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American Morning
Split Decision: Obama Wins Oregon, Clinton Wins Kentucky; Candidates on Foreign Policy Issues; Obama's Challenge: Winning White Working-Class Voters
Aired May 21, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You've been told over and over and over again to be cynic and doubtful and even fearful about the possibility that things can ever be different.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Hillary Clinton is still clinging to hope that Florida and Michigan will come into play after getting a huge boost from voters in Kentucky last night. Once again, it was white working class voters that made her their choice. Clinton claims that she is ahead in the popular vote, and she's making the case that she has the best chance of winning in November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Neither Senator Obama nor I will have reached that magic number when the voting ends on June 3rd. And so, our party will have a tough choice to make.
Who's ready to lead our party at the top of our ticket? Who is ready -- who is ready to defeat Senator McCain in the swing states and among swing voters? Who is ready to rebuild the economy and the war in Iraq and protect our national security as commander in chief? Who is ready on day one to lead?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The best political team on television is covering all the angles for you this morning. John King is at the magic wall. Bill Schneider is analyzing the exit polls. Jim Acosta in Kentucky for us this morning.
Jessica Yellin and John Zarrella are in Florida where the candidates are heading today. And Suzanne Malveaux is in Iowa.
Let's begin with Suzanne's report on last night's split decision.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barack Obama all but declaring himself the Democratic nominee. SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have returned to Iowa with a majority of delegates elected by the American people, and you have put us within reach of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States of America.
MALVEAUX: In the state that made Obama the front-runner to beat, the newly-energized candidate brought out his family to thank supporters. And in an effort to reach out to Hillary Clinton and her backers, he offered this personal appeal.
OBAMA: We all admire her courage and her commitment and her perseverance, and no matter how this primary ends, Senator Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and your daughters will come of age.
MALVEAUX: But Clinton conceded nothing. She trounced Obama in Kentucky's primary by 35 percentage points.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've achieved an important victory. It's not just Kentucky bluegrass that's music to my ears. It's the sound of your overwhelming vote of confidence, even in the face of some pretty tough odds.
MALVEAUX: She promised to fight on.
CLINTON: I'm going on now to campaign in Montana, South Dakota and Puerto Rico. This is one of the closest races for a party's nomination in modern history. We're winning the popular vote, and I'm more determined -- I'm more determined than ever to see that every vote is cast and every ballot counted.
MALVEAUX: Obama winning Oregon saved his firepower for the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain.
OBAMA: This year's Republican primary was a contest to see which candidate could outbush (ph) the other, and that's the contest that John McCain won.
MALVEAUX: Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: In Oregon, they delivered their ballots via bicycle in that mail-in ballot there.
Here's what's next for the Democrats. Three contests are left. On Sunday, the 1st of June, it's Puerto Rico; 55 delegates at stake. That was going to be a caucus, but they figured it was so important now to the nominating process that they made it into a primary.
Then on Tuesday, June 3rd, the final two primaries, Montana with 16 delegates, South Dakota with 15. And, you know, Puerto Rico gets an opportunity to say who the Democratic nominee is going to be but can't vote in the general election. So interesting little --
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All these changes -- ROBERTS: Just a little twist there.
PHILLIPS: Exactly. Not only on that side of things but also the candidates as well.
And here's a look at where the candidates are today. Hillary Clinton campaigning in South Florida today. She's pushing for Florida's delegates to be seated. The party punished Florida for moving up its primary date.
And Barack Obama also visits Florida, his first visit this year. He hasn't campaigned in Florida since last August. We're actually going to talk about the Cuban vote coming up with Rudy Giuliani this hour.
Now, the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has no events planned for today.
And new fund-raising numbers are in. John McCain says that he had the best fund-raising month of his presidential campaign raising more than $18 million in April. Boy, he's made it a long way since he almost had to bail out of the race for money. And that gives him nearly $22 million in cash to spend on the primary campaign.
Now, Barack Obama's campaign announced that it pulled in $31 million mast month. He picks up $40 million in March and has now raised $256 million for the primary season.
Hillary Clinton's campaign says it raised more than $21 million in April and then she used her victory speech last night to appeal for even more campaign contributions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've made it this far together, so please go to HillaryClinton.com.
CROWD: HillaryClinton.com
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That's become her new mantra. Her campaign is now $20 million in the red. $11 million of that she loaned to her campaign.
We're going to have a full lineup of political heavyweights ready to weigh in on this this morning, 6:25 Eastern, former Congressman and Obama supporter Ben "Cooter" Jones, 6:45, Obama supporter New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and at 6:55, former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers.
Then 7:25, McCain supporter Rudy Giuliani, 7:55, Clinton supporter James Carville, and 8:25, Obama supporter Gary Hart. Did you get all that?
ROBERTS: It's an action-packed and star-studded morning here on AMERICAN MORNING as we continue with our "ELECTION CENTER." A prominent Republican scolds John McCain. Find out why Chuck Hagel says McCain is smarter than some of the things that he's saying.
PHILLIPS: Plus, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani joins us live in the next hour. Find out what he has to say about negotiating with our enemies.
And Spike Lee goes presidential. Hear why he's telling Hillary Clinton it's over.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPIKE LEE, FILM DIRECTOR: This is an analogy. In basketball a losing coach, his team is down by 10 points, there's only 20 seconds left. What does he do?
Call time-out. What does he do? Have somebody foul. All he's doing is dragging out the end of the game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Director Spike Lee weighing in with a basketball analogy to suggest Hillary Clinton simply delaying the inevitable.
Let's bring in our political panel now. Democratic strategist Julian Epstein, Clinton supporter; Liz Chadderdon who is an Obama supporter. We've got Leslie Sanchez, CNN contributor, Republican strategist, and John Dickerson, our CNN analyst and chief political correspondent for Slate.com.
So Spike Lee saying that she's dragging out the end of the game. But what is missing here is that, you know, still you drag out the game, you go to the end of the game. Does anybody really care anymore, John, as to whether or not this goes all the way to the 3rd of June?
JOHN DICKERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Some people make the case that it should end early. The question is this, which hurts the Obama campaign more? Hillary Clinton staying in or the trouble he would be in if he tries to look like he's pushing her out.
There have been charges recently, Hillary Clinton raised them, that there's been sexism in the race. And so, the question now it's very highly charged. All these women who've been very supportive of Hillary Clinton, are they going to get angry at Barack Obama?
They would get angry -- more angry at him if it looked like Barack Obama is trying to push her out of the race. The problem though for Obama with her still staying in is a couple things. He wants to be able to make his case against John McCain. He still got to deal with her, even though his rhetoric has all moved to the general election.
It would be cleaner if it was just done. And also, there is this question about whether he can close the deal, and we're all talking about it all morning. We'll be talking about it for three more weeks. If somehow this were over and there's no sign that it will be, we might stop talking about that as much, and he'd be able to look more like his own guy and have a little bit of wind at his back instead of this muddle.
ROBERTS: Looking at his speech last night, it looked very much like a speech from a person who'd already become the nominee. He was giving this great inspirational speech for the Democratic Party to say we're pushing ahead to the general election. And he did whack John McCain pretty hard a few times. Let's listen to some of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The other side knows they have embraced yesterday's policies, so they will also embrace yesterday's tactics to try and change the subject. They'll play on our fears and our doubts. They'll try to sow discord and division to distract us from what matters to you and your future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That was a slightly veiled reference to President Bush's speech in the Knesset which the Obama campaign jumped on as playing to the politics of fear. But does he have a problem, Liz, in the general election on this issue of meeting unconditionally or without precondition with the leaders of Iran, Syria, North Korea, other countries like that?
LIZ CHADDERDON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think he's got a little bit of explaining to do but the truth is that a good chunk of voters in America actually want to see more diplomacy. We're not really all that excited about what the Bush administration did where they just went roaring in with all our military might and didn't really perhaps talk enough.
So do I think he's got some more explaining to do as he goes through this process and what he's going to do in advancing American foreign policy? Absolutely. But I think there are a lot of Americans out there looking for a change of direction and looking for more diplomatic ties.
ROBERTS: Julian, in the wake of his declaration at that CNN YouTube debate, Hillary Clinton went on to say that that position for meeting without precondition with Iran, et cetera, was reckless and naive.
He seems to be sort of modifying the position. First, there's all this plenty of diplomatic work to do first. But do you think he's got a problem? I mean, is he vulnerable to Republican attacks there?
JULIAN EPSTEIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think he's going to need to explain himself, but I don't think he's that vulnerable. I think, look, the Bush administration has had conversations with Iran. McCain has talked about engaging Hamas. The Bush administration has had conversations with North Korea. In fact, they've made deals with North Korea. So I think this notion of appeasement gets to be a place where I'm not sure Republicans really want to go.
The truth of the matter is at the end of the day, whether it's Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, the Bush administration to whom McCain is I think inalterably tied have failed on the question of international diplomacy, but more isolated than we ever were. This is not a winning card for them.
ROBERTS: John McCain jumped all over President Bush's comments and stomped all over Barack Obama on meeting with Iran and talking about Hamas and now meeting with Raul Castro. Here's what Chuck Hagel said last night about all of that.
"I'm very upset with John with some of the things he's been saying. I believe that John is smarter than some of the things he's saying. He's been around the world. I want him to get above that, and maybe when he gets into the general election he'll have a higher- level discourse on these things."
Leslie, tough words.
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Tough words. Maybe he's positioning to be the VP on the Democratic ticket. I really -- you know, we don't really know how to take Chuck Hagel right now. So -- but I think there --
ROBERTS: A senior Joe Lieberman.
SANCHEZ: You know, Joe Lieberman came out with a very important piece today in the "Wall Street Journal" talking about meeting with, you know, without precondition. He also had Senator Daschle yesterday talking about this as well, backing away with what Barack Obama is saying. Even Democrats are very leery of that position.
The Democrats know Barack Obama's weak on foreign affairs, national security. Are they going to be bested on this issue the way they were bested on taxes in '84, crime in '88 with Dukakis? Is this the Achilles heel? I think many fear that it is.
ROBERTS: No question. A lot of talk about that and lots more to talk about on that front this morning. Panel, thanks very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We have an all-star lineup still ahead. James Carville, Bill Richardson, Jane Harman, Gary Hart, all of them joining us to knock it out of the park as we get their take on the election.
Plus, the best political team on television and a CNN exclusive, the U.S. power grid still vulnerable to a cyber attack that could cripple our nation. We'll have that and all the day's news next, in the next three hours.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let us lift his spirits tonight by letting Ted Kennedy know that we are thinking of him, that we are praying for him, that we are standing with him and Vicki, and that we will be fighting with him every step of the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And new this morning, Senator Ted Kennedy's doctors are waiting for more tests before deciding how to treat a malignant brain tumor. Pictures released last night do show Kennedy in good spirits with his family right there by his side. Doctors say that tumor is in an area of Kennedy's brain that could affect his ability to speak and move.
It actually caused Kennedy to have that seizure on Saturday, and now doctors say it's usually treated with a combination of radiation and chemotherapy. The news obviously stunned his colleagues on Capitol Hill. Even Senator Robert Byrd broke down when he was paying tribute to his friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Ted, my dear friend, I love you and I miss you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Our own house brain surgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta says that the size of the tumor will determine how life threatening it really is. Sanjay does join us in the next hour. We're also going to talk with Dr. Bernadine Healy who was diagnosed with brain cancer 10 years ago and beat the odds -- John.
ROBERTS: Two primaries, two different winners. Both candidates give rousing speeches to their supporters. Their messages in their own words just ahead.
And how can Obama overcome his challenge with working class voters? We talked with Obama supporter and self-proclaimed redneck who rolled his television fame into politics. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on 20 minutes after the hour. Some breaking news to tell you about this morning.
Oil futures for the very first time, news out of Thailand this morning, have passed $130 a barrel. That does not bode well for what's going to happen with crude prices today.
We're also hearing that gasoline set a new record. What else is new? $3.81 a gallon now nationwide average.
Welcome back to this special early edition of AMERICAN MORNING now that we've got you revved up with that good news.
Two states, two different winners last night. Senator Obama takes Oregon by 16 points. Senator Clinton takes Kentucky by a whopping 35.
In his speech to supporters in Iowa, Obama took on presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This year's Republican primary was a contest to see which candidate could outbush the other, and that's the contest that John McCain won. The Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans that once bothered John McCain's conscience are now his only economic policy.
The Bush health care plan that only helps those who are already healthy and wealthy is now John McCain's answer to the 47 million Americans without insurance and the millions more who can't pay their medical bills.
The Bush Iraq policy that asks everything from our troops and nothing of Iraqi politicians is John McCain's policy, too, and so is the fear of tough and aggressive diplomacy that has left this country more isolated and less secure than at any time in recent history.
The lobbyists who ruled George Bush's Washington are now running John McCain's campaign, and they actually had the nerve the other day to say that the American people won't care about this. Talk about out of touch. I think the American people care plenty about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton heads to Florida today after her big win in Kentucky. She told supporters in Louisville that she has a better chance of beating the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know that the stakes are high. After all this country has been through the past seven years, we have to get this right. We have to select a nominee who is best positioned to win in November. And --
CROWD: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!
And someone who is best prepared to address the enormous challenges facing our country in these difficult times. That's what this election is all about. Now, I'm told that more people have voted for me than for anyone who has ever run for the Democratic nomination.
(APPLAUSE)
That's more than 17 million votes. Now, why? Why do millions keep turning out to vote in the face of naysayers and skeptics? Because you know that our political process is more than candidates running or the pundits chattering or the ads blaring. It's about the path we choose as a nation and whether or not we will solve our toughest problems, whether or not we will have a president who will rebuild the economy and the war in Iraq, restore our leadership in the world, and stand up for you every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator Clinton campaigns in Florida today pushing to have those delegates count. Don't forget the Rules Committee of the Democratic National Committee meeting on Saturday, the 31st of May, to determine what will happen to the delegates in Florida and Michigan -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: They're all suited up. They've already hit it out of the park. We continue to talk to our all-star line up.
In addition, coming up, James Carville, Bill Richardson, Jane Harman, Gary Hart. They're all joining us live this morning with their take on the election. Plus, the best political team on television.
And Barack Obama has work to do with whites, working-class voters who are turning out for Hillary Clinton. We're going to talk with "Cooter," our favorite "Dukes of Hazzard" character. Yes, he was a congressman as well. He's going to talk about why he's supporting Obama and how Obama can make some inroads, straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hillary Clinton's landslide victory in Kentucky again raising questions about Barack Obama's ability to reach white working class voters. Joining us now from Washington, former Georgia Congressman Ben Jones. He's an Obama supporter.
Also, you may remember him as "Cooter" from the TV show "Dukes of Hazzard." We always love to bring that up. And, of course, your new book -- we always got to plug -- our "Redneck Boy in the Promised Land." Good to see you again, Cooter.
BEN "COOTER" JONES, BARACK OBAMA SUPPORTER: Always good to see you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's get right down to playing Hillary Clinton's victory speech in Kentucky last night. I'm going to get you to respond.
JONES: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's especially sweet tonight because Kentucky has a knack for picking presidents. This state delivered two terms to a president named Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. Obama basically getting crushed in Kentucky, the same in West Virginia. What is an Obama to do now?
JONES: Well, Obama is already -- I mean, the story this week is the same as it was last week. Only this week it's still over. He has already won this race. We are not going to count Michigan and Florida because they knew the rules, everybody knew the rules, and folks didn't campaign there.
So, by her math and her math only, she's still in it. She's run a terrific race. She's fought relentlessly and vigorously, but it is over. And we saw --
PHILLIPS: But she's still getting those voters. She's still getting those votes.
JONES: Well, and we need to worry about the general election. My feeling is that, you know, 90 percent of the black folks who have voted for Obama are blue collar people, too, working people, and it is still -- don't take this personally now, Kyra, but it is still the economy stupid. And that's what people are going to focus on after these primaries are finally over and after Hillary Clinton hopefully graciously concedes.
PHILLIPS: All right.
JONES: She's fought -- she's fought --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Graciously concede. You're not letting that go.
JONES: Good for the party, but it is over. And I think that Barack Obama when folks in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio get to know him and how he is dealing with this economy, they're going to support him overwhelmingly.
PHILLIPS: But you say getting to know him.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: There will always be some -- there are always some people --
PHILLIPS: They do have to get to know him, though. They have to get to know him better. He's still not reaching them, and you've talked about how he's got to eat his grits and get in there and go to the stock car races.
JONES: Yes. He's probably been eating grits all these years and calling it polenta.
PHILLIPS: Oh, oh -- JONES: You know what I mean? But he --
PHILLIPS: Oh, come on. Now you're going for the whole elitism angle here now. Come on, Cooter.
JONES: Tell us what it is. When I go to New York City, I can't get grits but I get this great polenta, which is the same thing. So whatever you call it.
But he's a good-hearted person, and 99.9 percent of the people in Appalachia are real good-hearted people, too. And when they get to know him and they've got five months to do that and listen to him, he's going to win those folks over and in a big way.
PHILLIPS: Interesting that you point out the mountain folks up there in the Appalachian Mountains. You know, if you look at history, this piece on Salon.com, why don't those hillbillies like Obama?
Because if you look back at LBJ in Martin County just before announcing his war on poverty speech in 1964, he hit the same people. Senator Robert Kennedy made a fabled tour of small Kentucky coal towns shortly before announcing his candidacy.
Jesse Jackson did the same thing in '88. He brought out thousands of mountain people for his presidential campaign rally in Hazzard. You know that area well.
JONES: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Well, is there a group of folks here that they need? I mean, does Obama need to be targeting those folks?
JONES: Absolutely. He needs to target everybody, and he should not exclude anybody. If he does that, that would be a terrible mistake. He needs to go there, immerse himself in that culture. Let those folks get to know him, come to love him as folks all over the country have, and win their votes. He's got to do that work. It is important. And I think that he and his campaign understand that, and they know that, and they're going to do that.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's listen to Senator Obama's victory speech last night. I want to get your response to this as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some may see the millions upon millions of votes cast for each of us as evidence that our party is divided. But I see it as proof that we have never been more energized and united in our desire to take this country in a new direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Still a lot of people will say, nope, that's not true, the party is divided. JONES: Well, I mean, the Republicans are saying that and they're happy about it. This is a primary with two tremendous candidates. Both well-known, both charismatic, both well-funded, so of course it's divided. It's a race, it's a fight. But I figure this is where we are, if it's a prize fight. Obama is ahead on all the judges' score cards going to the tenth round. Way ahead and the only way that she can win is if he trips on the stool and hits himself on the ring post. It ain't going to happen.
PHILLIPS: You mentioned how great both candidates are. Is that the dream ticket? Is that your pick?
JONES: No.
PHILLIPS: Why not?
JONES: No, I think that would be divisive and that would be the story.
PHILLIPS: Why? Why would that be divisive?
JONES: Well, it would be the story. It would be all about Hillary Clinton, the Clinton people wanting this and that. And I think it would be, you know, -- you know, it's just too much. It's too much. (INAUDIBLE), it's too much.
PHILLIPS: So who is your dream ticket?
JONES: It doesn't and nor does it really balance the ticket. My dream ticket -- that would be a nightmare ticket for me. My dream ticket would be Jim Webb, senator from Virginia as vice president. He's an American hero. He is an Appalachian redneck as it were. He has great blue collar appeal. He's a real guy. He communicates and he has tremendous military and foreign policy expertise.
PHILLIPS: I don't know. I've never heard him describe himself as a redneck. You might be getting some trouble there with him. I ought to give whip on on that.
JONES: I won't be in trouble with him, but he'll be in trouble with me if he starts denying his roots.
PHILLIPS: Ben "Cooter" Jones, former congressman of Georgia. Always great to talk to you.
JONES: My pleasure always, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. You bet.
John?
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up now on 33 minutes after the hour. The Clinton camp says the blowout win makes the case that she has the better chance of beating John McCain. That's in the State of Kentucky and that's where our Jim Acosta is live this morning in Frankfurt. Jim, when you look at how much she won Kentucky by similar margin in West Virginia, she also won Ohio, she won Pennsylvania -- some people might say -- and there's a pretty compelling case to make to the superdelegates that she should be the nominee.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: That's right, but she still has to win the nomination, and that is getting more and more difficult as the days go on here, John. The horse race goes on.
Barack Obama may be closing in but Hillary Clinton is staying in. New York senator crushed Obama by 35 points here in Kentucky, a big margin, as you just mentioned. But at her victory speech last night in Louisville, Clinton had two other states on her mind -- Michigan and Florida and the disputed delegates in those two contests. Her message to her supporters last night -- she still sees a path to the nomination.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I'm going to keep standing up for the voters of Florida and Michigan. I'm going to keep making our case until we have a nominee, whoever she may be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And Clinton's big victory here over -- underscored once again Obama's challenge with white-working class voters. He also focused his attention on winning over women, which is something that he is definitely going to have to do if he wants to be able to compete with John McCain in the fall. And he praised her in fact for breaking those barriers.
Hillary Clinton now heads to Florida where she will have to go after those disputed delegates in that state one more time. She got some help from the former president yesterday in making that case. He's applying some heavy duty pressure on the Democratic Party accusing Democrats of behaving like the Republicans in the year 2000 -- in his words he says the Democratic Party is decapitating voters in both Florida and Michigan.
John?
ROBERTS: Jim Acosta for us this morning in the capital of Kentucky. Jimmy, thanks very much.
Full slate of political heavyweights joins us this morning on this special Election Center edition of AMERICAN MORNING. It's 6:45 Eastern. We're going to talk with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. He's an Obama supporter. And At 6:55 Eastern former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers will be joining us.
PHILLIPS: Surviving the quake. Another dramatic story overnight. A woman pulled out alive nine days after she was buried by the earthquake. We'll have the amazing story straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: And Alina Cho here this morning with other stories making headlines this morning. Minor earthquake in (INAUDIBLE).
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we got --
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Yes. Trying to rush me the script there.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Boy, I thought I was going to fall off.
All right, guys. Good morning. And we do begin this morning with some breaking news about the price of crude oil futures crossing $130 a barrel for the first time. Remember, these are oil futures. The price of oil crossed $129 a barrel yesterday. A record also for the price of gas. $3.81 a gallon overnight. That's according to AAA. That is the 14th straight record.
We have more breaking news out of Jerusalem. Israel and Syria have begun indirect peace talks. Turkey is said to be mediating. A statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says the talks are being held, quote, "In good faith and with an open mind." President Bush visited the region last week. He is pushing for a Mid-East peace deal before he leaves office in eight months.
The death toll in the earthquake that struck China climbing overnight to 41,000. Nearly 33,000 are said to be missing, but there are still signs of hope. A woman was rescued today after being trapped for some nine days. We are told she survived by staying inside a tunnel. Just incredible.
An American rescue team is on its way to China right now and will arrive later today.
And 50,000 British soccer fans have descended on Moscow for a championship game. Listen to this. Two of the top teams in the world, Manchester United and Chelsea will battle it out for the Champion's League title. The Champions League by the way is a competition of all the best teams from the professional leagues across Europe.
And apparently hotel prices are so high in Moscow that some 3,000 fans took to the streets, spent the night partying overnight in the streets, I guess, or maybe it's just an excuse. They're saying the hotel prices are high. Just an excuse to party.
PHILLIPS: Soccer fans get crazy.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: They do. Oh my God.
PHILLIPS: I had an Italian that lived next door to me for years and you always knew when soccer match time came up because you...
CHO: All right. 50,000 people. That's migration.
PHILLIPS: ...could hear it through the walls. That's right. All right. Thank you.
CHO: You bet.
PHILLIPS: Well, parrots picked a president. The political battle goes to the birds. Jeanne Moos gets the scoop and we're not talking about Jimmy Buffett.
ROBERTS: It's a scoop all right. And Senator Obama declaring that he's within reach of the Democratic nomination, but Hillary Clinton not giving up yet. We'll talk about the affect that it could have on his campaign with an Obama supporter, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
PHILLIPS: And the Clinton campaign moving in a new direction after last night's win in Kentucky. We're going to find out what's next for her ahead on this special election edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We're going to find out what's next for her, ahead on this special election edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some have said your votes didn't matter, that this campaign was over, that allowing -- that allowing everyone to vote and every vote to count would somehow be a mistake. But that didn't stop you. You've never given up on me because you know I'll never give up on you.
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ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton vowing to fight on until there is a nominee, but this morning after winning in Oregon, Barack Obama has a majority of the pledged delegates. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is an Obama supporter. He joins us this morning from Santa Fe.
Governor, it's great to see you. Thanks for getting up so early for us.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: Yes, thank you. It is 4:00 a.m. here, but it's great to be with you, John.
ROBERTS: You know, the great thing about living in Santa Fe, though, is that the more time that you can actually spend during the day, the better it is. Hey, last night, split decision, expected to be another back and forth over the next three contests. Hillary Clinton expected to handily win Puerto Rico. Looks like Barack Obama will take Montana and South Dakota. Predict for me where this race is going to be the morning of June 4th.
RICHARDSON: Well, I think that it's going to be very clear that Senator Obama will have achieved the 72 remaining delegates. 72 are remaining to win the nomination. I think it's going to be there, especially with a superdelegates moving Senator Obama's way.
But I think what is significant about last night is Senator Obama won Oregon 80 percent white voters. He won every demographics. So this talk that he can't win among white voters is just wrong.
In addition to that, what you're seeing is Democrats uniting around Senator Obama. I think Senator Clinton has run a terrific race. She deserves to stay in. We've got three remaining contests, but after June 3rd, John, I think the time has come to unite behind a nominee and get planning for a very tough fall campaign and stop letting Senator McCain go out to Democratic states and take over Democratic issues.
But I think the die is cast pretty soon with a majority of pledged delegates already with Senator Obama. Those are voters that are actually human beings that on proportionality have decided they want Senator Obama, and now Senator Obama, as of today, has a majority.
ROBERTS: True what you said that he won among white voters in Oregon. But if you look at Kentucky, it's completely the opposite and magnified. Hillary Clinton trounced him in white working class voters in Kentucky as she did in West Virginia, as she did in Pennsylvania, as she did in Ohio. Let's listen to some of the argument that she made regarding that last night.
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CLINTON: It's often been said, as Kentucky goes, so goes the nation.
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ROBERTS: She's saying, I can deliver you the heartland; I can deliver you the swing states, he can't. How does he counter that argument?
RICHARDSON: Well, by looking at results, Senator Obama has won 33 states. She's won 17. Now, if you also look at the demographics in states like Colorado, Senator Obama won that. He's won Missouri. He's won many other states that are battleground states that in the past Democrats have not had a strong chance to win.
So, I think you see Senator Obama improving with those white working class voters. You take a state like Kentucky. You know, the Clintons have been campaigning there for two decades. They know the Clintons well. Senator Obama basically is a new face on the horizon.
When we have a nominee, those white voters, those white Reagan Democrats are going to come to Senator Obama on his message of unity, of bipartisanship, of bringing the country together. I think you're seeing that in polling reflected, John. Also among independent voters. Senator Obama is enormously strong with independent voters in a general election with John McCain. We're going to be very strong.
ROBERTS: Governor, I want to ask you about foreign policy here, specifically Iran because John McCain is just battering Senator Obama on this point. And it all relates back to that YouTube debate where he said he would meet with the leaders of Iran, Syria and other nations without precondition.
The language now seems to be shifting. He's saying, yes without preconditions but not unconditionally; we're going to have diplomatic meetings first. This evolution, is it making him vulnerable to Republican attacks?
RICHARDSON: No, it isn't because what Senator Obama is saying is that what is important here is negotiation, dialogue and diplomacy. And he always said and I remember him at the debates that you meet with leaders of North Korea, of Syria, of Iran, but you have a diplomatic plan before.
You don't go just to have a meeting. But you don't say we're never going to meet. And this is what the Bush administration and McCain have said, that without any conditions are they not going to meet with people we disagree with. That's senseless.
If we're going to reduce our commitment in Iraq, if we're going to do something in Iran to better that relationship, if we're going to find ways to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issues, how can you avoid talking to the leaders of Iran and Syria?
ROBERTS: All right. Governor Richardson, good to have you with us this morning. And again, thanks for getting up so early. And enjoy your extended day there in Santa Fe.
RICHARDSON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Well, coming up, a very different point of view on the race for the White House. The mouth from the south -- Democratic strategist and Clinton supporter James Carville, on if he's ready to call it quits or keep on fighting.
Barack Obama's campaign not only has legs, it's got wings. Jeanne Moos introduces us to a fine-feathered friend who is voicing his support for Obama.
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PHILLIPS: Presidential candidates do a lot of flying, but you might be surprised to learn some of their supporters really have wings and they don't just fly, they talk. Now, only if they could vote. That's the next thing. Here is CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You know when Barack Obama says --
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: YES, we can.
MOOS: And the crowd parrots it?
CROWD: Yes we can! Yes we can!
MOOS: Well, now --
SMOKEY, PARROT: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
MOOS: Even the parrots are parroting it. Oh yes, Smokey can.
SMOKEY, PARROT: Obama, yes, we can. Yes, we can.
MOOS: Can you believe it? Take it from Smokey's owner who produces commercials in California.
VOICE OF DOUGH DILG, OBAMA SUPPORTER: Obama will come on and be speaking and he will hear Obama and he'll go, Obama, yes, we can, yes, we can.
MOOS: Oh, for the good old days when parrots said things like -
POLLY, PARROT: Ahoho.
MOOS: Or the old stand by.
POLLY, PARROT: Polly want a cracker?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
MOOS: Now it's Polly want a president?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to vote for Barack Obama?
BEE BEE, PARROT: Barack Obama.
MOOS: Bee Bee is another Obama supporter. But Hillary has hers, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want Hillary to win?
MOOS: Who's parroting who with all the nodding? But Smokey has the most extensive political vocabulary.
SMOKEY, PARROT: Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
MOOS: He's flying around the web attracting comments like limit that bird's CNN viewing.
(on camera): Doug, how do we know that's really the parrot speaking?
DILG: Well, you can see that it's him, can't you?
MOOS: Well it sort of likes -- I don't read beaks well.
(voice-over): Smokey doesn't just talk politics.
DILG: He says, oh, my God, a lot. But for some reason it sounds like oh, my cow on this recording.
MOOS: Oh, my cow is right. Listen closely. You will hear barking.
(on camera): Was that the dog or is that the parrot?
DILG: That's Smokey.
MOOS: Barking?
DILG: Yes, that's Smokey barking.
MOOS (voice-over): The parrot parrots the family dog. Smokey began squawking Obama slogans around the time the Will I Am video started making the rounds.
OBAMA: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
SMOKEY, PARROT: Yes, we can, yes, we can.
MOOS: But for the bird who says, no, I can't, how about this as a slogan for the parrot who doesn't care about any of the candidates.
PARROT: Whatever, whatever, whatever.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Living history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!
CLINTON: Thank you all very, very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Her campaign has blazed the trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Senator Clinton had shattered myths and broken barriers, and for that we are grateful to her.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: But hopes of seeing the first female president are fading fast. Whether women will battle for Obama in the fall.
Plus, Rudy Giuliani on the GOP efforts to get minorities behind McCain ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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PHILLIPS: Despite Senator Clinton's 36 point victory over Senator Barack Obama in Kentucky last night, he did walk away with the majority of pledge delegates bringing him closer to securing the Democratic nomination. Joining me now Dee Dee Myers. She's the author of the new book, "Why Women Should Rule the World." She also served as former President Clinton's press secretary but has not endorsed a candidate in this Democratic primary. We'll get her to say something this morning. We'll go there. But first of all, great to see you.
DEE DEE MYERS, FORMER CLINTON ADMINISTRATION PRESS SECRETARY: Good morning.
PHILLIPS: Thank you for being with us.
MYERS: It's good to be here. Good to be here.
PHILLIPS: I want to talk about your book in just a second. I want to get into the issue of gender. But let's talk about the fact that Senator Clinton, she had this big win in Kentucky overnight, but Obama captured a majority of the pledge delegates as we mentioned, as we introduced you. Let's take a listen to part of his speech last night.
MYERS: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have returned to Iowa with a majority of delegates elected by the American people, and you have put us within reach of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States of America.
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PHILLIPS: He also said, hey, this is a major milestone for us. Do you agree?
MYERS: Well, it is an important milestone. It's one of several that they need to reach. Obviously, the more important one is to get a majority of all the delegates pledged and unpledged or superdelegates, but it is important. I think he's trying to find a very difficult balance between declaring victory too early and alienating the Clinton voters who want to see Hillary Clinton cross the finish line, and not taking advantage of this opportunity to kind of consolidate his lead.
PHILLIPS: Crossing a finish line, Clinton defeating Senator Obama by 35 points in Kentucky last night. Is that problematic for him?
MYERS: Yes, absolutely. I mean, he didn't campaign very hard in Kentucky and I think in hindsight that was a bit of a mistake. He should have gone there. He was always going to lose, but he should have gone there and said you may not love me, but I'm going to ask for your vote anyway. I'm going to come out here and I'm going to -- you know, go into your neighborhoods and I'm going to tell you who I am.
They didn't want to go campaigning really hard and then look like they still lost by a big margin. But down the road, I think it would have been beneficial to him to just show a little more energy in those areas where he's not doing very well.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about gender. And of course, in light of your book -- and you and I were even just talking in the break -- I was kind of picking you were like -- yes, I want to go there. I want to talk about it.
MYERS: I always want to go there.
PHILLIPS: Of course. Gender, sexism. Gloria Stein started with the op ed piece months ago and then we haven't talked about it enough. I mean, we've been talking about the race factor but not the gender factor.
MYERS: Right. I think it's fascinating. Last night there was a lot of conversation about white voters in Kentucky who said -- they were too intense to actually admitted to exit poll takers that race was a big consideration in their vote and you know, most of those people voted for Hillary Clinton, overwhelming number. But nobody asked the question was gender a factor in your race.
Nobody is really looking at whether people are voting against Hillary Clinton because she's a woman. I do think there are in most public polls more people are willing to say that they'd be unwilling to vote for a woman. There are unwilling to say they've been willing to vote for somebody because of their race. And so I think just the conversation that we have discounts the role that gender has played in this election.
PHILLIPS: Has sexism played a part in this?
MYERS: No question.
PHILLIPS: Clinton has mentioned it. She mentioned it again last night.
MYERS: Right. She's only mentioning it now that she is getting closer to finish line. For a long time she sort of didn't talk about it. But yes, I think there's no question that gender has been a theme throughout this election in the way that Senator Clinton has been covered, in the way some of her supporters have been dismissed and the language that's often been used to discuss her and the way her opponents have sometimes dealt with her. It's not the only thing.
PHILLIPS: Give me specifics, though. Give me a specific on why we can say that.
MYERS: Well, I think, you know, for example I think that Senator Clinton had to work really hard to establish her bonafidies as a commander-in-chief. She worked really hard to do that. I don't think Senator Obama was held to the same test.
He was sort of given that he could be commander-in-chief. I think if you listen to the languages that has been used -- Hillary Clinton has been described as shrill, hectoring, lecturing, all the kinds of words that we sometimes associate with -- unpleasantly with women. There was an event months ago where one of Senator John McCain's supporters stood up and said how do we beat the "B" word rimes with rich.
And Senator McCain didn't even scold her. He said that's a good question. So -- and nobody really said much about it. Those kinds of comments shouldn't have been allowed to pass based on race or based on gender. So I think as we look back over this campaign, regardless of the outcome, I think we'll have to admit that sexism has played a role. It's not the only factor, but it's been a factor.
PHILLIPS: And the fact we've seen women leaders all across the world, even in Middle Eastern countries which is pretty fascinating.
MYERS: Right.
PHILLIPS: Now, OK, if not Hillary -- just quickly because we have to go, who would it be?
