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Barack Obama Trying to Close the Deal; Israeli Ground Troops Pulled Out of Northern Gaza; Luxury Homes go up in Flames

Aired March 03, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Good morning, everybody. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Monday, March 3rd.
Here's what's on the rundown.

Election eve crunch time for Hillary Clinton. For John McCain a chance to clinch the Republican nomination.

Early voting points to big turnouts at Texas and Ohio. Can poll workers handle the crowds?

War on your pocketbooks. War in Iraq. War at the border. Talking to you about the big problems, all aboard the CNN Election Express in the NEWSROOM.

Quickly, I want to take to you to a story happening right now here in Georgia. Apparently there has been a school bus had overturned. We have some new video in to us now. Some pretty dramatic and unsettling video, that's for sure.

WSB, our affiliate here in Georgia. This is near Canton, Georgia, if you're familiar with the area. We are learning that -- authorities are telling us two children have been critically injured after that school bus there overturned. Again, this is eastern Cherokee County near Canton, Georgia.

All we know at this point is that apparently there was a 911 call, of course, that came in, single vehicle accident, meaning the bus only. Apparently 28 other children did suffer injuries, but were not hospitalized, and no reports about the driver being injured either, but, again we do know at least two children have been critically injured in this bus turnover.

You see all of the rescue workers there on the scene. Pretty upsetting, as they were making their way to school this morning. Parents have been asked to gather at a nearby high school there to try and get more information. Sequoyah High School is where they are going to be gathering. Not exactly sure where this bus was headed, though, to what school this morning, but we are trying to get more information, as you might imagine.

Again, new video coming into us from our affiliate WSB here in Georgia. It's at Cherokee County near Canton where we've learned that at least two children have been critically injured in this as we continue to get more information. We will try to bring it to you. Not much of a weather situation. Sometimes you try to talk about what the weather is, because of slick roads or possible slick roads, but that's not the case this morning, at least when I came in.

You see the sun shining on those treetops there. So we will continue to watch this for you as it develops and as we try to get more information about those two kids this morning.

To another story that we are obviously following very closely today -- 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 11 state contests.

John McCain could clinch the GOP nomination. He holds a staggering lead over Mike Huckabee who still refuses to quit.

Later this hour we'll go live to a Huckabee rally in Texas.

Also this hour we're going to be visiting a Hillary Clinton rally. That will be in Ohio. Things are getting nasty again between her and Obama. She's talking about experience. He is 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, and 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, you say, well, that was beautiful.

But what did it mean? What's going to happen? What can I count on? How's 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: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We, of course, have CNN crews deployed all across the country from tomorrow's battleground states to the nation's capital. The best political team on television bringing you the most extensive coverage. Still the pulse of voters. CNN stacked up the latest polls and crunched the numbers. In Texas, number 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. Eight percent says they were still undecided. In Ohio, four surveys, they showed Clinton at 48 percent, Obama at 43 percent and a 9 percent undecided in that state.

So the undecided crowd in Ohio, there's enough of you out there to tip the scales to either Democrat.

Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is on the phone now from Cleveland.

So what's the deal? Are they going to make up their minds, Candy?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they'll have to come tomorrow when they enter those polling booths but the fact of the matter is, I think you can hear in those sound bites you played right before this, the intensity that this race has taken on. The stakes could not be higher for Hillary Clinton. Her own husband has said if she doesn't win Ohio and Texas, she will not be the nominee. So that really raises the bar high for Hillary Clinton.

But they are just as high almost for Barack Obama. He is sort of sailing in to these two big states and we must remember that Vermont and Rhode Island are also having primaries tomorrow, but the focus has been on Ohio and Texas. Barack Obama comes in with 11 wins. He really has the momentum. If Hillary Clinton takes them both, she's totally stopped his momentum as they move forward and they are beginning to run out of primary states, frankly.

I mean the next is Wyoming. There's a Mississippi primary. The real big one will be late in April in Pennsylvania. So if she wins both, they move on, but she has definitely stopped him in his tracks if she takes both of them. So hear that intensity. It has been in Ohio about jobs, jobs, jobs, particularly about that North American Free Trade Agreement.

COLLINS: Right.

CROWLEY: NAFTA, really, really unpopular here in Ohio -- Heidi.

COLLINS: In fact, what's going on with Obama and NAFTA?

CROWLEY: Well, the backdrop of this is, about a week ago, Canadian Television ran a story saying that an official from the Obama campaign met with an official from Canada and basically said, don't pay too much attention to all of this anti-NAFTA talk. Canada, of course, being part of that trade agreement, because there's this protectionist trend that is going through the Midwest in particular. So look at this more as political positioning than, in fact, about how he actually feels about NAFTA.

It was denied by the Canadian embassy. It was denied by the Obama campaign. Now surfaces a memo that the Associated Press got ahold of that the summary of the meeting this official in fact had with the Canadian consulate figure in Chicago. It is a summary, but it does say exactly that. That Canadian officials ought to kind of ignore this anti-NAFTA talk.

Now, the Obama campaign says, wait a second. This is their summary of what happened. It's not what was said. Nonetheless, if it's coming 24 hours before an election where you have 9 percent still undecided in a state that is very anti-NAFTA, this will take some fairly quick footwork for the Obama campaign, because there is no greater issue here than NAFTA.

It also sort of undermines that whole straight shooting, we-need- to-change-the-way-we-do-business-in-Washington, saying one thing, meaning another.

COLLINS: Right.

CROWLEY: So it's not unsurvivable, but it's certainly not great timing and something that the Obama campaign, I suspect, has to deal with.

COLLINS: Yes. It usually comes down to the timing, doesn't it? All right. CNN's Candy Crowley on the phone from Cleveland, Ohio.

Thank you, Candy.

Well, plenty of you will cast your ballot tomorrow base on your wallet.

CNN senior business correspondent Ali Velshi is covering America with the CNN Election Express. Getting a lot of miles there's, Ali. Today he is in the Texas town of Junction.

Hey there, cowboy.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm not sure we're in junction. We went to sleep in Junction last night, but it's freezing here. We feel like we might be in Ohio. We are in Junction, Texas. It is on the eastern edge of west Texas. Some people have referred to it as the front porch of west Texas so slightly different economic issues.

People are going to work right now. I haven't seen -- I have a very little that isn't a truck around here. And -- so people use a lot of gasoline, a lot of diesel. It's a hunting town, sort of a center for hunting. There are a lot of deer processing operations here. So people are dependent on gasoline.

It's also got a bit of a conservative bent to it. I spoke to some people here in Junction to get their sense of what they're thinking about this election. Here's what I heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're fairly like local Republican town, I guess. Everyone, you know, pretty conservative.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really like what Obama was saying, but, you know, I haven't really paid as much attention to Hillary as I should have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are saying go out and vote for Barack. They don't want Hillary and stuff like that. It's just small town politics, I guess.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do like John McCain. I do. I'm just -- I'm trying to -- I'm still undecided, like I said. I'm just not sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Heidi, as you and I talked about, we've been through Texas for the last week and a half stopping in little towns in different parts of the state, and we are still getting the same message, generally speaking, and that is, that the economy is the number one issue. Gas prices and inflation are very big issues here.

Amongst Republican, the immigration issue tends to come up a lot more than it does amongst Democrats. Amongst Democrats, probably after the economy health care is the biggest issue around here, but not a single person we've spoken to is not interested or not voting or not engaged so all eyes are on the primaries tomorrow here in Texas. Everybody's going to go out.

We really think the turnout will be quite spectacular. We're going to do what we've done all week. We're going to push off pretty soon to the next town where we're going to be when those results start coming in for the primary -- Heidi?

COLLINS: OK. So where is that going to be again, Ali? Do you know at this point? Where are you going next?

VELSHI: I think we're going to be in Bandera, Texas next. We're going to be in the cowboy capital of the world talking to cowboys, as the results come in, about what they think of it.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. We'll be watching. Thanks so much. CNN's Ali Velshi from Junction, Texas today. Appreciate it, Ali.

Getting out the vote. High turnout expected for tomorrow's primaries. What it means for voters and the candidates, that's coming up in about 20 minutes from now.

Many of you in tomorrow's primary states didn't wait to cast ballots. Here's a look at early voting now in Ohio. These i-Report pictures were sent to us by Michael Candelori at (INAUDIBLE) university. That's in Grandville, Ohio.

We are counting on you to help us out tomorrow. In fact, log on to the i-Report page at CNN.com and send us your pictures and videos from your polling place. We are also counting on the weather. Rob Marciano is standing by to tell us a little bit more about what to expect for tomorrow's voting.

And, you know, we keep on talking about this turnout, Rob, a lot of times the weather, obviously, really has something to do with that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Yes. Good. Very good. All right. Rob, we'll check back with you a little later on. Thank you.

Quickly, I want to get some more information to you about another story that we're following this morning. A fire in Seattle.

T.J. Holmes is in the NEWSROOM to give us the very latest. What's the deal here?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've a fire, got fires, really going on here. Up to six fires set at six different homes outside of Seattle. This is the scene, still live. Firefighters still fighting these fires.

What you got six, according to the Associated Press, six homes that was set on fire. This is a street of dreams, model home development, again, just north of Seattle.

Now certainly firefighters are calling right now these fires suspicious. You don't just have six fires pop up like this in the same neighborhood and a sign, according to authorities there, was left that said ELF on it. Now ELF is known in that area as the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group, as they're being described, and also someone -- a group that the FBI has called domestic terrorists. They have been known for extreme measures in fighting environmental causes, by setting fires, and being involved in what authority would describe as terrorist attacks.

Now, again, a sign was left that said ELF. No official claim of responsibility just yet by the ELF, the Earth Liberation Front, by certainly suspicious fires in this area and a group that certainly authorities in the northwest -- section of this country are familiar with.

Also need to tell you that no injuries right now being reported in association with these fire, but something definitely we're keep an eye on as we get more information, possibly from authorities this afternoon, and maybe even a claim of responsibility. But right now we know a sign was left, at least, that says ELF at the scene. So we're keeping an eye on.

COLLINS: Wow. All right. Please do that. Let us know, T.J., what more you find out. Appreciate that.

Also back want to get back to another story we've been following this morning. A bus turned over here in Georgia. Cherokee County, to be specific. We're looking at more of that video from the scene where we have learned reports of two children critically injured.

I want to get out to Sergeant Jay Baker. He's with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office to learn more about this, if we can.

Sergeant, if you can hear me, can you tell us what you know about this accident that happened this morning?

SGT. JAY BAKER, CHEROKEE CO., GA., SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Yes. We had a bus carrying approximately 25 students to Dean Rusk Middle School and the Sequoyah High School. As I've said, it was loaded with 25 students. Seven have been transported to North Bolton, one was from the Scottish Rock, one's been released, and 16 have been transported to North Side Cherokee.

Now the worst injury, I heard you say critical, actually they're described -- they're calling it moderate. They lost -- they lost consciousness on the scene but did regain it.

COLLINS: Good.

BAKER: That (INAUDIBLE). Fortunately, no one was severely injured. We do have numerous cuts and scrapes and bruises, but considering what happened, it could have been a lot worse.

COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely, especially when we look at these pictures. Really upsetting to see a bus on its side. We had the same thing happened, I believe, it was in Maryland just last week. Never really know what could have happened until, obviously, you talk to the driver and get more information, unless people are telling you from the sheriff's office who are maybe out there what they believe could have happened here?

BAKER: Well, obviously, that's under investigation. It looks like the bus driver's tires went off the side of the road and tore (INAUDIBLE) and ended up flipping and hitting a telephone pole. But -- and that's preliminary. Still an investigation (INAUDIBLE).

COLLINS: OK. Well, very good. We appreciate that and glad to see injuries seem to be a little bit less critical than we had first imagined.

Appreciate your time, Sergeant Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department. We'll keep our eye on that story for you, of course, this morning.

Meanwhile now, a U.S. strike in Somalia. The targets, terrorists linked to al Qaeda.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Crisis campaigning. Will experience make Hillary Clinton a winner?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: It matters who's in the White House when those calls come at 3:00 a.m.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Fight to the finish in Ohio and Texas, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live breaking news, unfolding developments, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: We are watching all things politics, of course. On this very day, one day before four states will be voting and a lot of people are saying, obviously, very critical vote on the Democratic side.

To the Republican side now, quickly I want to tell you about another McCain endorsement -- two, actually. We had heard that was going to be a major endorsement this morning. And here is who they're coming from.

Mississippi governor and former RNC chairman Haley Barber as well as Georgia governor Sonny Perdue. So both of those gentlemen going to endorse John McCain. Likely to happen today.

We'll keep an eye on that one for you as well.

Also happening this morning, a U.S. missile strike in east Africa. Who's the target, though?

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is at her post this morning with more information on all of this.

Hi there, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Heidi.

Details very sketchy at this hour but U.S. officials confirming overnight there was what they call a precision missile strike against a target in southern Somalia near the border with Kenya, a target that they say was in an area where there were known terrorists, al Qaeda terrorists with affiliations.

It is believed there are al Qaeda's operations in east Africa. They're not saying exactly what the weapons the U.S. used other than to say it was a precision strike and why is that important, Heidi? Because there are already news agency reports emerging from the region that civilians may have been killed in this military operation, and the U.S. wants to go to great lengths to say that it takes all precautions when it launches these types of missions, to ensure civilians are not killed, but the reality is at this hour, they don't really know yet or they are not saying who they struck on the ground, whether they achieved their goal of hitting the terrorists that they were looking for. As I say, information about all of this, very sketchy -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. I imagine so at this point. This is not the first time, though, the U.S. has carried out strikes like this.

STARR: That's right. It was back in actually January of 2007 when the military did conduct other air strikes against similar targets inside Somalia and at that time, they said they were going after people that they believed were responsible for those 1998 al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

By all accounts in those strikes, just over a year ago, those people escaped. So it will be very interesting to see if they picked up another lead on them, and that's who they went after again this time -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Barbara Starr watching the story for us, our Pentagon correspondent. Appreciate it, Barbara.

STARR: Sure.

COLLINS: On to something completely different now. Do you snore? You could be at greater risk for heart disease, believe it or not. We'll tell you why coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Now to news about your health. Some 40 million of you have sleep problems. That's according to the National Institutes of Health.

So how do you sleep and how long? They actually say a whole lot. Let's turn to our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

I have so many questions on this topic, but I'll let you start.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: One thing is that it's getting worse and worse.

COLLINS: Sure.

COHEN: And I think maybe instinctively we all felt that, that with the world getting busier, our lives getting busier, that things are getting worse. But in fact, a CDC study came out that said fewer and fewer Americans are getting six hours. Even just six hours of sleep.

COLLINS: Forget eight.

COHEN: Right. Forget eight. More and more are getting fewer than six hours. And experts say we need seven to nine. And that's a problem not just because you're grumpy, that's bad, not you.

COLLINS: No. Never grumpy.

COHEN: I don't mean you. I don't mean you. That wasn't a personal thing. Everyone's grumpy when they don't get enough sleep.

COLLINS: Sure.

COHEN: But it also can make you more vulnerable to getting all sorts of diseases. Let's take a look at what researchers have found diseases that are linked to not getting enough sleep. Heart disease, diabetes, obesity and depression, all of those, you've got -- you got more of a chance of getting those diseases if you don't get enough sleep.

And you know, obesity, again, sort of just instinctively you sort of know that if you don't get enough sleep you're kind of eating more. But really studies have shown that not getting enough sleep can make you fat.

COLLINS: Yes. And you're not going to feel like working out, either, if you're exhausted.

COHEN: Right. That is if you're exhausted. That's right.

COLLINS: But there's something else in the study, too, about snoring? Right?

COHEN: Right. There was another study about snoring that was really fascinating. They looked at -- again instinctively people know that if you don't -- if you snore you're not getting enough sleep. You might be at more of a risk for getting certain diseases.

But this actually quantified it. The numbers are really pretty staggering.

Let's take a look at them.

If you snore loudly, you've got a 40 percent increased risk of getting high blood pressure, 30 percent more likely to have a heart attack and 67 percent more likely to have a stroke.

COLLINS: Wow.

COHEN: And researchers just aren't sure why but they think one of the reasons is that, if you snore loudly, there's a good chance you've sleep apnea and you're not taking in enough oxygen. That's not a good thing. We need oxygen.

COLLINS: Right. No, wow.

COHEN: Very important.

COLLINS: Wow, this is something that seems like a lot of people would be talking about.

COHEN: Yes.

COLLINS: No question about it.

So then if you get a better night's sleep and you don't snore, are you then not going to have heart disease or a stroke? I mean, obviously...

COHEN: You're not going to not have them, but you've sort of increased the odds of being healthier. You're going to be, chances are, a healthier person if you get a good night's sleep.

So let's talk about a couple of ways...

COLLINS: Yes. I'm listening.

COHEN: ...that you can get a good night's sleep. You're listening, OK.

First of all, don't go to bed hungry or full. OK. Either one of those...

COLLINS: It's not my problem.

COHEN: Right. Either one of those, you're not going to have such a great night's sleep. Pick sort of a middle ground. Also your bedroom should be dark, quiet and cool. And also try to keep a regular schedule. Try to go to bed and get up at the same time. That will really help.

Now, those are some really important things and also if you want to think about how to stop snoring, of course, that's the linked to the quality of sleep. Here are some tips. Try to lose weight. That is so crucial. Try to lose weight if you're overweight. Sleep on your side instead of on your back and if necessary, use airway devices, these are this sort of devices that can be strapped to your head. They're very attractive.

COLLINS: I thought you meant the nose band-aids or whatever those are.

COHEN: Well, that, too. But that's hardly a device. That's nothing compared to some of the things that your doctor can give you, so it help increase your air waves.

COLLINS: OK.

COHEN: Open the air waves.

COLLINS: Yes, wow, this is interesting. All right. Appreciate it. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: All right. We are watching your money, as always who are on CNN. We're going to take a look at the big board here. Just about ready to hear that opening bell. Actually (INAUDIBLE) not even up for us quite yet, but as we wait for the opening bell on this Monday morning, let's remember Friday, shall we? Maybe not.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average went down. There's the opening bell for you. But on Friday, down 316 point or so. Not a good way to end the week.

We're going to be watching all of the numbers alongside Susan Lisovicz coming up a little bit later on in the show.

We want to get you back to another story happening right now in Seattle. These fires that are very suspect. T.J. Holmes has been looking into it for us.

What's the latest now? Anything new to report, T.J.?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Suspects there, because, of course, you don't just have four to six homes -- just fire starts in those four to six homes in the same neighborhood at the same time. And that's what suspect. We still, Heidi -- the good word here no injuries to report. But these awesome pictures we're seeing here, four to six homes. This was a huge, luxury home development just north of Seattle. Woodinville, Washington is where this is. It's about 20 miles north of Seattle.

Police are now investigating, of course. But a sign was left, according to officials there that said E.L.F. E.L.F. as many officials in that area are familiar with stands for the Earth Liberation Front. This is a radical environment group. A group that the FBI has called domestic terrorists in the past, who had been responsible for many, over the years, different types of environmental act. Extreme environmental acts, but this possibly could be another one of them.

We don't know what the connection may be and what the beef to E.L.F. If they're involved, might have had, with this development and why they decided to start fires here. If in fact, that is the case and they are responsible. The investigators and the ATF now are certainly looking into any possible connection there. But again, no word of any injuries. That is certainly a good thing.

Some of these homes were still under construction. But the word is now anywhere between four and six homes were set on fire in this development. But the good word, no injuries to report. But, still, a lot of details certainly to come about exactly what was going on out here and if this group, the radical environmental group E.L.F. was in fact involved in this.

Heidi?

COLLINS: Oh, boy, weird to find a sign there. That's for sure.

HOLMES: Yes.

COLLINS: T.J. Holmes watching it for us in the NEWSROOM. Thanks, T.J.

HOLMES: All right.

COLLINS: In the Middle East now. Israeli ground troops pulled out of northern Gaza today. That ends Israel's nearly week-long offensive against Palestinian rockets floods. At least 110 Palestinians have been killed since fighting broke out last Wednesday. The assault prompted the Palestinian president to call off peace talks.

Tomorrow, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits the region. Despite the Israeli pullout, Gaza militants are still launching rockets into Southern Israel. Our correspondent in Gaza says militants fired at least 20 today. Israel warns another ground offensive is possible.

Barack Obama trying to close the deal. We'll talk to one Obama super delegate about the final push for Tuesday votes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Well, voters in Ohio and Texas are already breaking turnout records, and that's just for early voting. It's something you see a lot of this primary season. Michael McDonald is an associate professor of government and politics at George Mason University. He joins us from Washington this morning. Thanks for being here, Michael. So what about this turnout? I mean, it's a pretty big deal. Right?

MICHAEL MCDONALD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: Oh, yes. We've had about 41 million people so far participate either in a primary or caucus up to this point. And that's not including the 1.3 million people, approximately, who've already voted in Texas.

COLLINS: All right. So when you have big turnouts or when you expect big turnout, I should say, it means that those polling booths have to be prepared for that. If we threw up some video here, I think we're looking back to 2004 and some of these really long lines that were happening in Ohio. What do you think? Ohio and Texas, prepared for this?

MCDONALD: Well, Texas will be a little bit better prepared, because many of the people have already voted early. So they're will be less strain on the polling places in Texas. And this is a primary election. It's not like a general election. So this is, in some ways, a test run, once we get to the general election. Where if this level of interest continues, we could have -- this will be levels of voting that we haven't seen in a century in American politics.

COLLINS: Yes. It's really wild, isn't it? I mean, it's very exciting. Regardless of who you're voting for, just the amount of participation is great. But let's talk about early voting for a minute, because it seems like obviously it's really had an impact here. It's so easy to do now.

MCDONALD: It's all about convenience. So early voting is one way in which we've made it easier to vote. We have also vote centers where people can vote in any polling place within a local jurisdiction and then in some states like Wisconsin, we just saw high levels of turnout there. Had a lot to do with Election Day registration, where you don't have to register in advance of the election.

So we've made voting much easier in the United States and where it is easier to vote, more people vote.

COLLINS: Yes, definitely. And some people really like it and some people not liking them so much. But the electronic voting machines, they all ready to go?

MCDONALD: Well, you know, actually the problem isn't really the machines or the number of machines. That is a problem. But what we really have is a problem that's really underreported. As just the number of poll workers. We need to have people checking people in to vote, and so a lot of those long lines, you'll see long lines of people trying to get to the poll -- the places, but they're empty machines sitting there because they still haven't checked the registration and that.

So what voters can do to help us out is before you go, make sure that, you know, your registration is up to date and make sure that you're going to the correct polling place. That will help the poll workers in advance, so they don't have to sift through whether or not you're really in the right polling place or not. And then, if you're really motivated, you know, we're going to need some help in this election coming up. So if you want to volunteer to be a poll worker that would be great.

COLLINS: Yes. I was just going to ask, what does that take? In case, there are people out there who will say, well, hey, I'll help.

MCDONALD: Yes. You just need to contact your local election officials, and they would be more than willing to have you help out with democracy in the United States.

COLLINS: Yes. All right, as we get so close here to tomorrow, what are the candidates able to do just 24 hours before? Just for even more turnout? Of course, hopefully for them, but just overall turnout even increasing it further?

MCDONALD: Well, I've been very interested in following what the Obama campaign has been doing in Ohio. It's very reminiscent of what Bush did in 2004 with his 72-hour campaign. They've got a lot of volunteers. They're going out door-to-door talking to people, and as it turns out, the campaigns doing experiments with this over the last few years. And they found that face-to-face contact is the most effective way to get people out to vote. It's not a phone call, not a mailer...

COLLINS: So now, everybody, is going door-to-door?

MCDONALD: Door-to-door. Old-fashioned, low-tech.

COLLINS: Right, but not everybody's doing that?

MCDONALD: Well, most of the campaigns are doing it. It's just that Obama has this wealth of money and volunteers behind him. So he's able to have a larger organization to do that sort of organizing.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we will be watching very, very closely. Of course, all of the coverage will be right here on CNN for everybody to watch those results. Thanks so much. Michael McDonald from the George Mason University out of D.C. today. Thank you.

MCDONALD: Thank you.

COLLINS: Rob Marciano standing by now with more on the weather situation as we continue to talk about voting for tomorrow. What do you say?

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: You send them, somebody reads them, and then they're gone. Well, not so fast. A new gadget finds erased text messages. Tell you all about that.

But first, saving for your retirement. If you didn't get started in your 20s, there's still plenty you can do in your 40s. CNN's Christine Romans is "Right on Your Money."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not everyone gets a head start on retirement. Some people have to play catch-up.

JACK OTTER, DEPUTY EDITOR, BEST LIFE: If you're in your 40s, you really need to do two things. Number one is simply to start saving more. The rules for the 401K allow people to put away up to $15,500 in their 40s. Actually, you absolutely should be maxing that out. With any luck, you're getting a company match. So you might be putting away as much as 20 grand a year.

ROMANS: Also, consider your investments potential for growth.

OTTER: You really have to invest more aggressively. You're going to need to punch up that growth by putting a larger percentage in stocks than in bonds. So that means you're going to want to invest in stock funds, ideally an index funds, and you're going to weight that pretty heavily. Maybe 80 percent, 90 percent of your portfolio which means you're going to see some ugly years. There's no question about it.

But over the next, say, 25 years, if you're age 40. You're looking at maybe retiring around 65. Over 25 years, you should get much better growth from stocks and you may very well have to be in a position where you say, you know what, I can't retire at 60 to 65. I'm going to have to put it off until age 67. So be prepared for that.

ROMANS: Another great way to save is a Roth IRA.

OTTER: That's an Individual Retirement Account and a great thing about it is that you pay no taxes when you withdraw the money.

ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Quickly, I want to take you live now to Toledo, Ohio, where we see the beginnings of a rally for Hillary Rodham Clinton. She will be taking to the microphones there shortly, and we will bring that to you just as soon as it happens. Once again, out of Toledo, Ohio this morning. Hillary Clinton.

11 in a row, Barack Obama on a big winning streak with four more states in play tomorrow, as you know. David Wilhelm is a super delegate and Obama supporter. But he was once a campaign chairman for Bill Clinton. Hmmm, very interesting. He's in Columbus, Ohio this morning for us.

All right, David, let's talk about this a bit. You have actually said Senator Obama's campaign has demonstrated, quote, "Masterful leadership." What's made it so great? Remembering that you are an Obama supporter?

DAVID WILHELM, OBAMA SUPPORTER: Well, I think they're very clear about what their strategic advantage is in this race. It's change. He has been about change since day one of this campaign. He's been very disciplined, very focused, very clear, and I think it has benefited him greatly during the course of this campaign.

COLLINS: But wait. Is it better than Bill Clinton's campaign that you chaired back in 1992?

WILHELM: Well, I see a lot of similarities, frankly. I think in '92, Bill Clinton's campaign was about hope and idealism and we had tremendous enthusiasm among a wide array of new voters. And here in Ohio and across the country, this time it's Barack Obama's campaign that I think has captured the mantle of hope and energy and enthusiasm. And that's one of the reasons why I think I'm on the right side of history here.

COLLINS: Well, as you well know, Senator Clinton is certainly talking about her experience, every chance that she gets. In fact, listen with me, if you would, to a part of her speech from yesterday.

WILHELM: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It matters who's in the White House, when those calls come at 3:00 a.m.

(APPLAUSE)

You never know what crisis is going to happen. And we need a president and a commander-in-chief ready to answer that phone, ready to begin to respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: OK. So chances are a lot of people out there in America have seen this 3:00 a.m. ad campaign, if will you.

WILHELM: Right.

COLLINS: What is the Obama campaign doing to convince voters that he's actually the one that should be answering that phone call in the White House?

WILHELM: Right. Well, first of all, I think Barack Obama would do just fine at 3:00 a.m., but I personally, not wild about flip decisions at 3:00 a.m. I want a president that's going to be calm, deliberate, seek counsel from a wide array of different folks, and people with different expertise, and then make the right call. And on the big decision of the past decade, whether or not to go into Iraq, he was calm. He was deliberate and he made the right call. And that's the kind of president we need.

So I don't -- let's have that debate about who has the right wisdom, temperament and decision-making process to do the right thing?

COLLINS: In fact, this isn't really a new ad campaign. Didn't we see something like this in another presidential election? Mondale, right? I think it was very similar ad campaign.

WILHELM: The Mondale-Hart campaign revolved around that and then, of course, LBJ ran such an ad against Barry Goldwater. This is a -- you know, this is part of the tool kit of political consultants.

The reason I don't think the experience criticism with Barack Obama has worked, I think there are a couple of reasons. First of all, he was a legislative machine in Illinois. He passed the expansion of child health care. He was the key guy on expanding the earned income tax credits, tax cut for hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans. He was the point person on ethics reform and campaign finance reform.

But beyond that, in a presidential campaign, people have such an ability to get a personal, very personal judgment about the capabilities of these candidates, and people get to know them. They've gotten to know Barack Obama, and every time they have, they've been very comfortable with him as the next executive leader of this country.

COLLINS: Dave, very, very quickly. Are you concerned about the numbers in Ohio?

WILHELM: We have come a long way in a short period of time. We are within striking distance of Barack Obama supporters get out. I think we can make it.

COLLINS: All right, David Wilhelm, an Obama supporter talking to us today from Columbus, Ohio. Thanks for your time, David.

WILHELM: Thank you.

COLLINS: The Clinton campaign not conceding anything. We'll talk to one supporter for some insight on tomorrow's tight primaries. That's still ahead right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Gone, but not for good. New spy software can read a cell phone's memory chip including old text messages. Our Veronica de la Cruz is here now with more on this.

Hey there, Veronica, what is it?

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, this is what it looks like. It's this little device right here. It's got by BrickHouse Security. It's called the Ultimate SIM Card Management Solution. But all the information that we received, the information that the company sent over -- they are calling it the cell phone spy.

They're obviously marketing this to spouses worried about cheating. Employers who want to keep dibs on their employees. Also, parents who want to know where their kids might be. They're also marketing it as a tool to backup information on your cell phone. Now you can get the device online for about $150, but this is what it looks like. It will get right here.

COLLINS: All right. So what you just need is just click it in there and then do what? How does it work?

DE LA CRUZ: Well, here's the catch. You have to have the person's cell phone SIM card. This is what that looks like. That's first and foremost. Then you plug it into this device, which looks like a key and then, you're going to plug this right into the SUB port in your computer. You upload the software. Click on the button mark, deleted SMS, which stands Short Message Service, but we all commonly refer to as text messages.

Once you click all of those deleted messages, are going to pop up. So, kind of a scary thought. And I wanted to show you this, Heidi. Checking out the Web site. One testimonial from a user called speedyguy63 reads, I was skeptical at first, but it worked right away after testing it out on my cell phone SIM card. I saw all my deleted messages. I tried it out, Heidi, on my wife's SIM card and saw that she was sending 1, 4, 3 every day to some other number. So there you go.

I mean, I guess -- users so far have seemed pretty happy with it, but it doesn't work with every cell phone. It's doesn't work with Verizon phones, some Sprint Nextel phones, or pre-paid phones.

COLLINS: So what was the other number? Did the guy tell you?

DE LA CRUZ: No, no. Not so much, but you can only guess. And again, I mean, you know, you have nothing to worry about. You know? This is for people out there who, you know, they -- well, I don't know. I'm going to leave that up to the viewers to decide.

COLLINS: There you go. Very good. Very good.

DE LA CRUZ: Well, let's (INAUDIBLE) for that one.

COLLINS: Veronica de la Cruz, thank you. 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: Well, if you're headed out on a flight today, this story might suck your confidence. Look at this wild landing in Hamburg, Germany. This Lufthansa Airbus fighting high winds over the weekend. One gust forcing the last wing to the ground. The tip actually scraped the runway. The pilot pulled up and came around for another try. Much, much better the second time around. The plane down safely now and no one was hurt. Excellent flying.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. You'll stay inform all day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown now.

One Democrat looking for a comeback. The other, a knockout. For the Republican frontrunner, Texas and Ohio could be a deal closure.

Cleveland foreclosure crisis hits home for Ohio voters. How the foreclosures down the street could drive you to the poor house.

Luxury homes go up in flames this hour.

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