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Aired March 01, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

DANA BASH, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hello. I'm Dana Bash and welcome back to this Saturday Edition of "Ballot Bowl '08." This is your chance to hear from the presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle, sometime we bring it to you live, sometimes, we bring you large chunks of their stump speeches on tape but it is always unfiltered. And this is a very important day because it is a day leading up to a crucial, crucial day and that is Tuesday.
Tuesday is a primary day that is going to go on four states. In four states voters are going to cast their ballots and perhaps really change the landscape of the presidential contests on both sides of the aisles, both for the democrats and republicans.

And as we have been over the past couple hours, over the next several hours, we are going to be bringing you these candidates, again, as they are speaking and as they are trying to get your vote. With me today are several of my colleagues, Suzanne Malveaux is joining us from Dallas, Texas. Jessica Yellin and Mary Snow are also joining us. They will join us later in the hour from Houston, Texas. But first I want to pass it over to Suzanne. Hi, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Dana. You may recognize the very familiar faces on the stage. They just got on stage, former Secretary Henry Cisneros along with Senator Hillary Clinton. You can see her right behind me here, to the wild applause of this crowd here. We're in a coliseum that is normally reserved for rodeos here in Dallas, Texas. I want you to take a listen here, it's very important. As you know, the Hispanic vote, she's been courting them very strong, very hard. And let's listen to Henry Cisneros with the introduction of Senator Hillary Clinton.

HENRY CISNEROS, FORMER HUD SECRETARY: Would you be out here on a Saturday afternoon with this intensity, I know you're excited about your place in history in electing Hillary Clinton. What a magnificent opportunity we have come Tuesday when the results come in, we will show that Texas is for Hillary Clinton. Now, I want you to tell me who is the next president of the United States? Who is the most qualified to be president?

Who do we trust with our armed forces and bringing our boys home from Iraq? Who do we trust to provide healthcare for all Americans? Who do we want to guide our children in their education? Who are we going to work for from morning tonight next Tuesday to make sure? All right. Look. Hillary is here, she's been working hard. She's done her part. Now, if we want to make history, we need to do our part.

How many of you have voted early? Can I see the hands? Great. How many of you have still to vote and are going to vote on Tuesday? Can I see the hands of those? And a how many of you, whether you have voted or not, are going to double and triple your impact by making telephone calls, making telephone calls, walking blocks, talking to your co-workers? Let's get the vote out on Tuesday.

Now, you know that in Texas this year it's a little complicated. We not only have to vote early or on election day, but we have to come out in the evening for the caucuses. Right? You've got to make the extra effort. The rules are a little hard. They're slightly not fair, but the rules are the rules. Right? And we can get ourselves in a situation where we win the popular vote, but we could lose the delegate count if we don't come back out on Tuesday night. So please commit to come back out on Tuesday night.

Because that is the way that Texas is going to be part of a great American historical breakthrough. My friends, let me say that again. For years we've talked about the moment when Texas makes history. It is in our hands to make history. This Tuesday --

MALVEAUX: You're listening to the former HUD secretary Henry Cisneros who is introducing Senator Hillary Clinton who is about to speak momentarily. I want to bring in my colleague, Jessica Yellin who is also covering the democrats on Obama's side. Jessica, obviously we have seen that this issue of national security gained prominence just within the last 24 hours. How is the Obama camp -- what is the message that they are trying to convey over these critical days leading up to the Texas-Ohio primaries?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, they are doing what we've seen Barack Obama do this entire election whenever it comes to this experience question. On national security, he turns the argument around on Senator Clinton, arguing that it's really not about who has the experience in these national security issues. It's about judgment. Barack Obama has managed to turn these arguments against him into his own advantages by playing on his own strengths in his own court by using this whole debate about judgment, going back to the Iraq war and saying when it mattered the most, when there was that one crucial decision, he voted - or he spoke out against war when most of the nation's leaders were for it.

And, of course, the democratic base certainly thinks he made the right call. So, Barack Obama is happily taking Senator Clinton on, on this issue and really hammering home the point that whatever her resume may hold, it's nothing against Barack Obama, man of superior judgment in his campaign sort of positioning of this issue. I want to ask you, Suzanne, because we heard Cisneros saying there, don't let your vote be wasted by failing to caucus on Tuesday night. Is the Clinton camp working very hard to make sure voters understand this weird Texas hybrid of a prima caucus?

MALVEAUX: They certainly are, Jessica. It's unclear whether or not that is really going to be advantage Clinton or advantage Obama. We've certainly seen in the past caucus processes has been an advantage to Senator Obama. I want to mention a point here, it was very interesting when Senator Clinton got on stage and just started to speak, the audience erupted cheering and yelling yes, we can, yes, we can, yes, we can. Obama's stumped speech and his chant. And then she said, yes we will. I want to take a quick listen if we can go to Senator Clinton.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, and we're here and we're going to do what you would expect us to do, and that is to roll to victory on Tuesday and then go on across the country. I want to thank my long-time friend, Henry Cisneros for being here. I brought a couple of other friends with me. They helped me win California. So they said they thought they'd come over and see what they could do to help out in Texas. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, and the mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa. I'm proud to have their support. And so grateful that they could take time out of their busy schedules to come to Texas to tell Texans join with California in helping to pick the next president.

I also want to take John Wiley Price, Dallas county commissioner, Darlene Ewing, the Dallas county party chair, Elba Garcia, the mayor pro tem. I want to thank a special group of people every one of you can join, but these are the ones that have already joined up, and that is my Dallas county precinct captains. You know, I am grateful to all of you. And as Henry was saying, this election is the Texas two-step. We've got to get everybody to vote who hasn't already voted to vote on Tuesday. Then we have to get everybody to go back to their precinct conventions on Tuesday night.

Be there by 6:30 to make sure your votes and voices are counted. So we need people to sign up to be precinct captains. As you leave today, I hope you will find somebody with a clipboard, sign up to join the precinct captains, because they're going to help me make history. And then, you know, for people who still are making up their minds and having questions, on Monday night I'm going to have a Texas-sized town hall across Texas. It will be broadcast on the Fox Sports Network southwest and it will be online on my website, hillaryclinton.com.

And people are already sending in thousands of questions. So, if you have friends or neighbors that want some last-minute questions answered, have them send it in and have them tune in because we're going to be answering the questions that you asked about what the next president of the United States should do to help you and to help our country. Because this couldn't be a more important election, could it? There is so much at stake. We've got big challenges at home and around the world. I know we're up to it. I've got no doubt about that whatsoever. But it is going to take a new president.

Now, I have to say the world is going to breathe a sigh of relief when that moving van pulls up to the White House headed back to Texas. Now, you know, as President Bush is leaving and coming home, waiting in that Oval Office are going to be a lot of problems. You know, we've got two wars going on. We've got an economy that's beginning to have some real troubling signs. We've got millions of people without health insurance, including a whole bunch of them right here in Texas. So the next president is going to have to get in there and clean house. Clean house.

Now, I think we need somebody who's got some experience cleaning house to go into the White House. You know, I said it before and I'll say it again. It took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush. It's going to take a Clinton to clean up after the second Bush. So, I may ask you to grab your brooms and your mops and your vacuum cleaners and come on up and help me out. Because then we're going to have to deal with all of these issues, all of these challenges that are waiting. I know that you understand that this election is really like a hiring decision.

You've got to ask yourself, who would I hire to do the job that's waiting there in the White House in January 2009? Who would you hire? Who would you hire? Well, you know I think, I think that's probably the right way to consider this decision because when you stop to think about it, we have a lot that we need to expect from our next president. And we don't have any time to waste or any margin for error. We've got to get somebody in there ready to be commander in chief on day one. You know, when that phone rings at 3:00 a.m. in the White House, who do you want picking up that phone and deciding what we're going to do for our country?

You know, my opponent gets a little unhappy when I talk about national security. He says that talking about the realities of the job of being president and commander in chief like those 3:00 a.m. phone calls that come out of the blue, is somehow fear mongering. I've got to tell you I don't think people in Texas scare all that easily. I think you know what's at stake. The fact is we've got to end the war in Iraq, and we've got to win the war in Afghanistan and go after the people who attacked us. I think it's important that we make national security a keystone in this election, because it's one of the biggest jobs a president has.

When a president raises your hand to be sworn in, you swear to protect and defend the constitution and the country, don't you? And we know very well that if Senator McCain, as is appears likely, is the republican nominee, this is going to be a campaign about national security. If Senator Obama doesn't want to debate me about national security, how is he going to debate Senator McCain about national security?

MALVEAUX: You're listening to Senator Hillary Clinton talking about this debate that she is having with Senator Barack Obama over national security, who is more experienced to deal with a crisis situation. I want to bring in Jessica Yellin who is in Houston. Jessica, this is something we've heard really develop and become quite a point, just within the last 24 to 48 hours. This is something that the Clinton campaign really feels is a strength of hers, that she cannot only knock Senator Obama off his game, but also perhaps take on Senator John McCain, try to knock him off as well, because they know that his record is very, very strong when it comes to national security. How is the Obama campaign reacting to this?

YELLIN: Well, Suzanne, they're doing what we've been talking about, which is changing the topic by focusing instead on his judgment rather than his experience. He doesn't want to go toe to toe with her on the resume. You know, what's remarkable about this is that this for Senator Clinton seems to be an obvious strong suit, an obvious area where she could have been campaigning along these lines now for so many weeks now. Especially in the last week as John McCain and Barack Obama have been taking each other on more and more, leaving Senator Clinton out of the equation. This seems like a natural argument, the one she's having right now, to have injected a week ago or even weeks and weeks ago. My question for you, is do you get the sense that the Clinton campaign is making this argument just a little bit too late? Why did it take them this long?

MALVEAUX: You know, Jessica, I think that's a really interesting point that you bring up here. Because I think they are just starting to realize that there is a very simple argument line here that seems to be resonating with the voters, it seems to be working here. She is talking about how the fact that she's visited more than 80 countries really as kind of an ambassador as the First Lady on behalf of the United States. They are talking about the fact that she went to Beijing, China, to talk about women's rights. That she was a part of the northern Ireland peace talks that happened there with her husband. They're putting all this forward and talking about one simple thing here. That is, this is a job application for commander in chief and her resume is stronger than Barack Obama's.

You heard the applause from the audience when they talked about national security issues. If you look at the polls, you talk to voters, and it is something that resonates with them. They're interested in talking about security. But they also know that Senator John McCain, this is a real strength of his. He's going to play that hand. They have got to deal with this. That is why they're making this argument here, not only addressing Senator Barack Obama, but they feel like as this catapults her into a position where she's taking on John McCain over an issue that potentially could be very challenging to her campaign. I think you're absolutely right here. This is something they really could have emphasized much earlier on. You can see it. You can hear how she is tweaking her message, how her speeches - dare I say speeches -- are becoming stronger and tighter on that particular point. Jessica.

YELLIN: And I'm sure we're going to hear this non-stop between now and Tuesday. We'll hear more of it ahead on "Ballot Bowl." Also, and on the other side of this break, we're also going to hear from Barack Obama who has been campaigning today in Rhode Island, another state that will vote on Tuesday. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

YELLIN: Welcome back to "Ballot Bowl." I'm Jessica Yellin in Houston, Texas. This is one of the states in which Senators Clinton and Obama will be battling on Tuesday for a huge haul of delegates. There are two other smaller states that will be voting that day as well, Vermont and Rhode Island. And today Barack Obama made his first visit to Rhode Island. He made many of his same campaign stump line speeches, but he focused in particular on Clinton's position on NAFTA versus his position on NAFTA, an issue that really plays well with blue-collar voters. Let's listen.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are those who are trying feed your fear and cynicism and your doubts. We've been talking about change from the start of this campaign. And I noticed that lately the -- the photographers need more attention over here? Is that why you're waving? Come on photographers. They're all waving. I have to tell you that there are -- it seems like this change thing is catching on, because everybody is talking about change now. Everybody is saying how they stand for change. But I want you to understand what real change is. Don't be fooled.

Real change means saying what you mean and meaning what you say, not just during election time, but all the time. Real change isn't fitting your position to fit the politics of the moment. And that's the choice that we have in this election. A real change, for example, is not calling NAFTA a victory and saying how good it was for the American people until you decide to run for president, like Senator Clinton did. That's not real change.

I believe in trade. And I won't stand here and tell you that I will stop every job from disappearing because of globalization. But I will tell you that I will be thinking about workers and not just Wall Street when I put together trade agreements. I will end those tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. That is real change, and change you can count on because I've been saying this for four, five, six, seven years. I don't just start saying things during an election. Real change isn't saying that you'll stand up to the lobbyists and the special interests when you've taken more money from lobbyists and special interests than any of the democrats or republicans running for president, like my opponent has.

I am the only one in this race who has actually passed laws to take power away from lobbyists. And that's why you can count on me working to reduce their power when I'm president of the United States of America. Real change isn't voting for a bankruptcy bill that makes it harder for families to climb out of debt. Senator Clinton and I had a debate in Las Vegas. She said, well, she voted for this bill, but she hoped it wouldn't pass. I've got to say, that's not how things work. If you don't want something to pass, you don't vote for it.

One of the first things I did when I got to the senate was to fight against the credit card industries bankruptcy bill. When I'm president, I will reform our bankruptcy laws so that everybody has a fair shot and you won't be bankrupt if you got sick. And CEOs won't be able to dump your pensions and get bonuses for themselves. That's what we're talking about when we talk about real change.

Real change isn't voting for George Bush's war in Iraq and then telling the American people it was actually voting for more diplomacy. The title of the bill was a resolution to authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces against Iraq. That sounds like you were voting for authorizing the use of armed forces against Iraq.

YELLIN: Barack Obama emphasizing again the main themes of his campaign here, authenticity, his judgment versus politics as usual in Washington, promising that he will do things differently. CNN's Bill Schneider was there in Providence, Rhode Island, when Barack Obama was speaking. I want to bring you in, Bill. Obviously this is an audience that's naturally an Obama audience. It's on a college campus where younger people tend to favor Obama. But I understand that there was a contrast he drew with Senator Clinton who spoke the same venue a week ago. BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Senator Clinton was right here in the room. I'm here now, where Obama spoke, the same arena, Rhode Island College. Last Sunday, we spoke to a Rhode Island College official. And she said the rumors about one-third full, about 2,000 people last Sunday when senator Clinton spoke. Today when Obama spoke there were about 5,000 people in the room, as many as it could hold. She estimated somewhere between 800 and a thousand people waiting outside in the snow. Senator Obama made reference to Senator Clinton's speech in his remarks because that was the speech, it was widely publicized, where she mocks Senator Obama -- essentially saying he had all these unrealistic ideas that when he became president, the heavens would open up and celestial choirs would sing. And she presented herself as far more down to earth and realistic about what needed to be done. An how much you had to fight for what you believed in. So, he made reference to that talk and made fun of her trying to mock him in the same room a week ago.

YELLIN: And we should note that many of these college students come out to see the speeches. It doesn't mean they're all registered to vote in Rhode Island. In other instances we've seen a lot of college kids are registered in their home towns. So, we don't know how this translates into turn out at the polls.

SCHNEIDER: We do not.

YELLIN: I wanted to ask you Bill because you're our polling guru. It's tightened up quite significantly in Texas. Give us a lay of the land of where the polls stand for both Clinton and Obama where you are and in Ohio and Texas?

YELLIN: You're a polling guru. It's tightened up quite significantly in Texas. Give us a lay of the land of where the polls stand for both Clinton and Obama where you are and in Ohio and Texas.

SCHNEIDER: Well, in Ohio and Texas, the race is very close. In Ohio Senator Clinton maintains a lead, but it's been narrowing because of Senator Obama's momentum. In Texas the latest polls show Obama slightly ahead, but still there within the margin of error. The long- term trend over the last month show Obama catching up with Senator Clinton in Texas and perhaps even going past her in some recent polls. But again, very close, too close to call.

Here in Rhode Island the polls are interesting, too. Rhode Island is Clinton country. It always has been. It votes very much like neighboring Massachusetts, where Hillary Clinton enjoyed a very big victory on Super Tuesday. It has a lot of Catholic voters, white working class voters who are heavily for Hillary Clinton.

The latest polling in Rhode Island shows Clinton still leading here by eight or nine points. You can see here this is the one that came out this morning. Clinton 49, Obama 40. Notice that 11 percent remain undecided. That nine point lead is within the margin of error. The polls are tightening up even here in Rhode Island. This is a state which if Hillary Clinton doesn't carry Rhode Island, there's little hope for her to become the nominee. And it shows something that Barack Obama came to Rhode Island today to give a speech. It's the first time he's been in Rhode Island. Clearly the Obama campaign thinks they have a chance to pull an upset here in the Rhode Island because of his momentum.

YELLIN: It would be quite an upset. Thank you Bill Schneider reporting for us from Rhode Island. Coming up after this break, we are going to check in with CNN's Ali Velshi who is traveling with the election express. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

YELLIN: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL: I'm Jessica Yellin in Houston, Texas, the state the site of a battle royale for votes. Senators Clinton and Obama vying to win Texas and Ohio, also Rhode Island and Vermont in Tuesday's primary. I'm joined this hour by CNN's Dana Bash who is in a more scenic spot. Dana, I think the two of us finally got some good weather. Is it warm there?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is warm. It's beautiful here. I'm not complaining one bit. Arizona is not one of those states, Jessica, that is voting on Tuesday. Arizona was a Super Tuesday state. You may be wondering why I'm here. The reason is because I'm following the home state senator, the senior senator from Arizona. That of course is Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate.

He's here at his home state. He's actually at his ranch not too far from where I am. He's hosting some of his supporters, some people who have helped him along the way, some of his Senate colleagues, some governors who are with him right now. He is taking time off the campaign trail. He was campaigning where you in Texas up until yesterday. He will certainly be back there on Monday.

But speaking of John McCain and speaking about all the candidates, Democrats and Republicans, the issue, Jessica, you and I both know in listening to these candidates over and over again. The issue that is dominating is of course the economy. On that I want to bring in our Ali Velshi specifically following what voters and Americans are saying about what they're hearing or maybe what they're not hearing from these candidates about how they feel the economy is doing and what can better prepare them for their economic future, if you will.

And Ali Velshi is on the CNN Election Express. Ali, you're still in an oil field, I think, somewhere there in Texas, aren't you?

ALI VELSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Dana. Hello Jessica. For a business reporter I know you have beautiful scenery behind you in Sedona. This is near to my heart. I have a pump jack on an oil field over my shoulder here. I'm in the oil field, the Darst Field oil fields in Central Texas because I wanted to get a sense. We've been driving around with the CNN Election Express through Texas. People have been very concerned about inflation and gas prices and oil prices. Gas is running about $3.10 a gallon in the state. Diesel fuel which is important for farms and truckers who go through the state, about $3.50. Everybody is telling me these gas prices are killing them. So I thought I'd come here. People around here lease their land out to oil companies when there's oil on them. Some of these leases were signed in the 20s and '30s. We ran into a woman named Molly English.

She's had the ranch in her family for many years. It's right behind me. And they have just found a new location for an oil well. She has several of them on the land. They found a new location they're going to put an oil well into. She took me to take a look at it. Here is what she showed me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOLLY ENGLISH, LANDOWNER: Over here to the right is what a well looks like. See the wellhead and the post.

VELSHI: How does this work? I heard of this referred to as mailbox money?

ENGLISH: That's exactly it. You get a check every month.

VELSHI: Does the money that you get back offset the increase you pay in the price of gasoline?

ENGLISH: No, no. Good grief no. If you want to know an exact amount, the check I received two days ago was $140. And that was the biggest check I've ever received. So if you want ...

VELSHI: Texas oil baron.

ENGLISH: If you want to know if I'm building the gusher Hilton out here or a spa retreat, or whatever no. It costs $100 for us to drive round trip from Houston to check on that pink stick.

VELSHI: So you've got 40 bucks for lunch and dinner.

ENGLISH: Barbecue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: It doesn't take much to influence me. She said barbecue, so we got some for lunch. But she is -- this is what we hear a lot about, the mailbox money, the money that you get back because your land is used by oil companies to get oil. A lot of people who have been telling us, people who get the mailbox money say this is not what everybody thinks it is. They're set into rates that were set a long time ago in many cases and they're just not making the money. Even people that are getting the money say they would rather see lower prices for gasoline.

We did speak to some people who work the oil fields. They're doing better at that. That's a good business to get into. There's a lot of work as oil gets to higher prices, it becomes more economical to get it out of the ground, put in new equipment, put in new wells and drills and things like that, new drills and new pump jacks.

So there is business on the side of people employed on the oil business. But these people wanted to let us know that not everybody involved in the oil business is making money right now. Dana and Jessica? YELLIN: Ali, it's Jessica. I'm curious, because you've been talking to a lot of folks out there as you've been traveling on the Election Express. How much anger do you sense among people that gas prices are so high and the government doesn't really seem to be doing anything or able to control them?

VELSHI: I was very surprised to even hear in Texas from people that they thought there should be some method by which gas prices could be capped or maybe oil companies not get the tax breaks they get. I wasn't really expecting to hear that from a state that exports more than $100 billion a year, more than any other state, most of which is oil.

So on one level people get that Texas oil does benefit the whole state, but we are getting a lot of anger from people who say that, in fact, it's hurting them more than helping them. Remember, this is a state where people drive all over the place. They drive a lot of trucks. There are a lot of truckers and they use farm equipment. So the increase in the price of oil does seem to be hurting more than it's helping.

YELLIN: Very interesting, Ali. Thank you very much. We're going to be getting back to you as BALLOT BOWL continues. And after this break we're going to look at the Republican candidates. We're going to come back to the Republican side of this presidential race and hear what they have been saying on the campaign trail both in Texas and Ohio. They have been talking about the economy. Even John McCain who has been campaigning on national security is now talking about the economy over and over again, because, as Ali said, it is the number one issue among voters. Stay with us. We're going to hear a lot more about that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Dana Bash in Sedona, Arizona. BALLOT BOWL is a chance for you to hear from the candidates as they try to get your vote. Sometimes live and sometimes on tape.

Now, John McCain is somebody we won't be able to bring you live this weekend because he's not campaigning, he is not on the campaign trail. Instead he's here in his home state of Arizona taking time off the campaign trail. He was campaigning pretty hard this past week in the State of Texas. Texas one of the states John McCain is hoping will help put him over the edge mathematically to officially -- mathematically clinch the Republican nomination. Earlier he was speaking in Round Rock, Texas, he was speaking to a town hall meeting of employees of Dell Computer. There he was trying to do what we've seen him do more and moreover the past several days which is try to find points of contrast between himself and the kind of candidate he would be and the Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're facing a very big struggle in Iraq and also in Afghanistan, as you know. Our allies there are not as or as committed in Afghanistan as we want them to be. And one of our greatest assets we have in Afghanistan today, frankly, are our Canadian friends. It's very controversial in Canada, their commitment and the suffering and the losses they have faced.

And we need, we need our Canadian friends. And we need their continued support in Afghanistan. What do we do? The two Democrat candidates for president say they're going to unilaterally abrogate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Our biggest trading partner, who we made a solemn agreement with, they're going to unilaterally abrogate that. How do you think the Canadian people are going to react to that? Who we're having their enormous and invaluable assistance in Afghanistan and we're going to about gate a free trade agreement. I want to tell you right now, I believe in free trade. I will stick with free trade. It's the future of America's economy. And every time in history that we have practiced protectionism, we have paid a very heavy price for it.

So I want to tell our Canadian friends and I want to tell our friends in Mexico and other trading partners around the world that I will negotiate and conclude free trade agreements, and I will not, I will not after entering into solemn agreements go and say I will abrogate those agreements. And I thank again the Canadian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That's John McCain speaking yesterday in Round Rock, Texas. As he spoke there, he made clear that he was wrong in saying that the Democrats would abrogate the NAFTA trade agreement, rather they would try to renegotiate it. Regardless, what McCain tried to do there, it was a brand-new line of attack against Democrats yesterday is try to make the democrats look like they don't get it, frankly, on the world stage. He's trying to make the case that he's the one who is experienced. He understands the nuance and sophistication on the world stage. Making the case the Democrats -- at least on the issue of trade. That idea that they want to renegotiate NAFTA, that that would anger an important ally in what John McCain calls the war on terror. That ally is Canada.

Now on that issue and a whole host of issues, we want to bring in Mary Snow who has been covering Republicans like I have in this primary season. Mary, today you're in Houston. You've been covering John McCain and also covering Mike Huckabee. Very interesting, I think you'd agree, is Mike Huckabee is still campaigning extraordinarily hard. He's out on the campaign trail all weekend. John McCain is not. He's in Texas. What's he saying today?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Dana, one of the issues that he wants to draw attention to as he tries to make the case that he is -- the conservative issue of the Republicans, he is trying to draw attention to border security. You know, he felt that in Texas, perhaps, he could make some inroads because Senator John McCain has been widely criticized by some conservatives on the illegal immigration reform bill. That is something that he had to really come to terms with on the campaign trail. He now says, you know, he gets it in terms of border security. But many had been angry at him because they felt that that bill that he supported would amount to amnesty. And that is one of the openings that Mike Huckabee has seen as he campaigns and tries to make his case. And this morning he was in Laredo, Texas, and he visited the Border Patrol headquarters and spoke with reporters after that. Let's take a listen to what Mike Huckabee had to say earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It would not create winners and losers. It would actually impose, not a penalty on productivity, but a simple assessment of taxes at the point of consumption. I think many people expected the proposal would come back as a flat tax which is frankly far superior than what we currently have. They came back with an even more astonishing idea and bold idea, one that economists will usually say this makes sense. In fact, everyone who looks at it objectively and honestly will agree that the replacement of our current tax system, and as Ken said all 67,000 plus pages of its nonsense, with the fair tax would be a vast improvement.

The only pushback is that, will Congress ever pass it? The question is will the American people stand for a Congress who will not pass it? That is what we have to begin to recognize is that this is not a matter of will Congress do it? We've got to remind Congress they work for us. Not the other way around. There are almost 70 co-sponsors in the House. We're still a long way of getting enough to get there. One of the things we're trying to do with this particular petition is getting half a million people by April 15th to sign the petitions and to say that there is a groundswell.

In my campaign there's never a day I don't mention the importance of getting the fair tax to revive the American economy, to bring capital back to this country, some $12 trillion of it which has left the American shores because our tax system has chased it away. The incredible opportunity to recreate the made in America brand and to bring manufacturing jobs back to this country, to get rid of the embedded tax in our American products and give every American his or her full paycheck on the front end and let them spend it as they wish.

It also ends the underground economy. There are many, many aspects of the fair tax that is clearly the most effective economic stimulus package that we could possibly have. One of the reasons that I think it's important to keep this issue alive is that Americans need to recognize that their current tax system punishes them rather than rewards them.

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SNOW: There's Mike Huckabee earlier today in Laredo, Texas, making the case for the fair tax. When it comes to the economy, that has been his issue that he has tried to really hammer home. And you hear him, Dana, talking about the groundswell of support and people signing petition. He's hoping to keep up that fight for the fair tax. There's been criticisms of the idea by many economists, but Mike Huckabee feels that would be a solution that he thinks would really give the economy a boost, one of the things he's trying to draw his distinction with John McCain as Mike Huckabee stays in this race and keeps on fighting. Dana?

BASH: That's right, Mary. It has been interesting. Because that is one of the many issues that does distinguish Mike Huckabee from every other candidate in this race, Democrat and Republican. Mary Snow, thank you very much. We'll be getting back to you during these hours of BALLOT BOWL.

But after a break, we're going to give you other news going on aside from political news including news you don't want to miss which is Prince Harry on his return back from the front lines in Afghanistan. Stay with us.

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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. More of the BALLOT BOWL in a moment but first, these headlines.

Police in Las Vegas say guns have been recovered from the Extended Stay hotel room where vials of deadly ricin were also found Thursday. An anarchist textbook was also found in the room. Its most recent occupant is still unconscious. The man was identified today as 57- year-old Roger Von Bergendorf.

Israeli troops in deadly pursuit of Hamas rocket squads in Gaza. Palestinian sources tell CNN that 52 people including seven children have died in the past two days. The Israelis say two of their soldiers were killed. The fighting flared after a cross border rocket killed an Israeli man on Wednesday.

And greeted by his father and brother today, the third in line to the British throne arrived home from war. Prince Harry's tour of Afghanistan was cut short for his safety after news organizations lifted their own ban on reporting that he was in combat. Prince Charles says he's thankful his son returned in one piece.

A story now from Iraq where a lot of needed goods and services are in short supply. CNN's Arwa Damon says the country has a wheelchair shortage.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every day Khalid says he wonders why god is testing him like this. His eldest child, seven- year-old Maryam (ph) can barely move. Five year old Zayenev (ph) can't walk but still showers her parents with a stunning smile. Three-year-old Ali can't walk either. All have varying degrees of polio.

KHALID HANASH, FATHER (through translator): I thought I would have kids who would support me when I grow up.

DAMON: Khalid and his wife have one more little one, Mohammed, not yet three. But his parents fear his fate will be the same as his siblings. IBTISAM ABDULWAHED, MOTHER: They used to crawl and try to stand on their feet. But they would always fall to the ground. When they reach three years they just start falling to the ground.

DAMON: For all the hardships this family faces, financial and emotional, a few weeks ago, life became slightly easier. They got wheelchairs.

HANASH: They look happier than before. Before they got the wheelchairs, they used to lay on the ground all day.

DAMON: It was largely thanks to the efforts of this man. Brad Blouser. Founder of Wheelchairs for Kids. With help from the U.S. military and an Iraqi group. So far Blouser has delivered nearly 250 chairs across Iraq. Prior to that, a simple trip like this was out of the question. Khalid had to carry his children everywhere. But it's still bittersweet.

ABDULWAHED: Yesterday when I was passing by a shoe shop, I said to myself, God, why did you deprive me of watching my kids dressing up to take them out on a walk with me?

DAMON: UNICEF conservatively estimates that one in seven children in Iraq between the ages of two and 14 have at least one disability. The country's institutions still largely in shambles are of little help.

ABDULWAHED: I call on the government to help the kids, not just ours. When we went out to get the wheelchairs there were many other kids like ours. The government did not help us. The doctors couldn't provide us with medicine.

DAMON: Iraqis have been deprived of a lot. This family considered lucky, beneficiaries of the kindness of strangers. Arwa Damon, CNN, Bagdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And CNN provides you with ways that impact your world. Cnn.com provides lists of organizations that accept volunteers and donations. Among them Wheelchairs for Kids, the group you just saw in action. The Web link is cnn.com/impact. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, the BALLOT BOWL returns in a moment.

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