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CNN Saturday Morning News

Huckabee Remains Active; Obama and Clinton Vie for Votes

Aired March 01, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN, ANCHOR: Hey there, and good morning, everybody from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. This is Saturday, March 1st. And I am T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN, ANCHOR: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for starting your day with us. Well, politics is our main dish this morning and we are serving it up.

Yes, it is the last weekend of campaigning before the critical primaries on Tuesday. And Hillary Clinton is in Texas today. She's got rallies in Ft. Worth and Dallas. Texas is the biggest political prize at stake on Tuesday.

HOLMES: And Barack Obama was in Texas yesterday. He's got stops planned in Rhode Island and Ohio today as well. Those are two other key pieces of Tuesday's four-state puzzle. Voters in Vermont also going to the polls. Meanwhile on the republican side, presumptive nominee John McCain is well, he's acting like the presumptive nominee. He is taking a break this weekend. No events scheduled.

NGUYEN: But challenger, Mike Huckabee is keeping busy. He's in Texas today, hitting the college towns. He has campaign events scheduled around the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. And the best political team on television is also on the job today. We have reporters in the key states of Texas and Ohio, plus correspondents in Rhode Island and Arizona. The latest news from the candidates and the voices of the voters, that is all day long right here on CNN.

HOLMES: And the pressure is really on in Texas. That has led to an intriguing back and forth ad battle. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has the story for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the crisis scenario Senator Hillary Clinton is presenting voters today.

CAMPAIGN COMMERICAL: It's 3:00 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call.

MALVEAUX: The 30-second ad airing in Texas called "Children" is aimed at highlighting Clinton's experience on national security matters.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I also understand completely what it means when that phone rings at 3:00 a.m. MALVEAUX: Reacting to the ad, Senator Obama said he thought it was legitimate to ask voters which candidate they prefer to pick up the phone during a time of crisis but he also accused Clinton of fear- mongering.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The question is not about picking up the phone, the question is what kind of judgment will you exercise when you pick up that phone. In fact we have had a red phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer.

CLINTON: Senator Obama says that if we talk about national security in this campaign, we're trying to scare people. Well I don't think people in Texas scare all that easily.

MALVEAUX: Late in the day, Obama shot back at Clinton with a new TV ad of his own saying --

CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL: When that call gets answered, shouldn't the president be the one, the only one who had judgment and courage to oppose the Iraq war from the start?

MALVEAUX: In Waco, Texas, Clinton addressed the needs of veterans and rolled out the military brass supporting her campaign, including a key endorser, retired four-star general Wesley Clark. Senator Clinton also unveiled a sharp new attack line against Senator Obama. Using a familiar phrase in military parlance, accusing him of being missing in action on a key vote regarding Iran and on holding hearings on Afghanistan. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Waco, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: We're going to take a look behind the delegate count, trailing in the polls, but still in the race, Mike Huckabee says if he can beat John McCain in Tuesday's Texas primary, he can stay in the race as a conservative alternative. And McCain is already setting his sights on the democrats. But Huckabee says don't count him out just yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me give you a little huckamath here today, OK? If nobody gets 1,191 pledged, confirmed delegates, then that means this goes to the convention. And if it goes to the convention, then I believe the most conservative candidate left on his feet will be the nominee and by the way, you would be looking at him right now.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that my, as I have said, my knowledge, my experience, my background provides me with the judgment to be commander-in-chief and I will run on those qualifications and my ability. And I let the American people compare that. I have expect for Senator Clinton, I respect Senator Obama. I just think I am the more qualified candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: As you noticed there, you pointed out too, T.J., he didn't even mention Huckabee and as we have mentioned McCain is taking a break today while Huckabee campaigns in Texas.

HOLMES: And you can stay with CNN for the best political coverage on television a little later today. We're going to be giving you a chance to hear from the candidates beyond the sound bites, unfiltered in their own words, CNN's "Ballot Bowl" coming your way today at 2:00 Eastern.

NGUYEN: And on Tuesday, CNN special coverage on the voting in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 Pacific.

HOLMES: We turn to Las Vegas where a mystery deepens. Police still trying to figure out how a rare fatal poison ended up in a motel room. Between the course of this investigation now, new discoveries have popped up. We want to head out now to Vegas and CNN's Kara Finnstrom. Good morning to you.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J. Well, lots of questions remain. We are getting some new bits of information though. Overnight two major new pieces of information, first at that Las Vegas hotel room where they found, you know, this ricin and they also found anarchist literature and guns and that anarchist literature actually made specific references to ricin. Also, what we learned is that days before ricin was actually handed over to authorities by a person who claims to be a relative of a man, now sick in the hospital. A man who says he simply found it in the hotel room. Days before that, authorities themselves searched that room. Police became suspicious that possibly ricin could be there and actually did tests for it but those tests turned up negative. Here's how all that came to be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEPUTY CHIEF KATHY SUEY, LAS VEGAS POLICE: We don't have any reason to believe that any of it left that -- now we do know that it left the room and went into the apartment manager's office. We don't believe that or we don't have any reason to believe that any of that left the property.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FINNSTROM: That actually wasn't the piece of sound that I thought we were going to share with you, but what occurred was that authorities heard from management that had gone into stage an eviction that there were firemen in the room. They went into that room. They found this anarchist literature which was actually tabbed to paces about ricin. So, because of that they tested the room for ricin but said they found nothing. We asked them if you did this complete search, the test came up negative, how could that be? Was this ricin planned or did you miss something during your search. They said they simply don't know and the investigation is ongoing. And one other key point in all of this, T.J., we asked with these new findings or at least findings that have just been released to us, does that suggest that possibly terrorism could be at play here? And they said they still believe that there is no terrorism related to this incident that having guns and anarchist literature doesn't necessarily make you a terrorist.

HOLMES: My goodness. Kara Finnstrom on this ongoing no doubt mystery out in Last Vegas. Kara, thank you so much.

NGUYEN: Let's get the latest on the weather outside today. Check in now with our Reynolds Wolf. Hey, there, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys. We were talking about the heavy snowfall that we have been seeing in parts of the northeast. We're talking Massachusetts, looking southward to New York. In fact, we got a couple of tower cams that are going to start things off with let's go ahead and pop either Boston or New York. The result is still just going to be the same.

Here's WHDH in Boston, this is parts of the - but we have not far from where we had the turnpike and portions of i-95. The snow continues to fall, nothing too heavy in downtown Boston. However just to the west of the city, that's where you could see it really begin to pile up. In fact, over the Berkshires, look for possibly ten inches of snowfall before the day is out.

Meanwhile, New York. We have New York for you. New York also shows that we got a great shot for you, looking right up the river. A little bit of sunshine starting to filter in there, not much in terms of snowfall for the New York area, at least in the city. However, as we go right to the weather map. You'll notice in Albany, you certainly is going to get a chance of getting in on that action.

In fact, as you see on the map, everything shaded in red, well those are your warnings, your heavy snow warnings where you could see five to ten inches of snowfall. However, as we make our way into parts of Long Island. As I mentioned, nearly rain event in New York is starting to dry out a little bit. But in the eastern half of the Great Lakes, it is lake-effect snowfall that will continue, I'd say until about 1:00 to 2:00 in the afternoon.

Out west, different story all together. I want to show you what we have here. Scattered showers developing right along the coast, everything moving from west to east and then when you get into the high parts of the mountains, we're talking about high elevations of the cascades, that's where you have that cold air aloft that moisture goes right up the hillside. And some of that switching over to snowfall. So, it could get heavy there. You could see some heavy snow also in parts of Idaho. Places like Sun Valley, you skiers you're going to have a good time there.

One thing that we're going to watch with this storm system is how it evolves over the next couple of days. Because of course, you get big, big primary weather we're going to be talking about this morning. We have issues for much of the Ohio Valley. In our next update, we're going to show you what this storm might do for parts of Ohio, southward and into parts of the southeast United States and then even for Texas. That is moments away. Let's send you back to the news desk.

NGUYEN: All right. Reynolds, we do thank you. REYNOLDS: OK, guys.

HOLMES: Coming up, folks, we'll tell you about mission complete.

NGUYEN: Yes, a royal tour of duty cut short as Prince Harry comes home.

HOLMES: Also take a look at this video here. And just try to figure out if you can talk what you're really looking at here. Look at that young man.

NGUYEN: All of them actually. Right?

HOLMES: Multi-talented. That guy taking the shots there folks, has one arm. He's a ball handler, a shooter, a rebounder, a defender, as you can see and he can finish the play.

NGUYEN: I noticed it was just -- wow.

HOLMES: You know what because he blends in with everybody else out there just doing his thing, except yes, he has one arm and he is successful at it. Nothing getting in the way of this high school basketball star. We got his story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, here's a brief look at some of the other stories that we're following for you today including a homecoming for Britain's Prince Harry. After his removal from Afghanistan, the second lieutenant arrived back in England this morning. Here's some pictures of that.

British defense officials blame media report for the Prince's sudden withdrawal from combat. They say an internet site reported his deployment in Afghanistan and they fear media exposure could place the Prince and soldiers with him in greater danger.

Her daughter drank herself to death on her 21st birthday. And now, a Minnesota mother is suing the bar where the celebration took place. Amanda Jax died in October. Her mother says if somebody has just taken Jax to the hospital or called 911, her death could have been prevented. The mom also suing five friends who allegedly bought her daughter those drinks.

NGUYEN: Well, a suburban Atlanta female sheriff's deputy and the young daughter of a rap start were among the victims in a fatal family shooting in suburban Atlanta. The woman's 17-year-old son is accused of killing her and his two sisters, ages 11 and 4. The shootings happen Thursday in Gwyneth County, which is northeast of Atlanta. Police say the woman's 4-year-old daughter was that of rapper Juvenile.

HOLMES: A Chinese fugitive accused of killing his wife in New Zealand is captured in suburban Atlanta.

NGUYEN: Yes, you have to hear the story. The suspect was caught by some observant Chinese who recognized him from a newspaper photo. Our Rusty Dornin has more on the story that is drawing international attention.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: He was an international fugitive. Nai Yin Xue accused of murdering his wife in New Zealand was caught on surveillance tape when he abandoned his 3-year-old daughter in an Australian train station. U.S. authorities didn't know that he was a wanted man when he landed in Los Angeles last September. By the time police here were alerted, Nai Yin Xue had disappeared. But this is where the man on the run apparently stayed off and on since January, at a tiny apartment in the suburb of Atlanta. No one noticed him until his picture was spotted in a story about the murder in the Chinese newspaper "The World Journal."

CAPT. DAVID PERKINS, CHAMBLEE POLICE DEPT.: He was here in January, for a couple of nights and he had come back late February. And the news article which featured the photograph had been published on the 23rd of February. And that's when they realized who this individual was once they saw the photograph.

DORNIN: Five men and one woman decided to lure Xue to the apartment, telling him they wanted to talk about a business deal. But when Xue who is reportedly a martial arts expert arrived, they jumped him.

Here, they re-enacted how they did it. And then they called police who arrived and found they had bound him in a chair.

VOICE OF CAPT. DAVID PERKINS: When they had found him, he was - his legs were tied with his pants and they had used belts to secure his arms.

DORNIN: Only police didn't know who they had captured. His captors only speak Mandarin but kept pointing to his picture in the paper.

Officers went to their cars and looked up the suspect's photo on the "America's Most Wanted" website.

The residents proudly recounted their feat for the Australian media who have followed this case from the beginning.

RAHNIE SADLER, SEVEN NETWORK, AUSTRALIA: Australia is where he dumped the little girl. And the little girl, Pumpkin, became such a mystery that everybody wanted to know what was going on. So, everybody in Australia quickly engaged with the story and wanted to know, wanted to follow it right to the end.

The little girl dubbed "Pumpkin" by the Australia media is now being cared for by her grandparents in China.

DORNIN: It turns out that because Xue was here illegally, he will be deported as soon as possible. As for the folks here, they say they're just happy they could help. Rusty Dornin, CNN, Chamblee, Georgia.

NGUYEN: Quite a story. HOLMES: Citizens taking up on themselves to make the arrest there.

NGUYEN: And they hogtied him, I heard.

HOLMES: Yes.

NGUYEN: That's one way to make sure he doesn't move.

HOLMES: So he doesn't get away.

NGUYEN: Wow.

HOLMES: I was about to say something here that's going to get every parents attention. All right. Some prestigious colleges are offering free tuition.

NGUYEN: I love that word, free. And we are talking about schools like Stanford, Harvard, Yale. I know some students actually qualifying for this free education during tough economic times.

HOLMES: Also coming up, attitude, everything. We'll show you how this young fellow, a young basketball star is succeeding despite the odds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, amazing story here to share with you. A high school basketball player with one arm.

NGUYEN: Don't let that fool you, though. He has got game. He shoots, he scores, he blocks, he steals too. Porter Ellett lost his arm in an accident when he was younger. But as you can see, he doesn't let that slow him down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PORTER ELLETT, BASKETBALL PLAYER: It's kind of fun to see people's reaction when they doubt you and when you walk out on the court and they wonder why you're even playing. And when you go out, you get to prove what you're worth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Ellett scored 16 points in the game you're seeing here and he's also leading his Salt Lake City basketball team to the playoffs right about now.

NGUYEN: Really. And get this Ellett also helped his school win a state title in baseball. That is a multitalented kid.

HOLMES: It is. He's been doing it, you know, he's probably just so used to it for so long, he's been practicing that way since he was a kid and it's working out for him.

NGUYEN: What an inspiration though.

HOLMES: I mean, it's amazing he can do that. Congratulations to you, sir.

NGUYEN: Well, you know, the cost of college that is frightening. I'm so frightened, I can't even say.

HOLMES: Get it out.

NGUYEN: But now some students at Stanford University are worry free. Yes, because starting this fall, Stanford is slashing fees for middle class families. Students whose parents make less than 100,000 a year get free tuition. I'll say that again, free tuition. Get free tuition. Absolutely free. And those whose parents make less than 60,000 also get free room and board. So free tuition, free room and board. It is absolutely a free ride. Stanford isn't the only prestigious college giving these deep discounts, Harvard, Yale and Brown. Just some of those eliminating that dreaded student loan.

HOLMES: That is outstanding. I would have qualified to go to those schools, financially, but my grades wouldn't have got me in.

NGUYEN: Wouldn't get you it. That's one sticking point.

HOLMES: Well, of course these times, recession proving your job could be something you need to look into. And our Gerri Willis has tips to keep you and hopefully me employed in this troubled economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Seriously, people are freaking out about the job. Now, with the economy, what should they be doing if they're worried about their job. How do you keep the job you already have? How do you keep that thing?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, I think you have really got to think about, you know, does my boss even know my name? Am I working on projects that means the most to this company? That is very important to this company's bottom line. What do I add to the company's bottom line? You've got to make sure you have a high profile inside of your company so that folks know you who are and that you're really adding to the business.

HOLMES: That's a (inaudible) your boss doesn't even know your name, you're in probably in trouble, right?

WILLIS: Unless you work for a fortune 500 company where there are thousands and thousands of employees. You got to make sure that you got that entree to the CEO door that they know who you are.

HOLMES: And you also need to make sure, I mean, people getting the jobs might get complacent and comfortable. You need to make sure your skills are still in check and you're still up on it.

WILLIS: Right? Well, a lot of young people, in particular. They don't have that specialized skill set. They don't have that special thing they can do with the boss that's always, you know, just whatever happens to come up at the time. So, you want to make sure you get extra training. This is a great time to think about maybe getting a little extra training. You can do it sometimes at work. Maybe go to a local college campus. Just a little extra to put on that resume just in case.

HOLMES: And this is probably one area that people do not or really not good about. If you are scared you're going to lose your job, people really don't know sometimes how much they should have put away in case they lose their job. I mean, how do you know how much? What should you do there?

WILLIS: Well, the goal and not everybody can reach this. The goal is to have six months worth of savings. That's tough for young people. At least put something aside. Because you want to make sure that if the worst happens you can still pay the rent, you can still buy groceries. Now is the time to sort of start saving some money set aside in a place where you can get to it easily to make sure you don't get into trouble on your own.

HOLMES: And some people as well, I mean, you getting a job, you have a set salary, and sometimes you don't have anything else coming in, you're waiting for a bonus or a raise and that stuff doesn't come, maybe once a year or something like that. So, how do you in the meantime make a little extra change on the side?

WILLIS: Well, I think that's a great idea. I never like to have just one boss. I do extra stuff for other folks to make sure that there's always money coming in. But you can also do some freelance work. There are a couple of websites I want to mention here, sologig.com, guru.com. They're great places to go if you want to find a little extra work. In the meantime, something on the side that will tie you over in case you do lose your job. It's all about preparation, you know, it's all about getting ready in case the worst happens.

HOLMES: I need to find a second job as well.

WILLIS: Oh, no. T.J., I don't think that's true.

HOLMES: I can moonlight as a security guard or something like that. But "Open House," of course, it's the weekend, I'm always looking forward to that at 9:30. What do you got for us?

WILLIS: Well, got a lot going on in "Open House". We're going to be talking about this mortgage meltdown. The solutions for you, what you need to know about your job, your financial security, we're covering it all.

HOLMES: All right. Gerri Willis. A pleasure to have you here in our diner. Let me buy you breakfast.

WILLIS: Oh, sounds good. Food. I love that.

HOLMES: All right. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Yes, no moonlighting as a security guard for you, buddy.

HOLMES: Well, something else. You don't think I could secure a place?

NGUYEN: Well.

HOLMES: I don't strike fear in people.

NGUYEN: You're just good enough to make sure you're OK going home. I don't know about protecting others.

HOLMES: That's a good point, folks. Well, another big Tuesday with the presidential candidates, the primary is coming up in four states next week.

NGUYEN: And time for a reality check when Josh Levs answering your questions next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, you know, we have been taking a look at some of the questions you have sent in about the democratic presidential candidates. And you sent us some really good ones.

HOLMES: Our Josh Levs has been looking at those. A couple of topics that don't get a lot of attention, all very important to a lot of voters. You're taking a look at those right now. Good morning, sir.

JOSH LEVS, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, guys. This is one thing I love about getting these questions is that sometimes there are big topics that just don't come up in debates or the major interviews. The first one a lot of people ask about here - education. A lot of questions from viewers about this. Here's one example, Bryce Parcelly, of Austin, Texas, asks how would the candidates affect education policy. Now, the two democrats, they have similar platforms, but "Education Week" just in the past week published this article with the headline "Democrats' K-12 Views Differ, Subtly."

They're pointing to a couple of things, starting off here with school vouchers. Both have said they oppose them. But Obama in an interview suggested he could be persuaded to support them. This campaign has worked to downplay that, very significant to a lot of educators. Also, on no child left behind. According to "Education Week" here, Obama says that the first step is to adequately fund it while analysts say Clinton is calling for more of a substantial rewrite to the law.

I'm also going to show you the endorsements on that front. Again, "Education Week" reporting this, that the American Federation of Teachers is supporting Clinton, although that union's Illinois affiliates have actually been working for Obama. And the bigger union, the National Education Association has actually not endorsed either one of them. And you can read a lot about their platforms, including education at their websites.

If you look right there, see issues, each of them has an issues link at the top. Just go to that and click on any of the links you want to, and you can read a lot about that. Now, very quickly, I want to let you guys know one more question if we can. And this is from Ed Horwitz of Philadelphia who asked about their positions on embryonic stem cell research and funding for the NIH. We got dozens on these. A lot of people have similar questions and I just want to answer this one for you real simply, they both support embryonic stem cell research. Both democrats have said they will put funding into that and both have promised to increase funding for NIH.

And guys, that's what's so striking to me is this opportunity for arguers to say, hey, I have never heard where they stand on these major issues, let me know, I'm trying to offer some answers to that.

HOLMES: Especially when the primaries are coming up. Major primaries. Thank you, Josh.

Stay here with CNN. Go right ahead, Betty.

NGUYEN: Right here for the best political coverage and a little bit later today, we give you a chance to hear from the candidates beyond sound bites.

Unfiltered in their own words. CNN's "BALLOT BOWL" coming your way at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

Special coverage of the voting in Texas, Ohio, and Vermont -- it begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern and 4:00 Pacific.

Here is a really good idea. Raising a millionaire. Who doesn't want to do that, right? Hear from a self-made millionaire, the father of seven who says an allowance is for losers. You'll wants to hear about this.

My parents failed at raising a millionaire. They failed so bad. "OPEN HOUSE" with Gerri Willis starts right now.

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