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Ballot Bowl 2008

Barack Obama Speech About John McCain; Severe Storms and Snow Across the U.S.; McCain and Huckabee, Together in Arkansas, Speak About the Unity of the Republican Party.

Aired April 26, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: And welcome back to another round of BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Jim Acosta in Anderson, Indiana, standing inside the cafeteria inside Anderson High School where a couple of hours ago Barack Obama was here in front of a big crowd. Barack Obama trying to make that appeal to Hoosier state voters to go with him in this critical primary that's coming up on May 6.
And that is not the only primary on May 6, North Carolina voters will also be going to the polls in ten days from today, one of two big contests following up after Pennsylvania. And if you look at the delegate math, it's a very interesting double whammy coming up on May the 6th, becau7se both the states collectively feature a delegate windfall I should say of 187 pledged delegates, that is actually larger than the prize in Pennsylvania. So Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama taking nothing for granted over these next 10 days.

And Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were both in the Hoosier state reaching out to different sides of the state. Obama here in central Indiana, in Anderson, Indiana. And Hillary Clinton was up in South Bend. First we want to go to Monmouth, Oregon out in the Pacific Northwest where Bill Clinton is talking to voters right now. He is making appeals to voters as they go to the polls on May the 20th. A clear indication from Team Clinton that they intend to carry on this campaign well beyond these contests coming up on May the 6th. So here's Bill Clinton out in the Pacific Northwest talking to voters in Oregon.

BILL CLINTON, HILLARY'S HUSBAND: This is hard. This is hard because we have education is a constitutional responsibility of the states funded and controlled at the local level too with the federal government filling in the blanks. This is not easy to do but this is her best idea. If you have more, go to our Web site hillaryclinton.com and send her your ideas.

Let's start with the facts. Two million teachers are about to retire. Just aging out. She thinks this money would be far better spent to replace truly qualified young teachers in science, math, language and technology and get them out there where they can do their jobs and give them ability to do it.

And secondly, she believes that we should learn something from how the military and franchises and other people repeat excellence, what do they do in the education context? You would look around America and find 20 high schools and 20 high schools and grade schools with representative student populations, by race, first language and income that are right now performing at very high levels of excellence. Figure out what they are doing and pay to put that in the other schools in America. That is positive and will get you better results and that's what she will do if you elect her president.

Now, one last thing, it is an iron law of American economics in the 21st century, that if you graduate from high school and get two years of education afterward, the chances of getting a job with rising income are better than 50 percent. If you don't, your chances are less than 50 percent. Therefore every American should be able to go on to college and stay there and not have to drop out because they have to borrow money. That's ...

ACOSTA: And so there's Bill Clinton making the appeal to voters in Oregon which has a very important contest, possibly a very important contest. It's hard to know what will happen over the next three weeks, but voters there go to the polls on May the 20th, two weeks after these critical contests that are coming up here in Indiana and North Carolina. While we're in the Hoosier state, we should mention that Barack Obama is starting to tailor his message and his appeal, his strategic appeal to voters in this state. Last night we saw he was playing basketball, playing three on three basketball with some high school students in Kokomo, Indiana and today in here Anderson, he essentially resisted the calls from some in the Democratic Party to fire back at Hillary Clinton. He has been coming under heavy pressure within some parts of the Democratic Party to respond in kind to some of the verbal assaults coming from the Clinton campaign, but Barack Obama standing in this auditorium here in this cafeteria in Anderson High School said he is going to resist that urge and not only is he going to resist it as a candidate but he is also going to do that as president. Here's Barack Obama earlier today here in Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John McCain and I have real differences but I always make a point of saying I respect his service to the country and as a person. I think he's a good person. We can have arguments and disagreements without running the other person down.

CROWD: Yes!

OBAMA: But that requires a president who has the confidence to stand there and sometimes, you take some hits. I mean, even during this campaign, I've been taking some hits. And people, it's interesting, when I don't always hit back, then folks go, what's the matter with me, maybe he's not mean enough or tough enough.

You know, one of things I learned in the schoolyard was the folks who were talking tough all of the time, they are not always that tough. Right? If you're really tough, if you're really tough, you're not always looking to start a fight. If you're really tough, sometimes you just walk away. If you're really tough sometimes you just save it for when you really need it.

And so when -- I'm not interested in fighting people just for the sake of scoring political points or getting on the cable news shows. If I'm going to fight somebody, it's going to be fighting over the American people and what they need. I'll fight for health care, I'll fight for a good education system, I'll fight to make sure that people have good jobs at good wages. I'll fight to the death to make sure that America is safe. Those things I'll fight for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: There you have Barack Obama refusing to fight Hillary Clinton one on one, tit for tat, with these rhetorical flourishes we've heard on the campaign trail. He is saying instead he's going to fight on the issues. As for Hillary Clinton she was up in South Bend Indiana and issued another call for a debate between herself and Barack Obama. We've heard this throughout the day today. The Clinton campaign fired off a letter to the Obama campaign challenging the Obama campaign to a Lincoln-Douglas style debate with no moderator. And Hillary Clinton alluded to that challenge earlier today in South Bend. Here's Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But what I think the people of Indiana deserve is a real one on one debate where Senator Obama and I right here in Indiana discuss these issues. Now, I have accepted the debates that have been offered and actually Indiana has a debate commission which kind of organizes this and makes sure it's fair and nobody gets a special advantage. I've said I'll be anywhere, any time in order to debate because I think the Indiana people after wandering in the wilderness of American politics for 40 years deserve a debate.

Who knows, we might even carry Indiana in the fall if we start with a good debate right hoop. Now, unfortunately, Senator Obama has not agreed yet and turned down every debate that has been offered. So here I have a proposition and my campaign sent his campaign a letter today. You know, after the last debate in Philadelphia Senator Obama's supporters complained a little bit about the tough questions.

And you know tough questions in a debate are nothing compared to the tough questions you get asked when you're president and you have to answer them and make tough decisions and they complained about the moderators asking tough questions.

So here's my proposal. I'm offering Senator Obama a chance to debate me one on one, no moderators. Just the two of us going for 90 minutes asking and answering questions. We'll set whatever rules seem fair. I think that it would give the people of Indiana and I assume a few Americans might tune in because nearly 11 million watched the Philadelphia debate.

And I think they would love seeing that kinds of debate and discussion. Remember, that's what happened during the Lincoln-Douglas debate. Now, we've had four debates between Senator Obama and myself. That's all we've had since the whole campaign has gone on. We've had debates when other candidates were in but just four between the two of us. Lincoln and Douglas, I think had something like seven or maybe even eight debates in the space of 60 days. Traveling around Illinois, just standing there debating. I bet John Bradamus (ph) probably knows all of the facts and can probably quote what each of them said.

I think that would be good for the Democratic Party. It would be good for our democracy and it would be great for Indiana. So I'm hoping that we'll be able to get that schedule and hold it before the May 6 primary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there you have it, Hillary Clinton calling for a Lincoln-Douglas style debate that happened between now and the Indiana, North Carolina primaries on May the 6th. And we talked to David Axelrod in the 3:00 hour of BALLOT BOWL.

And I'll read to you what he had to say. He said, "In the next nine days we're going to devote our attention to the voters and we will see where we are after May the 6th. It doesn't matter whether it's Lincoln Douglas or what language it is in. It does not matter, we want to use this time in this way and after 21 debates, I think the American people have seen quite a few."

David Axelrod with the Obama campaign saying, we've had 21 debates, don't think we'll have a 22nd debate. A no go between now and May the 6th. But coming up after a break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN, we're going to get to John McCain who is down in the Gulf Coast talking to voters down there and we're going to get to that.

Also, before we get to that break, we want to first talk about Hillary Clinton who was asked by a reporter in Louisville Kentucky about whether or not she will continue to fight this campaign beyond Indiana and North Carolina should she lose in the Hoosier State and in the Tar Heel state. Here's Hillary Clinton responding to that question to that reporter from Louisville, Kentucky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: So you're going to continue on if you happen to lose Indiana?

H. CLINTON: Well, I don't make predictions or speculate on things that haven't happened yet. I'm going to try to do my very best in Indiana then I'll get on to Kentucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there you have it, Hillary Clinton not really fully committing to going on beyond Indiana and North Carolina but she has said repeatedly that that is what she intends to do to fight this all the way to the convention.

So we'll see on that. But coming after a break on BALLOT BOWL on CNN. John McCain down in New Orleans talking to voters down there about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and what he would do as president. That is coming up after a break. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: And welcome back to BALLOT BOWL on CNN. I'm Jim Acosta in Anderson, Indiana, and we're in the process of seeing this Barack Obama event being torn down behind us. Not an unusual event - not an unusual thing to see happen while covering BALLOT BOWL.

But thanks again for joining us. We want to switch gears to the Republican side and John McCain who was down in the Gulf Coast, he was visiting the city of New Orleans which is still recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And even though the presumptive Republican nominee has come under heavy criticism from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as they would say it, running for a third Bush term, John McCain was sharply critical of Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina down in New Orleans. He talked about that in front of voters down there as well as other issues. He touched on the war and on the foreclosure crisis. Here's John McCain talking to voters in the Big Easy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Americans are hurting and hurting badly. Tonight families will be sitting around the kitchen table trying to figure out whether they are going to be able to stay in their home whether they are going to keep their job. Some of them, some 250,000 roughly have had a recent and sudden loss of their job. So please understand that I -- America is in trouble.

And American families are facing enormous difficulties. Then again, I have to come back around. There are some who believe that raising taxes on anybody is the way to obtain more revenues. I believe that history shows that when you cut taxes, in fact facts are on the capital gains taxes. You're talking about the very rich and I understand that. Nobody is more angry than I am at the behavior of some of the people on Wall Street that have taken advantage and that's why I have called for an investigation on this subprime lending deal that clearly I think there were abuses.

But there's 100 million people that somehow have an investment in the capital gains because they have a pension or they have investment in a mutual fund or something like that. It's 100 million Americans, I don't think they need their taxes increased. Not 100 million Americans. I'm not talking about the rich. I'm talking about average citizens. And there are many small businesspeople now that file their income taxes as individuals rather than as a business.

Yet, they will see an increase in their taxes. The last thing I want to see on earth is to see small businesspeople have an increase in their taxation. We want more small businesses. We want small businesses to grow and flourish. That's the heart of America's economy. So, I understand your point and I understand that there isn't maybe sufficient funds devoted to education and training programs. I'm for those, but the way to provide those funds is a growing economy. We're in a recession right now, at least certainly every indicator is and right now then the economy is hurting and we don't get those revenues in to pay for programs exactly what you want.

Now, I respect your view if you think that we ought to go in another direction. But my response to you is, that's not my view or the way that we need to go. The way we need to go is keep people's taxes down, do not increase the burden no matter where they are in America's economy, certainly don't increase it on 100 million Americans as Senator Obama wants to do with an increase in capital gains tax and continue this debate throughout this country. I appreciate your view, but most of all, I think you express very eloquently the frustration that American families have today about their future, their ability to keep their home and their ability to keep their job. I thank you very much.

You can respond again if you want to. Please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to take up too much of your time but it's not so much taxing the rich as it is not cutting education, I mean if we could find funding to fund the war in Iraq, we should find money for education in America.

MCCAIN: I understand that, I understand your point, but I would point out if we during the Cold War spent a larger percentage of our gross national product. I don't think Americans are happy about the war in Iraq. We seed see those polls and I mention I understand their frustration.

But as I also said to you before, if we pull out of Iraq, if we declare a date for withdrawal and get the troops out. It is my confirmed belief and conviction that there will be chaos, there will be genocide and there will be a kind of a situation that requires us to go back with a greater expenditure of American blood and treasure. Now, again, that is not the view of Senator Obama and Senator Clinton. And I will be glad to have that debate across this nation about how we secure our nation's future. And that's my judgment and my view and belief which has not changed.

And I'm happy to note that a majority of Americans have great confidence or some confidence in my ability to address the war in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: John McCain down in New Orleans talking to voters down there about issues facing people there along the Gulf Coast including that very difficult aftermath and cleanup job to do after Hurricane Katrina. Coming up after the break on ballot bowl on CNN, we'll get back to the Hoosier State one on one between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama stumping for votes in Indiana in anticipation of that big primary coming up on May the 6th. Stick with us. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ACOSTA: Welcome back to CNN BALLOT BOWL. I'm Jim Acosta in Anderson, Indiana where Barack Obama was stumping for a big crowd of voters here in the Hoosier State in central Indiana and Hillary Clinton, she was in a different part, she was in Fort Wayne earlier today trying to reach out to voters there and she was making the case that we heard time and again in Pennsylvania and it was a case that seemed to work out pretty well for the senator from New York in the Keystone state. She talked about her blue collar roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania how she spent part of her childhood in Scranton and talked time and again at various events across that state about how her grandfather worked the mills in Scranton, she took that same message to Fort Wayne, Indiana today and talked about that blue collar upbringing and blue collar credentials if you will, essentially trying to make the case that she understands voters in Indiana much in the same way she understands voters in Pennsylvania. Here's Hillary Clinton on the economic challenges facing voters here in this state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

H. CLINTON: I never thought I would run for office. I never thought I would be standing here talking to you, asking you to support me in a presidential primary. But I always believed I had an obligation to do what I could to help other people. And so when I got out of law school, I went to work for the Children's Defense Fund, working to help abused and neglected kids and kids that didn't have health care or education or in some way were really left out or left on the sidelines.

And I believe with all of my heart that our country has to be constantly asking ourselves, are we doing all we can to make sure that the American dream is alive and well for every single person? And I see a series of challenges that we have to meet with our next president in order to ensure that I can come back here to Fort Wayne in four years, eight years, 12 or 20 years and see that the American dream is alive and well in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

And at the core of that dream is the ability to get a good job, a job that will help support a family. A job that will give you a better future. So I've gone across Indiana saying that my campaign is about jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs because that's what we have to care about right now.

We have to get back to producing good jobs in America again. Jobs that will give you the chance to be able to save a little money, that's been really hard, hasn't it in recent years?

Jobs that will give you enough income to be able to not only buy that house but keep that house and prevent yourself from losing it because of the economy. Jobs that will either offer health insurance or give you the means to be able to get the health care that you and your families need.

Jobs that give you the chance to send a child to college if that's what you want to be able to do. These are the kinds of jobs that were plentiful in America when I was growing up. Whether you worked for someone or like my dad you had a small business if you worked hard, you could see the results of your hard work.

I want to ask you personally for your help in this primary. I believe strongly that we have to change this country but that's not just a slogan. It's going to require an enormous amount of hard work. And as Evan said, if it were so easy all you did was show up in Washington and say, let's change.

I think Evan and I would have figured that out a while ago. It's going to take building coalitions. It's going to take creating the policies that people will support. It's going to take standing up to the special interests, something that I haven't just talked about, but I've done for 15 years, time and time again. And I think it's going to take a fighter. I think it's going to take somebody that you believe will get up every day and worry about you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: That is Hillary Clinton there in Fort Wayne, Indiana. There's a lot at stake here in Indiana for Hillary Clinton. She faces essentially what is a even-steven match with Obama in the Hoosier State. Let's go to the latest CNN poll of polls, according to the polls we put together to see where voters are standing right now here in Indiana, the way it breaks down right now. Forty-five percent for Barack Obama, 45 percent for Hillary Clinton. And 10 percent undecided. That is a critical 10 percent there.

That undecided vote has broken for Hillary Clinton in the past two big contests of Pennsylvania and Ohio. It will be interesting to see how they gravitate here in Indiana. But earlier today in Kokomo, Indiana, or I should say last night in Kokomo, Indiana, he was resisting the urge to go tit for tat with Hillary Clinton. He has been coming under heavy pressure to do so, but is saying he would rather focus his efforts on John McCain. And he blasted the presumptive Republican nominee as running for what he refers to as a third Bush term.

Here's Barack Obama talking about John McCain, potentially his Republican challenger in the upcoming general election, way down in Kokomo. Here's Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people are ready for something new. They're ready for something different. They're ready to turn the page and write a new chapter in American history. That's why I'm running for president of the United States of America.

Now it is a town hall meeting, so I don't want to make a long speech, but the people of Indiana have a choice to make on May 6th and then you'll have a choice to make next November.

Now, I know that a lot of people are worried about how this Democratic primary has gone on for a long time. I want to tell you. The Democrats will be unified come November. They will be unified because whatever differences I've got with Senator Clinton and she's got with me, they pale in comparison to differences with John McCain.

John McCain is a genuine hero worthy of our respect. He deserves our respect for having served this nation. But John McCain is running for George Bush's third term. He wants to continue George Bush's foreign policy of a failed war in Iraq and he wants to continue George Bush's failed economic policies that have led to 232,000 Americans losing their jobs since the beginning of this year. We can't afford four more years of George Bush economics. So the Democrats will be unified come November.

But, in just 12 days, you'll have a choice in Indiana about who will be the standard bearer for the Democratic Party. And look -- there may be some undecided here so I just want to be clear about why I think I'm the best choice.

You know, Senator Clinton and I share a lot of policy ideas. And you know, I think that when it comes to health care, for example, we all believe that every American should be able to get health care. And we don't -- I don't want to take away health care you've already got. If you've got health care, that you're happy with, you can keep it. But if you don't have health care, if you're like Joe Nelson and you've lost your health care. I want to make sure you can get health care that is at least as good as the health care I have as a member of Congress. So we're going to put in place a health care system that you can buy into. And if you can't afford it, we'll subsidize you. And everybody will qualify, won't be any exclusions for preexisting conditions.

We will crack down on insurance companies who are not providing the claims that have been placed by their customers. And we're not going to wait 20 years from now to do it and ten 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.

Now, here's where the difference between Senator Clinton and myself come in. She's making a similar claim. You've got to ask yourself, why is it that we haven't gotten health care reform. I mean, all these folks who talk about how much experience they've got, why is it we haven't been able to get it done?

Well, part of it has to do with the fact that over the last ten years the drug companies and insurance companies have spent over a billion dollars preventing reform from happening. So if we think that we're going to get a different kind of health care with the same kind of politics, we're sorely mistaken. That's the reason why at the beginning of this campaign I said I wouldn't take PAC money or lobbyist money because I want to be accountable to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Barack Obama way down in Kokomo, Indiana.

Coming up after a break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN, we'll check in on other news, including some frustration that is building in New York in the aftermath of that Sean Bell verdict. We'll get to that and other news coming up after a break. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Rick Sanchez at world headquarters of CNN here in Atlanta. We're going to have more BALLOT BOWL for you in just a little bit. But first, let's catch you to date on some of the headlines we're following.

The Reverend Al Sharpton is urging people to shut down New York City after Friday's verdict in the very latest police shooting case. Early this afternoon several hundred people responded to Sharpton's call to push back. They are denouncing the acquittals of three police detectives in the 2006 killing of Sean Bell, an unarmed black man killed on his wedding day.

Bell's fiance spoke at an earlier rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE PAULTRE BELL, FIANCE OF SEAN BELL: I'm still trying to focus because it's not over. It's far from over. Every protest, every march, every rally, I'm going to be right up front.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The accused detectives still face a Justice Department probe and a police investigation.

A horrifying scene at the church in Canada where a thousand teenagers were enjoying a Christian rock concert and all of a sudden part of the floor just gave out, collapsed. Many of the crowd falling more than a dozen feel. At least 39 people were hurt, three of them seriously. Witnesses say a lighting system above the stage also fell onto the crowd. We're following this story as police continue to investigate.

A spring storm blanketing some parts of north central states with snow, of course. This is the scene in Minneapolis today. My old stomping grounds in college at the University of Minnesota. Not exactly what you expect to see at the end of April. Northern Minnesota is getting the worst of the system, more than a foot of snow today. At least two traffic deaths are being blamed on the storm.

Dangerous driving conditions in the Dakotas as well. That's right next door to Minnesota obviously. Several people were stranded in the snow. The situation got so bad that officials had to shut down a major interstate in the area.

And also heavy snow up there, storms in Texas and rain in the southeast. It's kind of a triad.

Jacqui Jeras is following the severe weather for us at the Severe Weather Center, appropriately. And she has an update for us.

Jacqui, what's going on?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Rick. I know, a little late for snow, isn't it? Unbelievable winter weather, not just the snow but the winds have been howling across northern and central parts of Mississippi creating near whiteout conditions at times and just a miserable day.

This is a good three-plus weeks late to see hopefully the last snowfall across parts of Minnesota and on into Wisconsin. The snowfall only a couple of inches around the Twin Cities. Much heavier as you head up north towards Duluth. Seeing heavier snow showers as well and also into the Detroit Lakes area.

Showers and thunderstorms across the lower Mississippi River Valley. These are getting pretty heavy. It's been pretty constant over the last couple of hours around New Orleans with the jazz festival is supposed to be taking place today. Hopefully that doesn't mess thing up.

Well, it doesn't look like much across parts of Texas. We're watching this area right in here for the potential of severe thunderstorms developing in the next couple of hours. Be aware of that threat from Amarillo over towards Lovett.

Some spotty thunderstorms in and around the Atlantic Metro area. Nothing severe but the umbrella may be required if you're heading out to dinner tonight. And then thunderstorms in the interior parts of the northeast. Not affecting the big cities yet until late tonight or tomorrow. It's starting to affect air travel from all those cities and those planes try to fly in from the west. Pack your patience as those delays start to get a little bit hefty from Philly to D.C. -- Rick?

SANCHEZ: If it's bad in the Twin Cities, imagine what it's like in the boundary waters, places like Vanigee (ph), which is as fun to say as it is cold.

JERAS: It is. Don't want to think about it. I really don't.

SANCHEZ: I hear we've got something else you put together for us, Jacqui. This is about cell phones, right.

JERAS: Cell phones and digital cameras. I'm one of those people that -- I like to take pictures with my cell phone because I always have it with me and never my camera. But you can't zoom. That's changing now.

SANCHEZ: I have great pictures to show you later. I'll tell you about it.

Let's share with the folks the pictures and story that you put together for us. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERAS: Don't you hate it when you forget your digital camera and stuck with your cell phone to take pictures of the special moment with poor quality. Brian Cooley with CNET.com is here to tell us it's time to consolidate. BRIAN COOLEY, CNET.COM: You can do it because these are all camera phones that have multi-megapixel cameras. These are real cameras starting as low as two megapixels on this LG Shine, nice finish, lens, flash. And it feels like a camera when you hold it. Same can be said for this five megapixel Samsung flip. When you close it and hold it this way, it feels like a camera. And you have a large display to show the good quality photos as well.

Now we move to the five mega pixel camera phones. These are serious.

JERAS: (inaudible).

COOLEY: Oh, yeah. Here's one from Sony. This is the Cyber Shot and it's got a really good lens. You see the flash is common on the better ones as well and you've got the ability to view the photos on a high res screen. Here's a five mega pixel, the G-800. You start to see how they all feel like cameras, like this Nokia N95, as you actually hold them. That's one of giveaways as well as the very high resolution large display.

JERAS: Now what about features. I can't zoom with my cell phone camera. Can I do that with these?

COOLEY: You'll find zoom on camera phones. But beware. If it's digital zoom, it's not very good. You're looking for optical zoom and that's typically a camera feature more than a camera phone feature. But these all typically do video capture as well. And do it pretty well.

JERAS: Wide range of pricing as well?

COOLEY: Yes. You can go as little as $200 for a two or three mega pixel. You're going to pay more, like $300, $350, maybe as high as $500 for a five megapixel. But sometimes that's because there's no carrier subsidy, not just because the device is expensive.

JERAS: All right, Brian Cooley with CNET.com, thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Here's a story about having surgery to lose weight. Some see it as the easy way out. But Patty Hill saw it as a tough choice and her last resort as well. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has her story in today's "Fit Nation."

(FIT NATION SEGMENT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Time now for "CNN Hero," a doctor who helps some of the 47 million in the United States without health care. Thanks to private donations and grants, her patients pay only what they can, even if it's just spare change. Meet Dr. Lorna Stewart (ph)> (CNN HERO SEGMENT)

SANCHEZ: I'm Rick Sanchez. We'll see you tonight right here at 10:00 p.m., eastern time that is. We're back with more BALLOT BOWL just after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Jim Acosta in Anderson, Indiana. Again, BALLOT BOWL, a chance for you, the viewers, to hear the candidates in their own words.

We're in Anderson High School, the cafeteria of Anderson High School, where Barack Obama spoke to a big crowd earlier today.

But now we want to switch sides to the Republican race, which is essentially over as John McCain has pretty much wrapped up the Republican nomination. He was campaigning down in Arkansas, with the former governor there, Mike Huckabee, his old rival in the race for the White House on the Republican side. And Mike Huckabee and John McCain like to emphasize the fact that they get along pretty well out on the campaign trail. Mike Huckabee sending the message subliminally, if you will, that he would like to be the number two on this ticket that John McCain is taking into the fall.

Here's John McCain and Mike Huckabee speaking at an event earlier this week down in Arkansas talking about the fact that the Republican Party, in their view, and in contrast to the Democrats, is unified.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN MCCAIN, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think our party is very unified. But I think that, with his help and a lot of other people, we have to energy our party more. I think one of the aspects that spirited our base is the spending. So we have to assure people that we'll be careful stew wards of their tax dollars.

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I expect the entire party is going to rally around Senator McCain. It already is. I can see every evidence of that. And There's a, I think, a very good movement taking place within the party to not just coalesce but to strengthen and really bond and realize that this is the very critical election that we can't afford to take lightly.

There's going to be a lot of energy for whoever the Democrat is. They've been out of the White House for eight years. They're hungry. They want it back.

It is not about which party gets to taste the spoils of the war. It's about where they are going to lead the country. And that's why I think Senator McCain is the critical choice for America to make. That's why I'm happy to see him taking this tour this week because he's going to places where a lot of Republicans have traditionally not gone. He's proving that not only his candidacy but I think his presidency will reach deep throughout America. And touch every life and every strata of our country. That's very, very important to... (END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: So there you have it. Mike Huckabee and John McCain campaigning down in Arkansas.

That's all the time we have now for BALLOT BOWL. Join us tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. eastern where we'll have more BALLOT BOWL right here on CNN. And in the meantime, it's time for "THIS WEEK IN POLITICS." Thanks for watching.

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