(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-24 09:28

Bill Clinton said civil rights leaders Andrew Young and John Lewis have defended his wife. "They both said that Hillary was right and the people who attacked her were wrong and that she did not play the race card, but they did," he said. "Let him go get in an argument with them about it."

At the end of the exchange, Clinton told the CNN reporter, "Shame on you."

Clinton also told a crowd of about 100 people in Charleston that he was proud of the Democratic Party for having a woman and a black candidate and he understands why Obama is drawing support among blacks, who are expected to comprise at least half the primary turnout.

"As far as I can tell, neither Senator Obama nor Hillary have lost votes because of their race or gender. They are getting votes, to be sure, because of their race or gender -- that's why people tell me Hillary doesn't have a chance of winning here," Clinton said. "But that's understandable because people are proud when someone who they identify with emerges for the first time."

Hillary Clinton's campaign has also struck back at Obama on the honesty issue. It provided TV outlets with video of Obama saying recently that he opposes a single-payer health care system, and a 2003 clip in which he appeared to endorse such a plan.

Obama told NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday that "a single-payer system is one that I would support if we were starting from scratch."

He also sought to distance himself from a real estate developer and fast-food magnate facing federal corruption charges, saying he had no indication of any problems when he accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

"My relationship is he was somebody who I knew and had been a supporter for many years, he was somebody who had supported a wide range of candidates all throughout Illinois," Obama told CBS' "Early Show" Wednesday. "Nobody had an inkling that he was involved in any problems. When those problems were discovered, we returned money from him that had been contributed."

Obama has given to charity about $37,000 in contributions to his Senate campaign and political action committee that were linked to Rezko. Rezko also raised tens of thousands of dollars for Obama's state legislative and Senate races.

During the weekend, Obama gave to charity more than $40,000 in past political contributions linked to Rezko. The contributions were from seven individuals who gave to Obama's House and Senate campaigns. None of the money was for his presidential bid.

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