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Number of Vacant Homes Increasing in U.S.; Bill Richardson Endorses Barack Obama; Lawsuit Dismissed Against DNC in Florida; Missouri Flood Levels Keep Rising

Aired March 21, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good Friday to you everyone. You're informed with CNN.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Good Friday, March 21.

Here's what's on the rundown. A big endorsement for Barack Obama. Former rival Bill Richardson announcing his support today. We'll have it live on CNN.

HARRIS: Waiting on the surge. Flood waters roll down river, communities across Missouri sandbag ahead of the crests.

COLLINS: Men, is this your idea of good food? Why you need beans, broccoli, and liver -- yuck -- to be a dad, in the NEWSROOM.

Breaking developments to share with you in the breach of Barack Obama's passport file. Within the past hour we've learned that the Secretary of State apologized for the contract workers' snooping. State Department correspondent Zain Verjee is on the story for us this morning.

Zain, update us first if you would, on the new development in this story.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as you said just a short while ago said that she spoke to Senator Obama and personally apologized for the snooping going on here at the State Department into his passport file.

Here's what she told reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I told him that I was sorry and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed if I learned that somebody had looked into my passport file. And therefore, I will stay on top of it and get to the bottom of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VERJEE: Secretary Rice said the State Department was extremely concerned. She said that the State Department's inspector general was taking the lead in this investigation and insisted that the State Department would get to the bottom of this. She said that they're going to take all the steps and precautions they can to make absolutely sure nothing like this happens again here in this building and in all the other offices around the Washington area where these breaches occurred.

Three separate offices in different locations accessed by three different contractors. Secretary Rice also said, Heidi, that the system actually worked and the reason she gave was that there was a breach and it was flagged immediately and the contractors, two of them were fired and one was disciplined immediately.

The fact of the matter is, there's a big failure here. This is very embarrassing for the State Department. And they did acknowledge a failure saying that the lower level officers should have told the chain of command and they didn't.

COLLINS: There will certainly be people out there because of the process of the presidential election and where we are in the campaign cycle here. Is the State Department saying anything about whether or not this was politically motivated?

VERJEE: That's a question that's key. That's what we're asking them. The State Department for now is saying that they're just doing the investigation. What they're saying is that their initial view is that this was just in prudent curiosity on the part of these three individuals.

That having been said they're saying we're not being dismissive, we're not ruling out the possibility that this could be politically motivated. We did ask whether they could tell us whether the contractors in question here, were either Democrats or Republicans or Independents or what, they told us that they don't ask those sorts of questions when they do background checks on these contractors and they just check out their personal integrity -- Heidi.

COLLINS: CNN State Department correspondent, Zain Verjee, this morning. Thank you Zain.

HARRIS: Also unfolding this morning, Barack Obama picks up a major endorsement next hour from New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and we have reaction this morning from the Hillary Clinton campaign. Jessica Yellin live from Indianapolis with details.

Jessica, maybe we should begin with that. The reaction to this endorsement from the Clinton campaign. Good morning.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Tony.

This is a real blow to Senator Clinton. She has been aggressively courting Bill Richardson to be an endorser of hers ever since he dropped out of the race in January. As you know, he worked in the Clinton administration, he was energy secretary, an ambassador to the U.N., a personal friend of the Clintons.

This has to be a blow to the morale at the Clinton campaign. Senator Clinton says today quote, from the campaign, "Senator Clinton likes and respects Bill Richardson but both of us have many great endorsers and the voters, not the endorsers, will decide this election and there are still millions of voters who want to have their voices heard." That tracks with the recent message we've been hearing coming out of the Clinton campaign pushing for votes to be held, revotes in Florida and Michigan.

And as Clinton has been privately urging the other uncommitted superdelegates to sort of hold their fire, not to make a judgment before Pennsylvania, states like Indiana where I am now, also vote because the fear is that this Richardson endorsement could start a stampede of other uncommitted super delegates over to Barack Obama's camp.

Bill Richardson basically gave two reasons for his endorsement. In a statement he says, "It's the time for Democrats to stop fighting amongst ourselves and to prepare for the tough fight we will face against John McCain." He also said he was moved by Barack Obama's speech about race earlier this week.

And I should say Barack Obama has put out a statement emphasizing Bill Richardson's foreign policy credentials saying that he knows how to secure American interests we have to talk to our enemies as well as our friends. The statements go on. But the bottom line here is that this is a great move for the Obama campaign because it changes the topic after a couple weeks of bad news for Barack Obama.

And Bill Richardson's endorsement also bolsters the foreign policy credentials on the Obama side of this equation. It's a good week all around for Barack Obama and not great for Senator Clinton.

HARRIS: Jessica Yellin for us in Indianapolis. Jessica appreciate it. Thank you.

Former presidential candidate Bill Richardson throwing his support behind Senator Barack Obama. That will happen at an event scheduled to begin at 12:30 Eastern in Portland, Oregon. When it happens you will see it live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: We are following all of the angles on the developing weather story as well. Boy, a lot of flooding in the central part of the country. CNN meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras, is in Eureka, Missouri.

Her colleague Reynolds Wolf with the bigger picture for us in our extreme weather center.

Jacqui, we want to begin with you, as we now the people of Missouri really, really dealing with some tough issues today.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, really a sad sight here. The water is continuing to rise. Things are going to be getting worse here in Eureka before they get better. I'm standing in the flood waters here, the Merrimack and Big River, it's the confluence of them coming together here but you can't define what's what any longer because everything is just water.

There are things floating in the water by the way too. Check out this door behind me. We have no idea where that thing came from. Wasn't here earlier this morning, it just showed upped and is washing away. So officials are warning you to stay out of this water because it's murky and because it's dirty and there are all kinds of chemicals that could be running off into it.

They're also trying to get the people to stay out of their homes. Believe it or not some of the homes that you see behind me, some people have chosen to stay in there. There are about 50 to 75 homes that are surrounded in flood waters. Some of which already have water up to the second level. And officials here tell us that very likely some of these houses will be topped.

Now, we're expecting a record crest here tomorrow afternoon or evening at 43 feet. And if that happens, it will certainly surpass the record from 1993 floods, but also the '82 floods which happened here as well. So it would be an all-time record.

We've been tracking how fast the water has been climbing. This cone was put here near where we started on dry land this morning about 7:00 Eastern Time. Look how far up that water goes now. This is a road. This is highway W in Eureka, one of the thoroughfares that moves through here.

If you can see over my shoulder back there -- can you see that bridge? That bridge goes across to the other side of the river where there are many home which are flooded. I've got a resident over here, James Wilson is with me. And James, tell us the situation, what's going on at your house here today?

JAMES WILSON, RESIDENT: They keep saying it's going down but all I see is water keeps coming up and it's getting higher and higher. Hopefully we can get back in and see what we can do.

JERAS: Have you been at your home this morning yet?

WILSON: I drove down into the water to get down there to see how high it came up and it had rose up quite a bit. And we were advised to stay out of there in the vehicle. So we're going to get a boat and just keep an eye on everybody that lives around us because we've got about 75 homes that live by us and there's only a few of us there.

JERAS: You guys have all been pulling together and help each other to get out of here, haven't you?

WILSON: Yes. We helped a lot of residents get out yesterday. And the young people are staying. The elderly people are all gone. So it's getting worse.

JERAS: You've been here since '82, right? You've lived here a long time. How does this compare to what you've seen with flooding in the past?

WILSON: I was a little kid in '82 and seen it. It came up quick and stayed. I was here in '93, it came up quick and stayed. They said that this is going to be worse than them. I can't imagine what it's going to look like when it's done.

JERAS: We wish you the best of luck to you and your family, thanks for talking with us today.

That's James Wilson. By the way, James also told me he's a bus driver for the high school and on the other side of the town, the Merrimack River makes a little crest that goes around town so it's coming up at the city from both sides. The high school is on the other side where he drives kids every day.

They're on spring break so nobody is there but water is flooding the fields at the high school. It's sand bagged there and they're concerned that it could possibly move inside the building. Downtown could also be breached tomorrow. They've sandbagged there, about 300 volunteers getting together, they're worried that if this record crest does happen tomorrow, we could be looking at four to five feet of water in some of the businesses -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Jacqui, that would be awful. You may not have this information because of where you are. Looks so desolate, quite frankly, where you are. Where are all the people going? Clearly the Red Cross has got to be doing the great work that they usually do?

JERAS: Right, there are at least two shelters that we know that have been set up that people are able to go to. But a lot of these people don't want to get out of their homes. Some say they don't have the means to get out of their homes.

James says he's staying with his sister. A lot of people are trying to stay with relatives and friends. But if you can see, can you possibly shoot over here? If you look up the side you can see a bunch of campers there. Basically there's one hill here. We have to leave and get out of here by the way in the next half an hour because the water is going to go over the road and cut us off completely.

These folks have picked the high ground here. They brought their campers over and a lot of them are staying up there, hoping to wait out the rising waters.

COLLINS: Wow, it is obviously moving very quickly. All right, Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much, live from Eureka today. Great job Jacqui, thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Race and religion, war and diplomacy. Major Democratic endorsement, huge issues playing out in the presidential race this week. Insight ahead from our political insiders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Planning a family, why it's important for dad to eat a diet rich in vegetables. Folates and fertility and a very fun special announcement coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: What a week it has been in presidential politics. It started with a pastor's racially charged rhetoric and a candidate's appeal for healing. It's ending with a major political endorsement and there is plenty in between to talk about. Here to chat about it, let's chat it up with Republican strategist Bay Buchanan in Washington.

Bay, good to see you.

BAY BUCHANAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Good to see you Tony.

HARRIS: And in Chicago, CNN contributor and syndicated columnist, boy he's got a radio show, he's got a column, he's got all this work on CNN. There he is, Roland Martin.

Good to see you both.

Roland good to see you.

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey man, it's a tough economy. Got to have five jobs.

HARRIS: You got to have 15 -- let's start with the news this morning I guess it broke last night. The breaching of the Barack file, the passport file. Bay, in prudent curiosity as is the statement from the State Department, or bald faced politics?

BUCHANAN: Obviously, Tony, we don't know. But it does absolutely deserve an investigation. In fairness, I wrote a book on Hillary Clinton, this is right out of the Clinton playbook. She had 900 republican FBI files delivered to the west wing so she could peruse them at her leisure. So I don't suggest it's the Clintons but this is --

HARRIS: Really?

BUCHANAN: This could be a bit dirty trick. Absolutely. She had 900 of them delivered to the west wing. FBI took care of it for her.

MARTIN: I got to admit Tony, that was pretty cute.

HARRIS: That was pretty good. I didn't see that one coming Bay.

MARTIN: I'm not saying it was her but I'm going to mention her. You know what Tony, here is the reality though. If you're a Democrat, this is nirvana because they now control the senate, they now control the house, you can have investigations, you can have subpoenas, they can drag this thing out even if there's really nothing there.

We don't know. We have to, again, focus on the fact. For Democrats, this is another opportunity for them to stick it to the Bush administration and they probably will.

BUCHANAN: I would be careful because this thing could come around and bite you if it's Hillary. Then you've got two very, very tough candidates to handle there.

HARRIS: All right. Let's move on to the race speech from Barack Obama and then we'll talk about John McCain here. Here's a question. Bay, will Barack Obama's speech on race win him any more white, blue collar support?

BUCHANAN: His speech was good. You can't take that away from him. It was very good. I think his concern should be this. He is not a well-defined candidate. People, Americans love a fresh face. He's got new ideas. They've been very attracted to his candidacy but he hasn't been there 20 years so he's not well defined.

Now we see this minister, we see who has been his mentor for 20 years, a place he's been going every single week. That's beginning to define who he is. He now has to reach out to white America and make certain they know that is not who he is.

I don't believe it's who he is. He's got to convince a lot of people that that's not the ideas that he believes in and that's not why he's running for president. He is going to have to turn things around for him. I think he's got some work ahead of him.

HARRIS: Roland, what do you think?

MARTIN: I think Bay makes a great point. Also, when he called for this elevated conversation, look, you have conservative voices out there. I've been debating them all week on CNN. They don't want to have that conversation. They want him stuck right there in terms because it's so volatile.

You know, so that's why I've been calling out Sean Hannity saying you want to debate, bring it on and (INAUDIBLE) rest of these guys, they won't have that conversation. It's also about speaking the truth Tony. What I've started doing, you can go to "AC 360" blog on cnn.com. I've been fact checking what Reverend Wright actually said because we've been hearing snippets.

I want to actually hear the sermon. When it comes -- so you can go to the blog and check out the first fact check on his 9/11 sermon. Check this out Tony. What Obama has to be able to do, look, they're trying to portray him as this Harvard guy and his wife went to Princeton. They didn't come from privileged backgrounds.

Obama has to be able to say, I think he said it on Tuesday, and I think Bay will agree. When he said that blue collar white voter has the same issue as that blue collar African-American voter. They want their kids going to top schools, they want health care and they want a strong economy. He has to be able to connect those two together and say, look, I understand you because I am you because I had a single mom. He needs to do that.

HARRIS: Let me pick up on that. Bay, the question to you is, will the Reverend Wright controversy follow Barack Obama into the general election if he is, in fact, a Democratic Nominee?

BUCHANAN: Guaranteed. Guaranteed.

HARRIS: How so?

BUCHANAN: What they're going -- you know, you've got him on tape. You've got -- listen, let me turn this around for a minute. What if we found out that John McCain had been on a weekly basis for a number of years sitting down with David Duke and talking to him where David Duke was really in control of the meetings. You guys would finish him off in an afternoon. Afternoon.

HARRIS: One thing, Bay, when you say you guys, you mean --

BUCHANAN: I mean liberals and I mean the press.

HARRIS: Oh, OK.

MARTIN: Of course. But there's one thing, Reverend Jeremiah Wright ain't David Duke. David Duke was running the KKK. This is part of the problem. You have people who have made determinations Tony based upon a few snippets as opposed to actually the fact.

When he talks about 9/11 and terms of America's foreign policy he was actually quoting former U.S. ambassador to Iraq who was on the Fox News talking about it. I heard it, so, facts are facts.

BUCHANAN: You know what your problem is, you have to explain too much. You know what politics is about.

MARTIN: No. My problem is I like fact.

BUCHANAN: You (INAUDIBLE) explanation, you lose.

HARRIS: That's the point I want to follow up with Roland if the Democratic party, if the super delegates determine that this controversy will follow a nominated Barack Obama into the general election, will they then figure out a way not to hand the nomination over to Hillary Clinton?

MARTIN: Real simple, if -- real simple Tony. If Senator Barack Obama is leading among pledged delegates and has more votes and the super delegates give the nomination to Hillary Clinton, Democrats lose in November, simple as that.

BUCHANAN: And that's the message you all have to make certain those super delegates understand. I think what Richardson did today was a class act. It's an absolute class act coming to a friend's aid when he's in need. But the key is, I think Obama has to win the primary by making certain he goes down there in North Carolina and does well because he's got to make certain the people are still there with him.

HARRIS: I don't want to run out of time. I want to get to John McCain.

BUCHANAN: OK.

MARTIN: All right.

HARRIS: Did John McCain do himself a service by going to the Middle East, going to Iraq, going to France, going to Britain?

BUCHANAN: Well, the biggest thing that he did was get out of town while the Barack situation is out here stirring. They didn't have to go to him. So he looks presidential, he's over there, he's traveling.

I think that works for him. His polls are much stronger. Obviously it was beneficial. But the key here is he has got to come back to this country and hit the economy because that's what this election is going to be on if it's not on Reverend Wright.

MARTIN: Tony, I've been marking that point that's where John McCain's weakness is, that comes to the economy. Look, he already has national security locked up. He doesn't haven't to bolster that. He should be spending this time right now as a senator offering proposals in the senate to deal with the economy. Because that's going to drive the issue. Pocket book issues. It's not going to be security. He must confront that. That's why Bay made that point.

HARRIS: I didn't get to Spitzer. I didn't get to the issues.

MARTIN: Such a shame.

HARRIS: I'm just out of -- have a great Easter weekend, you two.

BUCHANAN: Thank you, same to you all.

HARRIS: Thanks for your time.

MARTIN: I appreciate it.

HARRIS: All right.

Former presidential candidate Bill Richardson throwing his support behind Senator Barack Obama. That will happen at an event scheduled to begin at 12:30 eastern in Portland, Oregon. When it happens you will see it live right here on CNN.

COLLINS: Home on the range, in the burbs. City slickers round up loose steer. It took a while. And a little bit of lawn damage there, as you can see. We'll show you more, coming up in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Planning to have a baby? Well then you better start eating right. That's not just for mom, believe it or not. Dads to be should eat their vegetables, too. CNN medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here now with new findings about folates and male fertility.

Usually Elizabeth, we're talking about mom's diet. We don't ever hear about dad's diet.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Dad can just eat candy and pizza and beer, who cares, right? Apparently this study says that that is not true. What dad eats when you're trying to conceive a baby really does matter.

What this study did is they looked at men and how much folic acid they eat. What they found is that men who weren't getting enough folic acid were more likely to have problems conceiving a baby.

Their wives -- their partners were more likely to miscarry and the children were more likely to have Down's syndrome and other genetic abnormalities. This is really one of the first times there's been any kind of a link between what the father eats. But it makes sense, right?

COLLINS: Of course, it does.

COHEN: Or more important.

COLLINS: I mean, from, you know, what I know. But I'm wondering if there's some sort of supplement you can take. Because you know women when you're pregnant you often take folic acid.

COHEN: Right, exactly, so it's same thing. There are supplements for folic acid. And as Heidi says, moms are supposed to take them when they're trying to conceive. The problem is that in this study at least, just a supplement wouldn't cut it. These men were getting much more folic acid than would be in a supplement.

So let's take a look at foods that have a lot of folic acid in them. Spinach, asparagus and bread and breakfast cereal have quite a bit of folic acid because they are supplements. So those are just a few of the things that you can eat to get the folic acid intake up.

COLLINS: OK. So break it down for us a little bit if you would. What would a man have to eat on a daily basis to get the right amount of folic acid.

COHEN: To get the amount that seems to be helpful in this study, here's what a man would have to eat. Here's sort of a sample menu for the day. If that man took a multi-vitamin that had folic acid in it and had a bowl of fortified cereal, a serving of spinach and asparagus and two slices of bread, that would be -- you're looking at over the course of a day, that's not that hard to do.

That would be the same amount of folic acid that the men in this study got when they did not -- when they fathered children who were perfectly healthy. And speaking of perfectly healthy, lovely babies, you have some news for us, Heidi.

COLLINS: We do. We're going to have babies in a week.

HARRIS: Yes.

COHEN: Not you and Tony, right? No. COLLINS: No, not me and Tony. We're adding on to the family. And it's kind of a little bit complicated because, you know I don't look -- at least I hope I don't look pregnant. But we are actually going to have a surrogate deliver our baby for us. It's about five, six days away, believe it or not.

But I've talked quite a bit, and I know you know, too, Elizabeth, and Tony, me having lunch before, but Celiac disease, we've talked about it a lot, and one of the most common symptoms or side effects or side effects of Celiac is pregnancy complications. So we couldn't really get an OK from any of the doctors that we talked to go ahead and carry another child. That combined with the blood clot that I had about 10 years ago before my first child. This is a lesson in Heidi history, medical history.

But I wanted to say something to the folks at home, because I don't know when I'm going to be gone, and I'll be out for a couple of months. So it could be happening literally any minute. I keep my BlackBerry and my phone up here waiting for the phone call.

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: ... going to have a sibling.

COLLINS: Yes, he is. He's going to have a baby brother.

HARRIS: Wow, he's going to love it. He says it'll be much like Peyton and Eli Manning. My husband and I are thrilled to hear that.

COHEN: That's great.

HARRIS: That's great. No, that is terrific.

COHEN: That's wonderful. That's wonderful.

COLLINS: Thank you, guys. Thanks for doing that.

And in fact you have a little bit of information. Oh look, it's Don Lemon.

Thank you, Don Lemon.

LEMON: I knew. She told me like a month ago actually.

COLLINS: You have been telling us a little bit more about surrogacy is because it really is, it's getting a little bit more about surrogacy. Because it really is -- it's getting a little bit more popular. I mean, that would be fair to say, right.

COHEN: It is more popular. It is more popular. And it's interesting, because it's hard to get really great statistics on surrogacy because it's still something that people don't talk a whole lot about. So it's wonderful that you're doing this. But it definitely is -- people are putting it to use more and more often as a we to have a baby. COLLINS: Yes, it really is fascinating, and people do it for many different reasons. But as I mentioned, for us, as a combination of Celiac and the blood clot that I had quite a while ago the doctors feel like, we're not touching you with a 10-foot pole.

So I also wanted to just take a moment to direct you to. There's a lot of information about this, that the foundation that I work with, the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, on their Web site about pregnancy and Celiac disease. If you have any questions you can go there. They've been compiling information on it for quite some time. That address is celiaccentral -- like Central Park -- .org. So ahead and check that out if you'd like.

I hope I'm back on Monday, but I really don't know.

HARRIS: Congratulations.

COLLINS: Thank you very much.

COHEN: And send pictures.

HARRIS: That's such good news for Riley and for Matt, and for you, too.

COLLINS: Thanks so much.

COHEN: Just great. Just great.

COLLINS: Thanks.

OK, back to the news.

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody. Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Good Friday morning to you.

Let's talk about rising gas prices, job worries, tight money, a slowing economy, boy, all of that has retailers a little skittish. Will you keep buying, is the question? Poppy Harlow is looking for answers at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Poppy, good to see you. Could this mall be next to feel the pinch that so many other malls and so many other retail establishments are feeling across the nation?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, of course that is the question with more than 40 million people visiting this mall every year, it is just mammoth in size. Think of it, seven Yankee stadiums in the mall. It brings in more than $400 million. So the question we came to find out is, are people spending here, or is this mall feeling the pinch like a lot of the other stores and malls around the country? I was really surprised to hear what people had to say. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're spending more than I would normally spend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We average maybe within last three or four days about $1500 to $2,000.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it's much different for us. Is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not really.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: But keep in mind, Tony, about half the money that comes in here is from tourists. A lot of people outside America cashing in on that weak U.S. dollar. So to answer your question, yes. The Mall of America could be next in line. Two thirds of GDP in this country comes from consumer spending. So if the economic downturn does persist the Mall of America may not be immune. But for now things are looking a little better than elsewhere -- Tony.

HARRIS: Boy, can they explain to -- or have they explained to you why things are looking better there? I'm wondering if part of the reason is what I'm seeing on the right side of the screen here, so many other attractions to bring you into the mall.

HARLOW: Exactly. There's so much else here. There's an underwater big aquarium. There's a new roller coaster, a ferris wheel, as you can see, movie theaters. I grew up here. I came here as a kid. And it's just added on. They're even talking about, expanding the mall, a $2 billion proposed expansion. There's a lot else here to do than just shop, so they are seeing people spending money on those other things.

But I do want to keep pointing out here that a lot of these people are from outside the U.S., a lot of people from Iceland come here and Japan and across Europe to get a good deal because the U.S. dollar is so weak. And also an interesting fact, the International Council of Shopping Centers said this year they expect 6,700 stores to close. That would be the highest number since 2004.

We're seeing some of that at the Mall of America. The Sharper Image is still open here after they filed for bankruptcy last year. But that store is expected to close. But overall, again, things not as bad. It's really interesting to come here and see that.

HARRIS: Well, Poppy, I hear it's something to see out there. I suppose I owe myself a visit there to Bloomington and to the Mall of America if I can get a week off. I understand that's about as much time as I'd need to see it all. Poppy, good to see you. See I can say Poppy a few times. HARLOW: Good to see you guys, too.

HARRIS: OK. And we encourage you to stay with us here at CNN. All this week our money team has had a special report on your money. What a great job our team's been doing. It's called "ISSUE #1," the economy. Watch today, why don't you, at noon Eastern, only on CNN.

COLLINS: Quickly want to get this information just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. We have been able to -- I don't know -- firm here at CNN that a federal appeals court right here in Atlanta has now dismissed a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee over the party's decision to strip Florida.

We've been talking about Michigan and Florida, but this is about stripping Florida of its delegates to the party's national convention. Obviously this is something we've been talking about for quite some time, and the candidates have been talking about it, too.

Just to give you a quickly little side note here, this is the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and they have affirmed the decision by two U.S. district court there's in Florida to, once again, dismiss the lawsuit against the DNC over the party's decision to strip Florida of its delegates to the party's national convention. I'm sure there will be much more on this. We'll stay on top of it for you.

HARRIS: Still to come, he was off duty and out of harm's way. So why did this soldier die in Iraq?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Boy, what a morning for the State Department. Let's sort of bring you -- let's bring you up to speed. First of all, by circling back to the story we've been reporting for you throughout the morning, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, we understand, has called.

She said it herself, has called Senator Barack Obama to apologize for the fact that his passport file was breached on three separate occasions, in January, February and March. The secretary has promised a full investigation and also informed us that the Justice Department is also in the loop as well.

We just received a note from our Jessica Yellin out on the campaign trail just a short time ago, informing us that the Secretary of State has contacted Senator Clinton in order to inform her that the senator's passport file was breached in 2007.

The State Department will be briefing Senator Clinton's staff this afternoon to provide details about the recent unauthorized breaches of passport records. So, both Democratic candidates for the presidency have had their passport files breached.

We are following developments. We're going to try to get Jessica Yellin up for more information on this. Maybe get back to our State Department correspondent Zain Verjee as well. We are following these developments, what's going on at the State Department throughout the day here in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: A mom wants to know how could her son in Iraq survive the bulletin bombs only to be electrocuted on base?

Here's CNN's Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth stepped into the shower on January 2nd at his base in Baghdad, turned the water on and died. The 24-year-old combat veteran was electrocuted by a short and a water pump, according to the army. His mother Cheryl is heartbroken.

CHERYL HARRIS, MOTHER OF ELECTROCUTED SOLDIER: He was a Green Beret, he was a weapons master, he was trained to survive. And hearing that he was electrocuted, it just was so senseless to me.

STARR: Maseth is at least one of 12 service members the military says have been electrocuted in Iraq since 2003, most by improper grounding of electrical systems in areas such as swimming pools and showers.

Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is calling for an investigation and says Kellogg, Brown and Root, the largest American contractor in Iraq, had the job of maintaining the shower building and may have known about the electrical problems.

Maseth's parents are suing KBR claiming in part in a court filing, "the water pump servicing the facility was manufactured by a Chinese company for sale to countries outside the United States because it failed to meet applicable U.S. safety standards."

KBR said in a statement it's cooperating with investigators, adding, "At the time of Staff Sergeant Maseth's tragic death, however, KBR was providing repair services at the facility in response to requests issued by the Army."

But the family attorney, Pat Cavanaugh says it's all too late.

PAT CAVANAUGH, FAMILY ATTORNEY: In Ryan Maseth's building, they, in fact, knew about it, reported it, were funded in excess of $3 million to fix it, and for whatever reason, did not fix it.

STARR (on-camera): The case is under review as well by the DOD inspector general. The Pentagon says KBR was responsible for electrical safety issues at the building, but was only ordered to fix them after the sergeant died. It may be small comfort to his family, Ryan is survived by two brothers still serving in the army. And the Pentagon says that Chinese water pump was installed years ago by the Iraqis.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: A rising rivers, people's homes washing away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this river is coming up to where it's anticipated, this whole house will be taken away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We are live from -- can you imagine that -- from the flood zone in the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT SILVERMAN, COMMUNITY CRUSADOR: When you are ready to say good-bye to the world, that is a clear bottom. I didn't think of myself as depressed. My drinking at the end got so bad I felt my life was over. The window's open, it's the 44th floor, I'm thinking you know what, if I could just push myself back, the pain would be over.

And this guy walks in his office, he says, God, what are you doing? And I started to cry. And then, the next day, I checked into a treatment center. Everything after that was sobriety.

I got into volunteerism quickly and I hung out with people who are now in shelters, had lost their homes, had come out of jail. And they couldn't find a job. I had to find a way to help people get back on track.

My name is Scott Silverman. Every day, I offer anyone who wants one, a second chance. Second Chance was started to provide jobs and housing for the chronically unemployed. We help get them placed and we follow them up for two years because we know what they're trying to do takes time.

We go into the jails, introduce ourselves to inmates. And then, when they transition out, we like to actually pick them up and bring them into our program and put them into our housing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been to prison four times. My longest time is five years. I was inside and I found a flyer. I waited until my home boys went to sleep to read it.

I didn't know what was going to be different, but I got there and I was like, wow, I almost feel like I know these people because they were there. They were just like me. That's what kept me there.

Thanks to Second Chance, I know I'm going to make it in life because I believe in myself more than ever.

(APPLAUSE)

SILVERMAN: We think we have a model to stop recidivism as we know it. Tell me no, I dare you.

(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Quickly want to get back to this breaking news that we just reported moments ago here at CNN. This is according to our Jessica Yellin who tells us that according to the Hillary Clinton campaign, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has also now told the senator that her passport file was breached in 2007. We're trying to get more information as we go here.

But apparently, again, according to Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign, they say the State Department will be briefing Senator Clinton's staff this afternoon to provide details about the recent unauthorized breaches of passport records.

So, first of course, we were telling you about the breach of Senator Barack Obama's passport file and now again, according to the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign, her passport file has also been breached. We will of course stay on top of this story for you on the political front.

On the other political front, he wanted the job but won't get it. Bill Richardson now wants you to hire Barack Obama. His endorsement, you'll see it live right here in the NEWSROOM. The event begins 12:30 Eastern. Remember, CNN is your home for politics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Reynolds Wolf. This is today's Cold and Flu Report.

And this behind me on the map is the United States. And every state that you happen to see shaded in red is a spot where we have widespread cases of the cold and flu. However, places where we see blue, like Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Utah, those are spots where you have only regional cases to report.

If you're sniffling and sneezing, I hope you feel better soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The thoughts (ph) to business news now, the lights aren't on and no one is home. The number of vacant homes in the U.S. is growing. Stephanie Elam is in New York now with details.

Stephanie, we know that there are a number of people who find themselves in foreclosure right now. Not everyone is going to be able to save their home, huh?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, that's probably not the case, Tony. I mean, that would be really a rosy picture to paint.

HARRIS: Yes. ELAM: And if you take a look at home vacancy rates, that's actually ticked (ph) higher in the fourth quarter of '07 and that matches the record that was actually set in the first quarter of last year according to the Census Bureau.

More than just a result of the glut of foreclosed homes, vacant homes can actually cause a bigger mess ...

HARRIS: That's right.

ELAM: ...for the housing market because who wants to live near a boarded up home? Nobody wants to do that. So, it lowers the value of all the surrounding homes as well. So, as vacancy rates climb, prices tend to fall. And falling home prices prompted our current economic mess.

One economist quoted in the "Wall Street Journal" points out that areas of the country where populations are growing, places like Florida, may be able to grow their way out of the problem. But if you live in Michigan where the population is actually going down, it could be a more sustained problem. So, some of this could be regional, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, and Stephanie, here's what I'm trying to get a handle on. We're seeing all these vacant homes at a time when builders in many cases have just stopped building.

ELAM: Yes, that's true. And it's so much more than just a glut of unsold homes, it's homes that were once occupied and are now vacant. And the "Wall Street Journal" says small and mid-size homebuilders are now on the ropes. Some owners of construction companies have even been dipping into their own pockets to keep their companies afloat.

HARRIS: Yes.

ELAM: But of course, you know, the question is how long can this last? And some are afraid that if these companies collapse, they could actually bring some regional banks down who didn't have exposure to, say, the subprime mortgages but they have this heavy exposure, a lot of the exposure on construction loans and that could mean a widening of the credit crisis at a different angle. So, obviously that's -- that could be a scary angle there.

Of course, another thing I've got to remind you that there's no stock market activity today.

HARRIS: Right, Good Friday, Good Friday.

ELAM: Good Friday, nothing's going on. So, if we look back at the week, it was a volatile one. We ended with a 261-point gain for the Dow Industrials after being up and then down and then up. All over that, so we were on the upside for the week though.

HARRIS: A Good Friday to you. A Good Easter weekend to you, Ms. Stephanie. ELAM: You too, Tony.

HARRIS: And we'll see you next week. Take care.

ELAM: Thanks.

COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues just one hour from now.

HARRIS: "ISSUE #" -- congratulations again.

COLLINS: Thank you.

HARRIS: High five to you and ...

COLLINS: I hope I'm back Monday.

HARRIS: ...Matt, Riley ...

COLLINS: (INAUDIBLE).

HARRIS: ...and Tom and Norma and all the grandparents.

Oh, OK, "ISSUE #1," the economy is next with Gerri Willis and Ali Velshi.

COLLINS: Thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: We'll be back, hopefully, on Monday. Have a great weekend, everybody. Happy Easter, too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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