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Voters Heading to the Polls in Four States Today

Aired March 04, 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, NEWSROOM: Good morning everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. It's 3:00 a.m., no.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: It's not. I'm Tony Harris, stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown. Crucial Tuesday for Clinton and Obama. Will Latinos and African-Americans make the difference? In the polls in Texas today, we asked our guests.

COLLINS: He criticized NAFTA. Did Barack Obama turn around and give Canada a deal wink, wink? We asked his campaign co-chairman.

HARRIS: Ice, snow, flash flooding, Ohio voters battle the weather. Will it lower turnout today? Tuesday, March 4th, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: The big story today, four top candidates, four primaries, no foregone conclusions. Right now voters are going to the polls in Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont. By today's end we could have a much better idea of the choices you'll have in November. John McCain could clinch the Republican nomination today. Mike Huckabee says he won't quit until someone gets enough confirmed delegates to claim the nomination. According to CNN estimates, McCain has 1,047 total delegates. Based on our numbers, he needs 144 more to win that nomination.

Among the Democrats, Barack Obama has 1378 total delegates. He leads Hillary Clinton by more than 100, but is still far from the 2,025 needed for the nomination there. So today both are looking for wins for decidedly different reasons. Obama wants to extend his 11- state winning streak. Clinton wants to derail his momentum and recapture the lead in the delegate count. CNN crews have fanned out across the country and the political landscape. They're part of the best political team on television and they are deployed as you see in big numbers.

HARRIS: Let's begin with the top prize in today's contest, the delegate-rich state of Texas. CNN's Ted Rowlands is at a polling station in Dallas. Ted, good to see you. Good morning. The secretary of state says, turnout in Texas could actually set a primary record.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's no doubt it looks like. According to the early voting data, we're at a voting place in Dallas, Texas and the polls have been open for about two hours now. We've seen a steady stream of people coming in to cast their vote. We're at a spot where it's Democrat only. Of course a lot of the focus in Texas and Ohio and around the country is on that very tightly contested Democratic primary election. And both candidates have spent a lot of time and a lot of money in the state of Texas, really since super Tuesday, looking forward to this high-stakes day in the election process and the voters really seem to be coming out.

You mentioned the secretary of state is predicting this high voter turnout, record-breaking voter turnout. According to early voting, about 50 percent of the people who took part of early voting didn't partake in primaries before in the state of Texas or at least in the past 10 years, basically a new block of voters. Seven percent of those folks that took part in the early primary, early voting were Republicans or had Republican tendencies over the past 10 years. A lot of focus on this election and according to all of the estimates, they're going to shatter the records.

We've been talking to voters here, the economy number one issue by far for people coming out of this polling station. Also people, a lot of African-Americans are voting here. They say they're very excited to have Barack Obama on the ticket. He seems to be getting a lot of support where we are. But across the state there's different stories, different segments. And these candidates are looking to Texas and they've been focusing on Texas really for the past four weeks, trying to hone in on all the different voting blocs and the primary is only the beginning. Tonight it is caucusing. Texas, they do the Texas two-step, they say. First, you vote, that's about two- thirds of your vote and then they come back for caucusing and both candidates have people outside polling stations trying to get people to not only to vote in the primary, but to come back tonight to take part in the caucus.

HARRIS: Boy, Texas is fascinating. Ted Rowlands watching it all for us from Dallas. Appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: I just want to say, I can do the Texas two-step and the jitter bug.

For the presidential candidates, Ohio also looms large with its windfall of delegates but for voters, will ominous storm clouds be larger? Keeping an eye on the weather and the turnout, CNN's Jim Acosta in Cleveland for us this morning. So Jim, what are the folks who have to count all these votes actually say?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The secretary of state here in Ohio says they're expecting a record turnout of voters at the polls today. They believe or they're estimating at this point that some 52 percent of the registered voters in this state will show up at the polls today. That is a record as far as anybody can tell with -- when it comes to a presidential primary. And so the polls like this one here at St. Dominick Catholic Church in Shaker Heights has been busy throughout the morning. It's a little slow right now but it's after that morning rush hour. But they'll see a pick up again as the day goes on. You're right, when it comes to counting the ballots here, that is definitely something that they're very concerned about because of that high turnout in Ohio, all you have to do is mention the word Ohio to Democrats and, you know, shivers will run up their spine after they remember all too well what happened in 2004. There were long lines in Cuyahoga County which is the county that's we're in right now because of issues at some of the polls with those paper ballots. They were using punch card ballots back in 2004. And a lot of voters in this county, many African-American voters complained that they had been disenfranchised because they sometimes waited up to 12 hours trying to get a chance to vote. Some had to actually turn and walk away because they never got a chance to go in line. What happened here in Ohio is they went away from the punch card ballot to the touch screens, those electronic touch screen balloting machines. And then they started having problems in this state with those machines. Last November, after an election happened here in Ohio where those touch screen machines went down, they decided at the last minute here in anticipation of this March primary, to go to optical scan ballots, which is a lot like those SAT tests. And we talked to the assistant secretary of state here in Ohio. He says despite the record of problems in this state, everything should be just fine today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS NANCE, OHIO ASST: SEC OF STATE: It's been a rough road but at the same time we feel like we've made the decisions necessary to make sure that every person that walks into a polling location today is able to cast their vote and make sure that their vote is, in fact, counted.

ACOSTA: It's going to work this time?

NANCE: It's certainly our hope and expectation, that it will work as best as it possibly can.

ACOSTA: That's not a guarantee though.

NANCE: Elections are not a perfect -- necessarily a perfect exercise but we certainly have 110 percent effort being put on by election officials across the state and in this county.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now another factor that could affect the turnout is the weather. Forecasters here in the Cleveland area are predicting a wintry mix. And some are saying if that does develop, that could help Hillary Clinton as this part of Ohio is expected to go heavily for Barack Obama. We'll have to see about that. But this is Cleveland. They are used to wintry mixes. They have been there, done that.

COLLINS: Yeah, been there, done that, all right, Jim Acosta, thanks so much Jim.

So, are you voting in one of the four primary states today? After doing your duty, how about this, go to cnn.com and click on I-report or type ireport@cnn.com into your cell phone and share your primary day photos or video. Then keep watching. You may see your I-report right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: John McCain seemingly bound for the November ballot, but what about Mike Huckabee, his Republican challenger who has defied so many pundits. CNN's Mary Snow looks ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to show the world it ain't over until Texas says it's over.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Huckabee making what could be his last stand in Texas. Sunday's "Dallas Morning News" gave him a late boost urging readers to support Huckabee even though it's mathematically impossible for him to clench the Republican nomination from Senator John McCain. It calls a vote for Huckabee a good investment for the Republican party's future. On the eve of Tuesday's primary, he reached out to the voters.

HUCKABEE: Be leaders. Don't let someone tell you that you ought to vote a certain way because you're trying to follow a trend.

SNOW: Huckabee tells CNN that if Republicans don't reach out to younger voters and capture issues beyond opposition to abortion and gay marriage, such as the environment and fighting poverty, the GOP will face serious consequences.

HUCKABEE: We're going to be an extinct party in another few years. That's why we've got to continue keeping this message going.

SNOW: Some suggest Huckabee, the southern Baptist minister, could keep his message going as new leader among evangelical conservatives. They point to the fact that with the passing of the Rev. Jerry Falwell and with Pat Robertson endorsing Rudy Giuliani who didn't garner much conservative evangelical support, there is a need, they say, for a new face.

REX NELSON, FMR. HUCKABEE COMMUNICATIONS DIR.: I think a lot of the old line leadership is out of touch. They're desperately in search of a new line leader and that person could well be Mike Huckabee.

SNOW: Evangelicals gave Mike Huckabee a meteoric rise in Iowa where he won the first Republican presidential contest, as did Senator Barack Obama for the Democrats. Huckabee tried to prove his base went beyond evangelicals, but watched his early lead slip away. Here in Texas once again, he's heavily courting evangelicals to have enough of a turnout to keep him in the race.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: OK. Mary Snow joins us now from Dallas this morning. Mary, great to see you. Here's a question. Will Mike Huckabee stick it out if he performs poorly in Texas today?

SNOW: Well, you know, Tony, he keeps getting asked that question. He says he's not entertaining these questions because he feels that he's going to win. And even his campaign manager, when asked by reporters last night, said that he didn't really expect a definitive answer tonight when Huckabee is here watching the results in Dallas. But it's hard to imagine that he could stay in this race if John McCain does get the 1,191 delegates as needed. Mike Huckabee though did concede that a loss here in Texas he said would be a heartbreak.

Tony, he is going to be coming here, visiting this polling station just a short amount of time so we'll catch up with him, we'll be able to ask him. You know, the "Dallas Morning News" call where's I am, this county where I am, Collin (ph) County, one of the reddest counties in the reddest states. And it's being watched because early turnout from early voters is showing very high turnout of Democratic voters in this county. So that certainly would not spell good news for Mike Huckabee in this red county but also could be very telling of what's to come in -- for tonight.

HARRIS: Mary, just real quickly one here. You're in Dallas. I don't know how long you've been in Texas, but I'm wondering, are there any Mike Huckabee ads on the air?

SNOW: Oh, absolutely, yeah. We've been in Dallas for a while and he has been campaigning here. And he has run a number of ads in this state.

HARRIS: OK.

SNOW: You know, he did raise money here and he has been campaigning for a considerable number of days.

HARRIS: That was my question. Does he have any money and if he's got ads on the air, he's got some money. Mary Snow for us in Dallas, Mary, good to see you. Thank you.

COLLINS: Stormy weather, the outlook across the deep south today. People are dealing with or getting ready for heavy rain and severe thunderstorms in Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas. Mississippi got hit last night. A storm passing through southern Mississippi spun off a possible tornado that damaged some homes there. Fourteen National Guardsmen were injured when high winds ripped through their barracks at Camp Shelby. And in neighboring Arkansas, here's the scene this morning. Yeah, Arkansas, snow and sleet closing some schools and making roads a little slippery. More than 10 inches fell in parts of west central Arkansas.

HARRIS: Let's focus our attention a little bit here maybe northeast Ohio, northern Ohio. Rob Marciano, boy, we don't want the folks there in Ohio challenged by the elements. They'll be challenged plenty by the process of voting in Ohio. Oh, oh, good morning, Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Rob, thank you.

In fact, taking about the election process, there's Hillary Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton. This is another event, actually not really an event. She's at a polling station this morning. Obviously Texas, a huge state that we are going to be talking about all day long here and through the night, I bet, too, and tomorrow when we have the results, which could point to either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama as the potential nominee. But who really knows. At this point, things are very, very close. Again, looking at live pictures coming in, Senator Hillary Clinton in Houston at a polling station there.

Meanwhile, fight for Latino and African-American vote, who is winning the battle? Clinton or Obama?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Hello. Welcome back. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris. Grab the political spotlight with gusto. Decision day in Ohio and Texas. CNN, your home for politics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: African-American and Latino voters have a lot of political clout this election year. That power will be put to the test today, especially in Texas. Joining us from Dallas to talk about that, Doug Banks of the Doug Banks morning radio show. Doug, good to see you. It's about time we got you on the air here.

Tony, it's good to see you. How are you?

HARRIS: Let's mix it up here in a second and in New York, Maria Hinojosa, host of NPR's Latino USA. She is also a senior correspondent with "Now" on PBS. Maria, as always, good to see you.

MARIA HINOJOSA, PBS: Good to see you Tony.

HARRIS: You former CNN'er you, great to see you. You know, the overriding sentiment I've picked up from folks who would speak for Latinos in Texas has been, we have a relationship with Hillary. We are getting to know Barack. So here we are, a primary day. Maria, how is Barack doing with Latino and Hispanic voters?

HINOJOSA: What he is doing is that he is working very hard to get that vote. He is blanketing Spanish language media with a lot of money and a lot of ads. He is approaching this as, I want you to know me. I'm an African-American who has a family. He's doing a lot of family kind of reaching out. So that ties into the Latino vote. Who is this guy? I don't know a lot about him but I'm seeing family members talking about him and I'm seeing Latino families in commercials talking about him. He's going out for this vote. He knows he needs it.

HARRIS: Yeah, Doug, let me ask you about the African-American vote there. The conventional wisdom seems to be that Barack Obama will perform well in the big urban centers of Houston and Dallas. Is that how it's shaping up for you?

DOUG BANKS, RADIO HOST: I think it's without a doubt Barack Obama is going to do extremely well here in Texas, especially with African- Americans. And I believe because of what he goes ahead and he brings to the table, he will do well with all minorities. I think he's going to do well with Latinos, too. I think he makes a big difference. I think that the Latino community here in the state of Texas is beginning to see that. HARRIS: I got to ask you, Doug, what is it -- how do you evaluate the Barack Obama support among African-Americans? It almost feels -- not quite, but it almost feels monolithic. What explains that? Are they looking beyond the fact that he's African-American. Do they see their hopes and aspirations embodied in this man? I'm just trying to understand it a little better.

BANKS: I think it comes to a couple of different, different points Tony. I think you have African-Americans who are just happy of the fact if you look back over the 400 years of slavery and so on and so forth. I was speaking with Spike Lee just a couple weeks ago and Spike Lee was saying in general he was just happy for this to happen because of his grandmother who was 100 years old and is actually now seeing an African-American actually run for the White House. So you have some African-Americans who are looking at it from the standpoint that is an African-American man and he is running for the White House. They're happy on that. You have some who look at also what he's done at his time in the state senate in Illinois, also what he's done as a U.S. senator. And they combine all of those things together to go ahead and they believe, like most people believe that this is the man for the job.

HARRIS: So Maria, in Texas you have two minority groups. You have African-Americans and you have Latinos. Both groups strongly advocating for their particular candidate and both groups vying for some real political clout this election cycle. To the extent in Texas that it's been a real fight, has it been a fair fight?

HINOJOSA: I think it's been a fair fight. What's interesting here, Tony, you have to remember that Texas is not in terms of the Democratic primary, this is not a state that's kind of been gone after in this kind of a way, which means that for the first time, Latinos in this state are being spoken to in a way that they haven't heard for years and years and years. That means that they're listening, so they are getting inspired. I have traveled across the country. I only have two more states to go before I've done all 50. Everywhere I go people are talking about this election. Everywhere I go, there are Latinos who are living in those states. And everywhere I go there are Latinos who are citizens. They are the ones who are making this decision that now they understand that they hold power in their hands. This is their way of getting their vote heard. They will be out to vote.

HARRIS: But there are some real issues here, Doug, between the groups. I'm wondering, what do you hear on this question, do blacks in Texas believe that undocumented workers, principally from Mexico, have suppressed wages and increased competition for low-wage jobs in that state?

BANKS: Yes. Yes, they have. Yeah, that's what they're hearing. And it's a problem, but you know, it's interesting because over the last couple of weeks, we've been hearing more and more about there is a problem, a rift, a decide if you will, between African-Americans and Latinos. And I think that might be part of the problem. That African-Americans see that as Latinos are coming in and perhaps taking jobs and things like that when sometimes it is true, but most times it's not. And so that rift that is there, I believe Obama is trying to go ahead and sew that up to make it better than it is.

HINOJOSA: You have to remember that Barack Obama received the first Caesar Chavez-Martin Luther King award in Chicago a couple of years ago. He understands the relationship between the African- American and Latino community kind of from a civil rights perspective. So when Barack voted for the wall on the U.S./Mexico border there were many Latinos who turned their back on him, very upset about this. He's making up for that by talking about the drivers' licenses issues, talking about undocumented immigrants, getting those drivers' licenses delivered. What you need to understand is that this relationship between African-Americans and Latinos is key for the future. And I don't believe that there's an immediate Latinos are not going to vote for an African-American or African-Americans are going to feel alienated from Latinos. It's a process we're living through in our country and we're going to make it through.

BANKS: And it takes time.

HARRIS: Maria, great to see you again. Doug, as always, great to see you. Let's do this again. Maybe we can get together tomorrow or the next couple of days and talk about the results. All right. Thank you both.

Still to come, a Canadian memo has Barack Obama in an unusual spot playing defense. The details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Let's get a check of the big board now. Dow Jones industrial average is down about 88 points. We're an hour into the trading day or so resting at 12,170. Yesterday things ended down by eight points. So we're watching this for you as you would imagine. Going to be talking about gas prices, which I'm sure you have noticed are a little itty-bitty bit higher. Nasdaq also down about 13 points. We continue to watch the numbers and we'll talk with Susan Lisovicz shortly.

HARRIS: Barack Obama and NAFTA. He is telling Ohio voters he wants to tweak the trade treaty. Is he telling Canada something different? Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Whenever you have a news conference than ends like that, the heat is on. From his relationship with a land developer on trial for corruption, to free trade, Barack Obama is taking incoming and doing his best to redirect it.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What's not disputed is that Senator Clinton and her husband championed NAFTA.

CROWLEY: A memo has surfaced indicating a top Obama aide told Canadian officials that Obama's position on trade is more about politics than policy. There were denials all around, including one from the Canadian embassy about the intent and substance of the conversation. But on the eve of primaries that could determine her candidacy, in a state like Ohio where NAFTA is a four-letter word, Hillary Clinton stokes the fire.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The old wink, wink, don't pay any attention, this is just political rhetoric, I think that raises serious questions and I would ask you to look at this story, substitute my name for Senator Obama's name and see what you would do with this story.

CROWLEY: In the category of timing is all, a trial opened in Chicago today, featuring a long-time supporter of Obama's being tried on corruption charges, renewing old questions never completely answered.

OBAMA: There's no dispute that he raised money for us and there's no dispute that we have tried to get rid of that money. And so -- exactly. And so that's all we want to just confirm.

CROWLEY: It's the front-runner treatment. The object for Clinton is to drive down Obama's numbers, to slow his momentum. All of the criticism from Clinton fits under one general theme from her campaign, Barack Obama is not who you think he is. Candy Crowley, CNN, Columbus, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: We are at the half hour. Welcome back, everyone, into the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Four states not used to the national primary spotlight taking center stage today. Voters are going to the polls in Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont. Usually the presidential candidates have been picked by now, but this year obviously different. Here's a check of the delegate count for you. On the GOP side, John McCain could clinch the nomination today according to the CNN estimates. McCain has 1, 047 total delegates, and based on our numbers he needs 144 more to win that nomination.

Among the Democrats, Barack Obama has 1,378 total delegates. He leads Hillary Clinton by more than 100, but is still far from the 2, 025 needed for the nomination. Voters in today's four primaries are energized. In Texas, for example, 60 percent of the registered voters already cast their ballots in early voting. That is five times the rate from the 2004 primary.

The weather, though, could play a role in the three other states. A wintry mix in northern Ohio moving into Vermont later, with rain in Rhode Island. Still, with the feel that every vote counts, election officials are looking for heavy turnouts.

When times are so tough,though, the family pet can sometimes pay the price.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His house was foreclosed upon, he couldn't cover the utilities, he couldn't cover the bills, and he made the right decision for the pets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The economy hits home for Ohio voters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Rhode Island voters find themselves in a prominent primary position. Our Deborah Feyerick is at a polling station in Providence. Deb, good to see you. Good morning. How's your turnout, and what are the concerns of providence voters?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, the turnout has been really pretty good. As far as what tissues are, they're talking about ending the war in Iraq, the economy, they're talking about the mortgage crisis, they're talking about the high cost of heating and gas and what appear to be now a lack of jobs here.

What they really want is for this economy to be fixed. Now you speak to Hillary Clinton voters, they say they like her because she's a strong candidate, because she's been to Washington D.C. and because she has the experience. You talk to Barack Obama supporters they will tell you that he's got the momentum, that they want a new leadership in Washington, D.C., and they want an energy, they want things fixed.

So it really all depends. This state heavily Democratic. They've also got a very large number of unaffiliated voters, more so than registered Democrats or Republicans.

Let me show you what's going on. This is a really good turnout here, and it's really been this way since 7:00 this morning. As a matter of fact, at 7:00 you could multiply that line by about four or five. It was almost out the door. So a very strong voter turnout here in the state of Rhode Island. Chelsea Clinton is going to be visiting later on today. She's coming to have lunch, and then also to speak to a union and to visit her mom's campaign headquarters. Barack Obama supporters, they are out en masse. They have lists of likely voters and they're targeting those people. But Hillary Clinton, too, working the phones.

Although Rhode Island was supposed to be Clinton country because they visited here so often and because she had the support of the Democratic establishment, because of Obama's popularity, well, this has really been fight to the finish. Both sides really working it. Both sides very committed as far as Democrats go to make sure their candidate is elected.

So for those people who voted early this morning at 7:00, well, they're going to have a very, very long wait until the polls close this evening. But again, they're really excited about this election. Rhode Island doesn't usually matter. The race is decided. Now they do, and that really means something because they've got a stake in this race -- Tony.

HARRIS: Deborah Feyerick for us this morning. Deb, good to see you. COLLINS: And many Vermont voters also talking about change on this primary day. Our Dan Lothian is at a polling station in the town of Williston.

So, Dan, what are you hearing there?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, first of all, the folks hear say they're used to not really getting attention because the race is pretty much decided by the time they get to here. But of course this year is so different. It's not Ohio, it's not Texas, but they still feel they're playing an important role because there's such a competitive fight for all the delegates. This armory we're at right now, where we're at right now, a steady stream of folks showing up here. You can see a number of folks lined up behind me here to register. And then just about, oh, a little more than a dozen or so folks currently behind the curtains are voting here.

Like other states across the country, people here also concerned about the economy. They're also concerned about health care. But the one thing that stands out is that folks here really concerned about the war in Iraq. And this is a very liberal state. They want the troops pulled out of Iraq, and they're looking for a leader who can best do that, that can make them happy about -- feel better about the situation in Iraq. We talked to someone about that earlier this morning, a man who showed up here to vote. And he also showed us that beyond just the issue in Iraq, there was kind of a level of frustration among many voters. Here's what he had to say:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MEASE, VERMONT VOTER: I guess I really started try to decide between who is going to inspire me and who I was seeing my kids -- I have a college freshman. I just sort of thinking about who's going to inspire him and who's going to be able to get some change for our country. You know, it's sort of a word that's being maybe over used, but I think we really are ready for a change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: The secretary of state's office telling us that they do expect that there will be heavy voter turnout across the state. Also seeing larger-than-normal absentee ballots. And so they think part of this is because there's such a competitive race on the Democratic side, and also because there's such strong feelings here about the war in Iraq -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Dan Lothian for us, in Williston. Thanks so much, Dan.

HARRIS: Will today's primaries seal the deal for Barack Obama, or spark a Clinton comeback? We'll talk about it with an Obama supporter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Well, some people would say Barack Obama has been on a roll winning 11 contests in a row. Will he keep up that momentum today and potentially knock Hillary Clinton right out of the race?

Here with us this morning to talk more about it, Federico Pena back to the CNN NEWSROOM. Nice to see you again, obviously an Obama supporter and former secretary of energy. We appreciate your time this morning.

All right, so listen, NAFTA, Tony Rezko in court. Some people would say not really the best 24 hours for Barack Obama. Have any of these issues touched the campaign or changed the strategy in these last few hours here before this primary?

FEDERICO PENA, FMR. SECRETARY OF ENERGY AND OBAMA SUPPORTER: Not at all, Heidi. And it's unfortunate that as Barack said the other day, we're into the silly season of politics where pretty outrageous comments are being made. But that's typical of what happens in a campaign where one candidate is really up against the fan. So, we're accustomed to these kinds of attacks, but no, it's not affecting the campaign at all.

COLLINS: Well, to be fair, let's listen in to exactly what Hillary Clinton said regarding NAFTA for just a moment here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that raises serious questions. And I would ask you to look at this story, substitute my name for Senator Obama's name, and see what you would do with this story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Obviously, you've been in politics for a long time and you've seen a lot of media coverage. Do you think it's true that Barack Obama is getting a bit easier ride from the press?

PENA: Oh, not at all. And you know, it's so sad to see someone criticize the media. That's the last thing to do in politics. The media has been, I think very ...

COLLINS: It is sad, you know? No, I'm kidding.

PENA: Well, it's not good politics. You know, I've run many elections myself as mayor of Denver and the state legislature. And one thing we always learn is you don't attack the media. Sometimes, you get good calls, sometimes you get bad calls.

Well look, the important thing is this, Senator Clinton has been very clear that she said this publicly, NAFTA was good for New York, NAFTA was good for the country. She has said this is one of the best moments of her husband, Bill Clinton. But Barack has been against NAFTA and he's spoken about this all over Texas and around the country, so the record is very clear.

COLLINS: But Mr. Secretary, I mean, the appearance, whether it be true or not, or whether the Obama campaign believes it or not, the appearance is definitely out there that he could be getting an easier ride from the press and politics would also tell you that if the appearance is there, then it is. And it must be responded to in some way. I mean, we could talk about "Saturday Night Live" and the pop culture side of it as well.

PENA: Right.

COLLINS: I mean, even Hillary Clinton brought that up herself. So, something must be talked about, I'm sure, within the campaign.

PENA: Well, the fact is this. Mrs. Clinton has had almost 20 years of media coverage. It all hasn't been negative. A lot has been positive about her role in the Senate, et cetera. And Senator Obama is sort of a newcomer on the -- at least the Washington of political cycles. So, we have to weigh that also.

But the fact is this. Barack Obama has been winning states handily. The American people are supporting him. They're not listening to these negative attacks, these last-minute attacks on him. They believe in him. They're supporting him. We expect to do very well today on election day and we just continue our positive, constructive campaign for the American people.

COLLINS: It is, oh, so very close though, at least in some of the polling, of course, that we've been looking at here. And obviously, a couple of these groups that looking at very closely are women and Latinos. Kind of unrepresented, if you will, in this polling. Is the campaign that you are with, Barack Obama's of course, concerned about that at all, Texas in particular?

PENA: Well, the fact is we've been doing much better in recent elections, both among women and Latinos. In Texas, for example, where I've -- I'm originally from Loredo, Texas and Brownsville, Texas. I spent three days campaigning in Texas. We're doing much better among Latino voters.

And it's the same story. As more and more people get to know Barack, they begin to support him. Remember that over a year ago, African-Americans were supporting Senator Clinton. And Senator Clinton believed that she would have their vote. That's now changed because more and more people have gotten to know him. Among women, we have now done much better with women in the most recent state elections and now with Latinos. We're going to do fine in Texas.

And by the way, remember, we did very well in Virginia, we did very well in Illinois, we did very well in Iowa where I campaigned among Latinos. So, we're going to do fine and it's the same story. The more that people get to know Barack Obama, the more they support him. And we're going to continue to see that trend in future elections and the other states that we still have to battle in.

COLLINS: It could be a very, very late night. Either way, we look at it here. Federico Pena, we certainly appreciate your time this morning from the Barack Obama campaign. Thanks again.

PENA: Thank you, Heidi. COLLINS: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, what will it take for her to win? We're going to talk with one of her big supporters in the big state of Texas.

HARRIS: And I understand that the former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has actually walked up to our camera position there in Dallas. Governor, good to see you. Thanks for your time this morning. Didn't expect it, but lovely to have you with us this morning in the NEWSROOM.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you very much, Tony. It's a beautiful day in Dallas, a great day to go vote for Mike Huckabee. It's what I'm telling everybody out here in Texas.

HARRIS: Makes sense, makes sense. I think if I were Mike Huckabee, I'd be saying the same thing today. It's good to talk to you. I'm sort of curious, what are, realistically, your Texas expectations?

HUCKABEE: Well, we still are hoping for a Texas win here today. I know there's a lot of people that don't think that can happen, but we think in an election, anything can happen. We've been actively campaigning the last several days vigorously in Texas. My opponent has been on vacation. I think Texans are going to pay attention to that.

But more importantly, I think they're paying attention to issues. They know that there's only one candidate who supports a human life amendment, control of the borders, the fair tax, and has chief executive experience. I think voters are beginning to think, you know, this is a big election. This is about the future, not just for the Republican party but about our country.

HARRIS: You know, talking about that future, there is so much out there on the landscape right now, economically in this country. I'm wondering how serious, in your mind, are the issues of jobs, pensions, health care, housing right now in the country, and do you believe that those issues have been talked about in as straight forward and honest a way as is possible by the campaign, it's including you?

HUCKABEE: Well, I try to talk about it because I'm the only person in this race who has actually had to serve as a chief executive and deal with economic issues. Job creation, cutting the unemployment number down rather than see it go up, building the infrastructure that creates jobs, as well as working on an education and health care system that creates the kind of workforce that is employable. Economic issues are not isolated to just saying, OK, it's one piece of it. There are many pieces of it.

And I don't think most people who have ever served in the Senate have a clue about how it all is integrated together. I do understand that because having been a governor and low water, in high water, taking a deficit to a surplus, seeing per capita income increase, there are many, many facets of building a strong economy. And I think Americans need to be thinking very seriously if that's their No. 1 issue, then I think I ought to be their No. 1 choice for president.

HARRIs: Well, Governor, I have to ask you, it seems to me that you're in a position to speak as honestly about these issues as anyone. And I'm wondering what the real fix is. And I'm not talking about a band-aid, but a real fix structurally and fundamentally to the housing crisis that we're in right now and the credit crunch.

HUCKABEE: At the foundation of our economic problems is something that I can describe in common sense terms. What you penalize, you get less of. What you reward, you get more of. Our current tax system penalizes productivity. When you penalize the very thing that builds an economy, you get less of it. It's crazy.

The reason that I'm a strong proponent for the fair tax is because it eliminates all of the tax and penalty on people's work and productivity. You pay taxes at the point of consumption, not at the point of production.

And then, when you change that tax structure, you rebuild in a manufacturing economy, you keep jobs in this country because you take all the taxes and the burdens and penalties off of the companies and individuals who are doing the work, you end the underground economy, which is a huge drain on the working people of this nation, and you empower people at the bottom of the economy who can actually reach the next rung of the ladder. If you do that you're going to have an economic stimulus package.

HARRIS: I know you're tired of hearing this question, and I suppose I would be, too. But I am curious, and I need to ask it. How long do you stay in the race? The math doesn't favor you right now. But I'm of a mind that you run as long as you want to run. But realistically, how long do you stay?

HUCKABEE: You know, when people talk about the math, one of the things I always point out is that none of the networks are using the same figures for exactly where the delegate count is. So if the math is so precise it would be interesting why that none of the networks reporting delegate counts have the same number.

HARRIS: Yes.

HUCKABEE: Let's say one thing we have to know. Nobody has 1,191 delegates by anybody's count. And it would be nice to get, you know, at least to that point before we start calling to drain the water in the tub here.

HARRIS: Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, thanks for your time. What a pleasure. Didn't expect him, but it's great to have you. Thank you.

HUCKABEE: Thank you, tony.

COLLINS: You see his wife, Jane, holding a sign that says, "I like Mike." This is good. It's you're wife back there. Awesome.

The best political team on television have you covered all day long. Four-state vote. Will anything, though, be settled today?

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HARRIS: High-stakes primary, Democrats jockeying for every vote. A closer look at the Texas factor in the NEWSROOM.

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