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Ballot Bowl 2008

Focussing on Campaign Events

Aired April 06, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN, HOST: Welcome back to another round of BALLOT BOWL '08 where the political season goes on. I'm Jim Acosta in Philadelphia and over the next hour, you would hear the presidential candidates in their own words, sometimes these events will be live and sometimes they will be on tape but these candidates as always will be in their own words and always unfiltered. My colleague Candy Crowley is in Washington. She is taking a look at the Democratic race which Candy is not taking place in Pennsylvania or at least not in Philadelphia today. The candidates are out west, looking for votes in those contests that go beyond Pennsylvania which is an indication just where this contest is headed, right, Candy?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN, ANCHOR: Absolutely. All the way to the end, I think in June, and they have been, Jim, out west, way out west. Senator Hillary Clinton wrapped her swing through Montana today, holding a town hall meeting in Missoula just a few hours ago. She encouraged Montana voters to take part in the June 3rd primary and said they should view this campaign as a long job interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, this is such a close race. We don't know how it's going to turn out, and I think that we're going to see some more twists and turns before its finished, and I am committed to doing everything I can to make sure that the votes of the people of Michigan and Florida are counted because we're going to have to try to win Michigan and Florida in the fall in order to take back the White House. And, of course, as you start thinking about who you're going to support, you know, an election, your vote is equal to anybody else's, and you can make that decision based on anything, but I want you just to think about a couple of things.

I'm the only candidate in this race among the three of us who are left committed to universal health care and having a plan that will actually get us to universal health care and save money as we accomplish that. I'm the only candidate left who has a plan to stem the crisis in the home foreclosure market, something that I have been pushing for more than a year and know if we don't do it, we will never work our way out.

I'm the only candidate left who when faced with Dick Cheney's energy bill in 2005, which gave billions of more in subsidies to the oil companies, to the nuclear industry, and all the other vested interests, I'm the only candidate who said, no, I'm not going to vote for that. That is more of the same. It's the same old same old. We can't afford it. We've got to change direction. And on a number of other issues, there are real differences here, but it's also the case that as you think about your vote, consider this campaign as a long job interview because really if you think about it as hiring the next president, it sort of puts a different look on it. You know, inside that voting booth or filling out your absentee ballot, you can vote for or against a person based on anything. You know, you like this issue, you don't like that issue. You don't like the way they look or how they do their hair. I mean, you can vote for or against somebody on any basis. Thank you, I was waiting for that.

Done by somebody here in Missoula here this morning so. But if you think about it as hiring decision -- oh, that's another thing. Do you realize how much longer it takes me to get ready than my two opponents? I mean, really, just think about it. I think I should get points for working as hard as I do plus having to spend so much time getting ready.

Anyway, back to hiring a president, because if you think about it as a job interview, then it puts it in a different light because you're hiring somebody on your assessment on who can do the toughest job in the world. Who can be ready on day one to be the commander in chief, to be the steward of our economy. So think about it from that perspective.

Who would you hire to turn the economy around to get it back to producing jobs? ho would you hire to take on the oil companies and the oil producing countries to get us to that declaration of energy independence? Who would you hire to get us to universal health care, no exceptions, no excuses, everybody covered? Who would you hire to end no child left behind and make college affordable? Who would you hire to take care of our veterans and end the war in Iraq the right way and once again assert American leadership? Because if you think about it that way, I hope you will decide to support me in the Montana primaries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Those Montana primaries on June 3rd. Senator Clinton's rival Barack Obama is in northern California today raising more money for his campaign at some private fund-raisers. Before he left Montana last night, Obama talked about issue that affect western states and other states. Among them, job losses, the Iraq war, and eliminating predatory lending practices. Obama also stressed the importance of the less populated states, like, say, Montana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know that there's some people who have been saying that these caucuses, these caucus states out west with these small populations, they don't really count all that much in the process. There have been people who have been saying, well, Obama is winning all these small caucus states, these small little western states. I don't know about you, but I think they're pretty important, and I think it's important to note that we have seen record numbers of Americans who have turned out for us in Idaho and in Wyoming and in Utah and in Colorado because I think every state is important, and we are going to generate enthusiasm and excitement right here in Montana because I want to win Montana not just in the primary. I want to win it in November!

I'm tired of saying just some states count. I think every state counts. And we are now entering into the second spring of this campaign. I've already gone through one baseball season. I am into my second. We've been at this campaign so long, there are babies who have been born and are now walking and talking since I announced for president of the United States. But the reason this is no ordinary election is because this is no ordinary time for America.

We have more than 150,000 Americans in the middle of two wars. One war that we need to win, and another war that should have never been authorized and shouldn't have been waged. We've got brave men and women on their second, third, even fourth tour of duty in Iraq, a place where we're spending $400 million a day to help a government that seems unwilling to help itself. A war that I believe was an unwise war, that fanned the flames of anti-American sentiment and distracted us from the battle against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. That's why I opposed it in 2002. That's why I intend to bring it to a close in 2009. At home --

UNIDENTIFIED VOICES: Obama, Obama, Obama!

OBAMA: Thank you, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED VOICES: Obama, Obama, Obama!

OBAMA: Thank you. At home, at home we have millions of Americans, some right here in Montana, who stay awake at night wondering if next week's paycheck will cover next month's bills. Who wonder why two jobs or even three jobs aren't enough to put your kids through college or pay your health care premiums or fill up your gas tank, who don't know if their pension will be there when they retire or if their job will disappear along with the 232,000 jobs that have already been lost so far this year. People who don't understand why they're putting a for sale sign up in front of their house while the CEO of some of the companies that tricked them into risky loans, predatory loans, are walking away with $20 million bonuses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Senator Barack Obama last night in Butte, Montana. You know, we talk an awful lot around here about the Democrats and about the Republicans, and sometimes we talk about the need for a third party. But there are already third parties out there, among them the libertarian party, which brings me to bring back in Jim Acosta who is up in Pennsylvania. The libertarian party, a little action over there, Jim.

ACOSTA: That's right, Candy. And watching Obama there, just to go back to that just briefly, it was interesting to see Barack Obama talking about fly fishing. I don't know if you caught that out in Montana. He was going over the motion that you have to be able to pull off there to do fly fishing. Something about ten to two, which I assume is the arm motion. Didn't see Barack Obama in any waders out there, but interesting nonetheless to see Barack Obama out there in Montana.

Yes, you're right. The libertarian party is all of a sudden back in the news. Just when you thought you weren't going to hear about libertarians for the rest of this election campaign, Ron Paul being a former libertarian talked about the libertarian party and its message quite a bit. But Bob Barr, a name that political junkies and creatures of Washington have heard quite a bit about, they remembered Bob Barr back in the late 1990s and when in the House he led the impeachment charge to impeach President Clinton and remove him from office.

Bob Barr who switched parties to the libertarian party two years ago announced in Kansas City yesterday that he is forming a presidential exploratory committee. Here is Bob Barr in Kansas City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB BARR, LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody can look at that political landscape out there and walk away from it thinking, hey, man, the times are great. These are times of great comfort and convenience where it's easy to be a sunshine patriot. These are times of challenge, controversy, and, indeed, grave moral crisis, and meeting those, not being content, libertarians by their nature are not content to just sit back and remain neutral. It's not a part of our hard wiring.

It's certainly not a part of our platform or whatever platform we adhere to. Sitting back and being complacent, maintaining our neutrality has never been, and I hope never will be, a part of the libertarian party or the libertarian agenda. Therefore, as a good libertarian, I am refusing, along with you, to sit back and remain neutral, particularly this year as we face the great moral crises that is enveloping our country and indeed all of western civilization, and, therefore, I am announcing here today in America's heartland, which is the appropriate place to do it, the formation of an exploratory committee to seek the presidency of the United States of America in the year 2008.

Thank you. Now, some, nobody here I hope, but some of our friends out there, and I know some of my friends, former friends in the Congress, they'd say, whoa, you know, wait a minute, Barr. You know, let's talk. You know, to them doing the right thing for the right reason at the right time is always secondary not to principle, but to political expediency.

Oh, you know, hold on. Hold on a minute there. Let's talk about this. Maybe the time isn't right. After all, we have candidates out there. We have at least three of them that are on the news all the time. We have great candidates. They're going to raise these issues, aren't they? You know, the structure of the two parties. These are issues that are important to their platform, the preservation of liberty, respect for the Bill of Rights, smaller government, tax reform. Aren't they?

Well, as a matter of fact, they aren't, and if I were to just sit back and let that two-party monopoly status quo system that has failed the American people cycle after cycle after cycle convince me and the rest of us that they will take care of the problem, I'm not willing to do that. They are the problem. They're not the solution to the problem. The two-party system is the problem in this country. It has stifled risk. It has stifled our economy. It has stifled our families. It has stifled our education system. It has stifled our national defense, and if we continue to rely on that sorry system, then shame on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Bob Barr there talking about that sorry system, referring to the two-party system in politics in this country, accusing the Democrats and Republicans of holding a monopoly over power in Washington. Bob Barr who is forming a presidential exploratory committee, weighing rather to run as libertarian for the white house, coming up in the general election campaign. But coming up here on here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN. We'll be checking in with John McCain and what he has to say on his "Service to America" tour. We'll have some sound coming up from that in just a moment. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Jim Acosta in Philadelphia. It's time to switch gears to the Republican and John McCain, who wrapped up his "Service to America" tour as a biography tour to reintroduce the candidate to the American people. He wrapped up that tour in Prescott, Arizona, yesterday where John McCain talked about the fact that Barry Goldwater had launched his 1964 presidential bid in that very city to results that he would not like to repeat here in 2008. But John McCain, who was in Jacksonville -- or rather I should say Annapolis, Maryland, on Wednesday, the subject came up of a vice presidential running mate, who he's looking for, who is on his short list. And so, here is John McCain responding to that subject, that issue out on the campaign trail last Wednesday in Annapolis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's every name imaginable, as you might know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody on the list, --

MCCAIN: Oh, I can't tell you the list.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you're not going to tell me the list. But can you just - I mean, give just a sense of how many names are on there, how far is it --

MCCAIN: Well, I think it's like 20, you know, but I can't talk to you too much about it obviously, and we start a process where you just -- look, it's the same process that has been used by Democrat and Republican, you know. It's not an unusual thing. You put the list together, and then you just do a cursory kind of a look at, I guess you could do on google, really, when you think about it nowadays.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, nothing that requires the FBI.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very, very early stage in the process.

MCCAIN: Yes. I wouldn't expect us really to -- from what every other process has been, it takes weeks, if not months, to just go through the backgrounds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do these people even know they're on this list?

MCCAIN: No. I think that there's about 100 that think so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they should be warned then.

MCCAIN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, you talked about the fact that if you had your druthers you would do it before the convention, do you mean during the summertime?

MCCAIN: I'd love to do it earlier rather than later but you know, it depends on the process, it depends on, you know, we just really haven't gotten far enough along in that in the whole thing to really be able to even predict what we're doing. Seriously. But I would like to have -- some of the mistakes that I saw made in reviewing this process is that they waited until the last minute, and then it was kind of rushed and sometimes you get unintended consequences out of that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like what?

MCCAIN: Like when President Bush chose Dan Quayle, Dan Quayle had not been briefed, you know, and prepared for, you know, some of the questions. But I'm a great friend of Dan Quayle's, and I think he was a fine senator. I just think it was -- a lot of people in retrospect, you know, thought maybe the process should have been -- but, you know, I just think you have to have a measured process, make sure that you have taken all the factors into consideration, and then decide, but we're in the early stages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there's John McCain answering the question of who he is considering for the vice president on his ticket, and if this were jeopardy and the answer was the most asked question of John McCain, the question would be what is who are you considering to be as your advice presidential running mate, Candy, and I have to ask you since you and I have been doing this for a while, Candy, I have to ask you the question, has a candidate ever answered that question when asked before an announcement of who a running mate might be on the campaign trail?

CROWLEY: Not once.

ACOSTA: I'm guessing the answer is no.

CROWLEY: Not once that I ever heard of. There are a lot of those questions that you ask just to see if you can get some little tiny piece of information about where they're headed, but you're never going to get a straight answer until the big announcement, the big unveiling, as you know, Jim. Thanks.

ACOSTA: Not going to happen.

CROWLEY: No. Thanks a lot. You know, as these Democratic candidates go across the country campaigning for pledge delegates, there is another campaign going on, sometimes public, sometimes private, for the superdelegates. Those former lawmakers, party officials, and current lawmakers. Former vice president Al Gore is a superdelegate. He is still uncommitted. There's no question he'd be a valuable get for either Democratic candidate. Beyond just his endorsement, Hillary Clinton said she'd be interested in any role Gore might want to play in her administration. Barack Obama got more specific saying Gore could play a big part in his White House's policy on global warming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would. Not only will I, but I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this problem. He is somebody I talk to on a regular basis. You know, he's somebody that I talk to on a regular basis. I'm already consulting with him in terms of these issues.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wish Al Gore were in the seventh year of his second term. I really think our country would be so much better off had Vice President Gore been elected president, and I think we have seen what a difference a president can make. I would be certainly pleased to have his involvement in any way that he would want to be involved, and I don't know whether he would be interested in going back into government or not, but I think the American people would welcome that because of his incredible record of service and his -- you know, obvious understanding of the problems we're facing today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: We should note that for both Clinton and Obama, they were answering direct questions as to whether they would involve Al Gore in their administrations. Al Gore, of course, seen as a party elder in the Democratic party, so the only way to answer that question, of course, is yes.

On to the delegate count. Democrats in Michigan have given what looks like their final answer on delegates, but Hillary Clinton isn't giving up. That is next on BALLOT BOWL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Jim Acosta in Philadelphia. You know, there's been a lot of talk about Florida and Michigan and whether or not those delegates should count. We've talked about this over and over but on Friday, there was a decision by the Michigan Democratic party there to once and for all, we hope, we wonder if it's once and for all, but now they said officially they will not be holding a do-over in that state.

Obviously, we talked about the reasons for all of that. Michigan and Florida moved up their primaries against the wishes of the Democratic party, and had those delegates declared invalid by the party, and after much back and forth over holding do-overs there, it appears Michigan is not going to be holding that do-over, but it's important to note the delegate count and where things stand now between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, because in the end it's every delegate counts in this race for the nomination and the numbers as they stand now, Obama, 1,629 to Hillary Clinton 1,486 with 2,024 needed to clinch the nomination.

And with that let's bring in our very own Bill Schneider, CNN's senior political analyst, who is joining us live in Los Angeles. And Bill, if I'm live in Philadelphia and there are no candidates here, certainly it makes sense for you to be in Los Angeles where there are also no candidates. But your weather is obviously much better than what I'm experiencing here in Philadelphia. But moving to Michigan and what happened on Friday, is that it? Is it really over? Are they really not going to have a do-over in Michigan?

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It doesn't looks like it. It seems that Michigan like Florida has given up on the idea of doing their primary over. It's too difficult to organize. In Florida there were a lot of legal complications involving changes in the ballot law. In Michigan, they had problems getting anything through the state legislature. They really, you know, a lot of people in Michigan just didn't want to have to do the thing over. They said we had our primary, people have voted, those votes should count. Same in Florida.

ACOSTA: But I have to ask you, Bill, because Hillary Clinton has brought this up time and again. She did it as she was swinging through the west a couple of days ago. She talked about the need to seat the Michigan delegation, talking about the fact that she won that contest, but as most of our viewers know, the second name on that ballot was uncommitted, and so how do you seat that delegation for Hillary Clinton who got 55 percent of the vote in Michigan if 40 percent went to nobody?

SCHNEIDER: I don't think you do. I don't think you can seat the delegation that was elected in that primary because nobody really argues that that was a fair contest. You could make a point that Florida was a level playing field because the candidates' names were on the ballot in Florida and all the Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign there. Obama would argue that because he couldn't campaign, Hillary Clinton had had the advantage in name recognition, but in Michigan his name wasn't even on the ballot. So it's pretty clear those delegates are going to be very -- it's going to be very difficult to seat those delegates.

What they're trying to do in both of these states is find a formula to seat delegates, not those delegates, but delegates from Michigan and Florida so they will be included in the convention and so they will be able to vote, but those votes cannot be allowed to determine who wins the nomination because if they did determine the winner, say Hillary Clinton, the losing candidate, in that case Barack Obama would be claimed he's been cheated, that the process was unfair, and that's the real danger.

ACOSTA: And is there a way out of this Mooresville? And perhaps that is where this debate is headed to not only take in to account the delegate count but to take into account the states won in the popular vote. I heard Ed Rendell on one of the Sunday talk shows this morning talking about the Electoral College math. If you were to tally up the electoral votes in each of the states that were won, I have seen some estimates where maybe Hillary Clinton could come out ahead conceivably if you look at that. But that may not wash with a lot of Democrats I suppose.

SCHNEIDER: I don't think so. The electoral vote has nothing to do with the choice in a primary. The choice in a primary has to do with delegates, not the Electoral College. Popular vote does matter, and many people have said, John Murtha said this morning on "Late Edition" that Hillary Clinton really has to catch up to and surpass Barack Obama in popular votes, and obviously if they had a re-do in Michigan and Florida and she did as well as she did before, she'd get a big boost in that direction.

But the formula they're trying to work out, Bart Stupak, a Democratic Congressman from Michigan came up with a formula, said maybe the Michigan delegates could be seated, half of them according to the primary result and half of them according to the national popular vote. That might be a formula for seating the delegates. Howard Dean has said the delegates are going to be there. We're not going to exclude Michigan and Florida. Somebody has to come up with a formula that will do it with the restriction I mentioned. They cannot be allowed to determine the winner.

ACOSTA: And, Bill, on Bob Barr entering the race potentially as a libertarian, we talked yesterday about the impact on John McCain. I'm wondering if there's potentially an impact on Obama in that he talks about these Obamacans, these Republicans who he says are crossing over and supporting his campaign. Libertarians, while they're conservative in many ways, they're against the war in Iraq, which has been a basis support for Barack Obama, any impact there?

SCHNEIDER: Well, potentially because the libertarian party is anti- war. Remember, Ron Paul was a libertarian Republican candidate in the primaries, and Bob Barr is running to become the libertarian candidate. More likely it will do damage to John McCain. You have some anti-war Republicans out there. It's about a quarter of rank and file Republicans are against the war. John McCain is an enthusiastic supporter of President Bush's Iraq policy. So you could find some of them who might think about voting for McCain but disagree on the war that ends up voting for Bob Barr. It's theoretically possible that some anti-war Democrats might choose to vote for Barr over Clinton or Obama but I think that will be far fewer in number.

ACOSTA: Bill Schneider thanks very much for joining us. Coming up after the break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN, we will check on other news, including that polygamist standoff down in Texas. Stick with us. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, I'm Fredericka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More BALLOT BOWL in a moment but first these headlines, no injuries, no arrests and few answers following a police raid on a polygamist term in Texas. Lawmen evacuating dozens of children that they believe was sexually abused. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in El Dorado and joins us now. Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Fredricka. Well authorities here continue to remove more people from inside the compound here. The polygamist compound, here in El Dorado, Texas. The numbers are up to 219 people in all, 159 children. We just wrapped up a briefing with officials from the Children Protective Services which were the agency that was called in to investigate the abuse of a 16-year-old child. Essentially the headline here is that they say they have still not been able to positively identify who they think the 16-year-old victim is. That means she either might still be inside the compound. They continue to search, or she might be in their custody and they haven't been able to identify her.

When authorities were asked if these children are terrified to come out and speak, they say this is a safe assumption to make at this point. It's a very delicate situation as investigators continue to do one-on-one interviews with all of these families as they try to piece together just who is who and get to the bottom of what has happened here inside this compound. The arrest warrant that was issued for the 50-year-old man, Dale Barlow, we have been told there have been no arrests made yet but that authorities do know where he is and they're talking to him. We don't know why he hasn't been arrested yet.

WHITFIELD: Ed Lavandera thanks so much from El Dorado, Texas. A very complicated complex story.

A Wisconsin fire chief believes that fire that killed three college students was actually accidental. Today grief counselors are helping university of Wisconsin-Stout students deal with the loss 6 their classmates. Two women and a man died in the house fire yesterday just blocks from the campus all three victims apparently died from smoke inhalation.

And heavy rain is falling across parts of Florida today. Let's check in with Bonnie Schneider for the rest of the forecast.

Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fredricka, we are still looking at a lot of rain all coming in from the Gulf of Mexico into the Tampa area, well into central Florida. As we zoom into the region, you will see not only heavy rain, but frequent lightning strikes associated with this storm. If you're in Tampa or St. Pete or Orlando, you will be facing this heavy rain for quite some time as the steady flow of moisture will continue. In fact, the flood threat calls for a flood warning right in the center of Florida in Polk County, that's until 7:00 p.m. tonight. We're still under the risk for flooding there. In the heartland where we have had record rainfall in places like Cape Girardeau, we still have the flood warnings because runoff takes a little while to recede. The flood watches and advisories are actually posted vat until Friday because it will take that long for the rivers to get back to normal. Believe it or not, I know its April, but it's snowing in the northern plains. Snow advisories are in effect straight through midnight tonight. Heavy snow in Fargo and just rain for Minneapolis. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, bonnie.

Well, three American soldiers were killed today in separate rocket attacks in Baghdad. The targets, the heavily secured green zone and a U.S. outpost elsewhere in the city. At least 31 other U.S. troops were wounded. President Bush is expected to address the nation later this week on Iraq. Administration sources say it will happen Thursday morning and will focus on troop tours of duty and future plans in Iraq.

The entertainment world is mourning the death of one of Hollywood's truly heroic actors, Charlton Heston. He passed away last night at his Beverly Hills home. He may be best known for his portrayals of Moses and Ben Hur and in later years as the real life president and spokesperson for the NRA. Heston had been in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease. Plans for a private service is in the works. Charlton Heston, dead at the age of 84.

CNN I-reporters sharing their personal experiences with autism. That's coming up, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: CNN marked World Autism Awareness Day Wednesday with an unprecedented global look at the disorder. Scores of CNN I-reporters shared their stories about loving someone with autism or having it themselves. Now we share some of their stories to impact your world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH CHILDERS, 16, DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM AT AGE 2: I have been working at a wildlife sanctuary since I was 9, and that cat I raised the majority of the baby cats that come through, and that cat just happened to claim me. I didn't claim it. It claimed me and said, oh, you're my new mom now. I understand animals so much more than I do people. I'm trying to keep my goals in sight, so I ideally want to become a vet.

Each person with autism, they may seem as if they are incapable of doing much, but deep within their soul and deep within their heart, there is a talent and that each and every one of them has it, and if you're lucky, you will be able to see that talent.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): You know, you go through this grieving process when you find out your child is not normal. Joshua died of a heart that was two times the size, which is exactly true of who he was. He loved every person no matter your situation, status, or anything, yet he had a 2-year-old's brain. He was my first child. He's the oldest of five. He was 22 when he passed away. When I go to the grocery store now, it's just so sad to me because if I took Joshua to the grocery store, he would just go up and he'd say hi as many times as it took for someone to say hi back, you know, ten times. Every day was an adventure. Once you stop seeing what my child can't do and you start seeing what they can do, it's just beautiful.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): This is my home. Look, see my home. That's the garage.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): We asked him one time, you know, what do you want to be when you grow up, and he said a photographer. Although they're identical twins, the autism affects both of them differently. Steven does a really good job of looking out for his brother. They're just very sweet boys, and they're really neat. They have a lot of enthusiasm, and they are very loving, especially Paul. I call him my gentle giant. Steven has a really good chance to maybe even go to college one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, if you'd like to see other stories about people living with autism or learn more about the disorder, check out CNN.com/impact.

And we'll get you right back to the BALLOT BOWL right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CROWLEY: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL '08." This is your chance to get to see these candidates pretty much as we see them. Sometimes live, sometimes taped, but always unfiltered. I'm Candy Crowley coming to you live from Washington, D.C., and with me, my colleague Jim Acosta who I think is in -- I know you're in Pennsylvania, Jim. I think its Philadelphia.

ACOSTA: I am in Philadelphia, Candy. I'm right in front of the Rocky steps in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and it's so cold I feel like hitting a slab of meat out here actually to hearken back to that movie. Might be too much information, I'm sorry about that.

But we want to switch gears Candy now and go to John McCain. We talked a lot about the Democrats, but let's talk to John McCain who wrapped up his service to America tour and highlighted his many years of service to the armed services and to the country. As he wrapped up that tour, he made a brief stop and a brief appearance in Prescott, Arizona, which is where Barry Goldwater launched his ill-fated bid for the presidency in 1964. At that stop he responded to comments from the liberal talk radio show Ed Schultz who called John McCain a warmonger. Here is John McCain responding to that charge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): (INAUDIO) Do you have any reaction to that? MCCAIN: Well, it's a free country, and we have freedom of speech in America, and Mr. Schultz is entitled to his views. I would hope that in keeping with his commitment that Senator Obama would rapidly condemn, Senator Obama would condemn such language since it was part of his campaign, but that kind of thing I don't think is necessary at all in this campaign. I have made it very clear how I feel about war and my experiences with it. Thank you.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): (INAUDIO) There was some disagreement -- what do you say to your supporters who appear to not be listening to that message of cooperation?

MCCAIN: In all due respect, the person who is entitled to their freedom of speech, and I don't deny him that. But clearly trying to interrupt and disrupt my statement, and that happens from time too time, it's a free country, but most people, and there were many in this crowd who disagree with me on the war or other specific issues, show the respect to let me hear their message as for them to hear my message, and I listened to their message all the time and I meet with them and discuss these issues. So I'm sorry that that person chose to want to disrupt what happened and, frankly, they weren't able to do so.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Senator, President Bush has said that the U.S. will be sending more troops to Afghanistan. How concerned are you that the military will be further stretched and it might detract from the Iraq war?

MCCAIN: I continue to be deeply concerned about our failures from the beginning when we failed to expand the military, especially the army and the marine corps, which caused us major difficulties and resulted in a lot of the sacrifice that has been made. I think we have to have more efforts to attracting brave and qualified young Americans into the military service. I think if we have to take additional steps to do so, we need to do that.

I recognize that personnel costs are now the most expensive part of all volunteer force, but I also believe we are the best trained, best equipped, most professional military we've ever had. The answer to it is to redouble our efforts to get more and more young people to serve in the military, and I think then we would be able to cope with those challenges. Additionally, I read and heard that the deployments are going to be cut to a year from 15 months. I think that that's a good and wise step, and I applaud it.

Kelly.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Senator, when you speak to the Secret service this week, without getting into the details, but will you make some sort of request to do things in a way that allows you to campaign in a style that you have tried to over these months?

MCCAIN: What I'd like, of course, is to have as much interface and encounters with the voters, whether they agree or disagree with me, and I think that's an important part of campaigning. I understand that the Secret Service has their responsibility, so I hope I'll be able to reach an accommodation with them that they feel comfortable, which is very important, and we feel comfortable as well. I'm confident that we can do that, and I admit to a bit of stubbornness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: John McCain touching on a variety of subjects as he was wrapping up his service to America tour in Prescott, Arizona. Coming up after the break, here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN the folks at SNL are at it again taking shots at the candidates. That's coming up after a break. This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CROWLEY: Hi and welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Candy Crowley in Washington. A little bit of the light side of the campaign trail. Hillary Clinton doesn't seem to find anything funny about calls for her to drop out of the race. The folks at "Saturday Night Live" do. They tackled the topic in a sketch last night featuring --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): So at this point I think it would be in the best interests of the party if I stepped aside for the Obama campaign. Psych. That's never going to happen. I am not jumping out of this until after the inauguration. Even then I won't be gracious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: The real Senator Clinton also insists, graciously though, that she won't drop out.

Democratic presidential candidates are criss-crossing the country to drum up support. Last night they both ended up in, of all places, Butte, Montana. Hear what they have to say when BALLOT BOWL continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Jim Acosta in Philadelphia. If you are counting at home, this is the third and final hour for "ballot bowl" for this Sunday. In the sound bite culture where sometimes the sound comes at you at ten or 15 seconds, no, we will have lots of sound from these candidates. Sometimes on tape, sometimes live, several minutes of these candidates during their stump speeches out on the campaign trail. I am in Philadelphia. The candidates are not in Pennsylvania.

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