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Ballot Bowl 2008

Clinton Returns to Scranton; McCain in St. Louis; Obama on Healing Division; Severe Weather in Polk County, Atlanta Area Devastates Homes; Clinton, Obama Give Thoughts on Michigan, Florida Do-Overs; Will Do-Overs Create More Complications in Delegate Process?

Aired March 15, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN's BALLOT BOWL, your chance to hear the candidates, Republicans and Democrats unfiltered, either on tape, live, or -- live or on tape, rather, but certainly unfiltered, a chance to hear from all of the candidates.
I'm in Plainfield, Indiana. Joining me as well, my colleague Jim Acosta, who is in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He has been taking a look at Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign. He is also focusing on the Republicans, John McCain as well.

But first, we want to take you to Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. She's covering all the news about this developing story. This severe weather coming out of Atlanta.

Fred, what can you tell us?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is indeed severe. Within the past hour, Suzanne, tornado-damaged Atlanta has taken yet another hit from a line of dangerous storms. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras now in the weather center -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, this has really become expansive now, Fredricka. You know, we've been focusing on several storms over the last couple hours. But look at how widespread everything is now. We're looking from Alabama all the way on up through the Carolinas.

And we've got like a dozen different tornado warnings as we speak. Any of these could drop down a tornado at any given time. Now, a few that we've been watching here, as we move in, there you can see the Athens area under a tornado warning. And there you can also see the Newborn area. Those storms are pushing off to the east, right along the I-20 corridor coming out of Covington. There you can see Social Circle.

These storms have a huge history. Wow, look at that. There you can see potential rotation with that storm. That's just north of the I-20 corridor near Rutledge, pulling off to the east at about 60 miles per hour. There have been some very fast-moving storms. So likely a tornado here.

Also did you notice that bright purple color and some of that white in there? That's a good indication that there's large hail in these storms. And we've heard of hail reports between about an inch in diameter up to the size of baseballs with these storms as they've been pushing off to the east. And those kind of hail stones certainly can cause an incredible amount of damage, if not kill you.

Now we're up into South Carolina. There you can see Columbia, the north side of Columbia is under a tornado warning. Here is Irma. And we think it's just to the north of you where that possible rotation is. But these storms are all lined up now, and so this is going to continue to move over many of the same area. Here is Hartsfield just to the north of you. Tornado warning in effect. And that's moving towards Bennettsville. You're not under a warning yet, but that storm is certainly on the way.

We're going to continue to monitor the situation. I've also heard of a little bit of damage from some flooding in the charlotte area. We'll bring that along to you. And of course, the Atlanta area, storms have just been hitting over and over again at the airport, at Hartsfield-Jackson International. A ground stop in effect there. You can see the planes circling around, not able to land as those storms continue to push in from the west.

We'll have more coming up -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jacqui, thank you.

And today the National Weather Service confirmed that it was indeed a tornado that struck downtown Atlanta last night. The twister caused several dozen injuries, but no deaths have been reported, at least in the Atlanta area. There were some pretty terrifying moments at a packed Georgia Dome as scoreboards flickered and scaffolding swayed above the crowds at an SEC Tournament basketball game.

Well, today, the city will look to a damaged downtown business area and some badly roughly up neighborhoods. And that was before the line of storms that hit a short time ago. We're assessing what happened. And we'll let you know as soon as we can. Again, one reported death, however, in Polk County, which is north of Atlanta, another hard-hit area. Now much more of the BALLOT BOWL and Suzanne Malveaux.

MALVEAUX: Hey, Fred. We heard from Senator Barack Obama earlier today addressing a controversy that has taken shape over the last 48 hours regarding some remarks that his pastor made, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a pastor -- they've had a relationship for close to 20 years. This is a man who baptized his two daughters, officiated his wedding. There have been some sermons, some comments that have been made on the Internet as well as made it on television -- controversial comments criticizing the U.S. government, criticizing Hillary Clinton.

Well, Barack Obama has been presented with a number of questions asking him about his relationship to his pastor, about his faith and his own values, whether or not he agrees with some of these incendiary remarks -- or at least what some consider incendiary remarks.

So Barack Obama, for the last 24 hours, has had to address this. Quite clearly he has come out saying that he's distancing himself from his pastor when it comes to those remarks, that he was not familiar with them, not sitting in the pews when they were made.

We heard Senator Barack Obama specifically talk about the controversy before the audience here. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I noticed over the last several weeks that the forces of division have started to raise their ugly heads again. I'm not here to cast blame or point fingers because everybody senses that there has been this shift.

You've been seeing in the reporting, you've been seeing some of the commentaries of supporters on all sides. Most recently you heard some statements from my former pastor that were incendiary and that I completely reject, although I knew him and know him as somebody in my church who talked to me about Jesus and family and friendships, but clearly had -- but if all I knew was those statements that I saw on television, I would be shocked.

And it just -- it reminds me that we've got a tragic history when it comes to race in this country. We've got a lot of pent-up anger and bitterness and misunderstanding. But what I continue to believe in is that this country wants to move beyond these kinds of divisions.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Barack Obama trying to convert and change this controversy over these controversial remarks from his pastor into something that's a call for unity, for people to talk about race in a very open way.

It was about a year ago when he first decided he was going to run to become a presidential nominee, that he became aware of at least some of these comments, he denounced them back then. But he was asked why it was that he didn't leave his church altogether during that time.

He said that the pastor was on the verge of retirement. He didn't think it was necessary to disavow himself from the church necessarily. But he is disavowing himself from these comments.

I want to bring in our own Jim Acosta who is in Scranton, Pennsylvania. You're covering Hillary Clinton, taking a look. And it was notable today, Jim, that there was a conference call with her top aides, her advisers, and they were asked several times to comment about this controversy between the pastor and Obama, the remarks that were made. They declined. They rejected to do that. They said, that's up for the voters to decide what they make of all this. Senator Barack -- obviously taking the high road.

Senator Barack Obama saying that he hopes the voters will judge him for his own words and not necessarily the word -- those specific words of his pastor -- Jim. JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Suzanne. Hillary Clinton was asked about this today. And she sort of acknowledged the fact that she had her own surrogate scandal this week in the form of Geraldine Ferraro.

Just before this Jeremiah Wright controversy exploded, Hillary Clinton was having to answer for what Geraldine Ferraro, the former vice presidential running mate to Walter Mondale, had to say about Barack Obama, and the fact that he, in her mind, has had some advantages because he's an African-American.

And I think what Hillary Clinton talked about is essentially what Barack Obama is talking about today, and that is that they have both talked about this and they've both agreed on the fact that it's time to move on and to put these surrogate matters behind us.

But, Suzanne, I'm wondering, what do you think the fallout will be? Because obviously you know a lot of Americans heard what Jeremiah Wright had to say. And it's not so easy for a lot of people to hear that kind of stuff and then just sort of put it out of their minds and forget about it.

MALVEAUX: Sure, the potential political fallout, obviously. I've spoken with Obama aides. This has been a frustrating, challenging experience for them because they want to stay on message, they want to move forward here. There are a couple of scenarios that could play out, if there are more tapes that come about, that expose even -- perhaps even more controversial remarks that they know he's going to have to go back and revisit this issue.

It's not something that they want to do. But they recognize that could happen and it could be used against him later on down the road. The other thing that is interesting to note is there are some black ministers who are very upset and very angry with Barack Obama and plan to publicly denounce him for denouncing his own pastor.

They feel that he threw his pastor under the bus, that he dissed his own pastor. They are very angry about that because they say that Reverend Wright is not some sort of like fanatic here. They say he's very mainstream, very popular. He has been before the service about 30 years or so, and that he's somebody who is very well-respected, not only in the religious community, but the black community.

So there's a little bit of frustration there. We'll see whether or not that plays out and whether or not he's going to lose some of the African-American support that he enjoys -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Well, Suzanne, it was a very different tone here on the streets of Scranton, Pennsylvania, earlier today. We saw the St. Patrick's Day parade roll through this town. It was, in a word, rowdy. But Hillary Clinton was here. She was campaigning for votes and took part in this parade and had at her side her chief surrogate in this state, Ed Rendell.

And along the parade route she ran into a reporter for one of our affiliates, WYOU here in Scranton. And he asked her about her personal ties here to northeastern Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does it mean to be here in this city today?

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is such a great feeling. You know, I've been coming to Scranton literally since I was born. And it's wonderful seeing how the city looks, the enthusiasm of the crowd is overwhelming. Everybody said this was the third-biggest St. Patrick's Day parade in the country. I think it is. I mean, the crowd is huge. But there's just such a good feeling here. And it's wonderful being back in Scranton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How important is Scranton in northeastern Pennsylvania for you to get elected president?

CLINTON: Well, I mean, it's important to me personally. I mean, I just have such a great sense of, you know, really coming home when I come to Scranton. So obviously on a personal level it's very important. And I think it holds the key to the Keystone State for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a less important question, how was the Rovella's (ph) Pizza the other day?

CLINTON: It was good. I had white. I had white. It was good.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White? Well, Senator Clinton, congratulations.

CLINTON: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks for being in town today and best of luck to you.

CLINTON: It's a pleasure. Thanks a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there is Hillary Clinton on the streets of Scranton, Pennsylvania, during the St. Patrick's Day parade here, talking about her personal ties to this area. The Rodham family, from her maiden namesake, has had property in this area of Scranton for many, many years, and spent much of her childhood coming here over the summers. And so Hillary Clinton flexing those Pennsylvania ties in anticipation of this very important primary coming up next month.

And coming up after the break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN, we will check in with Republican presidential candidate John McCain. We'll hear from him. And we're not just keeping an eye on the campaign, we're also keeping an eye on the weather, that unfolding dangerous weather situation in Atlanta. We'll be following that as well. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Jim Acosta in Scranton, Pennsylvania. We want to switch gears now from the Democrats to the Republicans. And a lot of people have been wondering what will John McCain do to keep the public's attention focused on his campaign? And we have seen that strategy emerge to address that. Essentially what he's going to do or what he has been doing is campaigning in battleground states.

He was in Pennsylvania earlier this week. And before that, St. Louis, Missouri. And in that town, which is a very important bellwether state in general elections, John McCain was talking about the economy, which is, of course on the tops of minds of many voters in this country.

So here is John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee on the very important issue of the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUESTION: Recently, as you know, there was an approved effort to relieve the economic hardships with the tax relief checks that will be coming soon. What are your plans to combat the eventual and really inevitable more dramatic recession that's going to occur soon?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm asked all the time are we in a recession or not in a recession. And I don't know the answer to that because it's kind of a technical term when there's a certain number of -- a couple quarters with unemployment, et cetera, negative growth, et cetera.

And you know, I'll be glad to discuss that at an academic level. But I think the fact is Americans are hurting. I mean, that's just a fact. So whether it's "recession" or not recession isn't really important to the person that just lost their job or can't afford their health insurance.

I met a guy at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, I'll never forget. He stood up and he said, I love my health insurance policy. I just was notified that -- this was the end of last year. He said, my premiums are going to go up $800.

I mean -- you know, I mean, people just simply can't. So my plans are, I hope that the stimulus package and these checks that are coming in will have some effect on the economy and allow the consumer to spend.

I think one fundamental principle is when the consumer spends, it's good for the economy. When the government spends, which has been completely out of control, it's bad for the economy because it's your money. It's not their money. It's your money.

So I hope that this stimulus does some good. But I also want to say that I do not believe we should raise your taxes. I think it would be the worst thing we could do. And that means to me I think the tax cuts need to be made permanent. When you've got a bad economy, the worst thing you can do is increase people's tax burden. Let's reduce it. Let's reduce regulation. Let's eliminate this thing called the alternate minimum tax. I will tell you, the executives of this corporation are keenly aware that corporate taxes in America are the second-highest in the world.

Now, this corporation could probably, if they really wanted to, you could move to another country. Is that -- I mean, it would be very hard to do and you'd never do it.

(LAUGHTER)

MCCAIN: You'd never do it, right? OK. All right. All right. All right. But -- no, no.

(LAUGHTER)

MCCAIN: But seriously, shouldn't we have incentives in the tax structure for companies and corporations and businesses to stay here in the United States and create those jobs? I'm dead serious. We have had corporations who have left this country just because the corporate tax rate is so high. I think you would agree.

So let's -- there's only one country in the world that has higher corporate taxes, and that's Japan. And certainly that's not our economic model. So I would decrease dramatically corporate taxes. I would say that if this corporation wants to buy some new equipment and they're expanding in different parts of the country and the world, you ought to be able to write off and depreciate that in one year.

And I think that many of our people here would say that that would be incentive for the purchase of new equipment, which is going on anyway. But that kind of incentive, I think there's a lot of things where we can incentivize the economy.

But I think the worst thing we could do, very frankly, is increase your taxes. And that means not having the tax cuts lapse which then, when you fill out your income taxes, will reflect in a tax increase.

So -- and also there's this issue of confidence, if I could just finally say, because you touched on probably the important issue that's facing -- challenge that's facing this country. We've got to regain some confidence again.

We've got to regain confidence in our ability to compete in the world. We've got to stop this protectionist NAFTA bashing, saying that we're going to renegotiate treaties unilaterally. My goodness. What is -- if we renegotiate a treaty unilaterally that we've made with Canada, what are the other countries in the world going to think about the agreements we have negotiated with them?

And I do not believe in isolationism and protectionism. I think right here we have proved you can compete with anybody in the world because you have the best, most effective, most productive workers in the world right here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: So there you have John McCain talking about the economy in the very important battleground state of Missouri. Coming up after the break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN, you heard Hillary Clinton campaigning for the Dunder Mifflin vote here in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Well, next we will take a look at her efforts to woo African-American voters. That is coming up after the break. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. Both the candidates -- the Democratic candidates, Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, getting into some hot water controversy over some of their supporters' statements and comments. Senator Barack Obama and his pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright; and Senator Hillary Clinton over vice presidential Geraldine Ferraro's comments made about Barack Obama to a California newspaper. Those comments saying that Barack Obama, in large part, was in the position that he was in because he was black.

The Obama campaign took issue with that as well as some people inside of the Clinton campaign, put some pressure on Senator Clinton to denounce those comments. The Obama campaign pushing the envelope, pushing that issue forward. I spoke with Geraldine Ferraro who stepped aside away from her position as part of the finance committee over that particular issue, saying that she had no apologies for her comments. Rather she felt that it was being exploited by the Obama campaign.

Either way, what is the fallout here? Clearly a question whether or not this damaged Senator Hillary Clinton's relationship with the African-American community.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Hillary Clinton is in the hot seat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's hear it for Senator Clinton.

MALVEAUX: Facing fallout from racially-charged remarks from fundraiser Geraldine Ferraro. At a gathering of black publishers, she tried to make amends.

CLINTON: I rejected what she said and I certainly do repudiate it.

MALVEAUX: Senator Clinton was full of apologies before this group as she was confronted with various perceived offenses, including remarks considered racially insensitive that her husband, the former president, made on the campaign trail.

CLINTON: I am sorry if anyone was offended. It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive. MALVEAUX: She even apologized for President Bush's lackluster response regarding Hurricane Katrina.

CLINTON: I apologize and I'm embarrassed that our government so mistreated our fellow citizens.

MALVEAUX: Her aides say this is not a mea culpa tour, but rather a clear message: She has not given up on the black vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So because the numbers are skewed and it appears as if we're losing ground in the African-American community, she's not conceding that vote whatsoever.

MALVEAUX: But looking ahead, she certainly has her work cut out for her. While Barack Obama has steadily seen his African-American support grow from 78 percent in South Carolina, 90 percent in Virginia, and 92 percent in Mississippi, Clinton has lost ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're open to her. But at this point they're kind of lukewarm because of some disparaging comments of some of her people, not necessarily she.

MALVEAUX: While Clinton tries to minimize the damage, she is leaning on loyalists. One of her biggest fans is Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, seated in the critical state of Pennsylvania, where she'll campaign heavily for that important contest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And Clinton's game plan looking forward, she is certainly not giving up on this. She's going to answer the tough questions before the black media. She is going to go to churches, social organizations, civic organizations to try to continue to get that kind of support.

Interestingly enough, many of the African-American voters who I spoke with said they absolutely agree with Senator Clinton, that she should continue to engage the community.

Now coming up next after this break, we will bring you more on that severe weather out of Atlanta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta.

Take a look at this. This is the kind of hail and severe weather that has been sweeping through the South, thanks to an I-reporter, Mike Zicheck. He shot this video around 3:00 p.m. from his home in Cummings, Georgia. He said it sounded like a train pouncing on the windows.

We'll have much more of the "BALLOT BOWL" in just a moment. First, the latest on the severe weather throughout the South. You see those images north of Georgia. We've also seen in the past 24 hours a lot of damage that resulted from the tornado that touched down in downtown Atlanta last night. It measured at an F2 tornado, which means up to 130-mile-per-hour winds. You saw a lot of damage to vehicles. There have been trees down and at least 20 homes have been damaged in what's known as an historic neighborhood called Cabbagetown. There you can see the runoff. Flash flooding reported as well.

Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center keeping a close watch on all this. We've taking a look at what resulted from last night. It's still not over?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, not by any means, Fredricka. The thing I want you to notice, a new watch which has been issued. It's the second box that pops up here. This is what we call a PDS watch, or a particularly dangerous situation. It's a rare day that the Storm Prediction Center would issue a watch like this.

What it means is they're expecting to see a large outbreak of tornadoes, ones that will be big. They'll be on the ground and they'll track for a long period of time and can cause a lot of destruction. Also many large hail events and also many wind events expected with it, also.

Look at the big area that this is covering overall. We have many warnings still in place. That's all the purple boxes which are beginning to pop out.

Notice Georgia. This is the area we've been watching very closely all afternoon. Right now, no purple boxes. But we are seeing on the south side of town in particular still some very strong thunderstorms capable of producing some damaging winds.

All right. We'll take you up here into the Carolinas. That's where we have many of the warnings. The town of Due West has already been hit hard once. You've got another warning in place for you. Also that includes the folks in Greenwood area.

Columbia, you've had two storms moving just kind of surrounding you. Look at how they kind of slid and don't really move over the city. One is moving north. One is moving south. This storm here which includes Johnston, Saluda and also the Oak Grove area, this one looks like a big hail-maker.

We've had reports up to baseball size hail across parts of north Georgia and through South Carolina. That's been one of the really big threats that continues to be ongoing.

Now, here is the downtown Atlanta area. We had one severe storm move through that possibly touched down another tornado. We're hearing a little additional damage at this time. The storms that you're seeing moving down towards Peach Tree City, which continue to move toward the airport area, those storms right now are not tornadic. So hopefully it will stay that way.

We do have several hours of ongoing severe weather with this new watch. And the Storm Prediction Center also has highlighted eastern Georgia and throughout central South Carolina as one of those high- risk days. They've upgraded it from earlier today indicating the threat is much greater of tornadoes.

If we get any additional information of tornadoes on the ground or damage, of course, we'll bring those along to you. We've already seen plenty of that including a fatality into Polk County, Georgia, and several touchdowns with damage north of the city of Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: Jacqui let's talk more about what's taking place in Polk County north of Atlanta. We're now receiving images of the damage that has been sustained there. Right there, some new images we're getting from the help of our affiliates there. You can see what used to be a home obliterated. The car is still intact. The person standing in disbelief as to what has happened here. When we get a wide view we'll get an idea of just what this entire community might look like.

As you know, Jacqui, and everyone else watching these images, so often when you have particularly rural areas, it is not unusual to see one home and perhaps another house just a half mile away that is not touched by the storm. But in this case it looks like this is a straight path. That house obliterated as well.

Don Lemon is in Polk County joining us now with an eye of exactly what you're assessing there.

What have you been seeing?

DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Hey, Fredricka, you said a half mile. Not even. Some homes that are really close together and structures close together. One is demolished. We're at the Wheelers house. They've lost a lot. They've been kind to us because they want people to see their loss so they know what everyone in the community is going through.

Take a look at the Wheeler's house. This is a patio they just had built, this decking out here, nice hot tub, pool. On the other side a barn they built a year ago. It is completely gone. And if you look at their property here, you see all sorts of damage. Their belongings thrown about, a trailer over here.

On the other side of the house, to my right -- your left over here -- their garage. You can't see it here. We're standing actually right here on the second floor. This roof is gone. And the roof that covered this room, a room belonging to Jared Wheeler who joins us now. He came up while we were doing this, standing in his room.

You guys, it was a frightening experience.

JARED WHEELER, HOMEOWNER: It was very scary. We went downstairs and we had mattresses and stuff when we heard it on the news. We just got mattresses and stayed in the hallway and got ready for it.

LEMON: This is your room. What if you had been in here?

WHEELER: I would have been -- I would have gotten taken away I guess. I don't know.

LEMON: Jared Wheeler, glad you're OK.

15 years old. This is his room. The windows completely blown out. They've covered much of the roof around here.

Let's walk around here, Steve.

This is a lot of what's going on. We're going to walk around here.

These are neighbors and friends of the Wheelers.

How are you guys doing?

They're actually helping on the roof to cover his roof to make sure that it doesn't get wet and their home doesn't get any worse than it is.

Here is the really awful part of it, Fred, that I want to tell you. Again, this was a roof. They've managed to cover it with tarp so far. This right here, the hot item that we've been seeing around all day in my hand right here, this tarp they've been using to cover. So right over here, you see that big area there where there's a big tree and there's a foundation there now, that used to be a home, a two-story home.

And sadly the one fatality that we do have confirmed here in Polk County came from that home just across the street from the Wheelers. The husband is in the hospital, we're told, in critical condition. And we're not sure about the wife. We're hearing that the wife there possibly is the one who was deceased in the all of this.

You can see the randomness of all of this. It's weird because Polk County, the county line runs right through the yard of where the person died. I don't know if you can look over there and see family members are now going through their things. They just arrived here about 10, 15 minutes ago and started going through their things here.

The county line for Polk and Floyd County runs right through their yard here. And then Bartow County also meets up behind here. I want to show you a wide expanse.

Pan to your left over here, Steve.

All of this. Right here is a car -- their truck is on the other side here where you see the sort of really green grass and a big tree that's up. That was their truck that blew all the way from their home.

Mr. Wheeler here -- his maim is Joe Wheeler -- said once he realized his family was safe and looked across the street and he saw his neighbor's house, he ran over and he and a friend actually found the two people over there and called for ambulances and made sure they got to the hospital. That's what's happening here in Polk County, Fredricka. It is just an awful, awful scene. We'll continue to update you and follow this story.

WHITFIELD: So sad. Thank you so much, Don Lemon in Polk County.

That was ground zero in Polk County north of Atlanta.

Soon you'll see what ground zero looks like in downtown Atlanta. Cabbagetown, that neighborhood saw some of the worst damage last night. Today residents got word that more twisters could be on the way.

CNN's Cal Perry had to take cover as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAL PERRY, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We're actually here in a house in the same neighborhood we've been reporting from all day. We've just gotten a second and third tornado warning. We heard sirens.

Rad Rattinger (ph) was nice enough to have us in their house, his wife, Noel (ph). Their house was hit last night. They're here with friends and family members who have come and brought beer with them bunkered down. We're here near the bathroom in case things get down. We've already heard hail.

The sign was, last time, you said, things turned green?

RAD RATTINGER (ph), CABBAGETOWN HOMEOWNER: I just said that we can't get (inaudible).

PERRY: Knock on wood.

RATTINGER (ph): Knock on wood.

PERRY: So this is pretty much what it is. In this neighborhood they're worried they're going to get hit twice. You saw the reconstruction we've been reporting on all day. With dark clouds on the horizon, will reconstruction really matter? Everybody here, of course, said it will.

Cal Perry, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Lots of scary stuff here in the southeast. The southeast still not out of the woods so to speak. We'll be checking in through out the evening with Jacqui Jeras and our other crews to find out exactly what is happening in the southeast as it pertains to weather.

Meantime, we want to take you very far north into New York. A crane apparently collapsed today in midtown Manhattan. And that crane collapse left four people dead and has trapped at least five others. I-reporter Jarrett Hoffman shot these pictures you're looking at right now. Part of the crane hit a high-rise residential building across the street. Some pretty tense moments there.

Tense moments, too, on the presidential campaign trail. Presidential candidates stumping hard with some critical contests just a few weeks away.

Back to "BALLOT BOWL '08" right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Iron Man Triathlon, swim - 2.4 miles, bike - 112, and run a full marathon. It is grueling for anyone.

At 348 pounds, 29-year-old Sherry Collon (ph) never dreamed she could even come close.

SHERRY COLLON (ph), FORMERLY OVERWEIGHT: My life was miserable. I couldn't walk down the hallway without losing my breath.

GUPTA: Her weight also interfered with her ability to get pregnant.

COLLON (ph): That was the turning point.

GUPTA: She underwent gastric bypass surgery at DeKalb Medical Center in Atlanta where doctors shortened her digestive track to limit her calorie intake.

COLLON (ph): At the time i had the surgery, i was 25. I didn't think I'd make it to my 30th birthday.

GUPTA: She lost more than 150 pounds in nine months. But it wasn't easy.

COLLON (ph): It's hard to go from eating a big plate of foot to eating something that fits inside of a Dixie Cup.

GUPTA: There could be major risks such as anemia, vitamin deficiency and dumping syndrome where the body passes food too quickly, causing nausea and weakness.

Rarely bothered by side effects, Sherry is almost 170 pounds lighter and an accomplished try athlete, something she never imagined possible.

COLLON (ph): I'm still the same person, just a more confident person, a more active person and a more healthy person.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) JIM ACOSTA, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Jim Acosta in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the site of the upcoming April 22nd Pennsylvania primary. And while this state has five weeks to go before its big contest, there are two states out there that have already held their primaries, Florida and Michigan, that may hold do- overs.

We've heard a lot about this over the last several weeks. Those states had their delegates declared invalid by the Democratic Party because they moved their primaries up on the calendar against the wishes of the party. Because of that and because of the fact that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are having a tough time getting to that magic number of 2025 delegates, now Florida and Michigan are looming large as potential re-dos as both these candidates look at those states as perhaps a way to get to the Democratic nomination.

And Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been asked about this over the last several days. Just today Hillary Clinton seemed to indicate her support for what is happening in Michigan. And there seems to be some progress heading towards a re-do in that state.

So here is Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on the issue of re- dos in the states of Michigan and Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The results of those primaries were fair, and they should be honored. Over the last few weeks there's been a lot of discussion about what we should do to ensure that the voters in Florida and Michigan are counted. Well, in my view there are two options. Honor the results or hold new primary elections. I don't see any other solutions that are fair and honor the commitment that two and a half million voters made in the Democratic primaries in those two states.

BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think all of us are interested in making sure that they are seated in some way that doesn't advantage one candidate or another too much. What we tried to do throughout the process is follow the rules that the DNC gave us. They said Michigan and Florida wouldn't count. My name wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan. I didn't campaign at all in Florida. And so what we believe is that there should be some way of arriving at a fair settlement that respects the fact that there were rules in place, but also make sure that the Michigan and Florida voters are seated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Just how to hold these do-overs is pretty complicated stuff. So coming up after the break here on "BALLOT BOWL," we'll turn to CNN's senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, to sort it all out. Stick with us. This is "BALLOT BOWL" on CNN.

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ACOSTA: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL" '08. I'm Jim Acosta in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Let's talk re-dos with our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.

Why hold one primary when you can hold two, right? We're looking at a situation, are we not, where the Democrats could create an issue that's even bigger and more complicated than the one they're facing now?

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Of course, the reason they're doing it is that the early primaries were not supposed to count. The party ruled that they were held too early.

The irony in this whole situation should not be missed. Michigan and Florida scheduled their early primaries in January so that they would have more influence over the nominating process. They said they thought it was unfair for New Hampshire and Iowa, small, unrepresentative states, to have disproportionate influence. The result was the Democratic Party said, OK, you won't have any influence because we're not going to seat your delegates.

Now if they have a re-do, since the primary season has stretched on month after month, if they have a re-do say June 3rd when Michigan is planning to hold its make-over primary if it's passed by the legislature, they could have a decisive influence over the nominating process because it really could come down to the very last major state that votes.

So one of the big problems is they could be the states now that determine which candidate the Democrats nominate. That's a terrific irony.

ACOSTA: And Bill, do you think people will actually show up at the polls and vote at a re-do?

SCHNEIDER: I think they will because this contest has become so exciting. It's gotten an awful lot of attention. A lot of Democrats did not vote in the January primaries in Michigan and Florida because they were told the results wouldn't count.

But now, not only will the results count, they're very likely to have a disproportionate influence on who becomes the nominee, and they've been given a lot of publicity. The race has become more and more exciting. They're showing a lot of voters because it really is down to the wire.

ACOSTA: Can we handicap these contests briefly? I suppose Florida might be a better bet for Hillary Clinton. But Barack Obama could stand to do well in Michigan, isn't that right?

SCHNEIDER: There are a lot of African-American voters in Michigan. He has a serious chance there. Michigan is a boarder state to Ohio.

Here is something interesting about the upcoming primaries. Five of the states including Michigan that are yet to vote all border Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, where Barack Obama was today, Michigan. Those are the states on all sides of Ohio.

Ohio gave Hillary Clinton a very solid victory earlier this month. So there's a chance that those various bordering states have something in common with Ohio. They have a lot of seniors, blue- collar voters, union members, they're in economic distress. They have some of the same kind of voters as Ohio. Michigan may be in worse economic shape than Ohio.

I think Clinton people are expecting that Michigan, including Pennsylvania, could end up voting like Ohio. That would be good news for Hillary Clinton.

Florida, too, because Florida has a heavy population of seniors who have been loyal supporters of Hillary Clinton as well as Latino voters who have been strong for Clinton. I think the handicappers say Michigan and Florida are likely to tilt toward Clinton. Michigan does have a lot of African-American voters who could be solid for Obama.

ACOSTA: It would be interesting to see those two candidates duke it out for real in those states.

CNN's Political Correspondent bill Schneider, thank you very much.

We thank all of our viewers for sticking with us throughout this afternoon. An interesting day for CNN, weathering the big storm in Atlanta.

Here on the side of "BALLOT BOWL" in Scranton, Pennsylvania, I want to thank everybody for joining us. You'll want to tune in tomorrow at 2:00 eastern, "BALLOT BOWL" will be back with more political coverage.

Coming up next on CNN, we will have "This Week in Politics" with Tom Foreman. Stick with us right here on CNN. Thanks a lot for watching.

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