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Clinton Camp Fights On; No Serious Injuries Reported in Overturned Bus; High School Valedictorian to be Deported; Bill Clinton Fires Back at Magazine; Democratic Race Winds Down
Aired June 03, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY MCAULIFFE, HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN: The race goes on. We've got two important states to vote today, and then tomorrow we've got to work with the super delegates. And we believe we can convince enough super delegates to come over and support Senator Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right you heard him. But to paraphrase the chairman of the Clinton campaign, "We have not yet begun to quit."
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: On this final day of presidential primary season, one more sign it may not be over yet. You've got the whispers, the rumblings. We've also got the cold, hard numbers.
Hi, there. I'm Brianna Keilar at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: Yes, it's all going to boil down to the cold, hard numbers, as you said.
And I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
OK. Right off the top, it is coming fast and furious. It's going back and forth. Reports of pending concessions followed by just outright denials on this, the last day of an historic primary season.
It started with an "Associated Press" record that Hillary Clinton will concede tonight that Barack Obama has the delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
Well, then minutes later the chairman of the Clinton campaign went on air, vowing to fight on. Now, here is what Terry McAuliffe told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCAULIFFE: Absolutely not. As I said today on the NBC show, if he's got enough delegates, they ought to put him up. But if he doesn't have enough delegates, and the nomination fight goes on until someone, you know, sees the magic numbers.
That isn't there today, and that is not at all what Senator Clinton is going to talk about tonight. She's going to talk about the 18 million votes that she received and all the issues that matter to her. I've spoken with Senator Clinton today. But no one has the number to be the nominee of the Democratic Party right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. So despite all the reports, despite all the back and forth, it comes down to the numbers. You heard Terry McAuliffe say the magic numbers. So let's crunch them right now with CNN deputy political director Mr. Paul Steinhauser.
Paul, it's all about the numbers, as he said. So give them to us.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It is all about the numbers. This is a battle for delegates. And the number of delegates needed right now, the new number, is 2,118. That's the number of delegates now needed to win the nomination.
Where does Barack Obama stand? Just 35 short of that number. After this morning -- he picked up a couple of more super delegates this morning, he is at 2,083, 35 short of the number to win.
There's only -- Don, there's only 31 delegates at stake tonight in Montana and South Dakota. So even if Obama swept tonight, which is very inconceivable, he won't have enough delegates to win outright with the pledged delegates. It's going to come down to those super delegates to put him over the top.
What about Hillary Clinton? She trails Obama. She trails Obama in the delegate race. She needs 201 super delegates to reach that magic number. Right now she stands at 1,917 total delegates. That's pledged and super combined.
And remember, when we talk about super delegates, we're talking about Democratically-elected governors, members of Congress and also top party officials, Don.
LEMON: OK. And you mentioned that 35. I mean, it doesn't seem that out of reach. And I don't think it is, if those super delegates come over. Congressman Conyers, is he -- is that going to start a snowball effect to get other people to maybe go over to Obama's camp?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, we've been monitoring the Hill all day. Our producers there, Ted Barrett and Deirdre Wallace, are keeping a close eye on it. And Rob (ph), you and our political researchers are crunching the numbers. There have been a few more that followed Clyburn this morning. But the question is will there be a big wave of delegates, of super delegates later today from Capitol Hill...
LEMON: Right.
STEINHAUSER: ... to come over and put Obama over the top? There are two schools of thought. One is yes, it could happen. But the other is that, in deference to Hillary Clinton, these super delegates will wait maybe until tomorrow or later in the week. Wait until primaries are over -- and they end tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern...
LEMON: All right.
STEINHAUSER: ... and they're all done voting. And that's the way to go.
LEMON: Yes, Paul, it's all about the reality here. And I think it's more about party consolidations. We may see more people come over to Barack Obama's side.
Paul Steinhauser, we appreciate it. Thank you very much, sir.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks.
KEILAR: After five months and dozens of contests, Montana and South Dakota are writing the final chapter in an epic saga. Let's go now to CNN's Jim Acosta. He is in South Dakota, alongside some very familiar faces.
What are we expecting to happen tonight, Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, as Paul Steinhauser just mentioned, when these polls close tonight, we're going to see a bit of political theater.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, they are not in these states today. Barack Obama will be ending the day in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, where he is expected to, if he does have that magic number of 2118, announce himself as the nominee.
Hillary Clinton, she is going to have an event in New York tonight where she is expected to tell her supporters that she is going to do whatever it takes to win the nomination. As you heard Terry McAuliffe and Paul Steinhauser lay out, that she is not going to drop out of this race unless Barack Obama has that magic number of 2,118 delegates.
But we've had a chance to talk to some of the voters here in South Dakota over the last couple of days. And the economy is definitely on their minds. They're worried about high gas prices. And -- and particularly, they are interested in how this race is going to shape up. They're glad that they are having a say in this primary battle. But they're at the end of the calendar, so it's better late than never.
KEILAR: So what happens, after today's primaries?
ACOSTA: Well, what happens after today's primaries is that I think everybody takes a deep breath. And there's going to be a lot of dialogue going on between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Senator Obama said he plans to sit down with Hillary Clinton, they will have some kind of conversation at a time and place of her choosing.
He has really been bending over backwards the last several days. We've seen it here in South Dakota. We saw it in Michigan yesterday, where he is essentially opening the door for her to make a graceful exit from this campaign.
She is also softening her rhetoric, saying yesterday to supporters here in South Dakota, Rapid City, which was essentially her last stop in this state, that she wants, more than anything else, to see a Democrat in the White House and that she's willing to do whatever it takes for this party to do that.
KEILAR: Jim Acosta for us in South Dakota. Thanks so much.
And we obviously have a whole lot more to talk about today. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, a look at what is next for the candidates. Plus, Bill Clinton not liking what he's reading in "Vanity Fair" and saying so.
And we'll also hone in on a key voting bloc who could turn out in record numbers.
Well, CNN, of course, is your home for complete coverage of the Montana and South Dakota primaries. You can join the best political team on television for results and analysis, live from the CNN Election Center. That begins tonight at 8:00 Eastern.
And one day after brain surgery, Senator Edward Kennedy is said to be recuperating well. That's according to his doctors at Duke University Medical Center. A statement released by his office points out he had a restful night's sleep with no complications. And Kennedy, we hear, has been walking the hallways, spending time with the family, and actively keeping up with the news of the day. Aides say that he is looking forward to going home, possibly in about a week.
LEMON: And we turn now to weather. Storms in the forecast and on the radar. Let's go straight to our Chad Myers in the severe weather center.
Chad, what do you have for us?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I have some amazing video out of a bank. Kind of a security camera you're supposed to catch criminal with, this picture. But this is from Parkersburg, Iowa a couple of days ago. The end of last week, I guess it was.
Watch this tornado tear apart this bank. There goes some papers. There goes the roof, but the camera lives on. It's still going. How dark it is. Obviously, all the lights out. All of a sudden comes back. It's pointing at some door way, some windows, and it makes it.
But just look at the things go. Obviously, no people in the building. I hope they're all in the vault. Didn't we hear about a story about some -- all the -- some of the people went in a vault in some of those tornadoes? So maybe they were there. But that is an unbelievable picture, how that -- the building just disintegrated in that big, very big tornado. It was an EF-5 tornado. It was a giant tornado.
LEMON: Chad, imagine if somebody was in there. You always warn people about, you know, taking cover when you hear about these things coming through. Imagine what that that would do to a person. You saw what it did to the building.
MYERS: We say please don't go near windows. Don't open them up. That's an old myth. Don't do that any more. That window, if it breaks, there's going to be glass in your face anyway.
But look at all those other things that were flying around. More people are injured and killed by getting hit by debris than getting sucked up like Toto in the tornado. I mean, it just doesn't happen like that. The fatalities are because of injuries caused by flying debris or homes getting destroyed or being in the wrong place at the wrong time -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Chad Myers, thank you. Chad will be checking on a whole plethora of weather stories throughout the day. Appreciate that.
KEILAR: Drivers are not the only ones cutting back over high gas prices. General Motors says it's closing four pick-up truck and SUV plants in Ohio, Wisconsin, Canada and Mexico and might do away with the behemoth of SUVs, the Hummer.
Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner says high gas prices are here to stay and with them, consumers' preference for cars that get better gas mileage. GM says it plans to build more fuel-efficient cars not to mention a plug-in hybrid called the Volt, which is due in show rooms in 2010.
And with the marathon primary season coming to an end, all eyes looking to November. It is a good time to ask, which party is better for the economy? Well, history offers some clues. And for those we turn to our senior business correspondent, Ali Velshi. He is in New York.
So which is it, Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, depends on what you're looking at. I should be -- you know, I should caution you that when we talk about the economy, there are many, many things to it. So we thought we'd drill down and look at the market, the S&P 500, performance of the S&P 500 under different combinations.
Let's start with just the president. We looked at how the market has performed under a Republican president and a Democratic president. Over the last ten years, the market has gone up 5 percent, if a Republican has been in the White House, 14 percent if a Democrat has been in the White House.
Over the last 25 years, the market is up 12 percent under a Republican, 18 percent under a Democrat. And over the last 50 years, the Democrats still beat Republicans, 11 percent under a Republican, 15 percent under a Democrat.
Now, let's take a look at something else. Let's take a look at whether the president and the -- and the Congress being of the same party helps markets. When you have a Republican president and a Republican Congress over the last 25 years, the market has been up 15 percent. Only 6 percent under a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress.
Over the last 15 years the Republicans win again. Under a GOP president and Congress, it's up 15 percent. Under a Democratic president and Congress, up 11 percent.
But if you want to do even better than that, let's look at what happens when you mix it up a little bit. If you have a GOP president -- a GOP president and a Democratic Congress over the last ten years, you've been up 6 percent. Got a Democratic president and a Republican Congress? Look at that, 14 percent.
Let's take it back further. Over the last 25 years, a Republican president, a Democratic Congress, up 13 percent. A Democratic president and a Republican Congress, better gain, 22 percent. And same thing over 50 years: 11 percent if you've got a Republican president and a Democratic Congress, but 22 percent under a Democratic president and a Republican Congress.
So it seems the markets most favor a Democratic president and a Republican Congress. That's where, at least, the S&P 500 over time, over the last 10, 25 and 50 years, has done the best.
This is a bit like a baseball statistic. There are many reasons why this may or may not be. And remember that a president and Congress sometimes gets the benefit or disadvantage of what was done before they came into office, Brianna.
KEILAR: I wonder, can you really draw cause and effect there?
VELSHI: No, but you know, we've got to keep busy.
KEILAR: OK. Yes, we do. All right. Well, a very good job keeping busy. Ali Velshi for us in New York. Thanks.
VELSHI: All right.
LEMON: Hot under the collar and lashing back. Hear what former president, Bill Clinton, is saying as he blasts a critical article in "Vanity Fair."
KEILAR: And meet a young man with a 4.0, an outstanding school record and what some thought was a very bright future. We'll tell you why this high school valedictorian may soon be deported.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We have an update for you on that bus crash that happened -- it was in the town of Crown Point, just outside of Chicago. It is in Indiana, and you're looking at all of these pictures. These pictures are from Tom Link. He's a truck driver who witnessed this. We're going to talk to him in just a minute. But I want to update you on the information. Happened near the town of Crown Point, outside of Chicago. Authorities say as many as 30 people in all of this, or 40 passengers, one driver aboard the bus. Thirty people were hurt, but their injuries don't appear to be life-threatening. The bus flipped over onto its side on Interstate 65 in Crown Point. And we have no word yet on what caused that crash.
Want to give you a phone number real quick, before we get to Tom. If you have friends or family members who were possibly on that bus, that phone number is 1-800-972-4583. Again, 1-800-5 -- 972-4583. It's on the bottom of your screen. We're going to keep it up there for a little bit.
Now I want to talk to Tom Link, who is a truck driver who witnessed this. Tell us what you saw, sir.
TOM LINK, WITNESS: Well, I was driving down Interstate 65 South, through Crown Point. And I didn't actually see the event. I'm about 300 yards from it where I came to a stop.
And I ran up to see if I could be of any assistance. Interestingly enough, this happened and within five minutes, the rescue people were there from Crown Point, I presume, and were pulling people out of the bus, through the windows. If you look at those pictures, you'll see the windows are flipped up. And there's also one picture that shows the top being opened by one of the fireman.
So it looks like the bus driver veered off on the right-hand side of the road and then tried to correct. When he tried to correct, he overcorrected and lost control. The bus slid on the passenger side across the highway and came to rest against a median strip, dividing north and southbound lanes.
LEMON: Oh, my goodness. And when you look at these pictures, Tom, that you snapped yourself, it's amazing to hear that no one was hurt in all of this. I'm sure you're surprised on that, as well.
LINK: Well, there were some injuries...
LEMON: No one was killed, I should say.
LINK: ... but they weren't life-threatening injuries.
LEMON: No one was killed in all this.
LINK: No. Thank the Lord.
LEMON: All right. Tom Link, who's a truck driver who witnessed this horrific accident. And as he said, thank the Lord no one was killed in all of this.
Tom, thank you for your pictures, OK, and thanks for join us.
Have a great day. But we want to just update you. Very new information. Greyhound bus No. 1151, if you have family members out there, from Chicago to Nashville flipped onto its side. I-65 at mile marker 247. Last stop was in Gary. Forty passengers, one driver aboard. Six passengers were transported for medical care.
Again, that number: 1-800-972-4583 -- Brianna.
KEILAR: By all accounts he is a class act, and he's smart enough to graduate as his high school's valedictorian. But this 17-year-old will soon be shipped back to Armenia, the country that his family fled when he was just 2-years-old. Their bid for asylum here was rejected, and they just lost their final appeal.
Details now from Kathryn Herr of our affiliate, KGP.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHRYN HERR, KGP CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arthur Mikoyan is a stellar student here at Bullard High School. A 4.0 GPA has earned him a spot as a valedictorian.
His fellow students are stunned that someone who has worked so hard is being forced out of the country.
ALEX STEWART, BULLARD FRESHMAN: It's really hard to get good grades, you know, in this school. Bullard High is a challenging school. So to get a 4.0, you've got to really try. So I think he should stay. He's committing himself to the work; he's getting it done. Yes, he should stay.
MISTY STEWART, BULLARD SOPHOMORE: It's really sad to see somebody like that go. Especially as they're doing good in school. That sucks.
RAY APPLETON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: King of interesting to note that this one's kind of captured your attention all over the state.
HERR: Arthur's predicament was featured on Ray Appleton's talk show on KMJ and brought an outpouring of sympathy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are the kind of people we need for immigration here. They're hard-working; they're honest.
HERR: Arthur's fellow students think that he should be allowed to stay in this country to get his college education.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four-point-oh, that's a really big deal. I have a 3.5. But that's like, you know, whoa. I couldn't imagine getting a 4.0. That's pretty...
HERR: Arthur will go through graduation ceremony. He'll get his diploma. But just 10 days later, he's scheduled to be deported.
The principal here at Bullard High School says he is proud of what Arthur has done, and the school is honored to have him as a graduate.
In Fresno, Kathryn Herr, for CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KEILAR: Proposals to address situations like this have floated around Capitol Hill for years. The DREAM Act, as it's called, would give kids of illegal immigrants or other non-citizens a pass to legal status. Then they could attend American colleges or perhaps join the military. And the DREAM Act was introduced in the Senate last October, but it failed to garner enough support to be formally considered.
Tomorrow we're going to speak with that valedictorian live, right here in the NEWSROOM. That will be at 2:30 p.m. Eastern tomorrow.
LEMON: Two Discovery astronauts are making this mission's first space walk. Our space guru, Miles O'Brien, will join us live with more on what they're doing and how they're doing it.
KEILAR: Flight -- an air scare for passengers aboard an American flight. Why their disabled plane had to double back to Dallas-Ft. Worth. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. So a passenger calls it one of the most horrific sounds she has ever heard. Not cool when you're at 30,000 feet. You're not going to believe this story. An American Airlines jet had to head back to the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport the other day after the outer pane of a window broke and shards flew into one of the engines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZI ALYSE, PASSENGER: You see people looking around and then you also see the flight attendant running down the aisle. And she meets up with another flight attendant and says she thinks she smells something burning. And then you see them run to the back of the plane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Wow. Well, the MD-80 could have flown safely on the one remaining engine, but the FAA requires an emergency landing. No one was hurt.
KEILAR: More cuts in the auto sector. General Motors says that it is closing several plants. Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to tell us why.
Hi, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna.
Well, you know, we are seeing huge changes in consumer behavior. And GM believes that, when it comes to buying cars, these are permanent changes. So GM is making huge changes in its product line. It's getting out of gas guzzlers that have been its bread and butter and into more fuel-efficient cars.
What that means is that GM will shut down four plants: one of them in Moraine, Ohio; one in Janesville, Wisconsin, which is GM's oldest plant; one in Ontario; and Mexico. No word yet on how many job cuts, but 10,000 workers are likely to be affected.
GM also says it's considering selling the Hummer, instead focusing on the Volt, which is an electric car, a plug-in hybrid that can run 40 miles without any gas. In the meantime -- that car is not supposed to be out for another couple years. In the meantime, GM is ramping up production of more fuel-efficient cars, adding shifts at two plants in Ohio and Michigan to do this -- Brianna.
KEILAR: And GM isn't the only one having problems, Susan. Right? Ford reporting terrible sales for May?
LISOVICZ: Brianna, I can't hear you.
KEILAR: All right. I think we lost Susan's IFC. I'll let her continue.
All right. We're going to go ahead. We're going to come back and visit Susan in just a moment. But let's take a look at the big board. As you can see, the Dow down about 13 points, standing at 12,490.
We are going to be checking back in with Susan a little later in the show.
LEMON: Yes, she's down on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. So you know, you never know what can happen. All kinds of glitches can happen.
All right. We're going to move on and talk about politics now. Today's primaries, tomorrow's political landscape. Is Barack Obama poised to make history or will Hillary Clinton fight on? We have some new information. We'll go behind the speculation, and we'll do the math for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Breaking news topping our political ticker. Hillary Clinton's campaign is denying that she plans to concede the Democratic delegate race to Barack Obama after today's primaries. Clinton's campaign chairman tells CNN an Associated Press report is 100 percent incorrect and points out that Obama doesn't have the nomination yet.
By our estimate, and this is changing fast, folks, Obama now needs 35 delegates to get past the finish line, and only 31 pledged delegates are up for grabs today. Thus, the focus on super delegates, one of whom, House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, endorsed Obama this morning, calling him the most electable candidate his party can offer. LEMON: Well, some cutting words from the former president, Bill Clinton, and an apology from his wife's campaign. The former president is firing back at an article in "Vanity Fair" article which said former aides suspected Clinton of philandering since leaving the White House. The magazine says there were reports that, quote, "Clinton was apparently seeing a lot of women on the road."
When the "Huffington Post" asked Clinton about the "Vanity Fair" article, he didn't hold back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, what do you think about that hatchet job somebody did on you on "Vanity Fair" at the end of the race?
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's sleazy. He's a really dishonest reporter. And one of our guys talked to him, and he said we didn't do anything (ph). But -- I haven't read it, but the guy told me there's five or six just blatant lies in there. But he's a real slimy guy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: yes. It's all over cable news.
W. CLINTON: It's totally slimy. Just blow it off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But he's married to Dee Dee Meyers?
W. CLINTON: Yes, but he -- that's all right. He's still a scumbag.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I grew up in Hope, too. Hope, North Dakota.
W. CLINTON: Let me tell you. He's one of the guys -- he's one of the guys that propagated all those lies about Whitewater for Kenneth Starr. He's just a dishonest guy. Can't help it.
And -- and the editor of "Esquire" sent us an e-mail yesterday, and he said it was the single sleaziest piece of journalism he's seen in decades. He said it -- he said it made him want to go take a shower to read it. And he was embarrassed to be a journalist when he read it.
You notice he didn't use a single name. He didn't cite any source in the whole thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what I hear.
W. CLINTON: It's just slimy. It's part of the national media's attempt to nail Hillary for Obama. It's just the most biased press coverage in modern history. It's just -- it's another way of helping Obama.
You know, they didn't do any studies about -- they have all these people standing up in his church cheering, calling Hillary a white racist. And he didn't do anything about it the first day. He said, "Ah well, ah well." That's what they do. He gets other people to slime her.
So then they saw the movie they thought this is a great ad for John McCain. Maybe I'll quit the church. It's all politics. It's all about the bias of the media for Obama. Don't -- don't think anything about it.
But I'm telling you, all it's doing is driving her supporters further and further away, because they know exactly what it is. This has been the most rigged press coverage in modern history. And the guy ought to be ashamed of himself. But he has no shame. It isn't the first dishonest piece he's written about me or her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
W. CLINTON: And I'll tell you something. Any time you read a story that slimes a public figure with anonymous quotes, it ought to make the bells go off in your head. Because any time somebody uses those things, he wrote the story in his head in advance, and he just goes around and tries to find some coward to say whatever they want to say, hoping to get some benefit out of it. It didn't bother me. It shouldn't bother you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Now, there are some reports out there, and we're hearing from politicos that the reporter didn't properly identify herself and has a history of doing this and may have set Bill Clinton up by asking him initially, "What do you think about the hatchet job" and then he went on to give his response.
Meantime, Hillary Clinton's campaign says her husband was understandably upset but that his language was inappropriate.
KEILAR: So who is going to make history in this 2008 race? And whose historic bid will come to an end? Well, let's look at today's primaries and tomorrow's political landscape with our round table. Chris Cillizza is from WashingtonPost.com. Jeanne Cummings is from Politico.com. Thanks to both of you for joining us.
JEANNE CUMMINGS, POLITICO.COM: Thank you.
KEILAR: So primaries today in South Dakota and Montana. What's next?
CHRIS CILLIZZA, WASHINGTONPOST.COM: Well, you know, it's really sort of a prelude to the big events, which are the speeches tonight. Barack Obama in Minneapolis. Senator Clinton in New York City.
We know that whatever happens tonight isn't going to fundamentally change the math. Barack Obama is still very likely, either today or tomorrow, to press that 2,118 magic number to formally become the party's nominee. South Dakota and Montana aren't going to change that.
KEILAR: Jeanne...
CILLIZZA: I guess what we're all looking at is what do the two candidates say?
KEILAR: What do the -- is that what you're looking for, Jeanne, what are they going to say tonight?
CUMMINGS: Well, clearly, the tone of both speeches is very important. I think what comes next goes largely underground. The Clinton campaign may make one more pass at some of the super delegates.
But more importantly and much more interesting will be the conversations that begin between the two candidates themselves, as they try to finish out this race. And it's vitally important that the two of them send the right signal to the Democratic Party activists if either one of them hopes to unite this party for the fall.
KEILAR: So what is the right signal?
CUMMINGS: I think it's clearly one of unity. They -- each one of them has got to call on their supporters to step up and back the Democratic nominee.
And this is also where we'll see how the Barack Obama campaign may be thinking in terms of whether there could be a dream ticket. Because clearly, there are plenty of supporters for Hillary Clinton who feel like she has earned the second seat on the ticket.
KEILAR: So Chris, we heard today from Terry McAuliffe. He said, you know, this "A.P." report came out, saying that Hillary Clinton, basically, would be prepared to concede the race this evening. He says there's no way; that is 100 percent incorrect. What do you make of this talk today?
CILLIZZA: You know, I think we're largely debating semantics at this point. Language is important, especially when you get down to this point in the campaign.
I think my understanding, my reporting, at least, is that there will be an acknowledgement by Senator Clinton that Barack Obama, if he doesn't already have that 2,118 number to clinch the nomination, will have it in the very near future. That does not mean, however, that she will concede this race. It means she will acknowledge that. She will likely also talk about the fact that, in her mind, she leads in the popular vote, another metric, although not the one used to choose the nominee.
And my guess is Jeanne is 100 percent right. The Clinton campaign huddles up, goes underground the next 24 or so, maybe 48 hours, tries to figure out whether they have the ability to peel away super delegates from Barack Obama and bring him back under that number.
When they realize it's very unlikely they can do that, I think she will eventually bow to the reality and get out.
KEILAR: So Clinton's campaign says at this point no one has the numbers yet. But is that really true? It sounds like that's just semantics, as well. Right, Jeanne?
CUMMINGS: Well, it's actually, I think, more a matter of timing. At this particular moment, at this hour this afternoon, nobody has that number. Come tonight, somebody is going to be very, very close. And by maybe noon tomorrow, they will. So I think it's just a matter of timing.
KEILAR: OK. All right. And we will be staying tuned for those -- for that timing or that time. And you can see here the delegate count as it stands right now. Very close.
Jeanne Cummings with Politico.com, Chris Cillizza with WashingtonPost.com. Thanks to both of you.
CILLIZZA: Thank you.
CUMMINGS: You're welcome.
KEILAR: And CNN is, of course, your home for complete coverage of the Montana and South Dakota primaries. You can join the best political team on television for results and analysis. We are live from the CNN Election Center. That begins tonight at 8:00 Eastern.
LEMON: Well, that's just happening here on earth. You want to go to space? Outer space. Look at that. These are live pictures. Right? Live pictures. Take a look. Always beautiful pictures. We always want to get them to you live. That is beautiful.
And we can tell you that two Discovery astronauts are making this mission's first space walk. Live pictures from space now. Our space guru, Mr. Miles O'Brien, will join us live with more on what they're doing and how they're doing it. He's going to explain these live pictures to us, as well.
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KEILAR: Senator Ted Kennedy is said to be doing well one day after surgery to remove a brain tumor, or as much of that tumor as was possible. Doctors at Duke University Medical Center say that he is walking the halls and visiting with his family.
And our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, says Senator Kennedy could be a candidate for a new vaccine that's having great success in some brain-cancer patients.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a lot of excitement around this brain tumor vaccine that a lot of people are talking about. Let me give you a few specifics and remind you, though, first of all, this is very much an early clinical trial. So this is not something that is widely available yet.
But when talking about the most malignant of all tumors, known as the glioblastoma, there are very few options for patients right now. So a lot of people interested in this. Let me give you a few points of reference.
First of all, there's 23 patients in this brain-tumor vaccine study. On average, they've lived around 33 months. Now what I want you to do is compare that with the average life span without the vaccine, which is about 14 months, again, for the most malignant of all these gliomas.
And also, importantly, with the vaccine, the cancer takes a longer time to return.
I did speak to Dr. John Sampson (ph) at the university, and he said that Senator Kennedy may be a candidate for this particular trial. We're not sure that he's interested or that he's going to do this at this pint.
But the way that this particular vaccine works, is they actually take the patient's own tumor and they create a vaccine. They essentially teach the patient's immune system to attack specific proteins on that -- on that tumor wall.
And that's so important. Because remember, if you look at this particular model, you have that tumor, and it's sort of like an octopus. The core of the tumor might be here, but it has tentacles reaching all over. Surgeons can remove a large chunk of that, but they can't get all these other cells. They're sort of extended.
If you use that vaccine after chemotherapy and radiation, you might be able to teach the immune system to go ahead and get the rest of those cells.
Again, survival for something like this, around 33 months, as compared to 14. Early clinical trials. Hope is that the numbers are going to be even better than that. When they do, we'll have them for you.
Back to you for now.
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LEMON: All right. Sanjay, thank you very much.
Now to the health of another senator. Senator Robert Byrd reportedly will be in the hospital for several more days for treatment of a mild infection. The 90-year-old West Virginia Democrat was admitted last night after complaining about feeling lethargic and sluggish.
A just-released statement from his office indicates Senator Byrd "is alert, in good spirits and looks forward to getting back to work as soon as possible."
Byrd is the country -- country's longest serving senator, in office since January 3, 1959.
KEILAR: Brazen fuel thieves stay a step ahead of canny consumers. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So now the thieves have started drilling holes directly into the fuel line.
SGT. WALT REID, KERN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Not only do you lose your fuel; now you have to repair your gas tank.
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KEILAR: When even a locked gas cap won't keep thieves out.
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LEMON: So the higher the price of gas, the bolder the thieves. CNN's Chris Lawrence looks at how far the bad guys are going.
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LAWRENCE (voice-over): If you think you're getting robbed at the gas pump, you may be right, but not just there. Police say thieves are siphoning gas like it's the 1970s and using the Internet to share their tips.
Consumers are fighting back, buying up gas caps with locks. So now the thieves have starting drilling holes directly into the fuel line.
REID: Not only do you lose your fuel. Now you have to repair your gas tank.
LAWRENCE: Kern County Sergeant Walt Reid says it's even worse for California's farmers, who lose thousands of gallons of diesel fuel. This surveillance video shows one thief as he taps into a farmer's supply. Another drives off with the hose attached and snaps the line and spills fuel everywhere.
PETE BELLUOMINI, FARMER: That's part of the frustration. It's like, you know, if I could just catch that guy, boy, what I would do.
LAWRENCE: Farmer Pete Belluomini says an organized gang of thieves just took 900 gallons from his tanks.
BELLUOMINI: Flip the switch. It sucks the diesel out into their storage tank in their van.
LAWRENCE: One night's work cost him four grand.
(on camera) Can you afford to keep getting hit like this?
BELLUOMINI: No. We don't recoup that. It just comes out of our bottom line.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Over the past few months, thieves have stolen more than a quarter of a million dollars of fuel in this one county alone. (on camera) Where do you think these thieves are reselling all this diesel?
REID: Well, who is going to use diesel fuel? Truck drivers.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Right now they are paying top dollar at legitimate truck stops. Several truckers told us there's a black market where stolen gas is sold at a discount.
REID: It's going to cost them $500 to fill up, and he can fill up for $200? What's he going to do?
LAWRENCE: Farmers are asking themselves the same question, wondering if fuel thieves will drive them right out of business.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Bakersfield, California.
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KEILAR: Two Discovery astronauts are making this mission's first space walk. And our space guru, Miles O'Brien, will be joining us live with more on exactly what they're doing and just how they're doing it.
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LEMON: We're trying to figure out. We were going to say "high above us," but isn't space all around us? So -- so high above us or all around us, as we speak, two astronauts are doing some unusual lab work. They're in the middle of this mission's first space walk, prepping a lab module for installation on the International Space Station.
And there he is. Space correspondent, Miles O'Brien -- there he is -- has been following their work. He joins us live from New York.
Fascinating pictures, fascinating work. Tell us what's going on, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, it's a big day for the Japanese space agency today. At the end of the day, if all goes well, a huge laboratory, which is parked right now in the trunk of the Space Shuttle Discovery, will be latched onto the International Space Station, greatly increasing its scientific potential and laying the groundwork, eventually, for a six-person crew on there, which could allow some real science to occur.
But take a look at what's been happening in advance of that. This is the 50-foot-long extension to the space shuttle's robot arm that is used to check out its heat shield. This is something that came into play after the loss of Columbia. And that arm is being plucked from the outside of the International Space Station, because there was no room inside the Space Shuttle Discovery to carry it up as they normally did before on the previous missions.
The Kibo module, that Japanese module, is just so big that they couldn't put that extension arm on there. So the first order of business is to get that arm in play.
Take a look at Kibo, though, size of a school bus. Weighs 29,000 pounds and will give a tremendous capability for the space station when all is said and done.
Mike Fossum and his space-walking partner, Ron Garan, have been out there now for about an hour and a half. And all appears to be going well. They got kind of a late start, because they had some communication difficulties, had to change out a radio transmitter.
Now check this out here. That reminds me, you know, of a paddle- wheel boat you'd see on the Mississippi River. That is the way the solar arrays are supposed to work. So they're constantly tracking as it passes it through orbit, 90 minutes through orbit, tracks properly. Well, one of those is not working properly. As a matter of fact, it's not spinning at all that way.
And on their to-do list, once they're done with this boom item and before they get involved in the Kibo module, is to go take a close inspection of this spot right in here, this joint that allows it to rotate that way, and find out why there are metal shavings there, attempt a clean-up procedure that they think might work. And if there is some success, maybe on the next mission, they'll go out there and do a full cleanup.
This is a 10-foot-long diameter wheel that for some reason as it has spun is creating metal shavings. That's not a good thing. You don't want that to happen. So they've stopped it from spinning. They're going to go take a look, see if they can fix the mess. And then maybe have an opportunity to get those solar arrays to work right.
Now Mike Fossum is a space-walking veteran. We asked him if, on this last go-round, he had an opportunity to sort of stop and smell the roses. In other words, enjoy the work site. He said no, but listen to what he vowed to do this time.
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MIKE FOSSUM, NASA ASTRONAUT: It was kind of, you know, great to have the opportunity to go out and do a little bit of the tests, to see if we can do that cleaning, knowing there's a very large rim that somebody is going to spend a lot of precious hours out there cleaning it effectively, if that's what we have to do.
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O'BRIEN: All right. In any case, Mike Fossum out there, getting ready to work on the SARJ.
Do we have any time for any Mars pictures? Why not? Let's see some Mars. That's what I say, Scotty.
LEMON: I was going to ask you that question. There you go. What happened to the Sasquatch foot? O'BRIEN: Well, here it is now. It's amazing what a little color will do. It takes the Sasquatch out of the -- takes the "sass" out of the "squatch" or something. I don't know. It's -- it's a little different.
Now look underneath. This is kind of cool. This is -- this is what's got scientists really interested, all that white area there. What do you suppose that is?
LEMON: All the white areas? I guess blowback from it landing?
O'BRIEN: It is blowback. That's exactly what it is. Take a look at the model for a second, Scotty. Good. As it came down, it has 12 thrusters down here. It cleared out, you know, as you would imagine -- it cleared out the top soil and revealed this white, hard substance.
Well, scientists are thinking, "Wait a minute. That could be the ice we're after." So they're going to be digging down very soon. They're getting ready to take a scoopful out. And if that is ice that close to the surface, they have truly hit pay dirt. They'll put it in this kind of owl-shaped (ph) oven and cook it a little bit, see what's inside. And if there is any luck and it truly is pay dirt, they'll find organic material, carbon-based material, which is one of the building blocks of life as we know it.
LEMON: Hey, Miles...
O'BRIEN: This is the area to really look at, right here.
LEMON: Yes. And you know, they're wrapping me here, but...
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
LEMON: You know what that reminds me of, these little legs? Do you remember "Lost in Space?" As a kid I would watch it. It looks like the bottom of their spaceship when they would land.
O'BRIEN: It does, you know. And June Lockhart is a good friend of mine.
LEMON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: She's probably watching right now. She's a big fan.
LEMON: Danger, Will Rogers. No, not Will Rogers. Danger...
O'BRIEN: Will Robinson.
LEMON: Will Robinson. Yes, Will Robinson.
O'BRIEN: You've got to do this, too, while you're doing it. Danger, right?
LEMON: All right. Thank you, sir. KEILAR: Well, scientists say it is the right thing to do to save the right whales. And it would cost you just pennies. But now everyone is on board. We'll tell you why some are objecting to a plan for protecting these denizens of the deep.
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KEILAR: The end of a long primary fight means one last chance to make fun. And our Jeanne Moos takes us through some of the best shots the Internet has to offer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The worse it has looked for Hillary, the better she has looked. Though she lost her voice Monday...
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Chelsea, come back and talk a bit.
MOOS: ... slogging through town after interchangeable town.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Even after we left Mitchell -- no, even after we left Greenwood. We're in Mitchell now.
MOOS: the younger man has seemed weary, while the 60-year-old bounced back. Sort of like Hillary in a box, discovered by the folks at the Wonkette Web site. Twelve hundred of these pro-Hillary keepsakes were manufactured. Its creator says half have been sold.
And though Hillary has seemed almost liberated lately, for once, even opposite ends of the blogosphere agree the end, it's over. A fight that has divided even kiddies in one family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary!
MOOS: The fight seems to be winding down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary! Hillary!
MOOS: Those kids are real. These kids are actors...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Young Hillary Clinton.
MOOS: ... featured in a parody of Hillary's tenacity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, four. Connect four! UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, not all of the states have been counted yet. So we're not going to officially declare you the winner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I won.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you didn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you didn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, you did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I didn't.
MOOS: But the writing is on the walls, or passed on foreheads. Though Obama critics have come up with an unforgettable video of their own.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Unelectable in every way.
MOOS: Unelectable or not, the nomination is within Obama's grasp.
(on camera) And as the sun seems to set on the Hillary campaign, figure someone would bring up "Sunset Boulevard."
(voice-over) You know, the film about the delusional, once-famous actress?
GLORIA SWANSON, ACTRESS: Where am I?
MOOS: Well, now there's a Hillary version.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where am I?
MOOS: Down the staircase comes Norma Desmond. Likewise, the Hillary impersonator.
SWANSON: Another picture, and another picture.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After I serve this term, I'll serve another. And another.
SWANSON: And those wonderful people out there in the dark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out in the dark, who voted for me.
MOOS: But the funny thing about that famous line...
SWANSON: All right, Mr. DeMille. I'm ready for my close-up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm ready for my presidency.
MOOS: The thing about that line is that Hillary Clinton actually seemed readier for her close-up at the end than at the beginning.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over till it's over," and it seems the Clinton campaign would very much agree with that.
LEMON: Oh, yes. The last two presidential primaries are underway, but with the nomination still, still in the hands of undeclared super delegates, it's like deja vu all over again.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
