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Ballot Bowl 2008

Flooding Still a Concern for U.S.; Airlines Add Fees to Cover More Expensive Jet Fuel; How does McCain Senator Play on World Stage? Reactions from Presidential Candidates on the Iraq War.

Aired March 23, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm told both Clintons called Richardson to ask for his endorsement as recently as a week ago Friday.
Now, "The New York Times" reports that Clinton adviser James Carville called Richardson's decision, which you know came on Good Friday, quote, "An act of betrayal." He said, "Mr. Richardson's endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic." Ouch.

Well, Governor Richardson is defending his decision to back Barack Obama, but he says he also remains loyal to the Clintons. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL RICHARDSON, (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I'm not going to get in the gutter like that. And you know, that's typical of many of the people around Senator Clinton. They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency.

You know, and I got in this race myself. I am very loyal to the Clintons. I served under President Clinton. But I served well, and I served the country well, and he gave me that opportunity.

But you know, Chris, it shouldn't just be Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton. You know, what about the rest of us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: Bill Richardson said that his conversation with Senator Clinton when he informed her that he was going with Barack Obama was, quote, "not the easiest conversation he's had."

Well, Senator Clinton has been out of camera range for the last few days. She's been down since Friday. But the Clinton campaign issued a response to news of Richardson's endorsement.

A spokesperson said, "Senator Clinton likes and respects Bill Richardson, but both candidates have many great endorsers, and the voters, not the endorsers, will decide this election. There are still millions of voters in upcoming contests who want to have their voices heard. Despite the Obama campaign's push to disenfranchise Florida and Michigan and end this primary early, we believe everyone's vote should count."

Well, that is right on message from the Clinton campaign because Senator Clinton is pushing hard for those revotes in Michigan and Florida. Those who have crunched the numbers say that it is Clinton's best chance of overtaking Barack Obama in the popular vote by winning those two states. And so, Senator Clinton is now accusing Barack Obama of dragging his feet in efforts to come up with some sort of workable plan for a revote, at least in the Michigan primary.

So far it's looking like a stalemate there. Candy Crowley reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The campaign action this day is the inaction in Michigan, where a plan to hold a primary do-over was left for dead. Michigan now looks like Florida, which also stalemated in its efforts to put on a second primary. It's a double barreled blow in camp Clinton and she has raised the stakes.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not see how two of our largest and most significant states can be disenfranchised and left out of the process of picking our nominee without raising serious questions about the legitimacy of that nominee.

CROWLEY: As the Michigan plan fell apart, the Obama camp touted a press release by supporter and Senator Chris Dodd. He suggested the best outcome would be "an arrangement where the delegates are apportioned fairly between Senators Obama and Clinton," which is to say, divide the delegates in half.

"Fair," Obama told Larry King because the first primary cannot stand.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, we were told it wasn't going to count and so we didn't campaign there, in fact my name wasn't on the ballot in Michigan. But I think it's important to make sure that the people of Michigan, the people of Florida, that their delegates are seated.

CROWLEY: Since seating Michigan delegates in accordance with the first primary results was a no go, she has focused on the redo, and blames him for the death spiral.

CLINTON: I do not understand what Senator Obama is afraid of.

CROWLEY: A revote would advantage her, but he says the argument is about fairness in part because it bars people who may have voted Republican in the first primary because they knew a Democratic contest wouldn't count.

No revote means she loses her best chance to overtake his leads in the pledged delegates and the popular vote. But she says it's about disenfranchisement. In the end, it may mean Michigan will end with no input at all.

GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM, (D) MICHIGAN: I would like to see us resolve this. I think the fairest way to resolve it is by having a vote. I think it would bring a huge amount of excitement to Michigan. Our issues would be raised on a national level.

CROWLEY: And it could well mean the Democratic National Committee will see a big fight at the summer convention in Denver.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Beckley, West Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: Well, the next big battleground race will be in Pennsylvania. Let's take a look at the Democratic delegate count and where things stand. As we know, 2,024 delegates are needed to clinch the nomination, and there, we're talking about pledged delegates.

Senator Obama has 1,622 total delegates and superdelegates. Senator Clinton has 1,485 delegates at all. And he may be out, but John Edwards still has 18 delegates at least to his count.

So that battleground fight in Pennsylvania is going to determine -- well, let's just say it will determine whether this race does or doesn't go on, Jim. You're there.

I think Candy Crowley had the best description of this. It's the most crucial primary since the last crucial primary. Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And 158 pledged delegates, that's nothing to sneeze at here in Pennsylvania, but Jessica, I've got to wonder with proportional allocation, I wonder if the Democrats are kicking themselves because they essentially can tee up all of these contests as being the next big thing and very crucial and perhaps a turning point in this race.

But if somebody wins, you know, 55-45, 52-48, that's not exactly giving anybody really a delegate edge in any of these contests, and that slim delegate lead that you mentioned that Barack Obama has, poses a very difficult challenge for Hillary Clinton.

YELLIN: It does. Senator Clinton ...

ACOSTA: And ...

Yes, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Jessica.

YELLIN: Senator Clinton is facing so many challenges because of the race. So many people looking at the math thinking that the race is not hers to win unless she can get those two states to vote, Michigan and Florida. And I think are we going to a look at what Michigan and Florida mean for the Democratic Party?

ACOSTA: Yes, we are. That's right. CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider takes a look at what Hillary Clinton has to do to catch up with Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right now, Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton in both pledged delegates and popular votes. Can Clinton overtake Obama's lead in pledged delegates? She would need to win about 2/3 of the pledged delegates in the remaining contests to do that. That will be tough.

Can she overtake Obama's lead in popular votes? In the primaries and caucuses to date, Obama has gotten about 700,000 more popular votes than Clinton. We estimate that about 6 million more people are likely to vote. To overcome Obama's lead Clinton would have to get 56 percent of those votes.

How tough will that be? In the 28 primaries in February and March, when the Democratic contest became a two-candidate race, Clinton has averaged 46 percent. She's gotten 56 percent or more in only four states -- Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and her current and former home states New York and Arkansas.

The next state to vote is Pennsylvania, where our Poll of Polls shows Clinton leading Obama by 13 points. If you just look at decided voters, Clinton gets just over 56 percent. West Virginia and Kentucky are heavily rural states with a lot of lower-income voters, also good for Clinton.

Indiana looks like more of a battleground. Many Indiana voters are in the Chicago media market. North Carolina, with its large African-American population and a lot of upscale voters, is Obama's most promising state.

Obama also ought to do well in Oregon, which has a lot of affluent Democrats. Obama has generally done well in western states where the traditional Democratic base is small, like Montana and South Dakota.

The outlook is for Clinton and Obama to split the remaining states.

Can Clinton get 56 percent of the vote? That's a tall order.

(on camera): If Michigan and Florida were somehow to redo their primaries, Clinton would need to carry 53 percent of the remaining voters. Even that wouldn't be easy. She's gotten 53 percent or more in only eight of the 28 primaries since Super Tuesday.

Of course, the ultimate decision will rest with the superdelegates. But they're likely to pay a lot of attention to who's ahead in the popular vote and in pledged delegates.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Thanks very much to our CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

And coming up after the break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN: The Hillary papers. The documents detailing the former first lady's schedules when she was in the White House, what do they say about her experience and her potential for being the commander in chief?

That's coming up after the break. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Jim Acosta in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, where Hillary Clinton is right now at the moment favored to win next month's Pennsylvania primary. There's still a lot of time to go.

But this past week, the senator from New York's schedule, when she was the first lady of this country, came under scrutiny when the Clinton Library released those documents pertaining to Hillary Clinton's schedule during her time as first lady.

And our very own CNN's Alina Cho takes a look at those documents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The papers offer a glimpse into the public and the private, the policies and the pain. They show only three days after her husband's inauguration, First Lady Hillary Clinton dove into meetings on health care reform. Later, appointments that back up some campaign claims. Earlier this month she told AMERICAN MORNING how she was involved in foreign policy.

CLINTON: I helped to, you know, bring peace to Northern Ireland. I negotiated to open borders, to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo. I've been standing up against, you know, the Chinese government, over women's rights, and standing up for human rights in many different places.

CHO: And among the 11,000-plus pages, glimpses into a public scandal. They show Mrs. Clinton was in the White House on at least a half dozen days when her husband had sexual encounters with Monica Lewinsky.

January 21st, 1998, when the scandal first broke in the national media, Mrs. Clinton starts the day at a private meeting in the White House, then, an appearance at a college in Baltimore until late afternoon and back to the White House for a black tie dinner.

Carl Bernstein, who wrote a biography of Hillary Clinton, says much more was going on behind the scenes.

CARL BERNSTEIN, AUTHOR, "A WOMAN IN CHARGE": She was on the telephone with her aides. She was trying to learn more about what the press was doing. She did not want to give the impression of a firestorm that was raging outside.

CHO: On the day that her husband made his first public admission ...

BILL CLINTON, FMR. UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate.

CHO: ... the calendar shows a trip to Martha's Vineyard and for days after that simply no public schedule. But what might be most remarkable is what the documents don't show -- thousands of pages are marked by redactions, blacked out information like the names of people who attended meetings.

BERNSTEIN: This is not about someone who is eager to shine a light on her full record. That's the point. And at the same time, some of this is understandable for, you know, when you're running for office the slightest thing can be misinterpreted.

CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Thanks, Alina.

And coming up after the break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN: How the campaigns are clicking online, the race in cyberspace.

That's coming up after a break. This is BALLOT BOWN on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

YELLIN: Clicking for president. You know the Internet is playing a huge role in this election cycle. In addition to raising unprecedented amounts of money online, the candidates are now using the Web to get their message out.

CNN's Josh Levs as always is keeping an eye out on the online campaign. He joins us live in Atlanta. And I've got bet while everyone else is down today for Easter the Internet is still busy. Josh?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is. It's very busy. And all the campaigns have their latest steps that they're taking. Front and center on the Web site today, you can't miss it. In fact, what I'm going to do is start off showing you the Web pages. Then, we're going in to some campaign videos.

Let me turn around to this camera we have facing this computer behind me and we'll start off right now.

This right here, speaking of Easter, is John McCain's home site right now, leading with a message that says -- not showing up too well from there. There you go, can you see it? "Happy Easter from John and Cindy McCain." Then it gets into a little bit more about him, where he comes from, personal view.

This is, we get to Barack Obama now. Why don't we refresh the page so you can see what happens if you were to go to the site right now. First thing you see, Bill Richardson endorsement, you're able to watch it, read about it, see what they think about it, and then it goes right into his "More Perfect Union" speech. Two major events of the last few days, both are very positive for him. He's making the videos available.

Now look at what Hillary Clinton has front and center. What she's doing now is something different from what I've seen in recent days. She has clause (ph), automatically cycling through from different donors, people who've given money to her campaign.

Her campaign has been pushing really hard for money this weekend, saying Barack Obama has done a huge ad buy in Pennsylvania, they want to match it and there's the big "thank you." And pretty soon, more messages start to come.

And also right here, she has Hillary TV and this gets us into the first video we're going to show you right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADMIRAL DAVID STONE, CLINTON SUPPORTER: There's a large group of retired admirals and generals that believe this is the most important election in their lifetime. We face growing threats around the globe. Senator Clinton is a candidate that we believe is the strongest and most experienced leader.

GEN. JOE BALLARD, CLINTON SUPPORTER: She has spent time in discussions with foreign governments and spent time on the ground with military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BRIG. GEN. EVELYN "PAT" FOOTE, CLINTON SUPPORTER: The woman who has traveled to over 80 countries. She knows this world.

STONE: Senator Clinton has served for over five years on the Senate Armed Services Committee. She's intimately familiar with the challenges that we face in our military today.

OBAMA: How many times do we have to learn that tough talk is not a substitute for sound judgment? After years of a war in Iraq that should have never been authorized, how many more politicians will appeal to the American people's fears instead of their hopes?

This moment in this election is our chance to put an end to the divisive politics that has done nothing to keep America safe or to serve the men and women in uniform as well as they are serving us. Because the real commander in chief threshold doesn't have to do with years tallied up in Washington, it has to do with the judgment and vision that you will bring to the Oval Office.

ANNOUNCER: Never yield to force, never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. I've never lived a day through good times or bad that I haven't been proud, proud of the privilege.

Don't tell me what we can't do. Don't tell me we can't make our country stronger and the world safe.

We can. We must. And when I'm president, we will.

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: You see what's happening there. That's why I'm showing you this weekend. All three major candidates right now on their video pages are leading with national security videos. And that does say something about what they think is a critical topic, obviously, for a lot of voters.

Also, the Democrats are focusing on that leading up to Pennsylvania. This is one place where they're battling, continuing to battle. Who is stronger when it comes to national security?

Both of them leading their video pages with that and reaching a lot of people, well (ph), they're getting some good traffic there. So Jessica, we're going to keep an eye on this, obviously how the fundraising is doing online, what the Web pages are jumping on, and all those fresh videos. When there's something new and exciting, it will be right here on BALLOT BOWL.

YELLIN: You're always right there watching it all for us. Josh, let me ask you, is there a sense you've have -- first of all, we said that Barack Obama has been the most sophisticated in using the Internet to his advantage. Is he still updating it most frequently, changing it up or are they all about even now?

LEVS: In terms of updating what's going on on the pages I'm finding them all even. Some days I'm finding one is the same as the day before but the other two are all new and that keeps switching all over the place. It is true that his traffic has been pretty good. I mean, especially ever since that "Yes, we can" video, one of the places you could see it was on his site, a lot of traffic going there.

When it comes to the videos, it depends on which video you're seeing. So, in terms of updating and getting new material out there, I'm seeing that to be about even. But certainly as a draw for a lot of people, the kinds of videos and kinds of things that are out there to attract huge numbers of people, Obama still does have that kind of advantage.

YELLIN: All right. Thanks, Josh.

LEVS: Yes, thanks.

YELLIN: All right. And we are going to take it back and turn it on over to Jim Acosta, who is in Pennsylvania. He's in Philadelphia with CNN's Election Express. Jim, how's the coffee on the bus?

ACOSTA: I don't know. The guys here haven't fired up any coffee yet. It must have been something I said. It must have been about these chocolate bunnies I mentioned earlier.

YELLIN: It's my favorite part of the bus. Take that good coffee.

ACOSTA: We'll see. There might be time for coffee later, Jessica.

YELLIN: OK.

ACOSTA: We'll have to see about that. As you know, Jessica, this campaign has been mired in the subject of race over the last week, and this is the town where Barack Obama gave that historic speech on the subject of race relations in this country. The question, though, here in Pennsylvania is how that speech went over with voters, black and white.

First, here's a portion of that speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America, to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So, there's Barack Obama on his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. And the question now here in Pennsylvania with the big primary coming up on April 22nd is how that speech will play with voters in this very important state. And according to many political analysts, it's the white blue-collar male voter that is definitely up for grabs in this state.

Here is CNN's Randi Kaye on that part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this Philadelphia construction site workers are focused on building a better life, keeping their jobs, and keeping money in their pockets. Steel worker Rick Czyzewski believes Hillary Clinton, not Barack Obama, can help him do that.

(on camera): What do you think it's going to take for Barack Obama to win the working-class white man's vote?

RICK CZYZEWSKIM, CLINTON SUPPORTER: He's got to come out and talk to us, tell us what he wants to do with the economy. All I hear is, it's a change, it's a change, but what type of change he's got for us.

KAYE: Here in Pennsylvania, working class white males represent about 27 percent of the vote. They may turn out to be the swing vote simply because there's no obvious place for them to go. The Republicans are looking at an older white male candidate, and the Democrats have Obama or Clinton. So, the candidates have to find issues that appeal to them. (voice-over): Obama and Clinton have been seesawing among them. Most recently in Ohio, white men carried Clinton to victory.

DON KETTL, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: Pennsylvania's really Ohio on steroids, if you think about it. It is all the things that made Ohio so hot but with all the heat turned up even more.

KAYE: In Ohio, we now know more than 1/4 of white men there said race was an important factor in their vote, so, here in Pennsylvania?

KETTL: Racial politics are never very far below the surface here in Pennsylvania.

BOB MERK, CLINTON SUPPORTER: I don't believe race is an issue at all. If I knew more about him, knew more about his politics, and he was backing what I wanted, I don't care if he's black, white, or green. I would vote for him.

KAYE (on camera): What does Barack Obama have to do to win this voting bloc?

KETTL: It's not only a matter of helping them feel confident about themselves but what kind of future are they going to have for their children? What kind of situation are we going to have with inflation? What kind of job opportunities are there?

KAYE (voice-over): Don Kettl thought he heard hints of that.

OBAMA: To the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman who's struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man who's been laid off.

KETTL: White male construction worker is looking for the kind of guy they can imagine at some point being able to have a beer with at the corner bar. And Obama, for all his strengths, has not projected that.

KAYE: To fix that, Kettl suggests Obama show these men he can identify with them, having grown up poor and worked on Chicago's south side. He must get specific about how he's going to help them. Kettl says that will make the difference.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Thanks very much, Randi.

We should note as a footnote to that tag that tomorrow, Monday, is the last day to register to vote in Pennsylvania. So, for all those Pennsylvanians out there wondering when is the last day to vote, it is tomorrow.

And obviously, there is high interest in this state. We have some video to show you over the weekend of both of these campaigns, the Barack Obama campaign and the Hillary Clinton campaign, were out in force registering voters over the weekend and getting people signed up so they can cast their ballots in the all-important Pennsylvania primary coming up on April 22nd.

And coming up after the break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN: A check of other stories, including a rescue at sea. That's coming up after the break.

This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "BALLOT BOWL '08" continues in a minute. But first, a quick look at the headlines.

The Coast Guard says four people have died in the sinking of a fishing boat in the Bering Sea off the Aleutian Islands. 43 crew members were rescued. The Seattle-based "Alaska Ranger" began taking on water overnight. The crew had to abandon ship for life rafts in six to eight-foot seas. We'll talk to the Coast Guard about the rescue next hour.

And authorities are on the scene of a fire at a meatpacking plant in Arkansas. Flames broke out at the Cargill Meat Solutions facility in Booneville. Nearly 200 people who live near the plant have been evacuated Frommar this homes. Two large ammonia tanks on site have firefighters pretty worried. They're afraid the fire could ignite a powerful explosion. So far there are no reports of anyone being hurt.

Police in Springfield, Massachusetts, have arrested this man in the deadly stabbing of his roommate's nephew. They say an argument Tuesday over a missing loaf of bread escalated, ending this weekend with the nephew dead, his uncle wounded, and the accused due in court tomorrow.

And if you've bought any cantaloupes lately you need to check them. The FDA has issued an alert about melons shipped by a Honduran company that may be linked to a salmonella outbreak. About 50 people in 16 states have gotten sick; 14 of them had to be hospitalized.

And scrambling for higher ground in Arkansas. The White River is rising, and a levee on the Black River has been breached, causing forecasters to warn of potentially historic flooding. Flood waters have cut off one small town near the Arkansas River, and residents could be stuck for up to a week.

So how is tomorrow's back to work forecast looking? Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has some answers for us.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Fredericka.

Not terrible, actually. Overall, nationwide, there are no major storm systems to cause problems.

The flooding is going to be one of the biggest concerns. You know, Easter Sunday today, a lot of people still trying to travel. And you have to use a lot of caution because there's so many roads that are blocked off. So turn around, don't drown, don't risk it, don't drive through it, go around, just give yourself a little bit of extra time.

And look how extensive this is. The Ohio River Valley, Mississippi River Valley. Goes into Louisiana just shy of the New Orleans area, Memphis. Many of these rivers up here have crested already but they're still plump. They're still out of their banks. It's going to take days to go back in. We're talking mid-week. And then the river downstream still cresting later this upcoming week. So this is going to be a problem for days and days to come.

(WEATHER REPORT)

All right. It's Easter Sunday, and we've got some creative I- reporters out there today. Take a look at this picture. This is from matt and Joseph Fiedler from Sauk Centre, Minnesota. They did this apparently in the middle of the night because they said they worked very hard to build it. And they surprised their nephews and nieces this morning. And that is Matt's son, Carson, going for a ride.

WHITFIELD: After that who cares about chocolate bunnies?

JERAS: Oh, yeah. But don't eat that snow bunny.

WHITFIELD: Especially not the yellow snow. OK, Jacqui. Thanks so much.

Well, Christians around the world are celebrating Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar. At the Vatican, thousands of pilgrims, tourists, and Romans braved a downpour for Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square. Pope Benedict XVI led the worshippers. He called for solutions to the conflicts in Tibet, Iraq, and the Holy Land.

And thousands gathered at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia this morning for an Easter sunrise service. Other major memorial services that are held at the amphitheater every year, Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

And record pain at the pump for American drivers. The latest national survey on gas prices from Lundberg shows a seven-cent spike at the pump over the last two weeks alone. That means we're now at an all-time inflation-adjusted high of $3.26 a gallon for self-serve regular unleaded.

So how'd you like to pay just $1.99 for a gallon of gas? Well, drivers in Kady (ph), Texas, shelled out just that Saturday as an area church donated the difference at the pump. The church says they saved cash-strapped families as much as $6,000.

And Grammy winner, Emilio Navaira, is in critical condition after a bus crash. His band's bus slammed into security barrels early this morning on an interstate near downtown Houston. In all, eight people were hurt. Navaira and his band, Rio, have released more than a dozen albums. One received the 2003 Grammy for the best tenant album. Dr. Death wants to go to Washington. 79-year-old Jack Kevorkian, who served eight years behind bars for assisted suicides, says he now wants to serve as a Congressman from Michigan. He's expected to formally announce his bid for the 9th District seat tomorrow morning. He probably would run as an Independent, they say.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. More news headlines, next hour, and we'll get back to "CNN's BALLOT BOWL 08" right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Airlines are making passengers pay the price for the high cost of jet fuel.

STEPHANIE OSWALD, EDITOR, TRAVELGIRL: This is all in a response to the fact that it's costing them more money to operate. They're trying to pass that on to the traveler. And this is everything from charging for seat options to charging for excess baggage.

CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tagging on fees lets the airlines make more money while their advertiser's fares can still look low.

OSWALD: Some airlines say they're only going to allow one bag to be checked on the plane. You'll be charged for the second bag.

CNN CORRESPONDENT: And don't be surprised if you're asked to pay for curbside baggage check-in. Also, have that credit card handy if you plan to make changes to your frequent flyer take the ticket.

OSWALD: If you decide you're not going to make the trip now it's $50 to $100 to deposit those miles.

CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oswald says the best way to avoid the fees is to look before you book. Reading the fine print could save you money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Welcome back to "CNN's BALLOT BOWL."

Senator John McCain's trip overseas is winding down. When he gets back, he's expected to focus on fund-raising events out west this week. But last week during stops in the Middle East and Europe he tried to showcase his foreign policy and national security credential. So how does the Arizona Senator play on the world stage?

Here's CNN's chief national correspondent, John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last stop, Paris was a meeting with the president and a final effort to make all this about his day job.

JOHN MCCAIN, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wish every Senator would take the same trip we have taken.

KING: But only one Senator is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. And without a doubt the unspoken goal of John McCain's week on the world stage was to back up a favored campaign theme.

MCCAIN: I've spent my entire life addressing national security issues, and I know how to handle them. I don't need any on-the-job training. And I am prepared to lead.

KING: Prepared as well, he says, to do some repair work. In much of Europe George W. Bush is viewed as a go-it-alone cowboy, Guantanamo Bay as a moral outrage. And from day one Europeans felt ignored by Mr. Bush on climate change. McCain promises he would not be more of the same.

MCCAIN: I'll join with them to try to address climate change. We won't torture any prisoner that Americans hold in our custody. I think I can improve those relations and have us work together in a more cooperative fashion.

KING: As Mr. Bush knows, it is often not what you say but how you say it that can ruffle feathers.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, "Wanted: dead or alive."

KING: So while Senator McCain is known to wish the British would keep more troops in Iraq a bit longer, outside of 10 Downing Street the picture of diplomacy.

MCCAIN: I believe that that decision is made by the British government and people.

No apologies, though, for a musical parody that many around the world took as a true sign of his thinking.

MCCAIN: Bomb Iran. Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.

Anyway, when veterans are together, veterans joke. And I was with veterans, and we were joking. And if somebody can't understand that, my answer is please get a life.

KING: What he calls straight talk can at times seem brusque, like in Israel, when asked about Palestinian complaints he scheduled no time with their leaders.

(on camera): They say it's proved to them you wouldn't be an honest broker or at least until you're president, you're pandering to the lobby back home.

MCCAIN: Well, they're free to say whatever they want to say.

KING (voice-over): Colleague Joseph Lieberman stepped in to note McCain had telephoned the Palestinian prisoner, as he did a day earlier when McCain needed some help. MCCAIN: We continue to be concerned about Iranians taking al Qaeda into Iran and sending them back...

KING: Lieberman leaned in to remind McCain there is no such training.

MCCAIN: I'm sorry. The Iranians are training extremists, not al Qaeda. Not al Qaeda.

KING: Not sorry, though, to spend a little time sightseeing. Very much unlike the president he hopes to succeed.

John King, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: The fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war brought comments from all the political heavyweights. President Bush marked the anniversary with a staunch defense of his policies. He said removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right thing to do, and he insisted the war in Iraq is a fight America can and must win.

The Republican candidate, John McCain, said in his trip to Iraq he saw a lot of positives on the ground.

Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama repeated their opposition to the war and their desire to end it and bring U.S. troops home. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As we continue to police Iraq's civil war, the threats to our national security, our economy, and our standing in the world continue to mount.

The lives of our brave men and women are at stake. Nearly 4,000 of them have by now made that ultimate sacrifice. Tens of thousands more have suffered wounds both visible and invisible to their bodies, their minds, and their hearts. Their families have sacrificed, too, in empty places at the dinner table and the struggle to raise children alone and the wrenching reversal of parents bearing children.

The strength of our military is at stake. Only one of our Army brigades is certified by the Army to be ready. Our armed forces are stretched to near the breaking point, with many of our troops on their second, third, or fourth tours of duty.

Our economic security is at stake. Taking into consideration the long-term costs of replacing equipment and providing medical care for troops and survivors' benefits for their families, the war in Iraq could ultimately cost well over $1 trillion. That is enough to provide health care for all 47 million uninsured Americans and quality free kindergarten for every American child, solve the housing crisis once and for all, make college affordable for every American student, and provide tax relief to tens of millions of middle-class families. BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you believe we are fighting the right war, as John McCain does, as George Bush does, then the problems we face are purely tactical in nature. And that is what Senator McCain wants to discuss tactics.

What he and the administration have failed to present is an overarching strategy, how the war in Iraq enhances our long-term security or how it might enhance our long-term security in the future. That's why this administration cannot answer the simple question posed by Republican Senator John Warner in hearings last year -- are we safer because of this war?

And that is why Senator McCain can argue, as he did last year, that we couldn't leave Iraq because violence was up and then argue this year that we can't leave Iraq because violence is down.

When you have no overarching strategy, there is no clear definition of success. Success comes to be defined as the ability to maintain a flawed policy indefinitely.

Here is the truth. Fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. And fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer.

So when I am commander in chief, I will set a new goal on day one. I will end this war. Not because politics compels it, not because our troops cannot bear the burden as heavy as it is, but because it is the right thing to do for our national security and it will ultimately make us safer.

MCCAIN: It's well known that I have supported the surge, and it is very clear at least to most objective observers that the surge has succeeded, where others predicted that it would fail.

And having just come from Iraq, I can tell you unequivocally that the situation has improved dramatically over the last year, Iraqi people are going about their normal lives, but the fact is al Qaeda is on the run. They are not defeated. They are not defeated. And we're going to have to continue training the Iraqi military and doing what we've been doing if we're going to achieve a stable situation in Iraq.

The problem with Iraq in my view is because it was mishandled after the initial success, and that caused great frustration and sacrifice and sorrow on the part of the American people and our allies. We are now succeeding in Iraq. And Americans at least, I believe, are in significant numbers agreeing that the present strategy of the surge is succeeding, and they want us to succeed. And that will be frankly a very big issue in this campaign.

As to whether we withdraw and have al Qaeda win and announce to the world that they have won and things class there collapse there or we see this strategy through to success and have that impact throughout the region of a stable and functioning, not very effectively but functioning democracy in iraq. And I believe that we can achieve that. And I believe if we had done what others are advocating it would have had disastrous consequences for the United States, chaos, and further sacrifice on the part of the American people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: Well, from the big issues to more parochial concerns, we'll see how good the candidates are at a different kind of match-up. The candidates' picks for the final four. We'll get to that on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL 08." I'm Jim Acosta in Philadelphia.

We just have a few moments left. And I'll bring back my colleague Jessica Yellin.

It's been a quiet weekend out on the campaign trail, Jessica. What do you think we should be looking forward to this coming week?

YELLIN: Well, they'll all get back out there. You know, the candidates had a down weekend, but we're going to see Senator Clinton holding what her campaign is billing as a major policy address tomorrow morning.

For Senator Clinton it's the real focus will be on her this week to change the storyline from that big Richardson endorsement of Barack Obama. She'll need to reclaim the focus. And no doubt her campaign is hoping that whatever this policy address is tomorrow that will help do it.

For Senator Clinton she has to show she is still motivated, she still has momentum, and she is in this for the long haul -- Jim?

ACOSTA: And speaking of momentum and the long haul, we are in the midst of March Madness. And we should note that while the candidates have been spending a lot of time talking about the issues they did work in some time to fill out their brackets for the NCAA tournament. And we want to go through them in these remaining minutes of "BALLOT BOWL."

John McCain, his final four picks, here they are, in case you're betting at home. North Carolina, Connecticut, Kansas, and Memphis. As we know, Connecticut is out. So McCain is hurting there. But North Carolina winning it all for Senator John McCain.

Going to Barack Obama now, he also has the tar heels winning it all. Also in his final four, Kansas, Pittsburgh, and UCLA. Pittsburgh also losing there. So not so good there for Barack Obama.

As for Bill and Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton left it to her husband, the former president, to fill out the brackets for the family. He has Georgetown winning it all. Sorry, Mr. President, I regret to inform you, perhaps you already know this, Georgetown did not win today. They're out of the tournament.

His remaining bracket picks, North Carolina, Memphis, and UCLA.

And Jessica, I don't want to use the words "mathematically impossible" here for the Clintons to win with their final four picks. I think it's a loaded term at this point.

But having said that, and standing in front of our team bus here, the CNN team bus here, I'll throw it back to my teammate, Jessica Yellin in Washington.

YELLIN: My question, because I don't know much about basketball, it seems very politically convenient these picks -- North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Were those legitimate picks? Do they have a really strong teams?

ACOSTA: It's really strange, isn't it, that North Carolina and Pennsylvania would figure so prominently in their bracket picks. Yes. We didn't see Oregon and Indiana in there. But no, I think there might be some politics involved there. But those are also some good picks. I think North Carolina's heavily favored and could still pull it out at this point. So Obama and McCain looking good there with those picks there.

YELLIN: And I'm sure Senator Clinton is wishing right now she had picked North Carolina for many, many reasons. All right, Jim.

ACOSTA: She'll be picking the brackets next year.

YELLIN: We'll leave it at that. That's right.

Jim Acosta, over there in Philadelphia, where they will be holding a vote on April 22nd at the big next crucial primary. He's with the election express.

I am in Washington, D.C. We thank you for tuning in to this edition of "BALLOT BOWL." We will continue to cover all the ups and downs on the presidential field. And stay tuned now for "CNN Newsroom" on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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