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Ballot Bowl 2008

Continuing Coverage of the Presidential Campaigns

Aired March 30, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

DANA BASH, CNN, ANCHOR: Welcome to "BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Dana Bash in Meridian, Mississippi. And over the next couple hours, we'll bring you the candidates on the campaign trail, sometimes live, sometimes on tape. But always unfiltered. We bring you in "BALLOT BOWL" the candidates as we get to hear them as political reporters out on the stump as they are vying for your vote and as they are talking about issues that are important to you and of course talking about some raw politics as well. And joining me is my co-anchor today and that is Jim Acosta. Jim is joining us from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He's with the CNN "Election Express." And we don't need to tell our political junkie viewers at this point that Pennsylvania, of course, Jim, is the next big battleground for the democrats.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN, ANCHOR: That's right, Dana. April 22nd is fast approaching. Mark your calendars if you haven't done so already. And coming up this hour on "BALLOT BOWL," we got lots of politics for you. So, let's go over our game plan. We have Barack Obama speaking to supporters. He has been in the middle of the state today at Penn State University. He is at University Park, Pennsylvania. We will also be touching base with Dana in a little bit to talk about John McCain who is campaigning in Meridian, Mississippi.

And we should also note that the former president, Bill Clinton, is campaigning on his wife's behalf out in California. He is in San Jose, trying to reach out to some uncommitted superdelegates out there, which is of course critical to Hillary Clinton's race for the democratic nomination. She is trying to make up some ground behind Barack Obama as we all know, and as we move forward here, here in the state of Pennsylvania, as Dana mentioned, Barack Obama, he was whipping up a crowd of young and enthusiastic supporters at Penn state. He likes to go to these college audiences. It is where he sort of finds himself in his element, talking about his message of hope and new kind of politics in this country. But he also took time to talk about the presumptive republican nominee John McCain. So, here is Barack Obama talking about who he hopes to be his opponent coming up in the general election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As this primary has gone on a little bit longer, there have been people who have been voicing some frustration. They have been saying oh, you know, the campaigns are going at it back and forth, and you know, we feel like that initial hopefulness that we had now is kind of slipping away. I want everybody to understand that this has been a great contest. Great for America. It's engaged and involved people like never before. I think it's terrific that Senator Clinton supporters have been as passionate as my supporters have been because that means the people are invested and engaged in this process. And I am absolutely confident that when this primary season is all over, democrats will be united, because we understand what is at stake in this election.

I have the greatest admiration for the service of John McCain. He is a genuine American hero. He is a genuine American hero. He has sacrificed on behalf of all of us. And he deserves our honor and our respect. But, but everybody has to understand what's at stake in this election. And John McCain has suggested that we might leave our troops in Iraq for another 100 years. John McCain has suggested that he will continue the same Bush economic policies that have gotten us into this fix right now. John McCain is clinging to the past. Past. He is running for George Bush's third term. And so the question we have to ask ourselves is, how are we going to debate John McCain? Do we want to debate John McCain with somebody who agreed with him on the war in Iraq or do we want to debate him with somebody who had the courage to stand up and say this is a bad idea?

We want to debate John McCain about who's been in Washington longer because that's a debate John McCain will win, or do you want to debate John McCain about who is actually going to bring about change in Washington because that's a debate that we will win. I believe that the democrats will be unified, as soon as this nomination is settled. We will be unified because we understand that we are not going to be clinging to the policies of the past. We are the party of the future, we don't want to look backwards, we are marching forward. That's what is at stake in this election. That's what this campaign has been about and that's what I want to be bring about as president of the United States of America.

So, let me just close by saying this. Remember, I told you that Senator Clinton and Senator McCain and George Bush, all three of them have been so critical about my campaign. They say, he gives a good speech but he hasn't been in Washington long enough. See they think I need to be seasoned and stewed a little bit longer. They want to boil all the hope out of me. In fact, they give me a hard time about talking about hope. You know, and it's true I do talk about hope a lot. I put hope on my signs, I gave a speech in the convention 2004 about hope, I wrote a book called the "Audacity of Hope." It's not surprising that I talk about hope because if you think about it, the likelihood of me standing here is very unlikely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So, there is Barack Obama in front of a crowd at Penn state talking about how he and Hillary Clinton are mixing it up. I think he even used a few hand gesture there, talking about the spirited contest, this hotly contested race here in the keystone state and across the country. But he also said that exchange, that back and forth between he and the senator from New York, is good for America, a great contest, great for America, he said and he believes that the country will be unified come the convention in late August. And speaking of that, there's been a bit of a dust up out on the campaign trail the last couple of days and it also started late Friday when two of Barack Obama's superdelegate supporters, Pat Leahy from Vermont and Chris Dodd from Connecticut both suggested that it was time for Hillary Clinton to get out of the race that mathematically was going to be difficult for her to get the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination and saying well, Barack Obama is in front, Senator Clinton, it's time for you to bow out.

Well, Senator Clinton said thanks but no thanks. She responded to that call coming from Leahy and Dodd yesterday out on the campaign trail. She said more than that to "The Washington Post" in an article posted this morning. She said that she is prepared to take this race all the way to the convention. But first, let's talk -- first let's go to Hillary Clinton talking about how she is not ready to bow out of this race. She said all of this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have been having the best time. I have been from Terre Haute to Anderson to Evansville, from Mishawaka to Hammond to Ft. Wayne, from Muncie to Indianapolis, and New Albany. I have been across this state and I'm going to be back time and time and time again. You know, there are some folks saying well, we ought to stop these elections. I didn't think we believed that in America. I thought we of all people knew how important it was to give everyone a chance, to have their voices heard and their votes counted and we're going to give Indiana that chance on May 6th.

Because you see, I have this old fashioned idea that the more people get a chance to vote, the better it is for our democracy. And we have some very important upcoming contests in Pennsylvania, here in Indiana and others. And we also are going to have to come to terms with how we're going to count the votes of your neighbors in Michigan and people in Florida who deserve to be heard as well. You know, I've had the best time.

As Kathy was saying, listening to the people of this state. Not just in big rallies like this and trying to get a few questions from these big crowds, but also in smaller settings. And there is such a sense of resilience and hard work. And yet, there's also this underlying anxiety about the direction of our country. Where are we headed? What is our destination? How are we going to get there? And I think this election, particularly here in Indiana, is about jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, and how we're going to ensure that the economy works for everyone. How will we tell you and your children that they can stay right here in Indiana, right here in Indianapolis, and have the kind of economic opportunity that will enable them to fulfill their version of the American dream. I believe we can do better than we're doing, and we can get our country back on track, and we can seize the opportunities of this moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: There you have it. Hillary Clinton in Indianapolis, she is not backing down. In fact, to borrow a car racing term she is doing a little bit of drafting behind Barack Obama, just barely behind Barack Obama in terms of the delegate count and the popular vote count, hoping to sling shot around the senator from Illinois with a victory here in Pennsylvania. And we should note while we're on the subject of every delegate counting, there is a little production going on down in Texas. First of all, we thought it was the Texas two-step but it turns out it's the Texas three-step. First of all, we got the graphic up.

Let's mention that Barack Obama with 1,625 delegates to Hillary Clinton's 1,486 delegates. So barely ahead of Hillary Clinton there. Down in Texas, they are holding what they are calling a convention which is the third part of what we hope to be a three-part act that started with Hillary Clinton winning that primary, then Barack Obama apparently winning the caucus. And this convention is essentially a meeting point for Texas democrats across the lone star state to come together and we are told by some of the reporting down there in Texas, that there is a potential for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to peel away a delegate here or a delegate there which could alter that delegate count as we're heading into the Pennsylvania primary. And I'll bring back my colleague Dana Bash who I hope understands this all better than me because I have to be honest, Dana. I thought it was the Texas two-step, not the Texas three-step. And we were saying at the 2:00 hour I'm just getting down the Texas 2-step. So, we don't want to add any more step to this. Not at this point.

BASH: I don't think so, Jim. And I think the reality is nobody understands this process. Which is why you see the mess that is in Texas and why you see that going on in Texas right now with the democratic party.

ACOSTA: Finally, some truth in reporting. I just -- Yes.

BASH: Exactly. We'll keep them honest here. Don't you worry about that, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. That's right.

BASH: We want to go over to the republican side and explain why I'm in Meridian, Mississippi on a Sunday afternoon. And the reason is because this is where John McCain is headed. He's actually coming here to an air show this afternoon at Meridian Air Station here, and it is also the place where he is going to kick off tomorrow, a week- long -- a week of events where he's going to out his biography, and do so by going to places that were instrumental in his life.

A good way for his campaign to re-introduce John McCain in a way that they hope will make people better understand him and where he comes from, particularly when it comes to the issue of national security. The issue that they think he will do best on with the voters, despite the fact that he is very much at odds with the majority of the American voters when it comes to the war in Iraq. He is somebody who says it is absolutely imperative from his point of view to keep troops in Iraq while obviously the majority of Americans think it's time for troops to come home. And that will be a major discussion and disagreement between John McCain and whomever his democratic opponent will be.

And that is one of the reasons why John McCain this past week had a speech, a very -- his first big foreign policy speech. And he certainly talked about the war in Iraq, trying to show a contrast between himself and the democrats. But what was perhaps most interesting in the lengthy 40-minute speech he gave in Los Angeles was the way he tried to tick off in one comprehensive way, the way he would be different from President Bush, the current republican president, the democrats are trying to link him to, on a number of issues on the world stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are many dangers in today's world. And our foreign policy must be agile and effective in dealing with all of them. With the threat posed by the terrorists is unique, they alone devote all their energies and indeed their very lives to murdering innocent men, women and children. They alone seek nuclear weapons and other tools of mass destruction, not to defend themselves, or to enhance their prestige or to give them a stronger hand in world affairs but to use against us. Wherever and whenever they can. Any president who does not regard this threat is transcending all others and does not deserve to sit in the White House for he or she -- for he or she does not take seriously enough the first and most basic duty a president has -- to protect the lives of the American people.

We learned through the tragic experience of September 11th, that passive defense cannot alone protect us. We must protect our borders, but we must also have an aggressive strategy of confronting and rooting out the terrorists wherever they seek to operate and deny them basis, and failed or failing states. Today, Al Qaeda and other terrorist networks operate across the globe, seeking out opportunities in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa, and in the Middle East. Prevailing in the struggle will require far more, far far more than military force. It will require the use of all elements of our national power. Public diplomacy, development assistance, law enforcement training, expansion of economic opportunity and robust intelligence capabilities.

I have called for major changes in how our government faces the challenge of radical Islamic extremism by much greater resources for and integration of civilian efforts to prevent conflict and to address post-conflict challenges. Our goal must be to win the hearts and minds of the vast majority of moderate Muslims who do not want their future controlled by a minority of violent extremists. In this struggle, scholarships will be far more important than smart bombs. We also need to build the international structures for a durable peace in which the radical extremists are gradually eclipsed by the more powerful forces of freedom and tolerance.

Our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan are critical in this respect and cannot be viewed in isolation from our broader strategy. And the troubled and often dangerous region they occupy these two nations can either be the source of extremism and instability, or they can in time become pillars of stability, tolerance and democracy. For decades in the greater Middle East, we had a strategy of relying on autocrats to provide order and stability. We relied on the Shah of Iran and autocratic rulers of Egypt, the generals of Pakistan, the Saudi royal family and even for a time Saddam Hussein. In the late 1970s that strategy began to unravel. The Shah was overthrown by the radical Islamic revolution that now rules in Tehran. The ensuing (fermin) in the Muslim world produced increasing instability, the autocrats clamped down with ever greater oppression. While also surreptitiously aiding Islamic radicalism abroad in the hopes that they would not become its victims. It was a toxic and explosive mixture. The oppression of the autocrats blended with the radical Islamists dogmatic theology to produce a perfect storm of intolerance and hatred. We can no longer delude ourselves on relying on those outdated autocracies is the safest best. They no longer provide lasting stability, only the illusion of it. We must not act rashly or demand change overnight. But neither can we pretend the status quo is sustainable, stable, or in our interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: There is the presumptive republican nominee John McCain speaking in Los Angeles last week, there in particular, in his foreign policy speech, about the what he called the autocrats who run the majority of the Middle East and how he would deal with them in a McCain presidency but he went on in that very very lengthy address, the first major foreign policy address since becoming the presumptive nominee, to explain in very clear terms how he thinks he would be different from President Bush, whether it was -- would be closing Guantanamo Bay or pushing for a new global treaty on climate change or perhaps most interestingly, talking about the need to reach out to allies and try to find support among allies, especially before the United States would engage in any kind of military intervention abroad.

So that was John McCain speaking last week about national security and national security is what he is likely going to be talking about at least eluding to very strongly when he speaks here in Meridian, Mississippi, the home, the place where he came a long, long time ago, decades ago, right before he went off to Vietnam. He came to train to be a better pilot. And that is part of the biography that the McCain campaign hopes will try to convince voters that because of his national security and military experience despite the fact that basically he is on the wrong side of public opinion on Iraq that he can convince voters to trust him because of his national security experience. So, that will be here in Meridian tomorrow with John McCain.

Today, he is basically off the campaign trail as is Hillary Clinton. There is one candidate who is doing a lot of campaign events today, and that is Barack Obama. He's on a bus tour through the state of Pennsylvania. That's the next big battle ground for democrats. We're going to check in with our embedded producer Chris Welsh. He has been with Barack Obama pretty much every step of the way. And we're going to check in on what's the latest is on that Pennsylvania bus tour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Jim Acosta in Philadelphia. And while we were in Pennsylvania, we want to get back to Barack Obama who is in the middle of a six-day bus tour across the keystone state. And he's not only been delivering what are usually for him some well-delivered speeches in this state, he is taking time out to reach out to blue collar workers, to middle class voters right there in the heart of the state, the heart of the keystone state.

And joining me on the phone right now is our embedded producer with the Barack Obama campaign, Chris Welch, who -- and Chris, I should mention you'll never going to live down the fact that you were embedded in the Virgin Islands with Barack Obama. I just want to get that out of the way before we you get to say that.

VOICE OF CHRIS WELCH, CNN PRODUCER: Yes. No one will let me forget that.

ACOSTA: Yes. And as Senator Obama is making his way across the keystone state, we've noticed, we have taken notice here on "BALLOT BOWL" that he's also worked in a little fun time. We're talking about bowling. He took in some bowling at a local bowling alley in Altoona with Senator Bob Casey, is that right? And also I believe there was a cow that was given a bottle of milk somewhere along the way. Walk us through this, Chris. Why does any of this matter?

WELCH: That's right. He's doing a lot more of these type of events, these smaller events where he stops at restaurants and now he's stopping at bars, occasionally, sports bar, bowling alley yesterday. Today, he went to a dairy barn that was part of the Penn State University campus. It's all in an effort, I guess connect with voters on a more personal level of the campaign. You know, if he's been doing a lot of these large rallies with large speeches. Let's say in Pennsylvania, he still needs to connect with voters more, introduce himself to them because he really hasn't spent a whole ton of time in this state just yet. He's been traveling around the state and this morning we went to this dairy barn. He fed a calf a bottle of milk. Yesterday, a couple of days ago, I should say, he stopped at a bar, even had a few sips of a beer. And actually I'm sitting on the press bus right now and we're getting ready to head into another sports bar where he's going to meet with voters. The campaign says giving him the opportunity to go to these places. Because he wants to see some college basketball, too. So this is a way for him to go in and talk to people about basketball. And then bring up topics that he wants to talk to them about on the campaign, say the economy or the war.

ACOSTA: Chris, we don't want to mention that perhaps our viewers can watch basketball this afternoon. I just want to throw that in there. But Chris, this is important because he's traveling with Senator Bob Casey who is very popular with blue collar workers in this state. He is a pro-life Catholic. Catholics make up about 30% of the vote in this state. Catholics obviously were very much supportive of his father who is a very popular governor in this state. So, there is something in it for Barack Obama here as he is trailing in the polls in this state. And he is doing so well with urban and suburban voters. This is where he needs to - this is where he needs to go to go after some voters here. Isn't that right?

WELCH: Right. He's been spending a lot of time with Bob Casey. They actually played a couple games of basketball the past two days. They played yesterday morning, they played this morning. There have been photo ops with Senator Casey. This was a senator that people had widely - may stay neutral but he in fact endorsed Obama the other day. So it's a pretty big endorsement for him. Looks like we're actually walking into the off the record stop right now. So I may have to let you go here.

ACOSTA: Well, Chris, let me work in one more question. I want to ask about the bowling because he was wearing -- Barack Obama had a tie on during the bowling. We were speculating that perhaps that might have affected his game. But "The New York Times" in their caucus blog mentioned that the senator did not do so well out there in the lanes. Can you confirm that? We need a confirmation on that.

WELCH: Actually, I wasn't there because it was a pooled report that I did not get a chance to go to but I did hear from other reporters that Bob Casey was a better bowler than Barack Obama the other night.

ACOSTA: All right. Chris, we'll let you go. We know, you've got business to take care of. Thanks very much for joining us. Chris Welch, our embedded CNN producer with the Barack Obama campaign.

And coming up after the break here on "BALLOT BOWL" on CNN, we'll check in with Hillary Clinton who is not backing out of this race. In fact, she's been campaigning in Indiana and Kentucky. Those are contests, in case you didn't know, that come after Pennsylvania. That's coming up after the break. This is "BALLOT BOWL" on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back this Sunday's edition of BALLOT BOWL 08. I'm Dana Bash in Meridian, Mississippi. I'm in Meridian, Mississippi because this is where John McCain is coming today. And tomorrow is the day he is going to kick off what his campaign hopes will be a week of speeches and events that will highlight John McCain's biography, a way for them to re-introduce him they say to the American people. They say John McCain is certainly more well known than a lot of politicians but perhaps not the way that they hope he is known, a way for them to try to define McCain as Democrats are trying to define him in a different way, Democrats trying to paint him as a 71-year-old creature of Washington who is very much tied to the president, with the McCain campaign is going to try to do is highlight his service in the military which is part of the reason he's going to start in Meridian, Mississippi.

This is an air station where he not only trained as a pilot and improves his piloting skills before he went to Vietnam but it has an air field named for McCain's grandfather. We'll hear more about that tomorrow from John McCain and his campaign.

Keith just like Hillary Clinton, pretty much off the campaign trail today but lucky for us we were able to hook up with the man who is with Hillary Clinton from CNN at this point more than anybody else, and that's our producer Peter Hamby. Peter, I want to bring you in now. You again, you were with Hillary Clinton, not with her today because you have one day off. But you were with her yesterday on her plane where there was a moment where it was pretty clear according to your e-mails and your reports that I saw, that she was trying to sort of let her hair down a little bit, connect with the press and show her relaxed side. Tell us about that.

PETER HAMBY, CNN PRODUCER: Yeah. It was a moment last night actually early, early this morning; she had been campaigning in Indiana and Kentucky all day. And the press corps was exhausted. We were on the plane, about 1:30 in the morning flying back from Kentucky. And you know we were relaxing. Then I had actually gone up to go to the restroom in the back of the plane and I came out and all of a sudden Senator Clinton was there bringing a gift basket back to an NBC video journalist who has taken some time off, as a going away present.

Then it turned into this impromptu very casual press conference, not really a press conference. She wasn't talking about politics, she was talking about the NCAA Tournament, her love of hot tempers, her scar for pant suits, the Rolling Stones, it was a very casual moment with the reporters, but it was sort of we were sort of delirious after a day of campaigning. It was fun, actually.

BASH: I know that feeling all too well, Peter. We were talking to Chris Welch about how Barack Obama in public in Pennsylvania is trying to change his schedule a bit and have more events with connecting with real people at a bowling alley, he had a beer, and he went to a dairy farm. It seems as though this is the same kind of thing. Not with real people because she was with the press corps but in terms of trying to show her -- the side of her that is not just about politics and about policy. By the way, what did she say about the Rolling Stones?

HAMBY: Going back to the first question, yeah. If you -- Obama, his small town events it's almost like Iowa and New Hampshire where you have these little gatherings. Hillary Clinton was sort of criticized for not doing a lot of things with the press before Iowa, after she lost the caucuses or finished third there, she opened up to the press a little bit and this is what sort of she was doing last night.

Speaking of the Rolling Stones she said talking to another reporter, they realized they had something in common. They had both gone to a Rolling Stones concert in 1965, the same concert in Chicago when she was a senior in high school. She told a funny story about a time the Stones came to Arkansas and there was -- she had a surreal moment when her mother Dorothy Rodham was being chatted up by Keith Richards in Arkansas, which is sort of interesting, so she told us this story and said she's a huge Rolling Stones fan. There is a documentary coming out that she can't wait to see. She lauded Mick Jagger for his stage presence and coming from somebody who is on a stage herself.

BASH: Absolutely. Certainly earlier today I don't know if you heard, we were talking about McCain's recollections in his autobiography of toga parties here in Meridian, Mississippi, now we are hearing about Hillary Clinton loving the Rolling Stones. This is where we're bringing different sides of the candidates for the voters and for our viewers.

I am more curious and I want to ask you because you spent so much time with Hillary Clinton and with her campaign about what we have been talking about pretty much all afternoon, which is the very clear attempt by Hillary Clinton and by Bill Clinton, to try to shut down this growing sense and growing talk about her trying -- about her getting out of the race for the good of the party. What are you hearing behind the scenes from your sources; inside the Clinton council campaign either about how they are going to continue to do this?

HAMBY: You know, Senator Clinton, her advisers are on the same page a little bit here. They seem to honestly and truly believe that this is a race where neither her nor Senator Obama will have enough delegates to win the nomination. They keep reiterating the super delegates of the Democratic Party are the ones will be able to exercise independent judgment. And then make the case.

For whoever the best nominee should be. But you know, she keeps saying it's a great applause line for her, she can go to these contests and a crowd in Indiana and Kentucky, and say hey, the other guy, you know, they want to shut down this race, they don't want you to vote. That's a good applause line. Sort of saying the other guy is trying to disenfranchise you. Whether they believe that's the case is another story.

She is pushing back very hard and she told "The Washington Post" and she told other TV networks in the recent days that this is a race that might go all the way to the convention. She has been clear about that in recent days and ways that her advisers in the past have said but she hasn't.

BASH: Interesting, Peter. If this goes all the way to the convention you're going to need a lot more than one day home to do laundry which I'm sure probably where you're spending all day long today doing.

HAMBY: You're welcome.

BASH: Thanks Peter. We're going to take a quick break now. After the break we're going to some other news besides politics including some bad news from Great Britain, a deadly plane crash there today. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. We'll get back to more of the BALLOT BOWL after a look at the days headlines.

Shiite Cleric Muqtada al Sadr says he's ordering his militia to end a week of clashes with U.S. and Iraqi forces. In exchange he wants the government to release any of his followers that may be holding and grant them general amnesty. Hundreds of people have died in the fighting which began after a government crackdown in southern city of Basra.

Five people are presumed dead after a small plane crashed into a residential area this morning in Great Britain. The "Associated Press" quotes London fire and police officials that say no survivors have been found in the smoldering wreckage. A house was destroyed but there are no reports of anyone on the ground getting seriously hurt. One mother's fight to help her son with autism uncover a brilliant poet and led to what some parents call a breakthrough in treating the many children with autism who can hardly see. Colleen McEdwards tells us about Somas Way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Nineteen -year-old Tito Mukhopadhyay coming home from school, something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

SOMA MUKHOPADHYAY, DIR. OF EDUCATIONAL, HALO: Everything is in order.

MCEDWARDS: Each arrival is a ritual. Tito sets the house in order. And only then can bear to sit. Once considered mentally retarded, Tito's autistic mind can be poetic and profound.

MUKHOPADHYAY: How was your day?

MCEDWARDS: He can barely speak but he learned to type.

MUKHOPADHYAY: It was a floating kangaroo. That was your day then. You hold that. I take your pencil.

MCEDWARDS: His mother, Soma, gave up a career in chemistry to teach Tito to communicate.

MUKHOPADHYAY: What he would do is bring a book, and then start comparing the numbers. Then I knew that he's making some sort of connection.

MCEDWARDS: At the age of 10, Tito and his mother came to the United States, brought here by an organization that had heard about his amazing progress and wanted to study it. Eventually Soma was asked to teach others her technique.

It can be painful to watch, but the miracle of Tito started with something as wrenching as this. Soma calls the message rapid prompting. Although it's not tested scientifically, more and more parents are coming to this center in Austin hoping for a breakthrough.

MUKHOPADHYAY: I don't see the child as an autistic person. I don't see it at all. I see the child as a person. And just as I would talk to any person I would talk to a child. Because the world is not going to talk to them in a slow way, the world is going to talk to them in a fast way.

MCEDWARDS: The therapy does move quickly, at times it seems almost harsh, no good jobs or high fives and smiles here. Soma is unapologetic about that. It works, she says. It's that simple.

MUKHOPADHYAY: M, a, t. h, do math.

MCEDWARDS: Ten-year-old Andrew Rays has been working with Soma for three years. Other behavioral therapies didn't work for Andrew. His family is planning to move across the country to Texas so he can have more time with Soma.

MUKHOPADHYAY: T-i-r.

MCEDWARDS: Every autistic child in this room reveals a mind that ticks. Most are able to attend mainstream schools. In this extraordinary group session, Soma prompts them as they make jokes, even tease about why they stem. A large percentage of autistic children will never speak but Soma believes if she can teach them to spell and eventually type the door is open for them in the same way it is for Tito. With the tireless teaching of his mother, Tito continues to write about what it's like to be autistic, and the challenges he faces now.

MUKHOPADHYAY: How has your life changed now that you can communicate?

Each response agonizing but true. An autistic mind unlocked by the prompting and perseverance of a mother and son, teacher and student.

MUKHOPADHYAY: I can't say whether I'm happy or not because happiness is a state of my mind so sometimes I think I'm happy, other times it is hollowness.

MCEDWARDS: Nineteen years to learn this much and plenty more still ahead.

Colleen McEdwards, CNN, Austin, Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And also this Wednesday, April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. And CNN networks worldwide will try tackle the wall of silence around the disorder with a look at autism myths, facts and hope. Autism, unraveling the mystery of CNN's worldwide investigations, all day Wednesday.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More news headlines next hour. Until then it is back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL. I'm Jim Acosta in Philadelphia. And Hillary Clinton is not the only Clinton to comment on this dust up on the campaign trail over the last couple days. Coming out of the Obama campaign a couple of his Obama super delegate supporters, his surrogates urging Senator Clinton to drop out of this race on late Friday.

Well, Bill Clinton had something to say about it. He was campaigning in San Jose, California earlier today, trying to persuade undecided super delegates out there to perhaps line up behind his wife. And the former president basically had one piece of advice -- chill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: There is some how the suggestion that because we're having a vigorous debate who would be the best president we're going to weaken this party in the fall. Let me remind you of something. On June the 2nd, 1992, when I won the Democratic primary in Ohio, New Jersey and California, I had been so beat up, worked over and chewed out that I was running third in the national public opinion polls behind Ross Perot and President Bush.

Now that will tell you how much you can attribute to these polls. Ross Perot was running first. Six weeks later was the Democratic Convention open, thanks to you and many people like you, Al Gore and I were in first place and we never lost. Because -- and the fact that we had a vigorous debate in the Democratic primary, that the Republicans were actively involved in, I might add, actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Don't you let anybody tell you that somehow we are weakening the Democratic Party by telling the people in Pennsylvania and North Carolina and Indiana and Kentucky and West Virginia and Montana and South Dakota and Oregon and Puerto Rico that they count, too? We are strengthening the Democratic Party. Chill out. We're going to win this election if we just chill out and let everybody have their say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So, there is the former president urging Americans to chill out, when it comes to this hotly contested Democratic race for the White House. And we'll hear more from the former president later on. Coming up on BALLOT BOWL we'll also hear from the former first daughter, Chelsea Clinton, and the candidates on the very important issue, issue one as we like to call it at CNN, the economy. That's coming up after a quick break. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL 08. I'm Dana Bash in Meridian, Mississippi. You've been watching the candidates live and sometimes on tape from the campaign trail. But we're bringing them to you unfiltered and you're going to have a lot more politics this evening. You want to tune in to a special edition of "The Situation Room." That's at 8:00 tonight, 8:00 Eastern. And there you're going to be able to hear a lot more of what went on today on the campaign trail and look ahead to what's going to happen next week.

Coming up you're going to hear from the candidates, both of the Democrats and the Republican, as they vie for your vote by talking about the issue that every single poll says that Americans want to hear about the most, that is the economy. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to this Sunday edition of BALLOT BOWL 08. I'm Dana Bash in Meridian, Mississippi. Here on BALLOT BOWL you have been hearing and you'll continue to hear the candidates out on the campaign trail. Sometimes they are live, sometimes they have been taped but they are always unfiltered. That's what we try to do here on BALLOT BOWL bring you a sense of what it's like to hear from these candidates on the stump as they are vying for votes on the Democratic side as they are in this intense race still for the Democratic nomination.

Joining me from one of the most intense states right now, Pennsylvania is my colleague Jim Acosta with the CNN Election Express in Philadelphia. Hi, Jim.

ACOSTA: Hi, Dana there's lots of politics to cover in the next hour of BALLOT BOWL, so stick with us and we want to go over the game plan right now because it's going to be a busy hour. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been duking it out here on the campaign trail in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania, but coming up over the next hour, John McCain where Dana is in Meridian, Mississippi, we'll hear from the presumptive Republican nominee in just a few moments.

Barack Obama, as we mentioned is here in the state of Pennsylvania, he's in the midst of a six-day bus trip across the keystone state. He has been campaigning today at Penn State and University Park, Pennsylvania.

And Hillary Clinton is enjoying a little break from the campaign trail; she is at home in Washington, D.C.

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