Up Close Interview with Barack Obama
ANDERSON COOPER: Later, death and delay -- the exploding humanitarian outrage in Burma as the military dictators there keep cyclone relief to a trickle while thousands of bodies rot and survivors go hungry.Plus, "Crime and Punishment," Charles Manson almost 40 years after he and his twisted followers painted southern California red with the blood of seven people; new evidence that the Manson family body count may be a whole lot higher. We'll take you to the ranch where more bodies may be buried. First, though, late moves by Barack Obama to solve the Democratic nomination and Hillary Clinton's last-ditch efforts to stop him. She's soldiering on, campaigning like there's no tomorrow. He is starting but only just starting to campaign like the nominee. Tonight, you can decide for yourself what kind of case he's making against John McCain and hear how senator McCain answers it. We'll be playing extended clips from Senator Obama's in-depth interview today with CNN. But first, we take you on the campaign trail. Candy Crowley has the "Raw Politics.</s>CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Colleagues, tourists, pages looking for a picture and press crumbs.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much longer will the race go on Senator?</s>CROWLEY: Barack Obama was on Capitol Hill this morning with the aura, though not the votes, of a presidential nominee.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's why I'm running for president, sweetie.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you'll win it too.</s>CROWLEY: So is she putting together an exit strategy? A Clinton insider replays N-O, exclamation point.</s>SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is like deja- vu all over again. Some in Washington wanted us to end our campaign, and then I won New Hampshire.</s>CROWLEY: The itinerary speaks to her current state of mind. Having made her case in West Virginia which has its primary next Tuesday, Hillary Clinton took off for South Dakota, very much in the race.</s>CLINTON: So on June the 3rd, Montana and South Dakota will have the last word.</s>CROWLEY: She needs a 9.0 on the Richter scale to shake this up in her favor. Guess who is in West Virginia today waiting for an earthquake?</s>BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She can still win this thing if you vote for her big. They're going to have to resolve Michigan and Florida, and when they do, she can win the popular vote.</s>CROWLEY: It's not a widely held theory. Some Clinton supporters are jumping ship. And Obama is still gathering up superdelegates. But one Clinton adviser says she's not campaigning in some kind of parallel universe. She doesn't think this is over. Clinton believes she's the best candidate to beat John McCain so the superdelegate courtship continues.</s>H. CLINTON: I'm winning Catholic voters and Hispanic voters and blue collar workers and seniors. The kind of people that Senator McCain will be fighting for in the general election.</s>CROWLEY: Another source close to the Clintons adds there is more to this than the math. She has a loyalty to the history she and her supporters are writing.</s>H. CLINTON: Too many people have fought too hard to see a woman continue in this race; this history-making race. And I want everybody to understand that.</s>CROWLEY: And it is her supporters, including millions of women, who give caution to many Democrats and the Obama campaign. They need those votes in the fall. They cannot be seen trying to muscle her out.</s>OBAMA: I don't want to get ahead of myself here. Senator Clinton is a very formidable candidate.</s>CROWLEY: Privately, some party leaders are anxious to have this over. But one top level party honcho says we're talking three more weeks. Let it ride.</s>COOPER: Bill Clinton is waiting for an earthquake. Or they both are. What kind of earthquake, are they talking about; Florida or Michigan or are they hoping some sort of implosion in the Obama campaign?</s>CROWLEY: Well, you know, I think actually the thing that would help her the most is if there were some sort of implosion, some sort of Jeremiah Wright-like event that would give superdelegates some pause. Absent that, it is really very difficult. Now, you heard Bill Clinton say if they include Michigan and Florida, then she'll have the popular vote. They think that that's a superdelegate argument. That if at the end of the day she comes out with the most popular vote when you add all the primaries and some of the caucuses together, that she will have more popular vote and that will add to her argument that she's the most electable. First of all, it's questionable whether she will come up, even if you add in Michigan and Florida, with the most popular vote. And it's sort of questionable whether if he, meaning Barack Obama, comes on June 4th and has the most pledged delegates. It's going to be very, very difficult to deny him this nomination and if they do at this point, it really would cause an implosion in the party. We're going to have more with Candy coming around. We want to move on though to the interview with Barack Obama. And the winner is, that's what "TIME Magazine" is putting on their cover tomorrow along with a picture of Barack Obama. Tonight up close, his first interview since winning North Carolina; an interview which has in some ways outraged the McCain campaign. You'll hear why shortly. He sat down today with Wolf Blitzer and he was trying to walk a fine line, as you'll see, as the likely nominee, focusing on John McCain without appearing to underestimate or diss Hillary Clinton. Take a look.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE SITUATION ROOM: " Here's the cover "And the Winner is." That's a picture of you. What do you think?</s>OBAMA: Well, I think, I don't want to be jinxed. We've still got work to do.</s>BLITZER: It's almost like being on the cover of "Sports Illustrated." Is that what you're -- you're nervous about that?</s>OBAMA: Exactly. Exactly right. We've got six more contests left and then, you know, we've got a lot of work to do to bring the party together. Obviously, we felt very good about our win in North Carolina on Tuesday. I think we ran a terrific campaign in Indiana and it was a virtual tie. And, you know, if you look at where the race is at this point, I think we've seen voters across the country say they are ready for change. They are feeling real anxiety about the economy. And they've come to recognize that unless we change how Washington is done, it's going to be very hard to deliver on a smarter energy policy. It's going to be harder to provide health care for people who need it or make college more affordable. I think our campaign has benefited from it. So I'm looking forward to bringing this party together and going after John McCain in the fall and hopefully getting this country on the right track.</s>BLITZER: It's been intense in the primaries. But you realize it's going to be much more intense in the next chapter, in the next phase, given the differences between you and John McCain? Are you ready for this next phase?</s>OBAMA: I'm actually looking forward to it. If we're successful, I don't want to get ahead of myself here. Senator Clinton is a very formidable candidate. She is very heavily favored to win West Virginia. She'll win that by, you know, a big margin. She's favored in Kentucky. We'll probably split the remaining contests so she's going to be actively campaigning.</s>BLITZER: We asked our viewers to send us in some questions and we got thousands of responses, as you can only imagine. I got a couple I just wanted you to watch one of those and get your reaction. A lot of people ask this basic question.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears you do not have enough support among blue collar workers as Senator Clinton did. Would you consider just on that basis alone, considering her on a joint ticket as vice president?</s>COOPER: Dream ticket -- the answer to that question ahead when the interview with Barack Obama continues. As always, Erica and I are blogging throughout the hour. To join the conversation, go to cnn.com/360. We'll also tell you about the new war of words between Obama and McCain sparked by this interview. And later tonight, the crisis in Burma and the people trying to help in spite of the Burmese dictators. And the search for new evidence against Charles Manson. Digging for bodies that could begin shortly on a ranch where Manson and his follows lived near 40 years ago. Ted Rowlands investigates. Here's a preview.</s>TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gold prospector Emmett Carter knew Manson and his top lieutenant Charles "Tex" Watson. He says rumors about more Manson victims have swirled for years. Stories like the one that Carter says a Manson follower told him.</s>EMMETT CARTER, GOLD PROSPECTOR: This one girl didn't get along with Manson or Watson at all, and they took her for a walk. And they came back in a short distance and we never saw her again. I would hope that maybe they would find her.