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Results of Wyoming Caucus; Obama and Clinton Speak in Wyoming

Aired March 08, 2008 - 20:00   ET

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

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to a special edition of "CNN Ballot Bowl '08." I'm Dan Lothian in Philadelphia. This is your chance to hear the candidates and their surrogates sometimes out on the campaign trail. Sometimes it's on tape, sometimes it's live, but it's always unfiltered as they campaign for your vote and of course their party's nomination.
Taking a look at the game plan for this hour, former President Bill Clinton, the former president campaigning today for his wife in Mississippi which holds a Democratic primary on Tuesday. We will also take a look at the Democrats' ongoing dilemma over the primaries held already in early voting Florida and Michigan. And as for the candidates themselves, we will listen to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sparring over matters of experience and national security. So lots of great stuff coming up over the next hour here on "CNN Ballot Bowl."

But first I want to shift our attention back out to Wyoming. This is a state that typically has not gotten a lot of attention in the whole caucus and primary process of course because there only 12 delegates up for grabs and usually the race is decided by now.

But of course in this tight Democratic race, every delegate counts. And CNN is now projecting after the caucuses wrapped up out there tonight that Senator Barack Obama wins with 59 percent. Senator Clinton 40 percent - 96 percent of the caucus results reporting at this time there. So a win for Barack Obama, but Senator Clinton still feeling like she did quite well out there, having somewhat of a victory because at least seven of the delegates have been awarded to Barack Obama and Senator Clinton has at least four delegates. So she does pick up some delegates, despite the fact that Barack Obama did win in Wyoming tonight at least according to CNN's projections.

Leading up to the Wyoming caucuses, both of the candidates have been sparring over issues of national security, over issues of who has the most experience, who has the best judgment. I want to take you back to Friday in Laramie, Wyoming when Senator Barack Obama continued on that theme of judgment as he was pointing out that he has the best judgment to be president of the United States. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Many of you saw this advertisement of Senator Clinton's with the phone call, you know. Now let me tell you, when a phone call comes at 3 in the morning, do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to answer it. And then I'm going to answer it and then I'm going to apply the same judgment that led me to conclude that the war in Iraq was a bad idea when Senator Clinton concluded that the war in Iraq was a good idea, and Senator McCain concluded that the war in Iraq was a good idea.

I will apply the same judgment that says that we don't -- we shouldn't be distracted from our real enemies. I will apply the same judgment that says that not every problem is solved militarily. I will apply the same judgment that says we should have good intelligence before we make decisions. I will apply the same judgment that says we should not just talk to our friends, but we should be talking to our enemies. Because I remember what John F. Kennedy said we should never negotiate out of fear, but we should never fear to negotiate.

That's what strong countries and strong presidents do. They talk to their neighbors. They tell them where America stands. They understand the enormous cost of war. They refuse to allow politics to affect their decision. That's what strong presidents do.

I am happy to have that debate with Senator Clinton and I am happy to have that debate with John McCain because I am tired of seeing the American people afraid and I'm tired of seeing our politics distorted by fear.

We are at or best when we are a confident people, when we are a hopeful people. Senator Clinton and McCain and others have been giving me a hard time about talking about hope. Notice they all talk about change now. We have been talking about change since the beginning of this campaign and we talked about change when we were up and we talked about change when we were down. We talked about how we wouldn't take PAC money and federal lobbyist money and John McCain kept on taking it and so did Hillary Clinton. We didn't take it. You guys funded our campaigns. We talked about building a grassroots movement. You guys built this organization.

We have been consistent about talking about change and now everybody talks about change. Everybody uses that language. They don't really understand what it means. They think change just means, well you know, we do the same old things just with a different party in charge. That's not what change is. I just want to repeat to everybody because this is the argument that I'm having with Senator Clinton, who I think is a fine public servant and hardworking and is a -- wants to see good things for America, but she basically believes that the system is what it is. That it can't be changed.

She thinks that the key is to play the game a little bit better and the country is always going to be polarized, that Democrats and Republicans can never cooperate on anything, that you have to beat the other side into submission, that you have to be careful about looking tough instead of thinking smart and being tough.

If you start getting down in the polls that you have to go on the attack, throw the kitchen sink at your opponents. That's how the game in Washington is played.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: That's Senator Barack Obama making his closing statements on Friday leading into the Wyoming caucuses there. Again, referring at the very end to the throwing the kitchen sink at him. He is referring to what he believes were very sharp, negative attacks from the Clinton campaign leading into Ohio and Texas, which many believed really helped Senator Clinton win in those key states.

Senator Clinton, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, did pick up at least four delegates in Wyoming even though she lost to Barack Obama tonight.

The Clinton campaign putting out a statement tonight that they are quite pleased actually that they have picked up some delegates. They pointed out a near split in the delegates out in Wyoming. The campaign saying "We are thrilled with a near split in delegates and are grateful to the people of Wyoming for their support. Although the Obama campaign predicted victory in Wyoming weeks ago, we worked hard to present Senator Clinton's vision to the caucus goers."

Senator Clinton of course has not let up on this issue of experience. It has been part of her campaign all along and certainly the campaign believes really helped her drive home her experience in Ohio and also in Texas. They believe again this is what helped her win there, and so they will continue hammering away on that. In her closing arguments leading up to the Wyoming caucuses, she also talked about this issue of experience. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to have a president with experience, who has been around a while. And I have been on your behalf to more than 80 countries -- 80 countries where I have worked with the leaders and other influential people to solve problems. And that is what I will begin to do immediately if I am so fortunate as to become your president.

So I offer a lifetime of experience, but also the passion and new ideas that are going to make a difference in the lives of the people here in Wyoming. I have already been working to do that. The Children's Health Insurance Program that I helped to create provide health insurance for thousands of kids right here in Wyoming whose parents are getting up and going to work every single day.

On so many of the important concerns that keep you up at night that you talk about around the kitchen table, we need a president again who will put the American people first, who gets up every day and says what are we going to do to create those jobs and provide that health care and make college affordable and create the new energy future?

That is what I'm offering. I know that tomorrow early in the morning people in Wyoming will go to caucus. How many of you have caucused before? Not very many. See most people have no idea what a caucus is. Frankly I never have caucused because I've never lived in a state that did that. I've always just voted and I thought that worked out OK. So tomorrow if you are interested in being part of this process, you have got to go to your caucus location. Get there, get there at about 8:00, 8:30. The caucus starts at 9:00, right? 7:30 here. Whoa, you are - I better let you all go home to bed. 7:30, where is the caucus site here? So I'm asking for your help tomorrow. I know that a lot of people said well, this is kind of an uphill climb for you. I said yeah, I appreciate that, but I have never been a quitter and I have never given up and I just keep going and I intend to keep going all the way to the White House.

I know what's at stake and I know hard this job is. This is the toughest job in the world. And really, you know, the best way to think about this decision you got to make tomorrow is who would you hire to do this job?

When you think about all the problems and who has the strength and experience to be there, to be on your side, someone you can count on. You know, you don't have to worry about where I stand. There is no leap of faith with me. I am going to be there today and tomorrow just like I have been for all those yesterdays. And I will also be prepared to win the election in November because if we don't win, none of this is going to amount to a hill of beans. And I want you to think, if John McCain who is a friend of mine is the Republican nominee as apparently he is, who can stand there and go to toe to toe with John McCain on national security and on the economy and on all the issues that matter?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: Senator Clinton in Casper, Wyoming on Friday night. Again, that is a theme that we have been hearing towards the end of the speech that we've been hearing throughout her campaign and she's been pointing out that if she is up against the Democratic nominee, that she is the one who could really get the job done. She is the best one to be president. So Senator Clinton again, Casper, Wyoming, Friday night prior to the caucuses today.

Now it's time to do a little bit of math. Maybe you want to take out your pencil and a piece of paper and you can write down the numbers we are about to give you after the results in Wyoming. Here is the latest delegate count that CNN has. Senator Obama 1,527, Senator Clinton 1,428. That's 1,527 for Senator Obama, 1,428 for Senator Clinton. Of course, 2,024 delegates needed in order to clinch the nomination.

Now let's turn to a subject that has been coming up over the past week or so about this so-called dream ticket. It is something that Senator Clinton did mention on a morning show this week and we heard it again today out on the campaign trail when former President Clinton was again speculating about this dream ticket of Clinton-Obama. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She said yesterday and she said the day after her big wins in Texas and Ohio and Rhode Island that she was very open to that. I think she answered explicitly yes yesterday. I heard he also said no, but I think she said yes. But I don't know that because I didn't - all I did -- is that true? The press is back there. They know. I don't know. But you can ask the press.

I know that she has always been open to it because she believes that if you can unite the energy and the new people that he has brought in and the people in these vast swaths in small towns in rural America that she has carried overwhelmingly - if you can have those two things together, she thinks it would be hard to beat.

You look at the math in Texas and the math in Ohio, the math in Missouri -- well Arkansas is not a good case because they know her. But you look at, most of these places, he would win the urban areas and the upscale voters and she wins the traditional rural areas that we lost when President Reagan was president. If you put those two things together, we'd have an almost unstoppable force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Former President Clinton going public with something that a lot of people have been discussing out there on the campaign trail. You hear it all the time. Whether or not this would be sort of an interesting dream ticket for the Democrats. And adding more light, more fuel to the fire. Of course Senator Barack Obama has been hearing all of this as well and we was in Casper, Wyoming talking to one of our affiliates and we just got some sound in and take a listen to his reaction to all this talk about this dream ticket.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: You won't see me as a vice presidential candidate. I am running for president. We have won twice as many states as Senator Clinton and have a higher popular vote and I think we can maintain our delegate counts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: So Senator Barack Obama not seemingly interested in that ticket, but I don't think that is going to put this whole issue to rest.

So next up, next contest in Mississippi coming up on Tuesday. A primary there. Our Sean Callebs is there and after this break, we will check in with him. Stay with us on "CNN Ballot Bowl '08."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LOTHIAN: Welcome back to the special edition of "CNN Ballot Bowl '08." I'm Dan Lothian in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I am in the state of Pennsylvania because this is where the next huge contest will be taking place. That is still a ways away. It is April 22, but nonetheless, this is a critical state for the Democrats. They have already ramped up their operations out here on the ground and so certainly that is the place where both Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton will spend a lot of time over the coming days and coming weeks.

But before that happens, there is another primary coming up on Tuesday and that is in Mississippi actually. And that is where we find our Sean Callebs where in Ellisville, Mississippi, that is where former President Bill Clinton spoke earlier tonight. And Sean, I can imagine that former President Clinton really focused on this whole issue of experience as he was stumping for his wife.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. He was very focused and really out here stumping for his wife, really talking about everything from military affairs, saying she would be the best commander-in- chief, talking about the economy, talking about health care. Really finding a very friendly audience here in Ellisville, the former president.

The first president to visit this city in 99 years. And a pretty packed coliseum on the campus of Jones County Junior College. And behind me you see some stragglers still here. The president's speech wound up a short while ago. Those are people waiting to pick up autographed posters, autographed signs, autographed books that the president was good enough to stand behind.

Just perhaps one more sign of just how closely everybody is watching this election season. Certainly Mississippi is relishing its moment in the spotlight ahead of Tuesday's primary with 33 delegates at stake. And one thing that the president really talked about to this audience was trying to portray Hillary Clinton as the candidate, as the would-be president who can really relate to the people. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

B. CLINTON: She gets you better than anybody else. She gets you in a specific and in a general way. When I was the governor of Arkansas, she led our school reform program. She did a lot of work on preschool education for kids in the Delta. And she worked a lot when I was head of the Mississippi Delta Development Commission and I worked in Mississippi. She knows about that. She started America's first rural development bank when I was governor. Not me, her. She raised the money for it, set it up so people losing factory jobs and farm jobs could get credit to start anew.

There is now a branch of that bank in Mississippi. It is still going on. When she ran in the Democratic presidential primary in Arkansas, she got 70 percent of the vote because they knew she was on their side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: This is also a state still recovering from Hurricane Katrina more than two and a half years ago. The president talked about how Trent Lott, a senator here from Mississippi talked about how much Hillary Clinton did for the people in this area, perhaps as much as any senator outside of the Gulf Coast area.

Now the president already made three stops in Mississippi today. He is now on the way to the town of Meridian (ph, his last stop here today. Barack Obama will be in the state on Monday. He has two campaign stops scheduled, one in Columbus and one in the capital of Jackson. Hillary Clinton herself spent a couple of days here Thursday and then Friday campaigning here as well -- 33 delegates at stake and many estimates, many polls indicate she is going to have an uphill fight.

About 70 percent of the Democratic Party is African-American in this state. I spoke with someone from Obama's campaign earlier today and they said clearly that is going to play to their advantage. However, the Obama campaign is not counting on anything. Dan, they say like all other campaigns throughout the nation this year, it has been very difficult to poll the voting population throughout the country just because there has been so much interest and no one knows exactly what the turn out is going to be. But if tonight's attendance was an indication, certainly there is a great deal of Democratic interest here in Mississippi. Dan?

LOTHIAN: Sean, I want to bring in this other issue I think that's been kind of talked about by folks there on the ground in Mississippi about some comments that supposedly that Senator Clinton had said, negative comments that she had made about Mississippi. Can you sore of fill in some of the blanks on that?

CALLEBS: Exactly. This happened ahead of the Iowa caucuses. It was late last year, October or November. She was quoted in a Des Moines newspaper talking about the fact that Iowa nor Mississippi had ever elected a woman candidate to any post, whether it be a state post or Congress or governor.

And she said that is not -- talking in Iowa - she said look, Iowa was not like this. This is not the openness that I know in Iowa. They can't be ranked with Mississippi.

Now she was asked very pointed questions about that on a radio broadcast in the town of Gulfport. She tried to clarify it a little bit. She said what she meant to say was the time is right. Both these states, Iowa and Mississippi, can move forward and elect a female.

And when the interviewer asked, well how can that happen because there are no women on the state ballot coming up in this primary, she then said well, they could vote for me.

It was a little bit of an awkward moment, but she is doing her best trying to clarify remarks that were made because everybody is picking apart virtually everything that any of the candidates said.

One final note, Dan. It was interesting tonight also what President Clinton didn't say. There were no pointed attacks against Barack Obama. His name only came up once in about an hour-long message to the crowd here. And that was talking about health care. He said Obama's plan was better than the current plan out there now, but then he went on to say his wife's plan is better. Dan?

LOTHIAN: So a very positive stump speech from the former president.

CALLEBS: Exactly, exactly. We heard a lot of that tonight.

LOTHIAN: OK Sean Callebs, thank you in Ellisville, Mississippi.

Just ahead, there is also a contest on the Republican side although their nominee has been decided. But Senator John McCain nonetheless will be traveling the country as he tries to shore up the base on the Republican side. We will take a look at what's happening there with Senator John McCain and the GOP after this break. You are watching "CNN Ballot Bowl."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LOTHIAN: Welcome back to "CNN Ballot Bowl '08." I am Dan Lothian in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We have been spending a lot of time focusing on the Democrats. Of course the Democrats having the Democratic caucus out in Wyoming.

But also there is the Republican side of this whole issue. There is a Republican campaign as well. Although the nominee has been decided, Senator John McCain of course the Republican nominee. He is traveling around the country obviously doing some fundraising and trying to shore up the Republican base.

This was a week where Senator John McCain got the endorsement of President Bush. He was at the White House and of course what all of that did was unleash all of the money and certainly the power from the Republican Party to help him in his fight in this campaign.

Senator John McCain, whose fortunes rise and may fall on Iraq, continues to harp on this whole issue of Iraq and certainly national security and on Friday, he was in Atlanta talking about Iraq and the Iraq strategy. Let's take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) AZ: The struggle we are facing in Iraq is really a classic counterinsurgency now. Counterinsurgencies have been fought successfully using the came formula. It's not the surge which really attacked it. Not a new strategy. The surge was to increase the number of troops enough so that you can employ the classic counterinsurgency strategy which is to go out and control neighborhoods. Before we used to go out and kill bad guys and return to base and they would infiltrate back in. By the way, that was also the early Vietnam War kind of tactics. They would go out and live with the people. They'd work side by side with the Iraqi military and police. And they maintain a presence so that people have secure neighborhoods.

They can have secure neighborhoods in which they can come out and have not only the secure environment, but the social, economic process to move forward.

Last New Year's Eve thousands of people in Baghdad turned out in the streets for the first time in years to welcome the New Year. Because they had a safe environment. There are problems in America with safe neighborhoods as we well know. I'm not making a comparison because it's much more deadly in Iraq. It's kind of the same theory. And so what happens is now meanwhile we are training the Iraqi military and police. They are taking over more and more of the responsibilities. An example of that is Mosul right now. One last outposts, not the only one, but one of the last major outposts of al Qaeda in Iraq today is the city of Mosul. And guess who is taking the lead in fighting al Qaeda in Mosul. It's the Iraqi military with our support.

When we had to fight the Battle of Fallujah, it was the United States Marines and not the Iraqi military. Although they were there. It has been a dramatic shift in change. I want to emphasize to you, are things all fine in Iraq? No. If you forget everything I say to you this morning, please remember this. Al Qaeda is on the run. They are not defeated. They are not defeated. They are still the most explosive lethal devices coming across the Iranian border into Iraq killing young Americans and there is still suicide bombers landing in the Damascus Airport and being transported into Iraq because they are having to bring in the foreigners who are suicide bombers and never under estimate the difficulty of countering a suicide bomber. Ask our World War II veterans about the kamikaze pilots in World War II. Ask the Israelis. How hard it is. They have recently just had another encounter with suicide bombers.

So it's very, very difficult. But the progress that is being made that is remarkably good. They have a long way to go. Finally, I'm sorry for the long answer, but I would say it's not publicized as much as it should be. The greatest long-term challenge to Iraq and making it a functioning democracy is the rule of law. The rule of law.

The hardest thing in any country, look at the problems Soviet Union countries had in trying to have a judicial system that is fair. The number one target of al Qaeda in Iraq today are judges. They are the number one target. You can certainly understand why. We have got brave Iraqis who are willing to sit as judges and juries, particularly judges today in Iraq. Risking their lives and families as we speak.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: Senator John McCain pointing out there is a lot of challenging, but also pointing out there is a lot of progress there on the ground. I want to shift our focus away from the presidential campaign because there is an interesting congressional race happening out in Illinois. This is where the seat formally held by Speaker Dennis Hastert, of course he stepped down before his term expired after there was a shift in control in the House to Democrats.

There are two people are running for the race, in this hotly contested race. The Republican is Jim Oberweis. The Democrat is Bill Foster. Two businessmen who don't have a lot of experience, but what's interesting about this race in a seat that has been in Republican hands for quite sometime, there is a lot of money pumped into the campaigns not only from the campaigns individually, but also from the Republican and the Democratic party. Millions of dollars poured in through these campaigns. A very tight race and the polls closed about a half hour ago. Of course they are counting the votes in this special election there in Illinois there. We will be watching it. If we have results, we will bring them to you. Coming up just ahead after this break, probably one of the juiciest items in the last week on the campaign trail. What to do with Michigan and Florida. Of course everyone is talking about should there be a redo? Of course, all of this will cost a lot of money and how do you pay for it? We will take a look at the issue ahead after this break on CNN BALLOT BOWL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LOTHIAN: Welcome back to CNN BALLOT BOWL. I am Dan Lothian in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the subjects that got attention over the last few days has been what to do with Florida and Michigan. These are two states that lost their delegates or delegates won't count because those states chose to adjust their primary dates against the wishes of the Democratic Party. And so there has been a lot of talk as to whether or not there should be a do-over. Of course that is very complicated. How exactly will that work and who would pay for it all. It would cost obviously millions of dollars to have a do-over in those states. One interesting notion came from James Carville and a supporter of Senator Clinton.

And he put out a challenge on THE SITUATION ROOM Friday night to the Obama campaign saying put up $15 million and we will put up $15 million to pay for a do-over and listen to that challenge on THE SITUATION ROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: We will put up $15 million. I will guarantee 15 million and have the Obama people put up $15 million. We will go to post on June 7th. I have got fund-raisers that are lined up and ready to go. I think the Democratic Party is going to look absurd if they don't have primaries and let these people in Florida and Michigan vote. And I tell you what, they are going to take solace in the general election if we don't do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: So in addition to kind of figuring out how to pay for all of this when you hear about what may be an option or may not be an option, it just makes you want to scratch your head. So we have our Bill Schneider who took a look at this complicated issue as to how this do over would actually work if indeed it happens.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suppose the credentials committee decided to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations at the Democratic convention. Those delegates could put Hillary Clinton over the top. Sounds OK to her.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) NY: I think that it would be a grave disservice to the voters of Florida and Michigan to adopt any process that would disenfranchise anyone and therefore I am still committed to seating their delegations. SCHNEIDER: Chairman Dean sees trouble.

HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIR: We have it got to play by the rules. If you don't do that then half of the people whose candidate doesn't win this nomination are going to go away believing they have been cheated.

SCHNEIDER: He wants to avoid an angry split at the convention, possible walk outs by Barack Obama delegates. Republicans wouldn't mind that. The governor of Florida is a Republican.

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST, (R) FL: We want the votes already cast to be counted. That's the logical thing to do. On January 29th we had a record turnout.

SCHNEIDER: Well, yes, but something was odd about the Florida and Michigan results. More Republicans than Democrats voted. In 24 of the 29 primaries that have already been held this year, the opposite was true. More Democrats voted. Apparently a lot of Florida and Michigan Democrats stayed home because they were told it wouldn't count. Now Michigan and Florida are talking about holding new primaries. That costs money. Who is going to pay?

DEAN: We hope they can comply with the rules, but they are going to have to figure out how to pay for it.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): It might be worth it. If Florida and Michigan redo their primaries late in the season, they could actually determine who wins. Isn't that what they were trying to do in the first place? Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: Thank you, Bill. Bill shedding some light on the very controversial and certainly complex issue of these do-overs for Michigan and for Florida. Ahead after this break, we are going to hear from both of the candidates, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton on this whole issue again of experience and who has the better judgment. That's ahead on BALLOT BOWL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LOTHIAN: Welcome back to CNN BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Dan Lothian in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All week both of the Democratic presidential hopefuls, Senator Clinton and Senator Obama have been duking out. Some sharp exchanges again over this issue of experience. Who has the most experience and Senator Obama is saying it's more than just experience, but also about having good judgment. Really some sharp exchanges that we have seen between the two and Senator Hillary Clinton was in Washington earlier this week. She was surrounded at a meeting by retired generals and also analysts as well to hammer home that message of experience and beyond that. It was sort of a visual element to show she does indeed have the experience and of course I mentioned. Senator Barack Obama has been challenging that. We will hear from both of them now, but first let's go to Senator Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I am also grateful that I have my own experience to draw on. I have been fortunate enough to be on both ends of Pennsylvania avenue and to have the great privilege of representing our country and more than 80 other countries including of course Iraq and Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East. Just earlier today I had a conversation with King Abdullah of Jordan about the situation that he and other leaders in the Middle East face today.

I am very appreciative of the confidence that these leaders around this table and others placed in me. And some may believe that experience doesn't matter or that even in today's world is a liability. But as generals and admirals, ambassadors and other senior leaders charged with protecting our security know, experience doesn't just count for something. Often, when lives are on the line and a decision must be made, experience counts for everything.

In this election we need a nominee who can pass the commander-in-chief test. Someone ready on day it defend our country and keep our families safe. We need a president who passes that test. The first and most solemn duty of the president of the United States is on protect and defend our nation. And when there is a crisis and when the phone rings whether it's 3:00 p.m. or 3:00 a.m. In the White House, there is no time for speeches and on the job training. Senator McCain will bring a time of experience to the campaign. I will bring a lifetime of experience and Senator Obama will bring a speech he gave in 2002.

I think that is a significant difference. I think since we now know Senator McCain will be the nominee for the party, national security will be front and center in this election. We all know that. I think it's imperative that each of us be able to demonstrate we can cross the commander in chief threshold. I believe that I have done that and certainly Senator McCain has done that. You will have to ask Senator Obama with respect to his candidacy.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She has been making that same argument for the last 13 months. The American have people rejected it because I think they recognize I have got 20 years of experience in bringing about change. It wasn't just speech. It's been a consistent opposition to the war in Iraq. It's been my judgment on issues like Pakistan and Iran that I think have been superior to hers. That's why we think we will continue to do well. And a lot of things that I hope people start asking is what exactly is this foreign experience that she claiming. I know she talks about visiting 80 countries.

It's not clear, was she negotiating treaties or agreements or was she handling crises during this period of time? My sense is the answer is no. So I have not seen any evidence that she is better equipped to handle a crisis. And if the only criteria is longevity in Washington then she certainly is not going to beat John McCain on that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton in their own words. Now coming up after the break, a story you don't want to miss. It's one of those water cooler stories. We have all seen that Senator Clinton at 3:00 a.m. ad. You will be surprised to hear about who one of those young women is in that tape. You will be surprised. You have to stick around to find out. Coming up after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LOTHIAN: Welcome back to CNN BALLOT BOWL '08. Here is a story that is just so interesting. It's one of those fun stories that you will be talking about around the water cooler. You have all probably seen the campaign ad for the Clinton campaign being, I guess it's being called the 3:00 in the morning call ad with where the phone is ringing and then you see young children sleeping. The visual there obviously is that she is the best person to be president who can protect not only you, but your family.

Well it turns out the footage of those young kids is taken from the stock footage and one of the kids in that ad is a young woman who is now all grown up. She has been tracked down by a reporter out in Seattle, Washington. It turns out that she supports Barack Obama. Here is the very latest on that from KING TV affiliate reporter, Alyssa Hahn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: It's 3:00 a.m. and your children are and a sleep. There is a phone in the White House and it is ringing.

ALYSSA HAHN, KING TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the political ad that helped turn the tide for Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign. Thursday night the Knowles family of Bonnie Lake, Washington was watching the Jon Stewart show and saw the ad.

BRADY KNOWLES, BROTHER: I looked and I saw a girl that looked like my sister and rewinded it and sure enough, it was my sister.

CASEY KNOWLES, OBAMA SUPPORTER: It's actually really funny.

HAHN: The first girl in the ad is young Casey Knowles, stock footage from eight years ago when she worked as a extra, footage now owned by Getty Images and used by the Clinton campaign who couldn't have picked a more unwilling star.

C. KNOWLES: It's ironic that my image would be used to advocate for Hillary when I myself do not.

HAHN: She may only be 17, but Casey has some very strong political opinions. She turns 18, legal voting age in April, plenty of time before the general election.

C. KNOWLES: It's just perfect timing because I have a candidate that I identify with. I have been campaigning for Barack Obama for a few months now. I was actually a precinct captain at the caucuses a few months ago and I attended his rally in February and I am a very, very avid supporter. HAHN: The Knowles family admits they have no control over how the footage is used. And while Casey sees the humor of it all, she is mildly annoyed.

C. KNOWLES: I think it would be wonderful if me and Barack Obama could get together and make a nice counter ad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: OK, we have been paying attention to the political news and there is also some other happening around the country and around the world. And for that we turn to Stephanie Elam in Atlanta. Stephanie?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Dan.

Well, police in Alabama, they have arrested a 23-year-old man in the killing of an Auburn University student. Courtney Lockhart is charged with capital murder, kidnapping, robbery and attempted rape and he is suspected in a string of other robberies as well. Eighteen year old freshman Lauren Burke was found shot near Auburn's campus Tuesday night.

Police in North Carolina are looking for this man in connection with the Wednesday shooting death of the UNC student body president. Twenty-two year old Eve Carson was found about a mile from campus. Investigators say an ATM security camera caught the man behind the wheel apparently trying to access Carson's bank account.

One man is dead after a gun fight outside a hospital in Macon, Georgia. Two others were wounded. Police say an argument between the three men escalated into a physical fight and guns were drawn. They have arrested one of the survivors for murder.

There has been an arrest in last week's multiple slayings in Memphis. Jesse Dodson was captured Friday night. He is accused of murdering his brother and five other people. Two of those victims were children. Three other young children in the house were wounded.

Blizzard conditions today in Ohio with a late winter storm walloping the state. There is more winter weather up into the Northern New England area. Jacqui Jeras is keeping an eye on all of it in Weather Center. How have things progressed today Jacqui?

(WEATHER REPORT)

ELAM: Jacqui sounds like a good night to stay home. Across the board. All right. Thanks, Jacqui.

Chances are someone will be an hour late tomorrow morning. Don't let it be you. Daylight Savings Time return at 2:00 a.m. Spring forward, as they say. Before you go ot bed tonight be sure to set your clocks ahead one hour so you are not that late person.

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