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Campbell Brown

What Does Hillary Really Want?; Maryland Drug Raid Gone Wrong

Aired August 07, 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.
Tonight, there is, again, buzz about Hillary Clinton. What is she really doing and what does she really want? Is she truly doing all she can to support Barack Obama, or does she really have something very different in mind?

With the Democratic Convention now just two weeks away, these questions are gaining real urgency. And it's not just her. What about Bill Clinton? Will he even show up at the convention? And are they laying the groundwork for a future Hillary Clinton campaign? We are going to look at why everybody is once again wondering about the Clintons.

Also tonight, the true story behind one of the most down and dirty political attack ads we have ever seen. An African-American candidate tries to link her Jewish opponent to the Ku Klux Klan.

And, then, later, a story that everybody is talking about, why the police smashed into the home of the town mayor. Before it was over, the mayor was restrained on the floor; the family's dogs were shot dead. Well, now it's a political mess. The unthinkable story of a high-profile drug raid gone bad.

All of that tonight here in the ELECTION CENTER, no bias, no bull.

But the big buzz today, it's all about the Clintons and the convention. Hillary Clinton says she's supporting Barack Obama, and she's campaigning for him in Las Vegas tomorrow. In fact, in a Web chat today, she said -- quote -- "I'm completely committed to helping Senator Obama become the next president of the United States."

But listen to what she told her supporters in this video that recently surfaced on YouTube.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: What will happen at the convention in respect to, you know, my putting my name in nomination, a roll call vote, and the usual kind of process that occurs at conventions...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vice president.

CLINTON: Well, you know, we're trying to work that out with the Obama campaign and with the DNC. I know just from what I'm hearing, that there's just this incredible pent-up desire. And I think that, you know, people want to feel like, OK, it's a catharsis, we're here, we did it, and then everybody get behind Senator Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, is Hillary Clinton angling to have her name placed in nomination? And how much of a headache will all of this be for Barack Obama?

Candy Crowley has been talking to sources. She is just off the phone with the very latest details -- Candy.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you this. For sure, this is something that the Obama campaign doesn't want to have happen.

Obviously, they are working out the details. It could still happen. But, on his plane tonight, Barack Obama certainly indicated this is not what he would like to have happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm letting our respective teams work out the details. I don't think we're looking for catharsis. I think what we're looking for is energy and excitement about the prospect of changing this country. And I think that people who supported a whole range of different candidates during the primary are going to come out of that convention feeling absolutely determined that we have got to take the White House back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Now, this is sort of one of those, on the one hand, on the other hand, Campbell, because you do have supporters of Hillary Clinton who say she deserves to have her name put into nomination, her delegates should have the chance to vote for her, because it's history.

On the other hand, I have talked to some Clinton people tonight who say, you know, it's just not a good idea. The idea is to go to the convention, vote for Barack Obama. Everybody knows he's the one that's going to win and move on from there.

They think it will bring about disunity. So, they have got these two kind of competing issues that they're going to have to try to come together on. Again, this is not something the Obama campaigns sounds like it wants to have happen, but it is clearly something that has not yet been resolved.

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

So, now the party line is still all about unity and that everything will be smoothed over in time for the convention, but will it, really? I want to talk about that with our political panel tonight. Paul Begala, CNN contributor and Democratic strategist with us tonight, Lars Larson, radio talk show host, conservative radio talk show host, and Dana Milbank, correspondent and national political correspondent for "The Washington Post."

Welcome, guys.

Dana, you heard what Senator Clinton said in that YouTube video a little earlier, that her supporters just need a cathartic moment, and then they are going to get 100 percent behind Senator Obama. What do you think about that?

DANA MILBANK, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: To Obama, this much really look like some sort of a poltergeist. Each time he thinks he has finally finished off Hillary Clinton, she keeps coming back.

And I'm struck by they're sort of saying the right words, but if you look at this joint statement that came out, it's sort of like one of these joint communiques during nuclear negotiations with the Soviet Union. There's no warmth in there.

And I think we have reached a point where they're just not going to get to that warmth. There's a fundamental conflict here. And that is, it's in Hillary Clinton's interests if she wishes some day to be the president for Obama not to be the president. That's the fundamental conflict here.

BROWN: Lars, what's really going on here?

LARS LARSON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I have got to tell you, he's thinking of the movie "Poltergeist"? I'm thinking of "Fatal Attraction." And I'm waiting to find out when the bunny turns up in the stew pot.

I mean, this woman, she's committed to Obama? How deep in his back does she need to drive a knife? She wants this nomination. And I think she still sees a chance to get it. He's only ahead of McCain by four points. And I think she thinks she might be able to talk the convention into giving it to her anyway.

BROWN: Paul, she's not knocking this idea down of putting her name in contention. She was asked about it again today in this Web chat with supporters. And you know her well. What's going on? What is it that she's really after here?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first off, she should be after more decent treatment from the media than this clown who was just own comparing her to a movie character who is a murderer. I mean, give me a break.

It is the tradition in the Democratic Party and the Republican Party to place the candidates' names in nomination. Senator Kennedy had that privilege when he ran for president, lost against Jimmy Carter. Senator Hart, Gary Hart, from Colorado had that happen when he ran for president. It's a common practice. It's not contesting the fact that Barack Obama won. And I don't even know that she's going to do it. I don't know that she ought to do it. But it's interesting that the rules are different for Hillary. I don't remember anybody complaining about Gary Hart putting his name in nomination, or Teddy Kennedy fought his nomination all the way to the floor of the convention.

LARSON: Hold on a second. Paul, you made the movie comparison. I just decided that it was just appropriate.

BEGALA: I didn't make any movie comparison.

(CROSSTALK)

LARSON: This "Poltergeist," this movie isn't about -- this business isn't about that. It's about the fact that this woman believes the presidency is owed to her. It's very clear that she still wants it.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: And you can peer into her soul how? The AM radio transistor that you broadcast on allows you to peer into another woman's soul, see what is in her heart and on her mind? Give me a break.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Can we have a serious consideration?

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Well, I do -- but, Dana, maybe you can address Paul's point, because he does make a fair point.

Historically, it's not like she's asking for something that her predecessor, if she were in a similar situation, didn't also ask for.

MILBANK: Right. But -- that is absolutely true, but you also have to think of the examples that Paul brought up, and we think of the Teddy Kennedy and then we think of Gary Hart. In both cases, the Democrats went on to lose that race.

Certainly, Hillary Clinton is entitled to this, and maybe it will be cathartic for her supporters. But Obama still has not consolidated all of Hillary's supporters behind him. He is lagging behind congressional Democrats, particularly with the low-income white voters.

To have this -- the longer this is protracted, the further Obama's problems go in this respect. That's why he's having so much trouble breaking away from McCain in a very favorable year.

BROWN: OK. Hold tight, guys. A lot more on this story, and we're about it after the break.

Barack Obama's biggest headache actually might not be Hillary Clinton, but her husband. He's coming up next.

Also still to come, this Maryland mayor wants answers. Why did a SWAT team break into his house, tie him on the floor and shoot his two dogs? The shocking story.

And the controversial mayor of Detroit, at this moment, he's not in city hall. Instead, he's in jail. We are going to have details in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: As if Barack Obama didn't have enough of a headache with Hillary Clinton, earlier this week, Bill Clinton said this on ABC's "Good Morning America" when he was asked if Obama is qualified to be president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You could argue that no one is ever ready to be president. I mean, I certainly learned a lot about the job in the first year.

You could argue that, even if you have been vice president for eight years, that no one can ever be fully ready for the pressures of the office, and that everyone learns something, and something different. You could argue that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, not exactly the enthusiastic endorsement the Obama camp was looking for.

Back to talk about that again, Paul Begala, Lars Larson, Dana Milbank.

Paul, not a lot of praise there for Barack Obama. I mean, he did go on to say Senator Obama is qualified under the Constitution, that he ran a great organization. But it's like, what, he's old enough?

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Well, no, now, wait a minute. He went on to say he's whip-smart. There's nothing he cannot learn. He went on to praise Obama's leadership skills, his rhetorical skills, his campaign.

BROWN: You have got to admit...

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: He praised him at great lengths in that same interview, Campbell. You have got to be fair.

BROWN: But you heard the whole interview.

BEGALA: Yes, I did.

BROWN: I did, too.

And there was clearly -- I think anybody could objectively say there was clearly still some bitterness, a little bit of hurt feelings left over from the primaries that came through in that.

BEGALA: Well, I don't know if he's very objective, but Barack Obama defended Bill Clinton on that and said he thought he did a very good job defending Barack. That's what Senator Obama said himself in what Senator Obama described as a contentious interview.

So, again, we're looking for something to do. I understand that. The conventions haven't happened yet. But you, as Bill Clinton might say, hide and watch. You will see him out on the stump. Bill Clinton will be out there campaigning for Barack as aggressively, as forcefully as Senator Obama wants. He will go wherever Senator Obama tells him to go. Obama is our party's leader now. And I don't think. I know that Bill Clinton will do whatever he is asked to do.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Hold tight, because Paul raised something. He said that Obama addressed this today. And he defended Bill Clinton. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I spoke to President Clinton this week. He's been very supportive. I thought he showed extraordinary restraint in a fairly provocative interview while he was on his trip. I couldn't ask for him to be any more gracious than he's been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LARSON: Campbell, come on.

(CROSSTALK)

LARSON: He showed remarkable restraint, meaning he didn't bad- mouth me badder? What does that mean?

You know, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, I think, mostly want to get their campaign debt paid off, so they can go back to being multimillionaires. And Bill Clinton -- imagine this -- is going to be stuck married to this woman who's very angry about being denied the presidency that she was owed.

BROWN: Well, Dana, give me your take on that, on his comments, what we just heard from Obama.

MILBANK: Well, I don't think that's exactly what's driving the anger here. It is that this wasn't really just a loss for Hillary Clinton. It was the fall of the house of Clinton. It's been taken very personally by Bill Clinton.

I think Paul is right that Bill Clinton will do better. He has to do better when he gets out on the campaign trail, because he can't be seen by the nation as being this sort of sore sport and a bad loser. So, I expect he will do more than that.

The Clintons may have it in their interests for Obama to lose, but, if that is the perception that the nation has of them, there will never be a comeback.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Dana has said that twice. I would like to respond to that.

BROWN: Go ahead, Paul.

BEGALA: And I think I can fairly be described as somebody who is familiar with President Clinton and Senator Clinton's thoughts on this.

It has been extraordinarily difficult for President Clinton to watch the slow unwinding of so much of what he and the country accomplished during his presidency under the Bush years. It is the last thing he wants or Hillary wants to see four more years of those policies under McCain.

Senator Obama, they have told their friends privately, stands for all of the things that they stand for on the economy, on national security, on the environment, on America's standing in the world.

I mean, I can tell you -- I don't talk about private conversations I have, but they have told their friends privately and passionately that they want to see this man win because of all the issues that they agree with him on.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: There are not probably not five issues they disagree with him on. So, they -- believe me, I can tell you what they're saying in private, which is they passionately want to see him elected.

BROWN: Go ahead, Lars.

LARSON: Campbell, I have got to tell you something.

And this character, Begala -- and, Paul, I will return the favor to you -- you have got Bill Clinton, who had no coattails to ride on for Gray Davis, no coattails for his wife. Where does this guy have the coattails that supposedly Obama's going to ride to victory?

And as for unraveling things, yes, if only the country can have the no drilling for oil of Obama, the raising taxes of Obama, we can return to the former glory of the Clinton impeachment years. Yes, that would be wonderful. The country just can't wait to get back to those years. It will be wonderful.

BEGALA: Well, all that peace and all that prosperity is a little much more you, huh, Lars?

BROWN: All right. LARSON: Well, I'll tell you what. Fighting back against terrorists instead of sitting down with tea with Ahmadinejad, I will take that any day of the week.

BROWN: OK, a really thoughtful note to end on. I'm not being at all sarcastic. Paul Begala, Lars, Dana, thanks, guys. Appreciate it. A couple of you are staying with us, I know, are going to come back a little later, a lot more to talk about.

Also ahead tonight, Obama and McCain, their plans to get us out of the energy mess, what's true, what isn't. We will put them to our no-bull tests.

Plus, two Tennessee candidates battling over one of the nastiest attack ads around.

And we couldn't believe this story when we heard it, what a police SWAT team did to the town mayor. It's just totally bizarre.

We're going to have that story when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Tonight, there are explanations, but so far no good answers, just growing outrage in a Washington, D.C., suburb, where police smashed into the mayor's home, terrified his family, shot and killed his two dogs.

Here with the story, CNN senior correspondent Joe Johns -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, it's starting to look like a story about sheriff's deputies going after the wrong guy. The problem is, this time, the wrong guy happened to be the town's mayor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Cheye Calvo says he was walking his dogs last week on Tuesday evening when he spotted a group of police officers near his home. Calvo is the mayor of this Washington, D.C., suburb. So, he waved hello before going inside. Moments later, those same officers broke down his door.

CHEYE CALVO, MAYOR OF BERWYN HEIGHTS, MARYLAND: They bound me and forced me to kneel in the corner. My mother-in-law was bound on the kitchen floor.

JOHNS: They also shot and killed the family dogs, two black Labradors.

CALVO: When these actions first occurred, and I was on the floor bound in my boxer shorts looking at the dead bodies of our wonderful, loyal family members, my initial reaction was that there had been a terrible, terrible mistake.

JOHNS: It turns out the sudden and unexpected violence was probably a mistake. Undercover police say they intercepted and were trying to deliver a package filled with 32 pounds of marijuana. It was addressed to the mayor's wife. Her mother refused to sign for the package and said to leave it on the porch.

It stayed there until Mayor Calvo picked it up and brought it inside. Police now say they believe someone shipped the marijuana to Calvo's home, part a scheme to smuggle drugs by sending them too unsuspecting homeowners and then recovering the packages before the homeowners even know they had received them.

Prince George's County's police chief said yesterday:

MELVIN HIGH, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY'S POLICE CHIEF: From all the indications at the moment, that they had an unlikely involvement, but we don't want to draw that definite conclusion at the moment.

JOHNS: Police say they didn't even know it was the mayor's house they were raiding, a fact Mayor Calvo says shows how much the system is broken. He's now asking for a federal investigation into civil rights violations.

CALVO: We have witnessed a frightening law enforcement culture in which the law is disregarded, the rights of innocent occupants are ignored, and the rights of innocent animals mean nothing.

JOHNS: By phone, a spokesperson for the Prince George's County police defended the operation, saying the officers had a warrant to search the premises. Police say they were justified in knocking down the door because Calvo's mother-in-law screamed when she saw them carrying guns. They say they shot the dogs because they felt they were in danger.

SHARON TAYLOR, SPOKESWOMAN, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT: I would say the dogs presented a threat, I would imagine, in a special operations situation like that.

JOHNS: Today, the mayor and his wife say shooting the family dogs was all but unthinkable.

CALVO: The thoughtless execution of Payton and Chase was premeditated, without provocation, and appears to have been done for sport.

TRINITY TOMSIC, WIFE OF MAYOR: A little girl came to our house after this happened the next day. I didn't know who she was. She didn't know us. But she saw us walking the dogs every day and waving at her. And she came in. She gave me a big hug.

And she said to me -- she said, if -- if the police shot your dogs dead and did this to you, how can I trust them?

JOHNS: Calvo says, it's about trust. And now the mayor and his family don't trust their own sheriff's department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Joe, Prince George's County has a bit of a history of this kind of thing, don't they?

CALVO: Well, they do. And they can't be too happy at the Prince George's County Police Department having to handle a situation like this.

Of course, we're talking about the sheriff's department here. But, yes, there have been numerous complaints about allegations of excessive use of force and that kind of thing in Prince George's County over the years. This is kind of a tough situation for them. Once again, they have handled this before.

BROWN: All right, thanks, Joe. Appreciate it. We are going to see you again a little bit later in the program.

Later, coming up, a Jewish congressman, a female black challenger, and now the specter of the Ku Klux Klan has been injected into the campaign battle. Everybody's asking, is it a fair campaign tactic?

But, first, the price at the pump and fixing our energy problems on the campaign trail, we let the candidates have their say and put it to the no-bull test when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The candidates spending some big bucks on commercials during the Olympics starting tomorrow. The McCain campaign is going to run $6 million worth of ads, the Obama campaign running $5 million worth. Both candidates also spending a lot of energy talking about their energy plans.

And we're going to listen to what they're saying out on the campaign trail, of course, put it to our no-bull test.

Barack Obama is trying hard to connect John McCain to President Bush's energy policies, but McCain says, whoa, not so fast.

Here's what he told a town hall. This was in Lima, Ohio, this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I spoke up against out-of-control spending. I spoke up against the administration and Congress and Senator Obama when they gave us an energy bill with more than giveaways to big oil and really no solution to our energy problems. I want to take a minute here on this issue because I think Senator Obama might be a little bit confused.

Yesterday, he accused me of having President Bush's policies on energy. That's odd, because he voted for the president's energy bill and I voted against it. I voted against -- it had $2.8 billion in corporate welfare to big oil companies, and they're already making record profits, as you know.

Senator Obama voted for that bill and its big oil giveaways. I know he hasn't been in the Senate that long, but even in the real world, voting for something -- voting for something means you support it and voting against something means you oppose it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, who is the real supporter of President Bush's energy policy?

Tom Foreman is here to put all of this to our no-bull test -- Tom.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, for weeks, Obama has been drawing these links between McCain's energy plan and the policies of President Bush, sticking with the theme that McCain will be just the McSame as Bush. But McCain is now saying, let's play that record.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): In 2005, when a big energy bill came up with potentially far-reaching impacts on America's energy supply, President Bush supported the plan, signed it into law three years ago this week. And 85 senators voted for it, including Barack Obama. Only 12 voted against it, and John McCain was one of them, saying it contained wasteful spending.

The bill was sharply criticized, even at the time, for giving billions in subsidies to big oil. But Obama defends his vote by pointing out that the measure also included funding for alternative and renewable fuels, such as ethanol. He is, after all, a senator from Illinois, a big corn state and the nation's third largest ethanol producer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: And all of that said, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is now hitting McCain on a different vote, saying correctly that last year he could have helped repeal some tax breaks for big oil but he was the only senator to skip a critical vote on that measure, and big oil won the day -- Campbell.

BROWN: All right. Tom, stay right there. McCain and the Republicans are getting a lot of mileage out of an Obama remark about tire pressure.

Well, next, Obama tries again to take the air out of this issue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Let's get back now to what they're saying on the campaign trail. For days now, Obama and McCain have been going back and forth over tire pressure and how properly inflated tires can improve your gas mileage. In fact, McCain's Web site will send you an Obama energy plan tire gauge if you send a donation.

Well, now Obama sounds like he's getting pretty tired of the whole thing. And here's what he told reporters on his campaign plane today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In terms of the tire gauge issue, I think that was and is an illuminating issue. You've got, number one, John McCain pretending that that was some centerpiece of my policy as opposed to a response to a town hall meeting. So he had a misleading ad, which everybody knows was misleading.

Then it turns out that John McCain himself said, actually, inflating your tires is a smart thing to do, as did President Bush, as did the AAA, as did NASCAR. And so I thought it was a good example of the fact that the other side is not serious about real energy savings that can push down the price of gas. They're interested in scoring political points.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Tom Foreman is back to put tire pressure gauges to our "No Bull" test. So how did they get into the campaign anyhow?

FOREMAN: Campbell, just as Obama says, it appears he brought it up after being asked about it in response to a question from a man attending one of his public events.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Obama has been talking about his energy plan at length all week. And if you read that plan on his Web site, you can see the tire pressure is not a cornerstone, in fact, it is not even mentioned. Obama's plan calls for energy tax rebates for consumers, big new taxes on oil companies, lots of incentives to promote green energy technology, and much more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: On the other hand, living in a glass house does hold peril. Obama says the Republicans just want to score political points. He may have a point on this issue, but he himself has characterized McCain's energy program as being all about offshore drilling and that's also untrue.

McCain supports it, yes. But he's also spoken at length about the need for new, greener, cleaner fuel sources and ending our oil dependence, just like Obama -- Campbell.

BROWN: All right. Tom Foreman for us tonight. Tom, thanks.

Coming up next, we check the headlines. Why Detroit's mayor might be watching this show right now, not from city hall, but from the city jail.

But before we go to break, both Obama and McCain took a pop culture quiz by "Entertainment Weekly" magazine. So if you can guess how they answered this question. If you could be any super hero, which one would you be? Batman, Spiderman, Superman? We're going to have their answers when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: So which super heroes do our presidential candidates want to be? Barack Obama told "Entertainment Weekly" he's into the Spiderman/Batman mold because they have some inner turmoil and get knocked around a bit.

John McCain answered Batman because he does justice, sometimes against insurmountable odds. A little bit later we're going to have more of the candidates' answers to that pop culture quiz.

Coming up, a political low blow delivered in a dirty campaign attack ad, one of the worst we have ever seen. We're going to tell you about that.

But first, Ted Rowlands has our "Briefing" tonight -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, tonight a man is accused of an assassination plot against Barack Obama. Secret Service agents say Raymond Hunter Geisel made the threat in Miami a few weeks ago. They said they found weapons, ammo and body armor in his hotel room and in his car.

Also, a tipster says Geisel wanted to kill President Bush. Geisel denies it all. Police in Maine, Geisel's home state, released a mug shot from last year when he was arrested there on charges of threatening relatives.

China's foreign minister tells President Bush mind your own business. The president is in Beijing tonight. Before going there, he criticized China's detention of political human rights and religious activists. Today the Chinese foreign minister said no one should interfere with the country's internal affairs.

A judge says he is treating Detroit's mayor like, "Joe six pack" and sent him to jail for the night. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, charged with perjury, violated his bail agreement by going to Canada. He attended a business meeting in Windsor, Ontario, just across the Detroit River without asking permission from the judge.

You're not going to believe this, but Paris Hilton's political spoof is getting some political clout. Hilton's proposed energy plan in her mock campaign ad was referenced by a Republican congressman debating energy policy on Capitol Hill. He says her idea is worth a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHAEL BURGESS (R), TEXAS: Even Paris Hilton had an energy plan that she's talking about and said, I'll see you in the debate. Well, let's bring up the Paris Hilton plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Hilton called for a limited offshore drilling and incentives for automakers to produce efficient cars.

And tonight Brett is a Jet. The Green Bay Packers traded star quarterback Brett Favre to the New York Jets. He showed off his New Jersey, his new Jets jersey in Cleveland tonight. The team hopes Favre could take the Jets to the Super Bowl for the first time in 40 years. A lot of folks in Wisconsin have to be horrified tonight seeing him holding up that jersey -- Campbell.

BROWN: I know. I bet they are.

All right. Ted, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

There's an old saying that "politics ain't bean bag." But we found a political ad that's more like an atom bomb, really. Stay with us for the story behind an attack ad that shows a confederate general, a Ku Klux Klansman and a Jewish congressman. We'll have that coming up.

But before we go to break, here's more from that pop culture quiz that "Entertainment Weekly" put to the presidential candidates.

Guess which candidate says Usher is one of his favorite recording artists. We're going to have the answer when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: So which presidential candidate likes Usher? Well, it's John McCain, who said he was on "Saturday Night Live" with Usher, saw him perform and was very impressed. Barack Obama told "Entertainment Weekly's" pop culture quiz that Jay-Z, Frank Sinatra and Sheryl Crow are on his iPod. McCain says he's also a fan of ABBA, Roy Orbison, along with Usher.

Still ahead tonight, an hour of inspiration after tragedy. That's on "LARRY KING LIVE." And then, Larry, you're telling quite a story tonight. Tell us about it.

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": An incredible story. Unbelievable story.

Steven Curtis Chapman and his family are here. A tragic accident took the life of their daughter and sister, 5-year-old Maria Sue, happened last spring. They'll talk about it and how they got through. It must have been the test of a very deep faith because one of their children ran over her by accident.

Grammy-award winner and Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman is next on "LARRY KING LIVE" -- Campbell.

BROWN: All right, Larry, we'll be watching. Thanks so much.

Now we go from great but make-believe presidents to very real and a very controversial attack ad. Hands down, this is one of the toughest ads we've seen in quite some time, generating a lot of rage in today's primary for a congressional seat in west Tennessee.

Senior correspondent Joe Johns returns now to give us a look as well as the back story here -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, you know, race and politics get mixed up a lot in the South. We've seen it before, even in Memphis, Tennessee. This time, though, a Democratic congressman has really gotten slammed and a lot of people, including Barack Obama, are making the case that it's just not fair.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): When it comes to racial politics, almost nothing is more incendiary, more divisive, than invoking the name and image of the Ku Klux Klan. And that's what happened to the white Jewish congressman from Memphis, Steve Cohen.

REP. STEVE COHEN (D), TENNESSEE: So to be compared to a member of the KKK was a bit shocking when they were a terrorist hate group. And most terrorist hate groups that are against African-Americans are also against Jews.

JOHNS: Cohen was the target of a campaign ad focused on this park. The confederate general, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and his wife are buried here. That's his statue there.

Even though Forrest had always denied being connected to the Klan, he's often described as one of its founding members. But at the moment, his ghost is floating over the Democratic primary race between Cohen and his main challenger, a black female attorney named Nikki Tinker.

Let's connect the dots. A few years ago there was a local plan to excavate and remove Forrest's body from the park.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: This park was named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a major slave trader and one of the founders of the KKK. It is unconscionable to continue to honor such a despicable human being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: But Cohen who was then a local commissioner cast the only vote against removing the dead confederate general.

COHEN: I think desecrating, removing a grave without the approval of family members, which would be hard to get, is a whole different issue. And it's the ghoulishness about it that I didn't think that this city needed to have on CNN.

JOHNS: And that bring us back to today. Cohen is now the congressman here in a district with more blacks than whites, and his opponent, Tinker, with nothing to lose in her uphill battle to unseat him, ran a TV ad about his vote to save Forrest's resting place. It features robes and hoods. And, well, you get the picture. The fallout was instant. Tinker got slammed starting at the very top of the Democratic Party. Senator Barack Obama put out a statement today blasting the ad without mentioning her.

Obama said, "These incendiary and personal attacks have no place in our politics and will do nothing to help the good people of Tennessee. It's time to turn the page on a politics driven by negativity and division so that we can come together to lift up our communities and our country."

Tinker's campaign did not return CNN's call. She was quoted by the "Associated Press" saying "that the ad merely states the facts. I think the nation needs to know Steve Cohen's complete record."

The thing is, Cohen's got a strong record on civil rights. He introduced a resolution passed last week by the House that apologizes for slavery. So was the ad a cheap shot?

Given the critical reaction, Tinker's ad and tactics in the race clearly crossed a line. But one long time observer of race and politics says Cohen's vote on Nathan Bedford Forrest is fair game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I think it's fair to raise that issue. It's the kind of politics that you have in the South. It's certainly going on in places like South Carolina. Anyone who aligns themselves with those symbols is really fair game for the person running against them. Be they black or white.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Joe, race was an issue, as you certainly know, in Tennessee. But Republicans using an ad against Harold Ford Jr. back in 2006 that many say played into racial stereotypes.

JOHNS: That's right, and you know the interesting thing is, that the seat that Steve Cohen now holds happens to be the seat that Harold Ford held when he was in the United States Congress. You know, a couple years back, Harold Ford ran for the United States Senate, a young telegenic African-American congressman, politician. Of course, the RNC hits him with this ad that was supposed to be a spoof. It was supposed to be funny.

It featured a blonde woman who happened to be white telling Harold to call me. Funny or not, comedic or not, Harold Ford lost the race. So that's race politics in Memphis.

BROWN: All right. Joe Johns for us again tonight. Joe, thanks.

There's no argument that an ad tying a candidate to the KKK is pretty down and dirty but did it actually do the job? Was it effective? We're going to talk about this with the panel when we come back.

But first, another question from "Entertainment Weekly's" pop culture quiz for the candidates. Who did John McCain and Barack Obama pick as their favorite president from TV or the movies? Here's a hint. One of them picked President David Palmer from the hit show "24." We're going to tell you who when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: When it comes to TV and movie presidents, Barack Obama tells "Entertainment Weekly" that his favorite is President Jackson Evans played by Jeff Bridges in the movie "The Contender." John McCain says his favorite president is David Palmer played by Dennis Haysbert on the TV show "24." It just so happens, of course, that Palmer was the first African-American president in the TV world. McCain says he is fabulous.

We are going to go back now to the story we have been covering, this attack ad in the Tennessee congressional race. It's getting a lot of attention. And just to show you a portion of it, a Jewish candidate linked to the KKK by his African-American opponent.

It was pretty shocking. Nikki Tinker was forced to pull it from her YouTube page, but only after some of the damage may have been done.

Back with me now to talk about it, Dana Milbanks, CNN contributor and national political correspondent for "The Washington Post," Warren Ballentine, radio talk show host and attorney, and radio talk show host Lars Larson.

And, Warren, I'm guessing this sparked some pretty strong reaction from your audience. Tell me what you're hearing from people?

WARREN BALLENTINE, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I think that Attorney Tinker crossed the line here. I think this is low politics. It's dirty politics.

This man has a history of strong civil rights in the state of Tennessee. And honestly, you know, it's very disappointing that in today's society that we have ads coming out like this from anybody, whether you're black, white, Democratic or Republican.

There's just no place in politics for this. There wasn't a place for this in 2006 against Ford and is not a place here today.

BROWN: Lars, I don't think anybody would disagree with that...

LARS LARSON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: No.

BROWN: ... that this ad was pretty inappropriate here. But in the most cynical way, is it effective? I mean, when you insert imagery of the KKK, people pay attention.

LARSON: Unfortunately, people do. And what's sad is the connection between Cohen and the KKK is so tangential, he objected to the removal of this man's body, this confederate, frankly, war hero, and the statue from this park as part of being on an advisory board, that connection to the KKK?

I mean, if the Democratic Party was worried about the KKK, then they'd have gotten rid of Robert Byrd a long time ago for a very direct connection to that group. But not in this kind of case.

The ad is shameful. And I think that Obama is smart to do what he did because what he's understood is that every time racial politics have come up during this presidential race it's worked against him. And it's not a good idea when he, you know, talked about the faces on our currency, that didn't work to his advantage. And racial politics didn't work to his advantage when the Clintons brought it up either.

BROWN: Dana, Joe Johns reported earlier Senator Obama's reaction to this, saying that these incendiary personal attacks have no place in our politics. It won't do anything to help the good people of Tennessee.

The Cohen campaign though thought that his response is a little bit weak, that Tinker wasn't named as the responsible party, that Obama waited until the middle of Election Day to say anything about it, even though this ad came out almost a week ago. What do you think?

DANA MILBANK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, there's a bit of a history here. Cohen had complained last month that Obama wasn't coming out to support him. He likes to see himself, a white man in a majority black district, similar -- doing something similar to what Obama is doing, a black man in a majority white country, didn't get the support there.

I do think Obama's statement was quite strong. And, you know, what I think is missing from this whole thing here is there's nothing wrong with negative and hostile attacks as we've discussed, but this one is beyond the pale and it's just plain wrong. It left unmentioned here is the fact that the plan was ultimately killed by the city's mayor who is black. So it's complete nonsense regardless of the racial component (ph).

LARSON: Hey, Campbell --

BROWN: Yes.

LARSON: The other thing to mention and people haven't mentioned is this is the first white congressman from that district, as I understand, in 30 years. So in a lot of ways, for a party that always prides itself on so-called diversity, to have real diversity, a white congressman representing, as you point out, a district that's 60 percent black, is real diversity but diversity because the voters have chosen it. And for Barack Obama not to say to come out and help him out by campaigning for him, that does seem sad.

BROWN: But, Warren, this is -- this is a pretty explicit example of race being inserted into a campaign with real intent here. But do you feel, Lars sort of referenced this a little bit earlier, that you are seeing signs that some people have complained of, that this is happening in the presidential campaign just on a more subtle level.

BALLENTINE: Oh, it's definitely happening in the presidential campaign. I mean, let's be honest here. Racism sells in this country. It works for my viewers on my radio show, my three million listeners. It works for CNN television wise. It works for politics. I mean, race is a big issue in this country and we're lying if we don't talk about race. Now, I will say this, I think it's kind of laughable here that Lars is saying that it shows that Barack is not behind this member because he didn't campaign for him. There's a lot of people that Barack is not going to campaign for because he's in the middle of a campaign himself.

I mean, we have to look at this from the whole -- I think this was just low, dirty politics. I think she made a critical mistake here. I hope the voters in Memphis, Tennessee, do the right thing and if this man is a good congressman, he needs to stay their congressman because it's about the people.

BROWN: All right. Guys, we got to end it there. We're out of time.

LARSON: Thanks, Campbell.

BROWN: Lars, Warren, Dana, thanks very much to all of you.

BALLENTINE: Thank you, Campbell.

BROWN: Appreciate it.

A new development in tonight's top story. Former President Clinton will speak at the Democratic Convention. We are told. We're going to tell you when. Coming up next.

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BROWN: Live from the ELECTION CENTER, here is an update of the hour's political headlines.

Sources telling CNN now that Bill Clinton will in fact speak at the Democratic Convention on Wednesday night, the same night as the vice presidential nominee's speech. We're also told the former president and Barack Obama spoke today on the telephone. Second time they've spoken now.

After meeting with a group of DHL workers in Wilmington, Ohio, John McCain is calling for a federal investigation into plans by that shipping company that could cost some 10,000 jobs.

And the McCain campaign confirms to CNN it is returning $50,000 in contributions that were solicited by a foreign citizen. The man is from Jordan. He's the business partner of a Florida Republican.

And that does it for us tonight. From the ELECTION CENTER, I'm Campbell Brown. Thanks for joining us.

Larry King starts right now.