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Candidates Keep Campaigning; Street Racing Deaths

Aired February 16, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARY SNOW, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back. You're watching CNN's "Ballot Bowl '08," a chance for you to hear directly from the candidates. We bring you sometimes live events. Sometimes these events are taped, but always they are unfiltered. You hear the candidates in their own words. I'm Mary Snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I've been following the republican candidates. On the democratic side, Jessica Yellin who is also here in Milwaukee. Jessica, you're going to be having both candidates here tonight. Right?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: That is right. Both Senator Clinton and Obama are in Milwaukee. They are planning to speak at an event this evening here, though not together. Senator Clinton will speak and then Barack Obama. We'd like to bring you a little bit of Barack Obama's speech that he gave in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. This is Obama speaking earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know how hard change is going to be. I know it won't be easy to provide healthcare to everybody. If it was easy, it would have already happened. I know how difficult it will be to change our energy policy. Exxon Mobil made $11 billion last quarter. They don't want to give that up. I know how hard it is to alleviate poverty. I know how difficult it can be to improve our schools because it involves not just more money in the schools, it involves changing attitudes. Not just among teachers. Not just among administrators, but also among parents and among students.

We're going to have to turn off our TV sets and we're going to have to put away our video games, and ramp up our performance. And that's hard. I know how hard these things are because I have fought on the streets as an organizer, helping people in poverty. I have fought in the courts as a civil rights attorney on behalf of those who had been denied justice on the job or access to the polling place. I have fought in the legislature, and I've won some battles, but I've lost some, too. Because good intentions aren't enough if you don't have political power, if you don't have political will.

I've seen how easily politicians can manipulate people's suspicions of one another, how we end up scapegoating gay people or scapegoating immigrants for some of the lack of performance by our elected officials in this country. How we're turned against one another because of what we look like or what our religious faith is. I know how hard change is. But I also know this, that nothing worthwhile in this country has ever happened except somebody somewhere was willing to hope. That's how this country was founded, a group of patriots declaring independence against the mighty British empire. Nobody gave them a chance, but they had hope. They had courage. They had plans. They had a vision, but they also had hope.

That's how slaves and abolitionist resisted that wicked system and how a new president chartered a course to ensure we would not remain half slave and half free. That is how the greatest generation -- that's how the greatest generation, my grandfather fighting in Patten's army in World War II while my grandmother stayed behind with a baby working on a bomber assembly line. That's how the greatest generation defeated Hitler and Fascism and lifted us up out of the great depression.

That's how pioneers traveled west against great odds. That's how immigrants traveled from distant shores. That's how women won the right to vote. That's how workers won the right to organize. That's how young people traveled south to march and sit in, and some went to jail and some died for freedom's cause. That's what hope is, Eau Claire. That's what hope is.

That's what hope is. Imagining and then fighting for it, and then working for what did not seem possible before. That's our opportunity right now. You know, there's a moment in the life of every generation when that spirit has to come through, when we get rid of the fear and the doubt, when we don't accept what the cynics tell us we have to settle for, but instead we reach for what we know is possible in our gut, when we decide to join together, arm in arm, to rebuild this country, to remake it, block by block, county by county, state by state.

When we recognize that we've got an obligation to give the next generation the same chance that somebody gave us. When we understand that we have to keep the dream alive for those who still hunger for opportunity and still thirst for justice and equality. This is our moment. This is our time. And if you will stand with me, and if you will vote with me on Tuesday, then I promise you, Eau Claire, we will not just win Wisconsin, we will win the nomination. We will win the general election, and you and I together, we will change this country and we will change the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: That was Bill Clinton speaking in Amarillo, Texas -- where he is. Sorry. My apologies. We're having some technical confusion. That was Senator Barack Obama speaking in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he is campaigning ahead of the Tuesday primary here. but we are now going to take you down south. And here is where I get to Bill Clinton. He is in Amarillo, Texas, where he is speaking live as a surrogate for his wife. Let's listen.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES: I want to tell you why. First of all, I want to begin, and then I'll come back at the end of this. The person who wins this election will be determined by what the voters believe the election is about. What the voters believe the election is about, that is, why are you voting for a particular candidate? What do you want the president to do? What do you expect to come out of this? If you believe that the answer is to get America back in the solutions business, that we're at our best when we roll up our sleeves and go to work, and that the only way to end excessive partisanship is to get people working on solving problems together, then Hillary is your candidate, because she's got the best solutions and because she's the best change-maker.

Now, I want to talk about three big clusters of things necessary to put America back in the solutions business and get us going forward again. First, all the economic issues, then Iraq, then the whole rest of the world. And let me just say first with regard to the economy. I thought it was interesting that there was so much publicity and that we can be appreciative of both the president and the Congress for getting together and adopting this economic stimulus package to try to help forestall a recession. It was nice to see them do something up there together. I like that. But what struck me was that, when I read this in "The New York Times," for example, or the "Wall Street Journal," there's a certain unreality to it because most Americans think they've been in a recession for some time now.

Because most people are out of money at the end of every month. Don't you think that's true? Furthermore, if you've been following this mortgage crisis that's sweeping across the country, with the failure of all these sub prime mortgages and people being foreclosed on, that alone has already cost our economy $100 million. And a million of your fellow Americans and their families could be thrown out of their homes who have not missed a mortgage payment. I'll come back to that but this is - so this is a very, very serious economic time.

And the best way to describe it is that our country is growing more unequal and more and more people are in a more insecure position. Our country works best when it looks like this room. I mean, look, look around this room here. We're all here without regard to race or gender, or religion, or age or whether we're young, strapping and healthy and maybe not so healthy. We're all here together because we want to go forward together. And we know America works best when everybody is empowered to make the most of their own lives and when we think our differences are exciting, but our common humanity and our community matter more. That's how America works best. So look at the obstacles to that. We've got an inequality problem in the economy, in healthcare and in education. And they feed each other. So let's talk about it and talk about what Hillary would do about it.

If we're going to put America back in the solutions business. What's the inequality problem with the economy? Well, 90% of the gains of the last seven years have gone to just 10% at the top of our income earners, about half of that to the top 1% and a big part of that to the top 1/10 of 1%. In the 1990s, family income went up $6,000. In this seven years, after inflation, family income has dropped $1,000. And it's not hard to figure out why. In the 1990s, this country produced 22.7 million new jobs, in this decade 5 million new jobs. In the 1990s, almost 8 million Americans worked their way from poverty into the middle class, 100 times as many as happened in the Reagan years. And in this decade, 5 million Americans have fallen from the middle class back into poverty. This is not rocket science. You've got to have more good new jobs if you want to build a middle class and keep it going and keep it growing together.

YELLIN: That's Bill Clinton speaking live in Amarillo, Texas. Just this week, we will be hosting a debate there in Texas. In Austin, Texas this Thursday, CNN is hosting a debate between Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. It's 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Thursday, February 21st. Watch Obama and Clinton go head to head yet again. And now, I'm going to throw it back to my colleague Mary Snow also in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mary.

SNOW: And Jessica, Senator John McCain was campaigning here yesterday. In just a few minutes we're going to be taking a look at what he had to say out on the campaign trail here in Wisconsin. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: Welcome back to CNN's "Ballot Bowl," a chance for you to hear from candidates out on the campaign trail. I'm Mary Snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wisconsin is holding a primary on Tuesday. The democratic candidates are out on the campaign trail here this weekend. The republicans, it's a different story. Senator John McCain taking the weekend away from the campaign trail. Mike Huckabee also away from Wisconsin. He went to the Cayman Islands to deliver a speech there, and is expected back here sometime tomorrow. But both of the republican candidates have been campaigning in Wisconsin. 37 republican delegates are at stake here in this state.

Senator John McCain was here in Milwaukee yesterday. National Security has been a big theme for Senator John McCain. And out on the campaign trail in Milwaukee, he targeted democrats in the House. This after legislation on terrorist surveillance programs was not renewed. Let's take a listen to what Senator John McCain had to say in his own words here in Milwaukee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The House of Representatives decided to close down and leave town, and leave town when we had not reauthorized this nation's ability to monitor the telecommunications and the communications of the people who are dedicated to destroying everything we stand for and believe in. That's shameful. That is shameful, my friends.

It's a thing called FISA. And what it is, my friend. You know how telecommunications have changed in the last 20 years or so, you know how easy it is to communicate around the world. And frankly, Al Qaeda and the evil-doers are pretty adept at it. We find out after 9/11, thanks to the 9/11 commission on how good they were at it. And now we are trying to give the President the ability to beat back this force of evil, and the United States House of Representatives under democrat leadership decided not to agree, shut down and leave town and go on vacation.

The President of the United States said he would have put off his trip to Africa because our nation's security is first with the President of the United States. What is it? Where is it in the priority of the leadership of the democratic congress, majority in Congress, my friends? I'll tell you. I'll tell you this is serious stuff. So you can be proud of the republican members of the House of Representatives who stood fast, who stood fast behind the President of the United States in helping us combat Al Qaeda and the evil that pervades this world which I'll be glad to talk to you about in just a minute.

I want to thank you. I want to thank you again for your support of our party and our candidates. I want to assure you that I will compete if I am the nominee of the republican party in Wisconsin and every place in this nation. I will not allow the democrats to have a single state. We will compete here in the heartland of America. I will compete in the state of Wisconsin and we will carry the state of Wisconsin with your help and your support.

And I want to say again, I respect all of those individuals, including your own governor, who decided to seek the nomination of our party. It's made all of us better. It's been a great experience for me. And I would like to again thank Governor Romney for his endorsement and his support and the great campaign that he ran. And to his supporters, I'll tell you can be very proud of him.

I'm proud of my old friend Fred Thompson who did just such a great job as well. I know you're proud of him. Tommy and I always said that Fred should be President of the United States. After all, he's already been President two or three times in the movies. So, and I respect Governor Huckabee. I think he added a lot to our campaign, and I respect his commitment to staying in the race, and I respect that, and I will continue to campaign. And it's good for our republican party and it's good for America. So thank you all the supporters of Governor Huckabee, and he's run a campaign that I think we can all be proud of.

My friends, I want to talk to you about two or three issues very briefly. One of them is we've got to unite our party and we've got to reenergize our party. I've got to give you some straight talk. We've got to do that. We can do it. There will be a stark difference when we get into presidential debates between myself and Senator Obama or Senator Clinton. My friends, they want to raise taxes. I want to lower taxes. They want bigger government, I want smaller government. They want to have the government take over the healthcare system in America. I want American families to decide. I want the healthcare policy in America to be run with the advice and counsel of this brilliant man, Governor Tommy Thompson. And he'll tell you the danger, he'll tell you the danger of government-run healthcare in America and the world.

And we're going to talk about national security. Whether you want to set a date for withdrawal which is a date for surrender from Iraq and have Al Qaeda succeed or whether you're going to support this great general and the young men and women who are succeeding in this struggle in Iraq of whom we're very proud.

One of the subjects of debate is going to be government spending, my friends. And let's have some straight talk. We republicans let spending get out of control and it hurt us. And we shouldn't have done it. The tipping point was the bridge to nowhere, the $233 million bridge in Alaska to an island with 50 people on it. You all know about it. And my friends, it dispirited our base. I want to tell you that I will veto any bill that comes across my desk as President of the United States that has a single earmark project on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: That's republican presidential hopeful Senator John McCain campaigning here in Milwaukee on Friday, taking aim at democrats, particularly House democrats for not passing the foreign intelligence surveillance act. Also drawing a distinction over Iraq, as he tries to move closer to the republican nomination securing it and really sending out a message that he wants to unite the republican party.

In that talk that he gave here in Milwaukee, he gave a nod to some of his former rivals and he mentioned Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney of course endorsing Senator John McCain on Thursday. And that happened in Boston. And also acknowledging Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin who had been in the republican race ways back, dropped out, and also Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee who also dropped out. John McCain giving them a nod in his talk, but also mentioning Mike Huckabee. There have been strong hints from republicans for Mike Huckabee to step aside. That is something that he is refusing to do. He is defiant, staying in.

And Senator John McCain mentioning there that he respects Mike Huckabee's campaign. We have a lot more coming up, including a look, closer look at the democratic side. We'll be hearing from a former adviser to Al Gore in his campaign. Stay with us. You're watching CNN's "Ballot Bowl."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

YELLIN: Welcome back to CNN's "Ballot Bowl." I'm Jessica Yellin in Milwaukee. As we continue to cover this race, one of the big questions on the democratic side is what happens if neither Senator Clinton nor Senator Obama has a majority going into the democratic convention? With the race such a close race, with it a dead heat, would it come down to a back-room deal? Or how will the party choose its nominee. Today "The New York Times" reports that party elders are talking to Al Gore about the possibility of having him broker some kind of a deal. So we're joined now by Michael Feldman, a senior adviser to Al Gore during the White House years and during the 2000 campaign.

And Michael still talks to Al Gore currently. Michael, first in the spirit of full disclosure let me point out that Howard Wolfson who is Clinton's communications director once worked for your firm but he has left. And as I understand that you are not aligned with either candidate. Correct?

MICHAEL FELDMAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO AL GORE: That's right, Jessica. If Howard is watching, how are you doing, Howard? I hope you're hanging in there.

YELLIN: Let's get right to it.

FELDMAN: Sure.

YELLIN: So, Mike, tell us is "The New York Times" report accurate? We've already reported on this network that Al Gore intends to stay neutral at least for the foreseeable future. Is he trying to position himself to broker some deal between these two candidates?

FELDMAN: No, Jessica, I don't think he's trying to position himself. Look, you have several disconnected facts that I think some people are stringing together in a sort of wild tale here right now. First of all, the race is very close. Obviously, it's not going to be decided tomorrow or next week and probably is going to go on for a while. Secondly, Al Gore is a very much admired figure in the democratic party. What he said publicly and privately is the same which is, he hasn't endorsed anybody, he's not planning to endorse anybody, but he hasn't ruled out endorsing someone in the contest.

And then, third, you have a lot of people out there right now who are -- some on both sides who I'm sure are talking to him because he has friends in the democratic party, surprisingly enough. And some of them are Clinton supporters, and some are Obama supporters and I'm sure that some of them would rather he not get involved in the contest. But that's different than talks going on or some sort of star chamber set up somewhere to resolve this one way or the other.

YELLIN: Then I understand he does talk every so often to both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. There are also reports that, in "The New York Times" today that Nancy Pelosi and John Edwards called him in the past week to try to - I don't know, are they looking to set up some sort of resolution themselves?

FELDMAN: Well, look, I don't know who he talks to every day or who he doesn't. But if you're to believe those reports, he talks to a lot of people. And some of them are high profile democrats. Some of them are elected officials. But I don't think there's any organization going on right now. There's no organizing going on. There's no process going on. I think all of us are very focused on this. The voters still haven't had their full say. You know, a lot of states haven't voted yet. This process tends to work itself out. And I think that's probably what's going to happen. And so it's very premature to start talking about a brokered convention right now.

YELLIN: OK. One of the things you hear from voters or I hear from voters when I'm out on the campaign trail is this fight between Senator Clinton and Obama is bad for the democratic party, that it's too ugly a contest and this isn't good. Is that your take too? Is this an ugly fight?

FELDMAN: No. I actually think both campaigns are running a very respectful campaign right now. And I think actually the debate and the closeness of the contest is actually very good for the party. You see record turnout among Democrats in all these states. There's a lot of awareness about the race. People are paying attention. I think all of that is very good. And I'm confident that this is going to be worked out and Democrats are going to co-together. Above all, I think Democrats want to win. I think that's what you see, the energy and enthusiasm in this race right now is on the Democratic side of the aisle.

YELLIN: Let me ask you finally, is there a chance that if he were asked to, that Al Gore would be willing to play the role of a conciliator between Senators Clinton and Obama?

FELDMAN: Well, I don't know. I don't speak for the former vice president. And I don't know how he'd respond. I do know he obviously cares about the party and he's certainly, my guess is, he wants to see a Democrat elected president. I'm sure he will do everything he can to help the Democratic nominee whoever he or she may be in the end.

YELLIN: All right. Thanks so much, Michael Feldman, former senior adviser to Vice President Al Gore with a little bit of fact check on "The New York Times" cover story this morning.

FELDMAN: Thanks, Jessica.

YELLIN: Thanks so much, Michael.

And coming up after the break, we'll have another check of the news and, of course, more BALLOT BOWL after that. So stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

YELLIN: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL, a chance for you to hear directly from candidates on the campaign trail. Here in Wisconsin, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a Republican presidential hopeful campaigned. He took the day off today, but he is remaining in the Republican race despite the odds against him. Mike Huckabee coming to Wisconsin trying to tout his conservative credentials, trying to set himself apart from Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. Mike Huckabee saying the Republican Party needs a choice, and he is trying to say that he takes firmer stance on some issues very dear to conservatives such as abortion and same-sex marriage, voicing his opposition.

But he is also on the campaign trail talking about immigration, national security. He was in Madison, Wisconsin yesterday talking to crowds. Here is Mike Huckabee in his own words campaigning in Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want us to be on the offense with terrorism, but it's hard to really honestly do that when we're paying for both sides, when our military dollars are financed by our taxes, but on the other side every time we buy oil we're paying for the very people who are out to kill us. There's no sense in that, folks. From the standpoint of national security, it's time to say we're not going to pay for both sides of this war.

And by the way, we'll never have national security if we don't have border security. We're the only country on earth that doesn't actually totally and completely secure its borders. I promise we won't have amnesty, we will have a secure border.

It should not require you to have more paperwork to get on an airplane in Madison to go somewhere than it does for somebody to cross the international border. We can fix that, and we will.

And folks, it occurs to me that we have a problem not only with people slipping across the border, but those we let in that we never keep up with once they get here. Did you know half of the illegals in the country are not people that slipped across the border. Half of them are people who came through with a legal visa, we stamped their card, welcomed them, gave them a big old smile and handshake and said come on in. Then we didn't do one thing to find out what happened to them. Not one.

Every one of the highjackers on September 11th came here legally. We welcomed them, stamped their card and said come on in. And when their visas expired they didn't do a thing. And they ended up with 63 different pieces of fake I.D. among the 19 of them before they ended up killing over 3,000 of our fellow citizens in the worst, most awful accident -- murder that most of us saw in our lives. The government's response to that was we don't know how to keep up with them. That's unacceptable.

A little girl was with his daddy in the post office one day, he went to buy some stamps, she was standing there looking at the 10 most wanted pictures on the wall of the post office. When he came back by from having bought the stamps to grab her hand and take her out. She said, daddy, who are all these people? And he said, well, honey, those are the most ten most wanted of the FBI. These are the people we're spending most of our efforts looking for. The most desperate criminals in the country.

We're looking for these people trying to find them, and the little girl looked up at her dad in total innocence, and said, if we wanted them so badly, how come we didn't just keep them when we took their picture?

If a kid can figure it out, you'd think our federal government could, don't you? Well, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that next Tuesday you will make a very loud noise with your vote. I'm counting on it. But I'm counting on you going out and making sure that other conservatives like you in Wisconsin, people who believe in a human life amendment, people who do not believe in amnesty, people who really do believe that we ought to say no to more high taxes, people who absolutely are convinced that we've got to take a stand for the principles of the party and not just for the party in name only.

I'm asking you to get those voters out there and let's let the voice of Wisconsin be heard loud and clear so that in the future, the states that vote before you won't make your decision for you. And that's why it becomes so very, very important, that your vote gets centered.

I'm asking you because I think it would be a shame if in this country we come to the place where our entire process is reduced to a handful of people in states that won't even decide ultimately the president for Republicans. Making the decision about who the nominee is.

Look at the map, and let me show you something. The states that I've carried are the states Republicans have to have in order to win. States like West Virginia and Georgia and Alabama and Tennessee and Arkansas. States like Kansas and Iowa and Wisconsin.

The states that aren't going to really factor into the Republican win in November are New York and California and Delaware and Connecticut. It's not that those people aren't important, but those are overwhelmingly Democrat states. So if we're counting on those states to elect a president, we're going to be really sorry disappointed. That's why Wisconsin really, really matters next Tuesday.

Overall, the conservatives in this state have represented the heart and soul and the base of the Republican Party. The pro-life people who believe that taxes should be lower, not higher, that government ought to be more local, not more federal. Who believe mothers and fathers raise better kids than governments do and get the government off our back and let us raise our families.

And if you in Wisconsin still believe those things, we need your vote next Tuesday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: That's Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee making his case to republicans here in Wisconsin where he is competing in the primaries despite the fact that he lost the Potomac primaries early this week, he's pressing on, and he's hoping that he will gain traction in states like Wisconsin, particularly in Texas.

You heard him just talking there about immigration. And he is hoping that that will become a key issue. And he's hoping that the discontent with Senator John McCain for supporting illegal immigration reform legislation will help Mike Huckabee. But still the math is just not there in terms of delegates. He's far, far behind Senator John McCain. There have been strong hints that perhaps he should not be in the race, but Mike Huckabee is defiant, pressing on and this week talking about being in this race for weeks rather than days or just an infinite amount of time.

He says that he is going to stay in this for the long haul until there are enough delegates to secure a Republican presidential nominee. Mike Huckabee taking a day off, though, from the campaign trail and reminding people that he does have to pay bills, and he went to the Cayman Islands to deliver a speech and he is expected to be back here in Wisconsin tomorrow.

And that is a little bit of what's going on on the Republican side. We have lots more ahead. But particularly we're going to take a closer look at the latest on the deadly campus shootings in DeKalb, Illinois. We'll have the headlines for you in just a moment. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello from the CNN world headquarters here in Atlanta. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We'll get right back to the BALLOT BOWL in a few moments but first a look at the headlines. An eighth person now has died after a street race south of the nation's capital with the latest for us now, Kate Bolduan in Prince George's County, Maryland.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. Well, we are just outside DC, we are about 10 minutes outside DC. You can see police here have reopened the highway to traffic. But now we're just learning some new details of how this tragic street racing accident unfolded overnight.

What police are saying now that the car, the Crown Victoria that plowed into the crowd of people was actually an innocent vehicle, just innocently driving down the road, police say. Came upon this intersection where this street racing rather was going on, but couldn't see the crowd of people that had gathered because the street race had just begun, meaning the cars had burned out, throwing debris and a thick cloud of smoke into the air. So the car couldn't see the crowd of people until it was too late. Now the police spokesperson says in his 14 years with the department he's never seen anything like it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON COPELAND, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY POLICE: This one is probably one of the worst that I've seen, with the amount of victims that were on the scene. It was pretty, a pretty bad scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And as you mentioned, Fredricka, there is the death toll now up to eight people confirmed dead. There are still some people in the hospital, but we're not sure of the extent of their injuries. The driver of the Crown Victoria is one of the people we're told in the hospital. Police say that charges -- they haven't even gotten to that point yet because they're trying to take this investigation one step at a time. And they have so many details to go through and also so many families to inform that they've lost loved ones.

But they are, they tell us, looking for two cars, the two street racing cars they say definitely had a hand in this accident, this tragic accident. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Terribly sad. Kate. Thanks so much.

A fiery crash at Portland International airport in Oregon. FAA officials confirming to CNN a single engine plane crashed just short of the runway. It burst into flames on impact, killing the pilot. Officials say the pilot was talking to the command tower and lost contact as he approached for landing. It's not known if there were any passengers on board.

And new details about the student who opened fire at Northern Illinois University. The former student of that university, Steven Kazmierczak was armed with four guns and killed five students before taking his own life. It's still unclear what his motive was. Police say his behavior had become erratic recently after he'd stopped taking his medication. Our Don Lemon is in DeKalb with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is it possible the shooter stayed at a hotel in DeKalb, Illinois just before he went on that shooting spree. Well, investigators think so. They have searched a hotel room and have come up with a computer, a laptop computer that they believe could possibly have been left behind the shooter in the hotel room.

Now, according to the hotel owners, they got a call from police asking if they had found someone in a room who had left a computer, a lap top computer behind. When they checked the room, they did find a computer, called investigators back. Investigators came out, confiscated the computer and also sent the bomb squad out to check the room and to do a sweep of the room.

Today on the scene at the hotel, investigators were become there for at least a second time talking to the hotel manager about exactly what happened. Not only did they find the computer, they found other things in the room they took with them. They are checking into those items as well. Is it the same Steve that checked into the hotel? Well, it's uncertain. But the person has not gone back to collect his items. Reporting from DeKalb, Illinois, Don Lemon, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All five of the dead in Thursday's NIU attack were students. Four of them were under the age of 21. The oldest was 32- year-old Julianna Gehant (ph), an Army veteran studying to be an elementary school teacher. Twenty year old Catalina Garcia also wanted to be a teacher. Her family was from Mexico. Twenty-year-old Daniel Parmenter sold ads for the campus newspaper. And 20 year old Gale Dubowski sang in her high school choir. The youngest was 19- year-old Ryan Mace. Her mother says Ryan got her unusual name because they were expecting a boy. She was an only child who was studying psychology.

A Florida sheriff's deputy has turned herself in for a felony charge of abuse of a disabled person. Charlette Marshall-Jones was caught on tape dumping a paralyzed man from his wheelchair onto the jailhouse floor. This morning she was booked and released on 3500 dollars bond. Two of her supervisors have been suspended as well. And a third put on unpaid leave.

President Bush is in Tanzania as part of a six-day trip across Africa. No hot spots are on the agenda. However, his first trip to the continent since 2003 is meant to highlight African success stories, not conflicts.

American flags wave in Kosovo as the tiny Balkan province prepares to break free of Serbia. A declaration of independence is expected to come tomorrow. Serb leaders have promised diplomatic and economic retribution if it goes ahead. Mostly Muslim Kosovo has been administered by the UN since 1999 after a U.S. led air campaign forced out Serb troops.

And millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett has been ruled legally dead more than five months after he went missing. The declaration was issued at his wife's request by an Illinois judge. Fossett disappeared in September after taking off from a Nevada airstrip in a single engine plane. His body has not been found. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Another live update in about 30 minutes from now. More of CNN's BALLOT BOWL '08 right after this.

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SNOW: You're watching this Saturday edition of BALLOT BOWL on CNN, a chance for you to hear from candidates on the campaign trail. Sometime we bring them to you live. Sometime they're on tape. Always unfiltered. I'm Mary Snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And not far from here is my colleague and co-anchor Jessica Yellin. Jessica?

YELLIN: Hey there, Mary.

We are going to turn to one of those events we like to bring people, the candidates speaking in their own words. Hillary Clinton speaking yesterday in Akron, Ohio. She was at a Lockheed Martin plant. And she talked about herself as a problem solver and a champion of the middle class. Let's listen.

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SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to make sure that we don't lose jobs by subsidizing their movements. That's what still goes on. Our tax code still has tax give-aways that go to companies that want to move jobs out of Akron to some other foreign country. We need to end that. It's a free country. If somebody wants to create jobs somewhere else, that's fine but they shouldn't get a penny of taxpayer dollars to be able to do that.

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