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Ballot Bowl 2008

Severe Weather Spawning Tornadoes, Hail; Bob Barr Accepts Libertarian Party Nomination; John McCain Speeches Directed at Obama; Clinton Controversy Continues over Bobby Kennedy Assassination Comment

Aired May 25, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in San Juan, Puerto Rico. That is where we are following the Democratic candidates, specifically Hillary Clinton, who has four different stops here as they do some last-minute campaigning leading up to next week's primary, a critical primary, just three of them left.
On the Republican side, joining me is my co-host, Mary Snow, in Sedona, Arizona, taking a look at John McCain and how the Republicans are faring in a very different place.

And the game plan that we have, all the live and unfiltered events that we're looking at this hour.

Hey, Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Suzanne. Yes, we have a full plate ahead on this next hour.

Senator Barack Obama filling in today for Senator Ted Kennedy at Wesleyan University. This after the sad news that Senator Kennedy is suffering from a brain tumor. We'll take you there.

Also, Senator Hillary Clinton crisscrossing Puerto Rico, campaigning, but also she's doing damage control over the remarks she made on Friday, alluding to the assassination of RFK.

We'll tell you what she's saying now about why she's staying in the race.

Also, the Libertarian Party, delegates right now are picking their presidential candidate. They're meeting in Denver, and we'll give you the latest -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Well, Mary, you're absolutely right about Clinton's schedule. She has a very full plate today -- four different events, at least, that we've been tracking today alone, and then she'll be here also tomorrow, obviously, trying to win over those 55 delegates -- critical to success in her own campaign.

One of the things she's been talking about obviously education. She's been talking about health care.

But also issue number one for the people here in the commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the status of this island, the fact that they are not a state, whether or not they should become independent. This is something that voters are talking about, they're paying attention. And so Hillary Clinton, not surprising, addressing that very issue, making a commitment that if she is president, she will take it head on.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D-NY) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have outlined a very specific agenda to help mayors like Mayor Torres. To create jobs here by helping to extend all of the economic incentives that are in the States to Puerto Rico.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: I also believe in equal treatment for the Puerto Rican people when it comes to programs like Medicare and Medicaid and the children's health insurance program. I will also work with mayors and other elected officials and leaders to bring more help to fight crime. And to encourage manufacturing. And that means that in a city like this, we must clean up the old manufacturing facilities from the petrochemicals and the others with the Brownfields and the superfund sites.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: And the government in Washington must be your partner to do that. I also want you to be part of the energy revolution I intend to lead. Look at this sun. Feel the wind. There is so much that can be done right here in Puerto Rico to help you become energy independent by harnessing the sun and the wind.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: You need a president who believes that we should not be dependent on foreign oil, and here in Puerto Rico, 70 percent of your energy comes from oil that you cannot any longer afford, especially when we have alternatives, we should begin working on right now.

I also believe strongly that all people are entitled to a representative form of government that represents them at all levels of government. And I will as your president on day one work with all the factions here in Puerto Rico. And with the Congress, to enable you to determine your status by majority vote among all of the options that are available to you.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Senator Hillary Clinton back on message after somewhat of a bump over the weekend. Some comments that she had made earlier when asked about why she was still in the primary race being close to June, and she said that her -- her husband, Bill Clinton, of course, was already when he was involved in the primaries in June as well as the late Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated. Those comments creating a little bit of a stir among some who took offense to that and she has later apologized about that.

Then she has an op-ed that was released by the "New York Daily News" today, making it very clear her position on this. She said, and I read it verbatim, "I want to set the record straight. I was making the simple point that given our history, the length of this year's primary contest is nothing unusual." She went on to say, "I was deeply dismayed and disturbed that my comment would be construed in a way that flies in the face of everything I stand for and everything I'm fighting for in this election." Hillary Clinton addressing that controversy.

There were those -- plenty of people who have also come to her defense including some from the Kennedy family as well as Senator Barack Obama saying that he took her word, her at her word that she didn't mean offense and that this is certainly something that should move on.

Also in the op-ed, she explained to voters why it is that she is still running, what makes this important to her. And she says, "I am not unaware of the challenges or the odds of my securing the nominee. But this race remains extraordinarily close and hundreds of thousands of people in upcoming primaries are still waiting to vote. As I have said so many times over the course of this primary, if Senator Obama wins the nomination, I will support him and work my heart out for him against John McCain. But that has not happened yet."

So, Hillary Clinton very much aware of the criticism, but fighting back saying that she is in this until the very last contest.

I want to bring in my colleague, Jim Acosta, who's been following Barack Obama today and some of the things that he's been up to.

Hi, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Suzanne.

That's right, we saw Barack Obama pinch-hit today for Senator Ted Kennedy, who, as we know, is still recovering from that seizure that put him in the operate about a week ago, and that terrible diagnosis of brain cancer for the Massachusetts senator. Well, today Barack Obama filled in for Senator Kennedy here on the campus of Wesleyan College in Connecticut.

And Senator Obama made mention of this during this commencement address, Suzanne, essentially saying that Ted Kennedy called him on the phone and said, "Hey, I've got this commencement speech up in connecticut. Do you think you could fill in for me?" And the message from Barack Obama was essentially, "Yes, I can."

Now, this commencement address was steeped in Kennedy mystique. We heard Senator Obama refer time and again to the Kennedy legacy of national service. He referred repeatedly to the Peace Corps, urging the graduates here not just to chase after those dreams of that big job that will pay for the big house and the big car, in his words. He hopes that these graduates who are out here today will also chase after their dreams and at least try to shake up this world as they head out into the real world of the job market out there, which isn't all that promising these days for these graduates.

But here's a portion of Senator Obama's speech, which included a lot of the senator's biography, much of his humble upbringing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are so many ways to serve and so much that needs to be done at this defining moment in our history. You don't have to be a community organizer or do something crazy like run for president. Right here at this school many of you have already volunteered at local high schools and elementary schools, contributed to the United Way, and even started a program that brings fresh produce to needed families in the area.

One hundred sixty-four graduates of this school have joined the Peace Corps since 2001. And I confess a special pride that two of you are about to leave for my father's homeland of Kenya to bring alternative sources of energy to impoverished areas.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I ask you to seek these opportunities when you leave here because the future of this country, your future, my future, my children's future, depends on it.

At a time when our security and our moral standing depends on winning the hearts and minds in the forgotten corners of the world, we need more of you to serve abroad. As president I intend to grow the Foreign Service, double the Peace Corps over the next few years and engage young people of other nations in similar programs so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all of humanity.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: At a time when our ice caps are melting and our ocean are rising, we need you to help lead a green revolution. So we have time to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change, if we get serious about investing in renewable sources of energy, and if we get a generation of volunteers to work on renewable energy projects, and if we teach people about conservation and help clean up polluted areas, if we send talented engineers and scientists abroad to help developing countries promote clean energy in a way that's compatible with economic growth.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: At a time -- at a time when a child in Boston must compete with children in Beijing and Bangalore, we need an army of you to become teachers and principals in schools that this nation cannot afford to give up on. I will pay -

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I will pay our educators what they deserve and give them more support, but I will also ask more of them to be mentors to other teachers, and serve in high school -- high-need schools and high-need subject areas like math and science. We will need you at a time when there are children in the city of New Orleans who still spend each night in a lonely trailer. We need more of you to take a weekend or a week off from work and head down south and help rebuild.

If you can get the time, volunteer at the local homeless shelter or soup kitchen in your own communities, because there's more than enough work to go around. Find an organization that's fighting poverty or a candidate who promotes policies you believe in and find a way to help them. We need you.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: At a time of war, we need you to work for peace. At a time of inequality, we need you to work for opportunity. At a time of so much cynicism and so much doubt, we need you to make us believe again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And as we were watching Senator Obama deliver this commencement address, we could see the Kennedy family visibly moved by Senator Obama's remarks. Congressman Patrick Kennedy, the senator's son, Vicki Kennedy, the senator's wife, were both in attendance here. And Congressman Kennedy was openly weeping during this address, Suzanne.

And it was interesting to note that Barack Obama passed on a message to the folks who were out here today, some 15,000 people out here today, from Senator Ted Kennedy and it was, "To all those praying for my return to good health, I offer my heartfelt thanks and to in who'd rather have a different result, I say, don't get your hopes up just yet."

So, a little fight there from Teddy Kennedy today, and we saw some of that high-spiritedness coming from Senator Kennedy out off of the coast of Cape Cod. We understand this video has just come in to CNN. Senator Ted Kennedy out sailing today, not showing any indication of some of the dire health challenges that he has lying ahead as the months and years go on, but Senator Ted Kennedy putting on a brave face out there sailing off of the cape.

And Senator Obama, we should mention, this was very much a commencement address, not very much like a political speech. We've heard Barack Obama's political speeches time and again, Suzanne, I know you've heard more than your fair share.

So, we didn't hear that line from Barack Obama today, that this campaign has been going on for 15 months and we have babies walking and talking now. That line did not come up today, Suzanne, but lots of other lines did come up and it was well received by this crowd here. MALVEAUX: That's great, Jim. You can probably predict the next line that comes up. We all do. But thanks again, Jim Acosta.

ACOSTA: I want to go straight to our own Jacqui Jeras, who is reporting from the CNN weather center, because there is some severe weather that she has update on -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Suzanne, yes, quite an outbreak on going right now and this extends from Texas all the way to the U.S./Canadian border, in the state of Minnesota.

Let's go ahead and show you where the watches are in place. Look at how everything is lit up and two of the watches we're very concerned about right there across Minnesota and Iowa. These are what we call PDS watches or what would be a particularly dangerous situation. We've got at least a dozen tornado warnings in effect at this hour and about half of which have reports of tornadoes on the ground.

And we're taking you into Moore County. This is in the state of Texas and the town of Dumas, where we are seeing a very strong rotation. We're getting reports from the police department here that there may be as many as three tornadoes on the ground.

There are several different areas which could be showing rotation right now. And there you can see that a lot of lightning. These purples that you're seeing in there as well, a good indication that there's going to be some extremely large hail to go along with this.

Now, we're taking you into Kansas. This is Ness County, Gove County, also Trego County and then on off to the east, we're also seeing a warning on those cells over there for Barton and Rush counties. There have been reports with funnels, with those storms as well.

Let's take you now into the state of Minnesota. We've got tornado warning which includes Hennepin County; downtown Minneapolis, you're not included in this right now, but look up to your north in the Coon Rapids area, a strong rotation being indicated on Doppler radar. This is just to the east of Buffalo. This is on radar. This hasn't been on the ground just yet but an extremely populated area on the northwest side of the twin cities.

We're going to continue to monitor the situation. If we get any damage out of Dumas, we've got our affiliate covering that for us right now, and we'll bring those pictures and reports along to you.

In the meantime, we'll take a break and BALLOT BOWL will be back right after that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my brother, David Kirkpatrick. What I miss about him most is, you know, his humor. He was such a funny kid and, you know, 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 we miss him more and more every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL.

You're watching this coverage from Sedona, Arizona - I'm Mary Snow - where Senator John McCain has just wrapped up a weekend. It's about two dozen guests. And it's caused so much attention, because three people who attended that weekend at his home in Sedona just happened to be names that have been talked about as being potential vice presidential candidates -- Mitt Romney, his former rival in the presidential race; Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana governor; and also Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida.

Senator McCain kept mum about the weekend. Aides insist it was just a social gathering, but certainly that hasn't stopped the speculation because of the people who were in attendance. Senator McCain will be back on the campaign trail tomorrow.

Later last week, late last week, I should say, he was out in California. He took aim at Senator Obama on a number of issues, and we're seeing that increasingly happen. And one of the issues that Senator McCain talked to a Stockton, California, crowd about, was the issue of the economy.

Let's go to Senator John McCain last week Thursday, in Stockton, California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me just move on for a second to one of the big problems that we face in Washington -- and that is out-of-control spending. I have fought year after year, week after week, fighting against wasteful, out-of-control spending. And, my friends, I'm tired of it and you're tired of it, and I've got a veto pen. I got a pen that Ronald Reagan gave me years ago, and I'm going to veto every single pork-barrel, earmark bill that comes across my desk. And I will make those people famous.

(APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: Now, an example of that, by the way, is the farm bill. Now, the farm bill, we need to help some farmers in need. This farm bill is a $300 billion, loaded down with pork-barrel, earmark projects at a time when Americans are hurting economically. They're trying to keep their job, they're trying to keep their home, and we're going to give $93 million to racehorse -- to thoroughbred racehorses -- owners.

And we're going to -- and we're going to give billions of dollars to farmers that make over $200,000 a year. And we're going to give billions of dollars for farmers not to grow anything. My friends, this bill deserves your condemnation, the president's vetoing, and to its everlasting shame, the Congress of the United States, Republican and Democrat, will override the president's veto.

I will veto a farm bill, and I will make them famous. And I can tell you that we're not going to have business as usual in Washington when I'm president of the United States. And let me also tell you -

(APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: And so what did Senator Obama do -- the person who wants change. He's going to -- he's supporting that farm bill. He's supporting those pork-barrel projects. My friends, I think the only change that he's trying to make is -- is the business as usual in Washington.

And, my friends, I will, have been, and will be an agent for change. And I can assure you, I will continue this fight against wasteful, work-barrel and unnecessary spending and you can count on it. And you can count on my record.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: That's Senator John McCain last week in Stockton, California, hitting a familiar theme that's been part of his campaign, and that is to cut wasteful government spending, also taking aim at Barack Obama. Both campaigns, though, have been in a back-and-forth about a G.I. Bill that they disagree on, about extending military benefits to veterans. We've been talking about a lot about that. We expect that to continue throughout the week.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll give you the very latest on the Libertarian convention, taking place right now in Denver, Colorado, and it's looking very likely that a former Republican will be on the presidential ticket in November. Stay with us. We'll give you the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAIL POINDEXTER (ph), MOTHER: My name is Gail Poindexter (ph), and this is my son, Sergeant Joel W. Lewis. The army drew him in because he just wouldn't have not survived behind a desk job. Being so tall, 6'6" you think, you know, would be kind of intimidating but people were kind of drawn to him. He was a superb young man who was killed in Iraq on 5/6/07 and will be greatly missed and loved forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL.

We're going to take you right now to Denver, Colorado and you're seeing live pictures from the Libertarian convention going on right now. Delegates are, at this moment, in the sixth round of voting. And the well-known Libertarian, Wayne Root has now endorsed former Republican Congressman Bob Barr, and it's looking likely that Barr will emerge as the presidential candidate on the Libertarian ticket. There were 14 candidates vying for this spot.

Bob Barr, about two weeks ago, announcing that he would seek the office of the presidency on the Libertarian ticket. He left Congress in 2002.

One of the questions is: Will he turn out to be a spoiler in the November election?

Now, Bob Barr is hoping, and his supporters are hoping, that he'll tap into disenchanted Republicans who are unhappy with Senator John McCain, and many people point to the fact that there is somewhat of a protest vote going on. If you take a look at recent primaries, Oregon, for example, about 15 percent voted for Ron Paul -- he ran on the Republican ticket but has a lot of Libertarian policies --is seen as a protest vote.

So, will some of these people vote for the Libertarian and not John McCain? It's something to be watched. Could it make a difference? People say it depends on how many ballots he's on in terms of what states will allow him on the ballot and how close the race will be in November. But certainly that is one of the stories we are keeping a watch on, in Denver, Colorado, going on right now.

We have lots more ahead. When we come back after a quick break, we're going to have the very latest on the Mars Lander. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a picture of my brother, Sergeant Jason Vaughn. The thing I most admired about my brother was his kindness and compassion for others. We always said that he should have been a politician, because he could really work a room. He was killed May the 10th, 2007, in Baquba, Iraq. And we will always miss him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: And we're paying tribute to fallen heroes through your I-reports.

Hello, everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. More BALLOT BOWL in a moment, but first, these top stories.

More severe weather could be on tap this afternoon. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is tracking the situation from the Weather Center.

Something tells me more cells that you are tracking that could spawn tornados and hail and all that ugly stuff again?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's going on right now, Fredricka. We've got it from Texas all the way up to Minnesota. So, this is much more widespread than what we dealt with yesterday and the danger levels a lot higher, will impact a lot more people today. In fact, millions of people are under that threat as we speak.

Let's go ahead and show you the watches that are in place. And you can see them just stacked. And look at all that lightning. By the way in that little square, I measured it out, and our radar's estimating that there are about 32,000 lightning strikes just in the last hour. Pretty incredible, isn't it? It doesn't always take a tornado to cause problems. There's a lot of lightning so you really don't want to be outdoors when you hear it or you see it.

All right, we're focusing on more County. This is in Texas. And we've had reports of tornadoes in the town of Dumas. In fact, the police department there has been telling us that there were three of them on the ground. But no reports of damage. A large hail core with this storm as well. Reports of quarter- to golf ball-size hail. And there have been many areas of rotation associated with this storm. So, it's really kind of going on all over the place with that.

We also have a lot of action going on here along this -- is the I-70 corridor into Kansas, like north central Kansas. And we have multiple warnings here. These are all radar indicated tornadoes at this time.

Now, we're going to take you a little farther up north into my home state of Minnesota. The tornado warning which was in effect for Hennepin County has expired now at the bottom of the hour, but there you can see, still some rotation being indicated on our radar there near the east Bethel area and that storm is pushing off into an easterly direction. So be aware of that if you live on the north side of the Twin Cities.

Now, I also want to take you a little bit farther down to the south in the state of Iowa. Tornado warnings in effect for Franklin County, Grounden County and Hardin County and also Floyd County. These are all Doppler indicate tornadoes but these are very intense storms just to the east of I-70 there.

It will be a rough night of tornadoes, Fredricka, we'll be on top of it. We'll break in if we need to. And if we get any reports out of Dumas, Texas, we'll let you know as well.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jacqui, thank you very much.

Sichuan Province hit with a 5.8 magnitude aftershock nearly two weeks after the region's killer earthquakes. At least two people died today and 400 were hurt. The total death toll topped 62,000 with another 23,000 missing.

In just over two hours from now, an American spacecraft is expected to land on mars. The Phoenix mars lander is set to reach the red planet just after 7:50 eastern. Its mission, to study the arctic region for possible signs of life.

CNN's Miles O'Brien will host our live coverage starting at 7:00 eastern, 4:00 pacific. You don't want to miss it.

Dick Martin of Rowan and Martin's "Laugh-in" has died. The late '60s variety show pushed the limits of network comedy. It ran for five years. And Martin later found success directing TV sitcoms. Dick Martin died of respiratory problems in southern California. He was 86.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in Atlanta. Back to the BALLOT BOWL right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Peter Haskell Burks, he was really not only one of my best friends, but he was very responsible, very trustworthy person. He was a very big patriot. He said, "I'm a soldier. My country demands of me to go to Iraq to fight for freedom, and this is my duty, to serve my country." I just wish there were more guys like Pete in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARY SNOW, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Mary Snow in Sedona, Arizona.

And what you're looking at right now, are live pictures out of Denver, Colorado. This, after Bob Barr officially just became the Libertarian Party candidate for the November election. Just when you thought you had so much of politics, here comes a new candidate to be added to the ballot.

Bob Barr is a former Republican Congressman from Georgia. Let's take a listen to what he has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB BARR, LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... actually, it's not a question, it's a request. Your party today, we still have some work to do to select our vice presidential nominee. And then I hope we all celebrate, because I'm sure that we will emerge here with the strongest ticket in the history of the Libertarian party.

And then I want everybody to remember that we have only 163 days to win this election. Do not waste one single day.

It has been a tremendous honor to have served the last two years as the Region Four representative on the Libertarian National Committee. And one of the reasons it has been such a tremendous honor and a pleasure, in addition to serving with the LNC under Bill Readpass' (ph) leadership, is to work side by side, shoulder by shoulder, with the current Region Four representative, Stuart Flood (ph) of the great state, sister state of South Carolina.

Stuart, thank you.

As I mentioned earlier today, there have been few things in life, in my life, that have been a greater honor and a greater pleasure than to have been to have served last evening and participated last evening in the debate. Every one of those men and women, including Mary Ruwart (ph), who we just heard from, who is a dynamic, great, continuing leader of the Libertarian party, represent one of the finest groups of political leaders that we have in America today. And I look forward to continuing to working with every single one of them, not just through this campaign, but in the many years ahead. And I wouldn't be surprised if we might see a couple of them in a Barr administration cabinet, as a matter of fact.

Now, many of you all have commented to me over the years that I am very tall and handsome, just like my son Derrick here. Many of you all have had the opportunity to meet Derrick, who has been working with us these past several days and has a tremendous future ahead of him. And he is looking forward to putting all of his energy, as everybody in this room is, in the months and -- well, the months ahead and the days ahead, 163 days. I want to keep reminding everybody, including myself of that. But I'd like to thank Derrick for the tremendous work that he's put in...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: That is Bob Barr, accepting the nomination of the Libertarian party. The delegates voted to make Bob Barr, the former Congressman from Georgia, Republican, as their nominee, their candidate, to be on the ticket in November. And as you just heard him say, has 163 days to go in order to get his campaign going, pick a running mate. This in the late stages.

The big question, Bob Barr wants to take votes from Democrats and Republicans. Will he prove to be a spoiler in the November election? That is one question a lot of people are asking.

John McCain is in Arizona. He has not been on the campaign trail, having a private gathering with fellow Republicans, including three seen as potential vice presidential running mates.

Senator John McCain on Thursday was in Stockton, California, where he has been repeatedly taking aim at Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama.

Let's take a listen, a little bit, at what Senator McCain is targeting. He is trying to portray Obama as a candidate with very little experience. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In case you missed it, Senator Obama, who I admire and respect Senator Obama for a young man with very little experience, he's done very well. So, I appreciate, with his -- with his very, very great lack of experience and knowledge of the issues, he's been very successful.

So, don't get me wrong. I admire and respect Senator Obama. But he does not have the knowledge, background or judgment to lead this nation in these difficult and challenging times, and I do! And I can keep this nation prosperous and secure. In case you missed it the other day, my friends, Senator Obama said that he would sit down, without condition, across the table with one of the most despotic and repressive and oppressive leaders of the world, the president of Iran. My friends -- my friends, this is the same guy, this is the same guy, that said that -- a few days ago that Israel was a stinking corpse. This is the same guy whose country is developing nuclear weapons, and this is the same guy whose country under his leadership is exporting the most lethal explosive devices into Iraq and killing young Americans.

I will never sit down across the table with someone like that until he renounces their dedication of the state of Israel.

And, my friends, history shows -- history shows -- history shows very well that we don't negotiate with terrorists. And, my friends, there's plenty of ways of communicating. But I want to make sure you that understand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: That was Senator John McCain in Stockton, California, on Thursday.

We want to switch gears right now. There's some severe weather we need to tell you about.

Let's go to Jacqui Jeras in Atlanta -- Jacqui?

JERAS: Hey, Mary, yes, we've got reports of a tornado on the ground in the Twin Cities metro area. This is in Minnesota. A tornado was just reported about two miles to the north and west of Kuehne Rapids. This is in Anoka County. You can see very clearly where the rotation is here on our cell. We're also getting some reports of some extremely large hail in the Andover area, also about four miles north of Big Lake. Hail reported the size of about baseball. So, this is an extremely dangerous storm.

Trained spotters have actually seen this on the ground. They're telling us that it's moving in an easterly direction right now. So, some other areas that could be impacted by this, is Hamm Lake, Blaine, Lexington, Circle Pines, Lionel Lakes, North Oaks, Centreville, Forrest Lake and Hugo. So, this is all in the northern suburbs of St. Paul.

We'll zoom in just a little bit closer. And you can really see that hook on Doppler radar. Just amazing circulation. This is being shown very strongly here by our radar.

Let's put a little storm track on it and show you how quickly this thing is moving. There you're seeing some of the lightning strikes showing about 27,000 people being impacted. And that heightened impact number you see there that's the number 6 on a scale of 1 to 10 what our radar is detecting as that threat.

We've got a live picture we want to show you now from KARE TV in Minneapolis. A very ominous-looking picture. They've given a tour over the past five or ten minutes or so of some of the DTRO cameras near I-94 where this thing started up and now it's starting to hone in on the I-35 corridor as well. Can't really see any rotation but obviously some very dark, ominous-looking clouds there. This includes Anoka County, Washington County and Ramsey Counties.

So, trained spotters continuing to track a tornado, reported moving east two miles north and west of Coon Rammeds (ph) and also three-inch hail now being reported in the Anoka area. That's larger than baseball. That's kind of between baseball and softball-size hail. That knocks you on the head and that's going to knock you out. It's a very busy holiday weekend. A lot of lakes in this area, Forrest Lake, White Bear Lake in here.

If you know anybody who is out and about, you might want to give them a call on their cell phone as this dangerous storm continues to move through the northern suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota.

We'll continue to track this storm. We'll take a quick break and we'll be back with BALLOT BOWL.

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My name is Dave, and on behalf of my four brothers and sister, I want to salute our brother, Corporal Richard J. Nelson, who died in a roadside bombing on April 14th, 2008. I salute Rick for his courage to join the military and become a Marine in time of war. I salute him for his honorable life that he lived, the respect he showed people. We love you, Rick. We think about you every day. And we'll see you again some day.

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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN's "BALLOT BOWL." I'm Suzanne Malveaux in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

We are looking at all of the live events. Hillary Clinton here -- five different events on this day alone. And one of the things that she is doing is she is hitting back, hitting back hard in a "New York Daily News" editorial talking about why she believes that she should still be in this race and that there are others in the past who have been in this race in the June primaries leading up into June.

Our own Josh Levs following and tracking the controversy around some of those remarks that she made earlier, the apology and also the pitch that she's making to voters now -- Josh?

JOSH LEVS, CNN BUSINESS ANALYST: That's right, hey there, Suzanne. So we had developments on the Internet and also the Sunday political talk shows. I'll show you all the basics. I want you to see what happened.

For a lot of people today started on the Internet in terms of this story unless you're in New York and happen to have a copy of the "New York Daily News." Let's look at it right here. This is her editorial that she wrote for the "New York Daily News" called "Why I Continue to Run." She focused a lot of this on her remark about Robert Kennedy, as she referred to his assassination, which sparked controversy. She says, almost immediately, "Some took my comments entirely out of context and interpreted them to mean something completely different and something unthinkable." That's what she says there.

Let's keep in mind, what the Obama originally said, after it came out that she had referred to that, they said, "Senator Clinton's statement, before this newspaper, was unfortunate and has no place to the campaign." That reference to the assassination.

Now, then Barack Obama himself said this:

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SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I mean, I think it was an unfortunate remark. But as I said, today I think that when you're on the campaign trail for 15 months, you know, you're going to make some mistakes. And I don't think that Senator Clinton intended anything by it. And, you know, I think we should put it behind us.

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All right, now, the Obama campaign also sent reporters a link to a video of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann slamming Clinton for her remarks.

So, today the Clinton camp came out and said this:

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TERRY MCAULIFFE, CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: The Obama campaign inflamed it by putting out a press statement immediately on it. And they actually, after that, they then sent out Keith Olbermann's attack on Hillary Clinton. You know, it's a weekend, three-day weekend. News is slow and this was a deliberate political tactic to get us off message, absolutely.

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LEVS: The Obama campaign flatly denies that. They say no way, that was not something they were doing. They were not stirring this up.

Let's look at what they said today.

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DAVID ALEXROD, OBAMA CAMPAIGN CHIEF STRATEGIST: She, a few minutes after we issued that statement, seems to say that she, herself, felt it was unfortunate, and was misinterpreted. We accepted that, as Senator Obama said yesterday. She said, you know, that's not what she meant. We take her at her word and, you know, it's -- the -- we're beyond that issue now.

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LEVS: And he actually repeated that the. He said you know what, that's it. For more details on this and where it stands you can look at our top story right now, cnn.com. It refers to this, traces you through all the basics of what happened today. And, of course, for all the latest news at any time, Suzanne, you know this, cnnpolitics.com -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: OK, thanks so much, Josh. Appreciate it.

LEVS: Thanks a lot. OK.

MALVEAUX: We're wrapping up this hour of BALLOT BOWL. Obviously, we've been watching Senator Hillary Clinton, five events in Puerto Rico alone. She'll be here tomorrow as well for three campaign events, looking forward to the June primary, June 1st primary, here in Puerto Rico. 55 delegates at stake, and obviously not taking a single one of them for granted.

Want to bring back in my co-host, Mary Snow, who has been following the Republican side and what you're looking at in the days ahead, Mary.

SNOW: Well, you know, Suzanne, this whole weekend we've been taking a look at the speculation over potential vice presidential running mates.

But this week, Senator John McCain is going to be getting help from the Republican he wants to replace, President Bush, who will be coming out here to Arizona to do a joint fund-raiser with Senator McCain. And this is Senator McCain who has been trying to set himself apart as a different kind of Republican and in a Republican on his own.

That's about as much time as we have for today. Thank you for joining us from Sedona. I'm Mary Snow. And thank you for watching CNN's BALLOT BOWL.

MALVEAUX: And I'm Suzanne Malveaux.