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Florida Begins Recovery From Fay; Democratic Nation Convention Begins; Democrats Face Rumors of Clinton Split Before Convention; Small Plane Crashes on Little League Field; Girl, 15, Caught with Suicide Vest in Iraq; How Does Biden Stack up on Economic Issues?
Aired August 25, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's live coverage of the Democratic National Convention.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, HOST: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Four hours and counting until the Democratic National Convention gets under way. Some big and kind of unexpected headlines right now. All sides are desperately trying to shoot down reports that both Clintons, the senator and the former president, are feuding with the Obama campaign. It comes as we have some brand new proof that Democrats need all the unity that they can muster. Our latest poll numbers show that the Obama/McCain race is tied, absolutely dead even at this point. The Democrats are hoping for a surge in support after this week's convention.
Joining us now, we're back with four of the very smartest political analysts in the nation. God, I'm good to you guys, aren't I? CNN political contributor Amy Holmes is with us, an independent conservative. Hank Scheinkopf is a Democratic strategist. He's also a CNN contributor. Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky is with us. She's the president of the Comprehensive Communications Group. And CNN political analyst Carl Bernstein is a Pulitzer Prize winner, journalist, author, all those things. He is with us, as well.
Let's get right to it. We haven't talked a lot about the Clintons, and you're going into this with a unity theme, and yet there's very much some disunity.
So Carl, you wrote the book. Why don't you start? What's happening here? Is it all hunky-dory, as many people have been telling me, or is there this severe tension?
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No. It's a very human situation, and sometimes the Clintons play too hard for their own good, and I think we're seeing part of the result of that.
Bill Clinton is mad as hell, and has been, about how he is being perceived. He comes out of this primary season the real loser. Hillary Clinton comes out enhanced, no matter what. And his speech at this convention has to be, and he knows it, about partly redeeming his legacy.
He is the first Democratic president since Roosevelt to serve two terms and yet he spent his whole life, you know, fighting really admirably for, among other things, the rights and aspirations of black people. He's been characterized unfairly, but he's done some things to help get himself into trouble as a racist in this campaign. He wants to get up there tonight and regain his stature -- when he speaks, not tonight.
O'BRIEN: But you don't want to say, but not about you.
BERNSTEIN: But meanwhile Hillary Clinton and her people, you know, yes, she feels that she should have won, and she's still got a lot of bruises, but she also is a Democrat.
O'BRIEN: Sure, but let's...
BERNSTEIN: Who wants the Democrats to win...
O'BRIEN: Which is the key point.
BERNSTEIN: And that's the real point.
AMY HOLMES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Let me follow onto Carl's point here. Barack Obama, he contributed to some of this bad blood when he said that Ronald Reagan had been a president who'd changed the trajectory of America, unlike Richard Nixon, unlike Bill Clinton. So in the same breath not only did he demean and diminish Bill Clinton's presidency, but he compared him to Richard Nixon, someone who almost got impeached, had to leave office. So Barack Obama has contributed to this.
But also going to Carl's point, I happen to know that a big fundraiser for Hillary Clinton during the primary, he had been considering throwing his support behind John McCain, someone he'd known from years. He got that phone call from Hillary Clinton who said, "No, you can't do it. You've got to support Barack Obama. You have to do it for the party."
So I think what we were seeing, what Carl is mentioning is this split between the Clintons: angry and disgruntled Bill Clinton and a Hillary who doesn't want to get blamed if Barack Obama doesn't win.
JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: But I think Hillary is doing her job. Bill Clinton needs to redeem the brand. A lot of Democrats, you know, myself included, are huge Clinton fans and huge Bill Clinton supporters, but at the same time, this speech that he's giving this week needs to redeem the Clinton brand.
Because if he doesn't do that and if he continues to talk in ways that make people think that he's not doing everything he can to elect Barack Obama, there is going to be damage done to that Clinton brand well after this November election is over.
O'BRIEN: That people will not forget for a long time.
ROGINSKY: That's right.
O'BRIEN: So there's really pressure on all sides here. Let me just tell you something. I believe we have from Davenport, Iowa, Barack Obama is holding sort of a town-hall meeting. He's not in Denver yet. He's not really coming in. These are the pictures you can see live, where he's going to be doing sort of a Q&A in Davenport. So let's take a moment to listen in. Then I'll have questions for you on the other side.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... will have the great honor of accepting the nomination of the Democratic Party to be their candidate for president of the United States. I -- this is a journey that started 19 months ago, and 19 months, that's a long time. That means that there are babies who have been born and are now walking and talking since I started running for president.
And so people ask me, they say, what -- what have you learned about America since you started running for president? And I say, "Well, No. 1, America is really big." You know, when you've traveled to 48 states in the continental United States, been to Hawaii. Alaska is the only state I haven't campaigned in. You realize what a magnificent land we have, with fertile soil and beautiful mountains and coastlines. It's a great, great blessing, this land that we call America.
Second thing you're reminded of is just how wonderful the American people are. Obviously, people say that all the time, but I think I have special credibility, because I've spoken now to hundreds of thousands of people and shaken hundreds of thousands of hands and kissed hundreds of babies, and, you know, the American people, they're smart, they're generous, they're decent, they work hard. They're self-reliant. They're independent, and they share a set of common values.
You go to an inner city, you go to a suburb, you go to a farm community, it turns out people pretty much want the same things. They want to find a job that pays a living wage and that makes them feel like they're making a contribution. They want health care so they're not bankrupt when they get sick. They want to send their kids to college and make sure that their children do better than they do. They want to retire with some dignity and some respect. It's not a lot.
Third thing that I've learned is that the American people are worried. Not just about themselves, but just worried about the direction of the country as a whole, and they...
O'BRIEN: Barack Obama at a town hall, outdoor town hall in Davenport, Iowa.
Let's get back to our panel. Really quick, interesting to see, talking about values, values, values, and the audience behind him are those critical voters, the working class, some older voters who he's had a hard time reaching in some cases.
HOLMES: Indeed. And I think that's most likely by design, not by accident.
O'BRIEN: No accidents in this game.
HOLMES: No. And that Barack Obama does need, and we'll see during this convention he does need to locate himself in those heartland values, those Midwestern values. Hank, you talked about it, where Barack Obama needs to go.
HANK SCHEINKOPF, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: He needs to take the economic argument and bring it home to those folks, and that's why he's talking about commonality, American purpose, people being together. It was very important.
O'BRIEN: Hank and Amy and Julie and Carl, of course, ankaHHthank you very much.
We want you to stay with the best political team on TV right here on CNN for the best convention coverage on TV. I'm Soledad O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Plane down on a ball field. Major league drama at a Little League workout in Texas. A helmet cam captures it all.
What's left of Fay brings rain and the threat of tornadoes to much of the south. And it's not done yet.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta, and you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We start with storm dangers. And first to Colorado outside Denver where the Democrats are meeting, and imagine this bearing down on your home. It's one of four tornadoes that touched down. Incredibly, no serious damage was done.
And today Alabama is on alert, as well. What's left of Tropical Storm Fay is triggering tornado warnings and flash-flood watches to the east and rain for areas that really need it. That storm is blamed for 11 deaths in Florida, plus one each in Alabama and Georgia.
Chad Myers, we're not even finished with Fay yet, right? We're hearing about some more action throughout.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We could have 10 inches of rain here in Atlanta, and that could make more flash flooding. You get a lot of concrete in places where it can't soak in, the rain just runs off, and you're going to get flooding.
We've gone from literally a drought situation, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, all the way into South Carolina, and all of a sudden Fay has put the damper on all of those things. We'll take the rain, but I'll tell you what. We're going to get some severe weather, as well. We are going to get tornadoes today.
We've already had about 50 tornado warnings so far, which means these storms are spinning. But only two confirmed touchdowns, which means we've got 48 that didn't confirm. Now, that's good and bad. I don't want you to get complacent with this just because, well, you know, these storms, they've been rotating but they're not coming down. They could rotate anytime for you in Georgia, the Carolinas, through Alabama, into Florida as well. And this is still going to be a serious situation with small tornadoes, not Texas-sized tornadoes, but it only takes one across your house to make a big deal.
So, yes, it is going to be a flood threat today, flood flash warnings and warnings all day long. We're going to have watches and warnings there all the way from Atlanta back down into probably Mobile.
Now, Gustav. You thought, "Wait, Fay is not even done yet." Now we're on the "G" storm. It is still Tropical Depression No. 7, but the hurricane hunter aircraft is flying in it. This thing has a well- defined circulation center. I think they're going to find the winds to make it Gustav later today. If not today and tonight, possibly tomorrow. This is very warm water.
It is forecast to go back over Cuba and then, look. Then look: then it gets into this water, which is the same place that Fay went. Now, does it go to the east or to the west? That's still five or six days away. But right now 35 miles per hour gusting to 45, Tropical Depression No. 7, soon to be the "G" storm, I'm afraid.
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: The "G" storm. Is that because it pulls G-force?
MYERS: "G," Gustav.
PHILLIPS: OK. Gustav, a little G-force. It all works perfectly. All right. We'll track it with you.
MYERS: All right.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: I'll be here.
PHILLIPS: Let's go overseas and go to northern India. The floods there are catastrophic. More than 1 million people are cut off from the rest of the country by monsoon rains, with roads and railways swept away. Helicopters and troops now trying to get food and relief supplies to the stranded people.
The monsoon season has killed more than 330 people in India, and the season runs from June to September.
Now, take a look at this. This is something that you just don't see very often. A plane crash rescue through the eyes of the rescuer. You can actually see the pilot and the passenger being pulled from that wreckage. They're dazed, but they're alive. And their small plane had crashed on a baseball field in east Texas while a Little League team was practicing. More now from reporter Christy Ross of CNN affiliate KBTX.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTY ROSS, KBTX REPORTER (voice-over): It was anything but your typical ball game in Caldwell Wednesday night.
AUSTIN SCARMARDO, WITNESS: It was coming in and it nailed the -- it hit the pole. If it wasn't for the pole it would have probably came in in left field and hit some of us.
ROSS: This was no fastball. Rather, a single-engine Cessna plane that crash-landed a few feet from the pitcher's mound.
AIDEN HOSEA, WITNESS: I just didn't know what to do. I was just so scared.
ROSS: One of the first officers on the scene captures the chaotic moments following the crash on his helmet camera as people rush onto the field to help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The left wing was kind of hanging and it was on top of them. And so we were trying to move the wing so that they could crawl out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you at right now? Do you know what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
ROSS: A scary day that many believe could have been much worse.
GENE HAWKINS, WITNESS: We're saying prayers for the pilot and the passenger and hope they're OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Both men in the plane are expected to be OK. No one on the ground was hurt.
Now two other plane crashes to tell you about. In Guatemala a plane carrying humanitarian workers went down yesterday after the pilot made a distress call about engine failure. Ten people on board were killed, including eight Americans. Four passengers survived.
And in Kyrgyzstan, the deadliest plane disaster in almost 20 years: 65 people died yesterday when a Boeing 737 bound for Tehran crashed while trying to make an emergency landing at the country's main airport. Twenty-five people survived. All of Kyrgyzstan's aging planes are banned from Europe now over safety concerns.
And eight inmates busted out of jail in New Mexico last night. Seven are still on the loose. Police say the men used handmade tools to cut a hole in the roof of the Curry County detention center in Clovis. Police captured one of them overnight, and take a good look at these mug shots of the other. Edwards Salas on your lower left is serving life for killing a 10-year-old boy. Larry McClendon, who's awaiting trial in a murder case. The rest, all suspects in other violent crimes.
With the common enemy gone, Pakistan's ruling coalition is in turmoil. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif withdrew his party from the bickering alliance today. He blames the coalition for failing to restore the judges ousted by former President Pervez Musharraf.
Now, a week ago the coalition forced Musharraf to resign on threat of impeachment. Today's move could allow the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to tighten its hold on the government. Not if Sharif has anything to do with it. He's named a retired judge to run against Bhutto's widower and political successor in next month's political election.
Children caught up in the horror of war. A 15-year-old Iraqi girl caught wearing an explosive vest: a willing suicide bomber or a victim of fanatic adults? We're going to have that story from Baghdad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures now of the Pepsi Center in Denver. Right there on the inside, kickoff day of the historic Democratic convention. Barack Obama two days away from becoming the first African-American presidential nominee of a major U.S. party.
The best political team on television will be there every step of the way, bringing you live coverage all week from Denver and CNN election headquarters in New York.
Defying the west, Russia is tightening the screws on the Republic of Georgia right now. Here's the latest.
The Russian parliament voted unanimously today to recognize independence for Georgia's two breakaway regions. Russia's president still has to agree. And earlier this month Russian troops invaded Georgia after Georgia tried to regain control of one of those regions, South Ossetia.
The U.S. and its western allies say that Russia still hasn't lived up to a ceasefire agreement by pulling out all of its forces. Most pulled out Friday, but some still remain.
Now Vice President Cheney will travel to the region a week from tomorrow. A White House spokesperson says that he'll reiterate the U.S. commitment to Georgia in talks with the Georgian president. Cheney also plans to visit two other former Soviet republics and Italy.
Iraq's prime minister said that U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have agreed that there will be no foreign troops on Iraqi soil after 2011. In fact, Nuri al-Maliki says that any agreement on the future of U.S. troops in his country must include a specific timeline for withdrawal or there's no deal. White House spokesperson Tony Fratto says that nothing is written in stone just yet, but he believes that Baghdad and Washington can reach a mutual agreement.
And just when you think that you've seen it all in Iraq, police capture a 15-year-old girl wearing an explosive vest. Is she prepared to die for her cause, or was she forced into the ranks of suicide bombers?
CNN's Arwa Damon reports from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Clear all the civilians," a voice yells. "This girl is wearing an explosive vest." It was detected when she was searched by a female security official at a checkpoint in Baqubah.
As you can see in this police video, the cameraman is keeping his distance. She's just 15 years old. We're concealing her identity because of her age.
"Is everything OK?" someone asks.
"Yes, yes," the policeman replies.
With the belt safely removed, the girl is taken into custody. At the police station, her voice trembles; her sentences are incomplete often incoherent. "A woman put it on me," she says.
"Do you know them?" the police ask.
"I swear I don't know them," she answers. She says her husband was present when the women put the vest on her, and she also swears she didn't want to detonate herself.
"If you didn't want to detonate, why did you get rid of the trigger?" a police officer asks her.
"I didn't throw it away. Maybe it fell. I don't know about this," she replies.
The police try to convince her to lead them to the women. "Take us to them so we can help you," they say.
"She led us to a house," General Abdul Kanif (ph) says, "where there are two women and a man who are involved in preparing suicide belts and prepping the women. The police found a second vest, but the house deserted. They detained her parents.
"She was duped," Kanif (ph) explains. "This operation was prepared by professional women. She says she was carrying this belt on her body to transfer it from one location to another. She says she was promised it wouldn't explode."
But her story keeps changing. Later she swears she didn't even know the vest contained explosives. "I was going to give it to my mother so that she could inform the police," she swears. The police are searching for the terrorist cell members.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: U.S. forces in Iraq have arrested a suspect in the kidnapping of American journalist Jill Carroll. The "Christian Science Monitor" reporter was abducted in January of 2006 and freed unharmed two months later.
A military spokesperson says the suspect was one of two senior members of al Qaeda in Iraq captured during operations in Baghdad earlier this month. The Carroll suspect is believed to be the mastermind of her kidnappers.
Turning back to politics now, the economy is issue No. 1 for most voters. So what does Joe Biden bring to the Democratic ticket? CNN's Christine Romans reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Joe Biden's forte, foreign policy not the economy, but he's more average Joe than millionaire senator.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D-DE), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My net worth is $70,000 to $150,000. That's what happens when you get elected at 29. I couldn't afford to stay in the Congress for minimum wage, but if I'd get a second job, I'd do it.
ROMAN: He has voted to raise the minimum wage. He was an early supporter of NAFTA. More recently he voted against CAFTA, the Central-American Free Trade Agreement, trade deals unpopular in potential swing states where they're blamed for lost factory jobs.
But economic clout, many say, is more critical now for the McCain camp.
JOE GEER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: It's McCain who really needs to get somebody on his ticket who has real economic credentials. Because of the situation with the economy, you know, Obama is going to have a just have a real edge there. He can talk about the inflation rate. He can talk about the debt, because all these things have been accrued under a Republican administration.
ROMANS: If there is a hallmark of Biden's economic record, it is as a representative of the corporate interests in his home state of Delaware. Three years ago Biden sided with the credit card industry to make it harder for people to file for bankruptcy. He voted with Senator John McCain and against Senator Barack Obama.
(on camera) The challenge for this ticket is convincing Americans it has a solution to a housing crisis, a $9 trillion national debt, growing budget and trade surpluses, 40 million people without health insurance, and skyrocketing food and gas prices.
Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And twisters outside Denver. Take cover right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And after one of the longest nominating fights in presidential history, the Democrats are finally ready to make history. Their national convention kicking off today in Denver. We'll take you there live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's live coverage of the national Democratic convention.
O'BRIEN: And welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien with the very latest.
You're taking a look at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Democrats are getting ready to launch their convention. Already lots of high drama and a few surprises.
Here's surprise No. 1. Looks like Senator Ted Kennedy, who was, of course, an early Obama endorser, is going to be in the hall tonight as delegates pay tribute to his long career. He's been battling brain cancer and aides say he was absolutely itching to attend. So he will be there tonight.
Also, Barack Obama will be making a surprise video appearance at the end of his wife, Michelle's, speech this evening.
As for the drama, the Clintons to some degree are at the center of it. Reports that Bill Clinton is unhappy with his speaking role, which is coming up on Wednesday. The Clinton and Obama forces issuing a statement today denying that there's any tension at all.
There's also some new polling that shows a growing number of Clinton supporters saying that they're going to be voting for John McCain.
But the big moments tonight will be dominated by a celebrated party leader and then his talented and loving wife. Michelle Obama, in fact, spent part of the day up on the podium, kind of taking a look around, practicing a bit. Her daughters, Malia and Sasha, were right by her side, testing out the gavel. It was kind of fun to see.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is covering that part of the story. She's in Denver.
Hey, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Soledad. It really was a fun moment to see them testing out the mics and teleprompter. Those little girls very sweet. They tend to gravitate towards the spotlight there. Clearly, this is a very big moment for Michelle Obama. She has to present to voters and intends to present to voters and the delegates a different kind of picture of her husband, not the politician, but the man, the father, the one who really dotes on those two daughters, the one who grew up in humble beginnings.
They are trying to kind of counter that line we have heard from Republicans, from John McCain that he is an elitist, that somehow he's out of touch with common people, that he's pretentious in some way. She's going to break down and talk about Barack Obama, the guy who obviously was raised by a single mom, temporarily on welfare, somebody who really had a lot of grit, a lot of ambition, a lot of love for his family.
She's going to talk a little bit about herself as well. At times she's been a controversial figure. At times the McCain camp and Republicans have used her to in some ways hurt the campaign, accusing them of not being patriotic. I have had a chance to talk to Michelle Obama about some of the things people misperceive about her. She says, look, once people know who they are, really are, they will get a sense that they are like everybody else, an American family, a patriotic family.
She gets up at 4:30 in the morning. She's got a calendar. She's trying to get her kids from this place to this place. She's really called the "rock behind Barack." That is what we're going to hear her talk about this evening. Soledad?
O'BRIEN: The other big event I know people are looking forward to is the Kennedy tribute. It was really wonderful news to hear that he will be at least well enough to attend this evening. Gosh, people talked about not a dry eye in the house. I think that's a very fair prediction.
MALVEAUX: It's going to be an incredible moment. A lot of people are anticipating that, thinking wow, look at this. This really is an icon of the Democratic party. He videotaped an appearance as part of this, anticipating that perhaps he wasn't going to be strong enough to attend. But aides are saying now that he will be a part of this, at least in the audience, and this really is going to be quite a moment.
I remember when he endorsed Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., and it was unbelievable the kind of enthusiasm, the kind of energy that he actually brought to the campaign, and the gravitas as well, because of his own standing in the party. That's a moment we're certainly going to be looking for. Caroline Kennedy, his niece, is going to be a part of that very special moment.
O'BRIEN: Of course, all of this is really the lead up to Thursday, that 75,000-plus stadium. It can hold that many people, and Barack Obama's speech. It's an interesting thing to read about the differences between this time around and even four year ago, in terms of technology, in terms of creating a database, not just getting people in those chairs, but what do you with them later.
MALVEAUX: Well, the way they describe this -- we were briefed by Obama campaign officials yesterday -- is that this is going to be a totally different kind of convention all together. They are actually going to be taking advantage, Soledad, of the people who are waiting in line the day before to get to that speech on Thursday night. They're all going to be out there in sleeping bags or whatever to make sure that they get a seat. They said they're going to have trainers out there who are actually going to be training them to use, whether it's the phone or the text message, the blackberry, to send texts to their friends, to their family, to register them to vote, to get involved in the campaign.
They said this is a very -- this is a strategic move on their part. Very deliberate here to get what they are calling 75,000 people to be part of a grassroots army, get their addresses, get their e- mails, get their telephone numbers, and get them involved in the next two months. So they are going to put these people to work, and they anticipate that they are going to cooperate. They have done it in the past, and they say that's how they were successful in the caucuses.
O'BRIEN: DNC.com, I guess. Suzanne Malveaux for us today. Thanks, Suzanne. Appreciate it.
Certainly there is no shortage of news from the Democratic side. We're going to talk about it with our political panel, and that is coming up next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: You're taking a look at thee podium inside the Pepsi Center. The gavel will come down making it all official at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. Former president Jimmy Carter will speak tonight, so will Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy will be honored as well. He's going to be there in person, we are told.
The question of the Clintons is still up in the air. That makes lots to talk about now for us. Joining us this afternoon is the GOP strategist and CNN political contributor Leslie Sanchez, also CNN contributor, Democratic super delegate as well, Robert Zimmerman with us. Nice to see you both.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good to be with you.
O'BRIEN: Leslie, why don't we start with you. Let's talk about Michelle Obama. What kind of pressure is really on her? We heard from Suzanne Malveaux about the themes that she's going to be covering. How important is her speech?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Her speech is tremendously important, but one thing, she cannot be discounted. On the stump, she has been incredibly effective. She's a good orator, just like -- many would say better than her husband, in terms of moving those messages. She appeals definitely to a lot of women. But the challenge is can she dispel some of the supposed myths around her. She has to talk about her patriotism, has to talk about her family. But she has to lay the groundwork again in reintroducing her people.
There's 80 million people that did not vote in the primaries that are going to now start to focus on who the real Barack Obama is, and this is the first kind of laying the foundation for what the next three days are going to be about.
O'BRIEN: You tee up very nicely the clip about the patriotism. I want to play a little bit from an interview that he she did with Roland Martin. Let's play that clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, WIFE OF BARACK OBAMA: I have said and will continue to say that I am absolutely proud of my country. And in no other place in this country could my story be possible. I mean, you know, I am here because of the opportunities that my father had, that my mother had. You know, we are who Americans were supposed to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: That was the interview with Roland Martin that she did, and I should mention, I could imagine, Leslie, that will be the theme of her entire talk.
SANCHEZ: You know, the bigger question is why does she have to explain that. There were a lot of gaffes used against her, kind of misstatements. As people were getting to know who the Barack Obama family was, you know, kind of what their history is, what their legacy is, they don't have the time on the national platform that other candidates do. So they had to come compress that. Every little gaffe can be enlarged to a greater extent.
O'BRIEN: The answer to your question why -- it's because the Republicans leveraged it and now she's got to go back and clarify some of --
SANCHEZ: She made the statement. She made the statement.
O'BRIEN: Let him jump in.
ZIMMERMAN: Thank you, Leslie, for that moment. If I could, we're not talking about mis-evolving Michelle Obama. We're talking about Republican smears of Michelle Obama. It was a statement taken out of context. The more important point is tonight and this week is when the nation will focus on the Barack Obama family and their personal story. Michelle Obama will just -- all she has to do is be who she is, a phenomenal mother, a dedicated spouse, a passionate advocate for the causes for working people, an accomplished lawyer.
She has a personal story, as does Barack Obama, that when the nation listens to and hears, apart from all of the Republican smear tactics, they're going to say this is a family that working men and women can relate to, a family that truly understands the challenges we're facing as a nation.
O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a question -- hang on Leslie, I've got to ask Robert another question, because we have heard about all this sniping back and forth between Obama and Clinton. And every time I talk to anybody who is a Democratic strategist they say, sniping? What sniping? What are you talking about? Yet you look at some of the poll numbers, and I can tell you're getting ready to say a similar thing --
ZIMMERMAN: No, I'm not.
O'BRIEN: What is going on that we're talking about that instead of unity, which is the theme?
ZIMMERMAN: Look, I'm going to be very candid with you, Soledad. We're not beginning this convention as a united party. I believe by Thursday evening, we will be there. Let's understand, we went through a 17-month primary. It was an exhausting, emotional side. Each side feels passionately about their point of view, and about who they supported. But
I just left a New York delegation meeting with Hillary Clinton and she gave the strongest, most enthusiastic speech for Barack Obama that I think anyone has given so far. I think you will see between her speech on Tuesday night, Bill Clinton's speech on Wednesday night, you will see the Democratic party leadership come together for Barack Obama. But the challenge of this, reaching out to the Clinton constituency. I know the media likes to focus on the soap opera between the Obama campaign and the Clinton campaign. The issue is the Clinton constituencies, working people. That's Barack Obama's challenge. I think he and Joe Biden are well equipped to meet it.
O'BRIEN: We're out of time. Leslie, we will get back to you. We have hours and days of coverage. Robert Zimmerman and Leslie Sanchez will all get their words in as we continue. Lot's to talk about. That's our convention coverage for now. We'll be back with the very latest in just about 20 minutes and throughout the day, of course. Reporting from New York, I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Let's send it right back to Atlanta and the CNN NEWSROOM right after this short break.
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KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Promoting unity and making history, twin themes of a historic Democratic convention kicking off in Denver today after one of the longest nominating battles in presidential history. You're seeing live pictures right now at the Pepsi Center, where the best political team on television is bringing live coverage all day. Now, let's run down some of the other stories we're bringing you live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
No specifics, no deal; Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki says the Iraqis won't agree on any U.S. pullout without a specific timeline. U.S. and Iraqi negotiators are trying to hammer out details as we speak.
Israel today freed nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners just hours before a visit from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The Israelis OKed the release a week ago, calling it a peace-building move. Two of those released are convicted murderers who have already served long sentences.
A manhunt is under way in eastern New Mexico after eight inmates escaped from the Curry County Jail. Police caught one of them. The others are still at large. One of the escapees is a convicted murderer. No word on how they got out.
Swamped by floodwaters and threatened by tornadoes, millions of Americans are reeling from days of bad weather. New video from the CNN NEWSROOM. This is from Bonita Springs, Florida. Fay is no longer a tropical storm, but it is still packing a punch. Parts of Florida under water right now, as you can see. Tornadoes and floods are a threat across the deep south as well. A look at this scene near Denver, Colorado. At least four tornadoes touched down just southeast of the city on the eve of the Democratic convention. No substantial damage or injuries reported there.
Some neighborhoods in Florida are under several feet of water in the aftermath of Fay. Susan Candiotti is in one of the hardest hit areas near Daytona Beach.
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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm in the city of Dubarry (ph), nicknamed the River City. The St. Johns River runs by here. They also have a lot of retention lakes and small lakes around which subdivisions have been built. Because of all the rain from Tropical Storm Fay, there's been a lot of buildup in these lakes, causing them to overflow their banks. You see what's happened as a result of it. Some homes have been flooded. Other homes have not, but they have evacuated about 180 homes here in this city, one part of it, just as a precautionary measure in some cases, so that people could get out in case floodwaters come in.
Let me show you what they're doing down the street from here to try to get rid of some of this water. As we pan our camera down here, they've got pumper trucks, and there must be close to 40 of them, they say, by day's end. Each one comes in, they -- each one holds about 6,000 gallons of water. So they're pumping the water to bring down the level of the lakes, and then these are going away, dropping the load and coming back for more. It's been happening throughout the day. The hope is that there won't be very many more thunderstorms, as they often happen every day in the summertime here, to add more water to the mix here.
If that rain stays away, if they can keep the levels low enough, then perhaps people will be able to move back into their homes where they had to leave. But, of course, there will be cleanup no matter what. Susan Candiotti, CNN, Dubarry, Florida.
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PHILLIPS: And at the beach, the water is the obvious danger, but the sand can be risky as well. A teenager was critically injured over the weekend when a sand cave collapsed on top of him. It happened at a state park just outside Seattle. A boy was buried for 20 minutes before frantic witnesses could dig him out. Park rangers say that fences and warnings signs in the dunes keep getting torn down.
They say the impact came out of nowhere. A group of cyclists on a Sunday morning ride slammed from behind a taxicab. That accident left bikes and equipment scattered over a Miami causeway. Six riders were hurt, one of them critically.
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DET. JUAN SANCHEZ, MIAMI BEACH POLICE: They did not see the car coming. They didn't know they were going to get hit until they started to get hit. Some of them were hit by the car. When the first one was hit, they all started jumping up into everyone and everyone went down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Police say the cab driver admitted falling asleep at the wheel. So far, no charges have been filed.
The pot at the Miami mall was nowhere near the houseware section, I can tell you that. Check out what was found growing in a storage area on the second floor, more than 200 marijuana plants, some of them six feet tall. The feds say someone had diverted electricity from the mall to power the grow house, with wiring so flimsy it could have caused an explosion. So far drug agents haven't made any arrests.
Time to buy? The National Association of Realtors say existing home sales rose 3.1 percent last month. That's almost double the rate that analysts were expecting, and a five-month high. Still, sales are down more than 13 percent from a year ago. The median home price has dropped more than seven percent.
Gas prices are dropping again, partly due to a drop in demand. AAA says the average price for a gallon of regular is around 3.68. That's off 43 cents from the record high that AAA reported in mid- July. Only people in Alaska and Hawaii are still paying four bucks or more for regular unleaded.
Also, dropping your confidence in the economy. A new CNN Opinion Research Poll says 75 percent of Americans feel the economy is in very poor or somewhat poor condition. Compare that to a year ago, when just 43 percent felt the same way. Today, just a quarter of Americans rate the economy as somewhat or very good.
How is the latest news sitting with investors? Let's check the big board right now on Wall Street. Dow industrials down 209 points. We'll take you back to the trading floor later in the CNN NEWSROOM.
New options for inmates stretching their bodies and minds through yoga.
Here is a dog with some strong maternal instincts. She's already got six new borns of her own, but when she found an abandoned human baby, she just couldn't walk away. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Good-bye Beijing and hello London. Last night, Beijing wrapped up the 2008 summer Olympics with a feast for the imagination. The grandeur some say is equalled to the opening ceremony, just 17 days ago. Londoners gathered for a hand over party just outside Buckingham Palace. London hosts the summer games in 2012.
Take a look at the final medal count this Monday. The U.S. won the most medals, 110. China came in second with 100. But they led in gold with 51. Russia came in third overall with 72.
They can't free themselves, but they're learning how to free their minds. Some prison inmates in Mexico now have exercise options beyond the weight room. Instead of pumping iron, they're stretching their spirits through yoga. CNN's Harris Whitbeck takes a look.
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HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a long way from this gritty prison courtyard in Mexico City to Nirvana. But Christian Rodriguez is getting a little bit closer. For three months now, he and 90 other inmates have been receiving weekly yoga classes. Yolanda Acebedo is their teacher.
YOLANDA ACEBEDO, YOGA TEACHER: You know what you really are, and when you recognize what you have done before, the (INAUDIBLE)
WHITBECK: Christian, 24 years old, is addicted to cocaine. He's in prison for two years. He was busted for selling coke. He's got eight years left in his sentence. Yoga, he says, has helped him deal with the harshness of his life.
CHRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ, INMATE (through translator): Through your mind, you can do anything. The person guiding the meditation can transport you to a nice forest, for example. And if you concentrate hard enough, you can go there with your mind.
WHITBECK: It was hard at first. Before he went to prison, he says he never imagined himself doing yoga. Now, the practice offers him and other inmates hope.
RODRIGUEZ: I want to stop doing drugs. I'm learning things here that I would never learned out on the street.
WHITBECK: Prison officials agree.
EVA MONTANO, PRISON OFFICIAL (through translator): If we just keep them here, just punishing them, they won't leave here with a different spirit, another mentality. That would be a disservice to society.
WHITBECK (on camera): These are hardened criminals, convicted of stealing, of kidnapping, of even killing people. Yoga instructors try to look beyond that. They say they try to connect with the humanity they believe still exists within their pupils.
ACEBEDO: We are the best of god's creation, and we are acting as the worst. But when you recognize who you really are, maybe the image of love, you have to act and see the other person as that.
WHITBECK (voice-over): Wisdom from an ancient practice, reaching souls few have ever reached.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Here's a case of man's best friend living up to its name. This dog found an abandoned newborn baby in a field in Argentina and carried the eight-pound boy to the spot where her puppies were. Well, she and her litter basically kept the infant warm on a 37-degree night, saving his life. A nearby resident heard the baby crying, found him, and took him to the hospital. His mother, only 14, later showed up at the hospital and is now under psychological treatment.
Michelle Obama making the speech of a lifetime. Senator Edward Kennedy making a dramatic appearance. It's all part of the first day of the historic Democratic convention. The best political team on television is covering it all for you live.
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O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien in New York. You're taking a look inside the Pepsi Center in Denver, where they are getting ready for day one for the Democrats. In less than three hours now, at the Pepsi Center, Howard Dean's gavel is going to really officially begin that 2008 convention, bring it to order, or what passes for order, I guess, in a party that is famously fractious, frankly. There will be signs that 2008 is going to be a good year for the Democrats, but perhaps a challenging one for Barack Obama, especially if you look at the new polls.
The polls show that the race with John McCain At this point is all tied up. On the agenda tonight, the former president, Jimmy Carter, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Claire McCaskill from the crucial swing state of Missouri. And also there will be a special tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy. So, he is now expected to make an appearance in person. That, of course, is a very rare thing --
