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Ballot Bowl 2008

Tornado in Oklahoma; Reaction to Clinton's Comments; McCain Discusses Veterans Bill; Outrage Continues Over Clinton's Assassination Comment; McCain camp Releases Senator McCain's Medical Records; Hillary Clinton speech in Puerto Rico on the High Cost of Gas; Democratic candidates Campaign in Puerto Rico

Aired May 24, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to continue to watch what appears to be that activity in the center of your screen. Seemingly a couple of formations, maybe even trying to take shape there, Jacqui. I know you're going to continue to watch them, let us know when you see something pretty significant there.
All right, a little bit more on what we're seeing here, violent dangerous tornadoes as a whole putting not just northern Oklahoma on edge but any other neighboring communities as well. Take a look at these pretty amazing pictures, all from near the town of Hennessey that we've seen over the past hour and a half. These are three of the now five tornadoes that have actually touched down in this rural area in the last hour and a half or so. One ripping through a barn, a hog farm that we saw earlier.

The latest hit the ground just moments ago and so far no reports of injury, that's good. Our affiliate KWTV caught these images from the air. A tornado warning is indeed still in effect. People are being told to move to their basements or to an interior room. If they are driving or in a mobile home, they are being told to seek shelter immediately. A very dangerous situation that continues to unfold. Now live pictures of this massive wall cloud here. Jacqui Jeras in the Severe Weather Center.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah Fredricka, look at those low hanging clouds. You can see the rotation there, really scary images that we're looking at just unfolding right before our eyes.

All of this happened in the last 90 minutes, Fredricka. It's just amazing that we've seen all of this unfold and the different changes that this particular super cell type of thunderstorm has taken. We're seeing different areas of rotation. It's changed a little bit over the last, say, five, 10 minutes that we've noticed on doppler radar. But we're still getting that strong rotation indication that you can see right there on that picture, that you can see in velocity mode on our doppler radar.

The storm is moving to the north and the east. The tornado warning there for Garfield County until 4:15 local time now. There you can see the town of Douglas, one area that we would be concerned about that could potentially be in the line of storm. There you can see Waukomis and Hennessey is way down here, it's kind of underneath our banner there. So that's where this thing all started. And it's been moving slowly. So that's one of other incredible things.

Sometimes we can get tornadoes, Fredricka, moving as fast as 60 miles per hour. This thing is only moving about 11, 12, 13 miles-per- hour at times. So that is certainly a slow mover, which the only advantage to that I guess would be that it gives people a little bit more advance warning, maybe some more time to be seeking shelter. I heard you mention, by the way, talking about people don't want to be in cars.

WHITFIELD: No.

JERAS: Yeah, we heard that report that a Colorado couple unfortunately in Kansas yesterday that was found when their vehicle was tossed by the tornado. You know, cars become missiles in tornadoes, they really do. They lift up, they flip, and can travel a very long way. So underground shelter, interior room, best places to be.

WHITFIELD: Too often some people think they can outrun a tornado.

JERAS: You can't.

WHITFIELD: You really can't. And we've heard that enough from our storm chasers too who have some remarkable training and experience on how to behave on the ground with four wheels when they are in tornadic activity. Of course Jacqui, we're going to continue to watch the developments here in northern Oklahoma. Thanks so much.

Meantime, we're going to take you to the BALLOT BOWL and of course we'll continue to cut in as news permits. Mary Snow is covering the BALLOT BOWL, as well as Suzanne Malveaux.

MARY SNOW, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you very much, Fredricka. As you just mentioned, we'll be taking a look at the political landscape over the next hour in this edition of BALLOT BOWL.

But we will certainly be going back to you for further developments in the incredible pictures of the tornadoes in Oklahoma. I'm Mary Snow in Sedona, Arizona, here because Senator John McCain is hosting a number of high profile Republicans. There's fueled speculation about whether or not he is taking a look at who will be his possible VP choice. This as some other developments have been going on. We're going to go over right now to Puerto Rico where my colleague Suzanne Malveaux is standing by covering the Democrats. Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Mary. Well both of the Democratic candidates are here in the commonwealth of Puerto Rico today this weekend obviously looking forward to next Sunday. That is when they hold their primary. And it's 55 delegates at stake. That really is the largest group of delegates in the remaining three contests. You have next Sunday, which is Puerto Rice. But also the following Tuesday, Montana, as well as South Dakota. So both of these candidates looking to Puerto Ricans. They do not vote in the general elections, but they do vote in the primary. So it's going to come down to the wire. Both of them trying to gather as many pledged delegates as possible. But neither one of them likely really to get the number they need for the nomination. That is going to really depend on the super delegates.

So what they say here is obviously meant to go to the voters, but also to the super delegates. What are they talking about? Well Barack Obama earlier today here at the University of Puerto Rico was talking about the issue of veterans, the need to take care of them on this Memorial Day holiday weekend. Let's take a listen to Barack Obama just earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's time to end this war so we can finish the fight against al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and combat the other threats of the 21st century. We need to combat them not with just tough talk but with tough diplomacy and strong alliances. That's the kind of leadership our troops deserve and that's the kind of leadership I intend to offer when I'm commander in chief.

But America's obligations to servicemen does not end when they take off the uniform. We have a sacred trust with our veterans and we have to keep it. The other day I had the chance to do this. There was a bill up for a vet in the Senate called the 21st century GI bill that would help make college affordable for today's veterans without harming retention rates.

This bill was proposed by my friend Senator Jim Webb of Virginia who was a marine himself and by leaders of both parties. It's designed to update the original GI bill that veterans like my grandfather received and allowed them to go to college after World War II. Thanks to bipartisan support, the bill passed by a vote of 75-22.

But one of the people opposing it was John McCain. Now let me be clear, no one can dispute John McCain's love for this country or his concern for veterans, but here's what I don't understand. I don't understand why John McCain would side with George Bush and oppose our plan to make college more affordable for our veterans and make sure that people like Nelson had the kinds of extensions that they needed in order to get educational benefits. George Bush and John McCain may think our plan is too generous. I could not disagree more.

Putting a college degree within reach for our veterans isn't being too generous, it's the least we can do for our heroes. And I will continue to fight in the months to come to give those who have defended America the chance to achieve their dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Barack Obama talking about the need to reach out to veterans to serve them and also to bring an end to the Iraq war. Barack Obama in Puerto Rico. Obviously before that group, but also he was a part of a political parade, essentially a lot of music, a lot of clapping and singing, as well as a caravan of cars in motion. Signs like this, si podemos, which means yes, we can in Spanish. Obviously trying to win over the Puerto Rican vote.

Senator Hillary Clinton is doing the same thing this weekend. We are actually waiting to see a live picture of her event, coming up very shortly where she'll also be addressing the needs and the issues surrounding veterans, the economy, the Iraq war. And we're also going to take you to Sedona, Arizona. That is where John McCain hosted a group of important individuals, some couples. He called it a social occasion, a barbecue if you will, but also a lot of speculation that some of these individuals that he was looking at, that he was entertaining and speaking to could be possible candidates for the VP spot. All of that coming up after the break as BALLOT BOWL continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my brother, David Kirkpatrick. What I miss about him most is his humor. He was such a funny kid and he was quiet, but anything that he said, anything that came out of his mouth was always funny. He always had something to tell you and he was only 20 and we miss him so much and miss him more and more every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: You're hearing from family members as we pay tribute here on CNN to veterans on this Memorial Day weekend. I'm Mary Snow in Sedona, Arizona. You're watching BALLOT BOWL. And Senator John McCain is having a get-together as we speak not far from where I'm standing at his home with a number of high-profile Republicans. They were all spotted going out to lunch. Apparently they're going to be hiking this weekend. The McCain campaign says nothing formal, this is not a vetting process. But of course the guest list has fueled speculation because of the three names on the list who are in attendance. Mitt Romney, Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana and Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida.

Also there's also a couple of other people, Senator Joe Lieberman, who is a close friends of Senator McCain, Sam Brownback, the senator from Kansas. So certainly a lot of talk about what's being discussed there.

And another big Republican name coming to Arizona in a few days and that's President Bush. He's going to be joining John McCain here to help him fundraise and that's always been an issue for John McCain, how close does he want to associate with President Bush out on the campaign trail.

Senator McCain does not have a public schedule this weekend, but he has been in a pretty heated war of words with the Obama campaign. You heard Senator Obama talking about the G.I. bill for benefits. He took target at Senator McCain for opposing the bill. Senator McCain has said he is opposing it because he does not believe it would be good to retain people in the military. He wants to have a bill that would give tuition help for people based on the length of service. In Stockton, California on Thursday, he explained why he opposed it, took aim at Senator Obama. Here is John McCain in his own words Thursday in Stockton, California. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am always honored to be in the company of veterans. I am always deeply honored. It's a great honor of my life. And those who I know best and love most are those I've had the honor of serving with far away and long ago.

And I cherish my memories of my comrades that I had the honor of serving with. And sometimes people say that I had a difficult time in prison. And I did. But I also want to tell you that the great honor of my life was to serve in the company of heroes.

I was privileged to observe a thousand acts of courage and love and compassion. And my friends, I understand our veterans' needs but I also understand the needs of the active duty military. And we just had a bill on veterans educational benefits. And I am in favor of increasing dramatically the benefits that our veterans have earned from educational benefits. But I also want to tell you that I want to encourage people to stay in the military and make careers of it. That's very important.

And someone who has never served may not understand the absolute vital importance of a noncommissioned officer. The great strength of the military is our noncommissioned officers, the ones I know best and have learned the most about leadership was our noncommissioned officers. Those brave Americans who decided to make a career out of the military. And I want to encourage people to do that.

I want to give them additional benefits as they serve longer and I want them to be able to transfer those educational benefits to their family members so that after they've served a period of time. We can honor them best by increasing their educational benefits, taking care of their health care but also encouraging retention.

My friends, I don't need anybody to tell me about what veterans needs, I know them and I understand them and I understand them very well and so do you. So let me say to you again, I believe that our veterans health care is a requirement and an obligation. And what happened at Walter Reed is a disgrace and it can never happen again.

And I believe, my friends, as you know, unfortunately we're going to have a lot of PTSD out of this war and they have to be treated and helped. And there's going to be the grievous wounds associated with the IEDs which are such a terrible, terrible way of fighting a war. And so difficult to cope with in this kind of enemy that we're dealing with who has no respect for the lives of innocent people.

But I can also tell you that one of the things we're going to fix and we're going to fix soon is that today at the Phoenix VA, or any of the VA facilities in California is that our veterans have to go down to get an appointment to get an appointment, to stand in line to stand in line.

I want to give every veteran that has a routine health care need a plastic card to take with them wherever they need to go to get the health care they need and never stand in line to stand in line again. Or wait again. And we've got to take care of our veterans, my friends. And that's our first and foremost obligation in addressing health care issues in America.

Now I'm grateful you're here. This is going to be a tough race. I thank you for your support. I need every one of you to go out and call your friends and register people to vote and understand that California could decide who the next president of the United States is.

It's a humbling experience to get the nomination of the party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt and your own Californian Ronald Reagan. It's a humbling experience, but I'm up to the task and I've spent my life in public service and I've spent my life serving this country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Senator McCain earlier this week in Stockton, California reminding voters of his military service. And along the way, also took aim at his rival Democrat Senator Barack Obama, reminding people that Obama did not serve in the military.

We have a lot more coming up, including the firestorm created by Senator Hillary Clinton when she referenced the Bobby Kennedy assassination in trying to explain why she hasn't quit the race. Also, Jacqui Jeras will be joining us to give us the very latest on those tornadoes ripping through Oklahoma. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JERAS: Welcome back, I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. We're continuing to track a tornado with a cell. This thing has been on and off the ground for the last hour and a half. Here we go on again. This is in Garfield County in northern Oklahoma. We've had helicopter watching this storm very closely. And there you can see that funnel, that low hanging kind of on the left side of the screen. Just as quickly as this thing was on the ground, it looks like it's trying to lift back up once again.

That entire area that you see hanging low, that would be the wall cloud with this storm. And we saw very large funnel on the ground literally within that commercial break and there you just saw with me it trying to lift back up. Now there's a lot of rain with this storm. So it's been very difficult to see this funnel and it's been wrapped in rain in times.

There you go, we can see it again in the distance there. Sometimes tornadoes can be hidden within rain and it's very, very difficult to see it. So there you can see some of the tornado kind of erratic at this time. My biggest concern is that this tornado and this storm has for the most part stayed in very rural areas. But now it's encroaching on the town of Douglas, it's about six miles to the southwest there and several hundred people do live in Douglas. This is heading your way. You need to be seeking shelter immediately. Get below ground please, if you can because that is the safest place to be.

We've been watching this storm on and off all afternoon long, really it's been well over 90 minutes. There you can see the area of rotation indicated on our doppler radar there. There you can see the town of Douglas, this rotation just down to your south and west. Covington, you are also in the path of this storm as well as the town of Hayward.

There's a look at that live picture, KWTV. This is in Garfield County. This storm is moving pretty slowly. It's only moving eastward around 9 miles per hour. So you have time in Douglas right now to seek shelter and stay there until this thing passes. Your warning will not expire until at least 5:15 local time. Don't wait until you see this tornado because you might not see it with all of the rain.

There's also some very large hail being reported, possibly the size of baseballs with this. That's enough to knock you out if it hits you on the head. An incredible situation continuing to unfold here. This is in the nation's heartland, this is in Oklahoma. This is about 50-some odd miles to the north of Oklahoma City. This is getting close to the Interstate 35 corridor or maybe 20 miles to the west of I-35 right now.

Storm trackers are continuing to confirm this large tornado -- now I'm getting word here that storm spotters are saying that we've got a multivortex on this tornado. Three or four miles west-northwest of Marshall and our radar has been indicating this as well. We've been seeing rotation in this area where we've got our spin there but we've also been seeing some at times a little farther to the south and west of there. So bear in mind, you might have two different funnels going on here.

There's that live picture, we're continuing to monitor. You can see the lowering -- look at all the rain in it too. Our visibility has really changed with the storm. Before, the sky looked bright outside of our one, big dark cloud and you could see our funnel very clearly. Now as this new tornado has developed with the same cell, this one is much, much, much more difficult to see.

These storms have had a history of producing damage. A hog farm was destroyed. Miraculously we're getting word from officials in Hennessey that even the pigs weren't killed in that storm. The barn itself was just obliterated. So it's amazing to think there have been no injuries and no fatalities associated with these. So Garfield County continuing to see a tornado in this area. We'll continue to monitor it. And as for now, we'll go back to BALLOT BOWL with Mary Snow. Mary?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: I'm Suzanne Malveaux, welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL, special edition, Saturday edition. We're watching all the candidates live and unfiltered throughout the weekend.

One of things we're taking a look at, many people are discussing is the comment that Hillary Clinton made this week when she was asked as to why it was that she was still in the race, that there were times when people felt that she should drop out of this race and she said she didn't quite understand. She felt she should run the full course, all of the contests going through June 3rd and she gave an example saying that her husband Bill Clinton has run through June as well, as well as Robert Kennedy who had been assassinated. Now these comments created quite a stir. A lot of people, some people at least taking offense to it and others not quite understanding what it was that she meant. So she felt that she had to clarify those comments to explain what it was that she meant when she actually referred to the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Let's take a quick listen to how she responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People have been trying to push me out of this ever since Iowa.

QUESTION: Why? Why?

CLINTON: I don't know. I don't know. I find it curious because it is it is unprecedented in history. I don't understand it. And you know, between my opponent and his camp and some in the media, there has been this urgency to end this. And you know, historically that makes no sense. So I find it a bit of a mystery.

QUESTION: You don't buy the party unity argument?

CLINTON: I don't. I've been around long enough. My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know, I don't understand it. And there's lots of speculation about why it is but --

QUESTION: What's your speculation?

CLINTON: I don't know. I find it curious and I don't want to attribute motives or strategies to people because I don't really know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Later Senator Clinton apologized for those remarks if she had offended anyone. She said she certainly didn't mean to by those remarks. This comes as we look forward the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King as well as Robert Kennedy.

And I want to go to Josh Levs, who is at the CNN newsroom. Josh, obviously a lot of people didn't quite understand what she meant by them. She tried to explain. She did apologize for anybody who took offense to them. I know there is a lot of chatter on the blogs, on the Internet about this. What are you picking up? What are people talking? What are they saying?

JOSH LEVS, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST: There's a lot of anger. It caught on like wildfire. What I'll do now is show you some examples of people have really jumped into the fray to have their two cents and a lot of people are very upset about what she had to say.

I'll start off with our website, cnn.com. We had a story and many people posted comments at the end. I'll go to them to see the kinds of things we're getting.

Patrick Bowing, saying, "This is it. You have sunk to the bottom, Hillary."

Jessica, from Georgia, saying, "For the first time in my adult life, I'm speechless."

A girl, full name, Joan, "Typical Hillary, she'll say, do, destroy anything."

These are the kinds of things people are writing in today.

I'm going to tell you, it's actually not unusual for people to be very loud in their opinions. And these comments, and we do see these kinds of things throughout the political season. This doesn't mean it's a whole new story.

But we've gone is go to some other blogs our producers have pulled up from -- uh oh -- and did a blog search on this topic. BET.com is talking about this. They're getting a lot of responses saying they are very upset by it.

This person writing in, "I was really appalled by this comment."

Also this blog over here, Ideologue (ph). People weighing in, saying how upset they are about this.

This person saying, "Clinton has now lost the last scrap of respect I had for her."

As you're hearing these kinds of things, one source you might not expect to have entered this blog debate is the "New York Times" editorial board. That's what happened here. The "New York Times" posted something on one of the "New York Times" blog.

Take a look at this. "Say what? Hillary Clinton does it again."

I'll scroll this posting pretty quickly. They refer to her having had an inexcusable outburst and a lot of people responding here. But not everyone is piling on Hillary Clinton. Some people are defending her here.

Here's what someone wrote in to the "New York Times."

David Gordon says, "I'm an Obama supporter. I think this is idiotic that the mainstream press is making a Mount Everest out of an ant hill." Then he says Clinton has been called out for making a historically accurate comment. He goes on to talk about a comment she had made once involving LBJ.

So there are those voices in this debate, like this man, David Gordon, saying, you know what, people are purposely misconstruing this and making it a bigger deal than it is.

A lot of the voices, even the editorial board of the "Times," which endorsed her, saying they are very upset by what she said, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Josh, I noticed too there were some people that weighed today. Rev. Al Sharpton saying there's a certain sensitivity she should be aware of. We heard from Barack Obama, who said he took her at face value, at her word that she didn't mean in any kind of offensive way.

It's interesting to see how it is playing out. Obviously, a lot of buzz and chatter around the controversial comment.

Thanks, Josh. Thanks so much.

LEVS: Yes, thanks.

MALVEAUX: After the break, we'll be taking a look at Republican John McCain and the release of his health records. Is he in good shape and good health? The records seem to indicate so. All of that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARY SNOW, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching BALLOT BOWL. I'm Mary Snow in beautiful Sedona, Arizona, not far from the spot where Senator John McCain is hosting a number of high-profile Republicans at his home, including some potential names for V.P. candidates.

But also a big weekend for the McCain camp because it did release Senator McCain's medical records. It was extensive, releasing more than 1,000 pages of documents, letting certain limited number of journalists into a very controlled setting to review those documents.

Basically, headline out of it was that Senator McCain is in pretty good health. There have been a lot of questions since he suffered with skin cancer and because of his age. If elected, he would be the oldest American first-time president.

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta reviewed the documents yesterday and he filed this report on John McCain's health.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We're learning just how extensive McCain's operation for melanoma was in 2000. Doctors moved 34 lymph nodes in the neck. Doctors say the high number was due to an abundance of caution. He still has swelling that is obvious. McCain's had melanoma removed four times, the most recent in 2002. There's a 66 percent chance of it recurring in ten years. Eight years have already passed.

Also new, McCain had skin cancer taken off his leg in February of this year, squamous cell carcinoma. His campaign insists it's under control.

Blood pressure 134/84. Fine. Cholesterol, 192, down from 226 just five years ago. It looks like medications are helping here. Also had an operation to reduce the size of his prostate. He smoked two packs a day for 25 years up to 1980 and had polyps removed from his colon but no signs of cancer from those.

He was beaten and tortured while a POW. His shoulders were both broken. And to this day, he can't lift his shoulders over his head. Doctors say he may need both shoulders replaced.

He does get dizzy from time to time, especially when tipping his head back. Diagnosis, vertigo. A problem with his inner ear.

As far as fitness goes medical records had him at both 56 and 5'9". We'll go with 5'9". Weight, 163. That puts his BMI at 24. Pretty good, pushing the normal limit. Heart and circulatory system were within normal limits for a man his age.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: That was DR. Sanjay Gupta on Senator McCain's medical records showing there has been no recurrence of the cancer from the surgery he had in 2000 when he had malignant melanoma. That was good news for Senator John McCain as his doctors try to reassure the public he's in good health.

Shortly after those medical documents became public, they had another disclosure and it was a turnaround for Cindy McCain. Weeks after she said she would never release her tax returns, she actually did. A summary of the 2006 returns were made public late yesterday afternoon showing that she made over $6 million in 2006, paying about 1.7 million in taxes. It is a summary of the 2006 filing.

She had said she wasn't going to release them out of privacy concerns. She and her husband always file separate returns. But the campaign says she decided she did not want to become a distraction because there had been a lot of criticism saying the McCains were not being transparent and the Democrats pounced on the release yesterday saying it still does not reveal enough information. But that was a series of revelations yesterday, big revelations from the McCain camp right before this holiday weekend in a sign that was seen that the McCain campaign wanted to put the questions behind them and move forward.

A lot going on although Senator McCain does not have a public schedule.

We'll take a quick break. When we come back, we'll go back to Puerto Rico where both Democratic candidates, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, are campaigning there. And Suzanne Malveaux will be joining us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm senior CNN meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras. We're continuing to track a very large and dangerous tornado on the ground in Oklahoma.

There you can see the Doppler radar picture. Our chopper pilot that's been tracking the storm had to go and refuel. We don't have live pictures any more. But storm spotters are telling us the tornado is multiple vortex and two miles to the south and east of Douglas.

There we can see rotation on our radar. This is where the other tornado is, very much or also wrapped in rain. It's very difficult to see. You need to be seeking shelter immediately.

This same cell has been holding itself together for about the last two hours. We have seen many tornadoes drop in and out of this cell.

This is video from earlier this afternoon. You can see the rotation of this tornado. And then it moves right over a hog farm and just obliterates the barn. Believe it or not the hogs were not even hurt in this situation. You need to be underground today.

We'll continue to keep you up to date on the latest.

We do have a tornado watch in effect across much of central and northern parts of Oklahoma. And new watches have been issued to include eastern Nebraska and South Dakota.

This is a holiday weekend. Stay alert on the weather and CNN will keep you up to date.

We'll be back with BALLOT BOWL after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux, right outside of San Juan, Puerto Rico, where both Democratic candidates are competing today.

Barack Obama here earlier today at the University of Puerto Rico where he addressed a group of veterans and then moved on to a parade, a political parade with maracas and drums and the whole caravan of cars and music and excitement there. And also, Hillary Clinton as well, arriving in Puerto Rico about an hour ago. We're still awaiting for a live event where she'll be addressing a group of veterans as well. Barack Obama now back on his way to Chicago.

Hillary Clinton addressing an issue on the minds of many voters, including those in Puerto Rico, and that is the high cost of gas. AAA announcing a record of $3.91 a gallon for regular unleaded.

So Clinton speaking about that to voters earlier in South Dakota. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'd also like to see us come up with some immediate relief for people who are suffering with these high gas prices. Oil hit $130 a barrel. I know some analysts believe it's going to hit $200 a barrel and by the end of the year, if not sooner. There is an irrational component to this. And so therefore, I would like to see us be more vigorous in trying to help people now.

All that I want to do for the long term, I'm 100 percent committed to, but what about right now? As oil goes up the price of gas and diesel go up, right? Some people think we'll hit $4 by July or earlier. Some people think we can hit $5 or $6 by the end of the year. That is a big burden on people that have to drive. We're not talking about folks in a have other alternatives. We have a lot of public transit they can use, like a lot of the people I represent in New York. We're talking in places like South Dakota that drive long distances and commute to work and maybe use their cars and trucks and farm equipment to make a living.

So I think we should be doing four things. If I were president right now, I would launch a Department of Justice investigation into the energy traders that are manipulating the market and driving the price up. There is no doubt in my mind, they are currently unregulated and that is a mistake.

We saw what happened. We remember Enron. When Enron was going on the energy traders working for Enron were manipulating the electricity price on the west coast. We found that out afterwards. Even oil company executives admit there is speculation going on. Let's start standing up to that. And that's what the president should do.

Secondly, the Congress passed a provision I had been advocating for some time, quit filling up the strategic petroleum reserve. It's already 97 percent full. And I'd go a step further and release oil so people could see the price driven down.

We start going after OPEC and Congress is beginning to respond. OPEC is a monopoly cartel. They are not operating on the law of supply and demand. They set the supply and they set the price. We should be leading an international effort at the world trade organization and change our laws to allow people to sue them for anti- trust. We should not let OPEC, which has determined the supply and price of oil since 1973, to continue unchallenged. It is time for the United States to lead an effort to try to take them on and see if we can't rein them in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Senator Hillary Clinton talking about the need to form an energy policy, one that takes on the oil corporations and obviously brings down the gas prices. One of the issues that here people in Puerto Rico are talking about as well. Also talking about ending the war, improving education. All of those issues very important to residents here.

And Barack Obama also addressing veterans on this memorial holiday weekend.

I want to go back to Mary Snow. Mary, you're in beautiful Sedona, Arizona, where you've been watching the Republicans. We lucked out here on the weather. What was nice and interesting to see is Puerto Ricans, they say we do things a little differently and we take pride in doing things differently. They had a big political parade when Barack Obama was here. You have the maracas, the drums and whole bit and a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. Obviously, the people here, because this is not a state, they cannot vote in the general election, but can vote in the primary. There is a big sense of excitement that this really, really matters this time around -- Mary?

SNOW: Yes, Suzanne, just watching Barack Obama dancing there a little bit. There must be a real sense of excitement because they are so far down in the game in terms of primaries. So late in the game, and yet they're getting so much attention at this point they don't normally get.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. And it's 55 delegates so it does make a difference. This really could give Hillary Clinton what she needs in terms of proving a superdelegate she can win over pledged delegates as well as the popular vote. Barack Obama just wants to wrap this up, Mary.

And thank you for joining us for CNN BALLOT BOWL.

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