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More Campaign Happenings; Next Democratic Showdown in Mississippi; Surfing Candidates Web Sites; Gang Violence in Los Angeles

Aired March 09, 2008 - 18:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I want you to look at something right now. You can barely see your screen and that is no mistake. This is what really it's looking like right now in Ohio and the weather is not letting up. Our Jacqui Jeras has been tracking this thing all day long and boy, she's got some work cut out for her.
Also, Wyoming down, now to Mississippi and Pennsylvania. This is unbelievable. Perhaps no campaign like none before it. Dozens more delegates at stake and believe me, every single one of them is counted these days.

And then later, a mother served her country in Iraq, but she fought her biggest battle right here at home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told me they shot him. He was three doors down. No, no. I didn't want to believe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It's an amazing story to watch. Random gang shootings overtaking the city of Los Angeles. What does the mayor plan to do about that?

And using hijacked planes for a terror attack. Can you believe that some militants were going to try the same tactic? What was the target this time? That's the run down.

Hello again, everybody, I'm Rick Sanchez. You know, we're usually all about the news and certainly politics these days. But today, the news is the weather. I want to show you something. Take a look at Cincinnati, Ohio. Winter but no wonderland. Just about the only vehicles on the streets are snow plows and trucks dealing with nine or so inches that dumped on them this weekend. And look, it's still coming down hard.

We've been following this all day. These folks made the best of a no-go situation at Cleveland's airport. That's what they're doing, hanging out. Zero flights took off. Lots of passengers spending the night on cots, on the floor, wherever they could. The airport reopened today, but with heavy, heavy delays.

Parts of the state got hammered with 20 inches of snow over a period of only 48 hours. Do the math. The clean up and the clear out is slow, if at all. And commuters in Ohio cities can expect a bigger rush hour headache than normal tomorrow.

Now when that snow piles up that deep that quickly, it's not just a pain in the neck, it's really dangerous for some people. We've got some pictures we're going to be showing you.

This is Columbus, Ohio, pounded by record snow fall Friday and Saturday. Just before they shut down the Columbus airport, a passenger plane landed, but it didn't stop. Skidding, sliding right off the end of a frozen runway. Do you think the people coming off were scared?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was bumpy coming down and we hit the run way and I wondered why we didn't see concrete and we just saw snow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the plane got to the ground, everybody started cheering. And I was like, don't cheer yet, we haven't came to a stop. And as soon as I said that, we went right off the end of the runway and you could feel it. It was all bumpy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The Continental Airlines 737 skidded several hundred feet off the runway. None of the 130 people on board was hurt. Now to that Jacqui Jeras character we've been telling you about. She has been following this thing all day long. Do you know what's amazing about this, Jacqui? We've been watching the pictures. You know, tough to see what some of these people are dealing with especially on the highways.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SANCHEZ: All right, let's talk politics now. There were just a dozen pledged delegates at stake in yesterday's Wyoming Democratic primary. But as we now know, the battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is so close, every delegate matters. Obama came out on top in Wyoming, but Senator Clinton took some delegates as well.

Including yesterday's results, CNN estimates that Obama now has 1,527 delegates. Hillary Clinton by our count has 1,428. To win the Democratic nomination, a candidate needs 2,025 total delegates. The candidates are already moving on to the next showdown -- 33 delegates are up for grabs just two days from now in Mississippi. And the Democrats are already looking ahead to next month, April 22nd to be exact. That's when Pennsylvania's 158 delegates are at stake. That's the next biggie, as they call them.

Let's check in now on both states. Our Sean Callebs has been following things in Mississippi. And Dan Lothian is standing by for us in Philadelphia. Sean, start us off there where most experts are saying it should be a good state for Barack Obama, right?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what we're hearing, about 70 percent of the registered Democratic voters are African- Americans. Obama's campaign says yes, that clearly plays in his favor. But the campaign has seen what has happened to the polling in New Hampshire, in Ohio. They thought they would do better there. So they're encouraging their faithful to get out as quickly as possible, do as much campaigning up the last moment as they can.

Thirty-three delegates up for grabs here. Very important to the state. The issues here critically important: economy, education, jobs, crime, but it's especially important down here along the Gulf Coast. If you look at this building behind me, 2.5 years after Katrina, former building simply devastated. Down here, there is one issue. It is recovery. Everything else simply gets lost in discussion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DERREL NUTTER, BILOXI RESIDENT: That's the house my father built, the house I was raised in.

CALLEBS (voice-over): Brothers Derrel and John Nutter grew up in Biloxi and like many here, are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina two and half years later.

JOHN NUTTER, BILOXI RESIDENT: Some people care and some people just don't. A lot of folks probably in badder shape than we are right now.

CALLEBS: The mortgage company just foreclosed on the family home.

MARK JONES, PRESIDENT, URBAN LIFE MISSIONS: The people here aren't interested in an education. They're interested in a bed and a pillow and a place they can call home. And there are no homes here for these people.

CALLEBS: Mark Jones is the president of Urban Life Missions. He moved here from New York City to help, but says his organization is out of money to help the Nutter family.

JONES: Everything the candidates are talking about is important for the candidates, but I don't believe it's hitting the pulse of the Gulf and the people here.

CALLEBS: The irony in Biloxi, casino business is booming.

MAYOR A.J. HOLLOWAY, BILOXI: This year they did just over $1 billion in revenue. So what you see right out here is with casino money.

CALLEBS: A.J. Holloway this is the mayor of Biloxi. Tax revenue from casinos paid for this brand new school, but Holloway knows little has been done to help individual homeowners.

HOLLOWAY: We still need to maybe have some type of a stimulus, the government could come in and do something, put some kind of businesses in here or some kind of increase the capacity of this so to speak. Something like that could bring more people in, more money, better jobs. CALLEBS: Looking ahead to Tuesday's primaries, voters along Mississippi's Gulf Coast say the next two years must be better regardless of who wins the White House, because they say, things can't get any worse for the Nutters and thousands in the same situation.

J. NUTTER: I'm done with it. In a few days, we're going be out on the streets. We got nowhere else to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: You know, no matter how many times we go up and down the coast talking to people like the Nutters, it's agonizing to look in their eyes and just sense the hopelessness. Well after two and a half years of misery, there is a ray of hope out there right now, Rick. And that is the interest that this presidential campaign has generated. Many people here hope to seize the moment, grab the candidates attention and hopefully lead to some long-term, positive changes here. Rick?

SANCHEZ: It's interesting to see what may develop in what is normally a very Republican state. Sean, thanks so much, look forward to watching this thing as it develops.

CNN's Dan Lothian is doing the same for us, but he's in Pennsylvania. Philly, Pa,, as they say. And you know what's interesting there is a lot of people are saying this could be a battleground state for Hillary Clinton. Is that the way it's being seen?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is the battleground state, you know, in particular because of the high delegate count. There are 158 delegates so you do see the Mississippi primary obviously important with 33 delegates there, but 158 really crucial here especially because the race is so tight.

And for Senator Hillary Clinton, she has the backing of the governor, Ed Rendell, who is a very prominent, very outgoing and very strong and vocal supporter of Senator Clinton. She also has the support of Philadelphia's mayor. So she certainly seems to be getting some points there.

And also one of the other things that gives the advantage in this early view of the state to Senator Clinton is that there is a large umber of senior citizens here. In fact, this state ranks second among all states in terms of older voters. So that is something that no doubt will go to her advantage.

But for Barack Obama obviously, a large population of African- American voters in the urban areas. Philadelphia being one of them. And they typically will vote overwhelmingly for Barack Obama. But certainly as Sean was pointing out, no matter what the numbers may show, the polling numbers may show, you really can't necessarily depend on that because people will shift, they'll change at the last minute. As we've seen in other states, polls were indicating one thing and then it ended up being something quite different when the voters showed up for the polls.

But nonetheless, both of the campaigns are working very hard here on the ground. They have their operations. As soon as Ohio was done, they sort of moved - everybody shifted the operations here, really got things going. Senator Clinton expected to be in Scranton, Pennsylvania, tomorrow. And Senator Obama coming later in the week as well.

So Rick, this is a very important, a critical state for the Democrats. One of the issues here that voters really are concerned about is the economy. Especially in parts of state, much like Ohio, you had high unemployment, you have manufacturing jobs that have gone away. It's not to the extent that we've seen in Ohio, but as some people will say, parts of the state do mirror some of the same issues that show up in Ohio. So the economy obviously important to voters here as well. Rick?

SANCHEZ: Let's not kid ourselves, though. This is really as much as anything else an expectation game. And the expectation at this point is that Hillary Clinton will probably do well in Pennsylvania. So as a result, she must do well in Pennsylvania. Dan Lothian, thanks so much for that report.

LOTHIAN: That's right.

SANCHEZ: The candidates are appealing for votes any way they possible can, and that includes the Internet. Nobody seems to be doing better in this regard than Barack Obama. A wonderful article in "Rolling Stone" magazine this week that actually details how he's gone about almost revolutionizing the way campaigns will be run in the future with these social networks that most of us have never heard of before. But I'm sure Josh Levs has. He has probably has the biggest MySpace ad out there. Josh, what have you got for us?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Back in the day, candidates were able to fight on the stump without also having to worry about this thing called cyberspace. Now they have to worry about it and they have to use it as a tool.

I've got a camera right here facing this computer behind me. I'm going to show you some things going on the campaign Websites today, really interesting. We're going to start off with this. This is from Hillary Clinton's Web site. She calls it the fact hub. She uses it often to respond to news reports, also to respond to attacks from Obama.

Today she is responding to something -- his remarks about her allegedly flip-flopping on the issue of torture. He, meanwhile, has his own fact check Web site. At the top of his fact check Web site is a response to this front and center "New York Times" article today. And as you can read right there, he's saying that that story minimizes his Senate accomplishments.

I'll show you quickly what that story is. This is from the "New York Times.com," "Obama in Senate: Star Power, Minor Role." John McCain obviously not part of that back and forth but at his Web site, he does have very prominently news and media. You can't miss it at Johnmccain.com. He updates stories about him, also uses this area to offer his own responses.

Now we do follow those, but we also follow videos that are presented on these campaign Web sites. And these are really interesting because you can see what the candidates are doing to try to position themselves. Right now we're going to show this to you unfiltered.

We're starting off with a look at the Democratic side. As we know, women have been really key to Clinton's success, especially lately in Ohio and Texas. Both she and Barack Obama are pursuing female voters. They have videos very prominent on their Web site reaching out directly to women. Let's take a look right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): What I really like about Barack Obama is that I feel like I can trust him and I haven't felt that way about government or politics in a long time.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): He has a new attitude and Obama represents that change and the new attitude.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Obama could be someone who honors the feminine values of caring for all.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): I think he has a very good understanding of what is just and what's not, of what's right and what's wrong.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): She kind of took my hand and said, you're not one mother. You're a mother, too, and I want to help you. She was just so engaging and so compassionate and so warm. She said, she goes I could be sitting in your chair. She's like but for the grace of god my child is healthy.

And she then followed up; week after week with phone calls and putting me in touch with people that could maybe help me and she kept true to her word. It wasn't something for the media; this wasn't something to posture about and whatnot. She did it because she cared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Now there is a lot more where those come from and you can't miss them if you go to these campaign Web sites. Now the Democrats have been saying often, John McCain is likely to make this race largely about national security. He certainly has taken steps in that direction, and now he has a new video front and center on his Web site. Let's take a look at a piece of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the hills and on the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.

JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Keep that faith. Keep your courage. Stick together. Stay strong. Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. We're Americans. We're Americans and we'll never surrender. They will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: It is really interested to see the kinds of messages that the candidates are focusing on in their videos, particularly the ones that they put front and center. And obviously as the race continues, we can expect a lot more of those. We'll keep an eye on them for you, let you know the highlights. I'm Josh Levs, CNN, Atlanta.

SANCHEZ: All right, thanks so much, Josh.

By the way, we mentioned a little while ago about the social networking scheme or apparatus that's been set up by the Obama camp. It's fabulously detailed in a "Rolling Stone" article. Tonight, we're going to talk to the "Rolling Stone" writers about how this has worked and how it actually might be brilliant enough to revolutionize the way campaigns are run in the future. That's tonight, right here at 10:00 p.m. as we run down the politics of the day. Stay with CNN for the best political coverage on television. We're bringing you the candidates unfiltered and in their own words. "Ballot Bowl" prime time returns at 8 Eastern tonight only on CNN.

Fighting terror plots, the security of this year's Olympics in China has already been tested in a very big way. What is China's actual plan to try and keep people safe?

Also, she's tearful and she's sorry. We're hearing from the mother of the man accused of killing an Alabama college student for the first time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: It's a good run, got a lot of folks watching. We thank you, if you are one of them.

Welcome back. Chinese officials are saying that they foiled two terror plots, including one targeting this year's Olympic Games in Beijing. They say a group of separatists living in an autonomous region in the northwest had plans to attack the Beijing games this summer. Officials say some members of the group were killed earlier this year and the plot was uncovered. And earlier today, officials say there was a hijack attempt on a China southern airlines flight like this one. But they say members of the crew overpowered the hijackers and forced a landing. One official says the hijackers were planning "an air disaster."

A double tragedy tonight in Alabama. While the family of Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk prepares for her funeral, he mother of the man suspected of killing Burk says she is sorry and that her veteran son has not been the same since coming back from the war in Iraq. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE WILLIAMS, SUSPECT'S MOTHER: I'm sorry for their family, I'm sorry, I'm just sorry. I just don't have nothing else to say. I'm just sorry for the loss of that family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Tough story to watch. More news coming your way, as well as politics. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

University of North Carolina student Eve Carson is being remembered in her hometown of Athens, Georgia today. Carson was the student body president at UNC- Chapel Hill. She was found shot to death on a city street early Wednesday. Police think it was a random crime. They released two surveillance photos of a man they call a person of interest taken at an ATM in Chapel Hill. The man appears to be using one of Carson's cards right there.

A mother serving her country in Iraq learns a horrible thing happened back home. One of her sons gunned down in senseless gang violence. Here's Kara Finnstrom from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANITA SHAW, MOTHER: He was a Christian, and I thank God for that, because I know he's in a better place.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anita Shaw says her 17-year-old son Jamiel wanted to please everyone.

A. SHAW: He'd just try all the time to do the right thing. He was so good.

FINNSTROM: Jamiel is one of several innocent victims in a horrifying two-week string of gang-related shootings around Los Angeles.

MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: I think what's particularly unnerving for all of us, just the random nature of these shootings.

FINNSTROM: Police say Jamiel was an innocent victim. Two Latino gang members had approached him and asked him what gang he was in. Shaw was not in a gang. When he didn't answer, they shot and killed him.

JAMIEL SHAW, FATHER: I just can't understand, you know?

FINNSTROM: Jamiel was only a few doors from home. Jamiel Sr. heard the shots, ran outside. He knew it was his son lying on the ground. J. SHAW: I guarantee, that's why it hurts so much.

FINNSTROM: They had a plan -- keep focused, stay away from drugs and gangs and we'll get into college. Now everything shattered.

J. SHAW: I told him, I promise you, if you sacrifice these 18 years, man, I'll sacrifice with you, I guarantee you it's not going to happen. And you know, it's oh, I can't even -- I don't understand, I just can't understand.

FINNSTROM: Part of that sacrifice from Jamiel's mother. While Jamiel Sr. served the family at home, she served her country in Iraq. She was there last Thanksgiving and sent a greeting to her sons on CNN.

A. SHAW: I would like to give a shot out to my sons, Jamiel ...

ROESGEN: And she was there this week when her commanding officer called her in and told her Jamiel had been shot. Anita called home.

A. SHAW: He told me, "They shot him." He was three doors down. I'm like, no, no, no! I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I thought if I didn't talk about it, it wouldn't be true.

FINNSTROM: No one could believe it was true. Jamiel was a star running back and sprinter for Los Angeles High School. Colleges were showing interest, including Stanford.

J. SHAW: I said man, we're going to have to get more room for these trophies, you know, because you're only in 11th grade. That mean you're going to have a lot more college trophies.

FINNSTROM: Now the dream is over. The Shaws are angry.

J. SHAW: It's just the gang problem and they have nothing in their heart for people.

A. SHAW: Isn't that what gangs are then? If they won't let you have your own freedom, then to me, they're a terrorist.

FINNSTROM: And the Shaws are scared. They have another son to raise, nine-year-old Thomas. Thomas, an athlete too, has always wanted to be just like his big brother.

Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Good report.

Going on the attack, you may not like some of the political ads that you're seeing, depending on who your candidate is these days. Well guess what? The worst may be yet to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: Hasn't this been the most fun we've had watching a campaign in decades? We're just two days away from the next big battle in the race of the Democratic presidential nomination. Mississippi gets its moment in the spotlight Tuesday, 33 delegates at stake there. The state also has seven super delegates. The experts tell us Barack Obama has the edge, should do well in part because the state has a population that is 37 percent African-American.

Your home, your family, your very life could be at stake when you vote. At least that is what decades of political attack ads would have you believe. The current campaign is clearly taking a tough turn with attack ads now rearing their heads more than before. But if history is a guide, you ain't seen nothing yet. Here's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

I love the governor of Illinois

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ok she's a little scary. But that's basically a positive ad. This is negative.

Three, two, one, zero. We must either love each other or we must die.

FOREMAN: The sub text, vote for me or die. For decades there have been variations on this theme.

There's a bear in the woods.

These people want to kill us.

FOREMAN: When that has not been effective enough, some campaigns have moved from the world is scary to those other guys are really scary.

How can a party that lets the country get bogged down in an endless war.

And now he wants to be our commander in chief. America can't afford that risk.

Dole's risky economic scheme.

He betrayed all his shipmates. [ Laughter ]

FOREMAN: And when campaigners fail to make their opponents look scary enough, sometimes they just try to make them look stupid.

I just wondered if you could give us an example of a major idea of his that you had adopted in that role of the decider and final --

If you give me a week, I might think of one. I don't remember.

I took the initiative in creating the internet.

Call me. FOREMAN: Time and again, voters say they don't like these attacks, scary, stupid or otherwise. So why do they keep coming up? Well, because the positive ones don't always work. Just ask President Adlai Stevenson.

Adlai love you madly.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: I guess the point is it didn't work.

A former Obama supporter ends up featured in a Hillary Clinton campaign ad. She's not exactly pleased about this. These folks right here with me are pleased to be here though, they are political bloggers, left, right and middle. We hit politics from all angles. Stay with us guys, we'll get into the conversation in just a little bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right, this is the best part of the show for me, any way, because I love politics. Presidential politics seems like a revolving door of pain. Sometimes you take a hit, sometimes you hit back. This week, Barack Obama takes a hit. The GOP congressman says al Qaeda will dance in the streets if Obama is elected. That's what he said. And then Hillary Clinton, a little girl in Senator Clinton's red phone ad. Now all grown up by the way, says she's actually voting for Barack Obama. Lots to talk about with our bloggers tonight. Blogging from the left, Bill Scher, executive editor of Liberal Oasis.com. Joe Gambleman is editor-in-chief of the blog The Moderate Voice, thereby I guess insinuating that he is in the middle. If anybody possibly ever can be. And Emily Zanotti is lead writer for the conservative blog, American Princess. Thanks to all of you for being with us. I want to start off with this. It happened yesterday, I think it caught all of us by surprise. This fellow who's a congressman out in Iowa, his name is Steve King. Says this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE KING, (R) IOWA: When you think about the optics of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected president of the United States, I mean what does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam. I will tell you that if he is elected president, that the radical Islamists, the al Qaeda and the radical Islamists and their supporters will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11th. Because they will declare victory in this war on terror.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Emily what did you think when you heard that?

E.M. ZANOTTI, AMERICAN PRINCESS BLOG : Well, you know, that rhetoric is a little over the top. I have to be honest, it's over the top and I think we've gone beyond the Barack Obama is a Muslim thing. But I think he has a point somewhere in there where he's saying, you know, if we're going to look at the slate of candidates and who the terrorists might like to win, or who is going to pull out of Iraq fastest, I guess Barack Obama is probably right up there in line.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, 60 percent of Americans also want to pull out of Iraq. Does that make (INAUDIBLE) to al Qaeda?

ZANOTTI: Sixty percent of Americans might want the war to change or the direction of the war to change. I'm not sure it's 60 percent of Americans want us to pull out of Iraq right away, or even within 12 months. I mean they might not want to stay in there for 100 years, but they don't want to be out right away.

SANCHEZ: Hey Bill, do you think this guy has any point at all?

BILL SCHER, LIBERALOASIS.COM: No, and it really should raise a lot of questions. Conservatives have been saying for a long time that they have an inherent superiority on national security. If this guy thinks we're going to hurt ourselves worldwide if we elect a guy because of his name, I think that tells you something about how strong his aptitude is on national security.

SANCHEZ: Joe, do you think this guy is actually saying that Barack Obama, because of whatever it is about him, his optics, perhaps, whatever that means, will in fact capitulate to al Qaeda as president?

JOE GANDELMAN, THE MODERATE VOICE BLOG: This is a typical game playing you get every election year, which is why independent voters are being turned off. I mean, so he's basically saying that now we're going to have a religious qualification for names. What next if you have a funny name, you can't run? Poor Mike Huckabee.

SANCHEZ: You know what's interesting about this is, when I look at it and I think I would love to see the day when al Qaeda is too busy dancing on the streets, they'll be bombing us.

ZANOTTI: (INAUDIBLE)

SANCHEZ: Next, let's talk about that 3:00 a.m. phone call, which is really, really something to all of a sudden have that thing turned around on a candidate. Here's part of the phone call or as it appeared when the ad came out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 3:00 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call. Whether it's somebody who already knows the --

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Here's the news that's coming out of this, you see that little girl in the ad, she's no longer a little girl, she's now 18, she's getting ready to vote, she says she doesn't want to vote for Hillary Clinton, she wants to vote for Barack Obama. That's interesting, because that's the kind of thing that comes back and bites a candidate in the rear without them being prepared for it. I mean, poor Hillary Clinton in this case. What was she supposed to do?

ZANOTTI: I think that's a kind of poetic justice for the Barack Obama girl voting for Hillary Clinton. You know everything evens up, the universe is balanced now.

SANCHEZ: But is it really fair? I mean this is probably stock footage done by someone in some ad agency that Hillary Clinton had nothing to do with.

GANDELMAN: Well it's stock footage -- but it is stock footage. But it shows that they have to go and search every single tiny detail of anything that they use. But it's also very symbolic that she's also a baby boomer. She's also not a baby boomer, she's not voting the way that the baby boomers are voting.

SANCHEZ: Those are the people that are voting for Barack Obama, either very young or very rich.

ZANOTTI: She's only 18 and ---

GANDELMAN: She comes from a totally different generation. She's looking at it through a different prism. The fact that he's turning out to vote for Obama, that story will never get the kind of traction that the original ad did. So it really is not going to negate the ad. The damage is done in the ad. It's symbolic.

ZANOTTI: Yeah, I think you're looking at, you know she's an 18- year-old girl, she fits in great with the rest of the group of people who are really looking at Barack Obama right now. You know, like I said, the Obama girl is voting for Hillary.

SANCHEZ: All right, let's talk about something else that I think is interesting as well. This certainly became a big issue on the news this week, mentioned by both sides and this is the possibility that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would be on a ticket together. Here's how it came up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON: Put those two things together, you would have an almost unstoppable force.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's premature. You won't see me as a vice presidential candidate, I'm running for president.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like it was the Clinton side that was first suggesting this, somewhat coyly. Is that a presumptuous suggestion to make from the candidate that's actually behind in the delegate count at this point. SCHER: It's not a serious suggestion on their part. I think they're trying to do it strictly because they want to make sure to try to get some Obama support into their camp. They think they can get two for one. But they're saying in the same breath that Obama doesn't cross the threshold to be commander in chief. And as you saw on one of the Sunday morning shows --

SANCHEZ: But he's good enough to be number two.

SCHER: Well, you can't say this person is a heartbeat way from the presidency and he don't cut the mustard to be commander in chief. That talking point doesn't hold up over time but I bet you it's going to be dropped eventually.

ZANOTTI: Why would Obama even want to do it? I mean Obama even if he doesn't pull off the nomination and we don't know that yet, he's ahead.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

GANDELMAN: It's very unlikely to happen also because if you look at the tensions between the Clinton and Obama camps talking about the super delegates, what may happen if it goes to the worst in Denver, this is not the dream ticket, it's the in your dream ticket.

SANCHEZ: Wait, guys, just one more thing. Let's be serious about this. If this thing at the very end, is chosen for one side or the other, and the other side, the one that's not chosen is angry, this may be the only way to bring the ticket back together again. Am I right?

GANDELMAN: Yes, if they agreed it would be a very good ticket. But the person who has the number two spot has to be happy and also have to convince his or her followers. Because there's a lot of bitterness, the followers of the Obama and Clinton camps are, if you just read the blogs, you see what's going on between the followers, the bitterness is enormous right now. It's very difficult to see how they're going to be able to bring these two sides together the way it's been going so far.

SANCHEZ: Let's see, we may not be crossing that road yet. But it may come a day when we actually have to be talking about something like this on the democratic side. We'll have you back and we'll have that discussion. Meanwhile, the republicans are saying, whoopee, we're already here, we don't have to worry about that. Thanks guys, we certainly appreciate it..

A democratic joint ticket, is it just a pipe dream, and who would be on top? Would it be Clinton Obama or Obama Clinton? We're going to try to get to the bottom of that on the hypothetical ticket.

Also, this 3:00 a.m. phone call, this ad helped Hillary Clinton in Ohio and Texas but the little girl in the video is no longer a little girl and guess who she's supporting? We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: Let's talk a little more about that conversation we had with our bloggers momentarily. You know that 3:00 a.m. phone call thing that both democratic camps are knocking around, the Clinton team made a TV ad around that thing. It features an actress, a little girl. Well as we had just mentioned, she's not so little anymore and there's one more thing, she's not exactly thrilled about how her image is being used because of her preference for candidates.

Alisa Hahn from our Seattle affiliate KING TV reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 3:00 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing.

ALISA HAHN, KING: A 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 for the first time.

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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 TV extra, footage now owned by Getty Images and used by the Clinton campaign, who couldn't have picked a more unwilling star.

CASEY KNOWLES, GIRL IN CLINTON CAMPAIGN AD: It was really sort of 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 turned 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 really identify with. I've 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'm a very, very avid supporter.

HAHN: The Knowles family admits they have no control over how the footage is used. 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 OF VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Maybe not so wonderful. Depending on what side of the equation or what side of the fence you're looking at this from. As Alisa Hahn reported, Casey is now 17 but will turn 18 before Election Day. She says even though she's firmly an Obama supporter, she'll reluctantly vote for Hillary Clinton in the event that she is the nominee.

Covered in snow, even the police officers can't beat it. You won't believe some of the pictures in Canada and the U.S. following this big blizzard we've been telling you about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: These i-Report pictures just keep coming in. Look at these. It snows a lot in Canada right, well we know. But this is just out of control. CNN iReporter Michael DeSalt sends us this home video. A major snowstorm in Quebec City. Those things beside the road, they're cars. One of them is a police car by the way. Stranded in the snow drifts until somebody digs them out. Power is still pretty much out in southern Ontario and Quebec. That's why they call it the great white north folks. Many thanks to Michael DeSalt in Quebec for bringing us that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SANCHEZ: Bill Clinton says it's a joint ticket that would almost be unstoppable. But how likely is it really for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to join forces? We're going to take a look at that hypothetical ticket.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Would it be Clinton, Obama, or Obama, Clinton? Who knows.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary had barely brushed the confetti from her hair, when speculation reignited about these two running as a pair. What everyone's calling the dream team, what would you call them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't talk in terms of dream teams because that's childish. That's idiotic. That's Hollywood speak. That's not reality. I'll talk about terror terra firma here.

MOOS: While George Bush physically tap dancing on terra firma, it was Hillary's tap dancing around this question that reignited the talk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They would like to see you both on the ticket.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well that may be where this is headed.

MOOS: Tap dancing on two networks.

CLINTON: There is a lot of interest in that. DAVID LETTERMAN: You look great together. Here's two good looking people.

MOOS: Comedy shows can't resist putting them together and not just on the same ticket. Obama and Clinton impersonators are making sweet music together.

I have 35 years of experience on you --

MOOS: In a takeoff on a song from the movie "Juno." Two California actors created this --

You're a part time senator, a full time friend, I hope you be my vice when I kick your rear end.

MOOS: But who's on top is the question? What about all the bad blood or as this Spanish paper puts it, the dual to the death. What about those mean things they've said.

CLINTON: Shame on you Barack Obama.

MOOS: Do you think they could make friends and be together on the ticket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You and your sister are mean to each other sometimes and you get along.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yep.

MOOS: Yeah, but if Hillary's commercial implies Barack can't be trusted to handle a 3:00 a.m. crisis call, how could you pick him to be a heart beat away from the presidency?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't understand, what's the point in her commercial. She can answer the phone? Damn, she's running for president of the United States, not receptionist.

MOOS: For these two to get on the same ticket, divine intervention might be required.

CLINTON: Celestial choirs will be singing --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you kidding? If I ever had a dream of this like I'd run to a psychiatrist, I'd say quick, something's got to be done because I'm hallucinating.

MOOS: But Bill Maher's not hallucinating when he says?

BILL MAHER: Is it just me or did they look like the local weekend news anchors?

MOOS: Maybe not covering election returns.

MAHER: Over to you Hillary, that is a lot of puppies.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: We're going to take a look at this tonight. We're going to have a panel sitting right here. We're going to go out and take apart some of the big political stories of not only the day but the week, as we run them down.

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