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Ballot Bowl 2008

Following the Presidential Campaigns in Pennsylvania

Aired March 16, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Chicago. This is your opportunity to hear from the presidential candidates, Senator John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on tape, live, but always unscripted, co-hosting for the next couple of hours with me, our own Jim Acosta who's in South Sterling, Pennsylvania, I believe, that is where the critical state, the do-or-die state, some have described it, 158 delegates up for grabs. Jim, how's it going?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Suzanne. Just fine. You're right, the keystone state looming very large over this presidential race as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are duking it out trying to see who is going to stay alive in this presidential race. And as you mentioned, 158 pledged delegates up for grabs. The big cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are definitely on the minds of these two candidates, but yesterday Hillary Clinton spent a lot of time in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in northeastern Pennsylvania where I'm at now. There will be lots more to say about that and her campaign swing on two St. Patrick Day parade days in this state. All of that is coming up.

But first, undoubtedly, the big story of this political day is John McCain's unannounced trip, surprised visit to Iraq on the eve of the fifth anniversary of that conflict. The senator from Arizona, the presumptive republican nominee, who has staked much of his presidential bid on progress in Iraq. His supporters like to say he was for the surge before George Bush was for the surge. Now John McCain is on the ground to get a firsthand look and our very own John King is traveling with John McCain in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Senator McCain is here on this official congressional delegation with two of his senate armed services committee colleagues, Joe Lieberman, the independent of Connecticut and Lindsey Graham, a republican from South Carolina. Many would note that both Senator Lieberman and Senator Graham also are McCain for President supporters. But they've been spending the day with U.S. officials. We are told U.S. military officials and diplomatic officials getting what one senate office staffer just e- mailed me with an update on what they believe to be considerable progress on the ground here.

We don't know the exact details of the senator's schedule because of security reasons and because that is traditional in this congressional delegations which are often low key. We've had no media coverage of the senator's visit yet. No exact details of his schedule. But we do know that he is supposed to meet with General David Petreaus, the commanding general here with Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador and with Iraqi officials including, we are told, the Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki. Now, all this part of a busy international trip for Senator McCain that he is conducting. He wants to emphasize as a senator, this is his day job he says, but it is also impossible to disconnect the facts of this trip from the presidential campaign back home.

General Petreaus and Ambassador Crocker will be back before congress next month making their case for the Bush administration's policy here in Iraq. Every day on the campaign trail back home, Senator McCain makes note to any one of his audiences that he's one of the few republicans who stood up to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and demanded more troops in Iraq, denounced the Bush administration policy at the beginning as a failure and at every stop along the campaign trail he says he believes both Senator Obama and Senator Clinton are flat wrong, that they'd "waive the white flag of surrender" in pulling U.S. troops out too soon.

And Senator McCain as he did earlier this week in Springfield, Pennsylvania, makes the case at almost every stop that he believes that while the surge is painful especially to military families, he believes it is succeeding.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The hardest thing in warfare to counter is someone or in a group of individuals who are willing to take their own lives in order to take others. You can go all the way back to our World War II veterans who will tell you that the kamikaze pilot in World War II was the hardest thing for us to counter. Ask the Israelis how hard it is to secure their borders against these suicide bombers. So I worry about it a great deal, but I also believe that they may be able to carry out some spectacular suicide attacks but we do have them on the run.

And up in Mosul where their battle is raging right now, I'm happy to tell you that the overwhelming majority of that fighting is being done by Iraqi troops, not by American troops. That's the success of the surge. And Americans are grieved. We are grieved at the sacrifice. But if we can reduce and gradually eliminate American casualties, this struggle may go on but we will have won, and then we determine what our relationship is and what our presence is there.

KING: A taste of Senator McCain back home on the campaign trail, there again making the case that he believes the surge policy is working and that he believes while eventually that this commander in chief or the next commander in chief should be able to begin to bring troops home. He believes both of the plans put forward by Senator Clinton and Obama would be a recipe for disaster.

And Jim, it's quite interesting on this because it's clearly sensitive to the McCain operation. They want to call this a congressional delegation trip. They make note that he planned to make this trip several months ago and at that point in the campaign he thought it was unwise. That they say whether he had won the republican nomination or whether he had faltered, he would be here at this moment. And it is not just sensitive for the McCain operation. The military is also sensitive to the fact that this will be viewed as somehow the United States military helping Senator McCain from a political standpoint.

U.S. officials here say that he is the ranking republican on the senate armed services committee, that he has two colleagues with him, that the trip has been endorsed by his colleagues, democrats included, back in the United States Congress. But make no mistake about it, Jim, he is here for his day job as a United States senator but Iraq is not only a defining debate in Congress but also as you well know as you stand in the state of Pennsylvania today, in the campaign as well.

ACOSTA: Thank you very much, John King reporting from Baghdad on Senator John McCain's trip to that country. Checking on progress on the ground as we head into the fifth anniversary of that conflict. And not only is John McCain taking a look at the situation in Iraq, although he's looking at it up close, Hillary Clinton will be focusing on this issue tomorrow in a major foreign policy address set to happen in Washington, D.C., again, on this eve of the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war. And with that, I'll turn it back to my colleague Suzanne Malveaux who is in Chicago, looking at the Barack Obama campaign.

Suzanne, obviously the Iraq war will be a very big issue on the campaign trail this week. And I suspect we'll hear more of that from Barack Obama as well.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely, Jim. And one thing that the Barack Obama campaign wants to do is to talk about the issues here. But there are two things that they are dealing with before they do so and they are trying to put these issues at rest, and that of course is first and foremost, you have Tony Rezko, the businessman who is on trial here in Chicago for alleged extortion, as well as fraud. His association with Barack Obama. Barack Obama sat down with the editorial boards of the "Chicago Tribune," as well as the "Sun Times," to explain their relationship, that there was fund-raising that Rezko had done for Barack Obama to the tune of some $250,000, that was a bit more than what was indicated before.

But Barack Obama also insisting that there were no favors that had been exchanged or even requested of Obama in his relationship with Rezko. That essentially he has not been -- he's not been accused of any wrongdoing. But certainly wants to put out his own point of view here and move on. The other thing that Barack Obama is facing, some controversial comments from his former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Some comments that were critical of the U.S. government, that have created a little bit of a stir, if you will, on the internet, on television.

Barack Obama answering the questions this weekend about his relationship to the pastor. They have a relationship that is almost -- goes back almost 20 years. This is a man who baptized his two daughters, who officiated his wedding, but he is repudiating some of those controversial comments this weekend, and essentially saying that he was not in the pews when they were made. Had he been there, had he heard these comments, that he certainly would have distanced himself in the past. This is something that he had to answer to over the weekend. Now, what he wants to do is put this aside and move forward, his aides say, to the important issues that the voters are focusing on.

One of that obviously is issue number one, the economy. He talked about it in Plainfield, Indiana. Take a listen.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is part of why we've got to get our economic house in order. It is very hard for us to speak out against the Chinese when we owe them trillions of dollars. Right? I mean, I don't know if you've ever borrowed money from one of your friends, but you know, if you borrow money from your friend, you owe them money and they do something, you're not going to say too much about it because you're worried, especially if you don't have the money to pay it back right now. But that's what's happened in terms of our relationship with China. Something we haven't talked about is our trade relations with China.

Now, I believe in free trade, but I also believe that we have to be tougher bargainers with other countries, and if they are violating basic precepts of free trade we have to challenge them on it. Now, if china is using forced labor or it is devaluing its currency to advantage its exports and make our exports to those countries more expensive, if they're engaging in intellectual property theft, if they are setting up non-tariff barriers so it is harder for us to get products into their countries. Well, those are all things that we should be challenging China on, but it is much harder to do if we are borrowing the money.

And part of the reason that we now have a $4 trillion in additional debt from when George Bush first took office is because we are spending $12 million a month in Iraq. We have given tax cuts to folks who don't need them instead of being responsible about paying our bills, and one of my jobs as president is going to be to restore a sense of fiscal responsibility to this White House, and to Congress, because we can't keep our running up a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children. We aren't even planning to pay it back. We're going to make our kids and grandkids pay it back. That is not acceptable. That's something that I'm going to change when I'm president of the United States of America. All right. Right back there. Go ahead. Young lady right there who has another one with her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two actually.

OBAMA: How soon are you expecting?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About a month.

OBAMA: About a month, huh? This your first?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Twin boys.

OBAMA: Oh, goodness gracious! All right. Well, I hope you guys are storing up on sleep now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trying to. My husband and I have been huge supporters of you for a long time now, so it's an honor.

OBAMA: I appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is (Holly Dailey). I'm a social worker in Indianapolis. Thank you. And I'm wondering, I am a big supporter of grass-roots movements as well, and I'm wondering what specifically are you planning to do if you're president to continue to support the grass-roots movements?

OBAMA: Well, you know, I think one of the things that's been exciting about this campaign, as I said, it hasn't been top-down, it's been bottom-up. So, people have organized themselves, they've gotten involved. We don't take P.A.C. money and federal lobbyist money. You guys have funded our campaign, $25, $50. That's how we've been able to move this agenda forward. So we want to maintain that sense that people have to stay involved but that means you've got to have a president who is encouraging people to be involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Barack Obama answering questions before Indiana voters, having a little bit of back-and-forth, some fun with some of his responses. But obviously facing a number of issues that they are really concerned about. They asked him about alternative sources of energy. They asked him about domestic violence. Also social security. All these type of things that they want to know who their next president, what is he going to do or she do to deal with these types of real issues that really are relevant to the voters.

Jim, I know that you also, too, are taking a look at the economy. That being a large part of what people are talking about, what they're asking about here, gas prices, housing, jobs, all that type of thing. I'm sure that Hillary Clinton as well weighing in on all those issues.

ACOSTA: Absolutely, Suzanne. And with the economy struggling so much, and Pennsylvanians feeling that just as much, or more, than a lot of people in this country, the state, keep in mind, 25% of the workforce here is blue-collar. So, yes, people in Pennsylvania have felt the sting of manufacturing jobs being lost in this country, the mortgage crisis, the price of gas going up. All of those things adding up to a toxic mix in this economy. And so, yes, Hillary Clinton is also looking at issue number one, she talked about it yesterday on her campaign plane heading into Scranton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just want to start by reiterating the concern that I have expressed about the economy. We saw yesterday with the Fed moving to try to rescue Bear Stearns, how serious the challenges are. And I think it's important to put that into perspective, because clearly we need not only a president who can answer the phone at 3:00 a.m. to be the commander in chief with respect to strategic and military challenges, but also the call might come from the treasury secretary or the chairman of the Federal Reserve and we need a president ready to be the steward of the economy.

And it's ironic that President Bush is in New York talking about how he recognizes there are economic problems in the country, at the same time that the Fed is moving to try to stem the continuing erosion in the credit market around the world because of a lot of the failed policies and lax oversight and neglect of the Bush administration. Other than that, it was a great parade here in Pittsburgh. We had a lot of fun. So, we'll now take your questions.

UNIDENTFIED MALE: Can I ask a little bit about what you discussed with Senator Obama on the floor of the senate?

CLINTON: Well, that was Thursday. Right? Yes. I lose track of time. In our little bubble that we're traveling around in. Well, you know, we talked about the importance of you know, keeping our campaigns on the issues. There is a lot of room to explore the differences between us for voters to get information about our records and experience and our qualifications and the differences that we would bring to the job and the significant questions that would be raised about health care, the economy and so much else. And you know, we both have had instances during the course of the year with staff members, supporters, saying things that we've had to reject and repudiate, and we want to make sure that we try to keep this campaign focused on what voters are interested in and what they should have to -- information they shall have to make their decisions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your campaign has made a big argument that you have won in the big swing states, and this makes you a more viable candidate in the general election. Could you just explain that logic? Because if Obama lost in Ohio, that doesn't necessarily mean he would lose in a general election, as well as Al Gore and John Kerry both won in Pennsylvania in the general election. So could you just explain that argument?

CLINTON: Well, there are three critical components here. One is you have to look at what the electoral map is likely to be in the fall. I don't think anybody doubts that a democrat has to have a number of the big states anchored in order to put together the electoral votes needed to win. There is a generally-accepted position that Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida are the critical swing states for democrats, and that you have to try to win at least two out of three. I would like to win three out of three. And I think it is significant that I have won Ohio and I won Florida, and I've won the big states that would serve as those anchors for the electoral map.

And I also think it's significant because those states represent a much broader cross section of the voters that we're going to need to win in the fall. So that certainly is, you know, my assessment of how to look at where we need to be headed in terms of the states we have to win against John McCain.

ACOSTA: So there is Hillary Clinton on the economy and some other issues there on her campaign plane, also talking about the surrogate scandals that have plagued her campaign and the Barack Obama campaign, and then wrapping it up there with a little discussion on the importance of winning Pennsylvania.

When we come back after the break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN, we'll get the perspective from some voters in this state in the hard-hit city of Pittsburgh, voters talking about their feelings there on the economy. That's coming up after the break. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL on CNN. I'm Jim Acosta in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. And even though April 22nd is almost six weeks away, some five weeks away, and the candidates have plenty of time to hear from the voters in this state. We, too, here at CNN will also be spending the next five weeks hearing from the voters in this state, and our own Alina Cho spent some time in Pittsburgh just a few days ago talking to some voters there who have been hit very hard by this struggling economy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Regis Wintermantel never dreamed he'd be doing this one day.

REGIS WINTERMANTEL, REGISTERED NURSE: His blood pressure's going to end up dropping.

CHO: He is a critical care nurse at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, a complete mid life career change. The 42-year-old used to be a purchasing manager at a steel mill, but steel is no longer the driving force of Pittsburgh's economy.

WINTERMANTEL: It has its ups and its downs. And I've seen two downs and I didn't want to have to live through a third down. Right now, the ventilator will --

CHO: So he traded in his hardhat for scrubs. He's not alone. Once the steel city, Pittsburgh now touts health care as its number one industry.

BARNEY OURSLER, JOB COUNSELOR: The future of jobs in Pennsylvania is really service industry jobs. That's what's replacing the manufacturing jobs.

CHO: With the Pennsylvania primary just six weeks away, experts say the key to winning here is finding the right balance, crafting an economic message that plays well in Philadelphia, and the struggling communities like Pittsburgh. For 18 years, Jim Neiman was a maintenance mechanic at a suburban Pittsburgh electronics plant. A month ago the father of three lost his job.

JIM NEIMAN, UNEMPLOYED: This one starts at $9 an hour.

CHO: Now he's looking for work.

NEIMAN: What am I going to do? I have a family, kids and all that, a house payment. How am I going to find another job to be able to provide for my family?

Thank you for calling.

CHO: His wife, Carmi, works part-time at K-Mart. Her salary is barely enough to pay the bills.

CARMI NEIMAN, JIM'S WIFE: You don't know what the future holds for you. It could turn out to be good, it could turn out to be bad.

CHO: Many voters in this state share that uncertainty. But Regis Wintermantel is hopeful. Retrained, working again, in Pennsylvania's new economy. Alina Cho, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Hard times in the hard-working steel city. Our thanks to Alina Cho. And coming up after the break here on CNN's "Ballot Bowl," why have one vote when you can have two? The prospect of do-overs in Michigan and Florida. That's coming up after a break. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: There are discussions under way, negotiations under way, for possible do-overs, revotes in the states of Michigan and Florida. For Michigan, the possibility of a primary on June 3rd to be administered by the state but reimbursed by the campaigns, by the party itself, for the cost. In Florida, the idea of some sort of write-in ballot, as well as in-person process, kind of a hybrid, if you will. Now both of these plans for both of these states need to sign-off of the campaigns, Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. And both of these candidates seeming somewhat reticent about moving forward, both of them not quite pleased with what they've heard so far. Take a listen.

CLINTON: 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 2 1/2 million voters made in the democratic primaries in those two states.

OBAMA: 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. And what we tried to do throughout the process is just follow the rules that the DNC gave us. They said that Michigan and Florida wouldn't count. My name wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan, and 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 VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So keep your eyes on that, the developments this week. There could be a break-through in either Michigan or Florida when it comes to those do-overs.

Also of course, there is much, much more news up ahead, including the severe weather, those storms that hit Atlanta in the southeast. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. Back to more of BALLOT BOWL in a moment but first here's what's happening right now in the news. A law enforcement source tells CNN that four FBI agents were among those wounded in a bombing yesterday in Islamabad, Pakistan. The attacker hurled an explosive over a wall surrounding a restaurant. The source saying the agent's wounds are not life threatening. The 12 people wounded include a fifth American, a Turkish woman was also killed.

In New York emergency crews are searching for survivors and possibly more victims from Saturday's crane collapse. Three people are still missing, two of them construction workers. The other, a resident of that neighborhood. Four people were killed and more than 20 hurt when the crane fell into a five-story townhouse. The crane damaged several other buildings as it fell across a city block.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLEN SWEENEY, WITNESS: It's a small street. It's not full of high- rises. The noise sounded like an earthquake. That's what I thought it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: City inspectors inspected the crane Friday and found no safety violations.

They are digging out and cleaning up and making repairs today in parts of the southeast after waves of violent storms, high winds and suspected tornados destroyed or damaged homes in South Carolina, as well as in Georgia where there were two storm-related deaths yesterday.

As cleanup crews in Atlanta are working overtime to ready the city for a new work week after Friday night's downtown twister. More now from CNN's Rusty Dornin.

DORNIN: This is one of several messes still left in the downtown Atlanta area. You've got a lot of people that are coming down here, taking pictures, wanting to see what the tornado did. City officials are very concerned about that, because on Monday, folks are coming back to work. There is a lot of streets that are still blocked off. There is a lot of signals that are out, and they're asking people to, please, don't come down unless you have to.

JUDY PAL, ATLANTA POLICE SPOKESWOMAN: Once you come into the city there are going to be a lot of lights that are still out. We have from public works more than 150 lights. Caution. Please be polite and have patience. Because with these lights out you treat any light that is out or light that is flashing red is a four-way stop.

DORNIN: What if this was your car? What do you do with it? Do you wait until the city hauls it away to get the bricks off of it? We met the owner of this car, Roberto Stewart, and he has no idea what to do. ROBERTO STEWART: At this point I just don't know what to do. I've been coming down here since yesterday to see if maybe other people have the same problem, which I can tell that many of the people have the same issue but I don't see anyone to speak to, I don't know what to do. If anyone could help, that would be great.

DORNIN: It is of course hard to keep people away from something like this. The city is saying that it's going to take at least two days to get the majority of the mess cleaned up. But it's a nightmare not only for those who have to rebuild, but for anyone who has to come down here to work.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: Another part of the country set for some severe weather as well. Let's check in with meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLIGIST: Hey Fredricka. You know, the southeast could get hit again later on this week. We've got a good couple of days of some great weather to work on that cleanup. In the meantime, we've got a storm system. You can see the swirl here across parts of the southwest. It is bringing some rain into the valleys and some snow into the higher elevations, but as this storm then makes its way into the nation's midsection for tomorrow, it is going to start to pull in that warmth and that moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico interacting with that cooler, dryer air.

We are anticipating severe weather tomorrow afternoon. So from San Antonio through Austin, up to Dallas, Ft. Worth, Oklahoma City, and also into Kansas City, we're expecting to see severe storms. Now as we head into Tuesday we'll be watching places like Houston, Little Rock, New Orleans, Greenville, Mississippi, Nashville, Memphis, and Birmingham, and then Wednesday, it pulls into the southeast and on up into the Carolinas. Areas that were hit hard yesterday with more tornados.

So Atlanta, Charleston, Columbia, Charlotte, even heading up there towards Virginia Beach, we could see some hail, some wind damage and some isolated tornados. Let's watch where this storm is going to be impacting the next 24 to 48 hours as it heads through the southwest and into the four corners region. It is going to be kicking up some strong winds. High fire danger into New Mexico and West Texas for today.

You'll just have some showers and snow showers in the west. As it moves toward the Rockies not looking too bad right now. We expect the moisture to pick up very heavy late tonight; we could see some heavy snow tonight and tomorrow into Denver. You might have to use two hands to count the number of inches of snow we'll see in the next 24 to 36 hours.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: That's a lot of snow. Thanks so much Jacqui.

A military family's treatment by the Veterans Administration led to action they hope will change the system for all the U.S. troops. Reporter Kate Bolduan has more on how this military family impacted their world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two tours of duty in Iraq. Four brain operations and a lifetime of recovery.

COL. PETER BUNCE (RET), SON INJURED IN IRAQ: It was improvised explosive device in the wall of a cemetery.

JUSTIN BUNCE, WOUNDED IN IRAQ: That's the life I used to have.

BOLDUAN: Twenty four year-old marine corporal Justin Bunce suffered a life threatening traumatic brain injury in March 2004. Little did he know his battle had just begun.

BUNCE: There are some instances I feel like we're begging for people to do their jobs.

BOLDIAN: Justin's parents say about 1 1/2 years into his rehab at a VA hospital in D.C., Justin was discharged, far too soon.

P. BUNCE: They told this us they pretty much exhausted the type of therapies that they have for him.

BOLDUAN: The Bunce's say their case is not unique and that Justin's treatment is one example of an ailing Veterans Affairs system. Patty Bunce is an occupational therapist.

PATTY BUNCE, STEPSON INJURED IN IRAQ: From our experiences the VA here are not well enough to act. My professional opinion was that they were not aggressive enough in looking to facilitate the highest level of independence.

BOLDUAN: The Bunce's estimate they've now accrued $50,000 in out-of- pocket expenses to get Justin the treatment he still needs, not including a new house to accommodate his disabilities. The Department of Veterans Affairs predicts it will treat 330,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan by 2009, a 14 percent increase than the year before.

A spokesman says, "The VA could always use more money and staffing but the agency is perfectly capable of taking care of patient needs right now." Peter Bunce signed a privacy release but the VA would not discuss Justin's case.

P. BUNCE: What I really worry about though is the families that aren't as blessed financially and that really have to struggle day to day. And it shouldn't be that hard for them.

BOLDUAN: Bunce went before Congress pushing for change. The Sen. Daniel Akaka chair of the committee on Veterans Affairs agrees the VA needs to do better.

SEN. DANIEL AKAKA, (D) COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS: Younger veterans of the current conflict require a new range of services from VA.

BOLDUAN: Meanwhile, Justin Bunce and thousands of other veterans continue their battle every day.

J. BUNCE: It's a long, hard road out of hell. You know?

BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: For more on stories that impact your world, go to CNN.com/impact.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Much more BALLOT BOWL straight ahead right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Chicago. This is your chance to hear the presidential candidates, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, live on tape, but always unfiltered. Joining me to co-host our own Jim Acosta who is in Pennsylvania. Hey, Jim.

ACOSTA: Hi, Suzanne. That's right. The big primary here scheduled for five weeks away. Nevertheless, both of these candidates are campaigning hard in this state, and but we want to turn now to a different state that has already its primary. We want to go to our very own Sean Callebs who is down in New Orleans, Louisiana. As we all know, Sean, they've had their primary, they've had their say as far as the voters go down there, but yet this lingering issue of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina is still with us and you had a chance to sit down with former President Clinton today to talk about that. Why is he down in New Orleans, Sean?

CALLEBS: It's interesting, he came down here, and he has an effort that he has been promoting for the past several years, the Clinton Global Initiative. He has done a tremendous amount of work around the globe especially in Africa, getting HIB and Aids medications to so many dearly needed on that continent. He's down in New Orleans today focusing on trying to get the young people across the country inspired to do what they can to help, to give back to certain areas.

There are about 600 students taking part from all over the country here this weekend. Part of that was bringing them down to the lower ninth ward which has really become a metaphor for misery in the last 2 1/2 years. They did some landscaping but really I think they got a chance to see firsthand the devastation down here. A lot of them will go back to their campuses certainly motivated to continue this community work.

But also the former president was here, we had a chance to talk politics. Throughout the Gulf States Barack Obama has done exceedingly well, except in Florida which is its own animal and Arkansas where the Clintons are expected to do well. But in Mississippi's primary just last week we saw perhaps the most polarization of African-American voters. More than 9 out of 10 supporting Barack Obama. I asked former President Clinton if he was concerned about this campaign becoming more polarized in the immediate future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The most important thing is for her to make it clear to all voters in the way that he does when he tries to get middle-aged working women to vote for him. You know? Something that she does very well. That she wants their vote; she thinks she'd be their president, and whatever they do in the primary if she's the nominee she's going to represent. You got to understand, most of these voters like both these candidates.

While the campaign has to be presented and reported, as a conflict, because it is a contest, you know, and you got to know what the differences are. And while some of the surrogates may say things which are not on message or things over the top, and while you have to examine people's history and record in public life. The fundamental fact is most of the Democrats like both these candidates and they're trying to figure out who would be the best president, who's likely to do things or be what I need most in a president, and who's most likely to win.

CALLEB: At the end of the day Democrats are certainly going to have more in common than they would with GOP clearly, but how do you seat these delegates? Michigan appears to be working toward a plan that could be doable. Florida still the wild card.

CLINTON: Well, Michigan, I think they know that because the Democrats were -- that moving party to move the thing up out of the calendar, and because the other candidates, for reasons of their own got off the ballot, they want a revote. They're prepared to do it if we can raise the funds to do it.

In Florida, they're much more intransigent because they didn't do anything wrong, the Democrats. That is, the state was moved up by a Republican governor, Republican legislature. The Democrats explicitly pleading to be given the right to vote on February 5th first.

Second, all the candidates ran and no Democrat violated the rules against campaigning there except Senator Obama had it on television there. Hillary won and there was a huge turnout. They are -- and the Republicans don't want to give them a revote. But I'm not involved in the negotiations. The only thing I'm going to say, however they work it out is all right with me as long as it doesn't look like we're dissing the people.

The Democrats should not do anything to put at risk our commanding the allegiance of the majority of voters in Michigan in Florida because we probably can't win without Michigan and we probably can't lose if we win Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: We also had the chance to talk with the former president about whether his role with Senator Clinton's campaign has changed since the divisive South Carolina primary. He says absolutely not, Jim. He says basically the focus, Hillary Clinton are go into very large areas, metropolitan cities, and she'll do the campaigning there. President Clinton works his way to the outside trying to generate support in that way. Jim.

ACOSTA: Very interesting conversation, Sean. It's interesting to hear Bill Clinton talk about surrogates and how sometimes surrogates can go bad. Of course, he was a surrogate down in South Carolina and stirred up some trouble for his own wife's campaign. So thanks very much for that very interesting look at the former president down doing some very important work in New Orleans.

Coming up after a break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN, we'll talk to -- we'll not talk with the candidates, we'll actually hear from the candidates talking about these very important issues, the economy. That's coming up after a break. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Chicago covering the campaign. We hear a lot of voters asking questions of the candidates, a lot of it has to do with economic issues, about how much they're paying for gas, the fear of losing their jobs, and their homes, how they're going to pay for their health care. It seems as if the economy has become issue number one and the candidates are responding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX (voice over): For the guy, who has the top job and those who cannot wait to replace him, there's one thing they can agree on -- issue number one is the economy.

GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got an active plan to help us get through this rough period. We're always open for new ideas.

MALVEAUX: Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have got some of their own and they are desperately trying to convince voters theirs is the fix.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRSIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, too little, too late, is not an economic strategic but that seems to be the best that President Bush can offer.

MALVEAUX: The cliche photo op, Clinton in front of a gas pumps talking about the skyrocketing price of oil.

CLINTON: Both Senator Obama and Senator McCain have sided with Dick Cheney and with big oil.

MALVEAUX: Addressing those hit especially hard in Pittsburgh. Obama is propping up his economic recovery plan, too, touting its affordability.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The "Wall street Journal" did an article several weeks ago evaluating our plans and saying that if I was able to move my agenda forward, I could in fact pay for all the proposals that I've made.

MALVEAUX: So what are their proposals? Obama's offering a $1,000 tax cut for working class families, amending the North American Free Trade Agreement to protect U.S. jobs, and create new ones by investing in renewable energy.

Clinton promises to also lower taxes for the middle class, confront the housing market crises and create new jobs like Obama by investing in alternative energy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: You'll be hearing a lot more about the economy and the kinds of issues that voters are concerned with. Our own Gerri Willis is going to be hosting a brand new series on CNN starting on Monday; it is called "Issue #1." It is at 12:00 noon Eastern. She'll take a closer look at all of those things that folks are talking about, gas prices, the housing crises, the possible recession that voters are faced with, all of that starting this week, "Issue #1," hosted by our own Gerri Willis.

Coming up in the next hour of BALLOT BOWL, more details on John McCain's surprise visit to Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Chicago. This is your chance to hear from the presidential candidates, John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, live, on tape, and always unfiltered. Joining me to co-host, Jim Acosta out of South Sterling, Pennsylvania, a very busy hour this next hour, Jim. What are you looking at?

ACOSTA: Well, Suzanne, undoubtedly the biggest story of this political day is John McCain's unannounced surprise trip to Iraq. John McCain is no stranger to being on the ground in that country. He was there just last year. He's going back again, and he had a moment with the troops earlier today, and we have some sound from that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm visiting here in Mosul here with the troops. You're doing a great job. I know it is a very tough job. I'm very proud of all you do and the families are proud and America's proud. I'm happy to tell you that Americans more and more understand the success of this strategy of the surge and the great leadership we have in General Petreaus and everyone that's here. Thanks for all you do, and we hope that this will bring home more quickly and thanks for serving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: That is a John McCain message to the troops. It comes against the backdrop of the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, a war that John McCain, as a senator, supported and has continued to support despite the risk to his political career. Just a year ago people were saying that John McCain was in very deep trouble as a presidential candidate because of his support for this war. Then he started talking about the surge and the need for a surge.

Many of his supporters say John McCain was for the surge before George Bush was for the surge and he has benefited from the success on ground in Iraq with that strategy, which has shown some improvement in that country. And traveling with John McCain during this surprise unannounced trip is our very own John King. John King now with a take on John McCain's trip to Baghdad.

KING: Senator McCain is here on this official congressional delegation with two of his senate armed services committee colleagues, Joe Lieberman, the independent of Connecticut, Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, many would note both Senator Lieberman and Senator Graham are also McCain for president supporters but they have been spending the day with U.S. officials. We are told U.S. military officials and diplomat officials getting what one senate office staffer just e-mailed me with an update on what they consider considerable progress on the ground.

We don't know the details of the senator's schedule because of security reasons and because that's traditional in these congressional delegations which are often low key. We've had no media coverage of the senator's visit yet, no exact details of his schedule. We do know he is supposed to meet with General David Petraeus, with Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador and with Iraqi officials, including we are told the Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki.

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