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The Race Winds Down: Obama, Clinton Look Ahead; Hillary Clinton Holds Rally in Florida; Texas Polygamist Ranch: Authorities Denied Access to Compound
Aired May 21, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Out of the hospital but not out of danger. Senator Ted Kennedy goes home to Cape Cod one day after learning he has a malignant brain tumor. Doctors try to figure out the treatment.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Another day of disturbing records. A record breaking $132 a barrel for crude oil. A record-breaking $3.80 a gallon for gasoline. Big oil, well, it tells Congress it's supply and demand, and Congress is not buying it today.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are both campaigning in Florida today. Obama, looking forward to -- or looking towards November, rather, trying to build on his big win in yesterday's Oregon primary that moved him closer to clinching the Democratic nomination.
Clinton, meantime, is holding on to hope. She's celebrating her huge win yesterday in Kentucky. She's also pushing to have the Florida delegates she won in that state's February primary seated at the Democratic convention.
Our Jim Acosta tracking the Democratic race for us from Lexington, Kentucky.
Hi there, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna.
The horse race is still on and they're coming down the stretch. Yes, we are in Lexington, Kentucky.
Hillary Clinton had a big victory in this state last night. But both of these candidates, as you mentioned, have moved on to Florida. That is where the race moves on.
And Hillary Clinton is about to speak to a rally, one of her Solutions for America rally. It is getting started in Boca Raton any minute now, and Hillary Clinton will obviously be talking about seating those delegations from Michigan and Florida. That would very much make her at least a little bit more competitive in this race for the Democratic nomination. At this point, the delegate math is getting harder every day.
Barack Obama just wrapped up a big rally in Tampa, Florida. He is campaigning in central Florida, which is a very important part of the state for the upcoming general election.
He is sounding a much more conciliatory tone on the campaign stump. We heard Barack Obama earlier this afternoon, really just opening the door for Hillary Clinton to make a graceful exit out of this race, talking about how she has broken barriers as a female candidate. Barack Obama even talking about how she has blazed a trail for his own daughters as they make their way into the world.
And we should mention that Barack Obama is closing in on clinching the nomination. Last night in Des Moines, Iowa, he did make note of the fact that he has captured a majority of the pledged delegates thus far.
But Barack Obama right now, Brianna -- get this -- 64 delegates from clinching the nomination. There are 86 pledged delegates still up for grabs in this race, 212 superdelegates. So Barack Obama very much in the driver's seat, and mathematically could easily clinch up this nomination prior to June 3 if those superdelegates start marching in his direction.
KEILAR: Thanks, Jim.
Jim Acosta for us in Lexington, Kentucky.
LEMON: And as Jim Acosta just mentioned, in Tampa, Florida, Barack Obama spoke this morning, and also now Hillary Clinton in Boca Raton.
Let's take a listen.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It took more than 70 years of struggle, setbacks and grinding hard work. And only one of those original suffragists lived to see women cast their ballots.
There are women here today, as with my own mother, who were born before the Constitution granted us the right to vote. So this is not something lost in the midst of memory and history. This is real.
The generations here in this room have seen change. The men and women who knew their constitutional right to vote meant little when poll taxes and literacy tests, violence and intimidation made it impossible to exercise their right. So they marched and protested, faced dogs and tear gas, knelt down on that bridge in Selma to pray, and were beaten within an inch of their lives. Some gave their lives to the struggle for a more perfect union.
There's a reason why so many have fought so hard and sacrificed so much. It's because they knew that to be a citizen of this country is to have the right and responsibility to help shape its future. Not just to make your voice heard, but to have it count.
People have fought hard because they knew their vote was at stake, and so was their children's futures. Because of those who have come before, Senator Obama and I and so many of you have this precious right today. Because of all that has been done, we are in this historic presidential election. And I believe that both Senator Obama and myself have an obligation as potential Democratic nominees. In fact, we all have an obligation as Democrats to carry on this legacy and ensure that in our nominating process, every voice is heard and every single vote is counted.
(APPLAUSE)
This work -- this work to extend the franchise to all of our citizens is a core mission of the modern Democratic Party, from signing the Voting Rights Act and fighting racial discrimination at the ballot box, to lowering the voting age so those old enough to fight and die in war would have the right to choose their commander in chief...
(APPLAUSE)
... to fighting for multilingual ballots so you can make your voice heard no matter what language you speak. And I'm proud of our work today.
We're fighting the redistricting initiatives that would dilute African-American and Latino votes. We're fighting efforts to purge voters from the roles (ph) here in Florida and elsewhere. We're fighting voter identification laws that could wrongly keep tens of thousands of voters from casting their ballot this November.
We carry on this cause for a simple reason. Because we believe the outcome of our elections should be determined by the will of the people. Nothing more, nothing less.
(APPLAUSE)
And we believe the popular vote is the truest expression of your will. We believe it today, just as we believed it back in 2000, when right here in Florida you learned the hard way what happens when your votes aren't counted and the candidate with fewer votes is declared the winner!
(APPLAUSE)
The lesson of 2000 here in Florida is crystal clear. If any votes aren't counted, the will of the people isn't realized, and our democracy is diminished. That's what I've always believed.
You know, my first job in politics was on the 1972 presidential campaign registering African-American and Hispanic voters in Texas. That work took me from home to home, in neighborhood after neighborhood.
I was determined to knock on every door and sign up every voter I could find. And while we may not have won that election, I've never given up the fight. It's a fight I continue to this day, because I think it's appalling that in the 21st century voters are still being wrongly turned away from the polls, ballots are still mysteriously lost in state after state.
African-American and Hispanic voters still wait in line for hours, while voters in the same state, even in the same county, can wait just minutes to cast their votes. That's why I've been working...
(APPLAUSE)
... since 2004 with my dear friend, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones to pass the Count Every Vote Act -- comprehensive voting rights legislation designed to end these deplorable violations. It will ensure that every eligible voter can vote, every vote is counted, and every voter can verify his or her vote before it is finally cast.
(APPLAUSE)
And I will continue to fight for that same principle every day in this campaign. The fact is, the people of Florida voted back in January. You did your part. You showed up in record numbers and you made informed choices.
But today, some months later, you still don't know if these votes will help determine our party's nominee. You still don't know if this great state will be represented at our convention in August. It is time you knew, because the more than 2.3 million who voted in Florida and Michigan exercised their fundamental American right in good faith.
You watched the news, you went to the candidates' Web sites, you talked to your friends and neighbors, you talked about our records and policies so you could make informed voting decisions. You didn't break a single rule, and you should not be punished for matters beyond your control!
(APPLAUSE)
Now, I know that Senator Obama chose to remove his name from the ballot in Michigan, and that was his right. But his choice does not negate the votes of all those who turned out to cast their ballots. And we should not let our process rob them and all of you of our voices. To do so would undermine the very purpose of the nominating process to ensure that as many Democrats as possible can cast their votes, to ensure that the Party selects a nominee who truly represents the will of the voters, and to ensure that the Democrats take back the White House to rebuild America.
Now, I've heard some say that counting Florida and Michigan would be changing the rules. I say that not counting Florida and Michigan is changing a central governing rule of this country...
(APPLAUSE)
... that whenever we can understand the clear intent of the voters, their votes should be counted.
I remember very well back in 2000, there were those who argued that people's votes should be discounted over technicalities. For the people of Florida who voted in this primary, the notion of discounting their votes sounds way too much the same. The votes of 1.7 million people should not be cast aside because of a technicality. The people who voted did nothing wrong, and it would be wrong to punish you.
(APPLAUSE)
As the Florida Supreme Court said back in 2000, before the United States Supreme Court took the case away from them, as your Supreme Court said, it's not about the technicalities or about the contestants. It's about the will of the people. And whenever you can understand their content it should govern.
Well, it's very clear what 1.7 million people intended here in Florida. Playing a role in the nominating process in a two-party system is just as important as having a vote in the presidential election on Election Day count.
We know it was wrong to penalize voters for the decisions of state officials back in the 2000 presidential election. It would be wrong to do so for decisions made in our nominating process.
Democrats argued passionately. We are still arguing, aren't we, for counting all the votes back in 2000? And we should be just as passionately arguing for that principle today here in Florida and in Michigan.
(APPLAUSE)
It is well within the Democratic Party rules to take this stand. The rules clearly state that we can count all of these votes and seat all of these delegates, pledged and unpledged, if we so choose. And the rules lay out a clear process for doing so. With this process, I hope we will honor the will of those who came out to cast votes.
Think of how that day was. Workers who rushed to the polls between shifts, students who came between classes, parents who rearranged their family's schedules, senior citizens who arranged transportation to the polls, all so you could have your votes counted.
(APPLAUSE)
And whether you voted for better schools for your kids or a secure retirement for your parents, for jobs you can raise a family on, for health care you can afford, to bring your son, your grandson, your daughter or your granddaughter back from Iraq, or bring back America's reputation in the world, whether you voted for me or Senator Obama or Senator Edwards or someone else, each vote you cast is a prayer for our nation. A declaration of your dreams for your children and grandchildren. A reflection of your determination to ensure that our country lives up to its promise.
Each vote is a tool one used throughout history to break barriers, open doors and widen the circle of opportunity.
I remember when President Lyndon Johnson addressed the Congress and the nation, urging the passage of the Voting Rights Act, he declared, "I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy."
It was urgent, elevated language, but it was not hyperbole. Now, as back then, those are the stakes. That's why here in Florida, even when you were told your primary might not count, you voted anyway.
A Floridian I know from Tallahassee told me about his mother's canasta club. It's a group of women in their golden years who gather every week to play cards and visit.
They talked about that Florida primary every week as they gathered around the card table. They followed the news closely. They discussed the candidates and their positions on the issues.
They knew about the dispute over the primary schedule and the question of seating delegates. And when it came time to vote, like so many other good citizens of this state, the ladies of the canasta club dutifully cast their ballots for the candidates of their choice.
They made informed choices. They did nothing wrong. And they should not be punished for doing their civic duty.
(APPLAUSE)
You knew then what Americans know, that this political process of ours is about more than the candidates running, the pundits commenting, or the ads blaring. It's about the path we choose as a nation. If anyone ever doubted whether it mattered who our president was, the last seven years with George Bush should have removed every single doubt from anyone's mind.
(APPLAUSE)
That's why you voted, and that's why I'm running. And that's why you've been organizing and raising your voices, hoping to have your votes count.
You refused to stay home then, and you refused to stay silent now, because you want to change America's future. And you have faith that your party, the Democratic Party, will give you that chance.
I'm here today because I believe we should keep that faith, listen to your voices, and count every single one of your votes. If we fail to do so, I worry that we will pay not only a moral cost, but a political cost as well. We know the road to a Democratic White House runs right through Florida and Michigan.
(APPLAUSE)
If we care about winning those states in November, we need to count your votes now. If Democrats send the message that we don't fully value your votes, we know Senator McCain and the Republicans will be more than happy to have them. The Republicans will make a simple and compelling argument -- why should Florida and Michigan voters trust the Democratic Party to look out for you when they won't even listen to you?
Now, if you agree with me, I urge you to go to my Web site, hillaryclinton.com, and join the more than 300,000 who have already signed our petition asking the Democratic National Committee to count your votes. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the territories will have a chance to play a role in this historic process.
Now is not the time for our party to have a dialogue about which states and which votes should count. The people of Florida are all too familiar with where that discussion can lead. In the end, we cannot move forward as a united party if some members of our party are left out.
Senator Obama and I are running to be president of all Americans and all 50 states. And I want to be sure that all 50 states are counted and your delegates are seated at our convention!
(APPLAUSE)
So will you join me in making sure your voices are raised and heard so that your votes can be counted? Because remember, it's been the mission of the Democratic Party guided always by the understanding that as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, the ultimate rulers of our democracy are not the president, the senators, the members of Congress and government officials, but the voters of this country. In this Democratic Party, the voters rule! So let's make sure your voices are heard and your votes are counted!
Thank you, and God bless you. And God bless America.
LEMON: Hillary Clinton in Boca Raton, Florida, definitely making a case to have the votes count in Michigan and Florida. Of course, she is campaigning in Florida, and she is thinking it's going to help her in the all-important delegate count.
Michigan and Florida not counting because they moved their primaries up. So the DNC said that they wouldn't count those. So there's been some discrepancy about that. But she's definitely making the case to have every vote count, because she thinks it's going to help her when it comes to the delegate count.
And we want to remind you as well, Barack Obama sat down for an extended interview with our Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." We'll bring that to you later on, including Obama's response to some tough criticism by Republican John McCain.
Also when we come back, we're going to get you to that polygamous ranch in Texas. New information there about Child Protective Services officers back out at that ranch today looking for other children.
Our David Mattingly will update us with the very latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. This just into the CNN NEWSROOM.
CPS workers back at that Texas polygamy, that ranch in Texas believed to be a Texas polygamy ranch, this morning. And there you're looking at pictures taken, sent from our affiliate KXAN, inside. They're outside looking inside of the gate of that polygamist compound.
Our David Mattingly joins us now by telephone.
He is outside San Angelo, on his way to the ranch. But he's covering the story and he knows the very latest about this.
They believe there are more children there, David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, actually, I'm standing right here at the gate of the ranch, looking at this locked gate where people inside the ranch are saying that two CPS workers, Child Protective Service workers, showed up here at the gate this morning, escorted by county deputies, asking to come inside because they had had a report that there were more children at the ranch. There are no other details about that report or what exactly they were looking for, or how many kids or why, but they did not have a search warrant.
This is according to Rod Parker, who is the spokesman and attorney for the YFZ Ranch. He tells me that the CPS workers were turned away because they did not have a warrant and have not come back. This was several hours ago.
So now some confusion and some concern inside this ranch, wondering what CPS might be doing next and when they might be coming back. So far, we have not confirmed this with Child Protective Services, but the county sheriff did confirm they did escort two CPS workers here to the gate this morning.
LEMON: And David, you know, it's definitely a possibility. Anything is possible. But with this much scrutiny and this many eyes on this ranch, it would seem very odd that they would have -- you know, they would have more children on the ranch and they wouldn't have gotten them out of there already, if there are indeed more when they took away 460 children. But this is a sprawling ranch, so it's within the realm that children could be there in some area that may not have been searched the last time.
MATTINGLY: It would be very easy. Let me put it this way -- it would be very easy for children to be kept at the ranch and not seen from the gate.
I mean, we can barely see anything but the top of the temple from here. But this being such a critical time for all of these families, now going into court, going through the process of trying to get their children back, for the ranch to do anything here to jeopardize any of that would seem very unlikely. So again, I can tell you for sure that there is confusion and concern inside the ranch about why this is happening, where this report was coming from, and what the state might be doing next.
LEMON: CNN's David Mattingly covering this story from the very beginning, joining us now with the very latest on some new information from that polygamous ranch compound in Texas.
David, thank you.
KEILAR: We've got some new comments into the CNN NEWSROOM, comments from President Bush talking about Senator Ted Kennedy, who of course was diagnosed, or at least it was made public yesterday, that he has a malignant brain tumor. This happened as President Bush was signing a bill, a bill that Senator Kennedy really had a hand in as chairman of the Senate committee that deals with health.
This is basically a bill that would stop employers or insurance companies from using information, the results of genetic tests, that maybe show that someone has a predisposition to a certain disease, and then using that information in, say, hiring or firing, or determining if someone could be granted insurance coverage.
Let's listen to what President Bush said about Senator Kennedy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As I sign the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, it's a piece of legislation which prohibits health insurers and employers from discriminating on the basis of genetic information. In other words, it protects our citizens from having genetic information misused. And this bill does so without undermining the basic tenets of the insurance industry.
I also want to pay homage to not only the members of the Congress who are behind me, but also to Senator Ted Kennedy, who has worked for over a decade to get this piece of legislation to a president's desk. All of us are so pleased that Senator Kennedy has gone home, and our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
And now it's my honor to sign the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: This bill is being hailed as really the first civil rights bill of the new century by proponents of this bill. And again, Senator Kennedy did have a hand in it as chairman of the Senate committee that deals with health.
Kennedy, of course, has gone to his Cape Cod home after leaving a hospital in Massachusetts. Doctors there awaiting more information from tests and evaluations to determine the best course of treatment for him.
LEMON: Big oil companies are running all kinds of ads about their commitment to the environment. Slick PR, or do they really mean green?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: It's part of the answer to concerns about what to do with worn out tires. A Georgia man finds a way to grind them into an ultra fine powder. But then what do you do with that stuff?
Here's Miles O'Brien with "Today's Solutions."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: Would you believe this -- used to be this? At this plant near Atlanta, they're performing steel belted alchemy. It's a solution to one of the most stubborn landfill eyesores of all. The idea is the brain child of Tony Cialone, founder of a company called LeHigh Technologies.
TONY CIALONE, FOUNDER, LEHIGH TECHNOLOGIES: We look at the rubber feed stock, which was once an old tire, as the nation's newest raw material.
O'BRIEN: First, they shred the tires, then freeze the pieces with liquid nitrogen, making them extremely brittle. Then this machine pulverizes rubber to powder. And it turns out that powder is pretty useful. It's used to improve paint, coatings and sealants.
CIALONE: The products that it goes into starts to take on the qualities of rubber -- elasticity, impact resistance. It imparts (ph) UV protection, ozone protection.
O'BRIEN: Oh, and the powder is also used to make new tires, taking this novel process full circle, so to speak.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: You probably have seen the ads promoting oil companies' efforts to fight global warming and develop new sources of alternative energy. But are the slick campaigns solid, or is it just a whole lot of wind?
Allan Chernoff has a check on oil companies as green global citizens.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That an oil company can practice and espouse conservation not corporate titans, but men and women of vision. People who daily try to find newer ways, cleaner ways to power the world.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: It's a message we're hearing more often from some of the biggest companies on the planet. Oil giants which provide the fossil fuels we burn that are in turn blamed for global warning.
Chevron and BP have been most aggressive in promoting their commitment to alternative energy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to really be cautious of what we're putting into our cars, just like we put into our bodies. And we need to make that shift, that well -- what we're doing is really messing things up.
CHERNOFF: Media watch dog critics say, don't believe the hype.
JOHN STAUBER, PR WATCH: What these companies are doing is called green washing. They want to look as green and environmental as possible.
CHERNOFF: BP, which was the first oil giant to acknowledge concern about global warming, plans to spend about $1.5 billion this year on alternative energy projects, including wind, solar and hydrogen power-fueled power plants. That's more than 6 percent of the company's capital investments.
Chevron has made a three year alternative energy commitment of $2.5 billion through next year, which would amount to about 4 percent of the company's investments in energy resources.
It's not enough, say environmentalists, who claim the investments are merely symbolic.
DERON LOVAAS, NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: Small, baby steps -- when they could be taking giant strides, given the revenue that they're raking in because of these high prices.
CHERNOFF: Chevron and BP declined to appear on camera, but say their investments are significant and may grow.
Chevron told CNN, "It is prudent to take proactive steps to position Chevron for future leadership in important sources of renewable energy."
BP recently told investors, "Alternative energy is expected to be a major part of the global energy mix in the future, and energy is BP's business."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And fewer wells means less destruction and less waste.
CHERNOFF: In a recent ad, Shell promoted its horizontal oil drilling as environmentally conscious. Shell is boosting investment in wind energy in Texas, though it recently announced plans to pulling out of a major wind power plant off the British coast.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: With oil trading above $130 a barrel, the fact is traditional oil production is hugely profitable for these companies. Not so much the case for alternative energy. In fact, the chief of BP recently said that he's looking for new investors to help increase the value of the alternative energy businesses -- Brianna.
KEILAR: So break it down for us, Allan. I guess -- which oil companies or -- and how are they putting serious money into alternative energy?
CHERNOFF: Well, as we've pointed out, a few of them are putting money in. Given their size, the money is not huge. But they do see promise down the line. Not all companies, though. ExxonMobil, the biggest oil company in the nation, very notably has really not made a commitment to alternative energy. And that's controversial right now, not only among environmentalists, the Rockefeller family has been complaining about that. The Rockefeller's own a big chunk of ExxonMobil.
KEILAR: All right. Allan Chernoff for us in New York.
Thank you.
LEMON: Well you probably know that some airlines are charging for a second checked bag, right? And now one airline is charging for the first checked bag. Where will it end?
Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange and joins us now to tell us more about that.
So, OK. You -- don't really get meals anymore, and you've got to beg for peanuts, and now --
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're getting charged for everything.
(CROSSTALK)
LISOVICZ: Leg room, movies, the peanuts.
LEMON: The earphones. Everything.
LISOVICZ: Exactly. Well, some airlines, as we've been reporting, Don, already charge $25 for the second checked bag. Now, American Airlines says it will charge $15 for the first one. Travel light, OK?
Certain frequent flyers are exempt from this new fee. It's more incentive to bring carry on, but then you have all those restrictions attached to carry ons. So far -- so far -- no other carrier is matching American's charge on the first checked bag -- Don.
LEMON: Does this have to do with fuel prices, maybe?
LISOVICZ: Oh, you would be correct, sir.
And we are watching a huge spike today. Oil prices right now up $4.27 to above $133 per barrel on a weak dollar. And today's surprising drop in weekly oil inventory -- the airlines are certainly getting pinched. The stock of American's parent company, AMR, right now down 20 percent. AMR says it will also cut flight capacity by about 12 percent.
That's a trend that's also been hurting smaller airports and the people who live near them. "The New York Times" says for instance Hagerstown, Maryland, made more than $60 million in improvements to its airport, but it lost its air service before the improvements were even finished. Nearly 30 cities nationwide have seen services disappear, including New Haven, Connecticut, Wilmington, Delaware and Boulder City, Nevada. When they -- when that happens, it forces people to drive longer distances to bigger airports and with gas near $4 per gallon, well it's just salt on the wound.
More salt on Wall Street's wound today.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
LISOVICZ: Coming up the dreaded cell phone cancellation fee. It's not going away, but it may be a lot less painful. That story in the next hour of the NEWSROOM.
Don, back to you..
LEMON: Yes, that is always an issue when you're trying to switch, if you have to.
LISOVICZ: It's very contentious.
LEMON: Thank you, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
KEILAR: Serial killers stocking and murdering college men but then making them look like drownings. That is what two ex-cops think at least. We've got a live report, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: We've got some new information into the CNN NEWSROOM having to do with that polygamous ranch in Texas where more than 460 kids were removed by state authorities last month amid accusations of widespread sexual abuse. According to Child and Protective Services there in Texas, they say, "We have received new information about children who may be living at the YFZ Ranch" -- CPS had believed that all the children had been removed as authorized by a state district judge -- "This morning, along with law enforcement, we went to the ranch to make some initial inquiries and we are now conferring with law enforcement."
We heard a short time ago from CNN's David Mattingly who spoke with an attorney for the FLDS sect there, the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Spoke with the spokesperson there Rod Parker. Mattingly saying that Parker confirmed that two CPS workers came to the ranch this morning, that they were escorted by sheriff's deputies.
The workers asked for access to the ranch acting on a report that there were more children at the ranch. And Parker said that the workers did not have a warrant and they were denied access. Our affiliate, KXAN, out of Austin saying that Parker believed those CPS workers were going to return to the ranch, or at least trying to return to the ranch, with a search warrant.
So what we have here at this polygamous ranch in Texas, concerns obviously on the part of CPS that maybe there are some more children on that ranch and they are working to see if they can investigate that further. We're going to continue to follow that in the CNN NEWSROOM, bringing you any updates as we get them.
LEMON: All right. Time now to talk politics. You know yesterday's primaries. All right. So one state went big for Hillary Clinton; the other gave solid support to Barack Obama. So what was driving voters in yesterday's Kentucky and Oregon primaries?
Let's talk exit polls with our senior political analyst Mr. Bill Schneider. He joins us now from New York.
Bill, you're awake? Get some sleep after last night? You were busy.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Not a lot.
LEMON: Not a lot. OK.
So what do the polls reveal about how the voters viewed the two candidates?
SCHNEIDER: Well, they indicated that Barack Obama has some problems. There are a lot of Democrats out there in places like Kentucky, and last week West Virginia, who just aren't jumping on the Obama bandwagon. Even though they think Obama will end up being the nominee, they're not supporting him,; they're supporting Hillary Clinton. They're trying to make a statement that he's not acceptable to them.
Take a look at what happened when we asked Kentucky Democratic primary voters yesterday how they would choose for the presidency in November. Now, first of all, these are Obama voters in Kentucky. How would they vote if the choice is between McCain and Hillary Clinton?
The answer is, well, they'd vote for Hillary Clinton, overwhelmingly -- 71 percent.
But now, take a look at Clinton voters in Kentucky. How would they vote if they were faced with a choice between McCain and Obama?
The answer, yikes, just 33 percent. One-third of those Clinton Democrats say they'd vote for Obama, two-thirds would not. In fact, more of them would vote for McCain than Obama.
That's one of the points that Hillary Clinton tries to make in her campaign. She says she's more electable because if she's the nominee, she could hold the Democrats together behind her candidacy better than Obama could.
LEMON: That's really interesting, Bill. I'd love to talk to you more about that, but obviously we can't do it all day. But that's really interesting that you found that.
All right. Let's talk now about the departure from the McCain campaign. Why is his chief media strategist -- Mark McKinnon -- why is he leaving?
SCHNEIDER: Well, he said he had made a pledge a year ago when he first joined the McCain campaign not to work against the candidacy -- there is Mark McKinnon, not to work against the candidacy of Barack Obama. And he just said when he indicated he was leaving the McCain campaign, "I don't want to work against an Obama candidacy" -- because he said, "Obama would send a great message to the country and the world."
He's not abandoning McCain, he said he's shifting position from a line backer on the McCain campaign to a head cheerleader and will remain a friend and fan of John McCain. But he does not want to actively participate in an effort to stop Barack Obama.
It's interesting to note that Mark McKinnon used to be a Democrat. He might still be a Democrat. I'm not sure if he ever changed his registration. He's a Democrat from Texas who had worked for George W. Bush when he was governor of Texas, and is very close to President Bush. And, of course, wants to continue the Bush legacy, which is the reason why he signed on with the campaign -- with the McCain campaign. But he does not want to work against Barack Obama.
LEMON: All right. Senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.
Bill, thanks so much.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
KEILAR: Let's take a look now at the big board. You can see the Dow actually down, more than 200 point there, down 232, standing at 12,595. Why? Well, we'll be checking in next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM with Susan Lisovicz to tell us more about that.
And also this story: Serial killers stalking and murdering college men, but then making them look like drownings. That is what two ex-cops think, at least, and we're wondering if their theory holds water.
We've got a live report coming up.
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LEMON: All right. Well, they were smart, they were athletic students with good grades. Now, they are all dead. Over the last decade or so, their bodies washed up in the lakes and rivers throughout the country. Local police always wrote them off as accidental drownings. They blamed it on too much drinking, since most of the victims had been out at bars earlier in the night. Well, police figured they wandered into the water by accident and they drowned.
Now there's a new theory out there, one that includes a possible serial killer.
Here to talk about that, CNN's Randi Kaye. She has this exclusive story tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."
But she joins us with a preview, from New York.
So, Randi, what's the possibility of a serial killer? You're looking into that.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a pretty bizarre story, Don.
Two retired detectives from New York City's police department say these deaths were not accidental drownings, but murders. One of the cases was ruled a homicide back in 2006, after a tip have an informant, and the detectives really consider that case a breakthrough.
Detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte figured out where the bodies may actually have entered the water. And what they found at a dozen or so of those locations were smiley faces painted on a tree or nearby the water's edge on the ground. They think that those really creepy smiley faces are the killer's trademark.
Well we went along with them to Albany, in upstate New York, to check out the latest smiley face. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice-over): We find it on a tree, at the port of Albany, New York. A smiley face painted in white staring back at us.
(on camera): What do you see here?
BILL SOSTACK, VICTIM'S FATHER: What I see is a circle, two eyes, a nose, no mouth, but it clearly represents a smiley face.
KAYE (voice-over): Bill Sostack believes this smiley face was left behind by someone who killed his son. 21-year-old Joshua Sostack's body, washed up in the Hudson river last month. He disappeared just before Christmas, after a night out drinking with friends at this bar in downtown Albany.
Is he the latest victim of the smiley face killers?
Retired detectives Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte came to find out. They believe a gang of killers may have murdered as many as 40 college-aged men in nearly a dozen states. Leaving these sick smiles as their trademark.
(on camera): Tell me what you believe is happening to these students.
KEVIN GANNON, RETIRED NYPD SERGEANT: I believe that these young men are being abducted by individuals in the bars, taken out and at some point even held for a period of time, before they are entered into the water. KAYE (voice-over): The murders, they say, are staged to look like drownings. Including eight in the town of Lacrosse, Wisconsin.
GANNON: Could eight young men from one small, little city, all come out of the bar, walk three blocks and fall into the river? That did not make sense to me.
KAYE: Every death had been ruled an accidental drowning. Case closed.
(on camera): Do you think it's possible all of these drownings across the country could be a coincidence?
SOSTACK: I find it ironic that so many young, college-age males that fit the same profile, wind up in a river from a night out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Now, it is important to note that all of the victims are college-aged men. In the Sostack case, the one we just told you about, two autopsies found that he did drown accidentally.
But the detectives think these students are being targeted because they're popular, good-looking, athletic, smart. Targeted by someone who isn't all of those things and may be jealous of that, Don.
LEMON: OK, well Randi, then -- with so many deaths, do detectives believe this is the work of one serial killer or a group of serial killers?
KAYE: We did ask them that. And the cases span 11 states, 25 cities. Some of them took place the same day or within just hours of each other. So both the detectives think there has to be a network of killers working together on this.
Now, they also found matching symbols at some of the crime scenes that they say, are similar to gang graffiti. They wouldn't say if they think this is gang related. But there is certainly concern that a gang of smiley face killers is at work here and taunting police with these smiley faces.
LEMON: OK. Randi Kaye, thank you very much for that.
And you can see Randi's complete story, exclusive interview with detectives investigating these so called smiley face killings.
That's tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on "AC 360."
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