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American Morning
RNC Day Three Speakers Review; Tone Preview for RNC Day Four; FDA Approves Artery Clearing Device
Aired September 02, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. Here's one way to get to work -- the water taxi, right next to the Brooklyn Bridge in lower Manhattan.
8:30 here in New York. Good morning, welcome back, good to have you along with us today. It is night four, the final night. The president will take the stage down on the floor behind me here at Madison Square Garden.
Kelly Wallace joins us talking about why we may see a different version of the president later tonight. We'll also talk about Zell Miller -- his speech last night.
Jeff Greenfield analyzing that and the words of Dick Cheney and why, perhaps -- why we're seeing a new stage tonight.
Jeff has a number of thoughts on that, too.
Hurricane Frances is out there. We will not leave that story for long; it is a significant story that's going to demand a lot of attention starting today and going forward over the weekend. So, we hope for the very best for the folks in the Bahamas right now, and then later this weekend in Florida.
Want to get to Heidi Collins again across town. Good morning over there, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Bill, once again, and also Sanjay Gupta is going to be with us.
He's going got tell us about what's being called a new round for stroke prevention. We're going to talk about some interesting developments there.
But for right now, we're going to talk about what is happening in the news this morning. Dramatic developments at the Russian school standoff -- within the past hour, two explosions were heard. Black smoke could be seen as we see it there rising from the area of the school where heavily armed militants strapped with bombs are holed up.
We spoke with the "TIME" magazine reporter on the scene this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL QUINN-JUDGE, REPORTER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Just now there were a couple of explosions. They were loud and they were dramatic in that there were two columns of smoke that followed the explosions.
However, the smoke has dissipated, nothing else has happened since, and the smoke could have been caused by relatively small weaponry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Obviously still not clear what caused those explosions. We are going to have more on this developing story throughout the show this morning.
Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic is getting lawyers. Just hours ago a U.N. war tribunal decided to assign Milosevic defense attorneys. Doctor's say his heart condition could worsen if Milosevic continues to represent himself.
Here in the United States, attorneys for the accused highway shooter in Ohio may have backed themselves into a corner. Charles McCoy, Jr. originally pleaded not guilty, but yesterday he changed his plea to innocent by reason of insanity.
McCoy is deemed fit to stand trial while medicated. Legal experts say that will pose a challenge for the defense, since jurors will see a rational man in court.
Another state now considering a ban on same sex marriage. An amendment is officially on the November ballot in North Dakota. It says only a man and a woman can be legally married in the state. The amendment also denies recognition of same sex civil unions.
Back over to Bill now in Madison Square Garden -- not Gardens, right, Bill?
HEMMER: MSG, the RNC at MSG. Thank you, Heidi.
The speakers for the night last night really bared their teeth here. Presidential candidate John Kerry coming under attack from the Vice President Dick Cheney and the Democratic Senator Zell Miller.
How effective was he? Our senior analyst Jeff Greenfield late last night back up again early with us and good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Hi.
HEMMER: I don't know if that was red meat or sushi last night from Zell Miller.
GREENFIELD: Raw meat.
HEMMER: Raw meat?
GREENFIELD: It's the toughest language I've heard at a convention probably since Pat Buchanan in 1992. I mean, look, 30-40 years ago it was routine for keynote speakers to just whoop up -- you know, open a can of whatever. But you know, in a television age, people think that it should be more modulated, and all of this convention of -- Giuliani used Truman to attack Kerry. McCain said nothing about Kerry. Cheney last night was the sort of -- sort of sober-sided guy.
Miller comes from an older school and was very tough. I think we can hear one line about the Democratic Party that will show that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ZELL MILLER (D), GEORGIA: Today at the same time that young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of a Democrat's manic obsession to bring down our commander-in-chief. In their warped way of thinking, America is the problem, not the solution.
They don't believe there's any real danger in the world expect that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy. It is not their patriotism, it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, he says he's not questioning patriotism, but what you say at the whole political party is weakening our fighting men and women. That's a very tough line and television, you know, gets very up close to a face and that was an angry face.
HEMMER: Dick Cheney followed him. Dick Cheney last night hitting back at John Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: History has shown that a strong and purposeful America is vital to preserving freedom and keeping us safe, yet time and again Senator Kerry has made the wrong call on national security.
Even in this post-9/11 period, Senator Kerry doesn't appear to understand how the world has changed. He talks about leading a more sensitive war on terror. As though al Qaeda will be impressed with our softer side.
He declared at the Democratic Convention that he will forcefully defend America after we have been attacked. My fellow Americans, we have already been attacked.
We are faced with an enemy who seeks the deadliest of weapons to use against us and we cannot wait until the next attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, the tone of Dick Cheney is night and day from Zell Miller. He is kind of the almost professorial -- more than anger. But what you're getting here is the main theme of this convention so far, at least up till tonight.
Dick Cheney barely gave a cough about the economy. It was like 12 seconds. Well, tax cuts are working. But let me tell you about the real issue is. Just like McCain's argument that this year the only real issue before you that you should choose, he's telling voters is the war on terror in Iraq.
HEMMER: Ron Brownstein's opening line in the "L.A. Times" today, "It's the terrorism, stupid."
GREENFIELD: Right.
HEMMER: Back on the floor behind us here. You were looking at this earlier today. It's going to be a theatre-in-the-round later tonight for the president.
GREENFIELD: Two quick points. You and I were both here somewhere in the late 1990s when the Rolling Stones played here with a big stage with augmented instruments and a backup group. And then, midway through the concert, they walked down on something that looked just like that, just the original members -- well, not the original, one of them is dead, one of them is retired -- and played their hits.
But the more important influence on what you're seeing here is television -- particularly, Phil Donahue, Oprah Winfrey and company. They learned that by working with the audience you create a less Olympian top down communication and a direct one on one.
So, the politicians do now at town meetings, and that's the point of this -- literally to come down from the clouds or the stage and say I am one of you. I'm just a regular guy.
HEMMER: And when we walked in here on Sunday afternoon, you could know immediately that this was going to be a very different set up from what we saw in Boston and really, for that matter, from any convention in recent memory.
GREENFIELD: And so, what I think is happening here -- this is a bit of a head fake -- all week we've heard very tough language. I think we're going to hear much softer language from the president tonight.
HEMMER: That sets us up perfectly. Thank you, Jeff, for that.
To Kelly Wallace right now on the tone later tonight what we can expect and how that will get accomplished. Kelly, good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bill, perfect segue, yes. Eight states away the president can accomplish all of this, present what they call a positive forward-looking speech focusing on his vision and agenda for the next four years.
But political observers are saying along the way this president has to focus less on war and more on his warmer side.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WALLACE (voice-over): President Bush arrives in the city that redefined his presidency, huddling with firefighters last night in Queens.
GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You effected my way of thinking in a deep way.
WALLACE: Getting ready to show his kinder, gentler side.
Making over Mr. Macho President, a recent headline in the "New York Daily News."
THOMAS DEFRANK, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: He's got to come up with a persona and an appeal and in engaging side and tone to this speech.
His aides all say that that's the real Bush but that part of him has been obscured by what one calls the hard ads, the warrior side of him.
WALLACE: His advisors thought his record in the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq would put him far out in front.
BUSH: We did the right thing and the world is better off for it.
WALLACE: But along came problems in post-war Iraq, a sagging economy, criticisms he's set in his ways.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What you really have is stubborn leadership.
WALLACE: And so, the effort to put a human face on the warrior leader from Laura Bush.
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: But he's still the same person I met at a backyard barbecue in Midland, Texas, and married three months later.
WALLACE: And the president himself, in a recent "New York Times" interview, for the first time acknowledging a miscalculation of what the conditions would be after the war in Iraq. This from the man who only months ago couldn't name one mistake he'd made.
BUSH: You know I just -- I'm sure something will pop in my head here in the rest of this press conference, all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer but it hasn't yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And he enters into this speech tonight with what aides describe as a breeze at their backs based on the president's improvement in the polls. Mr. Bush, though, also bringing on his confidence, Bill. He told "USA Today" just a few days ago losing this election has never crossed his mind.
HEMMER: Kelly, thanks. Kelly on the floor with us here. It starts tonight, 7:00 Eastern, here on CNN -- Heidi. COLLINS: Thanks Bill. Florida's East Coast racing for Frances the furious. The powerful Category 4 hurricane barreling toward the United States now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING -- if you are techno- savvy, how about a move to Philly? Andy is going to explain that for us.
Plus, exercise is one way you can help prevent strokes but a new first of its kind treatment might help some Americans even more. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Word just coming into us now at CNN this morning. Back to Russia and a hostage situation at that school there. We are learning that some children have been released from the school. Unfortunately no idea at this point how many children but we are hearing that a little bit of progress obviously a good step forward in this.
You see some live pictures there now of several people we are learning, could be hundreds of people gathered outside of that school. This is a small town; people are as you can imagine very, very upset by this. Very concerned about those inside. So, again, we are learning that some children have been released from that school -- a very good sign.
Hopefully those negotiations will continue. We are of course are going to keep our eye on it. Get a live report for you coming up just as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the FDA has approved a new device that clears critical blocked arteries without any major surgery. It could be a major development in stroke prevention.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us now from the CNN Center with more details on this. This could be very exciting, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly could be. It's called a carotid stent, Heidi. Specifically the name of this one is Acculink, and just approved by the FDA this week potentially as an alternative to surgery.
That's what it's being touted as. Here's how it works -- and when we talk about carotid surgery, we're talking about trying to open up the carotid -- you actually thread a little catheter in from the groin area all the way up into the neck area.
Then in that area you can see the whole thing coming up there, a little umbrella also opens up to catch any blood clots which may open up from the operation itself.
Now, that's a really critical part, because you don't want those blood clots going through the brain. That scaffolding you see there, Heidi, that actually stays in the carotid artery and that's to hold it open.
Now, a new study actually done by the manufacturer looking at this particular device -- 581 patients trying to compare it overall to the risks of an operation. They find that the combined risks of death, stroke, heart attacks all within the first month were about 10 percent for the stent as compared to 15 percent for the operation.
Not surprisingly, to some extent, surgeons, neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons -- not terribly excited about this procedure yet, saying, you know we're not really sure if you compare patient to patient how well this stent will work versus operations.
For now, anyway, it seems like it will be reserved just for high- risk patients.
COLLINS: Obviously nobody really wants to go under the knife, so to speak. But why then, Sanjay, is this being seen as sort of a more desirable approach to stroke prevention?
GUPTA: Yes, I mean one of the things is you're talking about a little puncture needle-point in the groin as opposed to an operation, so its less invasive for one thing.
It may end up being less costly in the long run as well and also for patient's who have some other contraindications, some reason not to have a natural operation it may be a good option as well.
You know, patient's typically don't want to have an operation if they can somehow avoid it, and this may be a good alternative for them although again it's worth emphasizing the jury is still out as to whether or not this would be good for all patients, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, you already mentioned the high risk. What makes them any different than medium or lower risk patients?
GUPTA: Well, you know, if you think who is at risk for stroke in general, who are people who are likely to develop stroke it's going to be the elderly people, people who have higher cholesterol, blood pressure.
These are things we've all talked about. Smoking, diabetes and who've had "mini-strokes" in the past. Mini-strokes meaning TIAs, where your arm or your vision have gone numb for a second.
But there's also a sub-set within that the highest risk group. Those are people who have severe heart, lung, and kidney disease. They've had prior neck surgery or radiation. They've had recent surgery for something else. Or they have an existing block of the other carotid artery. The carotid artery on the other side so when you're doing this operation you may put them at greater risk for a stroke.
Those people may all be candidates for this stenting sort of procedure. Again, approved by the FDA this week so it's now available and out there.
COLLINS: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta thanks so much for that Sanjay.
Want to quickly take you back to Russia now. A little bit more information available to us. Moments ago we told you about some people being let out of that building.
You can see there in the distance these pictures just in. Three women and three infants apparently have been released from that school in Russia, southern Russia to be exact.
Again, three women, with three infants have been let out of the school looking at that picture once again. You see there in the middle them being escorted away by soldiers and security on the scene there. A very, very tense situation. Hopefully this means some progress is being made. Clearly a step in the right direction. Of course going to keep right on top of it for you.
We have a correspondent in the area. Going to check in with him momentarily.
Meanwhile, still to come this morning we head back over to the CNN Diner. Andy Serwer is there "Minding Your Business" -- and tells you about one big city about to turn into a web surfer's dream.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We've got a live picture of Central Park, the great lawn, supposedly still intact.
They refuse to let those quarter-million people go in there and stomp around on our grass.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes.
CAFFERTY: We're here at the CNN Diner at 34th and 8th Avenue. Andy Serwer with the business report. A lot of economic data out this morning and none of it very good.
SERWER: Yes, a little weak, a little soft. We'll get to that in a second.
Let's talk about what happened yesterday on Wall Street.
Most stocks are up. The Dow was down a little bit. Overall, the markets seeming to recover. Volume picking up a little bit as people seem to be considering that we're going to get back to normal at some point here in Manhattan.
Let's talk about these economic reports. Weak, weak, weak across the board. Productivity up a little bit but not as much as expected. Jobless claims for the past week up to 362,000. That's moving to that 400,000... CAFFERTY: Three weeks in a row.
SERWER: That's right, they're moving toward that 400,000. Some of that may have to do with Charley, the hurricane.
Now, retail sales, a lot of that coming in again weak. Wal-Mart only up half a percentage point for the month. Target up a little bit, pretty nicely.
Federated Stores, that's Macy's and Bloomingdale's, down 2.4 percent, May -- that's Lord & Taylor, down 5.9 percent. And Wal-Mart lowering its projections, Jack, for the balance of the year as well. Not good news there.
CAFFERTY: We also did a little survey of some of the businesses right here around Madison Square Garden. If you were with us on Monday, we talked about the fact that we are right across the street from a triple-X porno theatre here on what they call the "Minnesota Strip," which is 8th Avenue.
SERWER: In fact.
CAFFERTY: And Andy's producer, Todd, who has been spending a lot of time over there anyway, went by this morning and talked to the night manager who told us that business has not been as good. There's not as much money in the till. They're seeing a lot more people wearing suits.
SERWER: Now who would that be, Jack?
CAFFERTY: That would be, like, the delegates.
SERWER: Ah-ha. Also the sales of the stores around here, Jack, are pretty weak generally. They're saying the bookstore not doing much business but they're saying a lot of people coming in and looking for "Unfit for Command" about Kerry.
But the guy doesn't have it because it's sold out.
CAFFERTY: All right, and they're going to wire Philadelphia for the Internet and we're out of -- almost out of time -- but they're going to do this for the whole city?
SERWER: Yes, they're planning on doing it. All 135 square miles of it. Ten million dollar project, they're looking at doing this. And you know you get your cheese steak, you get your pretzel, put a little mustard on it and do your wi-fi thing.
Kind of an interesting idea but you know I guess if you're the city of Philadelphia you're going to do what you can to attract people there.
CAFFERTY: Yes, when they get all through wiring the place, it's still Philadelphia. But that's good. City of...
SERWER: Not that it's anything -- yes. CAFFERTY: We're going to go to the "File." We'll do the scorecard because we're a little parched for time and I absolutely want to get this on.
CNN has spared no expense for the delegates here at the convention or here at the diner. We have hired a guy named Mehmet Yilmaz, and he's here at the diner. If you order coffee with extra mill, Mehmet Yilmaz will come to your table and personally serve you.
Here's what he does: Yilmaz has a rare talent. He sucks milk through his nose and then squirts -- squirts it out of his eye. You know, you can get extra coffee in your milk from clear across the diner.
SERWER: That can't be real. Is it real?
CAFFERTY: It's estimated he's achieved a distance of over six feet and we think that could be a world record but, hey, who's he going to compete with?
And in Germany, love on a hot afternoon -- landed a guy who'd had a couple or two too many drinks in jail.
Police say they had to physically separate this gentleman from his inflatable lover, with whom he was intimately involved in full view of passers by in Berlichten (ph). The blow up doll would not comment on whether she plans to visit the man in prison, but she did issue a statement saying that the police managed to take all the air out of their relationship.
SERWER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Want to see the guy squirting milk out of his eyes again?
SERWER: No, I want to see...
CAFFERTY: Well, I do. Let's look at it. Look at this guy. Huh?
Try that with your banana wackys in the morning. Bill, that's all I have, but that's pretty good for a Thursday.
SERWER: Huh?
HEMMER: I said Vitamin D or 2 percent? Don't even answer it. Thanks.
CAFFERTY: You know who found that story? Ted Fine, our demented, degenerate producer of this program, is the guy who couldn't wait -- 4:30 this morning.
"Guess what I found for the 'File?' There's a guy who squirts milk out of his eye."
Thank you, Ted, very much, for helping my career on this downward trajectory toward oblivion.
HEMMER: There's a net down there somewhere, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes, right.
HEMMER: See you later.
In a moment here, the main attraction takes center stage at Madison Square Garden. The president in New York already last night at a local firehouse.
Tonight, he's the main attraction -- a preview ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired September 2, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. Here's one way to get to work -- the water taxi, right next to the Brooklyn Bridge in lower Manhattan.
8:30 here in New York. Good morning, welcome back, good to have you along with us today. It is night four, the final night. The president will take the stage down on the floor behind me here at Madison Square Garden.
Kelly Wallace joins us talking about why we may see a different version of the president later tonight. We'll also talk about Zell Miller -- his speech last night.
Jeff Greenfield analyzing that and the words of Dick Cheney and why, perhaps -- why we're seeing a new stage tonight.
Jeff has a number of thoughts on that, too.
Hurricane Frances is out there. We will not leave that story for long; it is a significant story that's going to demand a lot of attention starting today and going forward over the weekend. So, we hope for the very best for the folks in the Bahamas right now, and then later this weekend in Florida.
Want to get to Heidi Collins again across town. Good morning over there, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Bill, once again, and also Sanjay Gupta is going to be with us.
He's going got tell us about what's being called a new round for stroke prevention. We're going to talk about some interesting developments there.
But for right now, we're going to talk about what is happening in the news this morning. Dramatic developments at the Russian school standoff -- within the past hour, two explosions were heard. Black smoke could be seen as we see it there rising from the area of the school where heavily armed militants strapped with bombs are holed up.
We spoke with the "TIME" magazine reporter on the scene this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL QUINN-JUDGE, REPORTER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Just now there were a couple of explosions. They were loud and they were dramatic in that there were two columns of smoke that followed the explosions.
However, the smoke has dissipated, nothing else has happened since, and the smoke could have been caused by relatively small weaponry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Obviously still not clear what caused those explosions. We are going to have more on this developing story throughout the show this morning.
Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic is getting lawyers. Just hours ago a U.N. war tribunal decided to assign Milosevic defense attorneys. Doctor's say his heart condition could worsen if Milosevic continues to represent himself.
Here in the United States, attorneys for the accused highway shooter in Ohio may have backed themselves into a corner. Charles McCoy, Jr. originally pleaded not guilty, but yesterday he changed his plea to innocent by reason of insanity.
McCoy is deemed fit to stand trial while medicated. Legal experts say that will pose a challenge for the defense, since jurors will see a rational man in court.
Another state now considering a ban on same sex marriage. An amendment is officially on the November ballot in North Dakota. It says only a man and a woman can be legally married in the state. The amendment also denies recognition of same sex civil unions.
Back over to Bill now in Madison Square Garden -- not Gardens, right, Bill?
HEMMER: MSG, the RNC at MSG. Thank you, Heidi.
The speakers for the night last night really bared their teeth here. Presidential candidate John Kerry coming under attack from the Vice President Dick Cheney and the Democratic Senator Zell Miller.
How effective was he? Our senior analyst Jeff Greenfield late last night back up again early with us and good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Hi.
HEMMER: I don't know if that was red meat or sushi last night from Zell Miller.
GREENFIELD: Raw meat.
HEMMER: Raw meat?
GREENFIELD: It's the toughest language I've heard at a convention probably since Pat Buchanan in 1992. I mean, look, 30-40 years ago it was routine for keynote speakers to just whoop up -- you know, open a can of whatever. But you know, in a television age, people think that it should be more modulated, and all of this convention of -- Giuliani used Truman to attack Kerry. McCain said nothing about Kerry. Cheney last night was the sort of -- sort of sober-sided guy.
Miller comes from an older school and was very tough. I think we can hear one line about the Democratic Party that will show that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ZELL MILLER (D), GEORGIA: Today at the same time that young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of a Democrat's manic obsession to bring down our commander-in-chief. In their warped way of thinking, America is the problem, not the solution.
They don't believe there's any real danger in the world expect that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy. It is not their patriotism, it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, he says he's not questioning patriotism, but what you say at the whole political party is weakening our fighting men and women. That's a very tough line and television, you know, gets very up close to a face and that was an angry face.
HEMMER: Dick Cheney followed him. Dick Cheney last night hitting back at John Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: History has shown that a strong and purposeful America is vital to preserving freedom and keeping us safe, yet time and again Senator Kerry has made the wrong call on national security.
Even in this post-9/11 period, Senator Kerry doesn't appear to understand how the world has changed. He talks about leading a more sensitive war on terror. As though al Qaeda will be impressed with our softer side.
He declared at the Democratic Convention that he will forcefully defend America after we have been attacked. My fellow Americans, we have already been attacked.
We are faced with an enemy who seeks the deadliest of weapons to use against us and we cannot wait until the next attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, the tone of Dick Cheney is night and day from Zell Miller. He is kind of the almost professorial -- more than anger. But what you're getting here is the main theme of this convention so far, at least up till tonight.
Dick Cheney barely gave a cough about the economy. It was like 12 seconds. Well, tax cuts are working. But let me tell you about the real issue is. Just like McCain's argument that this year the only real issue before you that you should choose, he's telling voters is the war on terror in Iraq.
HEMMER: Ron Brownstein's opening line in the "L.A. Times" today, "It's the terrorism, stupid."
GREENFIELD: Right.
HEMMER: Back on the floor behind us here. You were looking at this earlier today. It's going to be a theatre-in-the-round later tonight for the president.
GREENFIELD: Two quick points. You and I were both here somewhere in the late 1990s when the Rolling Stones played here with a big stage with augmented instruments and a backup group. And then, midway through the concert, they walked down on something that looked just like that, just the original members -- well, not the original, one of them is dead, one of them is retired -- and played their hits.
But the more important influence on what you're seeing here is television -- particularly, Phil Donahue, Oprah Winfrey and company. They learned that by working with the audience you create a less Olympian top down communication and a direct one on one.
So, the politicians do now at town meetings, and that's the point of this -- literally to come down from the clouds or the stage and say I am one of you. I'm just a regular guy.
HEMMER: And when we walked in here on Sunday afternoon, you could know immediately that this was going to be a very different set up from what we saw in Boston and really, for that matter, from any convention in recent memory.
GREENFIELD: And so, what I think is happening here -- this is a bit of a head fake -- all week we've heard very tough language. I think we're going to hear much softer language from the president tonight.
HEMMER: That sets us up perfectly. Thank you, Jeff, for that.
To Kelly Wallace right now on the tone later tonight what we can expect and how that will get accomplished. Kelly, good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bill, perfect segue, yes. Eight states away the president can accomplish all of this, present what they call a positive forward-looking speech focusing on his vision and agenda for the next four years.
But political observers are saying along the way this president has to focus less on war and more on his warmer side.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WALLACE (voice-over): President Bush arrives in the city that redefined his presidency, huddling with firefighters last night in Queens.
GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You effected my way of thinking in a deep way.
WALLACE: Getting ready to show his kinder, gentler side.
Making over Mr. Macho President, a recent headline in the "New York Daily News."
THOMAS DEFRANK, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: He's got to come up with a persona and an appeal and in engaging side and tone to this speech.
His aides all say that that's the real Bush but that part of him has been obscured by what one calls the hard ads, the warrior side of him.
WALLACE: His advisors thought his record in the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq would put him far out in front.
BUSH: We did the right thing and the world is better off for it.
WALLACE: But along came problems in post-war Iraq, a sagging economy, criticisms he's set in his ways.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What you really have is stubborn leadership.
WALLACE: And so, the effort to put a human face on the warrior leader from Laura Bush.
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: But he's still the same person I met at a backyard barbecue in Midland, Texas, and married three months later.
WALLACE: And the president himself, in a recent "New York Times" interview, for the first time acknowledging a miscalculation of what the conditions would be after the war in Iraq. This from the man who only months ago couldn't name one mistake he'd made.
BUSH: You know I just -- I'm sure something will pop in my head here in the rest of this press conference, all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer but it hasn't yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And he enters into this speech tonight with what aides describe as a breeze at their backs based on the president's improvement in the polls. Mr. Bush, though, also bringing on his confidence, Bill. He told "USA Today" just a few days ago losing this election has never crossed his mind.
HEMMER: Kelly, thanks. Kelly on the floor with us here. It starts tonight, 7:00 Eastern, here on CNN -- Heidi. COLLINS: Thanks Bill. Florida's East Coast racing for Frances the furious. The powerful Category 4 hurricane barreling toward the United States now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING -- if you are techno- savvy, how about a move to Philly? Andy is going to explain that for us.
Plus, exercise is one way you can help prevent strokes but a new first of its kind treatment might help some Americans even more. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Word just coming into us now at CNN this morning. Back to Russia and a hostage situation at that school there. We are learning that some children have been released from the school. Unfortunately no idea at this point how many children but we are hearing that a little bit of progress obviously a good step forward in this.
You see some live pictures there now of several people we are learning, could be hundreds of people gathered outside of that school. This is a small town; people are as you can imagine very, very upset by this. Very concerned about those inside. So, again, we are learning that some children have been released from that school -- a very good sign.
Hopefully those negotiations will continue. We are of course are going to keep our eye on it. Get a live report for you coming up just as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the FDA has approved a new device that clears critical blocked arteries without any major surgery. It could be a major development in stroke prevention.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us now from the CNN Center with more details on this. This could be very exciting, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly could be. It's called a carotid stent, Heidi. Specifically the name of this one is Acculink, and just approved by the FDA this week potentially as an alternative to surgery.
That's what it's being touted as. Here's how it works -- and when we talk about carotid surgery, we're talking about trying to open up the carotid -- you actually thread a little catheter in from the groin area all the way up into the neck area.
Then in that area you can see the whole thing coming up there, a little umbrella also opens up to catch any blood clots which may open up from the operation itself.
Now, that's a really critical part, because you don't want those blood clots going through the brain. That scaffolding you see there, Heidi, that actually stays in the carotid artery and that's to hold it open.
Now, a new study actually done by the manufacturer looking at this particular device -- 581 patients trying to compare it overall to the risks of an operation. They find that the combined risks of death, stroke, heart attacks all within the first month were about 10 percent for the stent as compared to 15 percent for the operation.
Not surprisingly, to some extent, surgeons, neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons -- not terribly excited about this procedure yet, saying, you know we're not really sure if you compare patient to patient how well this stent will work versus operations.
For now, anyway, it seems like it will be reserved just for high- risk patients.
COLLINS: Obviously nobody really wants to go under the knife, so to speak. But why then, Sanjay, is this being seen as sort of a more desirable approach to stroke prevention?
GUPTA: Yes, I mean one of the things is you're talking about a little puncture needle-point in the groin as opposed to an operation, so its less invasive for one thing.
It may end up being less costly in the long run as well and also for patient's who have some other contraindications, some reason not to have a natural operation it may be a good option as well.
You know, patient's typically don't want to have an operation if they can somehow avoid it, and this may be a good alternative for them although again it's worth emphasizing the jury is still out as to whether or not this would be good for all patients, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, you already mentioned the high risk. What makes them any different than medium or lower risk patients?
GUPTA: Well, you know, if you think who is at risk for stroke in general, who are people who are likely to develop stroke it's going to be the elderly people, people who have higher cholesterol, blood pressure.
These are things we've all talked about. Smoking, diabetes and who've had "mini-strokes" in the past. Mini-strokes meaning TIAs, where your arm or your vision have gone numb for a second.
But there's also a sub-set within that the highest risk group. Those are people who have severe heart, lung, and kidney disease. They've had prior neck surgery or radiation. They've had recent surgery for something else. Or they have an existing block of the other carotid artery. The carotid artery on the other side so when you're doing this operation you may put them at greater risk for a stroke.
Those people may all be candidates for this stenting sort of procedure. Again, approved by the FDA this week so it's now available and out there.
COLLINS: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta thanks so much for that Sanjay.
Want to quickly take you back to Russia now. A little bit more information available to us. Moments ago we told you about some people being let out of that building.
You can see there in the distance these pictures just in. Three women and three infants apparently have been released from that school in Russia, southern Russia to be exact.
Again, three women, with three infants have been let out of the school looking at that picture once again. You see there in the middle them being escorted away by soldiers and security on the scene there. A very, very tense situation. Hopefully this means some progress is being made. Clearly a step in the right direction. Of course going to keep right on top of it for you.
We have a correspondent in the area. Going to check in with him momentarily.
Meanwhile, still to come this morning we head back over to the CNN Diner. Andy Serwer is there "Minding Your Business" -- and tells you about one big city about to turn into a web surfer's dream.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
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JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We've got a live picture of Central Park, the great lawn, supposedly still intact.
They refuse to let those quarter-million people go in there and stomp around on our grass.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes.
CAFFERTY: We're here at the CNN Diner at 34th and 8th Avenue. Andy Serwer with the business report. A lot of economic data out this morning and none of it very good.
SERWER: Yes, a little weak, a little soft. We'll get to that in a second.
Let's talk about what happened yesterday on Wall Street.
Most stocks are up. The Dow was down a little bit. Overall, the markets seeming to recover. Volume picking up a little bit as people seem to be considering that we're going to get back to normal at some point here in Manhattan.
Let's talk about these economic reports. Weak, weak, weak across the board. Productivity up a little bit but not as much as expected. Jobless claims for the past week up to 362,000. That's moving to that 400,000... CAFFERTY: Three weeks in a row.
SERWER: That's right, they're moving toward that 400,000. Some of that may have to do with Charley, the hurricane.
Now, retail sales, a lot of that coming in again weak. Wal-Mart only up half a percentage point for the month. Target up a little bit, pretty nicely.
Federated Stores, that's Macy's and Bloomingdale's, down 2.4 percent, May -- that's Lord & Taylor, down 5.9 percent. And Wal-Mart lowering its projections, Jack, for the balance of the year as well. Not good news there.
CAFFERTY: We also did a little survey of some of the businesses right here around Madison Square Garden. If you were with us on Monday, we talked about the fact that we are right across the street from a triple-X porno theatre here on what they call the "Minnesota Strip," which is 8th Avenue.
SERWER: In fact.
CAFFERTY: And Andy's producer, Todd, who has been spending a lot of time over there anyway, went by this morning and talked to the night manager who told us that business has not been as good. There's not as much money in the till. They're seeing a lot more people wearing suits.
SERWER: Now who would that be, Jack?
CAFFERTY: That would be, like, the delegates.
SERWER: Ah-ha. Also the sales of the stores around here, Jack, are pretty weak generally. They're saying the bookstore not doing much business but they're saying a lot of people coming in and looking for "Unfit for Command" about Kerry.
But the guy doesn't have it because it's sold out.
CAFFERTY: All right, and they're going to wire Philadelphia for the Internet and we're out of -- almost out of time -- but they're going to do this for the whole city?
SERWER: Yes, they're planning on doing it. All 135 square miles of it. Ten million dollar project, they're looking at doing this. And you know you get your cheese steak, you get your pretzel, put a little mustard on it and do your wi-fi thing.
Kind of an interesting idea but you know I guess if you're the city of Philadelphia you're going to do what you can to attract people there.
CAFFERTY: Yes, when they get all through wiring the place, it's still Philadelphia. But that's good. City of...
SERWER: Not that it's anything -- yes. CAFFERTY: We're going to go to the "File." We'll do the scorecard because we're a little parched for time and I absolutely want to get this on.
CNN has spared no expense for the delegates here at the convention or here at the diner. We have hired a guy named Mehmet Yilmaz, and he's here at the diner. If you order coffee with extra mill, Mehmet Yilmaz will come to your table and personally serve you.
Here's what he does: Yilmaz has a rare talent. He sucks milk through his nose and then squirts -- squirts it out of his eye. You know, you can get extra coffee in your milk from clear across the diner.
SERWER: That can't be real. Is it real?
CAFFERTY: It's estimated he's achieved a distance of over six feet and we think that could be a world record but, hey, who's he going to compete with?
And in Germany, love on a hot afternoon -- landed a guy who'd had a couple or two too many drinks in jail.
Police say they had to physically separate this gentleman from his inflatable lover, with whom he was intimately involved in full view of passers by in Berlichten (ph). The blow up doll would not comment on whether she plans to visit the man in prison, but she did issue a statement saying that the police managed to take all the air out of their relationship.
SERWER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Want to see the guy squirting milk out of his eyes again?
SERWER: No, I want to see...
CAFFERTY: Well, I do. Let's look at it. Look at this guy. Huh?
Try that with your banana wackys in the morning. Bill, that's all I have, but that's pretty good for a Thursday.
SERWER: Huh?
HEMMER: I said Vitamin D or 2 percent? Don't even answer it. Thanks.
CAFFERTY: You know who found that story? Ted Fine, our demented, degenerate producer of this program, is the guy who couldn't wait -- 4:30 this morning.
"Guess what I found for the 'File?' There's a guy who squirts milk out of his eye."
Thank you, Ted, very much, for helping my career on this downward trajectory toward oblivion.
HEMMER: There's a net down there somewhere, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes, right.
HEMMER: See you later.
In a moment here, the main attraction takes center stage at Madison Square Garden. The president in New York already last night at a local firehouse.
Tonight, he's the main attraction -- a preview ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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