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Senator Barack Obama Speaks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Lawyers for Polygamist Parents in Court Today

Aired April 14, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And that's us. Hey there, everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I am T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Tony and Heidi, they are off today.

HOLMES: And we got events coming in live to the CNN NEWSROOM on this Monday, April 14th.

Here is what we have on the rundown.

NGUYEN: The Democratic candidates talk faith and values on CNN, but the conversation turns bitter.

HOLMES: Also lawyers for polygamist parents in court today. They want custody of hundreds of children removed from their Texas compound.

NGUYEN: And bankruptcies? Less inspections? Span a week of airport chaos. It's on President Bush's radar this morning in the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Well, airlines in trouble. Passengers in misery. President Bush is paying attention. Right now, he is meeting with his Cabinet for an update on troubles with the airline industry. Safety inspections forced flight cancellations and stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers last week. Four air carriers have declared bankruptcy. We do expect to hear from President Bush right after his meeting. When that happens we will bring that straight to you.

NGUYEN: Well, the road to the White House and the sprint toward a critical contest next week. That showdown, one week from tomorrow, being the Pennsylvania primary, of course. And that's where Democrats are stumping for votes this morning.

Right now, Barack Obama is wrapping up his event in Pittsburgh and Hillary Clinton is holding a rally there a little bit later this morning. That's scheduled for 11:00 Eastern. We, of course, will dip into that with live coverage so you don't want to miss it. We're also going to bring you live coverage of John McCain's campaign event. The presumptive Republican nominee is due to speak next hour in Washington.

Meanwhile, a bitter pill. Will it be poison, though, for Barack Obama or good medicine for Hillary Clinton's campaign? Well, at issue is Obama's comment that people dealing with a sour economy become bitter. Clinton calls that elitist. So could this tip the scales in the critical showdown?

Well, CNN's Dan Lothian is in Philadelphia.

And, Dan, it's been a little tit for tat when it comes to this bitter comment.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really has been. This is a controversy that won't go away. And not only did he say that they were bitter, but he said when they're bitter during these difficult economic times they turn or cling to their guns and to their religion. This was a comment that he made out in California at a fundraiser more than a week ago but, again, it simply will not go away. And Senator Hillary Clinton has really pounced on this and says that it shows that he's an elitist, hat he is out of touch. Senator Barack Obama, though, yesterday fired back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a little disappointed when I start hearing the exact same talking points coming out of my Democratic colleague, Hillary Clinton. She knows better. She knows better. Shame on her. Shame on her. She knows better.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do think it raises a lot of concerns, and we've seen that exhibited in the last several days, by people here in Pennsylvania, in Indiana where I was yesterday and elsewhere, because it did seem so much in line with what often we are charged with. Someone goes to a closed-door fundraiser in San Francisco and makes comments that do seem elitist, out of touch and, frankly, patronizing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Senator Clinton making those comments last night at that "COMPASSION FORUM" here in Pennsylvania. Now back to the controversy, though, you know, this is something that Senator Barack Obama really wants to put behind him. He will be talking about it out on the campaign trail today, because the group he was focusing on, those working-class voters, is a group that both of the candidates really want to go after. He does not want them to be left with an impression like this -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, Dan, you know, despite the bitter comments, let's talk about what else was discussed at that "COMPASSION FORUM" last night.

LOTHIAN: That's right. You know, that, obviously, was the news so everybody was paying attention to that. But they did talk about some other issues such as abortion, they talked about the environment, they talked about, you know, the Olympics and China. You know these were -- these are core issues that typically you hear the Republicans talking about and for so long Democrats have been trying to find a way to talk about faith and values because they feel like, you know, the Republican Party has really sort of had that as their focus.

So, if you can say anyone really came out the winner last night, the Democratic Party would say that they won last night because they've been able to bring talk about religion into politics in this kind of forum.

NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Dan Lothian joining us live.

Thank you, Dan.

And, you know, if you didn't get a chance to see the forum and would like to watch it, here's what you do. You go online to CNN.com/Live and we will be re-airing the program there this afternoon at 3:00 and 6:00 Eastern. That, again, CNN.com/Live.

And Senator Barack Obama, well, he's due to speak any minute now in Pittsburgh. And we will listen in when he takes the stage.

HOLMES: Well, we got some moderately good news on the economy to share with you this morning. The numbers coming out a short time ago show a small jump in retail sales for March, although most of that was because you paid more for gas last month. Sales had slumped in February.

These numbers could be welcome news for Wall Street especially given what happened in the Asian markets overnight, and Japan's Nikkei dropped more than 3 percent. So we'll keep both eye on the markets today. The opening bell, of course, less than 30 minutes away now.

Rising fuel prices may be the driving factor in a major airline merger. "The Wall Street Journal" reports Delta Airlines and Northwest will announce a deal as early tomorrow. Some of the stats there for you. The combined airline would keep the name Delta, also keep the Atlanta headquarters. The combined company would be the nation's largest carrier.

The hub, not expected to change. Right now Delta has Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York and Salt Lake City. Northwest operates out of Minneapolis, Detroit, Memphis and Tokyo.

It's not yet known how the merger may impact your ticket prices. However there is speculation the deal could push United Airlines and Continental into a merger. That would make them the largest carrier.

Prisoners getting out of jail early. That could be a factor in the struggling economy? That's an interesting situation going on in one state. That's ahead for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And be sure, keep watching CNN, our money team has you covered, whether we're talking jobs, debt, housing or savings. Join us for a special report called "ISSUE #1, THE ECONOMY" all this week at noon Eastern only right here on CNN.

NGUYEN: Well, let's take you to Texas now because hearings are about to get under way into custody issues involving those 416 children taken from that Texas polygamist compound. Meanwhile, though, some sect mothers are asking the governor for help.

The AP is reporting this morning that the mothers sent a letter to Governor Rick Perry asking him to check on their children. The mothers say some children have gotten sick while in the state custody and some have had to be hospitalized. They say the children are frightened by the physical exams and questioned about things they don't know anything about. The mothers go on to say their children were taken while some of the mothers were away from the ranch.

Our Sean Callebs joins us now by phone from Texas. He has been following this story.

What is the latest from the hearing? When is that going to get under way?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ever since it started it's been somewhat of a mess for people here in San Angelo and Eldorado. 416 children. The way state law is written each of these children must have his or her own attorney. So this past weekend a judge reached out trying to get public defenders to come basically in and volunteer time, so they have about 350 attorneys at this point who are willing to come in and work with these children. But it is quite an unwieldy process and certainly unchartered territory for the authorities here in this area -- Betty.

NGUYEN: I understand, just a side note, from that hearing as we wait to see how that plays out today -- we're talking, what, you said some 350 attorneys who are going to be participating -- boy, that better be a big courtroom. But as a side note I understand that cell phones have been confiscated from both the women and children taken from that ranch.

CALLEBS: If that's indeed the case, it's been being reported by a Salt Lake City newspaper, it would not surprise me. If you listen to what Child Protective Services said this past Friday during a news conference, that may be an unusual step when children are separated from the parents when an alleged case of abuse takes place, it's highly unusual to allow their parents to accompany them if they are being put into a shelter.

Well, that's what happened here. There are a number of mothers, a number of women, came here to San Angelo and are with their children. Apparently this weekend, they've been calling, sending out text messages, cell phone pictures, talking about the conditions. And apparently the state is trying to crack down on that. So, that's the reason the authorities allegedly went in. They apparently had latex gloves on, looking everywhere they could, diaper bags trying to find all kinds of cell phones in essence to cut off contact with the outside world.

NGUYEN: And on top of that you had the hearings today, you've got attorneys getting together, hundreds of them, to try to find some kind of resolution to this. Meanwhile, some 416 children are being housed and fed. How much is this costing and who's paying for it?

CALLEBS: The cost is still being tabulated. We know that the city here and in San Angelo, at the two shelters, it's costing them about $60,000 a day. There's also an entity, religious-based volunteer entity that has experience working at shelters, and they say they're spending between $25,000 and $30,000 a day.

What we're hearing from people here in San Angelo is that they are basically been told, look, don't worry about the cost right now. Keep tabs of what is going on and the state is eventually going to come in and make you whole again. You know that's kind of a -- a certain degree of risk here for the people in this area because you don't know how long this is going on if indeed there are going to be -- you know, hundreds of attorneys, this could be quite a process.

And we heard one of the mothers reach out and talk about the conditions inside the shelters and certainly she is voicing a lot of concern. Listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: I do not know why they have my children. No one has told me anything, except for maybe this and maybe that, and it's because of this, but no one has confronted me and said this is why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: Well, I think the state has made it very clear. They're concerned about the number of underage women, basically child brides, and allegations of multiple marriage. So certainly those are huge concerns, abuse concerns, and they are right now a lot of mental health specialists that are inside talking with the children, trying to figure out what's going to happen to their future and also try to unravel the past, what they've had to endure over these years -- Betty?

NGUYEN: Yes, trying to figure out exactly what went on inside that compound.

All right. Sean Callebs joining us live as he follows this hearing. And as soon as you get new information, please bring it to us. Thank you, Sean.

HOLMES: Well, a Louisiana prison, though, hit by a barge. The Mississippi River accident injured 18 prison employees who were being taken back across the river from work. No prisoners were on board this particular boat. The high water levels on the river forced officials to use smaller, more vulnerable boats instead of the larger ferries that they normally use to take the employees back and forth and their vehicles across the river. Both services to the prison is now suspended while the Coast Guard investigates. The warden says the prison, however, will be operating normally.

NGUYEN: Tips on weather news now. You know, it's about mid- April and it feels kind of like fall outside in the southeast.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: All right. Reynolds, thank you.

WOLF: Bye. Talk to you soon. NGUYEN: Pope Benedict, to his first visit to the United States. So what will it mean for the country's 70 million Catholics? We ask our Vatican expert.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hey there, I'm T.J. Holmes.

College students packing heat for protection. A movement grows to stop the next campus gunning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: It is history in the making. Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the U.S. tomorrow on his first visit as pontiff. And joining us now from Rome is CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen.

Thanks for being with us. I know you're getting ready for the flight over. How important is this trip?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Betty, I think it's enormously important, both for the Pope and also for the United States. For the Pope, you know, he sees himself in part as a voice of conscience in global affairs. This is a chance for him to play that role on the world's biggest stage.

For the Catholic Church in the United States, this is, in the first place, a chance for them to get to know their new leader. After three years, I think, in many ways Benedict XVI is still a bit of an unknown for the average American Catholic. Recent polls find that almost two-thirds of American Catholics say they know nothing or next to nothing about Benedict XVI. So this is in a way a chance for him to introduce himself to the world's third largest Catholic community and certainly probably its wealthiest and its most influential.

NGUYEN: Well, not only introducing himself to Americans, but isn't he also speaking at the United Nations? What's that all about?

ALLEN: That's absolutely right. The morning of April 18th he's going to be flying from Washington, D.C. to New York. He'll actually then be taking a helicopter from JFK into downtown New York. Just learned this morning, Betty, by the way, that I won the lottery. I'll be on that helicopter with the Pope...

NGUYEN: All right.

ALLEN: ...on the morning of the U.N. address. And this is going to be a very highly anticipated message because it is the first address by this pope to the global community in the form of the United Nations, the fourth time that a pope has spoken to that body. Each of the three previous addresses have been sort of landmarks in terms of this global intersection between religion and politics. And so a lot of eyes will be on Benedict XVI that morning.

NGUYEN: OK, that being said, exactly what are some of the issues that he's hoping to tackle as he speaks to either the U.N. or the American public?

ALLEN: Well, you got to remember, in the first place, Benedict XVI is coming to the United States not as a politician or as a salesman but as a pastor and as a spiritual guide. So I think his core message is going to be, you know, in this very complex and ever- changing world there still is truth. There still is such a thing as right and wrong.

Now, that can sound maybe a little abstract or pious, but if you start unpacking it, it does have some social and political teeth. It means, for example, in the Vatican's view, that the decision to go to war in Iraq five years ago was wrong. It means that abortion is wrong. It means that environmental degradation is wrong. And so at one level it will be a very pastoral and spiritual message. But you start taking it apart and it clearly will have a kind of political subtext.

NGUYEN: Yes, no doubt. And on top of that, you know, the church is also facing problems of its own. So, will the Pope be dealing with the issue of sex abuse scandal within the church, maybe even closing of all these Catholic schools around the nation? I believe, what, some 1,300 have closed since 1990.

ALLEN: Yes, look, I think Benedict XVI understands that he cannot possibly come to the United States and not engage what has been the deepest wound in the life of the church in its more than 200-year history, which is the sexual abuse crisis. I think he will engage it early and often. We're expecting him to talk about it in his speech to the American bishops on Thursday afternoon. We're expecting him to bring it up in the mass that he will celebrate in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, which is mass precisely for priests and religious. He'll probably deal with it in at least one of his big public homilies, either in the National Stadium in Washington or Yankees Stadium in New York.

Now at the end of the day, however, Betty, I think it's likely that at least some in the American church may be disappointed at what they hear. As you know there was some talk about the Pope going to Boston to handle the crisis head-on. In the end, he decided not to do that. He's also apparently not going to meet with victims of sexual abuse while he's in the United States. So I think many people will find comfort in what the Pope says. Others probably will think he's not doing enough.

NGUYEN: All right, John Allen, CNN's senior Vatican analyst, joining us live from Rome.

You are going be spending a lot of time with the Pope over the next coming days and we are looking forward to your coverage. Thank you, John.

And our live coverage of the Pope visit begins tomorrow morning. His first stop is Washington where he'll be welcomed by President Bush. CNN is your place to see this historic visit happen.

HOLMES: We want to turn now to some politics and Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois senator, is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this morning speaking at a forum from the Alliance of American Manufacturing. He has taken the stage. Let's take a listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

OBAMA: ...all the homes that had been purchased and all the families that have been fed because of that plant. What I came to understand was that when a plant shuts down, it's not just the workers who pay a price, it's the entire community. I saw people who felt like their government wasn't looking out for them and were given up hope. So, I worked with those unions and the city government, and we brought the community together to fight for its common future. We gave job training to the jobless, hope to the hopeless and block by block we started to turn some of those neighborhoods around.

And more than 20 years later, as I've traveled across Pennsylvania and West Virginia and Ohio and all across this country, I'm still seeing too many places where plants have closed down and where people are feeling like they're not getting a fair shot in life, like their dreams are slipping further and further out of reach. That's partly because the same global economic pressures that led steel plants in Chicago to close down in the 1980s, but it's also because George Bush has pursued policies that don't work for working Americans.

In recent years we've seen more than three million high-quality manufacturing jobs disappear. More than 40,000 factories have closed down. And more often than not, the few jobs that are being created, pay less than the ones we're losing, and come without health care or a pension, which makes it even harder for families to feel secure about the future. We also know that the problem goes beyond the failures of George Bush, because for decades, through both Democratic and Republican administrations, we've seen the number of American-owned steel companies dwindle down.

For decades our economic policies have been written to pump up the corporate bottom line rather than promote what's right, without any consideration for the burdens we all bear when workers are abused and the environment is destroyed. It's an outrage. But it's not an...

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: It's an outrage but it's not an accident, because corporate lobbyists in Washington are writing our laws and putting their clients' interests ahead of what's fair for the American people. The men and women you represent haven't been getting a seat at the table when the trade agreements are being negotiated or tax policies are being written or health care or pension laws are being designed, because the special interests have bought every chair around that table.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: That is not the America I believe in. That's not the way our democracy is supposed to work. That's not the America you believe in. And that's why when I'm president we're going to make sure that Washington serves nobody's interests but the people's interests. That's why I'm running for president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: You know, there's been a lot of talk in this campaign over the last few days about who's in touch with the workers in Pennsylvania. Senator Clinton and Senator McCain seem to be singing from the same hymn book, saying I'm out of touch, I'm an elitist, because I said a lot of folks are bitter about their economic circumstances.

Now it may be that I chose my words badly. It's not the first time. It won't be the last. But when I hear my opponents, both of whom spent decades in Washington, saying I'm out of touch, it's time to cut through the rhetoric and look at the reality.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: It's time to cut through the rhetoric. Let's take a look at the reality. After all, you've heard this kind of rhetoric before. Around election time candidates, they -- just can't do enough. They'll promise you anything. They'll give you a long list of proposals. They'll even come around with TV crews in tow and throw back a shot and a beer.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: But if those same candidates are taking millions of dollars in contributions from the PACs and the lobbyists, ask yourself, who are they going to be toasting once the election's over? I am the only candidate in this race who doesn't take money from corporate PACs and doesn't take it from federal lobbyists. I'm here to tell you that you can count on me to stand up for you in this election, just as I've been standing for workers all of my life. That's why I'm running for president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: At the beginning of this campaign people asked how are you going to be able to run a campaign if you don't take PAC money, don't take lobbyists money? I said because I trust in the American people. And 15 months later that trust has been repaid, because I'm raising money from -- in $25 increments and $50 increments all across this country from working people. Lobbyists haven't funded my campaign. That means they won't run our White House. And they will not drown out the voice of the American people when I'm president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Senator Clinton and Senator McCain are questioning my respect for the workers of Pennsylvania. Let me tell you how I think you demonstrate your respect. You do it by telling the truth and keeping your word so folks can know where you stand, today is where you'll stand tomorrow. The truth is afraid it's here to stay. We live in a global economy. For America's future to be as bright as our past, we have to compete. We have to win. And to win we have to understand some hard realities.

Not every job that's left is coming back. If somebody tells you they are, they are not telling you the truth. Not every job has been lost due to trade. Automation has made plants more efficient so they can make the same amount of steel for -- with fewer workers. Those are realities. What's also true, I want to make sure that I'm speaking straight with you, is I don't oppose all trade deals. I voted for two of them because they had the worker and the environmental agreements that I believe in. Some of you disagreed with me on this, but I did what I thought was right. That's the truth.

But let me tell you what else I believe in. For America to win, American workers have to win, too. If CEO pay keeps rising while the standard of living for their workers continues to decline, something's wrong with that. When you've got CEOs making more in one day than ordinary workers are making in an entire year, and George Bush gives the CEO a tax break and the worker gets nothing and when the company goes belly up, you've got a golden parachute for the worker -- or for the CEO and the worker is losing his pension, something's wrong.

That's not an America that I believe in. That's not an America that you believe in. That's not how we're going to win. That's not how we're going to compete on the global stage. That's why I opposed NAFTA. That's why I opposed CAFTA. That's why I said any trade agreement I would support had to contain real, enforceable standards for workers. That's why I believe the permanent normalized trade agreement with China didn't do enough to ensure fairness and compliance.

Now you can have a debate about whether my position is wrong or right, but here's what you can do. You can't spend the better part of two decades campaigning for NAFTA and PNTR for China and then come here to Pennsylvania and tell the workers that you've been with them all along. That's what you can't do.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: You can have a debate with me about whether I'm right or wrong. But what you can't do is say you're opposed to the Colombia trade deal while your key strategist is working for the Colombian government to get that same trade deal while your key strategist is working for the Colombian government to get that same trade deal passed. That's something you can't do. That's not respect. That's just more of the same old Washington politics. And we can't afford the same. We need real change. And that's what I'm offering.

I'm offering a new, more transparent, more inclusive path on trade so we can help promote an integrated global economy where the costs and benefits are distributed fairly. And it starts with the principle I've always believed in, that trade should work, not just for some Americans, but for all Americans. Not just for Wall Street, but for Main Street. That's why we finally need to confront the issue of trade with China. As I've said before, America and the world can benefit from trade with China, but trade with China will only be good for you if China itself plays by the rules and acts as a positive force for balanced world growth.

You know, seeing -- seeing the living standards of the Chinese people improve is a good thing. Good because we want a stable China. Good because China can be a powerful market for American exports. But all too often China's been competing in a way that's tilting the playing field and is unfair to U.S. workers. It's not just that China's following the path taken by so many other countries before and dumping goods into our market while not opening our own market -- their own markets, something that I've spoken out against. It's not just that they're violating intellectual property rights, they are also grossly undervaluing their currency and giving their goods yet another unfair advantage.

Each year -- each year they've had the chance, the Bush administration has failed to do anything about it. And that's unacceptable. That's why I cosponsored the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act and that's why as president I'll use all the diplomatic avenues open to me to insist that china stop manipulating its currency because it's not fair to American manufacturers. It's not fair to you. And we are going to change it when I'm president of the United States of America.

We also have to make sure that whatever goods we're importing are safe for our families. We all saw the harm that was caused by lead toys from China that were reaching our store shelves. A few months ago when I called for a ban on any toys that have more than a trace amount of lead, an official at China's Foreign Ministry said I was being, quote, "unobjective, unreasonable, and unfair." But I don't think protecting our children is unreasonable, unobjective, or unfair. I think it's our obligation as parents and as Americans, and I intend to keep on doing the same thing when I'm president of the United States of America.

When it comes to trade there's no one-size-fits-all approach. If countries are committed to reciprocity, if they are abiding by basic rules of the road, then we should welcome trade. Many poor countries need access to our markets and pose no threat to our workers. And we always want to access the markets abroad. But what all trade agreements that I negotiate as president will have in common is that they will all put American workers first. They will put the American people first. We won't ignore violence against union organizers in Colombia.

We won't ignore -- we won't ignore the non-tariff barriers that keep U.S. cars out of South Korea if they can sell cars here, we should be able to sell cars there. That's a pretty straightforward principle. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

We won't just negotiate fair trade agreements, we'll make sure they're being fully enforced. George Bush has been far too slow to press American rights. That's an outrage. When our trading partners sign an agreement with the Obama administration, you can trust that we'll actually enforce those agreements. We won't with a wink and a nod look the other way. Now, if we're serious about standing up for American workers around the world, let's face it, we also have to stand up for American workers right here at home.

And that means passing universal health care. Because people are being overburdened, and unions are having to spend all their time negotiating to keep health care benefits that they've already won instead of negotiating to improve their wages and benefits for the future. That's wrong. That's going to change, and we've got to have a system where every single American can get health care that is at least as good as the health care i have as a member of Congress. You pay my salaries. I shouldn't have better health care than you.

So, what I've already said is we're going to work with employers who are doing the right thing by the workers to lower premiums by up to $2,500 a year. If you don't have health care, and we are going to make sure that you have health care that's as good as the health care I have as a member of Congress. We are going to emphasize prevention, so we have an actual health care system instead of a disease care system.

And -- and we can set up a system that not only helps people with their health care costs and their lives, but also helps competitive -- employers and makes them more competitive. And we're not going to wait 20 years from now to do it or 10 years from now to do it. We're going to do it by the end of my first term as president of the United States of America.

We've got to make sure that every American has insurance that you can take with you even if you lose your job. And a college degree is within reach for every young person in America. Even if you're not rich, because all of our children should have the skills to compete in the global economy.

And looking after our workers also means protecting their rights. It's time we had a president who didn't choke on the word "union."

We need to strengthen our unions by letting them do what they do best, organize workers. The majority of workers want a union, they should get a union, no matter what, whether they are full time or part time or contract workers, and that's what I will fight for and why I intend to sign the Employee Free Choice Act when it hits my desk and I'm in the White House.

And here's what else I'll do -- we'll pass the employer -- what I call the Patriot Employer Act. It's a pretty simple concept. I've been working on it since I got to the Senate. We should stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas and we should save those tax breaks for companies that are investing in plants and equipment here in the United States of America. And are looking after their workers here in the United States of America and are providing health care benefits and pension benefits for workers right here in the United States of America.

And of those who think that the decline in American manufacturing is inevitable, that the manufacturing has no place in the 21st century economy, we say right here and right now that the fight for manufacturing's future is a fight for America's future. That's why we're going to modernize the steel industry, to strengthen our entire manufacturing base and we're going to actually have an industrial policy and a manufacturing policy to move this country forward and open as many markets as we can to American manufactured goods when I'm president.

And we're going to make the necessary long-term investments in job growth. Back in the 1950s Americans were put to work building the Intrastate Highway System that helped expand the middle-class of this country. We need to show the same kind of leadership today. That's why I've called for a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion and generate millions of new jobs in infrastructure. We can't keep standing by ...

HOLMES: Okay, we're listening to Senator Barack Obama at the Alliance for American Manufacturing event speaking to that group. You can continue to watch this live if you like, cnn.com/video and watch the rest of that speech.

Also Senator Clinton expected to speak at this same event coming up at 11:00 Eastern Yime this morning. We will bring that to you when that happens as well. But Senator Barack Obama talking all kinds of things here. Talked about the economy, manufacturing jobs, talked about trade and also he did address the issue we've been talking about all weekend pretty much, those comments he made about folks in Pennsylvania being bitter because of what's happening in the economy. Certainly he has taken some shots from his critics about that. Taken some shots from Senator Clinton and also Senator McCain over that. He has not backed away from those comments indeed saying indeed he does think a lot of voters are bitter right now. He hasn't really gone away from those comments. Even some people in the crowd yelled out, yeah, we are bitter. He hasn't really gone away from the comments saying maybe he could have phrased it a little better. But saying that people are upset at the way things are going. And you can continue to watch that at cnn.com.

Our money team certainly has you covered when it comes to the economy, when it comes to job, debt, housing savings, whatever it may be. You can join us for a special report, "Issue #1, the Economy," all this week at noon Eastern right here on CNN.

NGUYEN: And we also want to tell you about this -- a salmonella alert. At least 23 people are sick after eating cereal.

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NGUYEN: We're right on your money and right now we're going to check out to see what it's doing on the -- oh, man look at this. The Dow is down already. Now, we weren't expecting any huge gains at the top of the hour. But we're down negative three at this point for the Dow. The NASDAQ is also down negative five today. And a lot of it has to do with major U.S. banks reported unexpected losses and Wachovia being one of them. Of course, we'll continue to follow the markets today and see where they end up. In the meantime, though, a college education is more expensive than ever. Christine Romans has some saving tips for you and your student with this week's "Right on Your Money."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paying for college tuition is not enough. One cost many families fail to factor in to their budget, the cost to apply to college. Application fees can range from $25 to $60. Many students apply to more than one college, up to a dozen in some cases and then there's the cost of visiting all those schools to check them out.

KATHERINE COHEN, CEO, APPLYWISE.COM: We found that students spend on average, $3,500 just applying to college.

ROMANS: But there are a few ways to cut costs once you've been accepted.

COHEN: You can try to graduate in three years which cuts the cost of college tremendously. If you've taken AP courses in high school, you can see if those credits transfer or go to a less expensive institution over the summer, make sure those credits will transfer over and try to graduate sooner.

ROMANS: Or if three years sounds too short, there are other options.

COHEN: You might want to look at room and board versus renting an apartment with your friends off campus. Sometimes that's less expensive. Also think about buying used books instead of new books.

ROMANS: Check out half.com, ecampus.com and bookswap.com to compare prices on used textbooks. That's this week's "Right on Your Money."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, we have a medical alert now. At least 23 people are sick after eating cereal contaminated with salmonella. Now Malt- o-Meal is voluntarily recalling its unsweetened puffed rice and puffed wheat cereals. This comes after recent CDC report had said we're not doing enough to protect the food supply. Elizabeth, what in the world is going on? Not cereal.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know, cereal. You think salmonella, you think chicken.

HOLMES: Yeah.

COHEN: Maybe produce. But cereal, I know. And there was an outbreak in pancake mix of all things a couple weeks ago. And they have not quite figured out how it happened but they are working on it. One of the big problems in this situation is that this cereal was sold under at least 12 different names because they made it for private labels. For store labels. So, if you go to cnn.com you can click around and you can find the list of all these different places. Because you really need to see the names to see if any is in your cabinet, because you definitely want to throw it out.

Now, if you've already eaten it let's say days and days ago and you're fine, that means you're OK. Because salmonella would certainly attack earlier than that. But this, as said, on the heels of a CDC report that says these food-borne illness outbreaks are going away. They want the numbers to come down and they are not. There seems to be outbreak after outbreak after outbreak.

HOLMES: How does it get into cereal? We're used to hearing about it in chicken and things like that. Salmonella in puffed rice?

COHEN: Right. How does it happen? Probably, there could be a couple of different ways. One of them could be that there is some other ingredient that was contaminated. Not necessarily the cereal itself. Another way is the equipment they use to process the cereal may have been used to process something else. But let me go over what the CDC report said, because it's very enlightening, it tells you exactly how many people are getting sick from food in this country and the numbers are really quite large. For every 100,000 Americans 15 will get salmonella, 13 will get campylobacter which is also often found in poultry and six will get shigella which is found in shellfish.

When you look at those numbers, those numbers are pretty high and again it's not going anywhere, consumer groups say the industry is not doing enough and the government is not doing enough to regulate this.

HOLMES: And the salmonella thing, before we move on, you might not get sick. Some might eat it and not get sick. What are the symptoms if you have eaten the cereal? What do you need to ...

COHEN: Your basic gastrointestinal symptoms. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, if you have those symptoms and you ate this recently, you might want to put two and two together and go talk to your doctor.

HOLMES: You talked about the CDC report and they said we need to do more to clean up the food supply. People think, wow, nobody is protecting me and you need to look out for yourself. What do you need to be doing?

COHEN: You do need to look out for yourself. We have a couple of tips that you need to be doing in your kitchen to protect yourself from food poisoning. You want to avoid raw or under cooked beef, oysters, eggs and poultry. Raw oysters, a lot of people like them. You really are not supposed to eat them.

HOLMES: Really?

COHEN: I know, sorry. And rinse produce with water. Now I have to be honest here and say that even though that is suggested by food safety authorities, there are times where bacteria can get so far into the produce that all the washing in the world isn't going to help you. It's actually inside that fruit or vegetable. And in that case, or in the case of cereal, there's really nothing you can do. It's in there and if you don't know it's in there you're just in trouble.

HOLMES: OK. Should you always wash -- I'm curious about this, should you wash your -- before you eat your chicken should you wash it off? A lot of people will put it under the sink and rinse it off. You're going to cook anything off, anyway, aren't you?

COHEN: I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to wash it off, but if you cook it to the right temperature, yes, it will kill the bacteria if you cook it to the right temperature when you're talking about stuff like salmonella.

HOLMES: The that was strictly for me. But I appreciate it.

COHEN: I'm glad to help.

NGUYEN: I like chicken. For some reason I feel like I got to do it.

COHEN: Why not. Why not.

HOLMES: Elizabeth Cohen with disturbing news and thank you for the information.

COHEN: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Also in the head lines this morning, troop cuts in Iraq, not what you think, though. Iraq's government has booted 1,300 Iraqi police and soldiers who didn't do their jobs. A government spokesman says the men deserted, refused to fight or neglected their duties during last month's crackdown in Basra and other Shiite areas.

In Afghanistan, militants launch a series of bloody attacks on U.S. allies. In Kandahar Province Taliban fighters struck a police coach and shot to death 11 officers as they lay sleeping. On Saturday, militants killed four police men as they were eradicating poppy fields, and elsewhere in southern Afghanistan, British officials say two Air Force troops were killed yesterday when the vehicle hit an explosive device. Two others were wounded in that blast.

HOLMES: College students packing heat for protection? That's a movement that is growing on college campuses, and the point of it is to stop the next campus gunman. We'll take a closer look ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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HOLMES: Graffiti threats have led to classes being canceled today at Oakland University. The graffiti was found in three men's restrooms in the Rochester, Michigan campus over the weekend. Campus police aren't being specific about the threat except to say they didn't target any individual but to say they were written by the same person. School events were canceled yesterday as well. Dorms remain open and classes are scheduled to resume tomorrow.

NGUYEN: One year after the Virginia Tech shootings and a number of college students nationwide, they want to protect themselves with guns. Kelli Arena is in Washington with a movement to change state law. So, how is this sort out or will it? Is this something that will indeed change state laws?

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Betty, these students say there's a big difference between feeling safe and actually being safe. And they contend, police and security cannot be everywhere all the time. So, the only way that they can ensure their own safety is to make sure they're armed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (voice-over): What will it take to stop the next campus gunman? The answer for a growing number of students is this ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you rather just sit there and cower underneath a desk while someone executes you, or would you rather have a chance to defend your life? That's what it really boils down.

ARENA: Michael Footcraft (ph) is a student in Ohio. The state is at least one of eight that is considering allowing guns on campus. He's licensed to carry a concealed weapon on the street but can't bring it to school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me it makes no sense that I can defend myself legally over there but I'm a felon if I step on the grass over here.

ARENA: Utah, Colorado and Virginia allow guns on campus, though it is up to officials to set the policy.

PROF. RON HOLT, WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY: I see it as a sort of life insurance policy.

ARENA: Still most students aren't convinced.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's completely absurd.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It shocks me, it kind of scares me a little bit.

ARENA: Since 1966 there have been about a dozen campus shootings. As tragic as they were, experts contend that campuses are still among the safest places for young adults.

POLICE CHIEF GENE FERRARA, UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI: I don't think the answer to bullets flying is to send more bullets flying.

ARENA: University of Cincinnati security chief Gene Ferrara thinks the idea is a recipe for disaster.

FERRARA: Someone is shooting. The officer responds to the scene and there's a person with a gun in their hand. Is that the bad guy or is that a citizen who is trying to help out?

ARENA: But Michael Footcraft (ph) says he won't give up. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do see in the future eventually, it might take 10 or 15 years for to it happen, but people will be able to defend their lives on campus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (on camera): Flitcraft (ph) belongs to an organization called Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. If you look at the membership, there are about 25,000 that have joined so far. Not a lot. If you compare that to the 20 million or so college and university students. But this is a group that's definitely growing. Betty?

NGUYEN: Okay, Kelli. So as more states look at this and try to decide what they want to do, let's take a deeper look at Utah, because that's one place where guns are allowed on campus. Have there been any problems because of that?

ARENA: No, officials there have not. And many people say, look, it's proof this idea works. But others say wait a minute, it hasn't been truly tested because we haven't seen the folks with guns in action in Utah during a crisis. So the jury's still out.

NGUYEN: Yeah, that's an important point there. All right, Kelli Arena joining us live. Thank you, Kelli.

ARENA: You're welcome.

HOLMES: Well, faith and politics courting the evangelical vote and the possible change in traditional support. That story still ahead right here on CNN.

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NGUYEN: Good morning everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen.

HOLMES: And hey there, folks, I'm T.J. Holmes sitting in today for Tony and Heidi. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWROOM.

Here's what we have on the "Rundown" for you. The presidential candidates talk compassion on CNN. So why are things so bitter? Obama brought it up moments ago, will Clinton as well?

NGUYEN: Polygamist parents, they try to get their children back, custody of hundred kids on the line in Texas in a courtroom there at this hour.

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