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Ballot Bowl 2008

Campaign Happenings; Approaching Pennsylvania; Living With Autism

Aired March 29, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

MARY SNOW, CNN, ANCHOR: Welcome back to this Saturday edition of "CNN's Ballot Bowl." I'm Mary Snow in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, of course, is the site of an upcoming primary, April 22nd, a heated race and you'll have the chance to hear over the next couple of hours to hear it directly from the presidential candidates and joining me is my colleague Jim Acosta on the "Election Express" in Philadelphia. Hi, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN, ANCHOR: Hi, Mary. Team Clinton is not campaigning in Pennsylvania today. As a matter of fact, right now the former first daughter, Chelsea Clinton is down in Durham, North Carolina, where she is addressing young democrats. Her mother is in Indiana, campaigning for the Hoosier vote. Hillary Clinton was at an event in New Albany, Indiana, that's in the southern part of the state. It's across the river from Louisville, Kentucky. But earlier today, she was in Indianapolis and she addressed some of those calls coming from Obama supporters, one in particular, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy who urged that Senator Clinton drop out of the race and Senator Clinton had words for that. She responded by saying, no, she is still in it to win it. Here's Hillary Clinton in Indianapolis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have been having the best time. I have been from Terre-haute to Anderson from Evansville from Mishawaka to Hammond to Ft. Wayne, from Muncie to Indianapolis and New Albany. I have been across this state and I'm going to be back time and time and time again. You know, there are some folks saying, well, we ought to stop these elections.

UNIDENTIED FEMALE: No!

CLINTON: I didn't think we believed that in America. I thought we, of all people, knew how important it was to give everyone a chance, to have their voices heard, and their votes counted, and we're going to give Indiana that chance on May 6th. Because you see, I have this old-fashioned idea that the more people get a chance to vote, the better it is for our democracy. And we have some very important upcoming contests in Pennsylvania, here in Indiana, and others, and we also are going to have to come to terms with how we're going to count the votes of your neighbors in Michigan, and people in Florida, who deserve to be heard as well.

You know, I've had the best time, as Kathy was saying, listening to the people of this state, not just in big rallies like this and trying to get a few questions from these big crowds, but also in smaller settings, and there is such a sense of resilience and hard work, and yet there's also this underlying anxiety about the direction of our country. Where are we headed? What is our destination? How are we going to get there? And I think this election particularly here in Indiana is about jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, and how we're going to ensure that the economy works for everyone. How will we tell you and your children that they can stay right here in Indiana, right here in Indianapolis, and have the kind of economic opportunity that will enable them to fulfill their version of the American dream.

I believe we can do better than we're doing, and we can get our country back on track, and we can seize the opportunities of this moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there is Hillary Clinton there in Indianapolis, saying thanks, but no thanks. I'll be sticking in this race for awhile and I toss it back to my colleague, Mary, who is in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, covering the Barack Obama campaign, and Senator Obama was asked about this, was he not, Mary, and it's interesting, because here we have, you know, Senator Leahy and Senator Dodd calling on Senator Clinton to drop out of the race, but it's rather obvious, is it not, that they're Obama supporters.

SNOW: Right, and he was, in fact, about that, Jim, just a few minutes ago, and as you said Senator Patrick Leahy really got a lot of attention when he suggested that Senator Clinton draw from the race, and Senator Obama was asked about that and he said, you know, Senator Clinton can run as long as she wants to. He also suggested that some of the talk about democrats being divided is overblown, and he addressed a couple of questions when he spoke with reporters after his rally here in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Here's what Senator Obama had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My attitude is that Senator Clinton can run as long as she wants. Her name's on the ballot, and she is a fierce and formidable competitor, and she obviously believes that she would make the best nominee and the best president, and I think that, you know, she should be able to compete, and her supporters should be able to support her for as long as they are willing or able.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

OBAMA: No, well, I mean, I just think when we completed all of the contests that are remaining sometime in early June. Then at that point, there are no more contests and I think it's important to pivot for the superdelegates or others to make a decision as quickly as possible so that we can settle on a nominee and give that nominee some time before the convention to select a vice president or presidential nominee, to start thinking about how the convention should be conducted. So I think that work is going to have to be done relatively quickly, and at that point, there won't be really anything, any further information to be had. We will have had contests in all 50 states, plus several territories. We will have tallied up the pledge delegate vote. We will have tallied up the popular vote. We will have tallied up how many states were won by who, and then at that point I think people, you know, should have more than enough information to make a decision, but I think that the, I think that the notion that the party's been divided by this contest is somewhat overstated. You know, there's no doubt that, among some of my supporters or some of her supporters, there's probably been some, you know, irritation created but I also think every contest you have seen in every state, huge jumps in democratic registration including independents and republicans were changing registration both in the democratic primaries.

You know, those are people who are now invested in what happens, and I think that bodes very well for us in November. I think the party's going to come together. You can't tell me that some of my supporters are going to say well, we'd rather have the guy who may want to stay in Iraq for 100 years because we're mad that Senator Clinton ran a negative ad against Senator Obama. And I think the converse is true as well. You know, I think Senator Clinton's supporters will ultimately look at the comparison and say we think the Obama administration would be very different from a McCain administration.

So I'm less worried about this than some people are. I do want to make sure to the extent that I can control it, that we show some restraint in the word "measured" in how we present the contrast between myself and Senator Clinton and we've been very careful throughout this campaign not to say things that could be used as, you know, ammunition for the republicans, if Senator Clinton were the nominee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think she is?

OBAMA: Well, I mean, I think we've been trying to maintain that kind of approach, and I hope that that's the approach that both our campaigns take and our surrogates take and I think we have not been blameless in this process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: And there you hear Senator Barack Obama asked about the bitter tone of the campaign between Senator Barack Obama and Senator Clinton, also saying that he believes Senator Clinton should stay in the race as long as she wants to. This, of course, after Senator Leahy, his supporter, has suggested she withdraw and Senator Obama said he had not spoke to Senator Leahy before he made that comment. That is just some of what Senator Obama had to say to the press.

But you know, he is on a bus tour of Pennsylvania, that started yesterday in Pittsburgh. He's making his way across the state, here with a rally in Johnstown but he's also adding some smaller events. This is a way for him to introduce himself to people in the state of Pennsylvania. You could see that he is going to be heading toward Harrisburg, the state capital, tomorrow, and eventually he'll be winding up in Philadelphia. And you know, Jim, Senator Obama has mentioned a couple of times at today's event here that he is clearly the underdog in Pennsylvania. They're certainly trying to close the gap on Senator Clinton's lead here, and the Clintons have spent a lot of time, including former president Bill Clinton and Chelsea have been campaigning in Pennsylvania but now it really seems that the Clinton campaign is looking ahead and really trying to shore up the states beyond Pennsylvania in terms of the campaigning, right?

ACOSTA: Absolutely, Mary. And it's interesting to hear Barack Obama talking there about the metrics of this campaign, and what it's going to take in terms of convincing these superdelegates that he has the nomination wrapped up. You could hear him talking there about well, we're going to have to look at the popular vote after it's all said and done. We have to look at the delegates. We have to look at the states won and that is something that you hear going back and forth between the Obama people and the Clinton campaign about just who is going to be ahead in this race.

But you're right, you mentioned that there are these other states coming up after Pennsylvania and Hillary Clinton is showing no sign she's ready to get out of this race with her daughter campaigning down in North Carolina, the former president down in North Carolina. She is in Indiana. We have contests coming up in West Virginia. We've seen the Clintons there in West Virginia. We've seen some campaigning out in Oregon. And that state is also coming up, and so there are lots of contests coming up but it's interesting, Mary, when you hear Barack Obama talk about well, her name is still on the ballot. It's as if she's an irritant to Barack Obama, but yet she's ahead in this state. Has he addressed that?

SNOW: Yes, absolutely. You know, he has said and mentioned, you know, he knows that he is not doing well. What his campaign really wants to try to do is really show that he can make a strong showing. You know, just talking to some of the people here who already support him, they told me, you know, some said yes, they think he still can win. Others said no, they don't think he can win here but they just want to have him show that he can have a sizeable portion of the vote here in Pennsylvania to show that he is a candidate who can be elected.

And you're talking about irritation, at one point in that session with reporters earlier on, he talked about the negative tone between the two campaigns, saying yes, sometimes some of my supporters, I'm sure, have been irritated by some of the things that have been happening, but he is, again, is saying that the, you know, the campaign needs to show restraint, because even though he is addressing these issues of the economy, which is so important here, particularly in Johnstown, health care, talking to voters, one of the things that they are stressing is they say, you know, we are somewhat worried about the tone that this campaign has taken on, and the division among democrats, even though Obama said it's been overstated and they're worried that it may hurt them in November.

You hear Barack Obama talking about Senator John McCain a lot, on the campaign trail, and again he did it today, making reference to the fact that Senator McCain wants to keep troops in Iraq. He was asked about the recent violence in Basra, had that changed any of his plans for withdrawing troops from Iraq. He said no, and reminded everyone about McCain's position, so clearly he is targeting him. Jim.

ACOSTA: Well, Mary, you mentioned John McCain and coming up after the break here on "Ballot Bowl" on CNN, we'll be touching base with the republican senator from Arizona. We'll hear what he has to say to voters out on the campaign trail. Over the past several days he was talking about the economy, Iraq and other issues so we'll check in with John McCain. That's coming up after the break. This is "Ballot Bowl" on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to "Ballot Bowl '08." I'm Jim Acosta in Philadelphia. We want to switch gears now and talk about the republicans in this race. Yes, we want to talk about John McCain. He hasn't had as much time in the press and on the news lately with respect to this campaign for the presidency, because there has been so much attention paid on this bitter exchange going on between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, but John McCain had an availability with reporters, a news conference with reporters out in Las Vegas. He had just been campaigning with Mitt Romney, the old rival from the republican race, that is now, he was now backing John McCain in this contest, and John McCain was also asked about some of these calls for Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race. So, without further adieu, let's go to John McCain now addressing some reporters, and their questions in Las Vegas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was very pleased to be with Governor Romney yesterday in Salt Lake City, and in Denver. It was important sign of the kind of unity that we've achieved in our party since the primaries were basically concluded, and so I'm very pleased to note that Governor Romney will be campaigning with me in various places in the future, and I look forward to that, in continuing our efforts to energize the party, now that we've basically have it united. Questions?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator McCain, what is your reaction with what's happening in Basra? To the conflict in Basra?

MCCAIN: Well, in Basra, President Maliki, excuse me, Prime Minister Maliki has chosen to send his troops to Basra to try to put down some lawless militias and gain control of the area. That's under his authority to do so. And I think it's a sign of the strength of his government. I think it's going to be a tough fight from all reports. I've talked to various people about it, and we know that these militias are well-entrenched there. I hope that they will succeed and succeed quickly. I think it could be a tough fight. The decision was made by the government of Iraq. I respect that, I respect that decision and I hope that they are successful. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, can you tell us a little bit about your tour next week, why you're going to the places you're going, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and what message you hope to send?

MCCAIN: Well, I think our folks have briefed you pretty much. We're going to the places where I had the opportunity to serve the country, the motivation for other Americans to serve a cause greater than their self-interest, and each one of the places we're going to was part of the formative experiences that shaped my views, my thinking, and some of them, where I was proud to serve the country. And we'll give you more details, obviously, as you know in the future. Yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, Senator Leahy said today that it's time for Senator Clinton to withdraw. What did you make of this statement? Do you agree with him on that?

MCCAIN: I don't, I obviously don't have any thoughts about the views of various senators about who should leave their party. That's a decision that I think Senator Clinton will make, and Senator Leahy is obviously, made his opinion known but I don't have any particular view of it. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, this working out against the betting in college sports, there's a lot of people in the state that concerned about that. Do you care to elaborate on why you feel that way?

MCCAIN: I felt that way because the college coaches, the most respected people in America, came to me and said that they believed that there was enormous temptation before their young athletes, and these were NCAA coaches, including the head of the coaching organization, and I respect their views. Obviously, that legislation was not going to be successful, but when people like Coach Krzyzewski of Duke and Dean Smith, and people, the most respected people in America come to you and tell you something that they're concerned about, I think you should take their views seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there's John McCain talking about Iraq, and the struggles there, and also about Hillary Clinton and the calls coming from the democratic side, that she should drop out of this race. John McCain is very much a part of this race, it seems right now, for the democratic nomination. It seems last week, a poll was taken, and some comments were made by voters as to what they might do if their candidate, talking about Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, should not get the nomination, could they perhaps switch sides in this race and support John McCain? We'll take a look at that, coming up right after the break. This is "Ballot Bowl" on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to "Ballot Bowl '08." I'm Jim Acosta in Philadelphia, it's the city of brotherly love, but you wouldn't know that lately by watching this slugfest going on right now between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as they race for the democratic nomination, and a poll was taken just recently, we want to put those numbers up on the screen and set up this next segment. Voters were asked, if your candidate, talking about Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, were not to get the nomination, would you be tempted to perhaps switch your support over to the republican and vote for John McCain?

Well, you can see right here, Barack Obama supporters according to this gallup poll, 19% said if Barack Obama does not get the nomination, they would vote for John McCain. Now as for Hillary Clinton supporters, take a look at these numbers, the numbers change, Hillary Clinton supporters were asked the same question. If Hillary Clinton were not to get the nomination, how many of those voters would switch over to the republican side and vote for John McCain, 28% told this gallup poll, told this gallup survey that they would switch over to John McCain if Hillary Clinton did not get the nomination.

Those numbers are deeply worrying to the democratic party. Howard Dean, the democratic party chairman, weighed in on this, and so did Hillary Clinton. She was asked about this at an event yesterday. She was asked, you know, what do you make of these numbers out there, Senator Clinton, the so-called bitterness index that my colleague, Jessica Yellin mentioned the other day, what if supporters for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton were to go over and support John McCain?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is regarding some polls released yesterday and some polls that said supporters of Obama would vote for McCain if he wasn't the nominee, and some of your supporters would vote for McCain if you weren't the nominee. What would you say to those people that were undecided still or those people that were the 19% that were going to go over to McCain's side in the general election?

CLINTON: Please think through this decision. It is not a wise decision for yourself or your country! [ cheers and applause ] You know, first of all, every time, you know, every time you have a vigorous contest, like we're having in this primary election, you know, people get intense. You know, Senator Obama has intense support. I have intense support. And it's exciting because, you know, people want to be involved. But the differences and there are, in my view, significant differences between Senator Obama and myself, but those differences pale in comparison to the differences between us and Senator McCain. And I intend, I intend to do everything I can to make sure that we have a unified democratic party. When this contest is over, and we have a nominee, we're going to close ranks. We're going to be united, and I have no doubt about that, because the most important goal is for us to put a democrat back into the White House next January!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So, there you have it, Hillary Clinton urging her supporters to keep their powder dry, should she not get the nomination. She was recommending that her supporters close ranks behind whoever the democratic nominee is. Obviously she would prefer that to be herself, Mary. You're out there covering the Barack Obama campaign, and as he mentioned, he's well aware of this bitterness that is out there. SNOW: Yes, you know, Jim, though he thinks that it's a bit overstated. But you know, he was asked about this division, and he also made comments about that poll, saying that he believes that his supporters would also back Senator Clinton, if she becomes the democratic nominee, that it is important to have a democrat in November against Senator John McCain, and you know, former senator John Edwards used to be a democratic presidential hopeful, addressed young democrats in Durham, North Carolina, earlier today, and he was also asked, spoke a little bit about unity and division among the democrats. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I do want to say a word about the two candidates because I know them both very, very well, having competed with them over and over and over, having participated in debates and forums, I don't even know, I lost count, 30, 40 times, being on the same stage with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I have a very high opinion of both of them. I think we are blessed, first to have extraordinarily talented African American who could be the next president of the United States running.

Somebody who, without any, there's absolutely no way to contest the fact that he has inspired this country, and he has lifted up and brought people into the process, the political process who otherwise would have not been involved, who would not be involved.

And Senator Clinton, who has served America for so long, and so well, and has shown so much strength and leadership and has really forged an extraordinarily historic campaign as a woman for the nomination and for the presidency.

And I can tell you this, all of my friends from North Carolina, and this comes from the heart. We would be blessed as a nation to have either one of them as our president. And I'll say to all of you, we'd be a lot more blessed to have either one of them as president and not have John McCain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: John Edwards earlier today in Durham, North Carolina, speaking to young Democrats. North Carolina, of course, having a primary after, of course, Pennsylvania on April 22nd. But John Edwards really stressing that the Democrats, he believes, will unite behind a Democratic candidate, against Senator John McCain. He also, we should point out, has not endorsed either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton. Of course, that endorsement is coveted I have both of them and would make a big difference to both of them but he has not endorsed any candidate so far. Senator Edwards speaking to young Democrats in North Carolina earlier today. We have lots more ahead plus we're going to be checking other headlines including a dramatic hostage situation that was caught on camera. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More BALLOT BOWL after a look at the day's headlines.

And we start with some pretty dramatic video out of Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands up, back, down on the floor, down on the floor!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Take a look at this. A masked man had robbed a Walgreen's and then forced the store manager out into the parking lot. The gunman tried to get the man into the car, but then you'll see in this video that the store manager put up a pretty good fight. The two struggled and the manager eventually broke free and ran to safety. The suspect was struck by police gunfire as he tried to get away. Police chased him down, took him into custody and we'll take you live to the scene next hour.

And around-the-clock curfew in Baghdad has been extended indefinitely, this as the government says fighting with Shiite militias and criminal gangs in Baghdad's Sadr City have left at least 75 people dead. U.S. troops are drawn deeper into the fighting in Sadr City and the oil city of Basra as well. That's where U.S. planes bombed a suspected a suspected Shiite militia stronghold today. Iraq's prime minister says the offensive will continue until law and order is restored.

And city skylines around the world, in fact, are going a little bit darker tonight. This was the scene in Sydney, Australia, as that city kicked off Earth Hour, a worldwide event, to draw attention to climate change, the World Wildlife Fund actually organized it with the opera house in the dark. Manila in the Philippines also took part in the global lights out event with the countdown. Here in the U.S. beginning at 8:00 p.m., Atlanta, San Francisco, Phoenix and Chicago will switch off their downtown lights for one hour.

One mother's fight to help her son with autism, uncovered a brilliant poet, and led to what some parents call a break-through in treating the many children with autism, who can hardly speak. Colleen McEdwards tell us about Soma's Way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nineteen-year-old Tito Mukhopadhyay coming home from school, something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

Each arrival is a ritual. Tito sets the house in order and only then can bear to sit. Once considered mentally retarded, Tito's autistic mind can be poetic and profound.

SOMA MUKHOPADHYAY, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATON, HALO: How was your day?

MCEDWARDS: He can barely speak but he learned to type.

MUKHOPADHYAY: "It was like a floating candle that kept itself invisible." That was your day today. OK, you hold that and I'll take your pencil.

MCEDWARDS: His mother, Soma, gave up a career in chemistry to teach Tito to communicate.

MUKHOPADHYAY: Tito used to stare at the calendars and what he would do is bring a book and then start comparing the numbers. I knew he was making some sort of connection.

MCEDWARDS: At the age of 10, Tito and his mother came to the United States, brought here by an organization that had heard about his amazing progress and wanted to study it. Eventually Soma was asked to teach others her technique.

MUKHOPADHYAY: When you sit up, you do so well.

MCEDWARDS: It can be painful to watch, but the miracle of Tito started with something as wrenching as this. Soma calls her method rapid prompting. And although it has not been tested scientifically, more and more parents are coming to this center in Austin hoping for a break-through.

MUKHOPADHYAY: I don't see the child as an autistic person. I don't see the label at all. I see the child as a person and just as I would talk to any person I would talk to a child. Because the world is not going to talk to them in a very slow way. The world is going to talk to them in a fast way.

MCEDWARDS: The therapy does move quickly. At times it seems almost harsh, no good jobs and high fives and smiles here. Soma is unapologetic about that. It works, she says, it's that simple.

MUKHOPADHYAY: Now, let's do math.

MCEDWARDS: Ten-year-old Andrew Ray has been working with Soma for three years. Other behavioral therapies didn't work for Andrew. His family is planning to move across the country to Texas, so he can have more time with Soma.

MUKHOPADHYAY: T-I-R ...

MCEDWARDS: Every autistic child in this room reveals a mind that ticks. Most are able to attend mainstream schools. In this extraordinary group session, Soma prompts them as they make jokes, even tease each other about why they stim (ph). A large percentage of autistic children will never speak, but Soma believes if she can teach them to spell and eventually type, the door is open for them in the same way it is for Tito.

With the tireless teaching of his mother, Tito continues to write about what it's like to be autistic, and the challenges he faces now.

(on camera): How has your life changed, now that you can communicate? (voice-over): Each response, agonizing, but true, an autistic mind unlocked by the prompting and perseverance of a mother and son, teacher and student.

MUKHOPADHYAY: I can't say whether I am happy or not because happiness is a state of my mind. So sometimes I think I'm happy, other times it is hollowness.

MCEDWARDS: Nineteen years to learn this much, and plenty more still ahead. Colleen McEdwards, CNN, Austin, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And to find out how you can get more involved in the fight against autism, go to cnn.com/impact. You'll find more on the story and others, plus resources to help impact your world.

Air travelers in U.S. and Europe are about to benefit from some international diplomacy. Details on the new open skies policy, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Air travel between the U.S. and European Union countries set to really take off. A new open skies treaty launches tomorrow. It will give air travelers more choices and of course, faster connections. CNN's Richard Quest is live at Newark International Airport in New Jersey with more on that. How is this traveling going to improve for everybody? What you got there?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, I've got me boarding pass! The treaty! The treaty doesn't exactly come into force until tomorrow but of course, the red eye flights from the United States leave tonight, Saturday night and I'm on the first one. It's Continental Airlines 28, which will leave from here at Newark International and head across to London's Heathrow Airport. The significance of this treaty, Fredricka is, as of tonight, any airline in the United States, or the European union, can fly wherever they want to. All they need to do is have planes and have slots. Continental, incidentally, has been waiting 25 years for the right to fly to Heathrow, and that's why tonight is such a significant flight. But, Fredricka, there's more work to be done.

WHITFIELD: Of course.

QUEST: The negotiators still have to do a whole raft of things for stage two, and the chief U.S. negotiator, John Byerly,told me, well, it's going to be tough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BYERLY, CHIEF NEGOTIATOR, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: There are homeland security issues we have to deal with and finally concerns in labor unions that work for airlines, serious concerns about how do you maintain a level playing field if you've got two unions, one in Europe, one in the United States, working for an airline? I'm not saying we can't do it. I just can't say at this time we will be able to move forward. If we do, however, we will insist upon full rights for U.S. investors also to invest in European airlines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: That is all in the future, Fredricka. Immediately, what we are going to see is Delta, Northwest, Continental, major U.S. airlines making big inroads into the European Union and the European airlines coming back. That should be good news for consumers. It should lead to a reduction in those ridiculously high business class fares.

WHITFIELD: I know, so unfair.

QUEST: I know and I'm talking about being unfair. As you can see the other passengers haven't arrived yet and they've told me I can't open this and toast open skies until they do.

WHITFIELD: Doggone it, you are just going to have to be patient. What time is the flight departing?

QUEST: I've got two and a half hours to go!

WHITFIELD: OK. Keep it chilled. All right, Richard Quest, enjoy. Cheers! And happy trails.

QUEST: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, tax day can be a pretty major source of stress for most of us, but it doesn't have to be. In today's "Health for Her" segment, Judy Fortin looks at ways to ease your filing frustration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY FORTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's really just a date, but one that often strikes fear in the hearts of many of us, and utter panic in some.

DR. CHARLES RAISON, PSYCHIATRIST: April 15th becomes a sort of marker for all the psychic anxiety that leads up to that date.

FORTIN: And there's nothing like the subject of money to get our stress levels on the rise. According to a survey done last year by the American Psychological Association, money was almost at the top of the charts for stress triggers. Over 70 percent of those surveyed put it second only to work, for causing stress in their lives. Couple money with deadlines and you get a date that brings out a spectrum of emotions in people.

RAISON: Something like tax day is stress for some people and appears overwhelming and swamps them and for other people for whatever set of reasons it's perceived more as a challenge and that can cause positive emotions.

FORTIN: Whether you're a fearful or courageous April 15th watcher, there are a few things you can do in the future to make filing easier. First, pace yourself.

RAISON: Find the discipline to start early and finish it ahead of time.

FORTIN: Second, get help. No, not mental help, material help. Use a computer program to walk you through the process, or even better, hire someone to do your taxes for you, and finally, if time and outside help don't do the trick, try going straight to the source. The Internal Revenue Service. While it might cost you extra, the IRS can help you file for an extension, set up a payment plan and its Web site should answer just about any tax related question you might have. Whatever steps you take, just do them quickly, because the filing clock deadline is ticking. Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More news, headlines, coming up next hour. Until then, back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL right after this.

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WHITFIELD: Welcome back to CNN's Saturday edition of BALLOT BOWL. I'm Mary Snow in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. This is a chance for to you hear directly from the presidential candidates. On the Democratic side, Senator Barack Obama was in Johnstown earlier today, and the economy has become issue number one. All three presidential candidates each came out with plans on how they would deal with the economy, also the housing crisis. This, of course, in the wake of that massive bailout by the government of Bear Stearns, because of the mortgage crisis and lending practices. Each of the candidates has really come out and come out with plans to talk about the housing crisis and homeowners but also how the federal government should regulate or shouldn't they regulate some of the banks on Wall Street.

It's been a topic that has also been coming up, a lot of question and sessions for the candidates. We'll give you a sampling on what the candidates have been saying on the campaign trail. We will begin with Senator Hillary Clinton earlier today.

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H. CLINTON: It took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush. It's going to take a Clinton to clean up after the second Bush. Well -

And you know.

Well.

Thank you all. Well, obviously I couldn't agree more. And here's what we're going to do together, because I don't want to just come and give you a speech. You know, Steve is right, that voters are looking for answers, looking for solutions to our problems. You know, we've got to get serious this time, because we're behind the curve. We've had seven years of a president who took care of the wealthy and the well-connected and the privileged few, and pretty much left everybody else to fend for themselves.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) IL: The economy is teetering on the brink of real chaos. Wall Street has recognized very late what people here in Pennsylvania and all across the country recognized for a long time, which is, it's getting harder and harder just to get by. People are working harder in harder, in some cases, for less money. You've never paid more for gas at the pump, never paid more for health care, never paid more for a college education, never paid more for eggs or a gallon of milk.

And so if your wages and income aren't going up and your costs are going up, then people become more and more anxious. It's harder to save, harder to retire. People are now fearful of losing their homes because of home foreclosures. Our health care system, we've got 47 million people without health care.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The past decade witnessed the largest increase in home ownership in the past 50 years. Home ownership is part of the American dream, as we all know, and we want as many Americans as possible to be able to afford their own home, but in the process of a huge and largely positive upturn in home construction and ownership, the housing bubble was created.

A bubble occurs when prices are driven up too quickly, speculators move in to markets, and these players begin to suspend the normal rules of risk, and assume that prices can only move up, but never down. My friends, let's start with some straight talk. I will not play election year politics with the housing crisis. I will evaluate everything in terms of whether it might be harmful, or helpful to our effort to deal with the crisis we face now.

I've always been committed to the principle that it's not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they're big banks or small borrowers. Government assistance to the banking system should be based on solely preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy.

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SNOW: There you have it are a sampling of what the candidates are saying on the campaign trail, about their prescription for helping to boost the economy. We also want to remind thaw tonight, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, CNN's SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT has a special "Mortgage Meltdown" you don't want to miss it.

Coming up, a lot ahead on BALLOT BOWL. We'll be hearing from Senator Hillary Clinton. We're going to take a quick break and be right back. Stay with us.

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