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Latest Campaign Happenings; New York Rally for Slain Groom; Shark Hunt in SoCal

Aired April 26, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is Saturday, April 26, 121 days until the Democrat convention for those of you who are keeping track.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: I didn't know you were counting Betty. Ten days until the Indiana primary which is where we find Senators Clinton and Obama this hour. Hello to you all I'm T.J. Holmes.

NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Yep, we're all counting around here. In fact, we're going to be talking more about politics including the latest volley from Senator McCain's camp, that just a little bit later.

HOLMES: First here, we have a rally to take you to in New York, it's actually wrapping up this hour. The family of a groom speaking out one day after a judge's decision to acquit three New York City police detectives in the Sean Bell shooting.

NGUYEN: Combing the coast of San Diego this hour for a killer great white, not an easy task. As you're about to find out in the NEWSROOM.

But first, the Sean Bell case, he, of course, was killed in a hail of bullets on his wedding day. He was unarmed

NGUYEN: The NYPD detectives who opened fire on him 17 months ago were acquitted yesterday and Bell's family left the courthouse stunned. Now Bell's family and friends have been holding a rally in Harlem in response to those acquittals. Civil rights leaders, community leaders, politicians, all of them there and they are calling for unity. The most emotional tribute came from his fiancee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE PAULTRE BELL, SEAN BELL'S FIANCEE: April 25, 2008, they killed Sean all over again. That's what it felt like to us. That's what it felt like to us. We got, the community, the world, has supported us so much. You give us strength. You give us strength to keep going. You help us. Thank you. Yesterday the system let me down. I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I'm still praying for justice because it's not over. It's far from over, it's just starting.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We're back here live picture of that rally continuing to happen there in Harlem, in New York. Where again, family and friends have gathered. You see Reverend Al Sharpton there, he has introduced several speakers at this rally there in Harlem on 145th. But again, still calling for justice saying by no way is this over. This is what we saw just a moment ago, Joseph Guzman, who's a friend of Sean Bell's, who was there the evening of that shooting. We've been monitoring his comments, we'll take a listen to those and bring you those comments a little later.

Just hours after their acquittals, the detectives spoke publicly for the first time since Sean Bell's death. Their statements at the detectives' endowment association headquarters in lower Manhattan were brief. The endowment's president spoke as well. He offered his condolences and then lashed out at critics of the NYPD and specifically critics of the acquitted detectives. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL PALLADINO, PRES., DETECTIVES ENDOWMENT ASSN.: Our thoughts and our sympathy go out to the Bell family, to Mr. and Mrs. Bell and to Nicole and the children. We have been portrayed as insensitive murderers and I can tell you that we are not.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The detectives, however, are not completely in the clear. The U.S. attorney's office is considering federal charges against them and they may still be disciplined by the NYPD.

NGUYEN: And while we continue to follow that story, there is a hunt today for a killer shark in the waters off southern California.

HOLMES: Right now, crews are looking for the shark that killed a swimmer in the ocean north of San Diego. CNN's Ted Rowlands is tracking this developing story for us from Solana Beach in California. Why do they want to find the shark, Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., they want to monitor the beaches here, they've closed them, an eight mile stretch of beaches in southern California, they want to monitor from the air, the areas around the beaches, where the attack took place to make sure that the shark isn't lurking around, isn't still here. The prevailing wisdom is that they're not going to see anything that the shark is most likely long gone from this area or even if the shark is in the area, it's too deep to see from the air. But as a precaution, they are monitoring the beaches and they will do so throughout the day today and tomorrow. If they don't see the shark, they'll reopen the beaches on Monday morning. Meanwhile the San Diego county coroner's office is expected to perform an autopsy this morning on the victim. At that autopsy will be shark experts. They are looking for teeth fragments, possibly broken off teeth and they'll also analyze those bites so that they could further determine the size of the shark that attacked this retired veterinarian. And to make sure that it is indeed a great white. That's what they do believe. Last night, here at the beach where the shark attack took place, a number of the family members and close friends of Dr. Dave Martin came to remember him, it was a very emotional time here last night and even this morning, we see some friends who knew him come down here. This is a local resident, 66- year-old tri athlete, who was out in the water with other members of his training group, swimming as they did daily here in this area when he was attacked. It was about 7:00 in the morning, he was with a group of 10 people. According to witnesses the shark came from below the surface. Actually pulled him up, propelled him up in the air and then brought him underneath. He was able to get back to the surface, scream for help, they brought him onshore, but they could not keep him alive. He died here at the lifeguard station before he could be airlifted out to a hospital. He was pronounced dead here. People that came to the beach last night remember him as a father of four and a strong member of this community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB BABBITT, VICTIM'S FRIEND: The guy was a great swimmer, really, really good cyclist and a good runner. Just turned 66, I'm sure he was looking forward to an awesome year. There are a lot of people 66 years old who are sitting in old folks homes, trying to figure out what to do with their next bingo play. Here's this guy, swimming with 20, 30, 40-year-olds out in the ocean and living life to its fullest. If you're going to go, to know that you did it with near your home, with your friends, doing what you love doing, with people who shared that same passion, that's not a bad way.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Shark attacks in southern California, extremely rare, shark attacks around the world are rare relatively. But here the last confirmed fatal shark attack was back in 1959. In 1994, when a woman was found in the water who had been possibly attacked but they believed that her body was dumped earlier. So it is very rare and even for the folks who don't know Dave Martin, they've been coming out here and it's just been shocking to people. Most people say they're going to stay out of the water for the next few days just to be safe. Others are in the water. We have seen a couple of people in here. It's voluntary, they're urging people not go into the water, but we have seen some people out there, a kayaker and a few swimmers this morning.

NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Ted Rowlands joining us live. Although shark attacks are rare, they are nonetheless very shocking. The word "great white" is enough to frighten people, but is the great white terror lurking in the ocean just waiting to attack? A little bit later this hour, we're going to talk with an expert on fast moving sharks. He's going to help us separate fact from fiction.

HOLMES: The FBI says the investigation into a Florida man's apparent abduction has taken them as far away as Thailand. Still no sign of 26-year-old Robert Wiles. He was last seen on April 1st at his family's aircraft maintenance business in Lakeland, Florida. The FBI says his parents received and complied with a ransom note. His mother said the family would do anything to get him back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll do anything we can to get our son back and bring him home safe. (END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, since complying with the demands of the ransom note, the Wiles haven't heard a thing. The FBI isn't saying what was in that note, only that it was signed in a unique way.

NGUYEN: Home at last, Staff Sergeant Matt Maupin will finally be laid to rest tomorrow near Cincinnati, Ohio. His remains arrived at Dover Air Force base this morning, under a light drizzle. Here's some video of that. Maupin was listed as missing for nearly four years after his convoy was ambushed near Baghdad. His remains were found just last month. A public memorial will be held tomorrow afternoon at Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park.

HOLMES: An appeals court has denied a request by dozens of FLDS mothers from that polygamist compound in west Texas. The mothers wanted to keep their children, more than 460 of them in San Angelo. But the court decided against that, allowing the children to be sent to foster homes all over the state. As a matter of fact they were all moved out of San Angelo yesterday. The state removed them from the compound0earlier this month because of alleged abuse or the risk of abuse due to underage marriages.

NGUYEN: All right, so let's talk about this economy. The question is the pain at the pump, is that just too much for you to handle?

HOLMES: Well help is on the way, tips to help you keep moving. And keep some money in that pocket of yours.

NGUYEN: Speaking of money, the check is in the mail. When can you expect to get your tax rebate money? We're going to tell you that, plus tips on how to save money at the grocery store.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now I approach it with a list and I get only what's on the list and I get what I have coupons for. I don't go and buy those spur of the moments purchases that I would've bought before, those snack items that I would've bought before. Basically what I have coupons for.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: There's some rocking in Reno, Nevada to show you. Another earthquake hit Nevada, knocking cans off shelves, pictures off walls, dumping rocks off hillsides. Now there are no reports of injuries or major property damage. But check out some of the minor bumps and bruises from Jay Kay's garage in Reno, he sent in these pictures to CNN. The 4.7 magnitude quake hit late last night just one day after an earthquake caused high rise casinos to sway. You can bet that had visitors and residents on edge. Well the area has been hit with hundreds of small quakes over the past two months.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Speaking of 10, there's just 10 days to go. Primary elections coming in Indiana and North Carolina. There is word of a dead heat between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: What a week at the gas pump, prices across the country hitting an all-time high, $3.44 a gallon. That's on the low end of what Americans are paying for a gallon of gas this weekend. That has finally reached a point though where folks are saying, you know what? I need to cut back. So here's a statistic for you. Americans use 142 billion gallons of gas each year. Surely there's a way to cut some of that out. So we have enlisted some help. Peter Beutel is the author of a book entitled "Surviving Energy Prices" and he joins us now from Stamford, Connecticut. Let me tell you how excited I am. A lot of people are anxious to talk to you today, because a lot of people looking to save some money. But before we start bellyaching and trust me, we have a lot to complain about. Let's take a look at these prices as a whole. When it comes to prices across the globe, we're not doing so bad, are we?

PETER BEUTEL, ENERGY & TRADING CONSULTANT: No, actually, our prices are lower than they are in a lot of places but there is a big difference. In Europe, the scales, the amount, the distances traveled are much smaller and they have better public transportation. There are a lot of states in this country where you simply cannot get by without a car.

NGUYEN: Yeah but $8.37 in the UK that sounds like a whole lot more than we're paying. And if we're complaining, just imagine what they're saying. But you know, let's get back to us because that's what we care about at the moment and when it comes to these gas prices, is it just supply and demand, is it just us going into the summer months? Because we just spoke moments earlier about the fact the price of a gallon of gas has really increased two cents over just yesterday. So daily there's yet another increase. What is behind all of this?

BEUTEL: We've had three major factors behind it. The first one has been curiously enough, the fed lowering interest rates. Every time it cuts interest rates, that pushes the dollar down as people put their deposit in banks that have higher rates. When the dollar drops, commodities that are priced in dollars, which is most of them, and certainly oil, then become less expensive to Europeans and Asians and for us to get the oil that we crave and we use about 25 percent of the world's oil, for us to get the oil that we crave, we have to constantly push the price higher when the dollar drops.

NGUYEN: All right, so most importantly for folks watching right now, the question is what can they do to ease some of that pain at the pump?

BEUTEL: Well, there are a lot of things they can do. You know, if we were to cut one out of every 20 trips, just telecommuting once a month or car pooling every other Friday, maybe going to the supermarket instead of every 10 days, every 11 days. If we were able to do that, we could push demand down. At this point really our only way of getting prices down is for us to voluntarily cut demand or for a recession to cut demand without really our permission. We will have a lot of new supplies coming on board in five, six, seven, eight years, but it's just not going to get here quickly enough.

NGUYEN: Seven or eight year from now. We need some relief right now.

BEUTEL: I know.

NGUYEN: You have a really interesting suggestion in cutting just five percent of your costs. If you're a parent commuting to work and you have a child who's also commuting to schools. What do you suggest?

BEUTEL: One of the things I often see here on the highway is that you'll see the parent driving the big car to work and the student 16, 17 years old, driving the small economy car to school. That makes no sense. Have whoever in your family is driving the longest distances, drive the most economical car. Whoever is driving the shortest distances should drive the bigger behemoth. You know that just makes sense. If we were to do simple things like ask our next- door neighbor, can we get you fresh fruit, vegetables or meat and cut our shopping back so we're not going as often, we could very easily cut 5 or 10 percent of our demand.

NGUYEN: Yeah, but if we only had a neighbor like that. I could use a neighbor like that hey, you know maybe I'll call you. How about that?

BEUTEL: Sounds fair to me.

NGUYEN: All right. Peter Beutel, we do appreciate your time today. Thank you.

BEUTEL: Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, we're talking about pain at the pumps. She has pain at the grocery store as well. Just like with gas, you are paying much more for milk, eggs, just about everything else. So I'm going to take you shopping. Don't worry though, I had some help from a shopping expert. Looking for some tips to help you save money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We haven't made it to a single item, no groceries at all, no food, but still we need to be work right now and be mindful of what's going on.

ROBYN SPIZMAN, CONSUMER ADVOCATE: Exactly. Before you put your foot in the door, you want to check out the store. So the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to look at the store circulars, see if there are any manufacturer coupons. Already, I've hit the big one, there are pages and pages of coupons right here ready for me to use. Then I might look to see how long they're good for, which is all month. So now I know if I don't have time to use them now, I could use them later.

HOLMES: One of the first things you often see when you come into the store are deals. The signs, they often have these very kiosks like this set up, you look through them, buy one get one free, two for this, two for that. These are important to stop at always. Why?

SPIZMAN: Because first of all, take a look at them, take a second. Doesn't men spend all day. I'm going to spend just a few minutes, but for example, this vinegar is two for $4. It's a name brand that I use all the time, and I'm saving $2.38 on buying two.

HOLMES: A lot of people's pantries are full of stuff we don't even know what's in there.

SPIZMAN: I promise you that most women, particularly, we have 10 bottles of salad dressing, not all of us, but some of us. So you want to start looking at what are you really using and running out of. So you don't have to run out every time. The rule is to look high and look low because store brands and manufacturer popular brands often will pay more for what's called a slotting fee. According to the grocers that I've spoken to they say that's why there's these brands in the middle. They paid for that right. Seasonal is so important because one, that means the price is going to be better. And then it also means that the product is in season so it's going to be juicier, you're going to get the value. I think the goal is to be a conscious society and also we can save money in the interim by buying smart, sometimes buying less and knowing what you're buying. And there's great power in that because you only have to learn it once. And once you know, you're ready to go.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Hopefully you're ready to go now. We've got a couple of ideas to save with food prices heading out of sight. We're hearing from Americans coping with higher prices like i-Reporter Mary O. from Idaho. She has 10 kids, so you know she makes every dollar count. She says she's managed to keep her food budget at about $75 per person per month. That's pretty good. Feeding your kid for less than $3 a day.

NGUYEN: How is she doing that?

HOLMES: I also hear she's actually going to start giving away some of her children to see if that helps. No. Mary has a blog, that's owlhaven.wordpress.com. Today she's hosting what she's calling a frugal cooking carnival, she's posting three days worth of recipes for all three meals will feed 11 people for only about $57 total. 99 meals for less than 58 cents per meal. We need to be listening to her. Her advice, stock up when there's a sale. Like the time she bought and froze a month's worth of chicken at 99 cents a pound. She says she looks to ethnic recipes like Korean or Ethiopian for affordable and interesting food. She keeps a list of her five favorite recipes on the fridge for days when she's not so inspired. If you want to hear more from Mary on how she does it feeding a family of 12, you can tune into the NEWSROOM with Fredricka Whitfield at 2:00 p.m. eastern, she's talking to Mary live. NGUYEN: If anyone would know, Mary would know, she has 10 kids.

HOLMES: I need help on feeding one.

NGUYEN: That one being you.

HOLMES: I'll listen anyway. Keep watching here at CNN. Our money team has you covered when it comes to jobs, debt, housing, savings. Special report, it's called "ISSUE #1," the economy all this week. Noon eastern only right here on CNN.

NGUYEN: It's no day at the beach in California. In fact, a large stretch of beach is closed right now following a deadly shark attack.

HOLMES: We'll have more on the story for what experts think is a great white shark.

NGUYEN: And the Reverend Jeremiah Wright speaks out. He says the media has it all wrong and he wants to clear his name.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: It's 30 past the hour. Happening right now across the world, Zimbabwe's opposition apparently gets to hold on to its majority win in parliament. Election officials today released results of a ballot recount from several disputed districts, however officials still have not announced who won last month's presidential election.

HOLMES: The Olympic torch has made its way through Japan. Today's relay met some anti-China protests along the way but no major disruptions amid the heavy security. The next stop, South Korea tomorrow.

NGUYEN: Here in the U.S., get ready for your tax rebate checks because you should start receiving them early next week. The treasury is sending more than $110 billion to taxpayers. The government hopes it will boost the economy.

HOLMES: The search for a killer shark continues. Right now off the coast of southern California, crews are looking for what could be a rare great white. The shark attacked the swimmer in the waters north of San Diego yesterday. Today beaches are closed along an eight mile stretch of coast line. The search prompted after a shark attacked a 66-year-old swimmer Dave Martin. He bled to death from the bite. Closed beaches now, shark fears. I want to bring in a shark expert, Nick Wegner, he's conducting a PH.D level research into fast moving sharks. He joins us now from the beach there in San Diego. Nick, people, of course, hear "great white," they can't help it, they automatically think jaws and they think there's some killer shark out there lurking and looking for people to bite. What's the case? What is the truth about great whites? Do they seek people out?

NICK WEGNER, SHARK EXPERT: Well, you bring up a good point. White sharks are actually very rare. And especially in this area. And they're not looking to eat people. They're not on their list of food items. They're looking at seals and sea lions. Unfortunately, and in this case, it's likely a case of mistaken identity where the shark thought it was stalking and unfortunately attacked a person.

HOLMES: Nick, how does it end up this close to the shore around people in the first place?

WEGNER: Well, great whites are coastal sharks. Like I said, they do feed off of seals and elephant seals and sea lions. These animals do hang out near shore. So unfortunately this shark does come in close to shore to feed, but for the most part they're not found off southern California, they're found off of areas such as the Carolina islands, off of San Francisco and Guadalupe Islands where there are large seal populations.

HOLMES: How could it possibly then, this one in particular, we've heard some theories earlier, but have made its way down to southern California where they're not usually found?

WEGNER: This is a highly migratory species, they range all over the world. It's thought that these sharks actually do come into southern California to pup. And female sharks have been seen in the area as well as many pups. So we do think they come into southern California waters on occasion.

HOLMES: How do you get a shark like this away from the shore? If there are enough people around does it get scared off or does everything look like food? Like you said a case of mistaken identity? If there are a lot of people in the water does that signal to the shark this isn't where I need to be or can it just not tell and everything looks like food to it?

WEGNER: Well I think this is a rare event. For the most part, sharks do not mistake humans for food items. If sharks did want to eat people, there would be a lot more shark attacks. But that's just not the case. We had very few shark attacks. I think there's been just one other death in San Diego county over the last 80 or 90 years that's been due to a great white. So we really don't see this happening. And if it was more, if sharks did confuse people more often, then this would be a big problem, but it's not.

HOLMES: Ok, that's what I was just going to ask you to wrap up with to put it into perspective for people. It's that rare 80 or 90 years I believe you said there in southern California, the last time there was a death there in that particular area. So very rare, but of course people on edge right now. Nick Wegner, thank you for your expertise and putting some of this into perspective. Unfortunately people hear great white and we automatically think jaws. Nick we do appreciate you this morning, thank you so much.

WEGNER: Right.

NGUYEN: The road to the White House leads through Indiana today for the Democratic candidates. I want to give you a shot now at Hillary Clinton, just moments ago, firing up the crowd at a big rally in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Meanwhile though, Barack Obama is at a town hall meeting in Marion, Indiana. The state holds its primary in just 10 days and Obama and Clinton they are running neck and neck. On the Republican side, presumptive nominee John McCain has been campaigning with former rival Mike Huckabee and that is fueling questions about whether the two will be running mates. McCain is in Florida today but there are no public events on his schedule

HOLMES: Also on the political radar today, comments from Barack Obama's former pastor. Reverend Jeremiah Wright tries to undo the damage in his first television interview since clips of his fiery sermons hit the internet. Wright says his words were unfairly taken out of context for devious reasons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, BARACK OBAMA'S FORMER PASTOR: When something is taken like a sound bite for political purpose and put constantly over and over again looped in the face of the public, that's not a phase to communicate, those who are doing that are communicating exactly what they want to do which is to paint me as some sort of fanatic or as the learned journalist from "The New York Times" called me a whackadoodle.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right, CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joins us now again from Washington, whackadoodle, ah. Does Barack Obama, I don't know if he said this behind the scenes, but does he just want this man to stop talking publicly?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: This is something Barack Obama doesn't want to talk about but he was asked again yesterday about Reverend Wright's comments to PBS. Here's what Barack Obama had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I understand that he might not agree with me on my assessment of his comments. That's to be expected. So he is obviously free to express his opinions on these issues. I've expressed mine very clearly.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Obama also said that he thinks that those comments, those controversial sermons were objectionable and he understands why Americans took offense. Again, Obama probably doesn't want to have to speak about this T.J., but he will again probably this weekend. Tomorrow Reverend Wright speaks to the NAACP convention in Detroit and Monday Reverend Wright is right here in Washington where he speaks to the National Press Club. So, this may not go away for a few days T.J.

HOLMES: Both sides have surrogates they probably wish wouldn't speak so much. There's enough of that to go around. Hillary Clinton as well, maybe John McCain as well. Who are some of these other folks that everybody wished would just shut up.

STEINHAUSER: Well, one thing that's going on I guess you could say is Hillary Clinton's husband, Bill Clinton and his comments about race and that has been a little bit of a controversy this week as well. Bill Clinton on Tuesday there was a story on the day of the primary in Pennsylvania, Bill Clinton saying that Obama was using the race card against him for comments he made about race back in February and January. Now representative Jim Clyburn who is one of the top African-American officials in congress is speaking out and he says he's a little disappointed in everything and a little worried about all this because everybody questions whether Barack Obama can win the poor white vote but nobody questions whether Hillary Clinton can win the African American vote and she has not been doing very well with African-Americans so far this year. He feels like it's a little unfair and he's also a little critical about Bill Clinton and his comments as well. This is a problem, T.J. because the Democrats regardless of who the nominee is, they need to have African-Americans come out in force in November for them to win back the White House.

HOLMES: Paul Steinhauser with us all morning for us there from Washington. You made it off the campaign trail back there in D.C., inside the beltway, we do appreciate you. Good to see you this morning, buddy.

STEINHAUSER: Take care, T.J.

HOLMES: Of course, one of the disputed claims among Democrats right now is the popular vote, who's ahead.

NGUYEN: Both candidates claim to be ahead. So who's really telling the truth here. Our Josh Levs is here to try to clear it up. I have a feeling the answer is not going to be that easy.

JOSH LEVS: You guys are going to have a tough time accepting this one. Because everybody can parse their words however they want, right?

NGUYEN: It's how you spin it.

LEVS: I know, its all how you spin it. And that's what's going on. We're going to see it here again today. It is an interesting debate because you got who gets counted and who doesn't. And then there are some states that counted but don't count.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEVS (voice-over): In the wake of her Pennsylvania victory, Hillary Clinton has made an interesting statement about the popular vote.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have received more votes by the people who have voted than anybody else.

LEVS: Technically that's true. Real clear politics counted up the popular vote though four caucus states cannot be counted because they don't release their popular vote. Among the states that report the numbers, Clinton has just over 15.1 million. Obama has just below 15 million, but this total includes Florida and Michigan, neither is being counted by the Democratic party. Obama took his name off the ballot in Michigan. Without those two states Obama has 14.4 million votes while Clinton has 13.9 million. Clinton acknowledges how she's doing the math.

CLINTON: If you count as I count, the 2.3 million people who voted in Michigan and Florida.

LEVS: Obama often insists he will win with the most votes.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We won twice as many states. We won the popular vote by a fairly substantial margin.

LEVS: After he lost Pennsylvania, a reporter asked him whether Florida and Michigan should count toward the popular vote. He didn't take a position.

OBAMA: If you want to count them for some abstract measure, you're free to do so. But you know, the way that the popular vote is translated is into delegates. That's how these primaries and caucuses work.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LEVS: But the delegate count has all sorts of complexities, it's not always a direct reflection of the number of votes. In the end, the popular votes might be the clearest sign of just how split Democrats really are nationwide in this race.

OBAMA: The clearest sign but the popular vote is not that clear.

NGUYEN: At all.

LEVS: I know, it's a matter of which states you're going to include and not include and how do you want to define if for yourself.

HOLMES: Mr. Reality, this is ridiculous, I don't even want to ask you about it really. She got a 10 point win in Pennsylvania, but not really. Kind of sort of. This is ridiculous.

LEVS: I know, it's ridiculous, but it's such a sign of how petty some people on both sides get. It's become this big debate, including on cnn.com where people are battling this. Let me explain what's going on. Clinton has claimed a double digit victory in Pennsylvania because she got 55 percent and Obama got 45 percent.

NGUYEN: So what is it really?

LEVS: Some Obama supporters are saying well both figures were rounded and she really got 9.4 percent which is really a single digit victory so she shouldn't claim a double digit victory. It's so annoying that people fixate on these kinds of things but it becomes a big deal. And check it out, I'm holding right here, all these pages that I printed from cnn.com this morning where people are having this debate on our website, largely Obama supporters --

NGUYEN: Whether it's a 10 point lead or a 9 point lead.

LEVS: Saying it should really be a single digit, some people saying it's a double digit.

HOLMES: Officially what are we giving her and the news outlets given her, a 10 point win?

LEVS: Well we're saying 55 to 45.

NGUYEN: That's 10 points.

LEVS: Yeah. I mean the last count we have is somewhere a 9.4 something. But in the end she won Pennsylvania, now we've moved on.

NGUYEN: Let's just be clear.

LEVS: We want to.

NGUYEN: Although it's hard to find clarity in all of this. Ok, thank you Josh.

HOLMES: That's reality. Not Mr. Clarity. Mr. Reality.

NGUYEN: By no stretch of the imagination.

HOLMES: We'll see more of the candidates.

NGUYEN: Poor Josh.

HOLMES: On the campaign trail you can see that in a special edition of "BALLOT BOWL" today, 3 o'clock eastern time right here on CNN.

NGUYEN: Also packed and ready to go for an appointment with fate. We're going to tell you about a chance encounter that you will not soon forget.

HOLMES: Wintry weather not just out of here just yet. Where springtime temperatures are caught in a deep freeze.

(COMMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, so if you are somewhere where you can enjoy spring be thankful, because check this out Mitchell, South Dakota. I don't see any spring flowers popping up anywhere. These pictures were taken yesterday. But more of the same is coming South Dakota's way today. So brace yourself for hail and snow.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Can any of you imagine giving up your high paying job and your home to help complete strangers?

NGUYEN: Well, you know what? One woman did just that and still ahead, we're going to show you this remarkable person who decided to step up and make a remarkable sacrifice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with Fredricka Whitfield

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: If only you knew what we talk about before we go on the air.

NGUYEN: It's a good thing that you don't. But you know what, what you have coming up, is something that a lot of people do need to know about.

WHITFIELD: Of course and we're going to continue the momentum of you al and your show earlier this morning on the Sean Bell case. Clearly it's not over even though there is a verdict, we could be seeing this case again in federal court and possibly in a civil court.

Also, I know everyone is trying to get creative on finding ways to stretch the dollar, stretch your mileage, well, this one woman we're going to talk to in the 2:00 hour, she tops everybody's formula. She's got 10 kids, there's her entire family. How she's able to feed the entire family on just pennies per person, per meal on a daily basis. You need to be taking notes from this woman.

NGUYEN: And they're not just eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches everyday?

WHITFIELD: No, its good stuff, she gets very creative. The kids feel like they're in a restaurant everyday.

NGUYEN: She needs to write a cookbook.

WHITFIELD: She's an incredible cook. She's actually got a website. All kinds of great advice.

NGUYEN: What's it called? Because I think I'm about (INAUDIBLE) it right now. Lunch time out here.

WHITFIELD: It's incredible. So you got to tune in for 2:00.

NGUYEN: I'll be there.

HOLMES: We will see that. You're a little under the weather, the voice there is still not working quite right.

WHITFIELD: I don't know what this is. This is my Lauren Bacall.

NGUYEN: Is that what it is?

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

NGUYEN: Very nice.

HOLMES: We'll watch the whole show.

WHITFIELD: It's unintentional, but it's what I got for now.

HOLMES: All right Fredricka, thank you we will see you here in just a minute.

We now want to head to today's CNN hero. A doctor who helped some of the 47 million people who don't have health care here in the U.S.

NGUYEN: Thanks to private donations and grants, her patients pay only what they can even if it's spare change. Meet Dr. Lorna Stewart.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was nervous, scared, wondering, hey I ain't even got a dollar to my name, what am I going to do?

DR. LORNA STEWART: Every single person knows somebody without health insurance. There are so very many people that fall through the cracks. Over the years of my private practice, I was getting more and more frustrated with the insurance companies finding reasons not to pay for a procedure or a visit. And I said, we should start a clinic. I am Dr. Lorna Stewart and I provide quality health care to people without health insurance. Ok I'll need his chart. When I began it, there wasn't any spare money around to pay me. It didn't feel like a sacrifice because the difference in the rewards is huge. Jessie, good morning. The clinic provides something very special to uninsured people, respectful, dignified health care.

Thank you, Dr. Stewart.

STEWART: We're here to see people no matter what their ability to pay is. Since there's no need do spend a lot of time doing paperwork, we have time to talk to the patient and really hear what they're saying. So the patients go away feeling they've been heard, that they've been helped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your clinic made me feel comfortable and at peace I just want to say thank you. It's greatly appreciated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you care to make a contribution for your health care today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do. I only have $10. Is that all right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That will be fine. Thank you.

STEWART: I like to do it this way. Nobody restricting how the care is provided but simply health care. One person at a time.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, CNN viewers told us about Dr. Lorna Stewart. In fact, this year all of our CNN heroes are extraordinary people that you have nominated on our website. So if you know someone who deserves to be a CNN hero, tell us about them at cnn.com/heroes, you never know, you can see your hero right here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still remember that night just like it was yesterday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know he's coming, but when is he going to be here?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: He hasn't seen her since she was a tiny baby abandoned at a Denny's restaurant but now they meet again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A newborn baby abandoned at a restaurant, a man finds her and gives her to the authorities

NGUYEN: The story might have ended there, but that baby is now 18 and curious about the man who saved her. Their story from Doug Warner of CNN affiliate KWTV.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

We got everything?

DOUG WARNER, KWTV REPORTER (voice-over): 18 years to the day, Bill Kotch is loading up.

Come on.

WARNER: Dogs and all for a return trip in time.

BILL KOTCH, FOUND ABANDONED BABY: Because I want to see the end of the story.

WARNER: We all want to see the end.

KOTCH: I want to see the end of this story.

WARNER: It's the story of an abandoned baby found by Bill at a Denny's parking lot in Gainesville, Texas. Now writing itself an all- new ending.

KOTCH: It has been almost 18 years since we last met. I like to thank you for helping to save my life.

WARNER: A couple of months ago Bill received this letter from Gunther, Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was that tiny baby girl you found in the back of your truck that morning of April 5, 1990.

WARNER: From the very newborn he found and saved April 5, 1990.

KOTCH: I'm kind of anxious to get down there.

WARNER: Bill and his wife are headed back to Texas for that baby's 18th birthday party.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I couldn't stand it just waiting and waiting. WARNER: And the reunion of a lifetime. However, we had hardly crossed the state line when Bill decided to pull off the road in Gainesville. We sort of thought he would.

KOTCH: I pulled up right in here. And just went to sleep.

WARNER: See it's the first time in 18 years, Bill has driven past this Denny's with actual answers to the haunting questions of what happened to baby girl doe.

KOTCH: I still remember that night just like it was yesterday.

BETHANY LAROCHE, ABANDONED AT BIRTH: I know he's coming, but when is he going to be here.

WARNER: Bill's detour may have made him a few minutes late. But what's a couple of minutes.

KOTCH: You didn't look like that when I seen you last.

WARNER: When you've waited 18 years for this. Bethany's adoptive parents weren't sure what to expect after Bethany's letter to Bill first hit the mailbox.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have such a grateful heart for you. You just never will know.

WARNER: What they got was an instant Uncle Billy.

LAROCHE: I told my mom he's a guardian angel.

WARNER: For Bethany she said she couldn't ask for a better birthday present.

LAROCHE: Now I have my connection with that part of my life.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: That's a great story for us to end on this morning. That story came from Doug Warner of CNN affiliate WKTV.

NGUYEN: The NEWSROOM continues with Fredricka Whitfield.