man told me he commutes one way, 71 miles. Every morning. He holds his breath trying to figure out whether he's going to be able to pay to get to work.

After a while it's kind of a diminishing return when you don't make that much money at the end of the day anyway.

We need a president who gets it and says, wait a minute, we're going to do something about this.

You know, the price of everything has gone up. The price of gas, the price of energy, the price of health care, the price of college tuition. The middle class is under tremendous pressure and those of us who are well off, those of us who have health care, those of us who have our education, those of us who don't think we have to worry very much about the future, it's time we looked around and saw what was going on in the rest of Ohio and rest of America.

You know, for some people this election is, you know, it's about how you feel, it's about speeches. Well, that's not what it's about for me. It is about solutions, rolling up our sleeves, having a fighter back at the White House who is going to solve America's problems. You know, maybe just because, yes, I have been around a while, I have been around doing this work for 35 years and I know what a difference it makes, whether we have a president who gets up every day in that White House and worries about what goes on in your lives, with your jobs, and your health care, and your families and your futures. That's the kind of president I will be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: Senator Clinton speaking earlier in Westerville, Ohio. That's a state in which economic concerns dominate on voters' minds right now. So many blue collar voters, particularly in the Democratic Party and the Democratic Primary deeply concerned about lost manufacturing jobs, closed factories, and both the Democratic candidates promising them significant economic improvements that they are to take the White House. But another top concern, of course, is national security. And we have seen Senators Clinton and Obama trade barbs over national security. She claiming she as superior experience. He claiming he has the better judgment. And interestingly enough, Barack Obama was speaking at national security just about two miles away from the location where we heard Senator Clinton speaking in that clip just now. Let's listen to what Obama had to say earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She didn't give diplomacy a chance. To this day she won't even admit that her vote was a mistake or that it was even a vote for war. So besides the decision to invade Iraq we're still waiting to hear Senator Clinton tell us what precise foreign policy experience that she is claiming that makes her prepared to make that -- to answer that phone call at 3:00 in the morning.

But I do know -- I do know what our campaign is based on. Yes, it's based on the fact that we should have never authorized the war that's cost us thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars and distracted us from al Qaeda in Afghanistan and made us less safe and fanned anti-American sentiment around the world and frayed our alliances.

Yes, that's one of the bases on which this campaign has been run. Our campaign is also based on the idea that we need to turn the page on Bush/Cheney diplomacy where we don't talk to our enemies because John F. Kennedy -- because I remember what John F. Kennedy said, "We should never negotiate out of fear but we should never fear to negotiate."

That's what strong presidents and strong countries do. We talk to our adversaries and tell them that what we stand for and what we believe in and try to resolve differences without resorting to war. That's part of what this campaign is based on.

Our campaign is based on the fact that I'm the only candidate who hasn't taken a dime of money from Washington, who has actually worked to reduce the power of lobbyists in Washington.

Our campaign is based on the fact that I'm the only candidate who didn't vote for a bankruptcy bill that made it harder for working families to climb out of the debt we were just talking about because I intend to reform our bankruptcy laws.

Our campaign is based on my 20 plus years of actually bringing about change that makes a difference in people's lives; 150,000 people in my home state having health care who didn't have it before, providing tax relief to the working poor, passing legislation that reduces wrongful convictions in capital cases and in the United States Senate working to deal with issues as diverse as locking down loose nuclear weapons and promoting clean, alternative energy. Our campaign is based on that.

In other words, our campaign is based on the idea that we need to put the people's interests ahead of the special interests, that we can stop telling the American people what we think they want to hear during election time and start telling them what they really need to hear in order to bring about real change in America, a politics that's not based on tearing each other down but on lifting the country up.

Senator Clinton, that's what our campaign is based on. That's why we've won 11 straight. That's why we're going to work to win Ohio and Texas and Vermont and Rhode Island and win this nomination and change the country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: Barack Obama with his rallying cry, promising change for America. And a melange of issues there, it was not just national security, threw in a little bit of economic promises as well. He is in the field on the stump in Ohio today, not far from Senator Clinton. They are both crisscrossing that state that offers 141 delegates to the Democratic winner on Tuesday. Senator Clinton will be showing up in Akron, Ohio, later this afternoon.

We have a live picture of that gymnasium where she will be speaking. We show that to you and we will bring you her live comments when they happen. That's later on.

On the other side of this break, though, we're going to cross the aisle and hear a bit from the Republican contenders, Mike Huckabee and John McCain. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Acosta in New York looking a the Republican side of the race for the White House coming to you from what we hope looks at least a little bit like BALLOT BOWL central, BALLOT BOWL headquarters, BALLOT BOWL stadium if you will. The season goes on here on BALLOT BOWL '08 here on CNN.

And now as I mentioned we want to take a look at the Republicans, John McCain is in Arizona this weekend, in his home state. He's having a barbecue this afternoon, if that's any indication as to how concerned he is about how he's going to do on the Tuesday primaries coming up this week.

He is hosting a barbecue at his house for members of the media. My invitation was apparently lost in the mail. And various lawmakers.

So this is part pressing the flesh with the media and he has had good relations with the press and also with lawmakers as they put together a strategy for November.

Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee picked up some very good news in the "Dallas Morning News" today. That newspaper decided to re-endorse Mike Huckabee. It had already done so but decided a couple of days before these Tuesday primaries to reiterate its support for the former Arkansas governor. We'll put a quote up on the screen from that re- endorsement that reads, "We look forward to having him around to help shape and lead the Republican Party after November. That's why we encourage Texas Republicans to mark their ballots for Mr. Huckabee in the GOP primary."

And I would like to bring in my colleague Mary Snow who is down in Texas, in Houston. And I'm not sure if she's taking in any rodeos. Well get to that later perhaps. But Mike Huckabee is sort of like those rodeo clowns who crawl into those barrels and sort of taunt the bulls to charge. He is not getting out of the ring. He is staying in the ring despite risk of life and limb on his part in terms of way Republicans feel. A lot of Republicans would like to see him get out of the race and clear the path for John McCain here. But he is sticking around and even though he's not really getting mentioned in any of these veepstakes naming contests we seem to be hearing over the last several days, why is Mike Huckabee still in this race, Mary?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, he feels that he has a voice. You know, even in that editorial you just mentioned from "The Dallas Morning News," it mentioned Mike Huckabee can show the party elite that his views have a constituency and that is what Mike Huckabee's mess sage has been. That he believes that there is a voice for conservatives.

He keeps stressing a number of issues that he feels are very important to conservatives. He obviously keeps stressing an amendment to ban abortion. And he is obviously opposed to same-sex marriages because he has made that another theme on his campaign.

So these social conservative issues have repeatedly come up on the campaign trail. And he believes there is a voice for those conservatives. Although he is not giving in in any way, shape or form in terms of Tuesday, holding out hope. And even this morning, you know, he was in Houston this morning and then he spoke with reporters after a church service asking what's the hurry, why do I need to step aside at this point because the convention isn't until months away.

Ideally, he would like to have a brokered convention. Obviously the math is telling a very different story. But Mike Huckabee feels as long as he is in this race, he is going to keep fighting. And yesterday he went to Laredo, Texas. He visited the Mexican/U.S. border and talked about border security. Let's take a listen to what Mike Huckabee had to say yet in Laredo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Clearly one of the great challenges of our nation right now is controlling our borders and making sure that we have true border security. And it's not so much that we want to keep people out but we want to keep bad people out, people who would come here to do drug trafficking, people who would want to come here to commit crime, whether it's murder of theft, kidnapping, and obviously the ultimate bad guys, the terrorists, who could use the openness of our borders as a means of getting here to do damage to innocent American citizens.

It's been very impressive to see not only the tactical operations of what is being done here but I think even more impressive is the strategic view of the broad concept that has been employed over the past few years, understanding that this has got to be a comprehensive approach. It can't be done piecemeal. It also becomes very evident that there are amazing challenges, number one is the sheer length of border that has to be patrolled. Secondly, as you can see here from the Carrizo cane, no matter what kind of efforts you have for cameras, getting lost in this incredibly fast-growing Carrizo cane makes the challenge all that much more difficult.

And so different types of terrain require different types of deployment for responsibilities and that's one thing that would be pretty daunting.

I come away from this with, I think, not only a greater understanding of some of the challenges but also the sense of urgency that as a country we need to put our resources on border protection than weighting until people who have gone into the interior of our country and then created problems with drug trafficking, crime.

There's an old saying it cost as whole lot more to do it over than it does to do it right. Doing it right is capturing criminals at the border. It's stopping the flow of not only drugs but of illegal human trafficking at the border. And then designing a system where people can come into this country for the purpose of work but do it in a legal and responsible way and not create what we have now, which is an absolutely uncontrolled situation.

(END VIDEOTA)

SNOW: There you have Mike Huckabee speaking yesterday in Laredo, Texas. After visiting the border with Mexico saying that he sees the sense of urgency for greater border security. And certainly with illegal immigration being a key topic in the Republican race, Mike Huckabee has been trying to draw contrast between himself and Senator John McCain because Senator John McCain took so much heat from conservatives for supporting the illegal immigration reform bill which conservatives had said really amounted to giving amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants.

But you know, Jim, what was interesting yesterday is when reporters asked Mike Huckabee whether or not that he felt that John McCain was too soft on a crackdown of illegal immigration. He stepped back from the answer and said he didn't want to get into that. So even though he is fighting this fight for the Republican nomination, he clearly has been very subdued when it comes to Senator John McCain and any attacks on him. He has tried to draw contrasts but he really has kept re-emphasizing his respect for Senator John McCain and the fact that he would want to see him, the Republican nominee over the Democrats.

And the two of them really had a very good relationship and, as you mention, there have been people who have been pressuring Mike Huckabee to step aside, including the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, who now supports Senator McCain. Senator McCain repeatedly has asked about this and saying that Mike Huckabee has every right to be in this race in the end. So again, we see Mike Huckabee not really going after Senator John McCain, although he is hoping to chip away at his support here.

ACOSTA: Absolutely, Mary, and that's why some people say they maybe John McCain doesn't mind Mike Huckabee being in the race so much because it keeps people talking about the Republican side in the race for the White House instead of us focusing all our airtime on this battle royale on the democratic side.

But as you mentioned there, Mike Huckabee backing away from question on immigration, indicating there is some softness among conservatives with John McCain on the issue of immigration. And speaking of John McCain, he was campaigning last week in Ohio and in Texas. And on the subject of Iraq, he keeps coming back to this issue of Iraq because it has worked so well for him because of the surge, improving essential think situation on the ground, some say short term, some say long term.

It has in many ways revived and strengthened John McCain's campaign and put him essentially where he is according to many analysts. And John McCain is not shy talking about the issue of Iraq, taking some jabs at Barack Obama earlier this week on the issue of Iraq. But we now want to go to some sound of John McCain on the issue of the war in Iraq and how he sees things changing on the ground there and what he hopes for the future of that country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As you know, Joe Biden's plan is you basically divide them up into three countries. I think that has kind of lost as the surge has succeed and we see some political progress, and I say some, that theory is lost some of its momentum, as you know.

I believe that I've got to give you straight talk, the toughest thing that we need to make the most progress in Iraq right now is rule of law. The rule of law, as we all know, is the hardest thing part of democracy. We can have elections every day and you can see people hold their finger up with that they've had the ink on and have election after election.

But the rule of law is really the hardest part. The number one target of al Qaeda in Iraq today in Iraq are judges. That's their number one objective and obviously when you think about it, you can understand it.

And one of the big problems, and they just passed a law for Sunni amnesty, is that we've got 20,000 Sunni that have been in indefinite detention in prisons in Iraq. You can't do that. You can't do that. Every citizen of a country has got to be entitled to some judicial process. They are making progress. They just passed three laws and then one of them was vetoed.

So as always in Iraq, it's two steps forwards and one step back. They passed a budget. By the way, my dear friends, in case you haven't noticed, in our nation's capital we haven't passed a budget. So the Iraqis are one step ahead of us at least there.

But, look, I think it's long and it's hard and it's tough. There's no Thomas Jeffersons in Iraq. Any time there was anybody who showed any independence for many, many years, Saddam Hussein chopped their head off. So it's hard. And I think there's a couple of tests coming up. One of them is Kirkuk.

As you know, Saddam Hussein moved a whole bunch of people, Arabs into the area and moved the Kurds out and now the Kurds are back in. But they've kind of made a little progress on that surprises everybody. Mosul, we are seeing a test of the Iraqi military because it's going to be the Iraqi military that goes in there with support from the United States as they try to clean out that last bastion, or one of the last bastions of al Qaeda's control over in the area.

I think it's hard. I think it's a hard slog. But no one, even the most optimistic of us predicted the progress that has been made over the last year by the surge when you look at the progress they've been -- that they have made. So, all I can say is the whole scheme of things is the classic counterinsurgency. It's not a new theory. It's an old one that we've used successfully and unsuccessfully that is the Iraqi military and police take over more and more of the responsibilities. The sectarian violence is way down. The attacks on the pilgrims at Karbala have still been going on but dramatically reduced.

So I think that if we continue this progress and I think we are, then you will see Americans withdraw to enclaves and gradually withdraw. And then we decide after the war, then we decide the issue of American presence. After the first Gulf War, thanks to Secretary Baker and others, we negotiated a military base agreement with Kuwait. We have one there. We have a base in Turkey. We have troops in South Korea. So military presence may remain for years. It may not. It may be like the Saudis and the Saudis decide they don't want any American military presence there.

But that is after we succeed in the war. And I think the Americans will show more patience if we can show them success.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: So there is John McCain on the situation in Iraq. Many of his supporters say John McCain was for the surge before George Bush was for the surge. But analysts will say, as goes the surge, so goes John McCain. Coming up after the break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN, Bill Schneider joins us looking at the poll numbers in the race for the White House as BALLOT BOWL continues here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL." I'm Jessica Yellin in Houston, Texas.

Texas, one of four states that will be voting on Tuesday, 193 delegates at stake here in Texas, 141 at stake on the Democratic side in Ohio. That's where Senator Hillary Clinton has just taken the mic in Akron, Ohio. Bringing you a live picture of that. We will dip into Senator Clinton's sound in a moment. We'll let her get through her introductions and thank yous and bring you the meat of her remarks once they begin.

But for now, we are going to cut across the country over to Rhode Island where we're joined by our very own Professor Bill Schneider. We don't just call him that affectionately. He really was a professor.

Bill, you're going to talk a little bit about the polls. The race on the Democratic side, exceptionally tight here in Texas.

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And getting tighter in Texas. It's now just a two-point lead for Barack Obama. The latest poll of polls averaging all the recent polls in Texas shows Obama with an average support of 47 percent, Hillary Clinton, 45 percent, just two points apart. And 8 percent of the voters remaining unsure. They can't make up their minds and clearly turn the tide in favor of either candidate. This is a white-knuckle race going right up to the finish line in Texas.

YELLIN: And let's turn to the Republicans in Texas. A bits of a different picture there.

SCHNEIDER: Yep, that's not a white-knuckle race. John McCain is way ahead. He's got 58 percent of the vote in Texas. Mike Huckabee gets 30 percent of the vote. There's still a strong conservative representation there that doesn't want to vote for John McCain. They like Mike Huckabee. The race isn't over. Could be, they think the race is over and why not vote for the guy they really like. That's Mike Huckabee. In any case, he's holding down about one-third of the vote among Republicans in Texas, which means he's still got a voice and he stills that constituency in a following.

YELLIN: All right. Moving further north into Ohio where both Senators Clinton and Obama are campaigning, how does the race look in that state?

SCHNEIDER: Tight. Not as tight as Texas but in this case, Clinton is ahead, but by a narrow margin, single digits. The average is Clinton 48 percent, Obama 43 percent, a five-point lead for Hillary Clinton. Again, in the polls that we average, it's always within the margin of error with 9 percent unsure.

That means, again, in Ohio as in Texas, the number of unsure voters is bigger than the margin. In this case for Clinton over Obama, so while she hopes that she can win this crucial state of Ohio, there's still some voters who haven't made up their minds and they can make the difference. Twice as big as her margin over Obama.

YELLIN: And just to round it up, give us the Republican numbers in Ohio if you would?

SCHNEIDER: Interestingly, McCain, 58 percent in Texas, McCain, 58 in Ohio. Mike Huckabee doesn't do quite as well in Ohio as they did in Texas. Remember, he always did better in southern states. He's a southern Baptist minister and former governor of Arkansas. In Ohio, he's just getting a quarter of the vote. 24 percent of the vote there. But still there's a hearty band of conservatives that continue to support Mike Huckabee and will probably continue to do so until somebody declares the race is over, someone presumably John McCain, can claim a majority of the delegates. Not quite yet.

YELLIN: Bill, I have a wonky question for you but viewers ask me this all the time. Is the polls polled more or less reliable than an individual poll? Why do we use this thing, the poll of polls? SCHNEIDER: Well, we believe that no one poll, even our own, is going to be totally authoritative. All polls have a lot of error involved. We average them to see what the general tendency of the polls ask. And when we do that we make sure that we're not distorting anything, that is, if one poll shows Hillary Clinton way ahead and the other poll shows Barack Obama way ahead, and you average them, you might get a tie. So we don't do that. If there's that much discrepancy we'll show the individual polls.

What we have in the poll of polls is in fact the average of polls all of which are very close. So they are pretty good indicator of where things stand looking at the individual polls.

But of course, remember, all polls are, number one, they have error built into them, so even a poll of polls is going to have some error built into it.

And second of all, they're a snapshot, not a prediction. The poll is not going to show you what happened on Tuesday, they will tell where things are right now.

In all these cases they say where things are right now shows no one with a big enough lead that it looks like they're safely ahead in either Texas or Ohio. And there's still a significant number of voters who just haven't made up their mind yet. You have seen late swings in states again and again decide the outcome.

YELLIN: Breaking it down for us in the clearest way possible as always, thank you, Professor Schneider.

SCHNEIDER: You're welcome.

YELLIN: Now we're going to turn to Akron, Ohio, where Senator Clinton is speaking live. Let's listen in.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to have a president who gets up and says we're going to have a new manufacturing policy in America because the country that doesn't make anything is the country that cannot remain strong. And we've got to be able -- we've got to be able to manufacture for our national defense.

You know, if you look at how so much of what's important to our country's security has been outsourced, it's scary to me. There's a saying -- as you heard Michelle say, I've served on the Senate Armed Services Committee. You know, there's a saying that we used to own the night in the American military because we -- we created night vision. Those of you who serve in the military know we had a capacity that, you know, defied expectation. Well, now we don't own it anymore, we just rent it.

Year after year, we keep sending our valuable research, we keep sending our trade secrets and our intellectual property offshore. So pretty soon it's going to be difficult to know what we owned and what is ours and what gives us an advantage. So if we don't start manufacturing again, I don't think we can sustain a strong and prosperous middle class. And one of the ways we're going start doing that is change the tax code, take away any single tax benefit that gives an advantage to anybody moving a job out of Ohio or America.

Those advantages, they need to come the other way. We need to be investing in people who are willing to put jobs here, to create new jobs, to keep those jobs. And government has to be a partner.

And we've got to have a new trade policy that says, look, we're not afraid to compete but don't make us compete with one arm tied behind the back because the other countries are not playing fair and we don't have a level playing field.

You know, across upstate New York I have the same problems and hear the same stories as you see every day here. You know, factories closing, picking up and moving, children leaving home. A sense that, you know, I've done everything I'm supposed to do and why isn't it working any longer? Well, because your government hasn't done everything it was supposed to do. It hasn't been there watching your back, standing by your side, creating what should be the 21st century economy.

So we're going to prevent the disadvantages and the tax code and in trade agreements. I've said I would renegotiate NAFTA. I would say you're going have strong labor and environmental standards in that agreement. They're going to be enforceable and no foreign country gets any advantage over us.

But we also have to create new jobs as well. And I believe the greatest source of new jobs is clean energy. We're going to, if we're smart about it, revolutionize energy and put people to work right here. Clean coal, I see you've got a sign up there. Solar, wind, geothermal, bio fuels, all of these. And think about how many people we could put to work, if we were actually manufacturing the solar panels, the wind turbines, the equipment that's necessary to make the revolution in energy.

And this is not like it's never happened. It's happening in other countries. You know, Germany's made a big bet on solar power. They are employing hundreds of thousands of people who are putting solar panels on rooftops. These are jobs you can't outsource. Think about it. If you are going to put new energy into our homes and our businesses, these are jobs you've got to do right here in Akron. You can't do it long distance from China or India. It's got to be done right here.

And if the government, our government gets behind those jobs the way they did in Germany, there's no telling how many we can create. You know, I looked at the climate comparisons. Ohio has as many sunny days as Germany has, so why don't we get started having the new energy, putting people to work right here in Akron for a better future?

And we're going have to -- we're going to have to decide once and for all that we need to provide quality affordable health care for everybody. And there's two big reasons for that.

I tell you a story that illustrates the two big reasons why we need to do this. I was down in southern Ohio a few days ago with Governor Strickland. Boy, do I admire him. He is working to turn around Ohio. And he and I were sitting and talking to a couple of families. And they told us just a tragic story about a young woman they knew.

You know, we were in a small time along the Ohio River. And this young woman worked at the pizza parlor, made minimum wage, plus tips, but not very many in the pizza parlor, as you know. And she got pregnant. And she started having trouble. Now, there wasn't hospital left in that county, Meigs (ph) County, not a single hospital. Went to the neighboring county, went to the hospital. Hospital said, you know, we take so much charity care, you've got to come up with 1$100 before we take you in. She didn't have $100. She goes back home. A little while later she's still having trouble. She goes back, same story.

It's kind of hard to blame the hospital because you can only do so much free care and people don't have insurance to back them up, it's going to get passed on to the rest of us who do, so she went back home again.

Next time she went to the hospital she was in distress. And the short, sad story is that her baby died. And she then had to be airlifted to Columbus to the medical center where they tried very hard to save her life, but 15 days later she died.

I want you the think about this story just for a minute. It's one of hundreds that could be told. It's morally wrong that in our country a young woman would be denied care and lose the life of herself and her baby. That's morally wrong in America. And -- and when you stop and think about it, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent trying to save the baby, trying to save her life. So it's not only morally wrong, it makes no economic sense.

Instead of taking care of people and solving their problems, we wait and wait and wait. It often has dire consequences and it costs so much money. So I am committed to doing everything I can to make sure we finally are quality-affordable health care for every single American. That is my pledge to all of you.

YELLIN: Senator Clinton speaking in Akron, Ohio, at this very moment. She's talking about health care reform, her pledge is to enact universal health care for all Americans if she becomes president. She has been stumping on that promise from the very beginning of this campaign.

We will bring you much more, checking in with all the candidates.

Coming up on "BALLOT BOWL," on the other side of this break, we'll talk to Ali Velshi who is traveling with "CNN's Election Express," in Junction, Texas. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: The sound, the beauty, the things you can expect to experience during a trip to Europe because the dollar is coming up short against the Euro and pound, you may be thinking about putting that vacation on hold. But there may still be ways to do Europe.

CHRIS MCGINNIS, EXPEDIA.COM: If you really want to go to France or you really want to go to the U.K. this year, you just have to plan on staying in smaller hotels, choose a hospital instead of a hotel, plan on traveling to smaller towns.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: So Chris McGinness of Expeedia.com says instead of visiting Paris, try Lyon or Marseilles go to Glasgow or Manchester. To get the most bang for your buck...

MCGINNIS: Try to pay for as much as you can up front in U.S. Dollars. That means buying a package deal here in the states before you head over there.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Expedia says booking European cruise is another option. Packages are typically all inclusive covering your room and meals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

YELLIN: Welcome back to CNN "BALLOT BOWL." I'm Jessica Yellin coming to you live from Houston, Texas, site of one of the two largest delegate halls in this Tuesday's primary. The other state with the major delegate cash for the Democrats is the state of Ohio.

We've been monitoring Senator Hillary Clinton speaking live in Akron, Ohio. We will continue to watch for her comments there.

Right now, we want to bring you sound from her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, campaigning in the very same city only yesterday. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHELSEA CLINTON, DAUGHTER OF HILLARY CLINTON: I am so proud of my mom. I really do grow more proud every day. And I'm so proud standing on this stage with all of these amazing women who have told you why they're supporting my mom. You heard her, Kathleen Townsend, say she met my mom 28 years ago. I met my mom 28 years ago. It was my birthday a couple days ago.

CROWD: Happy birthday.

C. CLINTON: Thank you. And my mother has been my role model my whole life. You know, I am proud that my mother has always stood up for me and always stood up with me and always fought for me to understand what my dreams and passions are and what I really care about by showing me what her dreams and her passions are and what she cares about every day. Me, and the children in Arkansas and the across our country.

You know, as a self-confessed 28-year-old, you know, as I think about the life that I hope to have and the family that I hope to have, I can only hope to be a shadow of what my mother has been. And the way that she's balanced work and life and in the example that she has always set for me and that life is about what we do with what happens to us and not about what happens to us. And that we are always -- yeah -- and that we are always stronger when we stand together, which is what makes me so proud to stand here with all of the women on this stage today and to stand here with all of you.

But I hope every daughter is as biased toward their mother as I am towards mine. I hope one day my daughters are as biased towards me as I am towards my mom.

But Arizona a young woman and as a young voter for all the reasons you've heard articulate I'd passionately believe in my mother.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: Chelsea Clinton campaigning in Akron, Ohio, her mom yesterday. We going to check back in with Clinton tons stump later on.

First, I want to turn to Ali Velshi who has been traveling with "CNN's Election Express."

Ali, we want to talk about the key issues you hear voters discussing. I have to bring this up because you know you're incurring the wrath of aggie fans across the nation by wear that Longhorn shirt. The last time I checked, you weren't a student. What possessed you?

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST: I'm not a U.T. student, but the color looks good and nothing sort of says Texas like a Longhorn cattle. About a week ago I was riding a steer, so I figured I couldn't bring the steer with me, I would bring the shirt with me. I'm further west than I was in cattle country. I'm in Junction, Texas, which is some people refer to as the front porch of west Texas. A different kind of town than we've been in. Yesterday we were in the oil fields and we've been in San Antonio and Loredo and Austin and other places.

Now we're in a place -- this is a destination for people who come in to do some hunting. The town sort of depends on that economy. There is -- there is some industry. There are a lot of places in town, taxidermy, deer processing. So it's a little bit quiet this time of year but we have run into a number of people. Town of about 2500 people.

And, yes, absolutely, there's just no one who I've talked to in Texas yet who is not concerned about the economy. On most people's list, it's the number one issue.

We spoke to a gentleman who says it is time for change, who is particularly worried about the effect of the war on the economy. Here's what he told me.

ALEX COHEN, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: I'm hope that it's Obama. I don't know if it will be. But he seems to at least represent more change than the other people that are now finalists.

VELSHI: Now, after that we had the towns folk tell me there's a young woman in town that bears an uncanny resemblance to Chelsea Clinton. She came down to talk us to as well.

The last gentleman talking about leaning towards Barack Obama. This young woman is, well, she's kind of in the middle there. Listen to what she told us.

ASHLEY WILLIAMS, SWING VOTER: I voted for McCain, but in the Democratic election I'm hoping that Hillary Clinton pulls through and then we'll see Hillary Clinton and McCain in a runoff. So then I'm going to kind of consider it. I could swing either way.

VELSHI: This is the interesting thing. We've getting people telling us, particularly in this area, described as fairly conservative and Republican, looking to hedge their bets. Not just between two candidates in a primary but in fact between the presidential candidates. They want to hear more about what they're going to do about the economy and their positions before making a final decision -- Jessica?

YELLIN: You know, it's fascinating about that voter, I found a lot of people like that along the way myself. People who actually are just so excited about the choices that they can't decide who to vote for. It's not disaffection but actual enthusiasm for the election that's making them undecided. I'm curious, have you found a lot of people who are really engaged in talking a lot about this political season more than you would expect?

VELSHI: Absolutely. And just pick up on what you said. A lot of younger people are involved. We've had a lot of retirees. Listen, that does seem to be the sentiment. People are so excited that so many people are involved in this primary season and will be in the election that they almost feel like the end result has got to be pretty good because with so many Americans involved in paying attention and enthused about it, the final two candidates, one from each party, are going to be strong candidates and will engage forcefully in the discussions involving people.

Once again, though, it does come down largely to where I've been in Texas about inflation and gas prices and they are very, very concerned. They would like to know -- they know the president can't single handedly deal with the issues, they have to be bipartisan, but they are very concerned -- Jessica?

YELLIN: Ali, keeping it real as always. Thank you. You know you're going to get trouble from Roland Martin, who is a diehard Texas A&M fan. He's going to give you hell for wearing a longhorn shirt.

We'll check in with you later, Ali.

VELSHI: You never want to be on the wrong side of Roland, yeah.

YELLIN: Watch out.

We are going to bring you many more presidential candidates right on the other side of this break. So stay with us here at CNN and "BALLOT BOWL."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL 08." I'm Jim Acosta in New York. As always, "BALLOT BOWL" is a chance for you, the viewers, to hear the presidential candidates in their own words.

And here on "BALLOT BOWL" the season goes on. The political season, that is. And coming up over the next hour you will hear the candidates in their own words on the Democratic side and the Republican side. As I mentioned, I'm in New York where I'll be talking about the Republicans, later on in the hour.

But my colleagues, Mary Snow and Jessica Yellin are down in Texas. Mary Snow is looking at the Republicans. And Jessica Yellin is in Houston. She's looking at the battle royale on the Democratic side. And to go back to the football analog analogy, Hillary Clinton is Ohio. She was on "SNL" last night and she'll be on "The Daily Show" on Monday. This is starting to sound like her two-minute drill as we get close to Tuesday and those big contests in Ohio and Texas and Vermont and Rhode Island.

Jessica, how are things looking down there in Texas?

YELLIN: It really is nonstop for the candidates right now, Jim. I wish I could continue the football analogy but I'm just clueless about sports. So I'm going to let you do the analogies.

No, no, I love it. I just wish I could participate. I do know 141 delegates are at stake in Ohio for the Democrats and Senator Clinton vying very hard to win that state. As you said, she was speaking in Akron, Ohio, just moments ago. She's wrapped up her...

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