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American Morning
John McCain Predicting Victory Last Night; Wall Street Hit a Huge Tumble; Three Big Storms Churning in the Atlantic; Police Versus Protesters at the RNC
Aired September 05, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It's now crossing the top of the hour. And coming to you live from the Xcel Center here in St. Paul, Minnesota this morning, the Straight Talk Express on the move again. They are tearing down the stage behind me. It's almost like a beach town that wrapped up after Labor Day, isn't it? Packing it up here at the Xcel Center after John McCain made his pitch to America that he is the man to bring change to Washington.
Last night marked an amazing revival. It was just a year ago that the pundits had John McCain down and out. Here's CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley with that part of the story.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran and John, and welcome to the fall campaign. It really began last night here in Minnesota when like the Democrats last week, the Republicans made it official.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice-over): An old warrior who survived hell and a political phoenix risen from the ashes of a campaign once declared dead. John McCain accepted his party's nomination Thursday and then painted himself as a non-party man.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been called a maverick, someone who...
(AAPLAUSE)
...someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it's meant as a compliment, sometimes it's not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don't work for a party. I don't work for a special interest. I don't work for myself. I work for you.
(APPLAUSE)
CROWLEY: He is facing the worst political environment Republicans have seen in decades. And he cannot win with Republican votes alone. So, while McCain did tick off a number of solidly conservative positions, he also chastised his party for losing its way, because this night was about the place most voters live, in the middle, where they look for something new.
MCCAIN: Let me just offer an advanced warning to the old big spending, do nothing, me first, country second crowd -- change is coming.
CROWLEY: New as a hard sell for a 72-year-old with 26 years on Capitol Hill, but change is the watch word of the '08 election. So, McCain sells the experience to bring change. Still, even as he looks forward, the foundation of McCain's campaign is his past -- the tale of a young soldier taken as a prisoner of war, tortured and imprisoned for five years.
MCCAIN: I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency, for its faith and the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just the place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.
(APPLAUSE)
CROWLEY: The experience informs his life, infuses his campaign and provides his overarching theme -- "Country First." John McCain is on a mission.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: It is an uphill battle for John McCain from now until Election Day. All of the elements favor Democrats at this point. But John McCain likes to tell friends, I've faced tougher odds before.
Kiran and John?
CHETRY: Candy Crowley for us. Thank you.
So, what do the V.P. choices reveal about the men at the top of the ticket? Our next guest says the way that John McCain picked Sarah Palin makes Barack Obama actually look conservative. Joe Klein, columnist for "Time" magazine." The new issue features Governor Palin on the cover, as in many magazines. It seems she really has been the talk.
Joe, thanks for being with us.
JOE KLEIN, TIME MAGAZINE COLUMNIST: Good to be here, Kiran.
CHETRY: Let's just listen together to how Cindy McCain described Sarah Palin last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CINDY MCCAIN, JOHN MCCAIN'S WIFE: John has picked a reform- minded, hockey mom, basketball shooting, moose hunting, salmon fishing, pistol-packing mother of five for vice president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: What do you think that says about John McCain, that pick? KLEIN: Well, I think it's bad for the moose population in Alaska because everybody's so curious about what moose stew tastes like these days that a lot of them are going to be wind up in the stew.
I think that the real difference here is that Barack Obama did this in a very conservative, traditional way. He spent months vetting the candidates. It was a comprehensive search. Then he picked the obvious guy, Joe Biden. Barack Obama is a candidate who does not take very many risks. He hasn't taken policy risks. He's right down the middle of where the Democratic Party is.
John McCain, on the other hand, you know, allowed this to get into the last days. It became a wild, chaotic scramble. He didn't vet Palin very well. We in the press are kind doing it now. And it shows the kind of president that he might be. He's a guy who makes a lot of gut decisions, gambles a lot and has a kind of hair-trigger sensibility.
CHETRY: It is interesting because -- and when you read in about why it did take so long and why that vetting process went to the final days. Part of it is that he wanted some people, possibly Lieberman or Tom Ridge, that he was getting a lot of advice on the other side, don't do this because it's going to hurt your base.
And so, it's just interesting, as you try to figure that out. What does it say about how he may lead when it comes to listening to others versus following his gut?
KLEIN: Well, he's going to follow his gut. I think that what did happen was that he really wanted Joe Lieberman. And he got phone calls from Karl Rove, among others, saying you can't do that, it will wreck the party.
You saw how enthusiastic the party was about Sarah Palin. You know, with her very, very strong social conservative positions on issues. And McCain, rather than giving into what, you know, the party elders wanted, which was Mitt Romney, went his own way, which sometimes works and sometimes is a little risky.
CHETRY: And what do you think the net result is? How much of an impact, even though it's been the topic of conversation for days, ultimately will the V.P. pick have on either side?
KLEIN: Not much. This election, I've always believed is going to be decided in the debates. So, a lot like 1980, where you have this proven quality, John McCain, who that doesn't have the baggage that Jimmy Carter then had, but he does have the baggage of George W. Bush. And you have this celebrity, Ronald Reagan at that point, Barack Obama now. People want to see whether Barack Obama is a president. And he's going to have to prove it standing toe to toe with John McCain.
CHETRY: All right. So, you believe it is going to come down to the debates?
KLEIN: Absolutely. It usually does in the television era. CHETRY: All right. Joe Klein, thanks for being with us. Very interesting article, by the way, in this new edition of "Time" magazine. Thanks.
KLEIN: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Mac's new attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: We're going to change that. That's going to change. We have to change, change, change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Stealing Obama's thunder. Our panel weighs in. Can McCain change the game? You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: And I wouldn't be an American worthy of the name if I didn't honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement. But let there be no doubt, my friends, we're going to win this election. We're going to win this election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: John McCain last night predicting victory. It's going to be a long, hard slug over the next sixty-one days. Joining me now to talk about how it's going to go -- Democratic analyst Julian Epstein and Republican strategist Kevin Madden.
Kevin, welcome to you this morning.
KEVIN MADDEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Great to be with you.
ROBERTS: Thanks for helping us out all this week, by the way.
MADDEN: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: John McCain taking on the medal of maverick. According to factcheck.org, he voted with President Bush 95 percent of the time last year. People are going to buy it -- that he suddenly become a maverick again?
MADDEN: I think that the most identifiable brand that John McCain has is somebody who's always challenged the status quo. I think, if you remember, over the last eight years, you know, John McCain has sort of served as a rhetorical touchstone for a lot of Democrats who were criticizing the administration. And in that respect --
(CROSSTALK) ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) in the last year and a half.
MADDEN: A lot of respects across the country, John McCain, with many Democratic voters, has become their favorite Republican. And I think that's where John McCain is successful in this election, is that he's going to be able to play to those big middle -- that big middle, those voters across the country, those conservative Democrats and independents. Because if there's one thing that we know from Sarah Palin's pick is that she's really energized the conservative base. So now, he has that ability to go out and get those extra voters.
ROBERTS: Julian, of course, the Democrats, the Obama campaign trying to drive home the message that John McCain gave up any claim to being a maverick years ago. They got signs out there saying McCain equals McSame. Can they effectively counter his argument that he's back to the maverick again?
JULIAN EPSTEIN, DEMOCRATIC ANALYST: I think so. And I think that they rolled out a new product line a week ago. They took the experience question off the table with the choice of Sarah Palin as the vice presidential candidate.
ROBERTS: But they kept hammering it this week.
EPSTEIN: Well, I don't know. I don't think it's working for them. And they decided they come out with this new theme about change. They're trying to steal Barack Obama's theme about change.
It's true that John McCain used to be a maverick. But if you'll listen to his speech yesterday, there's was nothing new from a policy point of view that would bring any kind of change, certainly in terms of the anxieties that people are feeling in the economy today. Everything, from health care, taxes, housing, is exactly what George Bush is proposing. I think it's going to be very hard for him to carry the middle --
ROBERTS: When you look at the national numbers, Kevin, it's very, very close. When you go out to those battleground states, in particular, when you look at this year, the anti-Bush sentiment out there, it's advantaged Democrats. What does John McCain have to do in those battleground states, in particular with the help of Governor Palin, to try to turn things around?
MADDEN: Well, on the last point first. Sarah Palin, I think is going to be able to, you know, energize a lot of those conservative -- those conservative areas that are really the backbone of your turnout model and lot of those states.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: You look at the intensity?
MADDEN: Yes, southern Missouri, southeast and southwest Ohio and a lot of these battleground states. That's where Sarah Palin is going to play an important role in getting out a lot of these voters. John McCain, he has to go out there and campaign, again, in the big middle. A lot of the collar counties around, places like Columbus, Ohio, a lot of the collar counties around Philadelphia, go out there with a message of change and reform and actual accomplishment.
I know that they're going to try and say -- the Democrats are going to try to say that this is Bush 3.0, but in fact, that this is really -- this is about accomplishment between John McCain, who has actually done it and Barack Obama, who just talks about it.
ROBERTS: Well, no matter how you put it, it's game on and then we'll see. Kevin Madden, Julian Epstein, thanks for being with us. Good to see you.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Thanks for your help all this week. We really appreciate you getting up so early for us.
13 minutes after the hour. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
CHETRY: On alert. Preparing for Hanna, but keeping an eye on what could be next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frankly, we're a lot more concerned about Ike.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Tracking the triple threat. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Well, my opponent promises to bring back old jobs by wishing away the global economy. We're going to help workers who've lost a job that won't come back, find a new one that won't go away.
(APPLAUSE)
We will prepare them for the jobs of today. We will use our community colleges to help train people for new opportunities in their communities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That was Senator John McCain last night offering one idea to keep Americans working. And just a few hours before McCain took the stage, Wall Street hit a huge tumble. Ali Velshi is here "Minding Your Business" to talk more about that as well. It was just fears and uncertainty that's seen yesterday that caused the market to tank.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes and it's this constant uncertainty. In fact, so much so that take a look at some of the biggest drops, more than 50 times this year. The DOW has dropped more than 100 points. This was the fourth biggest drop this year.
You can see it on the right of your screen in blue. The biggest drop, it was almost 400 points. That was the date that oil surged, June 6th, the date that oil jumped more than $10. But we've seen these big moves. The fourth biggest move this year, 345 points lower.
Take a look at how the DOW has done over the course of the year. Back in October of last year, almost one year ago, the DOW hit its highs and then it's been coming down ever since. So, this is going to affect your 401(k), your IRA. Hold on right now because there's no point in selling when things are low. If anything, you should be buying stocks. There's a general thesis that things are coming back.
I should tell you, though, in less than 15 minutes, we're going to get the employment numbers for the month of August and we are expecting them to be bad. We're expecting more than 75,000 jobs to have been lost in August, bringing the total for 2008 to a loss of half a million jobs. We'll be bringing you that live in 15 minutes.
CHETRY: All right. I'm just glad to have you back on solid grounds.
VELSHI: I'm glad to be back.
CHETRY: Boy, the shots that you brought us from Grand Isle from that hurricane were unbelievable.
VELSHI: Unintentional but we were there, we made it through.
CHETRY: I also knew that, Ali, you're the only one out there without hair, but you had the hood on.
VELSHI: That's right.
CHETRY: What was going to get wet?
VELSHI: Just so that -- yes, I suppose you're right. I just see other reporters doing that on TV. I suppose I should have.
CHETRY: Ali, thank you.
VELSHI: All right.
CHETRY: We have breaking news right now, three big storms churning in the Atlantic, one of them about to drench nearly the entire East Coast with wind and rain. Our Rob Marciano is looking at that beast over there. That is Ike right now taken what -- from a NASA plane. ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's the International Space Station about 200 miles up and that is a fantastic shot. Yes, the hood and a 70-mile-an-hour wind is definitely overrated. 65, right now, is what Hanna is. We'll get back to Ike in a second.
This thing is flaring up on the west side and the Florida now feeling the effects of Hanna and -- although the official track does not take it to Florida. The western flank of the storm is certainly giving it some. Charleston to Wilmington, that's where the expected landfall is later on tonight, tomorrow morning. Likely it's a tropical storm, potentially as a Category 1.
So, this storm is certainly nothing to sneeze at. And there would be battering waves and rip tides and beach erosion, as well. Tropical storm warnings out for a good chunk of the Eastern Seaboard and also up towards -- Long Island may get a piece of this before it's all done.
All right, Ike, major storm, heading to the Bahamas, by early Tuesday morning could very well be on Florida's doorstep. That one has everybody nervous and rightfully so. And we'll be tracking it very carefully.
Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: Rob, thanks so much. Well, taunts and tear gas, police versus protesters, a look at the convention chaos. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: That was the scene last night outside the Xcel Center. Protestors trying to get near the Republican National Convention. Police firing back with tear gas. They even used pepper spray on some protesters who got a little bit too close. Those flash band grenades as well that you see going off, and to try to disorient the protestors and try to clear them out. A lot of them wouldn't leave though.
CNN's Joe Johns was following all the action. He joins us now. A lot more out the streets of St. Paul than there was in Denver.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's for sure. The first night and the last night were supposed to be the big deal. There was just a lot of action out there, a vigorous end to an unusual week in St. Paul. An estimated 396 people arrested which would bring the total for the week to almost 818. Last night was a cat and mouse game going through the streets of St. Paul. The protesters head out to march to the Xcel Center, but every time they tried another route, the police cut them off.
Then there was something of a street to street chase that ended up going through a shopping mall parking lot not too far from the capital here. We're talking about horses and motorcycles, bicycles, police on foot.
The whole point was to keep the protesters from crossing three interstate overpasses that would have allowed them to reach the convention floor on foot. We heard big booms as John just talked about. Those noisy distractions devices the police were using to startle the protesters. Sounded a little like a war zone.
No reports of serious injuries. There are also apparently more than a few releases of pepper spray out there. A couple times this week, we have pointed out to authorities the uses of pepper spray by officers that were caught on our videotape. No comment from them so far. There were some people from the news media who were also arrested trapped on a bridge and we managed ourselves to avoid that.
ROBERTS: You know at past protests that I've followed in places like Seattle during the T.W.O. meetings back in the last decade actually, a long, long time ago, a lot of property damage. Was there any property damage this time around?
JOHNS: Absolutely. Oh, yes. All week, there was -- the windows being broken. People were turning things over. I saw some police cars with their windows knocked out. So sure, it's one of the tactics the so called self-described anarchists use to create a little bit of disruption out there and draw attention to themselves they think.
ROBERTS: Joe Johns for us this morning, covering the action outside the Xcel Center. 23 minutes after the hour. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
Meeting the enemy --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams and how to stand up to those who don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Toe-to-toe with rogue nations. Zain Verjee live in Libya with a look at what could be the ultimate test for the next president. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: John McCain and Barack Obama are trying to win over those still undecided former Hillary Clinton supporters and our next guest is one of them. In fact, she's such an ardent Hillary Clinton supporter that she almost lost her credentials as a Clinton delegate for speaking out against Obama. So after hearing all of the speeches, has she made up her mind?
Sacha Millstone joins me now from Denver.
Thanks for being with us this morning, Sacha.
SACHA MILLSTONE-HILL, UNDECIDED HILLARY CLINTON DELEGATE: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
CHETRY: Well, you listen to Senator McCain's speech last night and also for the governor speech, are you hearing anything from the Republican ticket that could possibly win you over?
MILLSTONE-HILL: I thought McCain's speech last night was actually very moving. While he's perhaps not as great as far as some of the speeches that we've heard in the last two weeks, I think that when he was talking about his experiences after being shot down and how that shaped his character going from a relatively self-centered person to somebody who fell in love with his country, I thought that was a very telling and moving portion.
CHETRY: Now, Sacha, you truly are undecided. You said that, you know, you really believe most of what the Democrats have in their platform. You know, at the same time, you believe that John McCain will be bipartisan. You say you trust him more and you believe that what he's saying comes from the heart. So, as you're making these types of decisions, what do you need to hear or what have you heard from the Barack Obama camp that could sway you to finally cast your vote for Barack Obama?
MILLSTONE-HILL: That's a very good question. And I don't have a complete answer. One of the things that could have done it would have been having Hillary Clinton on the ticket. I think that would have been the most unifying thing that Barack Obama could have done. But since we don't have that situation, I think the only thing at this point would be some kind of acknowledgment from the party leaders -- the DNC, the Obama campaign about the problems of the primary and how flood are Democratic primary nomination process really is
CHETRY: Well, I want to ask you about that. Because I think there was a lot of scorched earth it seems among -- especially some of the Hillary supporters. In fact, they said that you were so outspoken in your criticism of Obama that they possibly almost stripped you of your credentials. What happen that made you so upset in the primary. That you still feel it's not a riff that's healed?
MILLSTONE-HILL: There were several different stages starting with the issues with Michigan and Florida, which finally became resolved at the rules and bylaws committee meeting. When they decided to take the four delegate votes away from Hillary Clinton, that was the moment where I felt like my party had lost me.
Finally, when we got to the superdelegate decision, the superdelegates were charged with deciding who the nominee should be based on who would be the best to go against John McCain in the fall. And the reality is that at that time and still to this day, the candidate that does the best on the electoral map is actually Hillary Clinton.
So, I feel that our process was very flawed and I feel that sexism was rampant throughout the campaign and that, unfortunately, the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign actually used that sexism to come up with our nominee.
CHETRY: All right, and Sacha we're almost out of time here. Can you just give me a yes or no. Are you going to vote possibly for John McCain and Sarah Palin ticket?
MILLSTONE-HILL: I haven't decided what I'm going to do. It's an option and it's also an option to simply not vote for the president.
CHETRY: All right. Sacha Millstone, undecided Hillary Clinton delegate out of Denver. Thanks for being with us.
MILLSTONE: You're welcome. Thank you for having me.
ROBERTS: 30 minutes after the hour now, coming to you live from the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. About 30 minutes after the hour as we said. This morning republicans leaving St. Paul with a promise from their nominee that change is coming. After stepping up to the podium last night, Senator John McCain insisted that he is the one who has got it right when it comes to solving America's energy crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My fellow Americans when I'm president we're going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We're going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much. We'll attack the problem on every front. We'll produce energy at home and we will drill new shores at home and we'll drill them now. We'll drill them now.
We'll build nuclear power plants and we'll develop clean coal technology. We'll increase the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas. We'll encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles. Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power, but Americans know better than that.
We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy and from the damaged caused by rising oil prices and restore the health of our planet. Our friends, it's an ambitious plan, but Americans are ambitious by nature and we face greater challenges, it's time for us to show the world again how Americans lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, amid all the celebration at the republican convention this week, the GOP also hit a new low, and that's in the number of African-American delegates in attendance. Just 36 of this year's roughly 2,000 delegates were black. The lowest number in 34 years. This is all coming to us from the Joint Center for Political and Economic studies. The group points out that the drop off came even as republicans launched a big outreach program to try to make in roads among black voters. John.
ROBERTS: It's kind of surprising there that lowest in four decades.
This morning Senator John McCain and Sarah Palin are off and running. Just 60 days until the election. Their first post convention stops, Wisconsin and Michigan, battleground states. Joining me this morning is CNN's John King. You were here on the floor last night when John McCain was giving a speech.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Love what you've done with the place.
ROBERTS: It's sort of the deconstruction motif here that we like to present. John McCain's speech, very, very passionate particularly on his idea of his history as a prisoner of war. You spent an awful lot of time with him. How did he do last night in terms of connecting?
KING: One of the things he said publicly, quite rarely, it quite a very compelling story, the P.O.W. days. He - I've never heard him bring up on his own, the fact that he was broken. At one point, they tortured him, beat him for days and he finally signed a confession saying he committed the crimes of an air pirate. He said he thanked these people for saving him. He was suicidal after that. He says he wanted to kill himself and his fellow prisoners rallied his spirits back up. It's very hard to get him to talk about that. I did this big documentary on this summer and I had to sort of press him and press him to talk about that.
In terms of him mentioning that in the speech is part of the story, it tells you a couple of things, one, that he is loosening up about telling his own personal story, it's a generational thing. He's reticent. And, number two, they think that the character argument, the I've been tested, I'm somebody you can trust, I'm safe. That is the argument they need to -
ROBERTS: So he's taken that out of the battleground states, as we said, beginning today. Listen, take a look at the lay of the land, how should things go in this election year and how do you think they will go?
KING: If you look at the map right now, it is advantage Obama without a doubt. We'll see over the next 72 hours whether the polls move a little bit about this but right now Obama leads in a number of states that George W. Bush won. The republicans have 10 states we list as toss-up right now and nine of them are states that George W. Bush won. So the republicans are defending more states. Simply tells you that McCain has more ground to cover and that's a strain on his resources.
ROBERTS: And the Obama campaign, I think has identified 18 states that they want to play in. So, how stretched are the resources going to be in this election, on both sides?
KING: Well, remember Obama has a lot more money because McCain's in public financing. So what Obama thinks is he spend money in Colorado, a place where, you know, George W. Bush won twice. Obama thinks he can play in Virginia, a place where George W. Bush won twice. Will he win all those states, the big ones? Probably not. But if he's spending money there and forces McCain to spend more time and more money, we will have to watch how McCain and Palin decide to split up and go after these states. They're - they said they're on defense in an election in Obama's favor, but, you know what, six weeks a long time. ROBERTS: You'll get to see a lot of it from the ground because I know you've been spending a lot of time on the road.
KING: Small town America.
ROBERTS: John, great job this week. Thanks for being with us this morning.
CHETRY: Well, just in we have jobless numbers for the month of August. They just came out. Ali Velshi talked about breaking news down for us. He joins us now with more on what he's finding. Hey, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN, SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, sadly, it's not good news. The U.S. has now hit its highest unemployment rate in five years. Hitting a rate of 6.1 percent unemployment. That is much higher than was expected. We were expecting it to stay at 5.7 percent, 6.1 percent. Here's the bad news, the U.S. lost 84,000 jobs in August, that is more than the 75,000 that was expected. There were also numbers revised for June and July making the job numbers even worse than that. So when you run the totals just on the calculations here and I need to confirm them, but it looks like the U.S. has lost 605,000 jobs since the beginning of this year. So, the bottom line for August, a loss of 84,000 jobs and the unemployment rate in the United States has now jumped to 6.1 percent and that is the highest in five years, Kiran.
CHETRY: As you said, not good at all. All right. Ali, thank you.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: John,
ROBERTS: This morning America's top diplomat sits down with a man that Ronald Reagan once described as the mad dog of the Middle East, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with Moamar Gaddafi today. The Libyan leader's regime was implicated in the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland and still owes millions of dollars to the families of U.S. victims. It's a historic sit down and CNN has exclusive access. Our state department Zain Verjee is live for us this morning in Tripoli. Zain, put it in context for folks at home. Just how big of a deal is this for Secretary Rice to be sitting down with Gadhafi?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: John, this is a really big deal. Moamar Gaddafi is a man that was seen really as the Osama Bin Laden of the 1980s and now Secretary of State Rice is going to be shaking hands with him, talking to him in intent and possibly just a few hours. The real things to understand here is that the Bush administration can tout this as a success story, a diplomatic case of success. They say that here's a rogue nation that turned around and gave up its weapons of mass destruction. It significantly cooperating with the United States on counter terrorism. And also, accepted responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and agreed to pay compensation to the families of the victims. So, this is a very critical moment for both the United States and Libya. It's the first time, John, in 55 years, a Secretary of State is coming to this country. One other key point, John, is oil. The U.S. is really motivated by that. This country has a huge amount of untapped resources. John.
ROBERTS: Zain, you mentioned they accepted responsibility, promised to pay compensation, but as we noted at the top of this, there is still a lot of money to be paid to the families of U.S. victims. So what did those families think about Secretary Rice meeting with the Libyan leader?
VERJEE: The families have been outraged. Really furious, John. They say, look, this was just a sell out. And the U.S. is motivated by oil and other interests. The State Department has said to us, look, it's time to move on, they understand the sensitivities and they try to get the families the compensations that they need and deserve. It remains to be seen whether Libya actually follows through on the compensation promises but the bottom line is, the United States is restoring full diplomatic relation with Libya. It's setting up a new embassy and a lot of U.S. taxpayer money is going to come to Libya in the form of aid. John.
VERJEE: Zain Verjee this morning, exclusive access to the secretary's visit with Moamar Gadhafi today. Live for us from Tripoli. Zain, thanks very much. It's 38 and a half minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): VIP warriors -
GOV. SARAH PALIN, VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sons and daughters going into harm's way.
ROBERTS: The son of a president or vice president at war. It's all the guarantee. Jamie McIntyre looks at what life on the front lines would be like. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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CHETRY: Now, John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin have at least one thing in common with their democratic rival Joe Biden, McCain, Palin and Biden all have children who could soon be serving the U.S. military in Iraq. Can they expect any special treatment or could they be prime target?
CNN's Jamie McIntyre is working the story. He joins us live at the Pentagon. Hi, Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning, Kiran. You know, the Pentagon really hasn't really dealt with this since the 1940s, World War II when Franklin Roosevelt was president. But as for now the Pentagon says the plan is to treat the children of candidates like any other soldier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GOV. SARAH PALIN, VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm just one of many moms who will say an extra prayer each night for our sons and daughters going into harm's way.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): Army officials tell CNN that an extra prayer is about the only extra 19-year-old Track Palin can expect as the son of the republican's VP nominee. For security reasons, the Army won't say exactly when his Alaskan National Guard Unit deploys to Iraq, but mom is pretty sure it's next week.
PALIN: One week from tomorrow, September 11th, he'll deploy to Iraq with the Army Infantry in the service of his country -
MCINTYRE: Under law the Secret Service is not required to protect the children of presidential and vice presidential candidates but it does when they are young. But when VIPs volunteer for the U.S. military they are just like any other G.I., says the Pentagon. Take John McCain's Marine son, 19-year-old Jimmy just back from Iraq or 21- year-old, Jack, who could go next.
Senator McCain makes a point of not talking about them. And his campaign makes a point that McCain never took special treatment when the Viet Cong offered to release him early because his father was a four-star admiral. In contract, when Britain's Prince Harry was dispatched to Afghanistan, the international news media was sworn to secrecy, the argument being, as third in line for the throw, he'll have a bulls eye on his back.
PRINCE HARRY, HEIR TO THE BRITISH THRONE: I need to keep my face slightly covered just in case I do get recognize which will put other guys in danger. I'm called the bullet magnet.
MCINTYRE: Once the news leaked, Harry was called home. Should the democrats win, there will also be a veep's son in the war zone, Delaware attorney general Bo Biden, son of Joe Biden will spend a year in Iraq with his guard unit, but it sounds like he won't be on the front lines.
NATHAN BRIGHT, DELAWARE NATIONAL GUARD: Captain Biden is part of an administrative staff that's going to go with them and he will be acting as a trial lawyer.
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MCINTYRE: The reality is if one of your parents is president or vice president, people are going to be looking out for you. And if commanders believe that a so-called celebrity soldier in the ranks presents a danger to others, look for them to be quietly re-assigned to safer duties. Kiran.
CHETRY: Very interesting. As you said, they haven't had to deal with this in years. Jamie McIntyre for us at the Pentagon. Thanks.
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CHETRY (voice-over): Looking like a million bucks. CINDY MCCAIN, WIFE OF SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: Thank you.
CHETRY: Cindy McCain's $300,000 outfit. Lola adds it up, piece by piece. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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CHETRY: Well, I don't know if you got a look at Cindy McCain's outfit, but she looked like a million bucks at the RNC. And actually one of her outfits was only worth about a third of that. Lola Ogunnaike joins us now to talk campaign couture.
Don't you just love breaking this down as we sit in our under $100 outfits, under $50 outfits.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I know. Let's talk about Cindy McCain's outfit because when you think $300,000, how does it add up to that much. Do we - we have our picture. The Oscar de la Renta dress that she was wearing, that cost $3,000. The Chanel J12 white ceramic watch $4,500. The three-carat diamond earrings estimated $280,000. The four-strand pearl necklace, $11,000 to $25,000 and the shoes anywhere from $450 to $650.
CHETRY: We were laughing about it before the break, if you cut out the three caret earrings, it is a reasonable $20,000 outfit.
OGUNNAIKE: Exactly. Nothing, spare change for you and me, Kiran.
CHETRY: How does her style compare to some of the other - this is the one thing, regardless, no one is looking that men's suits and saying is that Brooks Brothers or is that -
OGUNNAIKE: No one is thinking about McCain's Ferragamo flats. I mean, they're really talking about the difference between their styles. Cindy McCain style is very tailored, nice fabric, expensive jewelry. And Michelle is a little more casual, a little more athletic.
So she prefers clothing - she's been clear about dressing from Target or dressing at the Gap but she spends a bit of change, excuse me, when it's time for her to do it, too. I mean, the Maria Pinto dress that we're looking at, she wore the night of her speech was $795 and the floral dress that she wore on the last night, that was $1,250. So, yes, she can spend a few figures when it's time for her to get guised up, too.
CHETRY: There you go. All right. Well, thanks for checking into it for us, Lola.
OGUNNAIKE: We got to talk about Palin's style really quickly.
CHETRY: Go ahead. OGUNNAIKE: Really quickly because she told "Vogue" about her appearance that a reporter once asked me about it during the campaign and I assured him I was trying to be as frumpy as I could be by wearing my hair on top of my head and be school-mom glasses. So while these girls glam it up, Palin keeps it very, very real.
CHETRY: And she also can laugh at herself, as well. All right. Lola, thank you.
OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.
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ROBERTS (voice-over): Battle wounds.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not.
ROBERTS: Obama under attack, how will he fight back? His campaign responds live. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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ROBERTS: It's coming up now to eight minutes before the top of the hour. John McCain's big acceptance speech last night. How was the Obama campaign reacting to it? Robert Gibbs, who is a senior adviser to the Obama campaign is here with us in the Xcel Center in the CNN booth. So he laid down the compelling narrative last night, Robert, how do you compete with that because many times in a presidential election campaign, swing voters go with the person that they're most comfortable with?
ROBERT GIBBS, SENIOR ADVISER, OBAMA CAMPAIGN: Well, look, I don't think there's any doubt that he has a compelling personal biography, but let's look at the news out just this morning, John. Another 84,000 jobs lost last month, more than 600,000 jobs lost over eight consecutive months of unemployment after right years of this George Bush economy. Nothing was said last night quite frankly, and nothing was said throughout this entire convention that would lead to any of those important swing voters to have an idea what John McCain or any of the republicans want to do to fix the economy and get this country moving again. Look, I don't doubt his personal compelling biography but this is an important election and I think people want answers to the problems that face them and their families.
ROBERTS: But he is really pushing this message of change. Get me to Washington and I will change everything about it and I will do it with my new vice presidential pick. He's trying to steal that mantle of change from you. Now that he has Governor Palin to energize the right, do you fear that he might swing radically towards the center from where he has been during this, the nominating part of this campaign and take some of those votes away from you?
GIBBS: Look, John, John McCain has been in Washington for 26 years. He has been there every moment of the last eight years under George bush and I think it's going to be hard to convince the American people that you're a big change from George Bush when 90 percent of the time you thought George Bush and Dick Cheney were right. I don't think people are going to see that as change. They're going to see that as simply more of the same. You didn't hear one thing last night economically. You did not hear one thing last night economically that is any different than what George Bush wants to do that John McCain will try to do in his next four. I think you got to have more than just a banner that says change. You got to have more than just the word change in a speech to convince people that you're going to bring about change. John McCain isn't going to do it but Barack Obama and Joe Biden have a record of bringing change to Washington and that's what we'll do in November.
ROBERTS: All right. But on the other side of the fence, on your side of the fence, Senator Joe Biden has been in the Senate longer than John McCain has. He's been there 36 years. How does that say change?
GIBBS: Look, this isn't a race about Joe Biden. This isn't a race about Sarah Palin, it's Barack Obama versus John McCain. And in that case, it's change with Barack Obama versus more of the same with John McCain. Again, you didn't hear an idea last night or the other two nights that's different from George Bush. Take away the personal biography of John McCain and that's a speech last night that George Bush could have given in 2000, at a convention similar to this, or quite frankly, last week.
ROBERTS: So, you're saying it's not about the running mate, it's about the person at the top of the ticket. The McCain campaign said something -
GIBBS: It always has been.
ROBERTS: The McCain campaign is saying slightly different. They're saying take a look at our running mate, more experience than the person at the top of the ticket on the democratic side. I mean, does two years of executive experience in the governor's mansion trump what Senator Obama has to say, hey, barely four years as a senator and two of that spent running for president.
GIBBS: Well, look, I think they're going to have to try to work out internally this tug of war between whether they're going to try to be the experienced candidate in the experience ticket which we'll let them argue that they want to try to be versus the change ticket. Because let me tell you, John, you can't stand in front of the American people and say we're the experienced change ticket. The two words just don't match. Barack Obama has the judgment and the temperament and the skill to bring this country together and to work across party lines because he's done it in every job he has and get this economy moving again. That's the real ticket for change, you just can't say it in a speech, you have to have actually done it.
ROBERTS: Robert Gibbs, senior adviser to the Obama campaign. Robert, thanks for coming in this morning. We will see you on the campaign trail. I appreciate it. GIBBS: Great.
ROBERTS: The balloons come down, the lights go on and un- conventional look at the aftermath of the convention hoopla and it isn't pretty. Convention mess, S.O.S.
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CHETRY: Well, convention mess S.O.S. Our Jeanne Moos takes an un-conventional look at the aftermath of a party's party. Anyone need an elephant hat?
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The balloon drop - it's sort of like the lights turning on at a party, so you know it's the end. The candidates prepare to exit, the delegates have a last dance. The democrats had real fireworks outdoors. Republicans had fireworks on the big screen inside, the Dems had the sky cam draped in streamers, the republican had TV cameramen buried in balloons, and buried deeper. Even the closing benediction -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almighty god --
MOOS: - was blessed with balloons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heal our land.
MOOS: But, first, heal thy heart, the rock group Heart, asked the republicans to cease and desist, stop using their song "Barracuda," to celebrate VP pick Sarah Palin. Palin's nickname was Barracuda back when she played high school basketball.
As the convention was raveled to a close. You almost expected Tony Soprano to show up. As they played the journey song from the "Sopranos" finale. Remember the screen went to black in mid-song. At least the song finished at the convention.
Delegates grabbed their state sign post of souvenirs, signs posted with signatures, they milled around an emptying arena that seemed a little bit like Time Square after midnight had passed. Once you leave the republican convention, there aren't many places you can wear an elephant hat. It's hard looking dignified when you're checking your Blackberry dressed like Dumbo.
With an un-conventional moment, I'm Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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ROBERTS: And so that puts a (INAUDIBLE) on our coverage here from the Xcel Center at the Republican convention is St. Paul.
And Kiran, I got to tell you, it's been interesting doing this with these conventions back to back. Never happened before.
CHETRY: Yes, I was going to say, you're not going to know what hit you when you get to wake up in your own bed for the first time in two weeks, tomorrow morning.
ROBERTS: Absolutely.
Well, thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. Kiran, I'll see you back there in New York, on Monday.
CHETRY: Very good. All right. And right now here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins.
