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Hillary Clinton's Speech Examined; Preview of Convention Day Three; Tracking Tropical Storm Gustav; Political Divide Plays Out in Bangkok
Aired August 27, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and good morning to everyone from the CNN Election Center right here in New York. We're bringing you continuing coverage of another very big convention tonight, as well as a look back at that electrifying night that just went by.
Right now, it's sunrise in the mile high city, another bright clear day expected, dry weather forecasted for tomorrow night's acceptance speech which is going to be outside -- that's why the weather is so critical -- in front of an estimated 75,000 people.
Tonight, though, a very full schedule, including Barack Obama's name placed nomination, a roll call vote, and running mate, Joe Biden, taking the mic and Bill Clinton. A little drama there. Earlier in the week he was said to be unhappy about the topic that he was assigned to speak about, but just saw it a moment ago, beaming with pride as his wife, the senator, gave what some people have argued is the best speech of her life.
For more on that and also what's on tap for tonight, as CNN's Dana Bash, joins us from the convention site.
Hey, Dana, the speech you --
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It's understating it to say that it was highly anticipated. So first, let's listen to a clip and then let's talk about if she accomplished what she set out to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: I want you to ask yourselves. Were you in this campaign just for me or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that young boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage?
Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: People, Dana, who thought this was the strongest argument. She was saying, listen, it's not about me at the end of the day. All you 18 million people who voted for me, it's not about me.
Do you think she -- what was the reaction, first, from the crowd? Looks hugely positive.
BASH: Hugely positive. I mean -- stunningly positive, actually, Soledad. You know the -- across the entire convention hall -- first of all, they were really adding to the theatrics by giving everybody big signs.
One sign -- one side said "Unity," on the other side said "Obama." On one sign -- and the other sign said one -- "Unity" on one side and "Clinton" on the other side.
So it sets the stage for the amazing theatrics from the beginning. But in terms of what she had to do -- you know, first of all, in terms of unity, she made very clear, she is -- she said she is a proud supporter of Barack Obama.
And secondly, she also did what, I think, most of these Clinton supporters who are sort of on the fence about whether or not they really can support Barack Obama. What she said to them was she -- no way no how, John McCain.
That is probably one of the most important messages that Democrats wanted to hear from her at that convention hall.
O'BRIEN: Big night tonight. I mean it just keeps rolling on. Bill Clinton is going to be speaking.
Do you expect that we'll get -- you know, there was that little flap over the topic that we heard about. What happens with that? Does he go with the topic he wants, does he go with the topic that he -- apparently he was asked to talk about? And will he do the same thing that his wife has done, a full endorsement of Barack Obama?
BASH: Well, he definitely will be endorsing Barack Obama. That's what we're told, that there's no question about that. And excuse me, I'm starting -- just hearing myself in my ear. It's a little bit hard for me to have this conversation with you.
But let me just keep going and explain exactly what I'm told by some people who are very close to Bill Clinton and what they say is that, look, he harbors lingering resentment and lingering disappointment, even more perhaps than his wife.
But they say that what he hopes to do is to kind of show Barack Obama what he wants him to do in competing against Republicans and that's what this speech is going to be about.
It's going to be about contrast. It's going to be about explaining what he thinks is the difference between Democrats, Barack Obama, and Republicans, much like the kind of debate that he laid out when he first ran, the kind of change election that he first ran in 1992.
You know there's no secret that he has been a little bit disappointed about the fact that he hasn't been asked to campaign for Barack Obama, but we are told now that he will be asked to get out there and campaign for him after the convention ends -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Joe Biden is also expected to speak tonight. And his speech last week was what many Democrats foresee to be as hard hitting as it needs to be.
Will you see that tone again?
BASH: Well, I certainly expect it to be -- I mean this is the reason why Barack Obama picked Joe Biden. I mean, you know, you heard him, even before he was tapped to be the -- running mate for Barack Obama, on television shows making a crystal clear case for why he thinks Barack Obama should be -- should be the commander in chief.
He's a very, very likely to do it, though, in a way that is -- kind of red meat, the red meat that we've bee talking about for a couple of days but it's not -- maybe going to appear that way, and it will -- maybe appear softer, but his message will get it across just as strongly.
And the reason is because Joe Biden has been working with John McCain for a couple of decades and they are good friends. And they are colleagues who know each other very well.
But that, in fact, his advisers and Barack Obama's advisers hope will make his -- make it easier for him to make his case, that he knows John McCain and he simply doesn't think that John McCain, and more importantly, his stance on key policies issues, from foreign policies to domestic issues, the economy, that that's the right way to go.
So, you know, what vice presidential running mates are supposed to be are kind of the attack dog and I can't imagine we're not going to hear that from Joe Biden tonight.
O'BRIEN: So lots to look forward to tonight.
Dana Bash for us - thanks, Dana, appreciate it.
BASH: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Coming up next, we get some reaction from the radio and blogosphere. Taylor Marsh and Farai Chideya will be joining will be joining us right after this short messages Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
H. CLINTON: It makes perfect sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities because these days, they're awfully hard to tell apart.
(END VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: You could hear the roar of the crowd behind her. In front of her Senator Hillary Clinton sounding almost all the right notes for Barack Obama last night, galvanizing the crowd and Democratic hope, rallying her diehard supporters to get on board with him.
With that said, here's what the critics say. She did not utter a few key phrases that some people were looking for. She did not explicitly say that she felt he was qualified to be president, suggested otherwise, in fact, during the campaigning.
And Senator Clinton did not do what one GOP analyst said she needed to, which was exquisitely acknowledge some of the harsh things that were said during the primary campaign.
So let's dig a little deeper now, Farai Chideya with NPR, National Public Radio, host of the program "News & Notes," and Taylor Marsh, a radio talk show host and former Clinton supporter.
Nice to see both of you.
Taylor, let's start with you. You were a Clinton supporter, you're now a Barack Obama supporter. Listen to another chunk of Hillary Clinton's speech and I'll ask you the question on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
H. CLINTON: I haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women's rights here at home and around the world, to see another Republican in the White House squander our promise of a country that really fulfills the hopes of our people.
And you haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months or endured the last eight years to suffer through more failed leadership.
No way, no how, no McCain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Hear the roar of the crowd once again.
Taylor, it was a call for unity really in that one line there, "no way, no how, no McCain." Was it effective? Do you think it comes in time? Is the party now unified?
TAYLOR MARSH, FORMER CLINTON SUPPORTER, NOW SUPPORTING OBAMA: Well, I don't think you can wave a magic wand, but I don't know how anyone could have asked more of Senator Clinton last night. She was spectacular.
You could tell -- if you were in the house, you could tell by the crowd's reaction from the moment she walked on until she started delivering those sound bites. I -- you played two of the greatest ones. The Twin Cities one -- that was a riot.
And then to talk about "no way McCain," it's -- that's really the bottom line and the issues of the bottom line. So I think she did all she possibly could do last night.
O'BRIEN: There are people who said great speech, great delivery, knows how to kick off a speech. But on the topic of could do more, she didn't, for example, say Barack Obama is very qualified to be commander in chief. And that was a theme throughout the campaign.
So, Farai, you know -- and as I know you know, the McCain campaign issued a statement saying, you know, really that, she didn't say he's ready to be commander in chief.
Was that a big miss, a big hole, a big failure to make that point?
FARAI CHIDEYA, HOST, NPR'S "NEWS & NOTES": When I talked to delegates last night -- I was in the hall -- I think that, in general, people were quite pleased with her performance.
I did hear -- what I will tell you that I did hear was some regret among Hillary Clinton supporters, particularly white women, as opposed to black women, who still felt that she should have held the veep seat, and perhaps, you know, some people think that that's why she held back a little bit.
But I heard, in general, people, you know, who are here, who are true believers, saying that they thought that she did what she needed to do and she delivered for Obama.
O'BRIEN: She's constantly said, rightfully so, the 18 million cracks in the ceiling. Do you think that it's been critical for her to remind the folks in the audience about her influence or do you think that's more of a shout-out to her supporters really reminding them of their strength and their influence -- Taylor?
CHIDEYA: Well, Soledad, I think that when you see -- I just want to make a point that last night a lot of people were very impressed by the incredible montage that showed her life.
And, yes, this is a woman who is proud of what she's done. It's very clear from that, but also some people said, well, she'd only told her story that well during the campaign, perhaps she would be the nominee.
O'BRIEN: But they always say that in -- I have not seen one campaign where everybody says, you know what, they should have done that thing they did yesterday. Boy, if they had done that for the last nine months, we wouldn't be -- I mean every single campaign.
But do you think -- I mean a lot of what I heard in her conversations with her supporters, Taylor, was sort of not so much about her but more about them. You know, the 18 million cracks wasn't Hillary Clinton putting the cracks in it, it was they put the cracks in it. That's what I heard. MARSH: Well, she is really -- bonded with a lot of people in this country. And especially from March on, she just -- her campaign was just incredible, and the way she really reached in and talked to the economics of it all.
And I definitely think that last night she reached down again and wanted to let them know that she appreciated all that they did for her and what -- where she took her, because right now she's still -- that is not a woman that is in the twilight.
She has as much power now, more power than she did when she started. And as someone who still supports Hillary Clinton, I think she made the point that she couldn't have done it without all these people. And it was a nod to them.
And I thought it was right for her to do that. And she's never going to -- she's never going to please everyone. And the rest really has to -- Barack Obama has to make that plea and she left that open for him.
And without her talking to her supporters, unity wouldn't be possible. And I think that is really key to the whole thing.
O'BRIEN: Taylor Mash and Farai Chideya, thank you, ladies. Appreciate your time this morning.
CHIDEYA: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Enjoy day three of the convention.
MARSH: Thanks very much.
O'BRIEN: That's it for now. I'm Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election center in New York. We'll see you back here in about 15 minutes, continuing our non-stop coverage from the convention.
Let's get right back to "CNN NEWSROOM" and coverage of Tropical Storm Gustav which is getting ready to regain hurricane strength right after these short messages.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is on assignment today.
I want to get straight to our top story this morning. New Orleans growing nervous over Gustav this morning. The storm stalled over Haiti for now, fueling floods and mudslides. We now have a new death count. -- 11 people dead in the Caribbean.
Chaos in Bangkok. Protesters seize the Thai prime minister's office demanding he steps down.
And a young mother trapped at the bottom of a steep ravine for five days. She lives to tell the story, in the NEWSROOM.
Weaker but, boy, still a major threat. Gustav downgraded to a tropical storm after battering Haiti. The storm bringing torrential rain there and landslides that have killed eight people in the Dominican Republic and three in Haiti.
Cuba also feeling the effects of Gustav as the storm moves into open, warm water now. It is expected to become a hurricane again. Possibly reaching Category 3 status in the Gulf of Mexico.
Our Rob Marciano is, of course, tracking Gustav from the Severe Weather Center now. We just got those new numbers in.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
COLLINS: Eleven people dead.
MARCIANO: And it's taking its sweet time getting through Haiti and it's going to be scraping Cuba for the next couple of days. So those are the two items of immediate concern. And then, of course, once it gets into the Gulf of Mexico, which is still the forecast, then things get a little bit more intense for the U.S.
Here's the satellites right behind us, Heidi. Let's take you to it.
Haiti right now getting hit with -- well, potentially 60-mile-an- hour winds. But of greater concern is the pummeling of the waves and the rain that's coming into this area. And some of the mountains here across the western part of Hispaniola, upwards of eight, in some cases, 9,000 feet.
You get into parts of Cuba and you're talking about 10,000-foot mountains here. So that's the danger and where we see a lot of the fatalities in the Caribbean with these type of situations, and that is the potential for seeing mudslides.
All right. So what's going to happen with this? We've got hurricane that we're expecting to regain its intensity as it heads north of Cuba -- or north of Jamaica and between Cuba, getting into one and then potentially three status.
A lot of our computer models really ramped this thing up quite rapidly with water temperatures in this part of the gulf and northwestern Caribbean, 85, 86 degrees or better and that is certainly a fuel for the fire.
And then the atmosphere conditions fairly quiet. So there's really no reason for us to believe, unless the track goes on to some land for this not to intensify into a major category three, potentially four storm.
And then getting close, anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to Texas coastline, Heidi, getting into this weekend. But it's probably Sunday into Monday is the way their timing of it. Certainly emergency managers up and down the Gulf Coast are ramping up their plans as Gustav may very well make a U.S. landfall Sunday, Monday or Tuesday.
Back to you.
COLLINS: Yes, boy, I certainly hope that they are ramping up their preparedness.
All right, Rob, we know you're watching it very closely. Sure do appreciate it. We'll check back with you throughout the show.
Right now, though, we want to get to our Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent, on a story that we're just hearing about this morning about Iraqis taking control of Anbar Province.
Some big changes here, Barbara. What do you know?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, good morning to you.
It may be national security day at the Democratic convention but out on the frontlines in Iraq, big changes in the works that are likely to get a lot of attention from the troops.
Al Anbar Province, western Iraq, now scheduled to be turned over to Iraqi security control September 1st, this coming Monday. A big ceremony now planned. The U.S. military, the coalition, will hand security in Al Anbar Province, once the heartland of the insurgency where so many U.S. troops have died.
It will now turn over to Iraqi security control on Monday. Not escaping anyone's attention that will be during the Republican convention time frame. Likely to be a subject of a lot of conversation about the progress being made in Iraq.
All of this, according to a senior U.S. military official confirming those details to CNN and also telling us this morning that General David Petraeus' recommendations for further troop reductions in Iraq now could come at any time, any time from the end of this month, which is just a few days, through early September.
General Petraeus expected now to make those recommendations to President Bush. General Petraeus scheduled to leave Iraq at the middle of the month, around September 15th or 16th, so take up his new duties in his new job as the head of central command.
But before he leaves, those recommendations for more troop reductions will be on the table in front of President Bush and something that both the Republicans and the Democrats are likely to talk about through the rest of the fall campaign -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Absolutely. Very interesting timing here.
All right. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, let us know if you learn any more, Barbara. Thank you.
This weekend I want to get back to our weather story now. The third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and people in New Orleans are hoping Gustav is certainly not a sequel.
Our Sean Callebs is live with us now this morning from New Orleans.
Hi, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.
If you think about it, exactly three years ago the coast was anxiously watching a spin in the Gulf of Mexico and it turned out to show that this area was woefully ill prepared to handle Hurricane Katrina. Well, they're trying to make sure the same thing doesn't happen this time. The state is on alert. Look at what people woke up here to in the paper today, Gustav had the state on alert.
Governor Bobby Jindal has activated his crisis action team. They are now talking with all state officials, federal officials, trying to get as prepared as possible. You know communication was a big problem in the aftermath of Katrina.
And listen to what Jindal said. He is scheduled to give a prime time speech at the RNC next Wednesday evening. Well, now he's indicating, look, if this storm is going to hit my staple I'm not going to be able to make it to the convention.
This is what he said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: My priorities is the state of Louisiana. As long as there's a chance that we'll be in this storm's path, I'll be here in Louisiana. I'm going to make sure I'm here personally to help lead the preparation efforts and if necessary, any recovery efforts that are necessary after the fact.
As long as our state is in the harm's way, I'll be here in Louisiana. My first obligation, my first responsibility is the state of Louisiana.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: And to be expected, this city is extremely anxious right now. What has been done in the past three years, I want to take you to a graphic and show you Lake Pontchartrain just to the north of the city.
What happened is Katrina came in this counter clockwise winds pushed the lake water down canals. And that caused erosion in those canals and caused some of the floodwalls to give way. That led to massive flooding within the city.
Well, now they have put flood gates up there, Heidi, in all these three major canals, 17th Street, Orleans and London, and that is to keep that water from coming down into the city and eroding those floodwalls. So this city is on edge. But as Rob has said, as all weather officials have said, right now everything is extremely tentative, even though those tones have been going somewhere between, perhaps, Lafayette and the Gulf Port.
COLLINS: Yes. Boy, tentative at best, I'm sure.
All right, Sean Callebs for us in New Orleans this morning.
We continue to watch Gustav throughout the morning, all day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. A quick break. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Another American killed in Iraq. The military says the soldier died from wounds he got in a roadside bombing in Baghdad. This is the 20th American service member to die in Iraq this month compared to 84 U.S. troop deaths last August.
The total number of American forces killed in the Iraq war now stands at 4,148.
In Afghanistan, officials believe they have found the body of a missing Japanese aid worker. The 31-year-old man was pulled from his car at gun point yesterday. Police say the victim had been bludgeoned and shot in the leg.
A local politician says one person is now under arrest. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that kidnapping.
New humanitarian aid arriving in the Republic of Georgia today. The Coast Guard cutter Dallas docked in the Black Sea port of Batumi just a few hours ago. Plans to stop farther north in Poti were actually changed this morning. Russian troops have set up checkpoints in that Georgian city.
Also, in Georgia, Cindy McCain visited a refugee city, part of her role with the U.N.'s World Food Program. She's also meeting with the Georgian president.
McCain tells "TIME" magazine she's been trying to get into Georgia since the conflict began. She says the timing of the Democratic convention was never considered.
Peers and cheers. An emotional night for Hillary Clinton diehards. Democratic convention coverage from CNN, the best political team on television.
And dramatic rescue, a young mom pulled to safety five days after a terrible wreck.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's live coverage of the Democratic National Convention. O'BRIEN: And good morning. Welcome, everybody. Soledad O'Brien here at the CNN Election Center in New York continuing with coverage of the Democrats in Denver today. It's another nice day there. Delegates waking up after a rousing night of speeches from several of the party's rising stars and already stars, leading up to Hillary Clinton's full throated call to get behind Barack Obama.
His name is going to be placed formally in nomination tonight. Then a roll call with details of which are still under wraps. But it's believed that the Clinton forces have reached an agreement with the Obama campaign to allow some delegates to cast votes for her before a motion is offered to cut the roll call short and nominate Obama by acclamation.
Then, running mate Joe Biden is going to be nominated by acclamation as well. Tonight, also, we'll feature Biden's speech and also one from New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. And then Bill Clinton will have his moment at the podium. So, lots happening tonight. Talk about that, also, new polls to talk about as well.
Let's get right to CNN's political maven Paul Steinhauser. He's at the CNN bureau.
Nice to see you, Paul. Before we get to the actual numbers, let's talk overall big picture. What was the fall out, the feedback from Hillary Clinton's much anticipated speech last night.
PAUL STEINHAUSER CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: What Clinton insiders are telling us, she did her job. She actually, you know, sold the deal last night to her supporters, telling them they need to get behind Bill Clinton -- Barack Obama. And I think they're saying that if Barack Obama doesn't win November you can't blame it on Hillary Clinton. She went out there, she made the case. They're very happy with it.
O'BRIEN: And here's a little bit of what she had to say that made everybody so happy. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
H. CLINTON: We need leaders once again. Who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism, that has enable generations before us to meet our toughest challenges, leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creatively and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, this will not be easy. Progress never is. But it will be impossible if we don't fight to put a Democrat back into the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Paul, I mean, have they sort of said -- listen, that's done, a lot of the drama? Before that now, done, we can all move on?
STEINHAUSER: Well, that was part one or act one, Soledad. Act two is tonight, her husband, Bill Clinton, the former president. And friends of Bill Clinton are saying he's ready to bury the hatchet and get past the animosity from the primaries. They're saying he is ready to be the dutiful unifier in chief tonight -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's talk some numbers. If you take a look about the question of did one candidate attack the other candidate unfairly. McCain actually gets higher numbers, which is kind of in the bad way, than Barack Obama. So Obama 32 percent say yes, for McCain, significantly higher, 50 percent.
I would be curious, Paul, since you're the number cruncher guy, what does that mean in terms of votes? I mean, clearly people thought he was on -- McCain attacked more unfairly. But what is the relevance of that?
STEINHAUSER: Well, you know, John McCain from the start a year and a half ago when he first started running for office, he kept saying that he wanted to respect his opponents. But his campaign has been pretty tough. We've seen a lot of negative ads lately, and John McCain himself has been talking pretty tough against Barack Obama. Will that turn voters off? That is the big question. Negative campaigning is successful but there is a problem that if he goes too far that could turn voters off and that could hurt him in November.
O'BRIEN: The next question we want to take a look at is -- can the candidates handle the responsibilities of being commander in chief, sort of a basic job if you're running for president. If you look at the numbers, 58 percent of people polled said Barack Obama can. Larger number, 78 percent, significantly larger, say John McCain can handle it. Does that in and of itself signify big trouble for Barack Obama?
STEINHAUSER: This is something he's been fighting with for quite some time. We've been asking this question at other organizations as well for quite some time and John McCain continues to come out ahead. It's one of the few areas where he actually leads Barack Obama in head to head with the Americans.
And I think that's one of the reasons maybe Barack Obama picked somebody like Joe Biden to be his running mate, somebody with a lot of those foreign policy creds and commander-in-chief type credentials, to help balance out the ticket, because a lot of Americans still think Barack Obama is a little kind of inexperienced maybe when it comes to foreign policy, international affairs and being a commander-in-chief -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: When you look at other issues that were polled, McCain wins overall, terrorism in Iraq. Obama wins economy and health care. What trumps what? You know, in this -- people are all talking about the economy, and you see some of these ads about people lacking health care and they cut you to the quick. So does that mean, well, since those are the big issues, one and two polled that that's going to help Barack Obama? STEINHAUSER: You would think so. The economy has been issue number one with Americans basically since the beginning of the year. And he has led on economic issues and other domestic issues over John McCain basically all year. And you would think that would put him ahead. But our poll, our horse race shows it's tied up 47/47. Why? I think national security, foreign policy is becoming a little more important. Maybe that crisis between Russia and Georgia, and John McCain was very out front on that. Maybe that's helped him a little bit in the polls.
So, it's really going to depend what the electorate is thinking in October and on November 4th, especially, not what they're thinking right now. We're just going to have to wait and see.
O'BRIEN: Right. And what happens between now and then, of course. Paul Steinhauser, thanks a lot. Appreciate you crunching the numbers for us this morning.
Coming up next, we're going to dig a little deeper on Hillary Clinton last night at her speech. And Biden and Bill Clinton tonight with a pair of veteran reporters right in the center of it all. That's next right after the short break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Hillary Clinton getting a rock star welcome last night in Denver. And by many accounts giving a rock star performance. Digging deeper now, Barbara Ciara is president for the National Association of Black Journalist. Dana Milbank is CNN contributor. He's also "Washington Post" national political correspondent.
Gee, let me think what Dana maybe wrote about last night. I'm going to guess, I'm going to go with the speech, Dana. Did she do what she had to do is sort of the $64,000 question. What do you think?
DANA MILBANK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think she did. It was really the Full Monte. And, you know, I think we sort of expected the words would be said that needed to be said. Unfortunately, there's sort of this echo and a bit of a disconnect going on. She's saying the right words on the floor. Then we get word that -- oh, Bill Clinton is going to sit out the Obama speech tomorrow. We're getting anonymous quotes from her aides talking about the 2012 race. So, you're getting on the one hand -- on the other hand here, and they're trying to get out this message but Clinton's own people are pulling it back.
O'BRIEN: Take a listen to what she said about unity which was sort of the focus, supposed to be at least, the focus tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
H. CLINTON: My friends, it is time to take back the country we love. And whether you voted for me or you voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team. And none of us can afford to sit on the sidelines. This is a fight for the future and it's a fight we must win together. (END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Barbara, some people said that they felt that the speech was a little low on praise for Barack Obama or low on saying he's going to be the greatest commander-in-chief, et cetera, et cetera. But that, you know, she's sort of fulfilled the things that she had to do and did that part well.
Do you think by saying unity, unity, unity to those 18 million people who supported her, that's enough? Now everybody can move on and stop talking about disunity?
BARBARA CIARA, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR BLACK JOURNALIST: Disunity, I think that today's news is obviously the speech, but it's tomorrow's kitty litter liner, because there's an ad campaign going out there with the GOP using Hillary Clinton's words when she was running against Barack Obama to basically disenfranchise him with his own party. So I think the real battle is going to come in the coming days when her words from yesterday are in direct conflict with the words of today.
O'BRIEN: Bill Clinton really has, Dana, the big burden for tonight. I think -- I mean, a lot of people are speaking, I think it's going to be a very, very interesting night. What do you think he has to do? What's on his agenda?
MILBANK: Yes, I think we're calling this day three of the Democratic convention. It's perhaps more properly referred to as day two of the Clinton convention. And he will unquestionably be overshadowing Joe Biden tonight just the way Hillary Clinton was overshadowing the official key noter, Mark Warner, last night.
But I expect as his wife did, Bill Clinton is a pro at this. He's going to say the right words. He's going to take it to John McCain and give this crowd what they want. I think any sort of sign of dissent will be away from the podium. I think Bill Clinton knows how to give a speech.
O'BRIEN: Those anonymous quotes again from various aides being faxed in to people's offices.
Barbara, do you agree that in fact Bill Clinton could overshadow Joe Biden? Many people gave Joe Biden high marks for the speech that he did over the weekend, and so, that they sort of expect that same thing. That he's going to be the attack dog in this fight if you will. If he's overshadowed by Bill Clinton, does that sort of diminish the attack?
CIARA: I think they need two attack dogs in this game because when you're here on the convention floor and you're hearing complaints among the delegates about when are we going to take the gloves off, perhaps they do need two messages that are very strong about the Democratic message. Because what's happening right now is the soft sell already. You know, it's like preaching to the choir. Everybody here basically agrees with the platform. Now they want the Democrats to fight back and so that's the overriding murmur, whisper campaign going on on the floor. When are we going to go to battle?
O'BRIEN: Dana, there's this theory, president -- or maybe two sides from here -- either President Clinton was devastated by his wife's loss, and he's very unhappy and he was bitter about the topic of the speech, et cetera, et cetera. On the other side you see him last night mouthing I love you in the middle of the speech and beaming at every single word that she said.
The speech that he delivers tonight, does he not only have to do -- as you pointed out earlier -- sort of what the party needs them to do, but resuscitate his own legacy which was by a lot of people's account damaged in the primary campaign?
MILBANK: Yes, I think that's right. And as you were saying, there's nothing wrong with having a pair of attack dogs or a whole pack of attack dogs. The crowd really loves that sort of thing. And Bill Clinton will relish that role because it is true that in many ways he feels his own legacy was harmed by his wife's loss. And that he needs some way to get back to that pre-election state where he was rising above the whole political fray.
O'BRIEN: Dana Milbank --
(CROSSTALK)
CIARA: Getting back to what you were saying about whether or not Biden is going to be -- I'm sorry. Go ahead.
O'BRIEN: No, no, go ahead.
CIARA: Getting back to your point about whether or not Biden will be overshadowed, I really have to say in watching former President Clinton over the years, he is an expert in commanding the crowd. So, there is that risk. But I do believe that if both of them stay on point and basically the gossip behind the scenes is Clinton is having trouble with his talking point. So I wonder whether or not they're going to do battle with that particular message.
O'BRIEN: Making it another interesting day to watch. Won't it be? Dana Milbank and Barbara Ciara, thanks, guys. Certainly, appreciate it.
MILBANK: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: And that's it for now. I'm Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center in New York. We'll see you in just about 15 minutes continuing our non-stop coverage from the convention. Let's get right back to CNN NEWSROOM right after these messages.
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COLLINS: Now, a chillier storm and expected to grow. Tropical Storm Gustav torrential rains trigging serious flooding and landslides that have killed 11 people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Forecasters expected Gustav to pick up speed, possibly becoming a Category 3 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend. And that could mean a threat to the Gulf Coast states next week.
Of course we're watching the story very closely. Our Rob Marciano is watching with me now from the weather center.
And boy, we have a lot to talk about here because, again, we have another storm that seems to not want to go away. Picks up speed, slows down, picks up speed again.
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COLLINS: And, meanwhile, I want to get to this story now. Political divide playing out today on the streets of Bangkok. Now, a new leader of an anti-government protest movement faced arrest.
CNN's Dan Rivers reports with Thailand's growing political turmoil.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN BANGKOK CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thailand's political crisis turned from a clash of ideas into something much more violent. Police attempting to gain access to government house for protesters fearing their sit-in was being broken up.
By daylight, it was clear the People's Alliance for Democracy still occupied the sit of government. Thailand's equivalent of the White House is still under siege. So who are they and what do they want? Well, their leader says Thai democracy must change so some politicians are appointed, not elected, to end vote buying.
SONDHI LIMTHONGKUL, PAD LEADER: What I'm actually fighting for is a complete participated politics, OK? Not by politicians in Thailand who is virtually an investment. You set out legal parties just like you set up investment companies, OK? Whoever holds the most shares are the ones who have the final say.
RIVERS: So if you follow their logic, the P.A.D. is saying we can't trust voters who can be bribed, so trust us.
DR. CHOKCHUANG CHUTINATON, PAD SUPPORTER: Majority is not always right, you know. The majority believes that the world was flat one time. Then, they are wrong. The majority is usually wrong.
RIVERS: So the majority shouldn't elect the next government?
CHUTINATON: I don't want to say yes or no to that question.
RIVERS: It was the PAD's protest that provoked a military coup against billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006. He since fled Thailand refusing to face multiple corruption charges. Now they've turned their attention to the man who's replaced Thaksin, Samak Sundaravej. He admits he's a close ally of Thaksin, but his critics say he's Thaksin's pocket.
(on camera): Thailand is still deeply divided between those who want to get rid of anyone associated with Thaksin, and those that still love him. The pro-Thaksin group keeps winning elections, the anti-Thaksin group says they've cheated. It's why this group say the entire political system needs to be changed.
(voice-over): Major General Chamlong Srimuang is among those leading the call for change and shrugs off the risk of arrest.
MAJ. GEN. CHAMLONG SRIMUANG, PAD LEADING MEMBER: I've been through this before, he says. I've been in jail for treason before. If it happens again, so what?
RIVERS: And so this People's Alliance for Democracy that seems to want to end democracy waits for the government's response, hoping Thailand's deep divisions can be healed without further violence.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Bangkok.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: A young mother lost, now found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These people have been out here helping and supporting the families, but we know, when we ask God, let there be light on Amber that's exactly what took place tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Incredible story. Pinned at the bottom of a ravine, five long days of faith and survival.
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COLLINS: Deep in a ditch. A young woman found alive five days after a terrible car wreck. Dave Faherty has the story now. He's with affiliate WSOC in North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVE FAHERTY, WSOC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 300 feet off the road and down a 70-foot ravine covered with cuts is where Caldwell County EMS found Amber Pennell's white Toyota truck. For five days, they along with volunteers, family members and friends searched for the 21 year old. Tommy Courtner who was over the search spotted the truck after leading a search in the rain.
TOMMY COURTNER, DIR. CALDWELL COUNTY EMS: We saw the path of the kudzu, and cut across, I saw the corner of the truck. And when we hollered down at her, she was able to stick her head out which was a blessing to all of us.
FAHERTY: Courtner says the mother of two who's pinned in the truck was barely audible when rescuers reached her. After pulling her up at the steep hillside, her husband, Mitchell, ran to see her. He spoke with us moments after she was rushed to a waiting ambulance.
MITCHELL PENNELL, AMBER PENNELL'S HUSBAND: Thank you, Jesus. I know my baby was alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you have to say to these guys out here?
M. PENNELL: I love them so much. They did the best job. They didn't give up.
FAHERTY: Cheers went up as news spread quickly that Amber had been found. Firefighters and sheriff deputies who searched through the weekend gathered to pray. Family members gave thanks that Amber was safe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These people have been out here helping and supporting the families, but we know when we asked God, let there be light on Amber, that's exactly what took place tonight.
FAHERTY: I mean, it's been five days.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know. I know. But we had a lot of praying going on. A lot of praying.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Amber Pennell is listed in serious condition now at a Charlotte hospital. Doctors say she has a broken leg and some internal injuries.
Well, she has won five medals at five different Olympics. But at 41 years old, swimmer Dara Torres knows she's falling behind her toughest challenger -- age. Today, she undergoes surgery to repair some of the toll her relentless training has taken.
Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is following that procedure. He's going to be joining us live on CNN during the surgery that will happen 2:00 p.m. Eastern. And you can watch the entire surgery if that's something that you want to do live on CNN.com.
John McCain's running mate, we may know who on Friday. Today? A look at the possibilities.
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COLLINS: The Democrats have their national convention. But Republican John McCain has the suspense. Who will he choose as his vice presidential running mate? CNN's Josh Levs is joining us now to run down some of these names.
And boy, oh boy, we went through it on the other side of the fence with Barack Obama for several days, several hours trying to predict who and when that announcement would come.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. We know Obama- Biden, that's old news. Who needs to hear about that anymore? We're the media. We need the next big thing. Let's focus on the GOP side. We have this really great breakdown at CNN.com where we talk about the pros and the cons of who the top contenders are.
What I've done is pulled out some of the key facts of some of the biggest players. Let's go to this first one here. We're going to start off with Mitt Romney, because they're so incredibly much focus on him. These are some of the big pros for him as a candidate.
First of all, his economic know-how. A lot of people question how well McCain understands the economy. Clearly, Mitt Romney's economic background as a businessman could help. Plus, he relishes in that attack dog roll that the VP takes in this general election cycle. But there was that bitter primary, and some people are uncomfortable with his religion.
Let's go on to the next one now. Tom Ridge, a lot of focus there. Former governor of Pennsylvania, the first secretary of Homeland Security, if he could help swing Pennsylvania to McCain, that could be huge. One of the biggest swing states out there, but he's pro-choice. That might not shore up the social conservatives.
Finally, let's jump over to Tim Pawlenty. This is an interesting one. Only 47 years old. A lot of talk about age. He's Obama's age. He could help win Minnesota, on the flip side, polarizing figure even in Minnesota. Barely won the re-election there.
If you want to learn some more about some of the other key player, just go to this at CNNpolitics.com. We got about a dozen of them here. You can see there. But those right now are the three guys most people are focusing on, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. We will certainly be watching in the days to come.
Josh Levs, thanks so much for watching that for us.
LEVS: Thanks.
COLLINS: Appreciate it.
LEVS: Hillary Clinton's hard sell. Did she close the Democrats' unity gap? Convention coverage from CNN and the Best Political Team on Television.
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