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Campbell Brown

Obama Prepares to Embark on International Tour; Bill Clinton Ready to Campaign For Obama

Aired July 17, 2008 - 20:00   ET

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

CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody.
Lots of news on Barack Obama's upcoming tour, his first big step on to the international stage, at least six countries in seven days, hundreds of reporters following his every move. It's a big gamble for a candidate who may have some weaknesses when it comes to foreign policy.

Meanwhile, John McCain is here at home calling him out on Iraq and possibly painting him into a corner -- call it inexperience -- he just can't get out of.

Also ahead, Bill Clinton says he's ready to campaign with Obama. So, is that a good thing or a bad thing? We are going to have that story coming up as well.

No bias, no bull. This is the ELECTION CENTER.

But we are starting with an update tonight on a problem that hundreds of thousands of Americans share. And you may be one of them. You will know the next time you're at the airport. The FBI says that its terror watch list now has 400,000 names on it. The American Civil Liberties Union says the number is more like a million and they have a government report backing up their claim.

The problem, of course, is that, if you are not a terrorist, and your name is on the list anyway, well, you face enormous hassles going through extra security every time you fly. So, how do innocent people end up on that list?

Well, our special investigations correspondent Drew Griffin has been putting those questions to the Transportation Security Administration, or the TSA, for years now. And, just recently, his name showed up on the list.

Today, at a hearing on Capitol Hill, a congresswoman from Texas asked Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff what the heck is going on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX), HOMELAND SECURITY CMTE.: We understand that a new member is on the watch list, Drew Griffin of CNN. And my question is, why would Drew Griffin's name come on the watch list post his investigation of TSA? What a curious and interesting and troubling phenomenon. What is the basis of this sudden recognition that Drew Griffin is a terrorist? Are we targeting people because of their critique or criticism?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Now those are good questions. Before we hear the secretary's answer, we would like you to see the report that caused all of this commotion.

Here now, Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATION UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Washington attorney Jim Robinson is a former assistant attorney general. He's a former U.S. attorney from Michigan. He holds a high level government security clearance and he's a former law school dean, a husband, a granddad, an American.

And he gets delayed, if not stopped, every time he gets on a plane. Why? Because Robinson is also one of the estimated one million names now on the terror watch list.

JIM ROBINSON, U.S. ATTORNEY FROM MICHIGAN: And so it seems for years now, despite my best efforts to get off.

GRIFFIN: This week, Robinson joined the ACLU in Washington to mark what the group calls a Ridiculous Milestone; a million names the government believes match known terrorists. And according to the ACLU, 20,000 new names like Robinson's are added every month.

What does it mean? It means, because of his name, he can't check in to flights electronically. He can't check bags at the curb, can't check in at one of the new speedy airport kiosks. Every time he travels, he and a million others need to wait in line.

ROBINSON: And see somebody who then has to make a call and determine that apparently I am not the James Kenneth Robinson who is the cause of my being on the watch list.

GRIFFIN: Where are you going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to Chicago this morning.

GRIFFIN: Don't think it can happen to you? It's happening to me.

GRIFFIN: You are on the watch list.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A watch list?

GRIFFIN: So how did I get on this list? Well, the TSA is adamant it's not even me, even though it is me getting stopped at the airports. The TSA says it's the airline's fault. The airlines say they're just following the list provided to them by the TSA.

And coincidentally, this all began in May, shortly after I began a series of investigative reports critical of the TSA; 11 flights now since May 19th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's on the watch list.

GRIFFIN: On different airlines, my name pops up, forcing me to go to the counter, show my identification. Sometimes the agent has to make a call before I get my ticket.

ROBINSON: It's a hassle.

GRIFFIN: What does the TSA say? Nothing -- at least, nothing on camera. Over the phone, a public affairs worker told me again I'm not on the watch list and don't even think that someone in the TSA or anyone else is trying to get even.

CHRISTOPHER WHITE, TSA PUBLIC AFFAIRS: So if there's any thoughts or shadow of a thought that TSA somehow put you on a watch list because of your reporting, it is absolutely fabricated.

GRIFFIN: Jim Robinson, who served two Democratic presidents, says he's trying not to think politics is involved either.

ROBINSON: I don't feel safer because I have to go through this hassle, I can tell you that.

GRIFFIN: The ACLU's technology chief Barry Steinhardt says the list is so secretive and yet so shoddily put together, it's hard to tell how it's being used or abused.

BARRY STEINHARDT, ACLU TECHNOLOGY CHIEF: The truth is we really don't know how much is bureaucratic ineptness, and how much is pure crap, and how much is political retaliation.

GRIFFIN: Even more frustrating than being on it is trying to get off. According to the TSA, you fill out a form online, which I did on May 28th. You then copy personal documents, fill out another form and send them to Homeland Security, which I also did on May 28th. And then apparently you wait.

Robinson has been waiting now three years.

ROBINSON: On May 2nd, 2005, I filled out all their forms, made a copy of my passport, my driver's license, my voter's registration card, put it in a package, and sent it off to TSA and never heard back. And it certainly doesn't seem to have done me any good at all.

GRIFFIN: My wait has apparently just begun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: So, today, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee asked Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff why Drew Griffin's name suddenly appeared on the terror watch list. And here's his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: As far as the watch list is concerned, we do have circumstances where we have name mismatches. The cure for that is to get a birth date, where the person who is not -- see, in order to go on the watch list, we don't just put a name on. We put a name and birth date. So, if you have the same name but different birth date, we can take you off of that. And we often do it. Part of the problem we have is, sometimes, the airlines don't fully execute that plan.

JACKSON LEE: Mr. Griffin has sent materials to document the fact that he believes that he is not a terrorist. And he documents that he's not a terrorist.

And I use him as an example, because what I'm concerned about is the precipitousness of him getting on the watch list May of 2008, around the time that he was investigating one of our agencies in DHS. And so I'm going to ask officially for an investigation of that.

CHERTOFF: Actually, the database you're talking about is really maintained by the Department of Justice. It is not my understanding that the reporter was put on. He may share the name with someone who was put on. And, if he has a complaint about it, he ought to refer it over to the I.G.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Chertoff's reference to the I.G. is the department's inspector general.

And the infamous Drew Griffin is joining us now.

So, Drew, what do you think? Do you think that you were being intentionally targeted?

GRIFFIN: Campbell, I would like to think not. I think this was a big bureaucratic snafu. It's happened to so many different people. We're getting so many e-mails today.

But there's obviously -- as Chertoff said today, there's a lot of mistakes in the list. A lot of us are getting caught up in this huge hassle. And some of us, perhaps, coincidentally, have issues with the Department of Homeland Security that may lead one to think maybe somebody slipped us on that list as well.

BROWN: Drew, so what now? What are you going to do to get your name off that list?

GRIFFIN: Well, I refiled my paperwork again today, Campbell, just in case my other stuff got lost in the shuffle. I'm going to go to the inspector general and complain.

But the other thing I'm going to do in my reporting is, I'm going to try to find out this terrorist named Drew Griffin. Even if it's an alias of one of these guys, I want to find out if there really is somebody out there who is a terrorist and shares my name. I would like to find that out to see if that maybe would clear this up.

BROWN: So would we. All right, Drew Griffin for us tonight.

Drew, keep us posted. We will be following this.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Somebody else is taking a big trip and it also involves lots of security, tons of attention. Next, Barack Obama, world traveler.

And then later, who tried to put the name of a senator who always fought against Monday for AIDS research on a spending bill for AIDS victims? It's a classic sort of what were they thinking? We're going to have that right here in the ELECTION CENTER.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: We turn now to Barack Obama's excellent adventure.

Though the campaign is not revealing parts of his exact itinerary, he is expected to hit at least seven countries in a little over a week.

Here with me now, Candy Crowley, who is going to report on Obama for us in Europe.

And, Candy, what do you know?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Campbell, I got off the phone a couple of hours ago with a couple of people around the Obama campaign, one inside the Obama campaign, talking about the risk for Obama as he sets off on this journey when he does get to Europe or the Middle East. Right now, those dates not being publicly listed.

And what I get is confirmation that, of course, there are risks, but there may be some benefits as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

C. CROWLEY (voice-over): Barack Obama's European trip is the campaign trail via satellite, pictures for the rhetoric back home.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will restore our moral standing in the world.

C. CROWLEY: From Jordan to Israel, to Germany, France, and England, it is a postcard journey, images for the hesitant to show that this 46-year-old politician, a virtual unknown overseas, is up to a lead role on the international stage. The questions, is he tough enough to stand up for America, graceful enough to improve her image?

SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: Well, the message to voters back home is that he is focused on being a strong, effective commander in chief. He's going to rehabilitate our image across the world.

C. CROWLEY: Or, as the McCain camp calls it, a political photo- op.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because, if you have political rallies, then it's a political event.

C. CROWLEY: But McCain, with his credentials at the core of his campaign, has saved his sharpest salvos for Obama's expected trip through Afghanistan and Iraq. He pounds Obama as a neophyte, criticizing him for suggesting that Iraq has distracted the U.S. from Afghanistan.

MCCAIN: To somehow disconnect it from Afghanistan shows again incredible naivete.

C. CROWLEY: And now an eight-minute video full of what the campaign sees as flip-flops from Obama, his current call to withdraw from Iraq in 16 months up against this from 2004.

OBAMA: We have got to make sure that we secure and execute the rebuilding and reconstruction process effectively and properly. And I don't think we should have an artificial deadline when to do that.

C. CROWLEY: Domestic politics aside, there are other reasons Obama takes this journey. Unlike McCain, well-known and well-traveled overseas, Obama is a question mark, still a curiosity.

His trip is not just about impressions he sends home, but the ones he leaves behind, in short, a trip to answer the question, does he seem tough enough to stand up for American interests and graceful enough to improve America's image, a potent issue on the Democratic campaign trail?

OBAMA: People are ashamed. They love this country, and they want their cherished values and ideals restored.

C. CROWLEY: Obama is looking for counterpoint images to this, angry street demonstrations that often come with President Bush's overseas travel. He is not there to push policy or promise it, but, unlike John McCain, who is well-known and well-traveled overseas, for Obama, this is about first impressions, not just the ones he sends back home, but also the ones he leaves behind with European officials.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL EDITOR: I mean, people have been saying to me, look, this guy's only been in national politics for three years, let alone international politics. We don't really know quite exactly what he's going to do.

C. CROWLEY: It is not a trip without political risk. It comes amidst mortgage meltdowns and gas price explosions at home. He could look out of touch. And the Europe card has to be played carefully for a domestic audience. He could look too cozy. And he could fuel, rather than douse, the commander in chief questions. He could make a mistake.

But they bank on picture-perfect. His campaign would be over the moon if Obama returns with this kind of buzz. OAKLEY: I was talking to a former British foreign secretary this week, and he said, it's like JFK and Camelot. He said, it may not be justified. It may not be sensible, but that feeling is there.

C. CROWLEY: And that may be the biggest risk of this trip, all those great expectations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Candy, Barack Obama could have taken this trip at any time. Why now?

C. CROWLEY: Well, frankly, they had sort of been planning this since last year, looking forward and thinking, you know, we will take a trip to Europe.

The problem was that the campaign, the length of it, surprised the Obama camp as much as it did the rest of us. It simply went on too long for him to leap out of it and go overseas. He's coming up against the convention. He certainly can't take it in September, October, November, because he needs to be here and campaigning.

So, when they looked at it and they looked at what they had to do to prepare for it, they figured that, some time in late July, early August, they would go ahead and go.

BROWN: All right, Candy Crowley for us tonight -- Candy, as always, thanks.

C. CROWLEY: Sure.

BROWN: And, as Candy was telling us, this trip has Barack Obama walking a pretty fine line, with all eyes on his international foray.

We want now to try to assess what he stands to gain, but also what risks that he may face.

Joining me now to talk about Michael Crowley, senior editor of "The New Republic," radio talk show host Joe Madison, and CNN contributor and Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez.

Joe, as Candy just reported, you know, one small Obama misstep abroad could turn into a full-fledged media meltdown. He's under enormous scrutiny on this trip. Has team Obama set expectations too high, you think?

JOE MADISON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I don't think so, but you're absolutely right.

I thought Candy's piece was right on target. The same media that will build you up, as you know, Campbell, can tear you down instantly. The other thing to keep in mind -- and we say this a lot on the show -- he's not only going to be, if he gets elected, president of the United States, but here is a young 46-year-old African-American who will be the leader of the free world. It has never happened in the history of the planet. And, so, there's a lot riding on this. BROWN: And, Leslie, is -- and I want to look at what Joe just said through a political lens. If Obama gets this rock star greeting in Europe, in a way, is that just what the McCain campaign would like, to let them paint Obama as this out-of-touch elitist, beloved by Europe, but out of step with American values?

LESLIE SANCHEZ, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: That's a great assumption, Campbell. And I think both parts were exactly right. If the press is not at your feet, they're at your neck, as Pat Buchanan used to say.

Look at the assumption. He's moving an argument that says he ready to take on the mantle of a statesman, that he can go in there and be revered internationally, very much the way JFK was in West Berlin. And anything less than that is really a disappointment.

I think there's going to be a lot of people watching how he's received, but also is he really spending too much time being glorified in the glamour of it overseas, while people are trying to pay their bills right now?

BROWN: Michael, just for you, there was this pretty frightening poll that was released for Obama, less than half the country saying that they think he is ready to be commander in chief.

If he completes this trip, no major gaffes, do you think that is enough to convince people that he's ready to lead on issues where he's having trouble, like national security?

MICHAEL CROWLEY, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": It's a big start. I think it's going to take more than that. We have a long campaign ahead of us. I think a lot of people are still eager to learn more about him.

And, look, hopefully, I hope the average American voter doesn't decide whether someone's qualified to be commander in chief based on one trip, which is basically going to be kind of a long, extended, glorified photo-op.

However, that is exactly what this is about, trying to lay the groundwork to tell people, I am prepared to lead the country. I understand foreign diplomacy.

And, look, the idea that he can reboot America's image abroad and start over after the anti-Americanism of the last seven or eight years is one of his biggest selling points. So, I think it's a great way for him to get that message across. It's totally appropriate.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Go ahead, Joe.

MADISON: Real quick, I was going to say, there are two other things that are happening.

One, it will be interesting to see what the European leaders say about him. That's going to be a big part of this. And, number two, let's not also forget, this is as much an -- the reaction will be as much anti-Bush as it will be pro-Obama.

BROWN: Probably a fair point there.

But we're going to continue this conversation on the other side of the break.

Michael, Joe, and, Leslie, stay with me.

More to this story, including how John McCain may have painted Barack Obama into a bit of a corner on the issue of Iraq.

And, then, still to come, Bill Clinton is back on the campaign trail. This time, he says he's going to stump for Obama. Does he still have the magic touch?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Iraq is expected to be part of Barack Obama's upcoming trip. And, on that portion, he's getting certainly a lot of attention. But here at home, John McCain is speaking out on his own Iraq policy, trying to turn the tables on the competition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: I want to say again about Iraq, we have succeeded in Iraq. We have succeeded.

And, if we continue this strategy, we will win the war. We have succeeded. The strategy of this surge and everything that goes with it has succeeded. And those are the facts on the ground.

I remind you that, some time ago, I went over there and I said we were succeeding, and a lot of people laughed about that, because I could see at that time, we were succeeding. Now we have succeeded. And, again, if we follow the strategy, we will win this war.

Senator Obama said the strategy couldn't work. He said it had failed. He still said it had failed. And it has succeeded, both economically, militarily, politically, and almost by any other parameter.

This is a fragile victory. This is a fragile success. This success is fragile, and it can be reversed. It can be reversed by doing what Senator Obama has advocated. And that's setting a date for withdrawal. That's not only my opinion, but it's the opinion of General David Petraeus, one of the brilliant generals in American history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, back with me to talk about this, Michael Crowley, Joe Madison and Leslie Sanchez.

Michael, has McCain pushed Obama into a bit of a corner on Iraq? If he comes back from this trip and he says he's changing his position on Iraq, he becomes a flip-flopper. If he comes back from the trip and he says his position remains unchanged, people are going to say, he didn't learn anything. Either way, does he take a hit on this?

M. CROWLEY: Well, the interesting thing, Campbell, is I think in some way Obama painted himself into a corner.

I actually looked closely at his Iraq plan a few months ago. And he always had nuance and loopholes and caveats and the possibility that, you know, he wouldn't be getting out in 16 months. But in that primary fight against Hillary Clinton, I think he kind of let the rhetoric get ahead of the plan.

So, it was 16 months, and I'm out, and 16 months, and I'm out.

And, so now, the expectations for him to do that are very high. His plan was actually a little more nuanced. But I think you're right. He's somewhat on the defensive, because the surge has been more successful than most people expected, even if the gains are very fragile.

So, it's not as easy a winning issue as it looked like it would be for him some time ago. But, to some extent, I think that's because of his own rhetoric in the primaries.

BROWN: Leslie, do you see any scenario where Obama walks away from this stronger than when he went in?

SANCHEZ: It's really hard to do that.

I mean, I spoke to Retired General Ricardo Sanchez last week talking about this timeline, this 16-month timeline. And he points out it doesn't even add up. There's a political calculation that was done. But let's assume somebody gets into office in January, takes a few months to get people on board. It's May before you even start designing a plan.

That 16 months just doesn't add up. So, from that point of view, I think a lot of us look at it like it's political theater. If he goes there, does not change or makes some sort of ramifications to what he's saying, it's going to look like nothing more than a photo- op.

BROWN: Joe, the McCain campaign -- you may have seen this -- they just released what they're calling the Obama/Iraq documentary. This is an eight-minute Web video, where they're stringing together quotes of his on Iraq. And they're working overtime to put a negative frame around this trip. Has he opened himself up to criticism because of what Michael was referencing, some vague, some contradictory statements that are going to be played back for him now?

MADISON: How many times did McCain say success? My God, it must have been a dozen times.

Now, here's the question. Define it. What is it? And is this the same candidate who went over and said everything is safe and he's walking around with a helmet and a flak jacket and that type of thing?

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Hold on, Joe. In fairness, he's not the only one. He's not out an a limb on this. There's pretty much a consensus from Democrats and Republicans that the surge has dramatically brought down the violence in Iraq.

MADISON: And you still have two-thirds of the American people who want us out of there, whether it's in 16 months, 18 months. And that's why Congress has such a low approval rating.

(CROSSTALK)

MADISON: Because they have not gotten out yet.

M. CROWLEY: But to some extent it depends on how you frame the question. And this is where it's trickier for Obama.

The public is split between the question of do we leave based on a timeline or do we leave based, as McCain says, an on outcome. And the poll, the ABC News/"The Washington Post" poll a few days ago was basically 48/48 on that question. So, it's really not as clean-cut as you might think it would be when you pose the question a little bit differently.

BROWN: He's right, a nuanced point to end on.

Michael, thank you for that, and to Joe as always, Leslie. I know you are going to stick around. We're going to get back to you a little bit later in the show.

Still to come, with all the doom and gloom on gas prices and the mortgage mess, Ali Velshi is here with a reality check on the economy.

And it's OK to eat tomatoes after all. But we're going to tell what you might really be to blame for the salmonella scare.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Coming up, a tribute to the late Senator Jesse Helms turns into a big case of what were they thinking? But first, Ted Rowlands with tonight's "Briefing."

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, the Feds say it is now safe to eat fresh tomatoes. The FDA lifted warnings after a nationwide salmonella outbreak. Investigators still don't know why people got sick after eating tomatoes. Now, they're linking Mexican hot peppers to the illnesses.

President Bush called his former spokesman Tony Snow a dedicated family man with a sense of humor. A who's who of Washington joined the president and Snow's family at today's funeral in Washington. Snow is also a CNN contributor. He died Saturday from colon cancer. He was 53. The president is in northern California tonight, surveying the damage from the devastating brushfires that have ravaged the region. Mr. Bush and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just finished an aerial tour of burned forests.

And a powerful challenge tonight from Al Gore. He says the nation should produce all electricity from the sun, the wind, or another clean source, within 10 years. The former vice president links the nation's economic, energy and environmental problems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that has to change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Gore says both presidential candidates are ahead of other politicians in confronting climate change -- Campbell.

BROWN: Ted, thanks very much.

Al Gore's call for energy alternatives is just one of the topics we're going to explore tomorrow in an ELECTION CENTER special, "Running on Empty: What's Next?" Join me at 8:00 Eastern for an in- depth look at how we got into this mess and what it will really take to get gas prices back down. So many ideas out there, which one will actually stick?

Ali Velshi has a preview of one pricey possible solution that could end up being a gamble worth taking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Giant shovels scoop up 100 tons of oil-laden dirt at a time. Hundreds of trucks move across the landscape, all day and night, every single day.

(on camera): You need a lot of earth to make oil. It takes about two tons of oil sands to make one barrel of oil. Now this big hauler holds 400 tons of oil sands, so once that's all filled up, and made into oil, you'll have about 200 barrels of oil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Join me and Ali for "Running on Empty: What's Next?" It's an ELECTION CENTER special tomorrow at 8:00 Eastern.

Still ahead, Bill Clinton says he is ready to play ball. The former president on the comeback trail and has made a big promise to Barack Obama. We're going to tell you what it is. You're in the ELECTION CENTER "No Bias, No Bull."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: The late Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina was always a lightning rod for controversy. For one thing, Helms who died on the Fourth of July was always an outspoken opponent of federal funding for AIDS research. He once told the "New York Times," "We've got to have some common sense about a disease transmitted by people deliberately engaging in unnatural acts."

So when Senator Elizabeth Dole tried to pay tribute to Helms by putting his name on a new AIDS funding bill, it did more than raise eyebrows, as David Mattingly reports sparked some outrage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In times of partisan politics, the passage of an unprecedented $50 billion AIDS bill gave Republicans and Democrats alike something to cheer, except when it came to who should get credit. Namely the late arch conservative Senator Jesse Helms, who was once quoted calling gays "morally sick wretches."

DAVID BRYAN, GLOBAL AIDS ALLIANCE: He talked about HIV/AIDS and then he would immediately reference his views about homosexual conduct being revolting and disgusting.

MATTINGLY: And yet North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole who won Helms' seat when he retired suggested adding Helms' name to the bill that will send millions for the treatment and prevention of AIDS to more than 100 countries. Her office told CNN Dole wanted to honor his work on that cause with this amendment.

Helms had a late career change of position on AIDS funding overseas, earning public praise from rock star activist Bono.

BONO, AIDS ACTIVIST: And he's a very brave and bold man, and to do so, and he does so because he cares deeply about what is happening in Africa right now, where an entire continent is going down.

MATTINGLY (on camera): A former staffer defined Helms' focus on AIDS as helping women and children, who he considered innocent victims. He also encouraged abstinence and faithfulness within marriage as the most logical way to stem the pandemic.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): On the Senate floor, Democrat Joe Biden also praised the contribution of the late senator.

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: This is a man who not only became convinced of the necessity of this legislation, he became an apostle of this, a disciple, I should say, of pushing this legislation.

MATTINGLY: But critics say Helms' legacy on AIDS is one of obstruction, opposing legislation to prevent the spread of AIDS among intravenous drug users. He once said all cases of AIDS could be traced to sodomy.

BRYAN: He tried very hard to cut funding and to block the authorization of funding for compassionate and effective policies. MATTINGLY: Others, however, say he should be remembered as an instrument of change in 2002, calling on fellow conservatives to act on the AIDS pandemic. He spoke of answering to God saying, we cannot turn away when we see our fellowmen in need.

But however you see him, it won't be as a name on the new AIDS funding bill. The Senate shot down Senator Dole's idea pretty quick.

David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Coming up, your wallet, your opinion, and a reality check. A real eye opener about the economy and the future.

And Bill Clinton's next political step. How it involves Barack Obama. This is the ELECTION CENTER.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: "LARRY KING LIVE" is coming up in just a few minutes. Some notorious killers have started blogging from prison. And Larry, we hear your guests tonight are pretty upset about it.

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: I guess. You know, Campbell, when you think you've seen everything, of course on CNN we learn something new every day.

Blogging from death row, Scott Peterson's Internet ramblings have really riled up Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, and she's here, asking why the man who killed her daughter and grandson is allowed to do this.

Plus, Al Gore's plans to save the planet that he says is in peril. That's all next on "LARRY KING LIVE."

BROWN: All right, Larry, we'll see you in a few.

So when is Bill Clinton going to hit the campaign trail for Barack Obama? Reporters got an answer out of him today, that's next.

And then a surprising new survey reveals just how fed up you really are with the direction of the country. Some real lessons in there for John McCain and Barack Obama. Will they heed the call?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: If you are worried about the way the economy is going, well, you are by no means alone. More than 85 percent of Americans surveyed in a new poll say they think the country is on the wrong track. And who can blame them with gas prices holding at a record high, the failure last week of IndyMac Bank, and the deepening mortgage mess. Not a lot of good economic news out there.

So we called in Ali Velshi to give us a reality check and tell us what we actually should be worried about, or how worried we should be. And let me throw up some more of these numbers, Ali.

These are from the "Time" magazine Rockefeller Foundation poll. The numbers are pretty striking here; 55 percent of Americans say Congress is hurting their attempts to achieve economic security. Sixty-two percent say the same thing of the president.

What should people's expectations of our elected officials and what they can do, what should the expectations be?

VELSHI: Interesting. People are talking about hurting their attempts at economic security, which means they feel like there's a hurdle. They feel that there's a sense that they can't get what they can.

The American psyche is about being able to achieve more. Now what Congress can do is it can enable. The president and Congress can enable people to make more money by putting in the right legislation and eliminating the wrong legislation. Typically that has to do with taxes.

The problem here is that we've seen a housing crisis, we've seen an energy crisis, and we've seen Congress sort of bickering about it but nobody is really coming up with solutions that say this is the road we're going to go down to get us out of this. So it seems to the average American that they're not in tune with them, and that's where the problem is.

BROWN: Let's look at a few more numbers in there. These are from the end of June. Ninety-two percent of people say they're worried about keeping up with fuel and energy costs. In the past few days, we have seen the price of oil go down, not gas certainly but oil.

VELSHI: Right.

BROWN: Does that mean relief in sight in some form or fashion?

VELSHI: Well, the price of oil has come down, but we're still well over $100 a barrel. So we're not likely to see a big drop in any of these things. There's usually a 10-day to two-week lag in the price of gasoline after we see a movement in oil, but it's been a few days. We don't know if it will bounce back.

We've seen the biggest swings in the price of oil in the last few months than we've ever seen in history. So I don't think we're out of the woods on this issue. I think high energy prices are here to stay. And remember, this is summer. We're talking about gasoline prices.

When we start getting into heating, we have record prices for coal, for natural gas and for oil. Those are big bills that start hitting people. I don't think you're going to see those numbers going down any time soon.

BROWN: Right. All right. Ali Velshi, appreciate it.

And by the way, Ali is going to be part of an ELECTION CENTER special tomorrow. Join me for a "No Bias, No Bull" look at how the U.S. got into such a mess with gas prices, and what it's really going to take to get us out of it. We're calling it "Running on Empty: What's Coming (ph) Up Next?" tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

So with so much bad news on the economy, who do voters actually trust to get us out of this mess, if anybody? Back with me now, Leslie Sanchez, and also joining us Chris Cillizza, who writes "The Fix" for the Washingtonpost.com. And Hilary Rosen, political director of the "Huffington Post" and also an Obama supporter.

And Leslie, you just heard from Ali, he reported that over 60 percent of the country thinks President Bush is hurting the economy. So how much does that hurt McCain if he tries to assure voters that he's going to bring much needed relief?

LESLIE SANCHEZ, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, one thing that's interesting is when you have a number that is so high about the country going in the wrong direction, I think overall looking behind that number, there's a lot of people who put blame on both Republicans and Democrats for not being able to work together and get things done.

I think you saw it a lot in 2004 with independent voters, swing voters. They're just pretty much disgusted with everybody in this political party.

BROWN: But isn't it another way that the Obama campaign can try to lump McCain in with the president?

SANCHEZ: Look, they can -- look, Obama is going to try to say that he's the third term for George Bush. We're going to say he's the second term for Jimmy Carter. The truth is they're both independent characters in terms of their philosophy.

Who is going to be the best steward of the economy? You've got to look at John McCain. He's somebody who wants to cut pork barrel spending, really control these deficits. And he's also pushing things like the gas tax holiday, which was not popular among a lot of economists but it's popular to people, working men and women. We're trying to put gas in the car.

HILARY ROSEN, "THE HUFFINGTON POST": You're not going to --

BROWN: Go ahead, Hilary.

ROSEN: John McCain is not going to get there. There's no way that a guy with an economic plan that says let's give $300 billion in tax cuts to corporations. Let's continue this, you know, senseless war spending of $100 billion a year, tax cuts that go $1.5 billion to Exxon Mobil, who's had their best year ever. There's just no way that this isn't going to feel like, you know, four more years of George Bush. There's no --

BROWN: But Hilary, Obama's message really has been just what you said, trashing McCain and not as much, I don't think, as about what exactly he plans to do to turn the economy around. ROSEN: Well, first of all, change would be stop giving money away to corporations and wealthy people and hope that out of their good graces, they're going to hire people instead of putting it in their bank account. What we've seen is that they're putting it in their bank account and they're paying, you know, huge executive salaries.

So not doing harm would be a big change. The second piece is that Senator Obama is really focused on the middle class. He's aggressive with the middle class tax cut. He's aggressive on helping people with home foreclosures. You know, John McCain is just nowhere when it comes to really focusing on what the middle class need.

BROWN: Hold on, Leslie. Let me bring Chris in here. Chris, neither candidate wants to stay out of touch with voters and wants to feel their pain, but listen very quickly to President Bush here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the system basically is sound. I truly do. And I understand there's a lot of nervousness, and the economy is growing. Productivity's high. Trade's up.

People are working. It's not as good as we'd like, but -- and to the extent that we find weakness, we'll move. There's one thing about this administration, we're not afraid of making tough decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: You know, it sounds like he's saying things aren't as bad as they seem. You know, how does McCain, given the connection being made here, how does he show that he gets it?

CHRIS CILLIZZA, WASHINGTONPOST.COM: Well, you know, I think Leslie is right in that. I think the Obama's campaign's attempts to paint John McCain as "McSame as Bush" may fall a little short because I do think John McCain has a somewhat independent reputation in the minds of voters.

That said, I think there's a problem for John McCain. You have a comment like that. Add that to the comment made by a senior adviser of his on the economy, Phil Gramm, that we are in a mental recession.

BROWN: Right.

CILLIZZA: And that, you know, Americans are a bunch of whiners and the fact that John McCain has said himself he knows much more and is more comfortable in foreign policy and national security than he is on the economy. All of that combines to make it look like John McCain might not know enough or care enough to try and turn this around. That's a bad optic for him, whether or not he's linked with George Bush.

(CROSSTALK) BROWN: OK, hold on guys. Hold on. Everybody hold that thought. We got to take a quick break here. Stay right there. We got a lot more to talk about with the panel including the return of Bill Clinton, the one-time campaigner in chief. He says he's going to stump for Obama any time anywhere, but has he still got it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Former President Bill Clinton made a big announcement today, that his foundation just signed a deal to make anti-malaria drugs more available in poor countries, a move that could save thousands of lives. But after he made the announcement, reporters wanted to talk politics and the former president more than happy to oblige. Clinton says he's ready to campaign for Barack Obama "whenever he asks."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had a good talk, and he said he wanted me to campaign with him and I said I was eager to do so. I'll do whatever I'm asked to do, whenever I can do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Back with me now, Leslie Sanchez, Chris Cillizza and Hilary Rosen.

Leslie, how should Obama utilize Bill Clinton in this campaign?

SANCHEZ: I think he needs to take a lesson from Hillary Clinton and recognize that this could be very toxic and very damaging. I think he's almost like that crazy uncle you have. You really love him in the family but sometimes you just don't really know when to, you know, to bring him out.

I think that's very much the situation here is somebody who is incredibly important with middle class voters, which Barack Obama could use the bona fides in that area, but you never really know. He's just somebody who carries his own legacy and where he's going to go.

BROWN: Right.

Chris, you know, it wasn't that long ago Clinton was saying some pretty harsh things about Obama. Campaign got down and dirty there for a while. I mean, how much does that complicate matters going forward?

CILLIZZA: You know, Campbell, I tend to think they're politicians. It's sort of like elite athletes. When you're on the basketball court you're bitter enemies, but when you get off you both say, wow, we know that's part of the game.

I think while there are probably still some bitter feelings among the supporters, I think Obama and the Clintons understand that when you play at this level that's sort of the lumps of the game. I actually think that Bill Clinton can be helpful, though, to Leslie's point, she's absolutely right.

He is a little bit of a wild card, but he is still a very popular figure in the Democratic base. If you send Bill Clinton almost anywhere, he's going to draw a crowd. He can certainly help Barack Obama raise money. This is still a guy who's a former two-term president of the United States.

BROWN: And Hilary, I know that you think that Bill may end up being a better campaigner for Obama than he was for his wife. Why?

ROSEN: Well, I just think when -- you know, when you're out there campaigning for your wife it's an emotional sell. Most people think you will say anything to get her elected. And he was consistently sort of used and abused and interpreted and reinterpreted on the campaign trail.

When he's out there for Barack Obama saying, this guy can steer the economy, this guy is good on foreign policy, voters will remember that he was a president who was good on the economy, who was good on foreign policy, who kept us safe, who had us prosperous. I think that kind of validation from a former -- the most successful recent former Democratic president, is going to be really big for Obama. And I think people will forget how he was for Hillary Clinton. They're going to remember his presidency, and they're going to want it again.

SANCHEZ: You know what's interesting about that, Campbell, is you don't really know if he's going to be able to draw back a lot of those women who were strong Clinton supporters. I don't necessarily see that out there. It's going to be an interesting question where his appeal will actually draw some of that back and to take a second look at Barack Obama.

BROWN: OK, guys. Quickly, quickly, Chris.

CILLIZZA: Campbell, I was just going to say I think Bill Clinton will be effective because his legacy building and him remaking his legacy fits exactly with what Barack Obama wants from him.

BROWN: All right, guys, stay there. We'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Before we go to Larry King, here are this hour's headlines. After getting an aerial look at the wildfire damage in northern California, President Bush is attending a Republican Party fund raiser in Napa.

In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the president "a total failure."

And the government says it is safe to eat tomatoes again. The FDA today lifted all salmonella warnings for tomatoes.

That is it for us from the ELECTION CENTER tonight. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.