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Bringing the presidential candidates unfiltered, up close and in their own words. Speeches by Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Rudy Giuliani

Aired January 13, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. For your international viewers, stand by for world news. For those of you in North America, see the candidates unfiltered. CNN's coverage of the "BALLOT BOWL" starts right now.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome to a new round of "BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Jim Acosta in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the stakes are very high in anticipation of next week's caucuses. This is "BALLOT BOWL '08," where you get to hear the candidates' own words.

My colleague, Mary Snow, is in Michigan where the stakes are also high and the temperatures are quite low, isn't that right, Mary?

MARY SNOW, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: You're absolutely right. Good afternoon, Jim. It's quite cold here. We are in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. That's where the voters will be going to the polls in two days. And over the next couple of hours, we're going to be giving you snippets of candidates' speeches. Some of them will be live, some of them on tape.

ACOSTA: And, Mary, out here in Nevada, this is -- this is a race that is really heating up for the Democratic contenders out here. Hillary Clinton was out in this state yesterday. Barack Obama will be out here later today. He'll be speaking to a predominantly African- American church, and we will be hearing from him later on this afternoon. And we have some tape of Barack Obama speaking to workers here on Friday night. We'll have some of that for you coming up in just a few moments.

But, Mary, I'll send it back to you where you're looking at the Republican side of the race.

SNOW: We are, Jim. And, you know, a lot going on today. Want to give you an overall game plan for some of the live events we'll be providing here this hour.

Here in Southfield, Michigan, we'll be hearing from Republican presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney.

Also this hour in Florida, we're going to be hearing from Rudy Giuliani. He is participating in a Three Kings Parade in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami.

And on the Democratic side, Senator Hillary Clinton is about to begin a town hall meeting in Columbia, South Carolina. But, Jim, I think we'll go to you first, out back to Las Vegas.

ACOSTA: Thank you very much, Mary.

Yes, well, Barack Obama is going to be at a predominantly African-American church in a couple of hours from now, which is very interesting, because out here in Nevada, the big enchilada is the Hispanic vote. So this upcoming event at this church may be viewed as a way of Barack Obama getting out on the national stage and appealing to African-American voters, perhaps in South Carolina, which will be a crucial voting bloc for Barack Obama for the upcoming South Carolina primary, coming up later on this month.

But what we want to show you first, is a clip of Barack Obama appealing to those Hispanic voters here in Nevada, the big enchilada. He picked up the endorsement of the Culinary Workers Union on Friday. That is a key endorsement, because they represent a huge number of casino workers in this town. And if you've been to Vegas, you know that those casino workers are a big, crucial voting bloc. And if Barack Obama can get those voters out for him, on next September's Nevada caucuses, he is going to be heading towards victory in this state.

But, first, let's take you to that event. Let's show you a clip from that event. This is the Illinois Senator essentially adopting one of the catchphrases from the old United Farm Workers leader, Cesar Chavez, who used to say, (SPEAKING SPANISH), or "Yes, we can." Here is Barack Obama proving that he can habla a little Espanol talking to the workers here on Friday. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Through these battles for justice and opportunity, I learned a lesson that lies at the heart of the American promise and at the core of this campaign, and that is that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country, people who are working together, across racial lines, black, White, Hispanic, Asian, they can do anything. There's nothing that we cannot do. (APPLAUSE).

(SPEAKING IN SPANISH). (APPLAUSE).

That's your story, the story of Local 226. That's how dishwashers and hotel workers, cooks and cleaning staffs realize their dreams in this desert town.

That's how you stood up for a bottom line that didn't just include profits for the few, but prosperity for the many, a bottom line that includes a decent wage and affordable health care, a decent benefit and the right to organize for a better future. That's what you've been fighting for. (APPLAUSE).

And that's how we're going to win this caucus on Saturday. We're going to show America that what happens -- that what happens in Vegas is not -- no, no, it's not going to stay in Vegas anymore. We're going to -- we're going to start something in Vegas, and we're going to send it across Nevada and across America, and everybody's going to know the power of a united people. (APPLAUSE).

We are going to -- we're going to take this message, and we're going to take it to every corner of the nation. We're going to make sure that workers in every union have the right and opportunities that you have fought so hard for, right here in Nevada, because, let me tell you something, the time has changed -- the time for change has come in America. The time has come to tell all the fat cats and the special interests in Washington that their money and their influence don't speak louder than our collective voices. They don't own our government, we do. And we're here to take it back. (APPLAUSE).

Those special interests, they didn't fund my campaign. They will not run my White House. And they will not drown out the voices of the American people, working people, when I'm president of the United States of America. (APPLAUSE).

The time has come to make health care affordable to every American, every single American, and I'm going to do it the same way I expanded health care for the people of Illinois, by bringing Democrats and some Republicans together, to get things done. That's how we're going to do it. We're going to reach out and make it happen.

The time has come to actually have an economy that works, not just for Wall Street, but works for Main Street, that starts closing the divide so that we don't want CEOs making more in ten minutes than ordinary workers are making an entire year. We don't want them getting tax breaks while you're left holding the bag. We don't need that.

You know, we're -- we're tired of an administration that gave lenders and lobbyists, their way, on subprime lending, knowing that it was going to get people in over their heads. So many families now foreclosing on their American dream. That is not going to happen when I am president of the United States. We are going to regulate the banks. We're going to regulate the lenders. We're going to make sure that they're doing the right thing by the American people, when I'm president of the United States of America. (APPLAUSE).

I'm tired of giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas. I'm tired of giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires instead of our hard-working Americans who deserve it. And when I'm president, I'm going to take those tax breaks away, and I'm going to put them in the pockets of hard-working Americans, like the folks of Local 226. (APPLAUSE AND CHEERING).

And, by the way -- by the way, I just didn't start talking like this. You know, we put our proposal out four months ago. We said we're going to cut taxes for folks making less than $75,000 a year. We're going to give homeowners a break. if they don't itemize on their tax form, they still deserve a break. It shouldn't just be people with big, expensive houses that get all these deductions. We said that if senior citizens don't make a lot of money, that they don't have to pay income tax. We're going to put money in the pockets of hard-working Americans who deserve it. That's what I'm fighting for. That's why I'm here with you today, to fight for the American dream for everybody. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And there is the Senator from Illinois, trying to get on a roll in this state. He's going all-in this weekend in Las Vegas, trying to appeal to many of these casino workers in this town. That is a huge voting bloc in Las Vegas.

And just as an aside here, there is some talk in Las Vegas about whether or not to allow the caucusing to go on during next Saturday's Nevada caucuses on the strips, so some of these casino workers can actually get away from their jobs for a few moments and vote.

But we'll hear from Barack Obama later on today. He'll be speaking live in our 4:00 hour, speaking at a predominantly African- American church here in Las Vegas.

Also coming up on "BALLOT BOWL '08," we'll hear from Mitt Romney. He's up in Michigan, where my colleague Mary Snow is standing by. A big state for Mitt Romney. He has to win, many people say, to continue on in this campaign.

And later on, we'll hear from Hillary Clinton. She spent a lot of time in Nevada.

Stay with us, this is "BALLOT BOWL '08," on all afternoon here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. More on the "BALLOT BOWL '08," but first, this breaking news. New developments on the nationwide manhunt for a Marine suspected of killing 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach. This is the suspect that has been the centerpiece of this nationwide search ever since, 21-year-old Corporal Cesar Armando Laurean. We understand now, according to sources in Louisiana, that he has been sighted in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Our Ed Lavandera is following the story from Jacksonville, North Carolina, where this investigation first started.

Ed, what are you hearing?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, there are multiple reports out this afternoon that say that Laurean was spotted in Shreveport, Louisiana, last night, getting either on or off of a greyhound bus in the town of Shreveport. It doesn't appear that he was going to be staying there for long.

According to the sheriff here in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Laurean appeared to be, according to this witness that had phoned into law enforcement, appeared to be on the move. And they say here in Jacksonville that they are -- in their words -- two hours behind him. So, they believe at this point that he might be headed to Texas.

And there is -- that's been the speculation for several days now, actually, as some people thought he might have -- he has parents who -- apparently are from Mexico. They don't speak a lot of English, Spanish, mostly, so there had been some speculation that perhaps that might be a place where authorities here might be worried that he was trying, perhaps, to sneak across the border. That was from conversations we've had with investigators here on the ground over the last couple of days. And simply just a theory at this point, but with this sighting in the Shreveport area, that gives a little bit more credence to the suspicion they've had all along -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Ed Lavandera, thanks for the update from Jacksonville, North Carolina because of that spotting of the primary suspect in the missing and disappearance and consequent murder of a fellow Marine. Much more on that investigation later here on CNN.

Meanwhile, let's go back to the "BALLOT BOWL '08" with Mary Snow in Southfield, Michigan, where we're expecting to see Republican candidate Mitt Romney momentarily.

SNOW: That's right, Fredricka. Thank you. Mitt Romney is expected to begin a rally here in Southfield, a suburb of Detroit. We'll be covering that live.

Also coming up in this hour, Senator Hillary Clinton is having a town hall meeting in Columbia, South Carolina. We'll be going to that live as well.

You're watching CNN's "BALLOT BOWL." Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: Welcome back to CNN's "BALLOT BOWL," a chance for you to hear directly from candidates on the campaign trail. We're going to be providing live excerpts from speeches from the candidates, some of those will also be taped.

I'm Mary Snow in Southfield, Michigan.

Michigan is the site of the next battlefield for the Republican presidential contenders. We are here with Mitt Romney, who is about to begin a rally here in Southfield.

But, first, we want to take you to Miami, Florida. That is where Rudy Giuliani has been campaigning. With him is our Susan Candiotti.

Susan, what is the message today?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Mary. Well, his message is one that he's had throughout his campaign. And this day in particular, he is kicking off a three-day, 12-city tour of Florida by bus, covering one end of the state to the other.

His first appearance today at an evangelical Christian church in southern Miami-Dade county, where he spoke for 20 minutes about values and then he went to shake hands on a sidewalk cafe in Miami. People there taking part in a Sunday brunch. Very popular there. And right now, he's participating in the Three Kings Parade in Little Havana. It's one of the largest Hispanic events in the United States. Everybody is trying to drum up votes. Even the Democrats have a table here registering new voters.

Even this parade -- you wouldn't think it -- is not without controversy. And that is because -- because some members of the local firefighters union are opposed to Rudy Giuliani, critical of his actions both before and after the 9/11 attacks in terms of making sure that firefighters were prepared with the proper radio and communications equipment, and after the attacks as well.

However, not every firefighter obviously feels that way. And, in fact, the Giuliani campaign put out a statement from Howard Safer, who is the former, of course, fire and police commissioner in New York, who said that every firefighter has no greater friend than in Rudy Giuliani.

All that aside, of course, only 16 days to go before the primary here. Rudy Giuliani has put all of his time and effort into the state of Florida, virtually ignoring every place else. And as you know, some of his top staffers have given up their salaries to stretch the money out, because if he doesn't win here, of course, he is in deep, deep trouble. Absentee ballots have already gone out here and early voting starts in the state tomorrow. And Rudy Giuliani is after every vote he can get.

Back to you, Mary.

SNOW: All right, thanks very much, Susan, we'll be checking in with you a little later on.

Also, we want to give you an excerpt of one of Rudy Giuliani's speeches from yesterday. This is in Bradenton, Florida. As Susan just mentioned, he has really been focusing his energy and strategy on winning Florida in that state's primary on January 29th.

The economy has been a big theme on both sides of the aisle. It was one of the themes Rudy Giuliani stressed on yesterday. Here he is, in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUDY GIULIANI, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to talk about three things very briefly, and leave most of my time for your questions.

First of all, it is very, very important that we have, and you know this, that we have a growth economy, that we have an economy in which things are growing for people. They're having -- they're being able to see more income. They're being able to keep more of their income. They're being able to invest it or save it or buy things with it or expand their business with it.

And America's growth economy is based on three major pillars of sound fiscal policy. One of them is low taxes. (APPLAUSE). The second -- the second is responsible government spending. And the third -- and the third is moderate regulations.

There's a fourth -- (APPLAUSE) -- there's a fourth also. The fourth is not suing too much. (LAUGHTER) Now, I'm going to talk about that also.

There's a lot of talk about change that's going on in this country. And we hear the Democrats -- some of the Democrats talking about change and we see that word sometimes, you know, behind them, change. When you -- when you see the word "change" I want you to ask a question, right after the word. In fact, I want you to put a question Mark right after the word "change." Because here's the question -- what direction? Do you want to change for the good? Or do you want to change for the bad?

Here's an example. The Democrats are all in favor of -- and I believe this is a promise they will keep -- they're all in favor of raising your taxes 20 percent or 30 percent. That's a change. That's a change! That's taking the change out of your pocket actually, right? Right? But that's a bad change. That's a change that's going to leave you with, well, with less money in your pocket. It's going to leave them with more money in Washington, which they can spend the way they want to spend it as opposed to your being able to spend it the way you want to spend it.

Now, here's a good change. Remember the word "change" had a question mark. Here's a good change, lowering taxes by 20 percent or 30 percent. (APPLAUSE). That's a good change. That does leave more money in your pocket. That leaves more money in your pocket and you will spend it more intelligently, more wisely, more creatively, more effectively than government ever spends it. And that's what I believe in.

And I could sum up my views or philosophy on domestic matters by saying that, where I can, I trust the people. Where I can, I believe that people have better judgment than government. (APPLAUSE).

So, I would like to see us lower our taxes so you have more choice over your own money. I'd like to see you have more choice over your -- over your Social Security fund. I'd like to see you have more choice over your health care, more private options for you to make your own decisions about your health care rather than having the government do it.

Here's another change -- big word, "change." The Democrats want to change. They want to give us socialized medicine. I want to change, and I want to us have more private options, more of an ability for you to make decisions, not with a bureaucrat, not with a -- sometimes they call them Hillary-crats -- not with a Hillary-crat. Hillary's idea is there are some decisions that are too important for people to make. Government has to make them for you. She was talking about health care, by the way.

Well, I kind of look at it just the opposite way. I look at it as, there are some decisions that are so important people have to make them, with their doctor. That's the way healthcare decisions should be made. And we've got to move toward a system, and we have proposed one, that creates considerably more private options for people, that will also bring down the cost of health care dramatically. That's a change. That a change in a good direction. Their change is a change in a bad direction.

So, the basic core of my 12 commitments to the American people, which are on this card. (LAUGHTER). This is my -- this is my cheat sheet. Isn't that funny? I make sure I never take this out with me to a debate so they don't think I'm, you know, using -- I have it memorized, though, now. (LAUGHTER). Honestly -- honestly, it's such a -- it's so small, it wouldn't help, I can't see it. I actually can't see it. But I know what's there. I know -- I kind of have repeated it enough now so I know what's there.

But here's the purpose of this. This is the change that I want to bring about for the country. If you elect me president, this card -- I'll have a bigger version of it, you'll see it on television. It will sit on my desk -- it will sit on my desk in the White House. And every day I will measure myself by how much have I made progress in moving towards these goals. Have I -- have I lowered taxes? Have I reduced the cost of government? Have I made government more accountable? These are the things that I would promise you. Have I appointed judges that are strict constructionist judges, who interpret the constitution rather than just make it up? (APPLAUSE AND CHEERING),

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: That's Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani yesterday in Florida.

You may have noticed that the picture your screen, that was Rudy Giuliani today. He's participating in the Three Kings Parade in Little Havana, just passing our cameras.

We have lots more coming up, including, on the Republican side, Mitt Romney. He has just taken the stage in Southfield, Michigan. We'll go to his rally live.

We'll also be going to Columbia, South Carolina, where Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton is holding a town-hall meeting. Stay with us, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: I'm Jim Acosta in Las Vegas, Nevada. Welcome back to "Ballot Bowl '08," where we will be looking to see Barack Obama later on this afternoon. He's hoping to get some better cards dealt to him after that loss in New Hampshire. And speaking of playing the cards, Hillary Clinton will be addressing a full house, if you'll forgive the expression, later on in just a few moments down in South Carolina. But the Republicans are mixing it up big time this afternoon. So I want to throw it back to Mary Snow, who is keeping her eyes on Mitt Romney up there in Michigan. Mary?

SNOW: Thanks Jim. Yeah, Mitt Romney is just starting a rally here at Lawrence Tech University in Southfield. Let's go straight to it.

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks you guys. Now, I hope you understood that that young lady next to my son Tag is his wife Jan and the mother of their three children. We also have five daughters in law, they are also going across the state and going across the country campaigning for me. This is a family affair. It is a political affair. I see Congressman Nolan Berg and Sheriff Bouchard, and all sorts of leaders. Speaker DeRosa you've heard from my brother, everybody here. Thank you for being here. This is a special year for me in a lot of ways. One a little troubling. I turned 60 years old this year. Yeah, that's a -- now what are you saying, that's ok, is that what you're saying? That's ok. 60 is ok. High school class of 1965. Any other from '65 here? Yeah, there we go. Right here. We're not old, are we? No, but because of the significance of the decade, my son Tag here got together with his brothers, and they organized a very special gift. Tag was actually the mastermind behind it. I came home from church and Tag handed me a key. And I said, did you guys buy me a car for my birthday? And he said, go out in the driveway, take a look. So I went out in the driveway, and I was hoping maybe a new Ford Mustang or perhaps a Corvette. Maybe even a Dodge Viper. Instead, there was a 1962 Rambler American there. And it was not what I was expecting, but, frankly, it warmed my heart, because my dad made Ramblers until 1962. He was head of American Motors, and he made Ramblers. That would have been the last car he would have made, because he went on to run for governor, and as you know became governor in 1962. And so the connection was there in a family nature. We got in the car. We started it up and drove it down the street, back and forth in front of the house. Pushed it home. And, you know, I said to my boys, look how much cars have changed. I drove a car like this when I was in high school. This thing has a huge steering wheel. Ever wonder why they had such big steering wheels back then? Try turning the corner, right? You need the leverage to turn the corner. And the kids got in, they went to put on their seat belts, they don't need the little buzzer to remind them like I do, they go immediately to turn on the seat belt, and there is no seat belt in a 1962 car. Of course, my favorite feature is the defroster in '62 cars, where you turn it on and you hear the fan working. You hear it's doing its job. Nothing changes on the windshield, though, it just stays. I said to the boys, you see, as you look at this car, this was modern when I was in high school. But cars have changed a lot since then. Because in the places they make cars, you either make a better car or your competitor will and he'll drive you out of business. You change and get better or you're gone. And it's true throughout the private sector, whether you're selling insurance or selling shirts or making cars or whatever you do. You better always be making a better and better product or service or somebody else will and you'll be out of business. And that's where I spent my life. In the private sector. Learning how to change things. How to make them better. Learning how things had to constantly be in competition with others. And then after doing that, I got a chance to be in government. Nothing changes in government. Everything stays the same. And if there's ever been a time we need a change in Washington, it is now.

You see, I've watched Washington politicians year after year make promises to the American people. And its great campaign rhetoric comes from both sides of the aisle. You hear it, they say they're going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, they haven't. They say they're going to solve the problems of social security, they haven't. They say they are going to fix our schools and make them competitive with any in the world. They haven't. They say they're going to reduce the burden on middle income taxpayers, they haven't. They say they're going to get health insurance for all of our citizens, people who need care. They haven't. These are folks who say they are going to build back Michigan. They're concerned -- they're aware of how tough things are in Michigan. They see the auto industry struggling, but have they done it? No, they haven't. And so, in my view, Washington is broken. And it's time for us to send somebody to Washington who is less concerned with who gets the credit and who takes the fault and whether Republicans or Democrats win or lose, and more concerned about finally challenging -- fixing the challenges that exist, getting Michigan back on track and building a brighter, prosperous future, and that is what I will do.

Now, you've -- it's nice to have such a quiet crowd. This is the best crowd I've been in, in Michigan all week. You guys are fabulous. You guys are the best. Wow. You know, I'm planning on changing Washington. I'm planning on finally getting Washington to deal with the challenges that we have. And I know it can get done. I've seen it happen in the private sector. I saw it happen in the Olympics. I saw it happen even in the state of Massachusetts, where you may know, there are a couple of Democrats. We were able to get the job done, and to change things for the better. And it's what I want to do in Washington. Now, I watched the Democrats running for president. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and -- and I saw -- you may have seen it, at Barack Obama's speech. I think it was his acceptance speech following New Hampshire, he was in a big arena -- oh, it wasn't New Hampshire. It would have been Iowa. And -- you know it better than I do. Gosh. And they had this huge banner behind him. It said "change." I guess that's his message, too, except I think it means something different for him. I think for him it means what you're going to have in your pocket when he's finished being president. Somebody else came up with that. I thought it was pretty good.

SNOW: That's Republican presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney, making his case to voters here in Michigan, just two days away from the primary here in Michigan. On the Democratic side, Senator Hillary Clinton is just about getting under way -- a town hall under way, that is, in Columbia, South Carolina, we're going to be going to that live. We're going to take a quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: And welcome back to "Ballot Bowl '08." I'm Jim Acosta. I -- we're standing in Las Vegas, Nevada. The site of the upcoming Nevada caucuses one week from yesterday, so it's creeping up on us. And, no, we are not poolside at the Bellagio. We're actually in the trenches giving you an inside look at the campaign trail. And letting you hear the candidates in their own words. We're standing not too far away from the lady luck casino, which may not be a terrific segue to Hillary Clinton, but we want to go to South Carolina, where Hillary Clinton is addressing supporters at an African-American church there. Let's listen to the New York senator and hear what she has to say. SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got great opportunities to start acting like Americans again. You know, we are the greatest nation in the history of the world, and we can, once again, demonstrate that we are the innovators. We are the problem solvers. There isn't any issue out there that we worry about that we can't resolve once we decide that we've got the leadership and the energy of our people. Because this election is not so much about those of us who are running. It is about you. It is about your futures. It is about whether or not we keep faith with our history. And I'm running for president because I know we can do better. I know we can solve these problems, lift our sights up again, set big goals for America again. And that's what I intend to do with your help. We have to do this together. We are in this together. I think that's our strength. I believe that we can have a strong and prosperous middle-class again. Where incomes rise, where people have a good job, where they believe that their children's lives will be better than theirs. You heard what Bob said. The trends are going in the opposite direction. Not only for African-Americans, but also for white families, that young people are not doing as well as their parents' generation did. That is exactly opposite of the way it's supposed to work in America. So, we have got to get on it right now. We've got to have plans. We've got to set goals. We have to work hard to make the changes that will help us.

I believe we will create those jobs with new, clean energy, and that will be a boon for rural South Carolina. We can grow our way out of the energy crisis. We can have homegrown energy from the sun and the wind and from the products that we grow to make the bio fuels. We are capable of once again setting our sights high, just as we did when President Kennedy said he would send a man to the moon and bring him back within the decade. I want to set the goal that within a decade we will be well on our way to energy independence and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that have so upset our natural order. And, yes, we will finally make quality, affordable health care available for everyone. Not just for some, but for all Americans. And we will do that by opening up the congressional plan, Stephanie and I can tell you. You know, we've got a good plan. It covers members of congress, their staff, federal employees. Over 250 options to choose from, at a cost less than the average of what you can get through your employer or out in the private market.

And these plans cover what you need. They cover prevention. They cover mental health. They cover dental. They actually take care of people. They're a system of wellness, not just a reaction to sickness. And if we open up that congressional plan, we don't have to create a new bureaucracy. This is not government-run medicine. These will be private choices, with an additional Medicare-like model so that people who want to pay bare bones don't want any of their dollar for health care going for, you know, profit or overhead, we'll put in that choice for them. But you'll have over 250 choices. For those who can't afford it, you will receive healthcare tax credits. You will be limited to a small percentage of your income as to what you ever have to pay for a health care premium. And small businesses will not be required to do anything. Small businesses, though, will be given help, if they want to go into the plan, they too, will get help just like individuals. And we can pay for this in two ways -- we can pay for it by efficiencies and modernizing the healthcare system. If we had electronic medical records, we'd save $77 billion a year that we can put to work helping people. And we're going to end the Bush tax cuts for people making more than $250,000 a year and put that money into universal health care! Sorry, Bob, sorry. He's going to quit me now. And we're going to do something about education, starting with the families. See, I believe that education starts in the family. Parents are a child's first teachers, and we need to do more to help every parent be the best possible teacher. I worked in Arkansas all those years ago to bring a program called the home instruction program for preschool youngsters, because I wanted to do more for mothers and grandmothers take care of their -- to do for them what -- many -- for -- and so maybe we can -- ok, here we go. To -- you know, the Republicans seem to have a -- systems. How long until we get it fixed? I hope we get it fixed, soon. There we go. Thanks Don. Don Pollard to the rescue.

But in addition to helping families, let's have a universal pre kindergarten program so that we help four year olds, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, get better prepared for school. And then I will end the unfunded mandate known as no child left behind. Because I think we can do better than that. When Dick Riley was secretary of education, our nation set goals. We had goals that we wanted states and school districts to achieve. And then we provided resources to try to help them do that. We should get back to that model, because I want to make it clear that the federal government should be there funding what we know works. For example, I was in Bennettsville a few weeks ago. Some people call the schools there the corridor of shame. I visited one. A couple of teachers and the janitor walked me around. They showed me the mold. They showed me the holes in the walls where the rodents came in. And these are where our children go to school. I think the federal government should do more to help poor communities get better facilities. I don't think any American child should be in a school that is not appropriate, not healthy, and I'm going to do everything I can to provide that kind of help. And we've got to make college affordable. It is way beyond the reach of so many middle- class families.

ACOSTA: And there was New York Senator Hillary Clinton addressing supporters in South Carolina at a college campus. Wanted to make a slight correction that she was a college campus there. Earlier today she was at an African-American church. We want to go to a quick break. But after that break we want to let you know that we will be talking to our embedded senior producer who is following Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail, Sasha Johnson. We're talking about the dustup that is under way between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, over Martin Luther King. So that discussion coming up after the break on "Ballot Bowl" on CNN.

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ACOSTA: Welcome back to "Ballot Bowl '08." I'm Jim Acosta in Las Vegas, where we're trying to give you every chance to hear the candidates in their own words. Just a few short moments ago we heard from Hillary Clinton, campaigning in South Carolina. Talking to supporters there. But what we want to do is go behind sort of the scenes on the campaign trail, where there's been a dustup between the two big rivals in this race for the democratic nomination, and that is Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They have been sparring over the last 24 to 48 hours over Martin Luther King, and I want to bring in our senior embedded producer, with the Hillary Clinton campaign, Sasha Johnson, who is on the phone with us. She is actually with the Hillary Clinton campaign. She's with the candidate at this moment, and I want to ask Sasha if she can walk us through what is sort of a complicated and sensitive issue that has emerged in this race. It was written up in "The New York Times" today, this issue over Martin Luther King and some comments that Hillary Clinton made last week that have been construed by some African-American leaders as being slightly offensive. Sasha, Hillary Clinton, we know, said something about this yesterday in Nevada. Can you walk us through this controversy a little bit, and explain where is the senator coming from on this issue. How is she talking about this today?

SASHA JOHNSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, in shorthand, Senator Clinton, when she was in Iowa, used -- talked about Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy Jr. when she was talking about civil rights and she essentially said that Martin Luther King had been gassed and went through the civil rights movement, you know, dealt with protests and things like that in order to effect change. Barack Obama had actually used Martin Luther King in a speech not too long before Senator Clinton mentioned those things, and so Senator Clinton kind of was hitting back and making the implication that, you know, Martin Luther King was really the true leader and making change and Barack Obama was not. You also had the comments by senator -- or excuse me, former President Bill Clinton, about how his -- Barack Obama's position on the war was a fairy tale, that it had evolved and yet Barack Obama's continuing to run as if he was against the war from 2002. So it's very complicated. I don't know that I'm explaining it exactly well. But the point is that here we are, right now where some African-American leaders have come out and said we didn't really appreciate those comments. The Barack Obama campaign called today the accusation by Senator Clinton that his campaign was actually promoting this idea ludicrous. The Clinton campaign thinks that they are pushing this idea out here. So Senator Clinton has come out today here in South Carolina (INAUDIBLE) predominantly African-American electorate to say, you know, I have fought for civil rights, I'm a wife, so has my husband, these accusations that somehow we are against or sort of supporting these ideas that we are not for civil rights is completely wrong and she made the point today in an African-American church here in South Carolina where she actually came out and said that she was proud of Barack Obama for where he was in this race.

ACOSTA: And Sasha, this is such a critical issue in some ways because and it was mentioned in "The New York Times" this morning that James Clyburn who is that influential African-American congressman in South Carolina, he has stayed neutral in that race down in the palmetto state. But what is important here is that James Clyburn said in response to Hillary Clinton's comments and in response to Bill Clinton's comments about Barack Obama's stance on the Iraq war being a fairy tale, representative Clyburn indicated that he may not stay neutral for very long in this race, which would be a major blow to Hillary Clinton, would it not?

JOHNSON: I mean, it would. Look, the Clinton campaign looks at South Carolina as a really tough race and we need to win here. They saw that after Barack Obama won Iowa, his numbers went up here considerably. So this is a tough race and if Jim Clyburn were to abandon his position of neutrality, sure, would it hurt? Absolutely. But Senator Clinton told us in a press conference yesterday that she spoke with Congressman Clyburn and his intention as of right now was still to remain neutral.

ACOSTA: Well, Sasha, thank you very much for helping us explain that issue. It's a sensitive and complicated issue, but we wanted to get it out there for our viewers who are tuning in to "Ballot Bowl" this weekend. We appreciate you standing by and staying with us to hear the candidates in their own words. Coming up in the next hour, we're going to hear the former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, he is campaigning hard in South Carolina, in a make-or-break state for him.

Also, the comeback kid, John McCain, he is looking for a big win up in Michigan, to continue the momentum he has coming out of New Hampshire, so stay with us. Much more politics coming up, behind the scenes. Unfiltered politics, "Ballot Bowl 08" on CNN. Stay with us.

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