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Obama to Address Convention; Hurricane Heads for Cuba, Gulf Coast; McCain May Steal Dems Attention with VP Announcement; Homeland Security Secretary Addresses Storm Concerns and Preparations in Place
Aired August 28, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good afternoon. Welcome, everybody. Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center in New York. In a huge political week, this is the biggest day yet. Barack Obama has a date with 75,000-plus Democrats. It's going to happen at Denver's football stadium. And today's history-making session will kick off in just four hours.
John McCain has a date to campaign with his brand-new running mate tomorrow. But wait a minute: McCain says he hasn't picked somebody yet. Is this a case of political indecision, or too many choices, or is it a smart job of building suspense for the other side?
Members of the best political team on TV are checking with their inside sources, going to bring us the very latest. But let's get started in Denver this afternoon. Barack Obama is preparing for tonight's all-important acceptance speech. And that's where CNN's Jessica Yellin is, at the CNN Grill.
Let's begin with the preparations. I mean, what are you hearing? Is there high nervousness and high anxiety from this campaign?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the campaign I'd say knows the stakes tonight, Soledad. They see this as an opportunity for Obama and an important moment for him to reach beyond Democrats and try to get those undecided, the independents, those folks who have been sitting on the fence not quite sure whether Barack Obama is ready, not quite sure who he is.
So I'm told that what we'll hear in the speech is both a new description of his background. In other words, he'll tell us about who he is, what his values are, and ways and words we haven't necessarily heard before.
And then very importantly, he will lay out in what they're calling very specific terms, in essence, what he means when he says change you can believe in. What is this change? And what is the new way of politics?
So it'll be an effort to really ground him in specifics that people will -- that they hope will make people understand exactly who he is and what he promises to deliver if he becomes president. A big challenge, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes, and a lot of challenges there. Seventy-five- thousand people is a big crowd to speak to. And earlier when I was talking to David Gergen, he said, you know, that's -- it's hard to be both intimate and sort of shout into, you know, outdoors at a stadium. That is a tricky balance. And this is a guy, Gergen, as you well know, who has done a lot of speech writing and knows just how tricky that can be.
Are they concerned about that at all?
YELLIN: You put your finger right on the problem today or the challenge, as they put it. The Barack Obama campaign obviously isn't publicly saying they have any concerns.
But look, they picked this venue, so huge, 75,000 people, and actually decided to build a sort of stage that's almost Roman columns, ionic columns that would, in theory, give Obama a sense of grandeur, be you know, presence. They decided to do this before the Republicans came out and started describing him as a celebrity, somebody who's not down-to-earth.
So now they're in this position of having to be in this setting while they're trying to make him just a regular guy. They know Obama can deliver in front of big crowds. They know he an give a rousing speech. The problem is how to make that also address the new issue, which is making Obama, you know, this average Joe.
So what they're focused on today, especially telling the press, is that many of the people, 60,000 people, are not Democratic delegates. They're just regular folks who came in to see this. And that they'll be texting all night, sending their friends notes about the speech, and they'll be taught how to organize and get out the vote for Obama.
So we'll see some new technology at play tonight. But we'll have to really see how this stage works out for him. It'll be interesting.
O'BRIEN: Yes. And then you have another element, which, of course, is 45 years ago, another guy gave a pretty darn good speech on the same day. And that's another high bar, because that speech has gone down as one of the very best in the history of man. That's another challenge.
YELLIN: It is. And it's something that Obama has to be careful with in a different way, which is not to be -- fall into the trap of being considered presumptuous by insisting that he is parallel to Martin Luther King.
But at the same time, it's hard not to make the connection. And it is just a natural emotional cord that he's going to hit by any comparison to King. I mean, when anybody thinks about it -- I interviewed John Lewis last night -- what they went through in those days to see what's happening now. By any measure, whether you're a Democrat, Republican, or in the middle, it really is an historic moment that Barack Obama, the first African-American, is accepting the nomination tonight on this anniversary.
O'BRIEN: They're going to be playing that up tonight, certainly. Jessica Yellin for us at the CNN Grill. Thanks, Jessica. Appreciate it.
So what's the one big mistake that the Democrats and the Republicans need to avoid in the coming weeks? We'll have the smartest minds in politics. We'll take that on, up next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back to the CNN Election Center in New York. Just nine hours till Barack Obama will take the stage to formally accept the Democratic nomination. And Democrats are trying to avoid any major missteps post-convention while the Republicans hope that they can get a boost out of doing all the right things when their convention starts in St. Paul.
Let's get right back to our panel of top political analysts. CNN political contributor Amy Holmes is an independent conservative. CNN senior political analyst David Gergen served as an advisor to four presidents, Republican and Democrat. And journalist and author Carl Bernstein is also a CNN political contributor.
Nice to have you all back. Let's start talking about the staging. Because when we left it last, David, you said the trick is to be intimate with 75,000 people, plus you're also talking to millions at home. So as a former speech writer for President Nixon, how do you...
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Way back when. You forgot Grover Cleveland.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Oh. How do you...?
GERGEN: Terrific.
O'BRIEN: How do you navigate that? That's your job as the speechwriter to a large degree.
GERGEN: Well, it's really hard. It's very, very hard. I do think that it's important to remember that the last time this was done, John F. Kennedy succeeded in an outdoor speech. That was the New Frontier speech in 1960 in Los Angeles. And he both electrified the crowd and reassured voters that the country would be in safe hands, and that's exactly the task in front of Barack Obama today.
I do think that Obama, more than Kennedy, has to be more substantive. He has to be more definitive about where he's going, because the Republicans have been playing a very clever game against him. They've taken all of the strengths and tried to turn them into weaknesses. The fact that he can address a great rally and mobilize people and be inspiring, they've sort of dismissed that as "he's a celebrity. He's going to go in front of this great rally." They're trying to undercut him in various ways.
That's not the way the game of politics was played back in 1960 as much. And so I think it's a tougher task than what Kennedy faced.
We're a very media-savvy country now, too. And so, given those circumstances, I think Barack Obama's got a higher mountain to climb than Kennedy did.
O'BRIEN: It's almost like there's a game being played and then there's a game being played on TV, which is a separate game than the game being played.
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The terrible problem is the media here, because we fall for this nonsense and we cover ephemera at the expense, too often, of real substance.
I mean, for the "Mission Accomplished" guys to be yelling about this stage set is quite remarkable. And we go with it, as if this was such a big deal. But let me...
O'BRIEN: Let me jump in before you finish. Hold that thought. Because all I want to say is that there's an element where it becomes a distracting part of the conversation, not just because the media brings it up but also because there is -- part of that celebrity thing can't be dismissed. Let me finish. Hang on.
BERNSTEIN: Let me finish here. And you're not wrong about a celebrity culture that we live in and a dumbing down of our culture generally. But let's look at what we've seen about so much of the coverage of this convention about ephemera, and the real story was about the Democratic Party coming together. All along that was the real story under our very nose.
O'BRIEN: With all due respect, you've got faxes that say both sides jointly say there's no issue, which to me usually means there's a lack of unity and there is a problem.
AMY HOLMES, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Right. And Soledad, the stage-setting itself is ephemera. This was constructed precisely for this event by the Obama campaign. Jessica was telling you that they had this underway before John McCain started attacking Barack Obama as a celebrity and the Paris Hilton/Britney Spears ad. And now we learn that, in fact, Britney Spears' set designers are the very people who designed this set.
O'BRIEN: And by the way, looks like George Bush's set from 2004. You look online.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: That may be, but the Barack Obama campaign is doing this intentionally, and as viewers, as observers certainly, we can react and have our own commentary.
O'BRIEN: But Carl has a good point.
BERNSTEIN: Who's designed his set? The Britney Spears person?
O'BRIEN: He's working around actually, great guy. But, I guess, that's the question. You have a celebrity culture. And so is what Amy brings up, does it matter or not? Does it matter the set behind him or not?
BERNSTEIN: Put it in context.
O'BRIEN: Hang on, I'm directing this question to David.
BERNSTEIN: I'm jumping in too.
GERGEN: Of course it matters. They wouldn't have spent millions of dollars building the set, did they not think it mattered. They wouldn't have gone to the stadium unless they thought, symbolically, it sent a message. They're trying to -- this bottom up. Work for the people. We're going to have these throngs out there. The Obama people think it matters.
And the McCain people obviously are counter-programming. And, you know, heavily. And so all that goes on.
I do think Carl's got a point, though, that there is a place for talking about all this ephemera. But there's also a place for talking about the fact that the country faces the most serious problems that we faced in decades. We have the most serious financial crisis, as we discussed earlier this week on your show with you, Soledad. The most serious financial crisis we've had since the Depression. And there's a place for talking about that, too.
There's a place we're talking about are we ever, in fact, going to be able to come to grips with global warming? Is this just going to be a slogan we're all going to kick around and just -- and boot it around without really focusing on? This is going to be really expensive and tough for the next president. We're facing higher costs. We're facing a nation that may start going down. We're facing a world that's getting a lot more competitive. We've heard some of those themes in this convention.
O'BRIEN: Does he have to say those themes tonight?
GERGEN: He has to be someone who cannot -- he has to be someone who does not gloss over the tough realities ahead, and he's got to be willing to start talking about sacrifice, because we're coming into a period where it's going to be very, very tough.
And I think it's important that we in the press not just do the ephemera. I think it's important. You know, we all have fun with that. But there's another piece to this story, about the lives we're going to be leading as Americans, that we've got to deal with, too.
O'BRIEN: We're out of time. And we'll have you back, of course. Our rolling coverage continues. Appreciate it David, and Carl, and Amy, of course.
You want to stay with the best political team on TV for the best political convention coverage on CNN. Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center in New York. We're back in just a little bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You're looking -- look at that, INVESCO Field. That is where the Democratic National Convention is being held right now. And we're looking at live pictures now of the preparation tonight for Barack Obama's big speech.
Of course, CNN is your election headquarters, your home for coverage and analysis of the presidential campaign, the party conventions, and the biggest day of all, now a mere 68 days away and counting.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. We'll get back to your convention news in just a bit. But first, let's look at other news that's happening.
Right now our severe weather experts are watching Gustav. For the moment, still a tropical storm, but it could become a hurricane again at any time. Tourists in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands are scrambling to get out of the way of the storm. The storm is blamed for at least 22 deaths on the island of Hispaniola.
Projections show it'll likely be a major hurricane by the time it reaches the Gulf of Mexico, Category 3, just like Hurricane Katrina. Oil companies are evacuating offshore rigs, and New Orleans has buses and trains ready to move as many as 30,000 people. Louisiana's governor has declared a state of emergency and put 3,000 National Guard troops on standby.
Let's get the very latest now from our severe weather expert, Mr. Chad Myers, who's keeping track of Gustav. And that is not all.
What do you have, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I've got a question for you.
LEMON: Yes.
MYERS: How many people do you think live in the six parishes that make New Orleans? How many people still live there?
LEMON: About 40,000.
MYERS: One point one million people.
LEMON: Wow.
MYERS: We always see the Ninth Ward.
LEMON: And I should know that.
MYERS: And the Ninth Ward is, you know, essentially not -- not doing well. They're rebuilding it, but it's not going well. But how can -- there's still 1.1 million people to get out of the way there. So you need to realize and the people there, this is going to take some time to get these Gulf Coast people out of the way. Jamaica, too late for you. It's right on top of you right now. When it was over Haiti it got so broken up that it made a new eye, a new center about 100 miles south of where it was, and now it's driving itself right over -- look at that big loop right there. Down in Jamaica, Category 1, then Category 2, and then on up into the Gulf of Mexico.
The problem is, once it gets into the Gulf, it's got to hit something. But it could go all the way to Pensacola or all the way to Galveston and Houston. Don't focus on New Orleans right now. We're not focusing on that at all. But it's going to be 115- to 120-mile- per-hour storm, and that's going to do damage, Don, no matter where it hits.
LEMON: Well, we're not looking until Monday.
MYERS: Correct.
LEMON: OK. Chad Myers, we appreciate it. Thank you very much for that, sir.
MYERS: You're welcome.
LEMON: In the meantime, storm warnings are out for parts of Cuba. Well, let's go straight now to our Havana bureau chief, Morgan Neill. And we want to check in with him.
Morgan, what are you seeing there?
MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, there's a real sense of relief, at least in the eastern part of the country, as if the worst of this storm may -- they may have escaped it in the east. That's because this storm looked headed just to the south of Santiago and Guantanamo, until last night, and that's when we saw this change that Chad was talking about.
The storm now bearing down on Jamaica, where people there are clearing the streets of traffic. Tourists are, as you mentioned, being evacuated. The risk there that -- very severe risk is, because of the mountainous areas, that there could be mudslides, that in addition to the risk of flooding.
Also in the Cayman Islands, we've seen tourists being evacuated. One tourist saying that they were told to either evacuate the island or head to a shelter.
Now this storm has already taken a fairly heavy toll. We saw at least 22 people killed in the island of Hispaniola, 14 in Haiti, and eight in the Dominican Republic, due to a landslide there in a neighborhood in Santa Domingo.
Now in Cuba, like I say, somewhat of a sense of relief, because we have seen more than 40,000 people evacuated in the eastern-most provinces here. But that's not to say people are sleeping on this storm. They're watching it very closely. We're still getting regular updates on the state run television and radio. And now, of course, if you watch the projected path of this storm, it could again pass over Cuba, now the western-most extreme of the island, over the weekend, Don.
LEMON: Morgan Neill, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you very much, sir.
Meantime, many miles away, New Orleans is watching very nervously. Three years ago tomorrow, Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore, and the city is still recovering from that. We plan to take you there on the anniversary to see how schools and businesses are faring and how some survivors are taking charge there and making changes.
It's no longer just flooding in India. It's an emergency of staggering scope. Get this: almost three million people are marooned, displaced, or homeless in the northeast Indian state of Bihar. Now a government spokesman says 47 people are dead in hundreds of villages, unprepared for a much heavier than normal flood season. An area about the size of Delaware is underwater.
You know what? Just hours after Democrats wrap up their convention in Denver, Republican John McCain will try to reclaim some of the spotlight they've been garnering.
Campaign sources tell CNN that McCain has decided on a running mate and plans to notify the person as soon as today. We don't yet know who gets the nod. But we're told that McCain will announce his choice at a rally tomorrow in Ohio. Mitt Romney, Joe Lieberman, and Tim Pawlenty are a few of the names we're hearing most often.
Check this out. This is the city of Gori, but plenty of towns in the republic of Georgia look very similar to this. Cleaning up and taking stock of damage done by weeks of Russian military invasion and occupation. Most Russian units have pulled back, but harsh talks remain about who started what.
In an exclusive interview, Russia's -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told CNN today that he believes the United States orchestrated the conflict to distract election-year voters from Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The fact is that U.S. citizens were, indeed, in the area in conflict during the hostilities. Then it should be admitted that they would do so only following direct orders from their supervisors. Therefore, they were acting in implementing those orders, doing as they were ordered. And the only one who can give such orders is their supervisors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, White House spokesperson Dana Perino calls Putin's statements, quote, "patently false." A State Department spokesman calls them, quote, "ludicrous." A secret meeting, U.S. military commanders and Pakistani commanders on board a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean. A Pentagon official says the chairman of the joint chiefs was there discussing the growing Taliban and al Qaeda threat in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Now as if to underscore that threat, a bomb went off today in northwest Pakistan. It destroyed a police van and killed at least seven people, most of them policemen. It happened not far from where gunmen fired on a U.S. consulate vehicle Tuesday. Nobody was hurt in that attack.
Casey Anthony's freedom may be far more fleeting than hoped -- than she might have hoped. She's the Florida mother suspected in the disappearance of her 3-year-old daughter, Caylee.
Now here's video shot this morning of Anthony running into her lawyer's office. Well, today's developments: the bounty hunter says -- he's the one who bailed out Anthony -- he says he'll begin the process of locking her back up. Leo Padilla says it's just not safe for Casey Anthony to be on the outside.
Investigators say they found evidence of human decomposition in a car connected to Anthony. Caylee has been missing since June, but police weren't alerted for a month.
In Idaho, Joseph Edward Duncan said he should die for killing a 9-year-old boy, and a federal judge and jury agree with that. Jurors watched in horror as Duncan's homemade video of Dylan Groene's sexual abuse and killing was played in court. Dylan's grandmother calls Duncan an evil shell of a human being.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARLENE TORRES, DYLAN GROENE'S GRANDMOTHER: At least I know he's not out there hurting anybody else or, you know, to any other family. And for that I am thankful, because I would never wish this on anybody. It's been very hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, Duncan pleaded guilty to killing three members of Dylan Groene's family and sexually torturing the boy's sister, Shasta. He may now face trial for the 1997 murder of a 10-year-old boy.
Watching, waiting, and preparing. The U.S. Gulf Coast keeps a wary eye on Gustav. We'll show you the latest projected track of this powerful Caribbean storm.
And from the hospital to the poorhouse. We'll look at how to keep from drowning in medical bills.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, again. Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center in New York, with continuing coverage of the Democratic National Convention.
We're taking a look right now at the stage, which is inside Mile High Stadium, the naming rights by INVESCO. The buzz tonight by Obama and the expectations to repeat what David Brody, the reporter, told us earlier. Well, those expectations are a mile high.
The gates will open here 3:00 p.m. local time. The crowds are already gathering. They're estimating 75,000-plus Obama supporters, millions more, of course, watching at home and watching on the web. And again, mile high expectations and even more. This is taking place on the 45th anniversary of another big speech. Maybe you heard of it. The "I Have a Dream" speech.
So, how would you like to be in Barack Obama's shoes right now?
Well, luckily CNN's Dana Bash is in her own shoes today. She joins us from Denver -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, Barack Obama will mark his history-making candidacy tonight with nothing short of an extravaganza. But, in terms of his speech, striking the right balance between his stirring rhetoric and giving specific reasons for his candidacy will be his big challenge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): The first hint of the history to come.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America.
BASH: Just four years later.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: ... that Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for president of the United States by acclimation.
BASH: He is now the official Democratic nominee. And tonight he'll deliver an elaborately orchestrated acceptance speech before some 75,000 people in this stadium. The first candidate to trade the convention hall for an open to the public venue since John Kennedy in 1960.
Not the only historic symbolism. It's also the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's, "I Have a Dream" speech. Obama's lofty catapulted him to this moment. But it also has been used by his opponents as proof he's out of touch.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: I have to that say there is a difference between speeches and solutions, between rhetoric and results.
BASH: Obama allies say his challenge tonight is to bring his soaring rhetoric down to Earth, to connect with voters and prove he's one of them. REP. RAHM EMANUEL (D), ILLINOIS: The most important thing that Barack has to do is to communicate to the American people that he understands the challenges they're facing, the economic squeeze they're facing and that he has a recipe for that.
BASH: Many Democratic strategists say his most critical goal is making a convincing case he's got what it takes to be commander in chief. And that he's got the stomach to fight for the change he preaches. At a rally en-route to Denver, an acceptance speech preview.
OBAMA: I am going to fight as hard as I can over the next 70 days to make clear to the American people that they deserve a president and a White House that is fighting for them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Obama says the reason he wanted to move his speech into a big stadium is to bring more people into his campaign. And aides say they're actually going to try to use the event as an organizing tool. They're going to explain to people how to text message and get people to the polls, come November.
Now, as for Republicans, they are mocking this set up, especially the fact that the stage looks kind of like a Roman set up. There are columns and all. And they are mocking it as an example of how Obama perhaps has a bit of arrogance and they are actually giving it a name. They're calling the stage behind Obama, Barackopolis -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Dana Bash for us.
Up next, more on the speech on the massive expectations. Then some new word on John McCain's attempts to steal the spotlight. Will he name a running mate? That's all ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. You all sit down, we've got to get on with the show here. Come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Oh, he loved it. And it was pretty sweet too, for Barack Obama. He needed the former president to shine. And while he also said nice things about the man who defeated his wife. And shine Bill Clinton clearly did. Love him or hate him, can't deny that he was in his element with that speech. And now it's Barack Obama's turn.
With the growing possibility that sometime between now and tomorrow, John McCain is going to try to seize the moment back.
Some more on both candidates now from CNN's senior political analyst, Gloria Borger. She's in Denver for us this afternoon.
You have so many firsts and historical moments and big risks and things that he has to accomplish in his speech. It is a giant bar to hop over.
What are the biggest risks do you think here, with the speech tonight?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, I think one of the biggest risks is that Barack Obama can't play into the celebrity rock star theme that John McCain's campaign has been stirring the pot with this entire week. There have been some terrific speeches at this convention. Obama, we already know, is somebody who can give a great speech.
I think what he has to do is have a conversation with the American people, not only about who he is and his values, but, about what he can do for them to change their lives. And it's a very difficult thing to have an intimate conversation with people when you're in front of a crowd of 80,000.
So, I know they're going out of their way, Soledad, to try and put him in the crowd, to try and kind of limit the shots of this huge event, to make it look a little bit more intimate. But, they planned this event before the McCain campaign got going with this celebrity theme. So, they have to be really careful about this.
O'BRIEN: To real, actual voters and not necessarily TV pundits, do you think that celebrity thing has stuck? I mean, do people at home -- does that really have some kind of impact?
BORGER: Well, I think it does. I think what really hits the people at home is his words. And he's got -- the speech is what's really important to the people at home.
And I think that he's got to tell them what he's going to do for them. And he's got to, you know, he doesn't have to do it in a 10- point plan. This doesn't have to be a state of the union speech. But, he have to tell them what change will mean in their lives and how he can accomplish it.
I think what you've seen this whole week are a whole bunch of character witnesses telling you about Barack Obama. Now he has to tell the American public who he is himself and, again, in this kind of a stadium, having a conversation just isn't that easy.
O'BRIEN: It could be challenging.
Let's talk about John McCain and his vice presidential pick or lack there of. There's been news about that, or I'll use that in quote, news or no news or however you want to put it. But, really at the end of the day is there -- is that all that hoopla just listen, I'm going to try to steal the focus and on Barack Obama's big night when it's history making, people will spend a little bit of time talking about John McCain?
BORGER: Yes. I think -- it's been interesting because, again, I use the phrase stirring the pot.
What the McCain people have been doing during this convention is trying to get a little buzz going, responding to the speeches, obviously. But again, continuing with the Obama as celebrity themes. You heard what Dana Bash was saying before. And I think, you know, they've done that pretty effectively. But, you know, sort of nibbling around the edges. Obviously now we're all thinking towards this weekend and his -- who's going to be his running mate.
This is going to be a big night for Barack Obama. There's kind of an unwritten rule that you don't step on your opponent's big night. But starting tomorrow, going forward, this is going to be John McCain's week. And so we are all thinking about who his potential running mates are going to be.
O'BRIEN: And for the Democrats, we'll turn about the fair play and they will be stealing the focus, or at least attempting do during the RNC.
BORGER: You bet. Well, and you know, Obama will be out there campaigning during McCain's week. And he's not just going to be sitting around. So he's going to be campaigning. And he and Joe Biden are going to do their first campaign event together on Friday. They're going to go to the state of Pennsylvania together. So, you know, they're going to have a lot of press with them too. So, they're not going to be sitting still during McCain's convention.
O'BRIEN: Gloria Borger for us with an update. Thanks, Gloria. Appreciate it.
Now, before we take a break. Let's take a little break from the usual reporting in an unconventional moment.
CNN's Jeanne Moos wanted to know just how many Democrats can you fit into one official convention photo? Every convention they shoot a panoramic commemorative photo where everybody poses. This year, though, the announcer couldn't quite get the word commemorative out. So we commemorate the fact that when it was taking this class photo, it was easier done than said.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Don't bother saying cheese for this photo. Amid 20,000 bodies, your smile probably wouldn't show up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies and gentleman, we're about to the take the commem --
The what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The commemorative panoramic photo.
MOOS: Apparently it's easier to take this commemorative photo than to say it. The exceptionally wide photo is a tradition at the Democratic Convention. This one's from 1928.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please turn around and look at the center camera platform.
MOOS: Sort of reminds us of Spencer Tunic, who specializes in mass nudes. The Democrats, at least, kept their clothes on. Yes we can, finally pronounced commemorative right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are about to take the commemorative panoramic photo.
MOOS: Do you have to pose like Richard Nixon at the Democratic Convention?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are taking the photo right now.
MOOS: With an unconventional moment, I'm Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And the announcer just dropped commemorative. It's hard to say.
More convention coverage in about 15 minutes. And of course, throughout the day from New York, I'm Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election . Center in New York.
Let's send it back to Atlanta and CNN NEWSROOM after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Look at that, live pictures. Man, they are getting ready. That's INVESCO Field -- Mile High Stadium in Denver. Where more than 75,000 people will watch tonight as Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for president. It'll be a historic event. We'll get you back to our Denver coverage for more of CNN's special convention coverage. In just a few minutes, we'll get back to that.
But first, it is 46 past the hour. I want to tell you about some of the stories we're working on for you today right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Russia's Vladimir Putin says some U.S. citizens were involved in fighting Russian forces in Georgia. In an exclusive CNN interview, Putin accused the Bush administration of orchestrating the conflict for partisan U.S. political purposes. The State Department says that is ludicrous.
A law enforcement sources tells CNN that investigators have found evidence of human decomposition in a car linked to Casey Anthony. Anthony's 3-year-old daughter, Caylee, has been missing since June.
A construction crane accident in Dallas, this morning to tell you about. A pipe weighing 9 tons plunged to the ground, crushing two trucks. One worker suffered a head injury while another suffered two broken legs.
Well boy, oh, boy for the U.S. Gulf Coast. This could be a sign of things to come. After dumping heavy rain on Cuba, Gustav is closing in on Jamaica. It is still a tropical storm, but is expected to be a hurricane again any time now.
What forecasters fear it will be a major hurricane when it makes landfall in the U.S. early next week. Preparations are well underway on this day before the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana's governor has already issued a state of emergency and National Guard troops are reporting for duty.
Let's get right now to our Chad Myers who's tracking this big storm and more. He joins us now from the CNN Hurricane Headquarters.
MYERS: Don, what we have now is the storm itself moving over Jamaica. And that was not in the forecast 24 hours ago. So what changed? How did Jamaica get basically in the eye, even though it's a 70 miles per hour tropical storm, not a hurricane. Still basically has a center, we'll call it a center if you will.
Well, as the storm rolled over Haiti, a very mountainous country, that's why it had so many mudslides, they cut down a lot of trees in the Haiti, as well. Also DR, making charcoal and products like that. So, as it moved this great mountainous --
LEMON: Hey, Chad. Hey, I hate to interrupt you.
We want to get to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, in Washington D.C. -- pardon me, Chad -- who is speaking right now in Washington. He's heading down to the storm zone.
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MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: ... the warmer water of the Gulf. We could anticipate Category 3 hurricane.
So, we're talking about a very serious storm and one that should be hitting the area perhaps, Monday into Tuesday. With all of this, this is the first serious threat we've had to the northern Gulf Coast of the United States since a couple of years ago when we had Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. So, it's going to be the first occasion we have to see in real time the way the planning and the efforts we've put into rebuilding our response capability, actually play out as we have a storm approaching.
I've spoken to Governor Jindal, I've spoken to Governor Barber. They are putting their emergency plans into effect. The governor's going to obviously -- the governors are going to have to make a decision about exactly when to call an evacuation. And I anticipate they will do that over the next 24 hours.
I've spoken to the president and briefed him about what we're prepared to do. We've got the Department of Defense that has identified assets that will be available for purposes of search and rescue and evacuation if necessary, to support the state and local government.
My purpose in going down is to make sure everybody is connected, that all of the plans we've worked on so hard are actually being triggered and moving forward as we anticipate. That all the training and exercising is paying off. I'm going to be able to talk directly to the governor and to the mayor later today and make that sure we are totally aligned about what that plan is for the next few days. And also, I hope to be able to emphasize to the public to take very seriously the direction that they get from their local officials.
When the word comes to evacuate, every citizen ought to heed the mandate and the direction of local emergency personnel. This is not the kind of situation where you want to play chicken with a storm. As I say, the final impact of this storm may not be known for a couple of days. That's why in Texas the governor and the emergency manager are also working together to make sure they're prepared.
But I think the way it looks now, certainly Louisiana stands a fair likelihood of experiencing the first serious hurricane since the hurricanes of 2005. Not an occasion for panic, but an occasion to put into practice all the preparation that's been done up to now. And that's what I'm down here to make sure we're doing.
So with that I'll take a few questions.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, if, in fact, the storm does reach New Orleans, what's the status of the levees there, and do we expect that they will hold?
CHERTOFF: Well, the levees are stronger than they were and in better condition than they were at the time Katrina hit. As you know, there's a plan to get the levees up to what they call 100-year strength in 2011. So we're not there yet.
I've spoken to the Army Corps. I know that they have looked hard to make sure that the pumps, the gates and the capabilities they put into place are working and are functional and will do the job intended. But one of the things I want to do when I go down there is, again, eyeball to eyeball, make sure that they've done everything they can given the time that they have to have the infrastructure as secure as possible.
With all that, let me be clear. If you have a lot of wind, if you have a storm surge, you may have some overtopping of levees, you may have a real impact in terms of New Orleans itself. And that's why as much effort as we put into rebuilding what was lost in Katrina, it's very important that people listen to the emergency officials. And if and when the word comes to evacuate, do it. Don't try to rely upon the fact that the levees are stronger than they were in Katrina to assume that that's going to necessarily protect you from harm.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) What specific concerns do you have for their safety and people in their situation? CHERTOFF: We're concerned about everybody's safety. But it's clear that if you're in a trailer, you're much more vulnerable to wind and weather in general, than if you're living if a regular house. So obviously, one of the elements of our evacuation plan is to make sure that word goes out early to people who are in trailers to get evacuated. If they have their own automobiles, they ought to head out according to the evacuation route.
We do have a plan in place that the state has worked on -- the city has worked, to make sure that those without transportation can get on buses. The governor has activated a bus contract. He's also mobilized school buses. So there should be hundreds of buses available in the event that an evacuation is ordered.
Again, it's a question of listening to direction. Let me emphasize -- a little bit of preparation helps a lot. Bring your valuables with you, bring your wallet with you. If you're going to travel in your car, make sure you have food and water and gasoline. You don't want to run out of fuel on the way out of the hurricane zone.
It's all about deliberate preparation and following the instructions of the relevant public officials. And there's also, I should say, a sequencing of the evacuation that, again, is going to depend upon people meeting heeding the specific direction they're getting from their local emergency managers.
QUESTION: Sir, how would you rate your confidence level that you're prepared and won't see some of the same problems you experienced during Katrina? And what if Hannah develops into a major hurricane? Would you be prepared to handle two hurricanes?
CHERTOFF: Well first of all, let me tell you -- there are a lot of things that are different between now and what we faced in 2005 when Katrina came ashore. We've had three years to put together the kind of plan that never existed before. It's a plan, which is not just federal, but involves a deep level of engagement by state and local authorities all across the Gulf.
Unlike in 2005, the Defense Department has prearranged all the assets that will be necessary to come in to do search and rescue and evacuation in support of state and local authorities. I hope, and I believe, that the public is now better prepared and more serious about taking direction.
I've spoken directly to the governor. I know he is very focused on this. He's practiced, well ahead of the time of the storm's arrival, the initial steps necessary to prepare for an evacuation or a response. We've got better capabilities in terms of medical response, better capabilities in terms of how we deal with special needs populations, the hospitals have now put themselves in a position where they can shelter in place because they've got the generators and the supplies necessary. Everybody has worked over the last three years to put together the tools and the capabilities you need to be much better prepared to deal with this storm. No two storms are alike. This storm may be more powerful than Katrina. It may hit in a different location. All the specific details are likely to be different. Therefore, we have to be prepared to adapt and be flexible as we deploy the plan based on what the circumstances are. Also, the timing of arrival. Although we have a range of likelihood, is not yet precise. We have to be prepared to accelerate or to, if necessary, be a little bit more flexible depending on how the weather operates.
As far as Tropical Storm Hannah, that is, of course, I think south east of the Leeward Islands, a different location. Right now, the timing of that looks like it is -- if it develops into a hurricane, it's not clear where it's going to go, it's not clear whether it's going to affect the continental United States. If we had to deal with two hurricanes, one after the other, we would do it. We sure hope we don't have to do it.
But part of what we have built over the last three years is the capability to do multiple events at the same time. And so even as we're working very hard on Gustav, which is the imminent threat, we're going to keep an eye out all across the Gulf, and in the Atlantic as well, for other things that may be popping up.
Thanks very much.
LEMON: Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in Washington, D.C. -- about to get on that plane you see right there and head to Louisiana. First, he will go to Baton Rouge and then off to New Orleans. He will meet up with FEMA director, David Paulson, who is already on the ground. Mr. Chertoff saying he has already spoken to President Bush, he's spoken to the governor, Bobby Jindal, down in Louisiana and also to the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin. They have some emergency precautions in place.
Here's what's important -- what he said about this -- this is the first time to see if the response capabilities and preparations that were put into place after Hurricane Katrina, if they actually work and if those levees will actually hold. Even more important to that, he said a storm surge could -- and this is a quote -- "have a real impact on New Orleans."
CNN is your weather and your convention headquarters. More in a moment.
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O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center here in New York with continuing coverage of the Democratic Convention. Look at that, it's like I cued Sheryl Crow to start rehearsing again. She's been rehearsing now, she's at INVESCO Field, AKA, Mile High Stadium. That's in Denver. You can see her right there. She's warming up. Everybody has been doing their sound checks today.
Skies are clear, the weather is supposed to be great, crowds forming outside. Tonight, Colorado's governor, also Al Gore, a tribute to Martin Luther King, and then Barack Obama is going to accept the Democratic presidential nomination. That's all on tap for this evening.
