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Gas Prices Rising; Obama Address United Auto Workers; Sheriff Joe Arpaio A Force To Be Reckoned With In Arizona Politics; Interview With Arizona State Rep. Vic Williams

Aired February 28, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Phoenix, Arizona, where voters are picking the Republican presidential candidate today. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed for this Tuesday, February 28th.

Sad news from Ohio. Another victim of the school shooting has died. The medical examiner says that 17-year-old Russell King was declared brain dead early this morning. The alleged shooter identified by student witnesses as T.J. Lane makes an appearance in juvenile court. That is happening this afternoon.

Ohio's attorney general says he thinks it is likely that the suspect is going to be tried as an adult. A lawyer for his family says the young man is distraught. He is remorseful, but a student who was grazed by a bullet says the shooter didn't look like that way during the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATE MUELLER, VICTIM: His face was expressionless. It looked like he was on a mission and he knew that he was about to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We're going to go straight to a police news press conference that's happening in Ohio. Let's bring that to you live. It is starting right now.

(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH)

SHERIFF DANIEL MCCLELLAND, GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO: This has touched a lot of people, a lot of families. I happen to be a graduate of Chardon High School. I met my wife here. The most eerie feeling in the world was walking down the halls yesterday, running down them in response to the incident we had.

The EMS, fire, and law enforcement were well prepared, well planned, and executed. They carried out the plan.

Now we move to another important phase and while the investigation continues and we still look for the why and what and who, we now deal with a community looking to heal. My 5-year-old grandson last night wanted to call my niece, a Chardon High School student. He asked her are you OK? Simple words from a 5-year-old. Are you OK? And she said yes and started to cry.

We have a community asking are you OK? We need to get that message out. Chardon, Geauga County, Northeast Ohio is rallying like nothing we've ever seen before. The outpouring of concern, hope, and encouragement has been unbelievable. People calling, just saying thank you.

We need your help as we move forward to get the correct information out. The accurate information out. And we thank you for what you've done. We thank you for your patience. We have a community that would demand nothing less from us.

At this time, I would like to introduce the superintendent, Joe Bergant, who will talk about the upcoming school schedule.

Thank you.

JOE BERGANT, SUPERINTENDENT, LAKEWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT: Good morning. Joe Bergant, superintendent of a proud Chardon local schools.

Again, today, my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, especially the two families who've lost their children to this ordeal, and we certainly keep our thoughts and prayers for the three other people hopefully having a speedy recovery.

We also have more victims and those victims are our professional staff, our teachers, and our employees. In rethinking of opening school tomorrow, we've come up with a little abbreviated plan and I'd like to share that with you tonight, so you can communicate that not only to our local people, but this may help other people in need somewhere around the country.

As part of the healing process for our students, our parents, faculty and staff, Chardon schools will reopen the facilities according to the following schedule. Wednesday, February 29th, all high school faculty and staff are asked to gather at the high school at 9:00 in morning. Counselors will be available.

All kindergarten through eighth grade faculty and staff are asked to gather at Munson Elementary School at 9:00. Again, counselors will be available. Thursday, March 1st, parents and students will be invited to return to the high school together. Again, parents and students will be invited to come to the high school together. Parents and students are invited to return to all of their respective buildings on that day. Counselors will be available.

On Friday, March 2nd, all of our schools will be open for business, certainly not as usual, but certainly we have plans in place. I would like to echo the sheriff's comments about how the media's been respectful, thank you.

Just so you know, we've also instructed our employees and our personnel not to have specific conversations and I ask in response to this horrific scene that you honor that. We're trying to keep one focus, one mission. As you know, this is a close knit community, we open our arms to your help. I'd especially like to thank the media people that have been with us, some of you my whole career. Thank you for your support and thank you for not tearing us apart through this ordeal. It's important that I do thank you for that.

I do want to reiterate that we do have grief counselors on-hand and they're available at our middle school. We also have - and they'll also be available this evening from 4:00 until 9:00 tonight across the street at St. Mary's parish, which we'll have our vigil this evening at 7:00.

Again, without the entire support of our community, and it's been an outpouring of support, we're blessed to have the social agencies from United Way to the mental health agencies to various community members that are stepping forward and we are embracing them because we want them to be part of the healing that needs to take place on our campus.

Many of these people have children here in our schools. Many of the law enforcement people that were on campus yesterday and will continue to have a presence in our district have children in these schools. And I want to assure parents, I want to assure our faculty, and, most importantly, our students that you will be safe when reentering our program.

As I said yesterday and I mean it from my heart, hug your kids, kids hug your parents. You, news media, when you get a chance to get home, do the same.

We're not just any old place, Chardon. This is every place. As you've seen in the past, this can happen anywhere, proof of what we had yesterday.

Again, I thank the law enforcement. I thank my good friend, Dan McClelland, our, good friend, Tim McKenna, our police chief and everybody else that works with them, and people that are too numerous to actually talk about right now and, to be honest, I can't remember a lot of their names right now.

But, as I said and please take this home with you, talk to your children. Don't text them. Don't Facebook them. Talk to them.

This is a wake-up call for all of us. Many of you are parents that have cameras in front of you, please take it to heart. I mean it from my heart.

Now I'd like to introduce Tim McKenna.

TIM MCKENNA, CHARDON POLICE CHIEF: Thank you. Good morning. My name is Tim McKenna. I'm the police chief here in Chardon. I wrote down some bullet points because I want to make this clear as possible.

The update with our investigation. Multiple agencies both federal, state, and local worked late into the evening, early hours this morning, trying to tie up all our loose ends. It's sad to say at this point I'm going to announce the second student, Russell King, has passed. At 4:49 this morning, the medical examiner's office of Cuyahoga County contacted me to advise me of that and I feel sorry not only for that family but all the families that are affected by this.

The prosecutor's office, as well, up to speed last evening and is preparing for a 3:30 hearing this afternoon in the juvenile court, county, up on the courthouse annex there. For legal reasons, I will not discuss the -- or release the name of the person that's being brought in front of the judge this afternoon. Once that's taken place, we'll probably be able to talk more about it.

At this time, I cannot provide you a motive for this. I'm hoping that after the hearing this afternoon, that prosecutor, David Joyce (ph), will address you at the 4:30 news conference that'll be held here, again, at the board office.

Both the sheriff's office and Chardon police department are preparing the 911 tapes, as we speak. I've asked the John Hitchcock (ph), the PIO from the sheriff's office, to get a head count on that. Currently, I'm having 50 made up and I believe his office is doing the same.

The next scheduled press conference will be here at 4:30, shortly thereafter the hearing up at the juvenile court.

And my last thought is this not only of the families, but I've said this because I am a hometown boy, as well, as many people are. Chardon will take care of Chardon. And I thank you.

MCCLELLAND: That's going to conclude this press update. We have a handout that gives the outline. Vicky here has the outline, see her, get your copy of it. That shows what the school will be doing. Back here again at ...

(END LIVE SPEECH)

MALVEAUX: You're listening to a press conference out of Chardon, Ohio. Just some of the updates of those five students shot. Two, now pronounced dead.

I want to bring in Mike Brooks, law enforcement analyst with sister network HLN, and also law enforcement contributor, "In Session."

Mike, we've heard from these officials here. What really struck me is the fact that you have the school superintendent saying to the parents of these kids who are returning in the next couple of days, don't text them, don't Facebook them, talk to your children.

How important is that? That these kids who come back, talk to their parents, face to face so they can feel a sense of security again when they go back inside that school.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, it's extremely important and I can tell you it's going to have a profound effect on these people for quite some time because you're talking about a small town of 5,100. And you heard the school superintendent, you heard Chief Tim McKenna, who said we're all from here.

You had police officers, firefighters, EMS people whose kids were going to that school yesterday. They didn't know what was going on there when they responded.

In fact, I spoke to a woman last night on HLN "Special Report" and her daughter was in the school right down the hall when the shooting occurred and she got a text from her daughter and she didn't know what was going on there, but we heard about the plan.

And that plan by police, by fire, by EMS, by the school system, Suzanne, it worked perfectly, even though, you know, the aftermath is horrible, but I think that many lives were probably saved by the response of the people at that school.

And it's going to take a long time to heal, but I really think it's smart the way they're going about this. They're going to somewhere psychological help for the high school kids, for the middle school, for the grade school because, again, small community, everybody knows everyone else.

And they probably know all the victims in this particular case, Suzanne. They are doing it the right way.

MALVEAUX: And, mike, what also struck me, as well, is the fact they're not only inviting these students to go back inside the school and to visit the classrooms to talk with the teachers, but he said, specifically, "I welcome the parents. I want the parents to come back with the students."

How important is that in actually having the parents understand not only what has happened, but how the school handled it and how they're moving forward.

BROOKS: The parents are these children's -- are these kids best, support system and when you're going through something like this, you need a support system and especially a small community where a lot of people know everyone else.

But there's still -- we have that hearing this afternoon where T.J. Lane, who they haven't officially announced him as the shooter, but witnesses say he was the shooter, will appear in juvenile court.

We don't know what charges will come down this afternoon. You heard Chief McKenna say that they'll probably be able to address that a little bit better this afternoon at their afternoon conference, after that hearing to se what charges he is going to face in the death of these two kids and the shooting of three others.

But a community like this -- and you heard Chief McKenna, Chardon will take care of Chardon.

MALVEAUX: And really quickly here, Mike, if you can. Is it likely he's going to be tried and charged as an adult? Do we know that yet?

BROOKS: We don't know that yet. There always is that problem because he is, you know, 17. Is him appearing in juvenile court? Is that kind of them saying, well, he's going to be charged as a juvenile? We don't know.

We heard that local, state, and federal investigators were still tying up loose ends late last night. We still don't know what the motive is, but we could hear that from the district attorney this afternoon.

MALVEAUX: All right, Mike Brooks. Thank you very much, Mike, for putting it into perspective and a sad story that we are following, but we will continue to follow it.

A lot of developments there. And again, the court hearing that's going to take place in the afternoon, 3:30, the court appearance of the alleged shooter.

Some other stories we're covering in "The Rundown."

First, he calls himself America's toughest sheriff, but does Arizona's Joe Arpaio go too far?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: There are some who look at it and they say, well, you know, the chain gangs, the female chain gangs or the juvenile chain gangs or the inmates with the pink underwear that this is about promoting you and not about promoting justice, bringing justice to the community.

SHERIFF JOE APRAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: Well, I don't think I need chain gangs to promote myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Republican candidates blame the president for the rising price of gas, but hear what Ali Velshi found out.

And then why so many women are learning too late in life they can't get pregnant. How one simple test could make the difference.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're back live from Phoenix. It is primary day here in Arizona.

Republican race in Michigan is also getting a lot of attention, but there's a lot at stake here in Arizona, namely the delegates. We're talking 29 up for grabs, that's 2.5 percent of the total needed to win the nomination. And the primary is winner take all.

Well, none of the Republican candidates even close, right, to the number of delegates need to lock up the nomination, but Mitt Romney is way ahead of his challengers, as of now. The magic number for the republicans, 1,144, Romney. According to our estimates, Romney has 127. That is more than all the other candidates combined.

Newt Gingrich has 38, Rick Santorum, 37, and Ron Paul with 27.

So, like most places in the country, jobs, the economy, on voters' minds here in Arizona. Other issues like foreclosure crisis, immigration, also front and center.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is outside a polling place in Gilbert, Arizona. So, good to see you. Of course, we've been talking to voters over the last couple of days and they are finally starting to come and vote.

What are folks telling you today?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a lot of Ron Paul voters out here today and I can tell you that what they are most interested in or most concerned about, what's motivating them, is what you mentioned, the economy and they also want smaller government. They think, in part, the economy is bad because government is just too involved in all areas of the economy right now.

We are seeing a lot of Romney supporters out here, as well, but a lot of our strategic Romney supporters. They think that Mitt Romney's the only guy who can take on Barack Obama in November and really has a chance.

So, it's kind of a mix out here. Most the votes out here have already been cast in Arizona because they were done by early balloting, about 250,000 votes will be counted coming up quickly here and then those results will be released around 10:00 p.m. Eastern time tonight.

Today, if there is low voter turnout, which is quite likely, it may help one of those insurgent candidates, either Santorum or Ron Paul.

Back to you.

MALVEAUX: And Miguel, it was interesting. There are only three hours that the voting centers have been open here. A lot of folks we talked to over the weekend really weren't happy with any of the choices here, and they were really quite -- they didn't even know, they were uncertain whether or not they were going to go and vote.

How is the turnout so far? What are folks saying to you? Are they excited, the people who are actually showing up?

MARQUEZ: Some of them are excited, certainly, but you know, because they have so much early voting here, a lot of it's been done, but what voters will tell you over and again here is that the candidates keep harping on the border, the immigration and, you know, Arizonans have dealt with that for years, decades. They know that.

But the economy and the tough times here, that's new. You don't have to drive very far in the suburbs and through Phoenix to see the number of strip malls and closed stores and shops all over the city. It is absolutely shocking to see. People do believe the economy's getting a little bit better here, but they want it to improve a lot faster and they think somebody like Romney is one thing that you hear here, somebody like Romney who's has had business experience has a better shot at doing that.

MALVEAUX: We've been hearing that a lot from folks that they believe that Mitt Romney, in particular, a lot of small business people we've talked to that perhaps he's going to be favored here.

Is anybody upset or complaining about the fact that they all high-tailed it out of here after the CNN debate last Wednesday and headed to other, more competitive states?

MARQUEZ: They're not upset by it. I think they sort of see it as just par for the course. Because it's a winner-take-all state, because Romney had wrapped up the endorsement of the governor, Jan Brewer, and of John McCain, he was the only guy who had money to run ads here, he was the odds-on favorite two weeks ago with 20 points up. Now things are much, much closer, so you know, Santorum may have made a huge error in judgment in not contesting Arizona more.

But if he, you know, if Romney wins by one vote, he takes all 29 votes, so it's a very tough call for any candidate who's trying to really manage their money and figure out where to put their time and effort. I think Santorum and the other candidates figured it wasn't worth it.

MALVEAUX: All right. Miguel, good to see you. Obviously, we're going to come back to you and keep up with voters are saying.

And of course, we got a chance because immigration is such a hot issue to talk to the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America. One of those people, as you know, he is the sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio.

He is not one, let me tell you, not to back down. Let's just take a look at this exchange on a Spanish-language network, Univision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNKNOWN): As you know, to many Latinos, you are the face of racism and discrimination. You know that.

ARPAIO: Well, I'm a pretty nice guy having lived in Mexico City, South America, Texas, and Arizona. I've never had anybody problems with a Latino. They love me. Just because I'm enforcing the state laws they don't like me.

(UNKNOWN): They don't. You're making fun of this, but ...

ARPAIO: No, they did.

(UNKNOWN): But they don't love you.

ARPAIO: No, I'm not making fun.

(UNKNOWN): Yes, because ...

ARPAIO: How do you know they don't?

(UNKNOWN): You are making fun of the fact that you are --

ARPAIO: How do you know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That testy exchange. Now, we also interviewed Sheriff Arpaio. He essentially says that he is not concerned about how we all question how he handles his job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARPAIO: You think I'm afraid that you're going to blast me? Go ahead and blast me. Actually, you help me. Every time they blast me, my polls go up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Ahead, my in-depth interview with Sheriff Joe Arpaio about his tough stand on illegal immigration as well as the charges of discrimination. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Live in Phoenix, Arizona, the Arizona primary already underway. One of the hot issues among voters, of course, is gas prices. According to AAA, the national average climbed another 2 cents last night. We're now talking $3.72 a gallon.

Republican candidates are blaming the president. Newt Gingrich is promising to get the prices down, way down, he's talking about $2.50 a gallon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My energy policy, the potential of getting to $2.50 a gallon gas and diesel fuel. The idea that there are things you can do so much better and so much smarter than Barack Obama that allows the country to create jobs, to have affordable energy, to be independent of the Middle East. I think there's a resonating affect going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Our chief business correspondent, Ali Velshi, knows all things about money. Hey, Ali, good to see you.

First of all, you know, we talk to a lot of folks here in Arizona. I mean, the people who are driving the RVs, their family, across the country, the retired couple, even this guy who is running a hot air balloon business and says propane is going up, as well.

Tell us what's going on here. ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, those are all places where people drive a lot, they like their big vehicles. And the problem here isn't that gas isn't likely to get to $2.50 any time soon, it's at $3.72, it's likely to go higher. Here's why.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

VELSHI: The price of a barrel of oil accounts for about three- quarters of the price for a gallon of gas, so a significant move up and down in oil prices should be within days be reflected within prices at gas pumps worldwide.

U.S. crude has been getting more expensive, going from about $80 a barrel last October to about $110 now. That's an increase of 40 percent in just five months.

But what Americans may be seeing at the pump right now is gasoline catching up with the price of oil. Gas prices are actually up only 9 percent since October from $3.40 a gallon then to $3.70 a gallon now. If they had really tracked the price of oil, gasoline would be selling at a national average of $4.76 a gallon.

But prices are higher and, absent a clear and obvious culprit, Americans and their politicians in this election year are pointing fingers.

Legendary oil investor, T. Boone Pickens, says blaming speculators is a tired old saw.

T. BOONE PICKENS, OIL INVESTOR & CHAIRMAN, B.P. CAPITAL ENERGY: That's the first thing that politicians will say, the speculators are doing it. And when anybody comes out with that is a first reason and they can't give you any more to talk about than speculators, they don't know what they're talking about.

VELSHI: Pickens says the mix of increased global demand and just the potential loss of the two million barrels per day that Iran currently supplies the world has got investors worried. Iran has threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point on the eastern end of the Persian Gulf just 29 miles wide at the narrowest point where an estimated one-fifth of the world's oil passes, but Iran depends on the revenues of that oil and may not want to jeopardize them.

Still, companies like airlines, which actually use oil speculate on it to protect their businesses and hedge against price spikes. Others, investors will never need the oil invest for profit. Between the tension around Iran and increased global demand for oil, the profiteers are betting there's no way prices will drop. Are they driving the prices higher themselves?

PICKENS: There isn't anybody running up the market on a speculative basis. The market is moving up because the oil supplies are tight globally. From there, you can goose it up a little bit, but not much. VELSHI: There may be another reason for the sudden gas price spike. U.S. oil production is up, but gasoline consumption is down, leaving the U.S. with more gas than it needs. So instead of excess gasoline driving prices down --

FADEL GHEIT, SENIOR OIL ANALYST, OPPENHEIMER: In the last six months, not only have we stopped importing gasoline, we're actually exporting gasoline. The total drop in supply of gasoline available to consumer in the world is down by about 1.5 million a day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: With Americans complaining how high gas is going, what they're forgetting is that gas prices in America are comparatively so cheap compared to the rest of the world that we are actually selling refined gasoline to other countries who will pay more for it and that's got people a little hot under the collar here in the united states -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Oh, yes, absolutely. The folks here in Arizona, we've seen some of the gas prices -- it's getting close to $4, about $3. 88 or so people are paying a gallon. Ali, do you ever think there's going to be a time when we could actually see $2.50 gas again?

VELSHI: Yes, in fact, there will be, and then we'll domesticate unicorns and I'll grow hair on my head. It's not likely to happen any time soon. It's a long-term issue. Sure if we do all the right things now, which we're not likely to do, we may, demand for gas will drop because people are -- this is pinching them. They're buying more fuel-efficient cars. We'd have to move closer to the cities we live in like the rest of the world, that's not the American way for the moment. I don't think that's likely.

MALVEAUX: Yes, I don't think it's likely either. The unicorns will arrive before that happens. But one of the things that people have been debating is whether or not it was actually the gas prices that contributed to the recession or if it was the foreclosures, the homes that were going under that happened first. How this all kind of fits together here. We know that Rick Santorum, at least, was talking a little bit about that. How does this actually factor into the big economic picture here?

VELSHI: Yes. Traditionally, most recessions have been triggered by gas prices. But Rick Santorum's dead wrong on this one. The numbers are all in from this last recession. This was unequivocally caused by the housing crisis, the fact people's mortgages reset at a level, a monthly price too high for them to pay and as a result, they defaulted on their house payments. I don't know of anybody in America who defaulted on their house payments because of gas. As serious a problem as this is, Rick Santorum's had a habit in this campaign of throwing out economic ideas that don't have a whole lot of basis in reality and this is another one of those.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you.

I want to go directly to President Obama. He's talking about the turn around in the auto industry, the role of the government bailout. Very controversial. He's now addressing the United Auto Workers conference in Washington. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- said we should do that.

(BOOING)

OBAMA: Some even said we should let Detroit go bankrupt.

(BOOING)

OBAMA: You remember that.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: You know him.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: Think about what that choice would've meant for this country. If we had turned our backs on you, if America had thrown in the towel, if G.M. and Chrysler had gone under. The suppliers, the distributors that get their business from these companies, they would have died off.

Then even Ford could've gone down, as well; production, shut down; factories, shutter. Once proud companies chopped up and sold off for scraps. And all of you, the men and women who built these companies with your own hands would have been hung out to dry.

More than one million Americans across the country would've lost their jobs in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. In communities across the Midwest, it would have been another Great Depression. And then think about all the people that depend on you. Not just your families, but the school teachers, the small business owners, the server and the diner who knows your order, the bartender who is waiting for you to get off.

(LAUGHTER)

That's right.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Their livelihoods are at stake, as well.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: And you know what else is at stake? How many of you who have worked the assembly line had a father or a grandfather or a mother who worked on that same line?

(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: How many of you have sons and daughters who say, mom, dad, I'd like to work at the plant too?

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: These jobs are worth more than just a paycheck.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: Their ticket to a middle-class life that make it possible for you to own a home, raise kids and maybe send them, yes, to college.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Give you a chance to retire with some dignity and respect.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: These companies are worth more than just the cars they build. They're a symbol of American innovation and know how. They're the source of our manufacturing might. If that's not worth fighting for, what's worth fighting for?

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: So no, we were not going to take a knee and do nothing. We're not going to give up on your jobs, your families, your communities. So in exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We said to the auto industry, you're going to have to truly change, not just pretend like you're changing. And thanks to outstanding leadership like Bob King, we were able to get labor and management to settle their differences.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We got the industry to retool and restructure. And everybody involved made sacrifices. Everybody had skin in the game. And it wasn't popular. And it wasn't what I ran for president to do. That wasn't originally what I thought I was going to be doing --

(LAUGHTER)

-- as president. But you know what? I did -- I did run to make the tough calls and do the right things.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: No matter what the politics were.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I want you to know, you know why I knew this rescue would succeed? You want to know?

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: It wasn't because of anything the government did, it wasn't just because of anything management did, it was because I believed in you.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I placed my bet on the American worker, and I'll make that bet any day of the week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And now, three years later, three years later, that bet is paying off. Not just paying off for you, it's paying off for America.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: Three years later, the American auto industry is back.

(APPLAUSE0

OBAMA: G.M. is back on top as the number-one automaker in the world.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Highest profit in its 100-year history.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: Chrysler is growing faster in America than any other car company.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Ford is investing billions in American plants, American factories, --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: -- plants that bring thousands of jobs back to America.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Also, the entire industry has added more than 200,000 new jobs for the past 2.5 years, 200,000 new jobs. And here's the best part. You're not just building cars again, you're building better cars.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: After three decades of inaction, we're gradually putting in place the toughest fuel economy standards in history for our cars and pickups. That means the cars you build will average nearly 55 miles per gallon by the middle of next decade almost double what they get today. That means, folks --

(APPLAUSE)

-- every time they fill up, they're going to be saving money. They'll have to fill up every two weeks instead of every week. That saves the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump over time. That means we'll cut our oil consumption by more than two million barrels a day. That means we have to import less oil while we're selling more cars all around the world.

(APPLAUSE)

(END LIVE SPEECH)

MALVEAUX: That was President Obama talking about the comeback of the auto industry.

We are also focusing on Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He is the man for a lot of folks out here. His tough stance against illegal immigration makes him a highly controversial figure. He's the sheriff and making no apologies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO could have been the governor -- I'm not being egotistical -- several times over. I just want to be the sheriff that rides out in the sunset. I'm from Massachusetts, so it'll probably be in a convertible instead of a horse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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MALVEAUX: Live in Phoenix where folks are already casting their ballots. Right now the Arizona primary, voting centers have been open for about three hours now here in Arizona. Whoever gets the most votes is going to take all 29 of the state's Republican delegates. So, here Romney does have the advantage having placed second to Senator John McCain back in 2008.

But last time, Romney had the endorsement of one tough sheriff. That sheriff, Joe Arpaio, has turned his own platform into one of the hottest election issues this go round. We're talking immigration. Like it or not, here, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a force to be reckoned with. We spent time together at the state fair.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so very nice to meet you.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): The self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why don't you run for president? (CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: We found him selling pink underwear at a local art fair. He first made them famous when he forced inmates to wear them along with pink handcuffs. His tough stance on crime in illegal immigration has made him a king maker among Republican candidates. Many have come to him to kiss the ring and win his coveted endorsement.

ARPAIO: Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, and, of course, Perry. I campaigned for him in Iowa, which I see a lot of Iowa people are walking by. And Romney called me briefly.

MALVEAUX: For now, Arpaio is being coy while he enjoys the attention.

(on camera): Everyone comes to you, they need your support, they want your support. Are you going to give it before the Tuesday primary?

ARPAIO: No.

MALVEAUX: No? Not even a hint?

ARPAIO: Nope.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): It's hard to take two steps without someone approaching him with praise.

(LAUGHTER)

Arpaio's known for banning movies, coffee, cigarettes from his prisons in the name of saving taxpayer money. Cutting salt and pepper from his prisoners' diet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I shake your hand? You keep up the good work.

ARPAIO: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm an immigrant, and I did it the hard way and the right way.

MALVEAUX: It's Arpaio's tough stand on illegal immigration has drawn a hard line in the sand. The Justice Department accuses him of racially profiling Latinos, making random stops, searches, and arrests, and many Hispanics we talk to here agree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They pull you over and you ask him how can I help you? You know. What did you do? And they say -- they start just asking for your I.D. and stuff and -- anybody says it doesn't happen, they're hypocrites or don't want to believe the truth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Always stopping the Latino community, always targeting the low-income community.

MALVEAUX: But the sheriff is standing his ground.

ARPAIO: I'm the sheriff. I'm going to enforce those laws. If some people don't like it, go get another sheriff.

MALVEAUX: Speak to some of the Hispanics here who accuse you, who say I've been unfairly pulled over. I've been unfairly targeted by your office.

ARPAIO: These are isolated incidents, there's no systemic racial profiling. I know it, and I want the Justice Department to prove it. Let them prove it.

MALVEAUX: The issue is so hot and so divisive among voter here, even this Phoenix couple that's been together for eight years can't see eye-to-eye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think there's racial profiling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been a victim of it. Are you kidding?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I live by a Home Depot and the illegals stand out there all the time. It was as annoying as could be. They'd come up to your car, you felt unsafe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can you look in a car and tell if somebody is illegal or not?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: All right. So the voting centers, they've been open for more than three hours or so. Voters are going to cast the ballots to see who they'd like. And of course, we're talking to Republicans as well as voters. State Representative Vic Williams is joining us. And we're going to talk to him after a quick break about how things are going and who's the guy he wants to see.

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MALVEAUX: Arizona voters having their say in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. That is happening right now. Voting is underway in the Arizona primary. It's been about three hours or so since the voting centers opened.

We're here with State Representative Vic Williams.

Thanks very much for joining us.

STATE REP. VIC WILLIAMS, (R), ARIZONA: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Obviously, a lot of folks who are excited about this, but they're kind of disappointed you don't have the candidates this week. They all went to Michigan and other places. Who are you supporting?

WILLIAMS: Well, I voted a couple of weeks ago in the early voting process for Mitt Romney. MALVEAUX: Mitt Romney, why so?

WILLIAMS: Well, I think Mitt Romney best fits the criteria for what I believe in personally, a fiscal conservative, economic development. Also, I think that works well in my legislative district, where we have the largest cluster of bioscience jobs isn't the state of Arizona.

His commitment to business and business issues, in staying on track, I think is the key. You know, kind of going back to James Carville, it's the economy, stupid. And I think that's where he's focusing in on and that's what draws me to Mitt Romney.

MALVEAUX: Quoting the Democrats now, are you?

WILLIAMS: If the words are right, absolutely, we'll take it.

MALVEAUX: Now, the "National Journal's" actually reporting when you look at Romney and his electability, and the polls show that really there's no difference between Romney and Obama, a matchup, and Santorum and Obama, a matchup. It's only one point difference. I think an eight-point difference with Santorum, a seven-point difference with Romney there. So is there really an edge, or is this electability edge disappearing when it comes to Romney?

WILLIAMS: I can't speak to that, but I know this. Look, this is an internal battle within the GOP, fiscal conservatives versus social conservatives, and also we have equality of a Libertarian candidate. I don't think either one of them have a lead or an edge.

Whoever wins the GOP nomination, I know I'm going to get behind, if it's Romney, if it's Santorum, for that matter, if it's Ron Paul. Because we're here to make sure we get Obama as a one-term president, get away from Obama care, get away from the stimulus-type spending and get back to fiscal responsibility, job development, and private sector in this country.

MALVEAUX: And one of the districts you represent, the southern district with a border of Mexico, a lot of people we talk to, immigration is such a personal and controversial issue. We had that interview with Joe Arpaio. He's a very popular person here, but we also spoke to Latino voters who are very frustrated. They feel that they're being targeted here and that this issue is being used simply as a political football for Arpaio and many other Republicans.

WILLIAMS: I would disagree with that. Since I've been elected office, back in 2008, I've walked over 13,000 homes. As I've gone door to door and talked with constituents in my legislative district, the overwhelming discussion that goes on on those doorsteps is, what are we going to do about illegal immigration?

And we came up with solutions on a state-based level, because our federal government is refusing to do anything substantial in stemming the flow of illegal immigration. I would want to add this. It's about legal immigration. We want people to come to this country, we want people to immigrate here legally, and we want people to come here and work. It's not about race, it's about legal immigration.

MALVEAUX: How do you address the concerns, however, of a whole community, a Latino community, we know it's 30 percent in this state, that really do feel targeted?

WILLIAMS: I think it's a messaging aspect for the Republicans, and we have to learn to work with our Hispanic community and find on common grounds about developing illegal immigration policies, state- based issues in which we're doing.

I think a lot of that is also, it's a misinterpreted and pushed to the median ways that are unfavorable, but I don't think it's targeting any kind of racial group, whatsoever. Once again, it's about good policy, about legal immigration policy, and doing it on a state-based level. Because our federal government is absolutely failed in doing anything on this issue.

MALVEAUX: There are a lot of people who I spoke with who also feel that there's a failure here for any of these politicians to address the problem with the gas prices. And so many people are feeling that, in the way that they live and having to change their lifestyles. And some people, retired people, who are really suffering here. Is there anybody who speaks to that concern, who says, I've got a realistic policy here that can change that?

WILLIAMS: Well, I think, once again, you take a look at all the Republican candidates that are running. They want to increase local production, national production, oil shale. You've seen the veto from the Obama administration on the pipeline, coming from Canada. We need to find every available source of energy that we can find. That's going to drive down the pricing. If the president, I'm sorry, or if these candidates, whoever's elected as a Republican nomination, going on with the president, makes a statement that we're going to find every available source, you're going to see the price of oil start to drop.

All right, Vic Williams, appreciate it. Such a pleasure to have you here with us. And you think we'll see results about 8:00, 9:00 or so?

WILLIAMS: Yes, about 8:00, results will start coming in. Thanks for letting me have a little time on your show today. Appreciate it.

MALVEAUX: Well, tonight, CNN, two more opportunities for the candidates to separate themselves from the Republican competition. Coverage of the Arizona and Michigan primaries beginning at 6:00 eastern with a special edition of "John King, USA," followed by CNN's complete live coverage of the results at 7:00 eastern with Wolf Blitzer and the CNN political team.

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