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Decision Day in Indiana, North Carolina; Judicial Thoughts: McCain Speech on Appointments; Killer Cyclone in Myanmar

Aired May 06, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning again, everyone. You are informed with CNN.
I'm Tony Harris.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen.

HARRIS: Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Tuesday, the 6th of May.

Here's what's on the rundown.

NGUYEN: It is election day. Two key states holding primaries. Almost 200 delegates on the line for Clinton and Obama.

HARRIS: Judging McCain -- how would he choose nominees for the federal bench? He told us a short time ago.

NGUYEN: Also, President Bush offering a hand to Myanmar today. Will the military rulers accept that? The death toll from the cyclone jumps higher this morning. We have the numbers in the NEWSROOM.

First up, the road to the White House -- two Democrats and the top two remaining delegates prizes. Primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. Hillary Clinton says today will be a game changer.

CNN crews are dotting the political landscape. And take a look. Dan Lothian is in Indianapolis. Susan Candiotti is in Raleigh, North Carolina. And Dana Bash is with Republican John McCain in Winston- Salem.

So, let's begin with Dan.

Dan, what are the issues that's driving voters to the polls there in Indianapolis?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the main issue, obviously, is the issue we have been talking about now for so many weeks. And that's the economy.

As we were talking, the voters who have been coming in here, one voter telling us that he still has a job but he is concerned for many others who have lost their jobs. And he says that he is even concerned that potentially he could lose his job down the road. So that was the issue that was very important to him as he was coming in here to the polls. Behind me, as you see, it's picked up quite a bit at this precinct. This is one precinct here. And then through that door is a second precinct.

In that other precinct, we're told they're just a few votes shy of hitting the all-time record for the entire day, and here we're only five hours into voting here. This one here, this precinct, has already exceeded the all-time record for the entire day. So that just gives you a sense of how many people really are really turning out to vote here today.

Statewide, we're told that the numbers are quite strong, but still waiting to get confirmation on exactly what those numbers are. But again, the main issue for folks continues to be the economy. But we did talk to one lady who told us the one thing that she was really focusing on is the issue of fighting poverty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHY GEHLHAUSEN, "PUPPIES FOR OBAMA": Well, I'm a social worker, so I really pay attention to what's going on with people who are living in poverty. I've worked as a counselor for the last two years, and I work in addictions, so Medicaid reform, health care reform, that's definitely on the top of my priority list. After that, child care. You know, making sure that if someone has fallen to the bottom, they actually have got a way to get back up.

LOTHIAN: And you felt that Obama was able to address those issues?

GEHLHAUSEN: Definitely. I completely trust him.

He was a community organizer in Chicago. I know he's worked the same streets with the same people that I have. So I can trust him to care about those people because he has been there, he's seen them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: An Obama supporter there.

Now, we also asked the question about whether or not voters were impacted at all by some of the negative campaigning that we saw, some of the controversies surrounding the candidates. Most of the people we talked to said that they weren't really following it and they didn't feel that it impacted their vote at all.

Also, one person told us that, you know, she was watching the race. She could not make up her mind and didn't make up her mind until she walked in here this morning.

Again, the polls opened at 6:00 a.m. this morning, will close at 6:00 p.m. tonight -- Betty.

NGUYEN: And it's not even noon and already near record turnout for the entire day. That is really exciting.

LOTHIAN: That's correct.

NGUYEN: All right. Dan Lothian, thank you.

HARRIS: And now to North Carolina. CNN's Susan Candiotti is at a polling place in Raleigh.

And Susan, I'm curious. When Hillary Clinton talks about today being potential game changer, is she really talking about a win there where you are in North Carolina, where she has trailed in the polls throughout this process?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, who knows? I mean, you might make the comparison, remember, to one of the other states where she was able to fight her way back -- or rather Senator Obama was able to fight his way back to make the race a close one.

If she winds up losing North Carolina as, frankly, many people expect her to, she may say, yes, but I made great gains here, closing the race in the closing days. So we will have to wait of course, as we always like to say, until all the results are counted.

But Tony, it has been certainly very busy here, too. I don't have numbers like Dan does in Indiana. They don't have those early results for us yet, but they are expecting an early -- a record turnout here, too.

They have been coming here since, like, 6:30 this morning. The lines were out here, outside the parking lot of the St. Marks Episcopal Church.

Since then, a steady stream of voters. This's always a little mid-morning drop-off here, and then it picks up again at lunch time.

Issue #1 here, as usual, is the economy, as we talked to people about which way they are voting. And we have a couple of people here who just completed their balloting inside.

Tell me, did you have any one particular issue in mind when you came to the polls today?

DON PAVIC, VOTER: Well, local oil exploration is very important to me to get our dependence on oil under control. Number two is a strong defense so that we can defend our country and defend -- prevent events like 9/11 from happening again.

CANDIOTTI: And did you have your mind made up before you came to the polls today?

PAVIC: Yes, ma'am.

CANDIOTTI: All right. Care to share?

PAVIC: As far as who I voted for? Well, I'm voting for whoever is going to give me the least government control in my life, the least amount of taxes, and just -- I want the government to take care of the roads and defend me, and that's it. CANDIOTTI: All right.

Thank you very much.

Now, what about you, sir? Did you already have are your mind made up before you came today?

ED HALL, VOTER: Oh, yes.

CANDIOTTI: And what has been uppermost in your mind? What's most important to you? What made you decide to vote for whoever you chose?

HALL: Well, I voted because I have a good memory. My great grandfather, he was a slave, and I remember him, and my great grandmother. They couldn't vote like I can.

And I remember they were spit on and kicked and all like that. And some of them lost their jobs just for voting.

But I thank God I can vote. And (INAUDIBLE), I have him with me because he's my cousin. And also, I voted for -- well, I wanted to vote for both of the candidates for president, but I could only vote for one. So I voted for Obama. But Mrs. Clinton is a sweetheart, too.

CANDIOTTI: All right. Well, there you go. I know it's a tough decision for a lot of people who are casting their ballots this day.

You know, the latest CNN average of all the polls in North Carolina shows that Senator Obama has retaken a slight lead here by two percentage points, and is now back into the double digits.

Now, polls will be open here until 7:30 this evening. Of course, we expect things to pick up again around lunchtime and dinnertime. And regardless of the outcome, Senator Obama is planning to have a victory party here in Raleigh later tonight.

Back to you.

HARRIS: All right. Susan Candiotti for us this morning.

Susan, appreciate it. Thank you.

NGUYEN: Well, as you know, today's primaries, big day. Huge stakes for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. So let's crunch the numbers for you.

Indiana, 72 delegates up for grabs. It is the second largest delegate prize left in the presidential race. The biggest, well, that's North Carolina. Clinton and Obama competing for 115 delegates there.

Always remember that CNN is the place for extensive coverage of today's primaries. Tonight at 7:00 Eastern, the best political team on television breaks down the results from Indiana and North Carolina. HARRIS: Their decisions impact all our lives. Last hour, you saw John McCain live on CNN giving an idea of the kinds of judges he would nominated as president.

CNN's Dana Bash is at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

And Dana, an important speech, it seems, for John McCain, who is trying to convince conservatives of his views -- his conservative judicial philosophy.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You are exactly right, Tony.

You know, it's interesting. For the most part, since John McCain effectively clinched the nomination, he has been following the model that most former or newly-minted nominees follow, which is to go back to the center.

We have been hearing a lot about John McCain as a different kind of Republican, appealing to Independents, appealing to conservative Democrats. Well, this speech today was very much geared to his conservative Republican base.

And he had really all of the buzzwords with regard to the issue. One of the issues that the conservative Republican base cares perhaps the most about, and that is judges, the kind of judges that John McCain as a Republican president would appoint to the bench. And more specifically, most importantly perhaps to them, the Supreme Court of the United States.

Now, what he said is that he wants people who are not focused on judicial activism and he said that he wants judicial restraint, judges who really focus on the tenets of the Constitution. And he said that he would appoint judges -- or justices, I should say -- in the model of John Roberts, the chief justice, Samuel Alito, and even the late chief justice, William Rehnquist.

He also wanted to make very clear on this day here in North Carolina, the Democrats' primary day, that there is a real difference and a real contrast between the kind of judges he would appoint and the kind that Democrats would appoint.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senators Obama and Clinton have very different ideas from my own. They are both lawyers themselves, and don't seem to mind at all when fundamental questions of social policy are preemptively decided by judges instead of by the people and their elected representatives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, there has been some skepticism in the conservative world, Tony, about John McCain with regard to his stance on the issue of judges. For the most part, it's because he doesn't talk about it a lot. That's one of the reasons why the speech was so important for him, but also because he was involved in a bipartisan group who is known as the Gang of 14 that tried to find a way, a middle ground, to getting some of the justices that he just talked about actually put on the bench under President Bush.

So that is part of the reason why he's made some conservatives a little bit weary of him with regard to this issue. But some conservatives I talked to today said that he was pretty much right on the mark with this. And as you can imagine, Democrats are jumping up and down saying, a-ha, if you don't think John McCain is going to be, as they put it, just like George W. Bush, just read this speech, and he is saying point blank that he wants to appoint the kind of justices that George Bush did -- Tony.

HARRIS: And there she is, Dana Bash, part of the best political team on television, at Wake Forest University with the McCain campaign.

To find more on the candidates, just go to CNNPolitics.com. CNNPolitics.com is your source for everything political.

NGUYEN: Well, another big story that we are following is, of course, Myanmar. The death toll soars from a monster cyclone halfway around the world. And our T.J. Holmes is tracking Myanmar's developments from our international desk. We see them working hard over there.

What is the latest, T.J.?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, the latest, Betty, is just staggering. Of course, you and I were here over the weekend talking about this, about this cyclone, and about the destruction. And talking about hundreds dead.

We knew we had a disaster on our hands. But then certainly Monday morning, it jumps to 4,000. Then we started hearing 10,000, 15,000.

Now the state-run news agency over there saying that 22,000 people have now been killed in this monster cyclone. There is just a mess going right now, a disaster that's really hard to fathom for lot of people -- 22,000 dead. Again, according to state radio and opposition forces.

Now, that area we are highlighting right there, Bogalay, there in Myanmar, it's in the Southern Delta region. That is where the Chinese news agency is reporting that more than 10,000 people were killed.

We do have people there on the ground in certain areas. And one area they are saying that you can see -- there's a 20-mile stretch of destruction. Pretty much nothingness, homes destroyed, for a 20-mile stretch, as far as you can see in Bogalay. Things are just gone.

Of course we know that the water supply is cut off. No power, no communication. And the food is scarce. We are also starting to get some iReports into us. Of course, so many disasters and news happens. We depend on our iReporters to help us tell the story.

Here's an iReport we're getting from Eric here. It shows a blocked road. Again, just one that we're starting to get in here.

But he also described that street lights are down. Things are littered in the road. There's no power.

And you know, in some things like this, in disasters, people try to work and get debris out of the road. You can hear those chainsaws working. But they said people are having to use hand saws to try to cut a lot of this stuff out of the road. There's no place to plunk in some of the equipment that's needed, no power to get to the equipment that's needed to really get a lot of this stuff out of the road.

Also, we have been monitoring a government opposition Web site, the democratic voice of Burma. And their bloggers that are starting to write in, really some sad notes in some cases. But people are awfully skeptical of the government there, the military junta that, of course, has been under so much scrutiny by the international community.

But one person here reads that, "Please... all organizations that are ready to help, please give supplies to our monasteries, and have the monks organize and handle the distributions in each town and district. Don't hand it to the Junta."

So you see there, there is some skepticism. People are worried that the supplies will not get to the people who need them.

Another here from someone who is appealing for any word about family members there, saying, "I am a Burmese Canadian from one of the hardest hit areas there, and I just want to know if any of my family members are still alive. There is no way of knowing. I feel totally powerless."

So we have online really one of the best ways right now to certainly help us tell the story. And for people out there seeing a disaster like this, certainly want to help out, we can get you in the right direction.

International assistance is being organized. And you can log on to cnn.com/impact to find out how you can help.

So we are getting iReports, starting to get those. We will try to share some more of those. Hopefully we'll get some more in, but of course it's just -- it's tough for people to get those pictures and get online.

There are other, of course, as you can imagine right now, Betty, other worries. But we appreciate any help we can get in telling this story.

We'll continue to bring that to you. NGUYEN: Yes. Well, and the pleas for help are just heart- wrenching, because it's true. I mean, you've got a 20-mile swathe of area that has just been devastated. No power. How in the world are you going to know if your family members are still alive?

And they are saying not only 22,000 have been killed at this point, according to the government radio, but a million people homeless. So this is a major, major disaster.

HOLMES: Homeless. Yes, Betty, we're continuing to monitor it over here.

NGUYEN: All right, T.J. Thank you for that.

HOLMES: All right.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. Hard times for the economy, and criminals crave the basics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people are taking necessities. As well as the computers and the TVs, they took food. They broke into a neighbor's house and took the copper pipes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Jeez. So, when the economy turns bad, do more bad guys turn out?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Cabby commentary. They may listen to talk radio, but they have their own show in their taxis.

CNN's Zain Verjee takes a ride.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Taxi!

(voice over): The best pundits in Washington, D.C., may be behind the wheel. It's a United Nations of political opinion.

From Nigeria...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this country?

VERJEE (on camera): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-eight years.

VERJEE (voice over): ... Ethiopia, Pakistan, to right here at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been a cab driver for 30 years.

VERJEE (on camera): How much do you talk politics with your passengers?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, a lot. This is a political city.

VERJEE: Do you ever change anyone's opinion?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Absolutely.

VERJEE (voice over): They are news junkies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm on NPR.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The newspaper.

Washington polls.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I'm not going to watch news, I'm missing something.

VERJEE: And the marathon Democratic race?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very excited, especially this time. But it takes too long.

VERJEE (on camera): Are you getting tired of it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, I'm getting tired of it because they are not saying anything. They are not really sticking to the issues.

You know, they're talking about this Reverend Wright. That doesn't have anything to do with a family when they go to the store.

VERJEE: What are some of the big issues in this campaign that are important to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, war on terrorism or whatever is going on in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the main things is health care. You've got millions of people that don't have health care.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never had health insurance. You know? I can't afford it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The economy, number one. The dollar falling.

VERJEE (voice over): His passengers are mostly Democrats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It goes between Hillary and Obama.

VERJEE: But even some Republicans...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't want to vote Republican. They want a change.

VERJEE: Cabbies eavesdrop on secrets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, when Ronald Reagan was president, I had some guys -- I don't know who they were, but they said that the process was being released. They were talking about it.

VERJEE (on camera): Any little nuggets you are picking up now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I don't know a thing.

(LAUGHTER)

VERJEE: Thanks a lot.

Zain Verjee, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: A deal at the pharmacy counter. More prescription drugs cheaper than ever before.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta saves you money in just minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Saving on prescription drugs. Wal-Mart just announced it is expanding its $4 program. And this morning, The Associated Press says Target will match that discount.

Here is our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We know a lot of people spend up to thousands of dollars a month each month for prescription drugs. And people looking to defray some of those costs, what Wal-Mart is proposing might actually help.

Now, it's important to note that this is actually the next phase, if you will, of the prescription drug plan. Take a look specifically at what it means.

There's 350 generic medications around that that are now going to be offered at $10 a more for a 90-day supply. The previous phase of the program was around $4 for a 30-day supply.

What does that specifically mean to you? Well, take a look at some common medications that are often prescribed. Fosamax, for example, the generic version of that will be $9 for a 30-day supply. Previously $54 for a 30-day supply.

You keep going down the list looking at some of the other common medications. Paroxetine, $10, $150 at most other pharmacies. Metformin, which is a diabetes medication, $10 versus $63. Levothyroxine for low thyroid, $10 versus $54.

Is this going to make a difference? Well, Wal-Mart says this is going to cover about 95 percent of the medications that are taken out there. And they're sort of setting the trend.

Late last night, according to The Associated Press, Target also announced that it's going to match a lot of these programs.

Now, if you take a look overall at drug costs in this country, I mean, they have gone up considerably -- $216 billion a year roughly in 2006. But what's even more concerning, that's up 50 percent from 2001. And they do have effect, those costs.

People foregoing these medications in order to pay their mortgage, in order to buy food. A lot of times skipping their doses.

There are other things that might make a difference as well, if you are watching this right now and have been struggling with health care costs, specifically generic drugs. Talk to your doctor about this, but there are some generic drugs that may be very appropriate.

And this other tip will require a little bit of reading on your part. But if you look at the insurance plan that you have, and you're taking a certain medication, make sure that medication is on the formulary where there is a comparable medication.

Mail order plans, now this is typically for, you know, a three- month supply of drugs. And look for static co-pays. Pay the $10, $15, $20 instead of a percentage. Those percentages are going to get higher and higher as drug costs go higher.

Finally, and a lot of doctors may not tell you this, but you can actually break a lot of pills in half. And in fact, a lot of them are actually scored down the middle. Again, talk to your doctor about this, but if you can break it in half, you will get double the number of pills for the same amount of money.

There are some Web sites out there that could be a benefit as well. Take a look -- medicare.gov, copays.org, pparx.org.

As more tips come to us to help lower the cost for you, we will bring them to you.

Back to you for now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. So, to get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, here is what you do. You log on to our Web site. You will find the latest medical news, a health library, and information on diet and fitness. The address: CNN.com/health.

Hello, everybody, on this Tuesday morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.

Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.

High stakes in North Carolina and Indiana today. Can these primaries change the Democratic race?

Here is CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider, part of the best political team on television.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice over): It's late in the game. The clock is running out. Hillary Clinton is still running behind in both popular votes and pledge delegates.

What does she need in Indiana and North Carolina?

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This primary election on Tuesday is a game changer. This is going to make a huge difference in what happens going forward.

SCHNEIDER: If Barack Obama wins both North Carolina and Indiana, that would be a game changer. But not the one Clinton is talking about. It would signal that the voters are ready to close the deal. It would also be a game-changer if Clinton wins both North Carolina and Indiana by double-digit margins. Clinton needs big victories because it's so late in the game.

Only 404 pledged delegates remain to be chosen, 187 of them on Tuesday, the biggest single primary day left. Clinton would need to win 70 percent of the remaining pledged delegates to catch up with Obama. That's very unlikely. She stands a better chance of catching up in the total popular vote.

Our estimate is that she would need about 56 percent of the remaining popular vote to catch up with Obama. What does it look like in Indiana and North Carolina? Clinton is picking up late support in both states. Obama is still ahead in North Carolina, but his margin has narrowed to eight points in our poll of polls.

In Indiana, where the race has been tied for the past two weeks, Clinton has pulled four points ahead. In both states, her vote is below 50 percent. It could be a split decision, with modest victories for Obama in North Carolina and Clinton in Indiana. That means the game goes on, possibly into overtime.

(on camera): If Clinton can't change the game, at a minimum she wants to keep it going. For how long? Until the party decides to bring the Florida and Michigan delegates into play. Because those reinforcements give her her last best hope of winning.

Bill Schneider, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. So let's give you a glimpse of what voters are saying. CNN has crunched the numbers and combined several polls, and averaged them out to bring you the bottom line. So here it is. Our latest CNN poll of polls shows Obama ahead of Clinton in North Carolina by -- look at that -- 10 points. Obama favored by 51 percent of likely Democratic voters; Clinton by 41 percent.

Now let's look at Indiana. Clinton is ahead there. She is at 48 percent. Obama, 44 percent.

Remember, CNN is the place for extensive coverage of the primaries. Tonight, at 7:00 eastern, the best political team on TV breaks down the results from Indiana and North Carolina.

HARRIS: Let's take everyone to Massillon, Iowa right now for what is -- as we get a closer shot you're going to see it. It's an absolutely horrible scene. The local affiliate there in Cleveland, WEWS, providing these pictures for us. Look at that. That looks like a minivan involved in this accident with a fire truck. Yes, a Massillon fire truck. This happened a few hours ago now, 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

And new video in to CNN, so this cleanup still very much under way. Maybe the reason that it hasn't moved farther along is the coroner's office has been called to the scene because it is believed that one person, at least one person, has been killed in this accident. Several others have been transported to an area hospital. But just a pretty horrid scene here, Massillon, Ohio, this fire truck and that minivan coming together in just a spectacular accident.

We will keep an eye on the situation. See if we can get additional information and update the story for you.

NGUYEN: Exactly what happened there.

HARRIS: Yes.

NGUYEN: All right. Well in the meantime, preparing to cast their first ballots, what are some young people thinking?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think being patriotic is also being a neighbor to those actually in our country and those far away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: American politics and their place in the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Do you remember your first vote for president? For the class of 2008, there is excitement, and some soul-searching.

CNN's Rick Sanchez has been traveling the country talking with these new players in our ongoing series "The League of First-Time Voters." He recently sat down with Mennonite students at Indiana's Goshen College.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What is global thinking, that is different from the way most Americans think globally?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thinking about how issues and policy impacts people in an international setting, rather than just here in America.

SANCHEZ: Are you saying too often we as a country are a bit too ethnocentric?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Especially in politics. We focus a lot on, what does that mean for us, and how will this affects us? But what if we start thinking about how it not only affects us, but how it affects the world.

SANCHEZ: Many people would say if you're not nationalistic, if you're not thinking of us, then you're not patriotic. And you say to them what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think as Mennonites we consider ourselves not unpatriotic, but more than patriotic, citizens of both this world and of another world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think being patriotic is also being a neighbor to those actually in our country and those far away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our worldview, what you're grown up with is not the only way of doing things. People everywhere think about things differently. When you go to another culture you learn that the way that you were raised isn't the only way, and that maybe not even the correct way or the right way. And so you learn how to respect other people's views and other people's ways of thinking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a world where our technology is ever increasing and we have all these new ways of communicating and reaching across cultures, we're so aware of what's going on in the world and we become this interdependent world, and that's why this idea of global citizenship and becoming part of that is so important. And people are energized by their want to connect with people and to understand our world.

SANCHEZ: Rather than being at war with them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. I think, especially being Mennonite and taking a pacifist perspective, is about reaching across those boundaries and finding ways in which to facilitate that peace through relationships and through getting to know people. SANCHEZ: Barack Obama said when, he was asked in one of our CNN debates, whether he would talk to people like Chavez and Hamas. Both other candidates, McCain and Hillary Clinton, said no, we wouldn't talk to them. Barack Obama said sure, I would go talk them. He was called naive for having that position. Would the Mennonite position, would your position be that he was naive?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My position would be that we need to talk to the people, regardless of whether or not we like them. How else do you fix issues that you have between countries if the leaders won't even talk to each other? How else do we fix the divides that spans across the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the diplomacy? Where's the creative thinking, the alternative solutions? From a faith perspective, I think engaging in diplomacy and trying to find alternative solutions is something that involves a leap of faith. Because you don't know where it's going to end up and you don't know how it will play out. But if you're willing to take that risk and to have that faith, you find hope in something greater than yourself.

SANCHEZ: What's a broader faith-based perspective?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me it's thinking about the poor of our country and around the world. It's about thinking about how does what we do here affect the rest of the world with an environment, with our foreign policy in wars. We think more about how we live, how our resources, the resources that we use affect the rest of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't just think about what you want. You have to think about other people's well-being as well. And maybe some of the choices they make aren't the greatest, but they're still human beings and they deserve the respect. And I think they think things on that respect is the important part of having a broad faith basis.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in Iran three months ago. And going to the axis "of evil," as George Bush puts it. The welcome I received there and the incredible warmth from the Iranian people, which I'd never experienced traveling anywhere else, to be welcomed as an American was absolutely shocking. And the stereotypes coming in and fears were just blown to pieces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can recall an English teacher that I had in 12th grade of high school who told us there was a difference between a tourist and a pilgrim. And we had gone on a choir trip to Europe. And we stayed in the houses with host families. We didn't stay in hotels, you know, like -- and we got to feel what it was like to live there. And we interacted with their kids, who were our age and we connected with them.

And I think that's the difference. I think that when you start to understand the way of life and the world view and the way that people view the rest of the world, when you have that enlightenment and that understanding, you become much more informed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: So, this election, get the facts and have a bit of fun. Join the "League of First Time Voters." Empowered by you, informed by CNN. Check in, join in, weigh in. CNN, headquarters for the independent thinker. Join now. For more information, logon to CNN.com/league.

NGUYEN: Marking a death row date on the calendar. High court rulings for some states to actually schedule executions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, some states are scheduling executions again after a Supreme Court decision on lethal injections.

CNN's Kelli Arena reports that Georgia could be first in line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If the state of Georgia gets its way, William Earlin (ph) will be put to death by lethal injection tonight. He was convicted of killing his girlfriend as she lay incapacitated in the trunk of his car.

TOMMY FLOYD, PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS COUNCIL OF GEORGIA: There comes a time when enough is enough. If we're going to have a death penalty in this country and in this state, it ought to be carried out in an expeditious manner.

ARENA: Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that lethal injection is Constitutional. At least eight states immediately scheduled executions, believing they got a green light to proceed. But the Justices examined the way that executions are carried out only in Kentucky.

GEORGE KENDALL, DEATH PENALTY APELLATE ATTORNEY: In other states that have executed, there's been a pattern of executions going awry, where things have gone wrong.

ARENA: What's more, death penalty opponents say not every state follows the same procedures as Kentucky, opening the door for more appeals.

James Craig represents a death row defendant in Mississippi, which uses a lower dosage of drugs than Kentucky.

JAMES CRAIG, EARL BERRY'S ATTORNEY: I don't think Mississippi's procedures to the extent we know about them will withstand the scrutiny that Kentucky's did. First of all, Mississippi, like a lot of states, conducts these proceedings with the utmost secrecy.

ARENA: It's unclear whether the Supreme Court would accept another lethal injection challenge, but opponents won't stop there.

(on camera): Just last week, one more death row inmate was exonerated, this time in North Carolina. Proof opponents say of a system that is fundamentally flawed.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Fuel prices surging to another record intraday high, topping $121 a barrel today. Worries about supply and the weak dollar fueling the rise. But gas prices declined a bit, Betty, for the fifth day in a row. AAA reports the national average for a gallon of regular at $3.60, down a tenth of a cent from yesterday. Got to hang on to those tenths. Diesel down a bit, too, $4.23 a gallon. And get this, a new CNN Research Corporation Poll shows 44 percent of Americans think it is very likely we will be paying $5 a gallon for gas before the year is over.

$3 a gallon for gas seems like a dream right now for most Americans. And one struggling car company wants to help you lock it in. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details.

Susan, good morning.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

NGUYEN: Yes, let's not talk about that ...

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

NGUYEN: ...until it happens, OK?

Well, your house may not be worth as much you thought, unfortunately. A new study shows home values dropping 7.7 percent in the first quarter of this year. More than half of the homes purchased in 2006 are now worth less than the buyers owe on their mortgages. That's according to the Web site Zillow.com which tracks home prices. 2006, get this, was the year the housing market peaked.

Keep watching CNN. Our money team has you covered whether it's jobs, debt, housing, or savings. Join us for a special report. It's called "ISSUE #1," the economy. And it is all this week at noon Eastern only on CNN.

HARRIS: Interview overload leads to a candidate confusion. Who am I talking to now? This story in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The long road to the White House has its bumps. All you need to do is ask the candidates.

Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Obama, we'd like to introduce you to "Today's" show host Matt Lauer. Matt, the guy you called Tim three times. SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, Tim, I think that -- well, I think what it is, Tim. Well, Tim, first of all.

MOOS: Finally, Matt couldn't take another Tim.

MATT LAUER, "TODAY" SHOW HOST: I just want to say, I know you've had a very long week and so have I. You're saying Tim. I know -- it's Matt Lauer. But I -- believe me, I completely -- I completely understand.

OBAMA: Matt, I'm sorry.

MOOS: But it's no wonder Obama has Tim on the brain. Less than 24 hours earlier, he spent an hour with Tim Russert and never once called him Matt.

OBAMA: As I said, Tim -- you're right, Tim.

MOOS: But the Tim/Matt thing is nothing compared to the time Jimmy Carter paid tribute Senator Hubert Humphrey at the Democratic Convention.

JIMMY CARTER, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ...he would have been one of the greatest presidents in history, Hubert Horatio Hornblower -- Humphrey.

MOOS: Horatio Hornblower is a fictional naval officer. Turns out Hubert Humphrey's middle name is Horatio. So, you can see how Carter made the connection.

CARTER: Hubert Horatio Hornblower.

MOOS: The guy trying to blow Fred Thompson's horn ended up blowing it all right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Fred Roberts from Tennessee.

MOOS: Sometimes, they get it half right. For instance, when Senator Harry Reid tried to say happy birthday to Wolf Blitzer.

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: First of all, Blitz, the first ...

MOOS: Blitz, Blitzer, who cares as long as they don't do what Ross on "Friends" did.

DAVID SCHWIMMER, ACTOR, "ROSS": I, Ross ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take thee, Emily.

SCHWIMMER: ...take thee, Rachel.

MOOS: Rachel was the one he really loved.

(on camera): And then, there was the time I personally called Richard Nixon President Reagan. The question is a little tough to hear, but the response is clear.

(voice-over): I was a rookie reporter back in 1984.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS (on camera): President Reagan -- sorry, President Nixon.

RICHARD NIXON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've been called worse than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS (voice-over): Yes, well, it's hard to call Barack Obama worse than Obama bin Laden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Obama bin Laden is still at large.

OBAMA: I think that was Osama bin Laden.

MOOS: We could all use assistance, like the obnoxious editor had in "The Devil Wears Prada," whispering helpful hints.

EMILY BLUNT, ACTRESS, "EMILY": Oh, my God. I just can't remember ...

ANNE HATHAWAY, ACTRESS, "ANDY SACHS": It's Ambassador Franklin. And that's the woman that he left his wife for, Rebecca.

MOOS: Our favorite faux pas goes to the mayor of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, introducing Bill Clinton recently.

ANTHONY L. COLAIZZO, MAYOR OF CANONSBURG, PA: 41st president of the United States, President Jefferson William Lincoln.

MOOS: Jefferson William Lincoln? Next thing you know, we'll be celebrating the birthday of Abraham Clinton.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Jefferson William Lincoln.

All right, well, hey, remember, CNN is the place for extensive coverage of today's primaries. Tonight at 7:00 Eastern, the best political team on TV breaks down the results from Indiana and North Carolina.

And we are going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Some incredible pictures, take a look, and an amazing detail behind them. You're looking at the latest video of a volcano blowing its top in Chile. Check out that massive cloud of ash. 4,000 people left the area in the last five days. And officials just expanded the evacuation. Now listen to this, researchers say this is the first time the volcano has erupted in almost 9,500 years.

NGUYEN: Hey, it was about time.

HARRIS: It was time.

NGUYEN: Right? It was due.

CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.

HARRIS: "ISSUE #1" is next with Gerri Willis and Ali Velshi. But first, a quick look at the headlines.