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Clinton's Democratic National Convention Speech; Joe Biden to Bring the Heat; Iraq Steps up in Anbar

Aired August 27, 2008 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center in New York, with continuing coverage of the Democrats in Denver.
Taking a look at a hall that is still crackling with electricity from last night from Hillary Clinton's remarkable speech. Tonight it will be Bill Clinton's turn at the podium. Will he do what his wife did last night and rally the troops for the man who beat her, or is he still carrying a grudge? Lots of drama surrounding that.

Also, running mate Joe Biden will take the stage, and former candidate Bill Richardson, too. That, plus the roll call, a little mystery about how that's going to unfold.

Lots to talk about. And all a big night, hard on the heels of a big night last night.

But let's talk about all of it with Democratic consultant and former John Edwards spokesman, Chris Kofinis, and GOP strategist and CNN political contributor, Leslie Sanchez.

Nice to see both of you.

Leslie, let's start with you. You know, we've been talking Hillary, Hillary, Hillary, Hillary, her speech, et cetera. But really, there were other people who spoke yesterday. And I want to play a couple little snippets of what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BOB CASEY, JR. (D), PENNSYLVANIA: John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush over 90 percent of the time. That's not a maverick. That's a sidekick.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BRIAN SCHWEITZER (D), MONTANA: Even the leaders in the oil industry know that Senator McCain has it wrong. We can't simply drill our way to energy independence. If you drilled everywhere, if you drilled in all of John McCain's backyards, even the ones he doesn't know he has...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: That was Brian Schwietzer, the governor of Montana.

They were zingers, Leslie, surely, but were they tough enough? A lot of people said day two has to be tougher. What did you think?

LESLIE SANCHEZ, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's almost like fantasyland out here. I mean, those are really great if you don't have to be accountable and nobody is there to judge you.

I think -- you know, I was coughing off the dust off these old Democratic talking points. They've got to come out with something new.

They're saying it's four more years of the Bush administration if you elect John McCain. John McCain's such a maverick, the biggest problem he had was getting conservatives to come around back under the fold.

And they talked about energy drilling. This is the Democratic Congress that left for a five-week vacation without passing an energy bill.

You know, it's really great rhetoric and red meat for the Democrats here, very partisan stuff. But also, I think there was an interesting thing last night.

You had Hillary Clinton giving that big speech, but she was bookended by a lot of people that were the non-Hillarys. You had Mark Warner, who's the pro-business concentrist, almost like Bill Clinton type of Democrat. You had Napolitano, who's definitely pro-business. But these were all Obama supporters that were really a contrast to what Hillary Clinton was.

So I thought that was interesting in the way the Obama campaign framed her.

O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk about that contrast a little bit, Chris.

You know, to some degree, the Obama campaign has done well by calling for unity, not just within the party, but unity across the country, and bipartisanship. Is that at odds with attacks? I mean, is it sort of one or the other and you can't really do both?

CHRIS KOFINIS, FMR. EDWARDS SPOKESMAN: Well, you know, this convention last night had kind of two goals. One was I think to serve up the red meat. And I think it was served up pretty well done. And they came after John McCain pretty hard in pointing out the contradictions and the fact that he's not a maverick, that the John McCain of 2000 wouldn't vote for the John McCain of 2008.

I think the other goal was to make it very clear that this is a party that's unified. I mean, I think Senator Clinton gave a fantastic speech. You know, great leaders rise to the moment, and she rose to the moment. That was a pretty spectacular speech in what must have been an incredibly emotional moment. And she really jazzed up that crowd. I mean, everyone was so excited coming out of that place, the convention center, last night. You could just feel the electricity. And I think it went far and wide to help unify this party, and to basically focus our attentions on what our attentions should be focused on, which is defeating John McCain in November.

O'BRIEN: Bill Clinton has the job, Leslie -- hang on. Let me ask you a question about Bill Clinton, because he's got the big job tonight.

Do you think of all the things he's got to cover in had his speech -- and, you know, there's a list, just like Hillary Clinton had a list of things she had to get to -- his legacy took a hit during the primary campaign. Do you think you hear any of that, or is it just in the doing of a good speech you rebuild and rehabilitate your legacy?

SANCHEZ: You know, you're exactly right, Soledad. I mean, look at the fact that this was, you know, a dynasty in America in terms of how they saw themselves.

I mean, the Republicans have been dealing with kind of this Clinton machine for years. But it was really a wakeup call for Democrats to think there would be such brutality during the primaries, and the issues of race and all the things that came up. This is going to be Bill Clinton's chance to rebuild his image, rebrand himself. And I think he's also going to be positioning Hillary Clinton.

A lot of people -- there's still a lot of skepticism about whether Barack Obama can carry this election. Hillary did herself a service yesterday in looking presidential, looking strong. And the big issue, and the question -- the buzz around here, is she never said he was ready to be commander in chief, she never really solidified that concern. She said, go ahead and vote for him, my support is behind him, but she never addressed that, so I think a lot of people are waiting to see whether he does as well.

O'BRIEN: Yes, but she said pretty clearly, "No way, no how, no McCain." I mean, I don't know how...

KOFINIS: I'm not sure she could have said it any clearer than she did last night.

SANCHEZ: She didn't say, is he -- is he prepared based on judgment and experience to be commander in chief, and especially when it comes to national security issues and foreign affairs? That case has not been made.

O'BRIEN: It kind of sounded like she was saying anybody's better -- I mean, "No way, no how, no McCain."

But let me move on and ask Chris the final question, which is, does Dill Clinton have a similar problem that his wife had with her speech yesterday in that there's clearly tension and disunity in the whole primary campaigning? And now he's got to get up there and sort of say, wow, what a great guy, and be authentic.

I mean, he's a good speech giver. Everybody would agree on his communication skills, but even that one might be a little challenging. How do you navigate that?

KOFINIS: I think you navigate it by putting into focus what this election is about. I think that was what was so I think special and powerful about what Senator Clinton did last night.

She made it very clear to her voters and to the American people that the choice in this election is very profound. We either, you know, sacrifice and basically move forward and unite this party and defeat John McCain, or risk four more years of George Bush.

And I think what you're going to see from President Clinton tonight is a very powerful speech that makes it very clear on the theme of securing America's freedom and national security what the stakes are. You know, that, basically, we have a war that's ongoing in Iraq that needs to stop, that we have threats in Afghanistan that are growing because of the mismanagement of the Bush administration. And we have the McCain policy that basically wants to perpetuate the same failed policies we've seen over the last eight years.

So I think what you're going to see from President Clinton is a very powerful statement that this is our moment, this is our choice. We need to move forward and seize this opportunity to take this country in a new direction with a President Barack Obama.

SANCHEZ: But...

O'BRIEN: Hold on, Leslie. Hold on.

You know what? Guess what? Leslie and Chris, the team of Kofinis and Sanchez, will be sticking around after this break. I know you always have more to say and we cut you both off.

So, up next, we'll dig a little bit deeper into the other half of the ticket, what the tabloids here in New York call Joebama. Joe Biden, a closer look, right after these short messages, with our team.

(COMMERCIAL)

O'BRIEN: Barack Obama and Joe Biden, their very freshly-minted ticket is only four days old. Senator Biden is going to be speaking tonight, and if he follows the running mate script, he'll be bringing some heat.

But as CNN's Mary Snow reports, Joe Biden doesn't need a script to bring the heat or go for the guts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a great honor being nominated vice president of the United States.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Joe Biden choked up as he addressed the delegation from Delaware for the first time since getting the VP nod.

BIDEN: But it pales in comparison the honor that I've had representing you. I apologize for getting a little emotional.

SNOW: He thanked supporters from his home state as he pressed for his prime time moment. He got some help from Michelle Obama who made the rounds with him playing up his hard scrabble roots as the Obama camp hopes Biden will draw blue collar workers.

OBAMA: Both Barack and Joe grew up in families that struggled at times to make ends meet.

SNOW: CNN political analyst David Gergen says Biden may be needed to use his scrappiness in another way.

BIDEN: You better love me.

SNOW: The brawler that goes after Republicans.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It may be up to Joe Biden to deliver the roundhouse set of punches that have not yet come.

SNOW: Gergen cautions Biden's willingness to speak out could also be his drawback if he speaks out too much. Biden's other asset, foreign policy credentials and Senate experience. Gergen also points out, added pressure on Biden.

GERGEN: He's not Hillary Clinton, and there's no candidate who can be Hillary Clinton if it's not Hillary.

SNOW (on camera): As for Hillary Clinton's speech, Senator Biden said she knocked it out of the park. He told reporters he spent time with Senator Clinton last night, declaring, "This is a unified party." And now the attention turns to him for what could be the biggest moment yet of his political career.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: More from the left and the right. Chris Kofinis and Leslie Sanchez are back with me.

You know, in any campaign, Chris, if you're campaigning against the other guy, you're going to say mean things. And it's only sort of later that you might come to regret it. And Biden has a similar problem. He has said some things that he might want to take back.

When he gives his speech, does he have to address that or ignore that?

KOFINIS: I think he has to address that. I mean, I think people realize this happens both on the Republican and the Democratic side. It's the nature of politics.

At the end of the day, I think the point is very clear -- what unites Democrats is the fact that John McCain is not the person that we want to the White House. But I think the point and the focus of Joe Biden's speech tonight is make it very clear the national security one opportunity we have to go in a new direction, the serious threats we face, and the real dramatic failures of the Bush administration, and why risking John McCain and the risks he poses if he becomes president to the country.

I think it's going to be very powerful speech. The great thing about Joe Biden, not only do I think he's a pretty charismatic guy, but he's got a real gravitas and a powerful voice, and that's a great thing to have when you're giving a speech in front of a world audience.

O'BRIEN: Leslie, when anybody who says, well, Barack Obama is light on experience, you know, you look at Joe Biden and he fills that gap. He's been in the Senate 36 years.

You know, Barack Obama, well, maybe he doesn't have a grasp on foreign policy to the degree that other people do. Well, you look at Joe Biden, and he's maybe the best person in that job.

How big a problem is Joe Biden for -- if you look at John McCain and say, Joe Biden knows how many houses he has, how knows much money he has, is that a big problem for John McCain?

SANCHEZ: That's not the issue, Soledad. I mean, I think there's many serious points raised.

He picked a foreign policy expert in Joe Biden because he lacks -- Barack Obama lacks experience in that level -- you know, in that area. People are pro-change. He went no change.

And the distinct difference is, if you look even at a George W. Bush when he was running or a Bill Clinton, they had both been governors of states. They had been executives of states and managed. Texas is the 11th largest economy in the world. They had -- and had relations with foreign countries in terms of export and trade. They had a different level of experience.

O'BRIEN: You remember that disastrous interview that President Bush did where he could not name the heads of state, right? I mean, you remember that? It was a very awkward moment.

SANCHEZ: Well, I remember the disastrous statement that Barack Obama made on CNN/YouTube debate when he said he would meet with rogue leaders without preconditions. Something that Joe Biden came back at, as well as most in the international community, and said that was a political mistake, it showed his naivete, it showed that he didn't understand the scope and the nature of international affairs. And regardless of who he puts next to him like a sticky strip, it really doesn't give him by osmosis the type of experience he has yet to gain.

O'BRIEN: But it doesn't -- actually, kind of doesn't it give you by -- I mean, isn't that the team, the whole idea of a team, bringing somebody in who has the 36 years of foreign policy experience?

Chris, I mean...

(CROSSTALK)

KOFINIS: That is the point.

SANCHEZ: Being on the federal dole? You know, there's -- yes, to some extent, but people are not selecting the vice president. It's almost an inverted ticket.

I mean, they're selecting Barack Obama. And you can choose change, but don't know what you get. And I think if the environment continues to flare up around the world, people are concerned, just as concerned about that, as they are about the economy.

KOFINIS: I think -- not surprisingly, I think that's completely wrong. I mean, if you look at the facts, not only do I think Barack Obama is proposing we take a new direction, the notion that we're not going to talk with both our friends, as well as our enemies, that we don't need aggressive diplomacy, I think is just foolish.

Just because you talk with your enemies doesn't mean you don't talk tough. And I think what Barack Obama and Joe Biden are going to make very clear is that we have failed at that. We have less friends, more enemies over the last eight years.

We have a greater threat from terrorism than we did eight years ago. So the notion that somehow the George Bush administration has made us safer, and John McCain, embracing the same policies, are going to make us safer, is foolishness.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: You both have to finish because we are out of time. We're well over our time. But I know we'll continue our conversation later in the day. We're on every 15 minutes.

So that's it for me. Thank you to the team, Kofinis and Sanchez.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

"THE SITUATION ROOM" is going to join us with their nonstop coverage from the convention starting at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

We'll be back in about 15 minutes with our continuing updates. Right to CNN NEWSROOM though, after these short messages.

(COMMERCIAL)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning once again, everybody. You're with CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is on assignment.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on this Wednesday, August 27th. Here's what's on the rundown.

Taming Iraq's wild, wild west. American troops will turn over Anbar Province to Iraqi security forces. Breaking news on that.

Gustav could be on the Gulf Coast's doorstep by the end of the weekend. The storm brings flooding, misery and death to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Hundreds of mothers and their newborns possibly exposed to TB. Maternity ward scare -- in the NEWSROOM.

Handover about to begin in Iraq. In five days, U.S. troops will turn over Anbar Province to the Iraqis. The area was once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency.

Let's get straight to CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.

Hi, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Heidi.

Anbar Province, out in western Iraq, was a place of datelines that brought a lot of tragedy to American families -- Fallujah, Ramadi. Places where hundreds of U.S. troops lost their lives over the years. Now, with some of the recent progress in Iraq, it seems pretty unbelievable, but on Monday we are told Anbar Province will be turned over of by the U.S. military and coalition to Iraqi security forces.

The Iraqis will now have primary security responsibility for Anbar Province. This will happen on Monday, of course, while the Republican National Convention is going on here in the United States. And certainly, there is every expectation there may be some political overtones in the United States. But out in Iraq, officials say this has been long planned, something they've been working on, and they're very excited about getting the job done, as they say -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, General Petraeus is leaving Iraq in September, and then will be recommending more troop withdrawals at that time. What's that going to mean for the next president?

STARR: Well, you know, the plate really is being set for the next president long before he's in office. Anbar is a good example.

Twenty-five thousand U.S. troops in Anbar Province, and General Petraeus now set any day to begin to make his recommendations about troop withdrawals. They're not going to need 25,000 troops in Anbar.

General Petraeus, we are told, his recommendations could come anytime starting at the end of this week. He leaves Iraq by the middle of September, and those recommendations for troop withdrawals will cover the next six to eight months for withdrawals. That is the plate being handed to the new president -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

Thanks, Barbara.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A tuberculosis warning now for almost a thousand new moms and their babies. Kaiser Permanente says they may have been exposed to the respiratory illness.

According to the HMO, a former maternity ward worker at a San Francisco hospital was diagnosed with TB. The hospital says it is a common strain that can be easily treated with antibiotics. It says patients have a low infection risk. The employee worked at the San Francisco Medical Center from May 10th to August 10th.

So what is tuberculosis, and who is most at risk?

Here to explain now Medical Correspondent Judy Fortin.

Hi there, Judy. Scary story.

JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is scary, Heidi. But we checked with the CDC this morning. And it's interesting, because the CDC reports that TB rates in this country are at an all-time low, with just over 13,000 cases being reported last year.

TB is an airborne disease that primarily affects the lungs. And there are three types of TB.

XDR, we heard a lot about last summer, extensively drug-resistant TB, it's relatively rare. There's MDR, which is multidrug-resistant TB. It's resistant to two of the best antibiotics that are available.

And then there's regular TB. That's what we're talking about today.

Now, in this case in San Francisco, reportedly newborns, new moms, and hospital workers may have been exposed. And, of course, the most vulnerable, the babies.

COLLINS: Well, yes, because they just don't have their immunities built up yet.

FORTIN: That's exactly right.

COLLINS: So who is the greatest at risk in all of this?

FORTIN: Well, we're talking about the babies. And the newborns and children under the age of 3 have underdeveloped immune systems.

According to an infectious disease specialist I just spoke with this morning, he says most adults who are exposed are at a lower risk of getting sick, but for the infants it's much harder to fight the bacteria. And they are at risk for developing TB-related meningitis, which, of course, can cause an infection in the brain or the spinal cord, or the TB can spread throughout the body, and that goes through the blood system as well, and that can be a real bad situation.

COLLINS: Terrified, really, especially as a new mom and all of those concerns if it's your first baby.

FORTIN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

COLLINS: We're talking about potentially 1,000 people here. What do you do if you think you might be at risk?

FORTIN: Well, we asked our expert that question, and he said, step one for everyone who was possibly exposed is a skin test to see if they test positive for TB. That would then be repeated after about three months.

Now, babies can test positive for TB within six weeks of exposure. So the doctors are going to monitor them very closely.

Then if the babies are positive, they're likely to undergo a chest x-ray and in some cases a CT scan to see if there's any active disease. They're also most likely to undergo a spinal tap. No easy test in this case.

COLLINS: Yes. That's painful, too.

What kind of treatment is available at this point though if, in fact, it turns out that some of these people have TB?

FORTIN: Well, here's the good news. TB is treatable in most cases with a regimen of antibiotics, which are taken for six to nine months in the case of the infants. But it's important to reiterate, only the people who came in contact with this health care worker in San Francisco are at risk, not the general population.

COLLINS: OK, very good. Great explainer.

Thank you, Judy. We appreciate it.

FORTIN: You're welcome.

COLLINS: A very scary story.

All right. So Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, center stage tonight at the Democratic convention in Denver. Live coverage from the best political team on television.

And a plane from Darfur hijacked. Our Nic Robertson with context on the region and a conflict he knows very well.

(COMMERCIAL)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center in New York, with continuing coverage of the Democrats in Denver. You're looking at the inside of the Pepsi Center.

Big night tonight, one Former President Bill Clinton, who may or may not be harboring a grudge against the guy who defeated his wife. At the very least, some of his things that we've saying lately raising some questions. Also, the man who would be vice president, Joe Biden will be talking. Plus, the roll call vote leading to Barack Obama's nomination. Stadium speech to follow on Thursday, of course.

And everybody's talking about Hillary Clinton's speech last night. Let's talk about it some more. With us, conservative analyst Amy Holmes.

Amy, nice to have you, as always.

AMY HOLMES, CONSERVATIVE ANALYST: Great to be here.

O'BRIEN: Let's first start by playing a little chunk of Hillary's speech from last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: And when Barack Obama is in the White House, he'll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America and meet the global challenges of our time.

Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, we did it before with President Clinton and the Democrats. And if we do our part, we'll do it again with president Obama and the Democrats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Unity, unity, unity, unity was the theme. Many people said she did and delivered what she had to deliver. But the night is really belonging to Bill Clinton now.

What are his challenges different than her challenges?

HOLMES: Well, his challenges are to balance that walk down memory lane, the eight years of the Clinton administration which he wants to talk about. His accomplishments as president. But, he also needs to pass on the torch to Barack Obama. It cannot be all about him.

He needs to rally those Democrats around Barack Obama, put to rest all of this, you know, Clinton back-biting, inside talk. Just this week, just yesterday Bill Clinton made some odd remarks about, if you agree with guy, one candidate X and Y.

O'BRIEN: I didn't actually even understand that. It wasn't very clear.

HOLMES: Right. Right. So, he has a little bit Of Hillary Clinton's task, which is to get those Clinton supporters who are not backing Barack Obama and say, he's your guy.

O'BRIEN: Does he have to -- I mean, or does anybody -- she did not go into her speech as some analysts suggested she should do and sort of say, listen, things were said that were not nice because that's how a campaign works. I mean, does he have to do that, too? Because people remember a very icky, in some ways, and tense primary season. Or, do you just gloss over it and keep going?

HOLMES: You know, I think gloss over it. I think you move on. I think what you need to do is move on to who this convention should be about. And that's Barack Obama. I mean, Soledad, we've been talking about the Clintons for the past two days. And I think that's really muddied and muddled the Democratic message in this convention. And believe me, Republicans have been taking great advantage of it.

O'BRIEN: Is it really about Barack Obama, or, really is it about George Bush? I mean, really should everybody actually be talking about George Bush?

HOLMES: Sure. And we've talked about this before. You can walk and chew gum at the same time. Which is to advocate on behalf of your candidate, say, he's the guy who should be in the White House. Why? In part, because we can't have more George Bush.

We've heard both of those messages on Saturday when Barack Obama gave his speech, it was about Barack Obama. Joe Biden as vice president, he gets to be the attack dog. He gets to be the person who gets to be the person who starts hammering away, throwing the red meat to those Democratic voters. The Democrats in that big hall who want to hear it.

O'BRIEN: After the speech -- after her speech, after his speech, the Clintons -- what should their role -- if you were the campaign adviser, which as a conservative you never, ever would get that job, you know.

But, if you were, what do you think would the most effective role for them, for the Barack Obama campaign?

HOLMES: Well, the most effect role for the Clintons is what they've been doing and that's to raise money for Barack Obama, that's to campaign in those small towns across America, to fan out, be his spokesperson, be his surrogate, work in front of the scenes, behind the scenes to get Barack Obama elected. In other words, to be a good Democrat.

And you know, we discussed this yesterday. I happen to know that one of Hillary's Clinton's biggest fundraisers in California, he's known John McCain, he thought about throwing his support behind John McCain after Hillary lost this nomination. Hillary gave him a call, said, you know what? You can't do that. You need to be a good Democrat, good for the party and put your support behind Barack Obama. It's those types of phone calls, campaigning on Barack Obama's behalf, is where the Clintons can be really useful.

O'BRIEN: CNN's learned that the former President Bill Clinton will attend Barack Obama's acceptance speech on Thursday night, 75,000 person outdoor speech at INVESCO Field. Senator Clinton will be attending.

Do you read into that, or no?

HOLMES: You know, it's very hard to say. I do believe that there's bad blood. And I think -- you know, we can look at how Barack Obama has provoked it. He poked the tiger this spring.

O'BRIEN: David Gergen said it's not that unusual. I mean, it sounded unusual to me, at first --

HOLMES: He said it's not unusual, but, let's face it. This is the anniversary of the Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream Speech." Bill Clinton regarded himself during his administration as being a real champion for African-Americans. And for him not to be sitting in that audience when the fist major African-American nominee for president of the United States is giving this historic speech, I think that's bad form.

O'BRIEN: So you're reading into it.

HOLMES: A little bit.

O'BRIEN: Amy Holmes, always nice to see you. I'm going to ask you to stick around if you will because up next we're going to talk a little bit about how all those waving signs get in to the eager hands of the convention floor. I assume somebody is just handing them out. We'll get the back story on that, straight ahead, right after these messages.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Hillary Clinton speaking before an audience last night and the audience loved it. The art of political rhetoric in action. But along with art, there's also a healthy dose of political (INAUDIBLE). The signs are everywhere, literally, the signs are everywhere.

CNN's political contributor and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile has a backstage look for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST (on-camera): In the ballroom, you will meet the individuals responsible for coordinating all of the floor whip, which I'm one. They also had all of those signs that we see tonight. And we're going to find out how they get the signs on the floor. That's what we're up to right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

BRAZILE: I'm started up. Go ahead. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. I'm not going to get anyone in trouble, but it's Obama: Unity, Hillary: Unity signs. Now, where am I going?

We're moving signs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, how are you doing? BRAZILE: Brazile's doing good. Brazile's working. Want to make sure the American people know how we get these signs to the crowds, to the delegates, to the guests. Closer to the people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: And we're with Amy Holmes. Joining us as well, Hilary Rosen, she's with the liberal "Huffington Post."

Nice to see you, Hilary.

It looks like -- I love watching Donna Brazile. I love watching Donna Brazile doing anything, honestly. But, to watch her like a traffic cop running through things and doing interviews on the fly, what is the atmosphere for those of us stuck in New York --

HILARY ROSEN, POLITICAL DIRECTOR, "HUFFINGTON POST": And she's a mayor down there.

O'BRIEN: What's the atmosphere like?

ROSEN: You know, you have to say it's a lot of fun because there's a lot of passion here. So, when you see all those workers in their green vests getting the signs out to the delegation, you have to remember that for so many of them this comes as, you know, a great prize to be able to be the volunteer that distributes the signs to the delegations.

And most of those people doing that, aren't getting paid. There's a tremendous amount of backstage and crew and you know, nobody works harder than the crew here at CNN, who are getting paid. But a lot of those volunteers and the sign distributors and the check-in people in those, they're sort of Democratic Party activists who do this for the privilege of it, for the passion of it. So, there's a lot of great energy and it's really fun. And you know, Donna's just you know, the best leader down there.

O'BRIEN: She is. She's the queen of the floor.

Listen, we talked earlier in the week, Hilary and also Amy, about this sort of tension. And yet, then you talk to David Gergen for a look back and you see 1980, when Ted Kennedy basically closed down the convention, or 1968, when actual fisticuffs broke out and you think, well, as unity goes, this isn't so bad, maybe.

HOLMES: Well, in 1980, Jimmy Carter lost. So when the party cannot unite itself to be able to go up against their opponent, it's a real problem.

O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk a little bit about -- go ahead, Hilary, sorry.

ROSEN: Well, I was just going to say, you know, the Republicans have had this experience as well.

You know, I think the mood around here today is huge relief. Huge relief That Hillary Clinton did what she needed to do, that people do feel like we've moved past this, that everybody's working hard together. So I do think that there's you know, relief, exhaustion, lots of excitement about the next couple of days.

O'BRIEN: You talked about the Republicans having similar problems in the past. So Amy, let's take a look way ahead to the RNC.

What do you think we'll see? Do you see unity issues? Because you know, again, a huge number of Republicans have said they don't like John McCain.

HOLMES: Well, I don't think John McCain being the standard bearer is going to be the problem. It's who does he pick for his vice president? And you know, that's a bit of a mine field here. We know that he's planning to announce this Friday, rolling out a three-state VP introduction over the weekend. And there are a lot of conservatives who are saying, you better be picking a pro-life vice president.

O'BRIEN: Or what?

HOLMES: Or, at the convention that there'll be a lot of problems. So, John McCain, he has that wing of his party to please and then he also wants to bring excitement -- excitement to this ticket. So this weekend I think will tell us a lot.

O'BRIEN: That'll be the big question.

All right, ladies, I thank you very much.

I'll be back here in about 15 minutes and of course, throughout the day. Coming to you from New York, at the CNN Election news room. We're going to send it back to Atlanta, right after this short break.

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COLLINS: Storm hitting a speed bump but about to accelerate once again. Tropical Storm Gustav over Haiti, right now, is being blamed for 11 deaths there and next door in the Dominican Republic.

Gustav formed as a hurricane early yesterday, then lost some steam after making landfall. But it is expected to ramp up when it hits open waters, exploding into a major hurricane and may be coming ashore along the Gulf coast next week.

Our Rob Marciano tracking Gustav now from the Weather Center.

Hi, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Heidi.

I want to show you a couple of things. First off, the number of oil rigs that are in the Gulf of Mexico could very well be affected by this thing as it begins to track in that general direction.

Hold on one second. I want to show you the latest track as well and the satellite imagery. This thing, as you mentioned, has hit a bit of a speed bump, but not a big deal. Although if you live in Haiti or Cuba, it is because you're getting some heavy rain here. Scraping across some of the high mountains, it will continue into the Jamaica/Guantanamo Bay, I guess bowling alley here. And as it does so, it's going to start to ramp up.

Water temperatures here are very, very warm; 85 or better in some spots. So, the official forecast from the National Hurricane C does enter ramp it to a 1, 2 and then Category 3 storm by the time it gets to the Yucatan Channel, probably sometime during the day on Saturday. Potentially making landfall in western Cuba as a Category 3.

Once we get into the Gulf of Mexico, we've taken a line off because we really don't want you to concentrate on the line. You get out to day four and five, you're talking about a margin of error -- 300 miles. So generally speaking, this is the area of concern right now -- anywhere from southwest Louisiana in through the Florida panhandle.

And timing of it would be somewhere in the Sunday night -- as early as Sunday night, as late as during the day on Tuesday, depending on how far west or east it goes. So certainly a grave concern considering we really haven't had a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since 2005. And we remember that year all too well.

Here's what's left over of Fay, heavy rains, some of it flooding, but most of it beneficial. But also tornado watches have been posted for parts of the Carolinas until 7:00 tonight. Temperatures fairly seasonable for this time of year. And once Fay moves out, then obviously Gustav will be potentially moving in.

We'll look for the next update. That one was just fresh, Heidi, at 11:00, next one comes in at 5:00 with an updated forecasted track.

COLLINS: OK. We know you're watching it closely.

Thank you, Rob.

Families saved by a bridge. Heavy rains in the Phoenix area this morning led to flooding. This car was washed off the roadway down into a flooded gully. A small bridge stopped the car and the people inside were able to make it to safety. Lucky for them.

Handover about to begin in Iraq. A U.S. military official confirms to CNN U.S. troops will turn over Anbar Province to Iraqi security forces on Monday. The province was once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency. More than 25,000 American forces are still in that region. The plan is for the troops to stay for the time being, but their duties will shift. They'll support Iraqi forces when needed.

Gustav sends oil prices higher. Will it put stocks in a tail spin? We'll check the big board.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Let's take a moment now to check out the big board. Dow Jones Industrial averages -- hey, look at that -- to the positive once again. Yesterday, as you know, we closed things to the positive, as well. Only double digits. Once again we are now up 38 points, resting at 11.451. Nasdaq, I am being told, is also to the positive by about -- what was it, Joe? 7 or 8 -- 7 points at the time being. We'll watch those numbers for you throughout the day right here on CNN.

Meanwhile, a legendary senator -- before he faces a jury of 12, he wins the support of thousands. Alaska's Ted Stevens beat back two other Republicans to win a primary vote and move ahead to the general election in November. Stevens is awaiting federal trial. He is accused of not reporting a quarter of a million dollars worth of gifts. He has denied any wrong doing. Over the years, Stevens has been both praised and vilified for funneling huge amounts of federal money into Alaska projects.

An airplane hijacking drama is now over in Libya. Officials say all 95 passengers and crew are safe and two hijackers have surrendered. This comes almost 24 hours after the standoff began at the air strip in the Libyan desert. The Boeing 737, you see it there, was commandeered just after take off yesterday from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region. The hijackers had demanded food and fuel to fly to Paris.

Officials say the flight had taken off near a refugee camp that had been attacked by the Sudanese military one day earlier. The hijackers from Darfur are now asking for asylum in Libya. Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, has reported on the dire situation in Darfur for quite some time now. He is joining us now live to talk more about this.

So what do you make of this latest incident, if you will?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's symptomatic of deterioration of security in Darfur. This is the first hijacking ever in Darfur and it comes 24 hours after the government forces went into this refugee camp. The refugee camp here has a reputation for being heavily politicized. These 80,000 displaced people have been displaced by government forces by Janjaweed militia. They've been living there for the past five years. It's a camp that's had a violent track record, as well.

And the government said they were going in there to disarm some of these displaced people. They say that the camp is on the flight path to the airport and an aircraft might get shot down. What happened was 31 people were killed, some of them women, 51 people injured. The hijacking comes right after that.

Are the two things directly linked? We don't know. But it's symptomatic of this sort of growing instability. But guess what in all of this? The U.N. peacekeeping forces still doesn't have enough people, didn't have people around that camp, couldn't provide security at the camp, couldn't stop that attack from happening, couldn't stop the rise in tensions. And this is a long-term trend at the moment that is going to plague Darfur right now. COLLINS: Absolutely. It feels like we've been covering this story for such a long time. You, of course, have been one of those people who has been right there seeing some of this.

What do you do if you're a refugee? It's like you have -- it was essentially their home for five years. What do you do now?

ROBERTSON: They are stuck -- they're stuck in that camp. We were in that camp a couple of years ago. We were actually attacked while we were in that camp because the crowd turned angry. They're frustrated about their situation and said, look, we can't even go into the town. And this was two years ago. They would say we can't go into the town to buy food because the government will arrest us. They don't trust us, they don't like us. The government wants the camps -- and many of these camps closed down -- they want the people to go back home. But they're not putting the wherewithal to do it.

Rape is happening on a massive scale. Eight officials say that pretty much every woman in a camp is going to get raped and can expect it. It's part of a way of life.

Now President Bashir -- the International Criminal Court wants to try and charge him with genocide. There's a lot of pressure on the government that's building up in Sudan at the moment. And for the people in the camps, nothing is changing for them. Their lives -- absolutely miserable, their food has been cut by half in the past few months, as well.

COLLINS: Boy, it is obviously a situation that we're clearly going to be talking about for quite some time.

Sure do appreciate your insight on all of this. And let us know as you continue to follow it how things change. Hopefully, of course, for the people there, they will. Our international correspondent, Nic Robertson.

Thank you, Nic.

CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now -- 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

AMERICA VOTES 2008 with Soledad O'Brien and John Roberts begins right now.