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Biden & Bill Clinton to Speak at DNC Tonight; Activist Predicts Large Youth Turnout in November; Hurricane May Hit New Orleans; Deputy Fired Over Relationship with Missing Girl's Mother
Aired August 27, 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, CNN ANCHOR: And good afternoon. Welcome everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center in New York.
Barack Obama, we're told, is in Billings, Montana, today. We're waiting to see if we get some live pictures when his event starts. We'll bring that to you live when it does, in fact, happen.
Just four hours from now in Denver, though, Democrats will fill up their convention hall. The drama begins once again. Both Barack Obama's and Hillary Clinton's names will be placed in nomination for president, and the delegates will be voting. And that's when we'll see, really, just how unified the party is.
The drama does not stop there. We keep hearing some rumblings that Bill Clinton isn't so happy about his role and his topic he was given. Everyone is going to wonder if it will show when he takes center stage tonight.
Then there's the not-so-new guy. Tonight's prime-time speech may be many voters' first impression of vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden. Pressure, suspense, and undoubtedly, some surprises. Have it all today for you.
We begin, though, in Denver with CNN's Jessica Yellin. She's, of course, part of the best political team on TV.
Jessica, I just love saying that. Give us a rundown of what -- can't say it enough is how I feel. What to look for in the prime-time speakers, because there's a lot happening today.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There -- you're absolutely right, Soledad. First of all, we're going to see Joe Biden, the vice-presidential pick. New on the campaign trail, again, with Barack Obama.
His job tonight is to really sort of do what we're calling the seasoned (ph) contrast: define why an Obama presidency is what the Democratic Party has to realize, why John McCain would be a mistake for the country. So expect the red meat from Joe Biden.
Also national security, his big strength, and he's going to hit on that to boost, to bolster this notion that Barack Obama is ready to be commander in chief.
Point two, Bill Clinton, as you said, there's been a whole bunch of talk, drama leading into it. I think on the other side of his speech, people will come out saying it was an elm impassioned speech. It was a clear argument for Barack Obama. Maybe it will say there was a lot of Bill Clinton talking about Bill Clinton's presidency in there, but what's new about that?
And then the other major event today is this roll-call vote you alluded to earlier, where states get to stand up and say, "I vote for Senator Clinton, or I vote for Barack Obama." That's going to happen in the earlier part of the day, but there could be a lot of drama involved in that, because many Clinton supporters want to have their chance to vote for Senator Clinton.
And it sounds like at some point she herself will personally stand up and say, "enough, I want to stop the states voting. I want everyone to say unanimously, 'we vote for Barack Obama.'" That will be a disappointment to many Clinton supporters, but it's what both camps, Clinton and Obama, feel they need to do today -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: A choreographed but pretty important moment. It will be interesting to watch all of that.
Jessica Yellin for us. Thanks, Jessica.
Now the success of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, at least so far, would seem to present opportunity for the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. It's been around since 2001, using hip-hop as a starting point for catalyst, really, for education and social concerns.
Joining me from the CNN Grill in Denver is Benjamin Chavis. He is the network's co-founder and CEO. We should mention, though, he started his civil rights career as an activist back in 1965, a youth coordinator for Martin Luther King, Jr.
It's nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us, certainly appreciate it.
BENJAMIN CHAVIS, CO-FOUNDER/CEO, HIP-HOP SUMMIT ACTION NETWORK: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: You say, and you said that walking around that there's incredible enthusiasm, especially from the young people. Give me a description of what you're seeing and what you're feeling.
CHAVIS: Well, I've been to many Democratic National Conventions, and this one is unique. There are more youth delegates at this convention than ever before. And there are more young people working the convention.
Earlier today, you had Reverend Leah Daughtry, the young woman who is the CEO of the DNC. So this is a great opportunity for young people to have their voice heard, to make their votes count. And I believe, Soledad, we're going to have the largest youth voter turnout in American history in November.
O'BRIEN: I know you're certainly working to make sure that happens, obviously, on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, which was never really called "I have a dream," but that's how we all know it, is when Barack Obama will...
CHAVIS: Tomorrow would be the anniversary, tomorrow.
O'BRIEN: Exactly, tomorrow's going to be that anniversary. And that's the day that Barack Obama will be giving his speech, as well, that many people are anticipating.
What do you think his message has to be? As a person who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., what does Barack Obama have to say that ties it all in on that historically important day?
CHAVIS: Well, the fact that we're here in 2008, 45 years after Dr. Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech, I'm certain that Barack Obama, his speech will be a fulfillment of what Dr. King forecast years ago.
There's another thing I should comment about this convention: the diversity. This really represents the strength of America; so much diversity here. And I think Obama's speech is going to bring all of America together. Not only all Democrats, but all Americans who will be watching on television tonight.
O'BRIEN: As a person whose platform was change, were you surprised at all that Barack Obama picked Joe Biden, who spent 36 years in the Senate? And, you know, I used to run into him all the time on Amtrak, you know, commuting to his job on Capitol Hill.
Some people say, "Well, that's not the change guy, or the change guy picked the no-change vice-presidential candidate." Do you think that has any merit?
CHAVIS: Well, no, I think that Barack made a great decision. You know, as the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, we are nonpartisan, so we're here observing. But what we are observing is that there's great enthusiasm about both the presidential candidate, as well as the vice- presidential candidate as a team. I think Barack Obama, Joseph Biden, that's a great team.
And of course, now, the challenge is up to see who McCain is going to pick. Because a lot of the young people are wondering now, what kind of leadership would not only be sensitive to the interests of young people, but how can we change America? And if we change America, we change the world.
O'BRIEN: Benjamin Chavis joining us, the CEO -- the co-founder and CEO of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. Thanks. Nice to see you, as always. Appreciate it. And enjoy the convention.
CHAVIS: Thank you. Always good to see you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. I appreciate that. Nominations, the roll call, big-name speeches. Lots coming up in the next few hours. Unify or maybe even trip up the Democrats. What's it going to be? We're going to take a look at that with three more members of the best political team on TV. Stay with me. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back to the CNN Election Center in New York. We're joined by Amy Holmes, our political contributor and independent conservative, a speech writer for once Republican Senator Bill Frist. Journalist, author and CNN political contributor Carl Bernstein is with us, as well. And CNN senior political (sic) analyst Jeff Toobin is back, also.
I promised we'd all be back to rehash some of the issues. Do you think it matters at all -- anyone can jump in on this -- that President Clinton will not stay for Barack Obama's speech on Thursday?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Zero.
O'BRIEN: Really?
TOOBIN: Nothing. Who cares? My God, we fixate on these ridiculous little things. I mean, I just think it's ridiculous. Who cares whether he's there or not?
O'BRIEN: OK, I asked that question in a nice tone, and you're jumping on me.
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: I think it's part of a larger question. And that is, what is the role of the press, particularly cable news, in this election? And at what point do we tip to a kind of minute picking apart and tea-leaf reading? I'm not even saying your question is...
O'BRIEN: I don't take it personally, don't worry.
BERNSTEIN: ... is good. But -- but I think -- and it's the evening news shows, as well. But I -- and on the Web. But I think that we need more perspective. We need to step back.
AMY HOLMES, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Wait. Wait...
O'BRIEN: As an outsider -- as an outsider who has really not ever officially covered politics, here's my question, the president -- a former president who was at one point considered the first black president. Right? That's what they used to call him. The first black president.
HOLMES: Right.
O'BRIEN: You have a historic moment, the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's speech. You know, you just sort of think from a P.R. perspective.
BERNSTEIN: Let's deal with...
HOLMES: Honestly, I think it's bad form. And this is also a president who located his offices in Harlem. You know, he needs to be passing the torch on to Barack Obama as the nominee of the Democratic Party running against a Republican. He's refusing to do it.
O'BRIEN: I'm not being naive.
BERNSTEIN: I think you need to stop telling people what they need to do.
TOOBIN: I think he's giving a big speech tonight.
BERNSTEIN: Republicans or Democrats.
TOOBIN: He's going to endorse Barack Obama, talk about why he should be president. Barack Obama is going to give a speech in front of 75,000 people tomorrow. And...
O'BRIEN: But realistically, Jeff...
HOLMES: Wait...
BERNSTEIN: But...
TOOBIN: Who was the voter -- who was the voter out there who's going to say, "Well, out of everything I've taken from this speech, well, Bill Clinton wasn't there, thus I'm not going to vote for him"?
O'BRIEN: No. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is, you're going to have people who got on buses...
BERNSTEIN: I'm going to jump in here.
O'BRIEN: You get to jump in. My show, darn it.
BERNSTEIN: No, let you finish. Pardon me. I didn't mean to...
O'BRIEN: But you know, people who have gotten on buses to come and hear this historic speech, the first black guy in the history of forever gets to stand up, and he's gotten -- in Invesco Field, because you know there's going to be so much interest.
As an outsider, sounds strange. And Gergen says it's not unusual. I understand that. But for a history-making event, that seems odd. You may jump in, Carl.
BERNSTEIN: Now I'll jump in. Look, part of this story is a very basic fact, that Clintons do not like Barack Obama. That has not changed in all that has happened. They believe he ought to be elected president.
Bill Clinton, particularly, is still angry as hell about what happened in his campaign and feels that he was damaged unfairly, he feels -- I'm not sure he's right about it being unfair -- by Barack Obama. He does not have very warm feelings toward Barack Obama personally. And that's part of the story.
At the same time, his not being on the stage, there's another element to it. And that is his wife is going to be on the stage. And this is her show, in terms of she was the candidate. And I think he's very sensitive to that.
O'BRIEN: More important that she -- her...
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Right. But let me jump in here, as well. All the more reason why President Clinton should be there. And I think by not being there...
O'BRIEN: Why? Wait. Whoa.
HOLMES: It's a snub not to be there. If his wife is there, if the nominee of the party is there.
O'BRIEN: As a couple, my wife's there, we're there as a team. She's there for us.
HOLMES: But let's ask another question. What do you think Barack Obama's campaign was like for Bill Clinton to not be there? No, of course, they want him in the audience cheering him on. What else is Bill Clinton having to do? He's so busy he can't go to this speech?
BERNSTEIN: Will -- will George -- will George Bush be on the stage with John McCain when he gives the speech?
HOLMES: We know with John McCain that's a different question in terms of the Democrats are trying to tie...
O'BRIEN: Amy...
BERNSTEIN: I'm merely asking. He might be.
HOLMES: That's not at all that John McCain is having, you know, to do this dance with George Bush because of George Bush's unpopularity. How closely is he linked? I don't think Barack Obama has that problem.
O'BRIEN: There's a back story. What you're saying is there's a back story for why someone may not be on the stage, and that's kind of...
TOOBIN: But there is a long tradition in American politics that, at the end of the convention all of the would-be -- all of the unsuccessful candidates go on stage and they raise arms together. It was a big deal in 1980 when Ted Kennedy wouldn't embrace Jimmy Carter at Madison Square Garden during that convention.
The fact that Hillary Clinton will be on stage is significant, because she was the second-place finisher. If she wasn't going to be there, that would be significant. Bill Clinton wasn't a candidate this time. This is, as I think Carl's right -- this is her show, not Bill's.
HOLMES: Can I...
O'BRIEN: No, because we're out of time. You'll get to continue our conversation. I have to jump in with you. You guys are high energy. All right. Thank you very much to our panel.
Make sure you stay with the best political team on TV, for the best political convention coverage on TV. I'm Soledad O'Brien from the CNN Election Center in New York. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This is not the calm before the storm, more like the storm before the bigger storm. Gustav charts a dangerous course for the Gulf of Mexico by way of Haiti, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Our Jacqui Jeras is watching it for us.
Out of the pool and into the O.R., then back into the pool? Olympic swimmer Dara Torres undergoes surgery today on her shoulder. And our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is there. And you will be, too.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And of course, the CNN NEWSROOM is your hurricane headquarters today.
Battered and bruised, Haiti took a beating from Hurricane Gustav before the storm lost some of its punch. Gustav triggered mudslides and flooding, splitting one town in half. At least 17 people are dead, 8 from one family in the Dominican Republic.
Now what's now a tropical storm is moving toward Jamaica, and it's also moving towards Cuba. Both already are feeling the effects. Forecasters warn Gustav could turn into a dangerous Category 3 hurricane when it reaches the Gulf of Mexico. And that's where it gets dicey.
Jacqui Jeras joining us from the CNN weather center now. Severe weather center, hurricane headquarters.
That is where it gets dicey, right?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it really does. But you know, as we learned from Fay, by the way, you know, it doesn't take a hurricane to cause some major problems and devastation. That's what we've been seeing in Haiti.
You know, this system is moving really slowly right now, only about 5 miles per hour, and look at all the convection. These bright colors still over Haiti and the Dominican Republic. So we could see another 6 to 12 inches of rainfall here. So more mudslides expected, and more flooding across the area.
It's going to be moving over some very warm waters as it starts to push up towards the north and to the west. And that's going to help to allow this storm system to intensify very significantly. It could even be a major hurricane before it reaches Cuba.
But notice that cone of uncertainty. You know, if it stays over the open waters here, it's going to stay a little stronger a little longer, but if it goes over land, this might help to break it down just a little bit.
Notice the cone of uncertainty as we go out in time. I think we need to plan for a major hurricane making U.S. landfall early next week, Don. It's looking like a very serious storm.
LEMON: Yes, and that track, Jacqui Jeras, does not look good for New Orleans at this point.
JERAS: Right now it doesn't. We'll have to wait and see. Really, everybody from the panhandle, even over the east Texas coast, needs to be on high alert.
LEMON: Appreciate it, Jacqui Jeras.
We're talking about New Orleans, you know, and Katrina, three years after Katrina. I mean, New Orleans still isn't taking any chances when it comes to storms, especially with Gustav, when you look at that track.
City leaders are already getting out the word on what they have to do. They've got a plan in place just in case it does go that way.
Sean Callebs joins us now from New Orleans.
And Sean, I just had lunch with you yesterday, and we were talking about this very same thing. And now I find I'm talking to you on television about the possibility of Gustav headed right to New Orleans.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, 24 hours has changed the situation here somewhat as this storm is -- intensifies. It's going to -- certainly, the anxiety here in this area intensifies, as well. People are very concerned how the city could handle a major storm.
Well, how concerned is the state? Well, Governor Bobby Jindal, who is scheduled to deliver a very important prime-time speech a week from today at the Republican National Convention, has already said, "Look, if it comes down to it, if that hurricane threatens my state, I will skip the RNC." This is what he had to say last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: My priority is to 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 harm's way, I'll be here in Louisiana. My first obligation, my first responsibility is to the state of Louisiana. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Well, in the weak link after Katrina, the communication. Simply a breakdown among federal, state, parish, city governments. But Jindal has already activated the crisis action team. This is an entity that is already coordinating discussions with various governments within the state and the feds.
They've already made plans for evacuations. In essence, if the storm looks like it's going to hit the city, they'll evacuate hospitals on this day, nursing homes. So they are not going to make the same mistakes that really crippled this city during Katrina.
And also, there have been millions of dollars in improvements. I want to show you a Google map. If you look, Lake Pontchartrain is just to the north of the city, that massive body of water there. You can see three canals that carve their way right into the city.
What happened during Katrina, as the storm went up and the counter-clockwise winds began spinning, it pushed water down those canals. It happened -- what happened was called scouring. It, in essence, eroded the earth at the base of the flood walls. It caused the flood walls to give way and instantly bringing the city up to the level of Lake Pontchartrain instantly.
So they've made improvements there, Don. But is it enough? We know that if the rain comes, the city can only pump an inch of rain out the first hour, a half an inch every hour after that. Think of what Fay did.
LEMON: Yes.
CALLEBS: So even if the levees don't give way, this city could see some really, really serious flooding.
LEMON: Yes, Sean. I should add, we were having a conversation yesterday because we were both covering anniversary stories of Katrina, which will be three years on Friday, both of us in New Orleans yesterday. So we look forward to your coverage on Friday, as well.
All right, Sean Callebs, thank you very much, sir, for that.
Meantime, we're going to move on and talk about other news. At least one person is dead, two seriously hurt in an Oklahoma oil field. Firefighters there say an explosion was followed by a fire. The Associated Press is reporting workers apparently were pumping cement into a hole when oil and gas came back up and ignited. Now that blast took place near Bristow, Oklahoma, between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
I want to get you overseas now to talk about the U.S. military is handing out -- handing over security control of Anbar province, once the heart of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. A senior U.S. military official tells CNN Iraqi forces will take over Anbar on Monday. Some 25,000 U.S. troops are based there. From Libya, word that a hijacking that started this time yesterday is over. Officials say the two hijackers surrendered after releasing all of the 93 people on board a flight from Sudan. The plane was seized just after taking off from the Darfur region, bound for Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. It landed at a desert town in southeastern Libya.
The pilot says the hijackers are from a Darfur rebel group. But the group says they are not from that group.
A U.S. military ship loaded with 38 tons of aid docked today in Georgia. The Coast Guard cutter Dallas made port at Batumi, avoiding the port of Poti and a possible confrontation with the Russian troops who occupy it. Meantime, three Russian missile boats anchored in the port of Abkhazia, one of two breakaway regions of the center of the conflict there. Russia says they'll take part in peacekeeping operations and yesterday Moscow formally recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
A surprising twist in a missing girl case. A deputy, a sheriff there, the relationship with the little girl's mother. Just an acquaintance? Or is it something else?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The sheriff's department in Orlando County, Florida, has fired a deputy who had an intimate relationship with Casey Anthony. Anthony has been called a person of interest in the disappearance of her 3-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie.
Now, the sheriff's department says Deputy Tony Rusciano lied to investigators about his relationship with Anthony, claiming he met her only once and that he met her only once at a party.
The ex-deputy isn't talking to the media. But Jessica D'Onofrio of CNN affiliate WKMG has been following this story, and she says evidence on Casey Anthony's computer contradicts the deputy's claims.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA D'ONOFRIO, REPORTER, WKMG: Come to find out they went into Casey Anthony's computer that they had seized a while ago. They were able to put in some keyword searches, and then up pops a chat between Casey Anthony and Tony Rusciano, this deputy that was just fired.
In the chat, you can see that they obviously had some kind of relationship. You can also understand that they are talking about Caylee at points in time in that conversation.
But what I'm told is that there's no reason to believe that there was anything in those chats that would lead them to find this missing 3-year-old.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That interview from Headline News last night.
Now at this point, many doubt 3-year-old Caylee Marie Anthony will ever be found alive. She's said to have disappeared June 9, but her mother didn't report her missing until more than a month later.
Missing no more. Three teenagers stranded overnight in the mountains of Washington state. Rescue teams found them today and are bringing them to safety. The hikers reportedly got pinned down by fog and snow. They called for help last night with the cell phone. Three Fingers Mountain is about 7,000 feet high.
She is clinging to life for the sake of her two young children. That's how Amber Pennell's husband explains her remarkable survival. Her pickup truck plunged 100 feet off a North Carolina highway into a ravine, where she spent five days alone: no food, no water, no help.
Even after rescuers found her, it took more than 30 minutes to cut her out of that wreckage. She has a broken leg, a broken arm, a skull fracture and other injuries, but doctors say she will be fine. That is good news.
Nerves are on edge in the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Gustav heads that way. It's already taken a deadly toll in the Caribbean. We'll get the latest from CNN's Jacqui Jeras.
Olympic swimmer Dara Torres is in surgery today. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be reporting live from the operating room.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Soledad O'Brien reporting from the CNN Election Center here in New York. You're taking a look at the podium inside the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. We are bringing you continuing coverage of the Democrats in Denver.
And you're going to want to get ready for some mile-high drama in the hall tonight. Barack Obama's name will be put up for a vote. Not exactly clear, though, what kind of deal the Clinton and Obama forces have reached on how that vote will proceed or how long it's going to go for, and not to mention the possibility of what could be kind of awkward pro-Clinton demonstrations breaking out. That could happen.
For more on the drama, going to take a look at the speakers. Bill Clinton not getting the speech we're told that he wanted to on the economy, and not in the position he expected. The spouse of the runner-up. Also tonight, running mate Joe Biden is expected to be delivering a Delaware train load for the delegates. Also in the lineup, New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson, will be talking. So lots on tap, lots for us to talk about.
Let's get right to Denver and CNN senior political analyst, Gloria Borger.
Nice to see you, Gloria. Let's talk about going on the offense, shall we for a moment? I'm going to play for you first a clip of Senator Clinton from last night. She was just one of a number of people who took digs at the Republicans. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn't think 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it's OK when women don't earn equal pay for equal work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Clearly the crowd loved it. Do you think it went far enough to really set up, as we've been talking about in past days, that John McCain needs to be the target here?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, this is kind of building to a crescendo. It was very clear that, first of all, her job last night was to embrace Barack Obama and then to push away John McCain. And I think Hillary Clinton was pitch perfect in doing that. She clearly knows John McCain. She was saying to her supporters, look, if you support the issues that I support, here's where I disagree with John McCain and Barack Obama and I are on the same side. So I think she did start to give them the red meat, Soledad, that they're looking for in this convention hall.
But let me say this, they're not only talking to the Democrats, who after all, it's preaching to the choir, right, in this convention hall? What you saw last night was Governor Mark Warner reaching out to those independent voters that are sitting at home and watching and saying, gee, I want somebody who can work on both sides of the aisle. So these speeches, you have to appeal to the people in the hall, but don't forget that most of the people are outside of the hall and it's those undecided voters they really do want to talk to.
O'BRIEN: A much bigger audience, in fact, outside the hall.
Joe Biden, many people have said, in his role as vice presidential pick, he's going to be on the attack, as well. Give me a little strategy chitchat about what do you think he has to do while he's also kind of introducing himself to a lot of people.
BORGER: Absolutely. Yes, he's introducing himself to a lot of people. It's stunning that here's a guy who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been in the Senate for 36 years, and people just don't know who he is. So he has to introduce himself. He has to outline his foreign policy credentials. Because afterall, he's kind of the national security balance on this ticket.
And then he has to tell people, as Bill Clinton will do tonight, why Barack Obama is qualified to be commander-in-chief. Because the Republicans are setting up this election as a question of risk. You want change, everyone wants change, but what are you willing to pay for? What's the risk you're willing to take? And Joe Biden's job tonight is to say, guess what? Barack Obama's not a risk, but John McCain is the risk. O'BRIEN: Hillary Clinton last night in her speech did not actually do that. She did not say, listen, Barack Obama is the commander -- has the experience, you know -- things that she said the reverse of, the opposite of, during the campaigning. She didn't do that. Do you think that's because there's a strategy of keying it up for Bill Clinton to say a lot of that inexperienced stuff was said about me and let's remember how it turned out when I was president?
BORGER: Yes, absolutely. I think they're teeing it up for Bill Clinton. I think last night was the economy. Of course, Soledad, that was the one point that Republicans picked on and said, look, why didn't Hillary Clinton say he's ready to answer the phone at 3:00 a.m.? You know, that's a legitimate question to ask. However, she stuck to talking about the economy, delivering her Populist message. I believe it's something that Joe Biden, again, and Bill Clinton are going to say tonight.
And don't forget, Barack Obama has to answer that question himself at INVESCO Field tomorrow night. So, you know, all of these speeches leading up to Obama places quite a burden on the candidate himself. He's got to give the speech of his life.
O'BRIEN: Yes, well, you know, you want to be president, that's maybe not such a bad bar to have to hop over, I would think.
Gloria Borger for us.
Thanks, Gloria, appreciate it.
Coming up next, digging deeper on foreign affairs and how the Democrats plan to address some of the challenges facing the country today. That's straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
We're talking foreign affairs -- the Democrats chosen theme for night four of the convention. Some new CNN Opinion Research polling on issue one, who would better handle Iraq? 53 percent of registered voters said John McCain, 44 percent said Barack Obama. The gap, by the way, barely moved since back in February.
And that's a challenge for Democrats, including our next guest, Congressman Gary Ackerman. He's the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia.
Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us.
Did those poll numbers -- they have to concern you. Do you think this selection of Joe Biden goes a distance in mitigating those numbers?
REP. GARY ACKERMAN (D), NEW YORK: Well, I think that Joe Biden is a very, very strong powerful addition to the ticket. He has tremendous expertise in international relations, respected by everybody on those issues. And he's basically made mostly all of the right calls. And it's going to be a far sight (ph) better than we've seen for the past eight years with Obama-Biden.
O'BRIEN: You've been a strong vocal supporter of Senator Clinton from the very beginning. And you've said, though, that you're going to vote for her if her name is placed in nomination. Is that still the plan, the way that nomination process is going to work tonight? Will you vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama?
ACKERMAN: Well, it depends on the moment of the vote. I'm a supporter of Hillary Clinton's and when they're asking us who we came down here to support, I'm going to vote for Hillary Clinton.
At one point, I understand, you know, what the mathematics are, we all do, we're all New Yorkers, we're pretty smart politicians, and we all know what the results were going to be when we got on the plane before coming to Denver.
O'BRIEN: Does it worry you, though, by casting your vote for her this whole idea and theme of unity, unity, unity, is undercut when you start voting for Hillary Clinton?
ACKERMAN: No. You know, you come to a convention to vote. And you vote for the person that you've supported. Some of us are going to do that. Others will vote for Mr. Obama. But everybody's going to support Barack Obama. Our candidate Hillary Clinton is going to support him. And someone will make a motion, possibly her to make it unanimous, and then we'll all switch our votes.
But those of us, especially, New Yorkers, especially the people, the 18 million people who have worked so hard, gone to the polls, expressed their opinions during the primary, have a right to have their candidate's name be placed in nomination. And if a roll call is initiated, which it will be, that she will receive her fair share of those votes until the point that it's going to be asked for a unanimous vote, and then we're all going to be behind Barack Obama, our next president.
O'BRIEN: Are you concerned that those 18 million people, a chunk of them, will be interested in going to John McCain because of some dissatisfaction?
Let me play you a short clip from a woman who was interviewed last night right after Hillary Clinton's speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNE PRICE MILLS, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Hillary Clinton proved to me tonight that she would have made an excellent president. She was presidential tonight, she led a phenomenal and intelligent -- a powerful, a moving, a motivating person. Not move us into the next generation, not move us into the future that we deserve, not move us into the green economy that we deserve, not be able to address the concerns that we deserve. And now everybody just want us to simply shift. I was selected to come here as a delegate for Clinton. I will vote for Clinton. Now, you ask me about my personal vote in November, Obama has two months. I won't vote for McCain. But he has to get me there. And I haven't connected with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Wow, she is just a wreck. And truthfully, if a number of those 18 million feel the same way, and some of them say, not I won't vote for McCain, but say McCain sounds appealing to me, the Democratic Party as a whole, the big picture, the big enchilada, come November, could be in big trouble, right?
ACKERMAN: Well, it's not going to work out that way. This woman is passionate as she expresses the feelings of so many of us. Hillary evoked that passion and that feeling and motivated so many people behind her. It was a race between Hillary and Barack Obama in the primary. The primary is over. This woman and the rest of us are going to get over it. We're going to realize very, very quickly that it's a new contest, since Hillary's no longer in it, that's no longer our choice.
It's a choice between the past and the future. And the future is very, very clear to those of us. When this woman realizes her children and her grandchildren are going to be living under a Supreme Court and its rulings and whether or not they want that to be George Bush and John McCain's Supreme Court or Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's Supreme Court, they're going to vote on the Democratic ticket as they always have. That's what the choice is going to come down to. And that's going to be the new reality as we leave Denver.
O'BRIEN: Congressman Gary Ackerman is a Democrat from New York.
Nice to see you sir, thanks for talking with us. We appreciate it.
ACKERMAN: Thank you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Before we go, CNN's Jeanne Moos has one of her unconventional moments -- you can call this one the faces of Bill Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With a kiss of a hand, Bill Clinton settled in to watch his wife's speech. The faces of Bill were all on display from lip biting to nail biting. When Hillary was cheered, his eyes seem to fill. And he mouthed, I love you.
Barack Obama watched Bill watch Hillary.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's choking up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is.
OBAMA: Listen, when my wife's up there, I was like (INAUDIBLE). It means a lot. MOOS: But near tears soon turned to laughter.
H. CLINTON: No way, no how, no McCain.
MOOS: And Bill loved the pantsuit joke.
H. CLINTON: ... To my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits.
MOOS: Barack liked it too.
H. CLINTON: ... To my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits.
MOOS: Those pantsuits had traveled to this same stage hours earlier for what was described as a light test. Apparently the orange won.
With an unconventional moment, I'm Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 back here in just about 15 minutes, continuing our non-stop coverage of the convention.
Back to CNN NEWSROOM right after these brief messages. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. It is 47 past the hour. Couple of stories we're working on for you today, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
One day after a Sunair jet liner was hijacked from Sudan to Libya, Libya says the two hijackers have surrendered. All the plane's passengers and crew members have been released.
The U.S. Coast Guard ship has arrived in Georgia carrying 38 tons of humanitarian aid. That's just a small part of the U.S. aid flowing into the former Soviet Republic following the recent Russian invasion.
And one person is dead and two more are seriously injured after an explosion and fire in an Oklahoma oil field. Workers were apparently pumping cement into a hole when the blast happened near Bristow, Oklahoma.
All right. It is an anxious wait along parts of the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Gustav swirls in the Caribbean. The storm was a hurricane yesterday when it crossed Haiti's southern peninsula. As it moves to the west, it's expected to get more intense. In New Orleans and southern Mississippi, that is, of course, a huge concern. Hurricane Katrina came ashore there three years ago this week. As a matter of fact, it is on Friday.
Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is tracking this worrisome storm in our severe weather center, and she joins us now with the very latest.
Jacqui, what is it doing?
JERAS: Well, it's moving really slowly, Don, and it's kind of holding steady in terms of its intensity. The winds are 60 miles per hour, so it's a tropical storm. But, just because it's a tropical storm now, really has no bearing on what this thing is going to be doing in the future. We think it's going to be getting better organized, it's going to be moving over warmer water and intensification is very likely and we very well will be looking at a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico as we head into the weekend.
The biggest problem, immediately, is that it's bringing torrential downpours over Hispaniola from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and so 6 to 12 inches on top of what they already have. Landslides, mud slides and flooding extremely likely.
Here's the forecast track. Just kind of sneaking it in between Cuba and Jamaica tonight and through the day tomorrow. Getting to some very warm water here before it heads towards Cuba. And it could be a major hurricane before then.
Now notice the cone of uncertainty. If it goes over land, it's going to be a little bit weaker, but if it stays through the Yucatan Channel, we'll see a stronger hurricane. Once it gets through the Gulf, check out the water temperatures are doing here, Don. Check out this dark red circle right through the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. Those water temperatures between 87 and 88 degrees, unbelievably warm. So rapid intensification will be possible. And the Gulf Coast needs to be seriously prepared for a very dangerous storm.
LEMON: Yes, when the water gets warm, it can really heat that storm up, Jacqui.
And Jacqui, I just got back from New Orleans. You've been there. I remember covering this three years ago. And the scars there from Hurricane Katrina are still around. They're making some recovery, as well.
On Friday, the third anniversary of Katrina's Gulf Coast landfall. Well, take a look at how schools and businesses are faring. It's very interesting what's happening to the schools there. And we'll tell you how some of the survivors are taking things into their own hands and making huge changes there.
About 1,000 new moms in the San Francisco area are being warned and their babies may have been exposed to TB, tuberculosis. A maternity ward worker at the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco medical center has been diagnosed with active TB. Everyone affected, moms and babies, are urged to get a skin test. But a hospital spokesman calls the risk of exposure low.
A career of athletic excellence and more medals than you and I can carry altogether. It takes a toll on a body. And today, five time Olympian Dara Torres goes under the knife to get hers back into fighting form. And what a fine body that is.
OK. Two people are closest to Dara Torres today in Florida. Her doctor and our doctor as well. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Is that her behind you getting prepped?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That is her, Don. She is getting ready to get her operation done. She returned from Beijing just over a week ago.
She was being troubled by her shoulder even during the Olympics, she said. Although she was quick to point out, that was not an excuse for any kind of performance issues at all. She's going to have part of her clavicle removed today. That's your collar bone, right here. Don, you can feel that. The very end of that collarbone sometimes impinges on the shoulder, especially during those swimming movements. Which is the operation she's going to have today.
We were talking a little earlier. She's in very good spirits. She's a little sleepy now because of the medications, but, she's agreed to give us all and you, a very unusual and exclusive look at her operation to see what she's going through here today, Don.
LEMON: That's going to be very interesting.
How long do they expect the surgery to take and Dr. Gupta, what is the recovery time for her?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting when you talk about this kind of operation. Typically it takes about 45 minutes to an hour. As far as recovery time, we're not dealing with a average person here, as you might note, Don.
She is an Olympic athlete. She's has had this sort of operation previously, most recently in November. She had her knee operated in January. You get a sense of how many operations she had so close to the Olympics. Doctors tell me that as soon as her wounds heal, she is back in the pool. She told us she was already in the pool this morning. So, this is something that's probably not going to slow her down, my guess is, really that much at all.
LEMON: Yes. Well, Dr. Gupta, we look forward to that -- to your exclusive reporting. And you know, she's an inspiration to all of us, especially those who are no longer in our 20s, you know what I mean? All right.
GUPTA: That's right. We all stand around and watching her and said, when we get to be that age, we hope we can be like that, what I was thinking for sure.
LEMON: Absolutely. All right. We'll see you in a little bit.
Thank you, Dr. Gupta.
Well, he winds up, he delivers. But this 9-year-old is riding the bench because of that rocket on his arm.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: All right. Look at that. Day three for the Democrats in Denver. We're looking at live pictures of the Pepsi Center where national security is the theme of the night of the Democratic National Convention there. Sharing the spotlight, Barack Obama's running mate, Senator Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton. You want to say right here with CNN and the best political team on television. The best coverage on television, of course.
OK. Batters, be warned. This kid will blow one right past you and you won't even see it. Jericho Scott is his name. He is 9 years old. He is a youth league super star. But now he's benched, why? Well, nobody can hit him, nobody comes close. He's too good.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why aren't you playing a baseball game right now?
JERICHO SCOTT, THROWS 40 MPH FASTBALL: Because the league doesn't want me to play baseball. So, they told kicked us off the thing. And they told us that they're not showing up.
NICOLE BUONOME-SCOTT, JERICHO'S MOTHER: There are other kids in this league, older than him, throw harder than him and have hit players. What doesn't seem fair to me is the president of the league, that's his team. Seems like a big conflict there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: I'm sure the scouts are already lining up. The league says Jericho's 40-mile-per-hour fast ball is too hot for opposing batters. It's not fair and Jericho has to hang it up. His parents are talking to a lawyer about that.
OK. Here's your cuteness alert. Just brace yourself. The St. Louis zoo introduced visitors to its newest celebrity this week. Even say, awww. Can I hear you?
It is a 7-month-old baby tree kangaroo finally big enough to peek out of mama's pouch. He'll stay in there another few months before venturing out on his own. He is adorable, isn't he. I don't know if I'd want to get close to him, though. The tree kangaroo is an endangered species. This is the second one born at the St. Louis zoo.
OK. So, the curtain goes up soon on day three of the Democratic Party's national convention. We've got a lot more live coverage from Denver. That is straight ahead.
But first, the Democratic convention is looking a bit like the Kentucky Derby thanks to all the hats.
CNN's Jeanne Moos looks at the hottest head gear in the unconventional moment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOOS: OK. There's a cheese head and there's a corn on the cob. But sometimes you've got to ask.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Mackinaw Bridge is on my head.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A toilet, a sink and a bathtub.
MOOS: We have finally solved the riddle of why people wear silly hats to conventions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were told by other people who came to conventions that you will have the best time if you wear a hat.
MOOS: Especially if you like having your picture taken. Maxine Goldstein's (ph) hat represents money being flushed down the drain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My biggest problem is coming through security. We have to take the bathroom off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My kid said that if they actually saw me on television with this hat, they would leave home and wouldn't be there when I got back from the convention.
MOOS: But there are hats that can save kids from the humiliation of parental identification.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you put it on like that.
MOOS: With an unconventional moment.
I'm Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
