Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

In Texas, Democratic Presidential Candidates Making Final Push; Luxury Homes Go up in Flames

Aired March 03, 2008 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: For the Republican front-runner, Texas and Ohio could be a deal closure.
Cleveland's foreclosure crisis though hits home for Ohio voters. How the foreclosures down the street could drive you to the poor house.

Luxury homes goes up in flames this hour. Did militant environmentalists start these fires? Today, Monday, March 3rd. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Presidential politics, two states and maybe all the marbles today. The top four candidates are focusing on the delegate-rich states of Texas and Ohio. Tomorrow's primaries there could decide your choices in November. Among Democrats Hillary Clinton may need a windfall of delegates to avoid calls to step aside. She trails Barack Obama by about 100 delegates according to our estimate. Obama has won the last states - the last 11 state contests, that is. John McCain could clinch the GOP nomination tomorrow. He hold a staggering lead over Mike Huckabee who still refuses to quit. We are waiting to dip into a Mike Huckabee rally happening in Texas. We'll bring that to you just as soon as it begins.

And Hillary Clinton gathering her troops in Ohio. Things are again getting nasty between her and Obama. She's talking about experience. He's talking about judgment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I've laid out very specific plans for what I will do because I want you to hold me accountable. I don't want to be one of these people running for office, oh, you know, when I come and you've got the bright lights and all the cameras. And I give you this big old speech and everybody feels good and you walk out and you turn to your neighbor and you say, well, that was beautiful, but what did it mean? What's going to happen? What can I count on? How is it going to change my life, help my children, give me a better future? So that's why I've been very specific.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, I have to say, when it came to making the most important foreign policy decision of our generation, the decision to invade Iraq, Senator Clinton got it wrong. She didn't read the National Intelligence Estimates. Jay Rockefeller read it, but she didn't read it. I don't know what all that experience got her because I have enough experience to know that if you have a National Intelligence Estimate and the chairman of the national -- chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says you should read this, this is why I'm voting against the war, that you should probably read it. I don't know how much experience you need for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We, of course, have CNN crews deployed across the country for tomorrow's battleground states to the nation's capital. The best political team on television brings you the most extensive coverage.

The pulse of voters. CNN stacked up the latest polls and crunched the numbers. In Texas, there were five recent surveys of likely primary voters according to our poll of polls. Obama holds a slight lead over Clinton. 47 percent to her 45 percent. 8 percent said they were still undecided. And in Ohio's four surveys, they showed Clinton at 48 percent, Obama at 43 percent with 9 percent still undecided. The Republican race, the numbers suggest the nomination is wrapped up, but Mike Huckabee says, not so fast. He says the nation's most Republican state must weigh in. CNN's Mary Snow is in Texas where Huckabee will be later today. She is joining us by phone. Mary, good morning to you.

VOICE OF MARY SNOW, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. You know Mike Huckabee is continuing to keep fighting away. On his schedule today are about ten events. He keeps campaigning, trying to chip away at John McCain's lead here in Texas. Yesterday, he got a bit of a boost when "The Dallas Morning News" reiterated its endorsement of Mike Huckabee saying really it's clear that Senator McCain will win the Republican nomination but it pointed out that a vote for Mike Huckabee, it says, is a vote for the future of the Republican party.

And Mike Huckabee earlier on CNN today was talking about the future. He keeps saying that he believes to stay in this race, he keeps stressing issues that he feels are important to the Republican party, issues like abortion, his opposition to it, he wants an amendment to ban abortion and also he wants to ban same-sex marriage. Some of those social issues. And also things like the environment. And this morning, he started the day out in Dallas at Southern Methodist University really reaching out to the young people. And that has been one of the things he's been stressing. As to what will happen, he says he is not going to say anything beyond what will happen until somebody gets the number of delegates needed in the Republican party, which is 1,191.

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Mary Snow is watching all things Huckabee. Appreciate that. Thank you, Mary.

Leaving no voter behind in Texas, Democratic presidential candidates are making their final push. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is following them.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Well, rough weather in the state of Texas, tornado warnings as well as some thunderstorms. But it's not expected to stop either one of these candidates from crisscrossing this all-critical state, do or die, make or break for Senator Hillary Clinton. Her own campaign saying she needs to get Ohio and Texas on Tuesday to move forward. Both of these candidates will be hitting various cities. Senator Clinton in Beaumont as well as Austin for a town hall meeting before heading to Houston. Senator Barack Obama to his Carrollton, San Antonio and Houston as well.

Both of them emphasizing the issue of national security. A very important issue in Texas. Senator Clinton saying that she is the one who is best able to handle a crisis situation in the middle of the night to protect the American voters. Senator Barack Obama saying that it is not necessarily about this Washington experience but about judgment. Let's take a listen to how the candidates are shaping this debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I don't know what all that experience got her because I have enough experience to know that if you is have a National Intelligence Estimate and the chairman of the national - the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says you should read this, this is why I am voting against the war, that you should probably read it. I don't know how much experience you need for that.

CLINTON: I'm here today because I want you to know that I'm a fighter, a doer, and a champion, and I will go to work for you!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The issue of national security, particularly important to those in Texas. Military families as well as veterans paying very close attention to what both of the candidates are saying on that score. Both of them crisscrossing the state, trying to hit as many voters as possible, flooding the airwaves as well. It will be a very exciting and interesting race tomorrow. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Dallas, Texas.

COLLINS: All right. Quickly when I get back to this event happening in Toledo, Ohio, for Hillary Rodham Clinton. We are getting ready to hear from her, I believe, right now, speaking is the governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland. You see her flanked by actor Ted Danson, his wife, Mary Steenburgen, and the president of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, Bill White, right there. Again, just moments away from hearing from Senator Hillary Clinton. We will bring some of those comments to you just as soon as they happen.

Meanwhile, money, it is certainly on the minds of many Texas voters. Our Ali Velshi took CNN's "Election Express" to Junction, Texas, to get some opinion on that. Ali.

VOICE OF ALI VELSHI, CNN, SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, wish I could be with you on TV but we are on the "Election Express" rolling to our next location. We were in Junction, Texas, which is a little town of about 2,500 people, right at the eastern edge of west Texas. So the economic concerns are a little bit different here. It's a big hunting town. The people come in before they go hunting, so gas prices are a big issue. In fact, we spoke to a young woman named Ashley. Her father owns one of the gas stations in town. She was talking a little bit about that but she has not made her mind up about who she's going to vote for. So here's what she told me.

ASHLEY WILLIAMS, SPEECH THERAPIST: I voted for McCain, but in the Democratic election I'm hoping that Hillary Clinton pulls through and 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: And that's something we heard from a number of people, that they generally speaking, think that the candidates in the race who are left are of such a quality that they'd like to see the best Democratic candidate, the best Republican candidate, and be able to make that choice over the course of the next few months. These level of engagements in this election is remarkable. People are -- we really haven't run into anyone who said they're not interested or they don't have choices to make. There are many people confused about the economy and about what these candidates are going to do about it and how much a president can do about the economy. Everybody seems to be already know that inflation is a big concern and gas prices are a big concern. Those are the two leading issues here among Democrats, Heidi, the number two issue tends to be health care. And among Republican, it tends to be immigration and border issues. That's the kind of stuff our polling has shown. It's also what we're hearing here on the ground. Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Ali, we will keep in touch with you as you crisscross the state there. Appreciate that. Ali Velshi, "Minding your business" this morning.

We want to get you back to a Hillary Clinton event we told you that is taking place in Toledo, Ohio. You want to go ahead and listen in for just a few minutes.

CLINTON: Mary Steenburgen, Ted Danson and I particularly want to thank Congresswoman Stephanie Tubb-Jones what has been a great advocate for Cleveland, for Ohio, for America and I'm proud to have her on my team. She and I have worked together a long time and we know what it takes to get things done. And we're working to make sure that Ohio has a friend in the White House to get things done for all of you.

And I am thrilled to be here with your Governor Ted Strickland, who is turning around Ohio every single day. He has been just a fearless advocate for Ohio. And people ask him all the time, well, why are you working so hard for Senator Clinton. He says, because I know her, I've been working with her, and I need a partner in the White House because Ohio needs a president who is going to work with your governor, to work with your elected officials, to produce the solutions that you deserve to have. So thanks to everybody who is here with me. And I want to, before I get started here, to just say two other quick things.

One is that apparently the Lucas County board of elections has so many people trying to early vote that they had to open yesterday. And it's really important for as many of you to try to early vote today as you can because we need you to not only vote yourself but to help us get everybody to the polls. We have a great team of volunteers and supporters here in Toledo. But there's so much demand that they sure could use some extra help calling people, picking up people, taking people to vote. So if you haven't voted and you're willing to help us tomorrow, go to the Lucas County board of election. It really would be a great experience for you to be part of this campaign because I feel really good about what's going to happen right here in Ohio tomorrow.

And I also want to thank all of you for giving Chelsea such a warm welcome here at the university. She had a wonderful time. And I appreciate everybody who turned out to see her. But Bill's in Texas at this moment, but he's been spending a lot of time here in Ohio. I don't know if any of you have seen him as he's traveled around, but he and I both feel very much at home here and we know how important it is that Ohio has a president, who as the governor says is a fighter, is a doer, is a champion for the people of Ohio.

And what I want to ask you to consider as you move toward this important primary election choice tomorrow is who would you hire for this job? You know, in elections you can vote for or against a person based on anything. And that's our right. You know in our system nobody's vote is more valuable than anybody else's, which is why it was so important that you threw out the Republicans in '06 so we can be sure your votes count in '08 here in Ohio. But as you think about this election, I want you to imagine that when the next president is inaugurated on January 20th, 2009, less than a year from now, waiting in that Oval Office is going to be a stack of problems.

You know, we are going to have to go in and clean up after George Bush, and I don't know about you but it took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush. It's going to take a Clinton to clean up after the second Bush. Because President Bush is going to just leave this big mess for his successor. You know, we've got two wars going on. We've got to end the war in Iraq and win the war in Afghanistan and go after the people and bring them to justice who attacked us. We've got an economy that is not working for most Americans. It works fine if you're wealthy and well connected --

COLLINS: Once again, just a little bit of what Hillary Clinton is saying to supporters there in Toledo, Ohio, before the big, big day tomorrow, as you know. If you would like to see more of this, you certainly can, just go to cnn.com/live.

Right now though we want to make sure that we get over to the Weather Center because, as we talk about these elections going on, I should say primary voting going on tomorrow, people always concerned about the weather. Is it going to be too cold or too yucky for me to go out and cast my vote?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: I know because are they going to melt if it rains on them? Come on.

COLLINS: I'm just saying.

MARCIANO: Come on, this is an election of a lifetime. You just got to do your duty, you've got to do your Democratic duty.

COLLINS: I agree.

MARCIANO: You know, because we live here in Atlanta, Heidi, and it's going to be a lot nicer here so it's easier for us to say. Look at this map for Ohio tomorrow, it does look to be pretty nasty, I would say. The northern quarter of the state is going to see rain starting tonight, change over to snow and sleet and freezing rain and Cleveland northeastward could see some ice begin to accumulate tomorrow afternoon. Now, it looks a little bit more promising for that to happen. South of us is going to be cold, miserable rain. And potentially some flooding rains at that. This is what our computer models are saying. A lot of red on the map that is never good. Two to four maybe as much as five inches of rain according to this model across the Ohio River Valley. So, you know, flooding a possibility there.

Here's where the storm is. It will continue to strengthen as it exit the center of it well down to the south. This is just kind of a preceding line, a wave developing along this front. We have had a tornado warning that has since expired just northeastern Texas but a pretty strong line about to head into Shreveport, Louisiana. This watch box, by the way, in effect until 1:00 local time for severe thunderstorms and potential thereof. We have seen a number of those. If not tornadoes popping up, straight line winds, you know, to 20 to 50, 60 or even 70 miles an hour. That's through for tonight and through possibly Mississippi tomorrow morning and then continue to press eastward tomorrow afternoon.

Here's your map for tomorrow afternoon. Looking pretty nasty. All sorts of different nasty colors on the map there, Heidi. Sorry about that. Looks like for folks in Vermont and Rhode Island. The bulk of the precip won't get there until late in the day tomorrow or tomorrow night. So, you want to head to the polls early. In Texas, you'll be fine.

COLLINS: All right. Texas will be fine.

MARCIANO: All right. That's the good news.

COLLINS: All right. We're watching all of them for everybody. Appreciate that, Rob.

MARCIANO: You got it.

COLLINS: Well, they're not just voting for a candidate, they're hiring their new boss.

The election and the troops in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Let's take you back to this developing story we told you about happening near Seattle. T.J. Holmes is in the NEWSROOM with the very latest now on these fires that were set in this really nice neighborhood. T.J. T.J. HOLMES, CNN, ANCHOR: Yes, really nice. Five homes we're told now. Here's we've got daylight on the scene now but still live picture here. These homes were -- about five we're being told now, but $2 million plus dollar homes in this upscale, this luxury subdivision just north of Seattle. We are told that some of these homes are destroyed, others of them may be able to salvage parts of them but some heavy damage going on here. A live picture we're getting now out of Woodinville, Washington. But suspicious fires are being called, by authorities there, because certainly -- certainly suspect that you could have five fires in five separate homes.

But also, the fire chief there is telling us they found the site at the scene, that says E.L.F. on it. Well, E.L.F. in that area has been known to stand for the Earth Liberation Front. This has been described as a radical environmental group. It has been known for separate incidents in the past in which they would take extreme measures to get their point across on environmental issues. The FBI has called this group, domestic terrorists.

But a sign at the scene, left with the letters E.L.F. on them. And some assumptions being made right now about what the E.L.F. stands for. So, that investigation is going on. The good news here at least is that no one that we know of has been injured in these fires. But this certainly suspect. The investigation continues now with just heartbreaking for folks who were trying to get these homes. Some of the homes were still under construction. But again, 2 plus million dollar homes, at least five of them burned. A couple of them, we know of destroyed, others may be able to salvage some of them. But just a mess out there. Now the investigation under way. ATF involved right now.

COLLINS: Wow. Yes, T.J. lived in Colorado quite some time ago and there was an event there where E.L.F. took the responsibility for the huge beautiful new ski lodge that was built in Veil, Colorado. And they burned that down. It was a huge, huge fire and later claimed responsibility, back in '98, I guess it was.

HOLMES: Yes. We got several incident in the past and some of those members have gone to jail, several trials and admitted responsibility for such acts. Something similar to here. No confirmation that it was them on this one but certainly a suspect.

COLLINS: All right, very good. T.J. Holmes, thank you.

HOLMES: All right.

COLLINS: U.S. troops serving in Iraq can vote in the primaries and the November election. So, what are their concerns? CNN's Barbara Starr just came back from Iraq where she spoke with troops on the font front line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Perhaps no Americans have more at stake in this election than the troops in Iraq. The next president of the United States almost certainly will determine when they come home. On a recent trip to Iraq I spoke to several troops about the political season. Command sergeant Major Marvin Hill is the senior enlisted soldier in Iraq.

COMMAND SGT. MARVIN HILL, U.S. ARMY: I have never seen in 30 years of service the amount of energy that our troopers are putting in to the election and how they are so in tune with what's going on back home.

STARR: Their worries are the same as many Americans.

HILL: I think they're mostly concerned with the economy and they're concerned with how this war is going to play out.

STARR: Voting may not be easy. Troops can logon to websites to download absentee ballots but they have to get them into the mail in time to be counted. That can be tough in remote areas like this near the Syrian border.

LT. COL. PETER BAUMGARTEN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We started encouraging the marines to vote as we were coming out here in October to make sure they could participate in the primary season.

STARR: In Fallujah where hundreds of marines died during the height of the insurgency, there is now great interest in the campaign.

HM2 OTHEA WILLIAMS, U.S. NAVY MEDICAL CORPSMAN: Watch the news, of course, or at the chow hall and then we have certain rooms that have cable in them so we catch the news there. Of course, we have Internet.

STARR: But the reality is here, the job comes first.

WILLIAMS: I spend more time-out here, doing this than I actually do have time to sit down and watch TV.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Barbara Starr now at the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, I know you were in the region talking to several military officials. What are they saying about the war rhetoric in the U.S. presidential campaign?

STARR: Well, you know, Heidi, on this trip we also went to several as you said, Persian Gulf countries and talked to military officials from those countries. They, too, are watching the election very closely, very carefully, throughout the region. Television, the Internet, all of that really bringing up-to-the-minute information to U.S. troops to the people across the Persian Gulf and of course, across the Arab world.

We found in these other countries, people we spoke to, as you would expect, I think, supporters for Senator Clinton, for Senator Obama, for Senator McCain, for all of them. But the question that we got from so many people in this part of the world is, what takes Americans so long to make a decision? Why do our campaigns last for close to a year? That's something we couldn't quite answer for them. But that was really one of the recurring themes that we heard. Heidi.

COLLINS: Did you tell them it's the media, we start earlier and earlier every election?

STARR: I think they kind of got that feeling. But it was interesting. They're watching that. And you know, it's not the type of government that they have in many parts of the world, so they find it very curious.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Barbara Starr from the Pentagon this morning. Thanks, Barbara.

STARR: Sure.

COLLINS: Hillary Clinton needs strong showings in Texas and Ohio tomorrow. So can she deliver? Maria Cardona is a Clinton campaign consultant. She's in Washington this morning. Thanks for being with us, Maria.

MARIA CARDONA, CLINTON CAMPAIGN CONSULTANT: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Listen, as you well know, the senator is behind in most of the Texas polls. So I wonder, what's the strategy in the next 24 hours?

CARDONA: Well actually the Texas polls, she might be a couple of points behind but it's definitely within the margin of error. So, everyone is calling it a dead heat. What I would point out, Heidi, is that a lot of the polls, especially in Texas, Latino voters are way under counted because a lot of them don't poll in Spanish. She has a huge, as you know, a huge following in the Latino community, huge support. So I don't think those polls are actually accurate. She's probably ahead in Texas when you count the 25 to 35 percent Latino electorate there. So, we feel very good about Texas.

COLLINS: This could be a surprise. This could be a Hillary Clinton state.

CARDONA: I think it could be a surprise. And we feel very good about where we are in Texas. Her message has been resonating. Her rallies have been incredibly popular. The message about economic and the Iraq war, absolutely resonating within Texas voting electorate.

COLLINS: Well, if you do believe the polls then, because you can't believe some and not others, I imagine. She's looking like she's ahead in a lot of the Ohio polling. What's the strategy there for the next 24 hours?

CARDONA: Well, I think for the next 24 hours we're going to continue to hone our message about the economy. Ohio voters are hurting. They are looking towards candidates who will actually give them solutions to the problems that they face every day. So many people have been working so hard yet they can hardly get ahead. They can't afford health insurance. The mortgage foreclosure issue has been a big problem. And Senator Clinton has been absolutely on the stump every single day communicating with these voters about the real solutions that she be will bring to them. And I think it's going to work.

COLLINS: Well, the fact of the matter is Senator Clinton has lost the last 11 primaries in a row. Is it possible for her to stop the momentum of Obama?

CARDONA: I think that it is. And again, I feel very good about where we are in Texas and Ohio. And frankly, I think that if Senator Clinton wins in Texas and Ohio it's going to be a big problem for Senator Obama because people are going to start saying, like you just said that his momentum has been halted and that he can't close the deal. I think that will be a big problem for him. If she does well in Texas and Ohio, it's going to be a brand new ball game starting tomorrow morning.

COLLINS: We have heard an awful lot about experience in this race, specifically between these two candidates of the Democratic side. Listen with me, if you would to Senator Obama as he responds to that experience question. This was yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know what all that experience got her because I have enough experience to know that if you have a National Intelligence Estimate and the chairman of the national -- chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says, you should read this, this is why I'm voting against the war that you should probably read it. I don't know how much experience you need for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Are you concerned at all that any time, you know, she brings up the experience, you know he just has the chance to talk about the Iraq war and how he voted on the Iraq war?

CARDONA: Well, I think the fact of the matter is, Heidi, it's very easy for Senator Obama to talk about how he would have voted and he wasn't even there in 2002. And in fact, when he did come to the Senate in 2004, he said that he doesn't really know how he would have voted. On Iraq votes in the senate, Senator Clinton and Senator Obama are absolutely the same. So I think it's very easy to be able to talk about that, but when you weren't actually there to deliver the vote, it's comparing apples and oranges. And I think another thing, Heidi, you know you hear a lot about Obama supporters and how they are filled with hope because of his speeches and because of how he talks so well, I think the American people deserve more than just to hope that their candidate is going to be ready and is going to be a good president on day one. Hillary Clinton supporters not just hope that she will be ready and a good president on a day one, they know that she will.

COLLINS: All right. We appreciate your insight certainly from the Clinton campaign side of things. Maria Cardona, thanks so much.

The mortgage crisis. Your home can take a hit from foreclosures down the street. So what you need to know, coming up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody. Monday morning now. 10:30 Eastern Time. I want to get to this story. A U.S. air strike overnight in the East African nation of Somalia. A military officials says CNN -- or tells CNN, that is, the strike was aimed at a facility in southern Somalia where there were, quote, "known terrorist affiliated with al Qaeda." A local official says the strike destroyed two homes and killed three women and three children. The military says it is still assessing the strike and cannot confirm casualties.

Tense standoff in South America. Venezuela and Ecuador moving troops to borders with Colombia this morning. The action comes after Colombia killed a top rebel leader on Ecuadorian soil over the weekend. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he would have declared war if Colombian troops attacked targets in his country. The rebel killed was a top leader. His group has fought for decades to overthrow Colombia's government.

The mortgage crisis. Foreclosures in your neighborhood affect your home's value, even if you're payment history is perfect. Today Gerri Willis is joining us now from Slavin (ph) Village, part of the Cleveland. The community has about, I guess, 1,000 abandoned homes and 10 percent of the housing stock.

Hi there, Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Heidi. Good to see you. Yes, one in 10 homes in this neighborhood are in foreclosure. You, know I give you the numbers all the time, Heidi, on this score. What I want to show you is the reality of foreclosure. Check this out. This house is the no in foreclosure now, but soon will be. Vandals came into this house, ripped the sheetrock right off the wall, as you can see, only to pull out a copper wiring, which they could then sell. So really nasty situation here.

Look at this, the owners went so fast, they left behind a child's toys, a teddy bear, and a little doll. The windows are out here. It's a real mess no matter you look. Kind of hard to get around. But this community is really suffering, Heidi.

COLLINS: Talk a little bit, Gerri, because some people might actually be surprised by this, about the home value, your own home value, that goes down when somebody in your neighborhood forecloses.

WILLIS: That's right. You don't have to worry about the value of the homes that are in foreclosure so much as your own home's value. If you have a home in foreclosure in your neighborhood you'll see your value go down about 1 percent. Imagine the folks here in Ohio, in Cleveland actually, 85,000 homes are expected to go into foreclosure. So you just keep reducing the values of the homes. Real estate agents don't want to come to the neighborhood because they think it's a bad neighborhood. You start a spiral, in effect, which really devastates home values.

COLLINS: If you're the guy who has the perfect background in making your mortgage payment every week -- or every month and then somebody down the road forecloses, how do you protect yourself and your investment in your home?

WILLIS: Well, you've really got to think about what's going on in your neighborhood. If you do have a foreclosure in your neighborhood, form a neighborhood activist group, a community group, that will get together, cut the grass on that lawn, maintain the property, make sure that it looks like it's actually lived in, even if it's not. And if the situation is more extreme -- we've seen this in neighborhoods all over the country, really -- you want to call the cops, you want to call the police and let them know there's a problem in your neighborhood. Because as you can see here, these properties can become eyesores, they can become dangerous.

And of course, if you are having problems with your own mortgage right now it's time to get help. You've got to call your lender, or call 888-995-hope. That's the Hope Now alliance. They can help. Or on your browser go to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. That's HUD.gov.

COLLINS: All right. And while we are on the topic, Gerri, what can you go to increase the value of your own home?

WILLIS: Well, we always think a lot about renovations, what can I do to improve my house. But in this market, you want to be particularly careful about how much money you're investing in your house. You don't want to become the white elephant in the neighborhood and invest too much money. But some upgrades, small upgrades, will make sense -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Gerri Willis, inside one of the foreclosed home there's in Cleveland. Appreciate that. Thank you, Gerri.

Primary showdown, when the smoke clears, will one Democrat be left standing? We'll hear from the experts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Investigators in two states are trying now to figure out exactly how the poison ricin would end up in a Las Vegas hotel room. Authorities say they don't think the incident is linked to terrorism.

CNN's Kara Finnstrom has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI agents in decontamination gear combed a Utah home and three storage units for any trace of the powerful poison ricin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are taking all the precautions necessary.

FINNSTROM: The agents searched the home of Thomas Tholen, a cousin of Roger Von Bergendorff, who lives here for a while and whose sudden drop into a coma in Las Vegas triggered this whole frightening chain of events.

TAMMY EWELL, NEIGHBOR: He wasn't social. He was very quiet and kind of kept to himself down in the basement at their house. They were kind enough to take him in for a while and help him get back on his feet.

FINNSTROM: (on camera) A relative of Von Bergendorff says the 57-year-old was struggling financially, and moved here to Las Vegas to design artwork for slot machines.

(voice-over): On February 14th, Von Bergendorff he called 911 from his room at this hotel, saying he was having trouble breathing. He's been hospitalized in critical condition ever since.

On February 26th police say hotel managers preparing to clear Von Bergendorff's room here found guns. Authorities then searched the room and discovered anarchist literature, with tabbed references to ricin.

CAPT. JOE LOMBARDO, LAS VEGAS POLICE: Acting on that information they requested the presence of our armored team to do a test of the room for any presence of ricin. There was no positive test within the room and the room was determined not to be contaminated.

FINNSTROM: But two days later Von Bergendorff's cousin, Thomas Tholen, handed over vials of ricin he said he found while clearing out the room.

TIMOTHY FUHRMAN, FBI: We are trying to figure out the circumstances with respect to Mr. Von Bergendorff's association with ricin.

FINNSTROM: Authorities say they don't know how someone could have found what trained search teams failed to turn up, One of many questions remaining as the investigation moves forward.

Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Luxury homes on fire. Are radicalists behind these flames? The developing story and live pictures, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: The Democrats' version of Groundhog Day. Tuesday's results could mean seven more weeks of campaigning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Two big prizes up for grabs tomorrow. Will the Texas and Ohio primaries be the places where Hillary Clinton stops Barack Obama's winning streak? Well, here to tackle that, along with other primary questions, Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus and Democratic strategist, Kelly Fero.

Thanks guys for being with us...

CHERI JACOBUS, Republican STRATEGIST: Thanks, Heidi.

COLLINS: ... one day before the big event. I want to begin with this, obviously drawing on both of your experiences with campaigns. Anything that these candidates can do now in these last 24 hours?

And Cheri, I'll start with you.

JACOBUS: You know, I think that Hillary Clinton needs to continue hitting hard. She's been treating Barack Obama with kid gloves, almost afraid to criticize him. They've been a little bit tone deaf on some of the criticisms, particularly when Bill Clinton was out there hitting hard. But she seems to be getting a lit bit better at it.

And if she can really make the difference in the next 24 hours and hit him on these substantive issues that she should be hitting him on, such as his experience -- inexperience, rather and giving very specific examples about what the ramifications are to that inexperience, and then she can make some headway. She's only just now starting to do that.

COLLINS: In fact, I think that you have said that she's finally started campaigning like a grown-up.

JACOBUS: She is. She's starting to campaign like a grown-up and not being afraid of him. Unfortunately, it's taken her a little bit of a long time to get to that point. Perhaps they didn't realize the real threat of Barack Obama or didn't quite know how to campaign against him.

She was running sort of above the fray and not really responding to criticism. So now she finally seems to be acting like a grown-up in this campaign, which is what it needs, quite frankly.

COLLINS: Kelly, what do you think about this last 24-hour push before the primary?

KELLY FERO, Democratic STRATEGIST: I agree with Cheri. It's -- to resort to the most over used cliche in this election season, it's tight as a tick down here in Texas.

COLLINS: I like that cliche.

JACOBUS: I haven't even heard it.

COLLINS: It's tight as a tick.

FERO: Well we just invented one then. But this is -- this really is Clinton country down here. But Cheri's right; she has not run the best campaign and so Obama has been able to basically bring this to a tie as we head into tomorrow.

Both candidates are going to be here all day today and Obama is going to spend tonight in San Antonio and Hillary has a rally here in Austin where I am this evening. So they're going right down to the wire.

COLLINS: Well I know that you are from Texas, Kelly. But you actually say that for Hillary Clinton, Ohio is more important.

FERO: It's a general election race. It's important to the Democratic nominee in November. And so the dollar you invest in this primary in Ohio really has a value added and a longer-term effect.

So the election here in Texas has been a bit of a -- I called it a Potemkin village primary, and been criticized for it. But it is -- only this weekend have they really shifted into the high gear here in Texas.

COLLINS: Well, Cheri, I wonder, if Hillary does lose both Texas and Ohio, what should happen next?

JACOBUS: You know, it depends how close the margins are. Because then Pennsylvania is going to be everything for her. If she wins Ohio and say loses Texas then she can slingshot over to nearby Pennsylvania, right next to Ohio and do very, very well and she'd live to fight another day.

I think it would be disappointing for everybody, including Republicans, if she were to simply drop out. I don't think she'll do that. We've seen these numbers kind of go up and down over the last couple of days. It seemed like there's a big Obama surge.

I think that the Clinton comparisons on experience and, again, raising the question about just how dangerous it could be with an inexperienced president like Barack Obama -- I think it's working. I think that is why things are tightening up.

And ultimately, that's good for Republicans because John McCain, of course, has way more experience than both of these candidates. He's sort of the -- he's the outsider's insider in Washington. And when you look at --

COLLINS: Well that's what I want to ask Kelly actually. Because I want to get perspective from the opposite side.

Kelly, what do you think the best outcome tomorrow would be for John McCain?

FERO: Well, I don't think that he faces a happy prospect no matter which of these Democrats is the nominee. It's -- this is a change year. Every election is about change or the status quo. And this is a as big a change election as I've seen since 1960, which by the way was the last time the Democrats carried Texas with LBJ on the ticket. So, I think that Texas is in play. We've kind of down played it here just recently. COLLINS: OK. Let me then make the point a little bit clearer. Who do you think he's going to be running against? After this primary, on Tuesday, who do you think McCain, assuming he will be the nominee, will run against?

FERO: I think we will have a clearer answer to that about 2:00 a.m. Wednesday.

COLLINS: Come on. I'm trying to get you to say something there.

All right. To the two of you, we certainly appreciate your insight from both sides of the fence. Cheri Jacobus, a Republican strategist, and Kelly Fero, Democratic strategist.

Thanks guys.

JACOBUS: Thank you.

COLLINS: The mouse that roared. One small state going from primary season after thought to big chiefs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Good morning, once again, everybody. You're with CNN. I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Monday, the 3rd of March. Here's what's on the run down. Hillary Clinton going for a convincing comeback in Texas and Ohio tomorrow. It could hurry (ph) her a ticket to the Pennsylvania primary.

Young voters, will they be Barack Obama's ticket to victory? We asked our guest from Rock the Vote.

And the streets flooded with felons? Starting today, crack convicts can ask for early release. Get out of jail free, in the NEWSROOM.

Presidential politics, the pressure builds. Today the top four candidates are focusing on the delegate rich states of Texas and Ohio. Primaries there tomorrow and in Vermont and Rhode Island.

Among Democrats, Hillary is looking to interrupt Barack Obama's momentum. He's won the last eleven state contests and leads her by about 100 delegates, according to our estimate.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com