Politics

Obama Answers Questions On Rezko Connections

Clinton And Obama In Texas Trying To Capture Large Number Of Delegates At Stake

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CBS) ― The two Democratic presidential candidates are neck-and-neck in virtually every poll released in the Lone Star State in the last week.

In Texas 228 delegates are up for grabs, and in Ohio the candidates are fighting for 161 delegates.

Obama is coming off 11 straight wins, but he is on the defensive Monday about campaign fundraiser Tony Rezko, who was in a Chicago courtroom facing federal charges.

The Illinois senator faced another round of questions about Rezko Monday, and Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign complains that there are still some he has not answered.

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak writes Monday about the Obama-Rezko ties, including new information about federal prosecutors and millions of dollars allegedly wired from an Iraqi billionaire to Rezko. That wire took place less than a month before Obama and Rezko completed a real estate deal.

At a home for veterans in Texas, Obama greeted old soldiers and talked for nearly an hour about the promises he's made to help them, if he becomes president. But it was his relationship with Rezko that dominated when he later met with reporters.

Clinton's campaign says Obama has not come clean.

"He is now in trouble and in court on federal corruption charges," Obama said of Rezko. "Those charges are completely unrelated to me, and I don't think anybody disputes that."

"There's been no allegations that I did anything wrong," he added. "There's been no allegations that I in any way betrayed the public trust. There've been no allegations that I did him any favors. We have disgorged all the money that we can identify that was raised by him."

When asked about unexplored details, Obama said, "What happens is, these requests can just go on forever and so at some point what we just try to do is respond to what's pertinent to the questions that have been raised. There's no dispute that he raised money for us. And there's no dispute that we've tried to get rid of that money.

On a day when his credibility was perhaps the bigger issue, Obama said his campaign spokesperson had in fact been incorrect when he said that regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement, that there had been no contact between his campaign and the Canadian government.

Clinton claims Obama used a University of Chicago professor to send a secret message to the Canadian government about Obama's position on NAFTA, that Obama's public position may not reflect his full position.

Obama had initially denied any such meeting between ever took place.

"That was the information that I had at the time. It turned out that the Canadian consul in Chicago contacted one of my advisors, Austan Goolsbee," Obama said. "The Canadian Embassy has confirmed that he said exactly what I've been saying on the campaign trail. This notion that Sen. Clinton is peddling that somehow there's contradictions or winks and nods, has been disputed by all the parties involved." 

Obama has 1,379 delegates heading into Tuesday's primaries. Clinton has 1,267. They need 2,025 to clinch the nomination.

Sen. Clinton Campaigns In Austin, Trying To Regain Momentum
Meanwhile, Clinton's once big lead in the Lone Star State has vanished, and now she is spending the waning hours of this primary campaign trying to regain momentum, sometimes touting her experience advantage over Obama, sometimes criticizing Obama for only delivering speeches, and Monday night she didn't mention him at all.

"Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria introduced Clinton on stage in Austin. Clinton zeroed in on veterans, and especially women, in a town hall meeting broadcast statewide.

"I'd like to be the president that will be the champion for America's children," Clinton said.

With Clinton needing to score a landslide victory in the Hispanic community to carry Texas, the senator devoted much of her time to the concerns of the rural Texas Hispanic voter.

"I am well aware of the poverty and the difficult conditions that people live in in many places along the border…" Clinton said.

Surprisingly, Clinton devoted no time discussing her opponent's perceived shortcomings, not mentioning Obama's name once. But she did take a moment to dream about her first day in the White House, not as First Lady, but as the Commander in Chief.

"The first thing I'd do is say 'what have I got myself into?'" she joked.

So the pressure is on Clinton. If she wins in Ohio and Texas she is back in the race. But if she loses both or even if she and Obama split these two big states, there could be calls from prominent Democrats for her to get out of the race.

But the Clintons are famously feisty and may not be inclined, if things shake out that way Tuesday.

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery and Rob Johnson contributed to this report.

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