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Learning About Sarah Palin; Preveiwing RNC Day Three Festivities; Examining Day Two Speeches
Aired September 03, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Kiran. Good morning. Welcome, everybody.
Lots of continuing coverage of the 2008 Republican convention and what promises to be a big night in St. Paul, Minnesota. Taking a look at the hall where the delegates and the primetime viewers will be getting their first big-time look at the woman that we were just talking about, John McCain's running mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.
She already did her walk through this morning in preparation for her big speech will happen tonight. There's some new suggestions, though, again today, about how rushed the McCain campaign was in vetting Palin.
A piece in the "Washington Post" now reports that McCain insiders say Governor Palin wasn't interviewed in any depth until last Wednesday, that's the day before Senator McCain asked her to be his running mate.
Also, speaking tonight, former rivals Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani.
A closer look at what's ahead tonight is also a look at last night. Let's turn to CNN's Jessica Yellin. She's on the scene in St. Paul for us.
Hey, Jessica, good morning to you.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Here at the Republican convention, the attacks on Barack Obama have started after a first day of focusing on service. Last night we heard some very pointed remarks accusing Barack Obama of not having enough experience, not being ready for the job. And you can expect tonight to hear a new -- rejoinder against him which is that he's far too liberal to represent all Americans. So it is definitely taking a sharper turn in the last day.
O'BRIEN: (AUDIO GAP) Palin and her remarks. Give me a sense of what she -- what notes she has to hit? You know? What are they anticipating that she needs to do to make this speech a success at the GOP convention?
YELLIN: Two main goals. One is to give people a better sense of just who she is. She's so brand new on the scene, as you've said. So a bit about her biography, not necessarily focusing on the family dramas but a little bit about who she is and where she came from.
And then selling her record at what they're calling a reformer, somebody who came in and shook up the old boys' network.
Let's listen to how one Republican strategist said her speech will go tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she can also talk about the fight that she's had with the old boy network in Alaska. You know, she's had to come up the hard way in Alaska. And I think the American people like folks who are strugglers, who are fighters, and who stand up for the powers that be.
And I think that's a lot of the reason why John McCain chose her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: So they'd like to see her sell herself develop this narrative as a person who is a change agent, the way the campaign is trying -- tried to build John McCain that she's sort of walking in McCain's footsteps. That will be the challenge tonight.
O'BRIEN: Do you think that the bar is low, because nobody really knows her and really hasn't heard from her before? And I'm not sure what kind of expectations people have. Or is the bar extra high because, let's face it, Senator McCain is older, he is a guy who's -- you know had melanoma before, deadly disease, and she could be -- as I keep saying -- a heartbeat away from the presidency?
You know, is that a higher bar then and not a lower bar?
YELLIN: I do think the pressure is on her tonight. And it's not just because of the reason you bring up, which is a good one. The expectation that, you know, people will think about John McCain's age and can she fill that role?
But also just because there has been so much scrutiny, so many questions raised about her these last few days. And she has not come out to answer questions. She's very -- she's been very private and quiet these last few days.
So this is her opportunity to sort of reintroduce herself and try to reset the discussion about her. And that will be a challenge. And, you know she's going to have to face tough media questions after tonight. Here's her one chance to deliver her message unquestioned and she really does have a lot of pressure to hit it out of the park -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Do the sources you're talking to think that she has to address the my-teenage-daughter-is-pregnant thing? Or do they think it's not on the forum for it? I mean it's on the cover of lots of newspapers and magazines, clearly.
YELLIN: That's not the message that they want to highlight here tonight. But there are subtle indirect ways to get at that. Talking about the family, her family values, what is private, what is public.
So there are sort of hints and signals she can send without pointedly taking on this issue. This really is not the venue to have to address these things, especially when the campaign is trying to assert that this is a private family matter, that we don't -- we shouldn't be spending a lot of lime discussing -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Before I let you go, let me ask you a question about last night and Senator Lieberman's speech. Well, how is he received in the hall? I mean a Democrat coming -- or former Democrat, now independent, coming into the RNC?
Were there raves and whistles and cheers? Did people think, hmm why is he here talking to us? How was it?
YELLIN: No, very warmly received here. It was a message folks like to hear from a Democrat who could assert from his side of the aisle that Barack Obama has not worked across the aisle and who asserted that he doesn't really have enough experience.
But I would add it was very -- received with an exceptionally cool reception by the Democrats, the House -- sorry, Senate leader Harry Reid expressed extreme disappointment.
Joe Lieberman is not going to be go back to a friendly audience of Democrats when he returns to the Senate after that speech, I'll tell you.
O'BRIEN: You don't need to cover politics to know that. You just had to watch the speech.
YELLIN: OK.
O'BRIEN: Jessica Yellin for us -- thanks, Jessica. Appreciate it.
We've got to take a short break. When we come back we'll take a closer look at what's ahead for tonight.
Also, take a look at what's going on with the speech and fact checking a little bit about Sarah Palin, the new VP pick.
Back in just a moment. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: Senator Barack Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who, I think, can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But my friends, eloquence is no substitute for a record. Not in these tough times for America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The Democrats are asking the same sorts of questions about Sarah Palin. How do her GOP claims of her foreign and national security savvy stand up to the facts?
CNN's Barbara Starr put them to the test.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Governor Sarah Palin handled plenty of firepower visiting the troops in Kuwait. And John McCain told FOX News Sunday Palin has enough experience to handle the job of president if need be because she knows what it means to lead the troops.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's been commander in chief of -- of the Alaska Guard.
STARR: But what exactly does a governor do as head of a state National Guard?
Here are the facts. Governors decide when and how to deploy the guard to help in natural disasters, as they are right now in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. Governors also can use the guard to control civil unrest. We saw it in the 1960s. And after 9/11, governors deploy the guard to airports and subways a the request of Washington.
But for fighting wars? That's the president and the Pentagon. Governors play no role in deciding when their guard forces will be sent into combat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A governor merely acknowledges that the president is federalizing the troops, the National Guardsmen of that state.
STARR (on camera): The Alaska National Guard has about 4,000 troops. The president of the United States commands a force of 1.4 million.
Come election day, it will be up to the voters to decide if that difference makes a difference to them.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And that's our political update for now. I'm Soledad O'Brien in the CNN Election Center in New York. I'll see you back here in just about 15 minutes as we continue our nonstop coverage from the convention.
I'll send it back to the "CNN NEWSROOM" right after these short messages. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is off today.
See events come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday, September 3rd. Here's what's on the rundown now.
Hanna delivers death and misery to the Caribbean. And now targets the U.S. Savannah, Charleston, on alert today.
Gustav's $10 billion rampage. President Bush on his way to Louisiana right now. Evacuees shut out of New Orleans and angry.
A shooting spree north of Seattle. Four crime scenes, six bodies, one suspect, in the NEWSROOM.
Tropical thunder. One killer hurricane fades away, another big storm bears down. Voluntary evacuations could begin along Georgia's coast today.
Hanna expected to move north after a deadly rampage through the Caribbean. And more potential threats to the U.S. are on the horizon.
Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast dealing with the aftermath now of Gustav. Hundreds of thousands of people without power today, even more waiting to go back home.
Let's get the very latest now over in the Weather Center with CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.
And the very latest is? We're still looking at a whole bunch of storms.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We are. Yes. In fact, let me switch over her. Check them out. We've got three storms lying down -- out there in the middle of the Atlantic. We're really only worried about two of them at least at this point. So our most immediate threat is Hanna.
So we're going to start talking about Hanna here because we could be talking about landfall as early as Friday already. Tropical storm, 60-mile-per-hour maximum sustained winds. And this storm system, boy, really having a tough time getting it back together.
It's interacting with Hispaniola. There's been quite a bit of wind shear associated with this as well, that's just being the winds kind of crossing into the storm and not allowing it to vent itself very well or develop or get much stronger.
But we do think once this storm finally starts to take that turn on up through the northwest, it will start to intensify and get a little stronger.
In the meantime, it's finally started taking a turn off to the east. So it's not ready to do that, apparently, just yet. But we do expect that to happen probably within the next 12 plus hours.
Heading towards the Bahamas, as we head into Thursday, and then Friday heading towards the U.S. Gulf Coast. Once that north turn takes place, we'll have a much better handle on where that storm is going right now.
But right now best odds are looking towards South Carolina late Friday, possibly into Saturday as well. All right. Once we get through Hanna we're going to be dealing with Ike. Ike a tropical storm but this thing, we think, has a lot more potential to become a powerful storm. Potentially even as much as a major hurricane.
Maximum winds right now, 65 miles per hour. It's still more than 800 miles away from land. So we'll be watching Ike throughout the weekend. And then into early next week as it heads north of Hispaniola over towards Cuba.
It is too soon to tell if Ike is going to be impacting the U.S. but we need to be watching Florida and we also need to be watching the -- Gulf Coast because this could be heading in this way as well. So stay tuned for what's going to be happening with Ike.
After Ike, we've got Josephine. So I finally have a little bit of good news to tell you, is that right now it looks like Josephine is going to be curbing on up to the north and west and hopefully it will stay on this track and be just what we call one of those fishing storms.
As of Gustav, now, still hanging in there across the lower Mississippi River Valley. The threat of tornadoes across Louisiana and the state of Mississippi at this hour, we had a touch down in the overnight hours. So that threat is real today. And a lot of heavy rain associated with this, too.
The flood watches extend all the way up now into Missouri. And this heavy rain is going to be heading into Illinois as well as we head into tomorrow. So, Gustav, no longer a tropical storm or a hurricane. But still plenty of problems with it over the next couple of days -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes, and that's what we've been saying, Jacqui. As always, it seems the aftermath can also be the worst part.
All right, Jacqui, we'll check back a little bit later on. I know you have a lot of work to do with these other storms as well.
Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast tangled in the wreckage of Hurricane Gustav this morning. Half of Louisiana's households are without electricity. Of the 2 million people who fled the storm, most are waiting for permission to return.
CNN's Sean Callebs is following this developing story for us now in New Orleans.
Good morning to you, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. I've actually talked to a handful of people that I've met here who did evacuate. And there's a certain degree of frustration. A lot of people tried to get out of harm's way, and of course, they did.
They went north, Baton Rouge, other areas. Power is out there. They say they're having trouble getting food. But, look, everybody is safe.
And a word from the city is, those 1.9 million evacuees could start trickling in as early as midnight tonight. Mayor Nagin is going to change things from a mandatory evacuation to a voluntary evacuation.
Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: Tomorrow we will open the city up to tier 2 and tier 3coming. The remainder of the companies that can also come in and do an assessment and figure out exactly whether they can operate or not in this current environment. I'm also making a special clearing call out to all medical personnel, all doctors, all x-ray technicians. We need you back in the city as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: So the headline, doctors, nurses, we need you here. Everybody else, come on back if you must but it's going to be a tough existence here. The big reason, more than 800,000 people in and around this area are without electricity.
This is the largest power outage since Hurricane Katrina three years ago. Here in New Orleans -- I'm here in the French Quarter, there are some signs it's springing back to life. Power is on. Some stores are trying to reopen, but it is going to be grim.
And what about the epicenter where this storm came in and made contact with land?
Well, Brian Todd went to that town. It's called Houma. Here's what he found out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A bleak landscape where Gustav's eye wall first made contact with the U.S. mainland.
Along the corridor from the fishing village of Cocodrie along the gulf to the tiny town of Houma just inland, mobile homes are destroyed. Fishing boats disabled. The bayou's flooded over. Gas station canopies knocked down.
But those few who stayed are feeling fortunate, even Carl Thomas.
(on camera): This massive tree and power pole came crashing down simultaneously on Carl Thomas's house here in Houma, destroyed two of his vehicles, took out two columns from his front porch.
(voice over): Just moments before he was out in front trying to crank his generator, happened to get tired and took a break inside.
CARL THOMAS, HOUMA, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: I made it in the house, 30 seconds later this tree and that pole come down. And there was -- it happened just that quick. There was no warning, no nothing. TODD: Just trying to drive south from Houma to Cocodrie was treacherous. The only road we were told might be passable wasn't. With flooded marshes on either side we maneuvered around some downed trees but there were too many of them blocking the road and they were too big. Law enforcement teams couldn't move them either.
Back in Houma Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois said his parish will be incapacitated for a long time.
SHERIFF VERNON BOURGEOIS, TERREBONNE PARISH, LOUISIANA: It's like a night of (INAUDIBLE) living. It's living caveman days. You have no -- nothing to do it, you know, easily or friendly. Everybody is used to air conditioner now. You won't have it for three weeks, four weeks. It's not going to happen.
Everything that goes with it.
TODD: Sheriff Bourgeois says that means getting healthy water to drink will be a challenge. Gasoline supplies are running out and some hospital services are curtailed.
Still, this is a whiplash town and parish that's counting its blessings. The sheriff tells us about 95 percent of parish residence evacuated before the hurricane and he knows of no deaths or injuries.
Brian Todd, CNN, Houma, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: Well, we can tell you there have been 10 deaths associated with the hurricane, that coming from the medical examiner, Louis Cataldi(ph).
Now, all we've talked about -- the power outages, evacuees -- it's all atmospheric if the levees don't hold up. Well, they did. I spent some time yesterday, Heidi, with the Corps of Engineers. Very emotional time for them. They're spent. They've been up for days on end.
They have been basically railed against by citizens here for the past three years. People saying you can't keep us safe. You've done a terrible job. Well, the levees did work. It wasn't direct hit, but you know what, New Orleans is a ghost town but at least it's a dry ghost town right now.
Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: Yes. I'm sure a lot of those people are asking the question as many others are with all of these other storms that we have moving around, Sean, what about the next one? What will the improvements be made to those levees and to the area in the event that there is another direct hit?
I imagine that is something that they're going to be talking about in the many months to come.
Sean Callebs, sure do appreciate it. Live from New Orleans this morning.
President Bush headed to the hurricane zone. This hour he's on his way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a briefing on storm damage. He says the government's response to Gustav has been, quote, "sure handed."
All levels of government under close scrutiny after the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
After the storm, what homeowners need to know when they return to their ravaged communities.
Gerri Willis will have some advice on that.
Also, who's stepping in to help those people effected by Hurricane Gustav? Find out at CNN.com's "Impact Your World" page. There you'll find links to organizations offering assistance.
CNN.com/impact.
North Korea blew it up. Now it's reportedly putting its main nuclear reactor back together again. Japanese media say it's because the U.S. had not removed the communist nation from its list of states that sponsor terror.
The cooling tower at the Yongbyon plant was destroyed in June. You see pictures of that now. It was seen as a show of Pyongyang's commitment to ending its nuclear program. But Washington wants international verification before removing North Korea from the terror sponsored list.
An apparent assassination attempt in Pakistan just days before the country's scheduled presidential election. It happened just outside Rawalpindi on the road to the capital of Islamabad.
The prime minister's motorcade was hit by at least two bullets. He was not injured.
Coming up a little bit later on we're going to be talking live to CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson who's in Pakistan this morning. We'll get the very latest.
A deadly shootout today between U.S. and Iraqi troops. Six Iraqi forces killed, 10 people wounded. Both American and Iraqi officials describing it as mistaken fire. It unfolded at an Iraqi checkpoint on the Tigris River north of Baghdad.
An Iraqi official says Iraqi troops didn't realize they were firing on an American patrol boat. He says the U.S. chopper returned fire and that led to the casualties.
His family says he's mentally ill and refused help. A young man's rampage covers 15 miles and cost six people their lives.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Breaking news, revealing developments, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: A man with a troubled past in custody this morning. He's accused in the shooting deaths of six people. The killings occurred at several locations around the small town of Alger, Washington. Two other people were wounded.
Isaac Zamora surrendered to authorities after a high-speed chase. Among those killed during the spree, a motorist on Interstate 5 and a female sheriff's deputy who previously tried to help the suspect's family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty numbing. It's very numbing. You never know what's going to happen on your next traffic stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never know what's going to happen. You got to make sure things are right in your mind and your life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Zamora had a criminal record and a history of mental illness. His mother expressed sympathy to the victim's families, telling the Associated Press, quote, "I wish it would have been him or me that was killed."
An investigation into an E. coli outbreak that's made more than 200 people sick in Oklahoma. An exact source of the contamination has not been found. But the owners of a restaurant in the town of Locust Grove has temporarily closed it. A 26-year-old man died last month one week after eating there.
State officials -- health officials say the E. coli 0111 outbreak is the largest ever reported for that particular strain in the United States. People who've gotten sick range in age from 2 months to 88 years old and includes 53 children.
One food safety expert has this advice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR, MARK ROWLAND, EPIDEMIOLOGIST: This is an epidemic that is a severe epidemic but it's one that can be easily controlled with hand washing. And that's the main thing here is we all need to pay attention to what we know we should be doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The CDC says the E. coli 0111 is a rare strain about which researchers know very little. The agency also says E. coli are large group or diverse group of bacteria. Although most strains are harmless, others can make you sick.
The CDC estimate there may be about 70,000 E. coli infections each year in the United States.
Alaska's governor steps into the VP spotlight tonight. Republican convention coverage with Soledad O'Brien.
Plus, bullet holes in the windshield. An apparent assassination attempt on Pakistan's leader. Our Nic Robertson just back from the scene and reporting live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's live coverage of the Republican National Convention.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As we continue our coverage of the Republicans who are in St. Paul, Minnesota. Big night ahead after a big one last night.
Fred Thompson laid into Barack Obama, so did renegade former Democrat Joe Lieberman. Tonight you can expect red meat from Rudy Giuliani and already a new McCain ad slamming Senator Obama, calling him another big spending Democrat.
More notable, word that the McCain camp is promising an ad directly comparing Senator Obama's experience with that of running mate Sarah Palin. Safe to say, let's see how that kind of comes out at the end after we see that ad.
President Bush, also speaking last night. You may have caught that. Happened via satellite. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know the hard choices that fall solely to a president. John McCain's life has prepared him to make those choices. He is ready to lead this nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: New CNN Opinion Research polling on the outgoing president, his approval rating is up slightly, up to 38 percent. Plenty more data on the two men who are vying for his job, though.
And for the latest on that let's get right to CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. He is St. Paul.
You heard what the president had to say. When you take a look at the poll, seeing President Bush's favorability, unfavorable is at 61 percent.
To what degree were the logistics -- having the president come in by satellite, not having sort of official hug or handoff, all those things -- what was going on behind the scenes there and how critical was that?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, I think that helped, Soledad, because the president was about 1,000 miles away. He was at the White House. We're out here in St. Paul, Minnesota. So that made a difference.
Remember, originally before the hurricane President Bush was supposed to be here Monday night to speak in front of this crowd.
You know our new poll -- you just showed one of those numbers, it really kind of gives a to-do list for John McCain to do. And the top thing on his list, I think, is for him to differentiate himself from George Bush.
Now, last week you saw Barack Obama and the Democrats really try to say that John McCain was going to be another four years of George Bush if elected. What does our new polls show? 54 percent of those questioned on our new CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll say that John McCain's policies, if elected, would be pretty much the same as President Bush.
45 percent, only 45 percent they would -- say they would be different. So this is something John McCain needs to do this week -- show that he's a different man, he's his own man, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And what else do the polls tell you John McCain has on his to-do list this week?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, another thing on the to-do list, and this is a big one, is energize the crowd out here. You saw last week out in Denver, the Democrats are energized. They're ready to vote. They just can't wait for this election to come.
To Republicans, not so much. We've seen that for a while. But you know that's what conventions are for. They're here -- one of the things they do is energize the faithful. And that's what John McCain needs to do.
The Sarah Palin pick may have helped as well. But take a look at our new poll numbers right now. According to our new poll, 67 percent, three -- two in three Democrats are energized, enthusiastic, very or extremely enthusiastic about voting this year. Only 49 percent of Republicans.
So, again, another big thing to do for John McCain.
O'BRIEN: What do the polls tell you about Iraq which has been historically the center of McCain's big issue and strength?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, John McCain -- it was one of the first people to urge the president to go ahead with the surge. He was a huge supporter of the surge. The so-called surge, the troop buildup in Iraq of U.S. forces.
You know taking a look at our latest numbers, you know, support for the war and people -- Americans are thinking now that it's doing better. But this is interesting. Just as that is happening, just as Americans are starting to think more positively about the war, it seems John McCain is now losing on the issue.
According to our numbers, Barack Obama now -- Barack Obama has the upper hand. It's close as you can see there, 49 to 48 percent. But that is very different than it was just about a week ago. This is a problem for John McCain. On the economy, which is "ISSUE #1", Barack Obama is leading. If Barack Obama also continues to lead on Iraq, John McCain really has his work cut out for him if you believe these polls, and we do, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Because they're ours. All right. Paul Steinhauser -- thank you, Paul, appreciate that.
STEINHAUSER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Straight ahead, it is perhaps the single biggest voting bloc, older Americans. So what are the issues that matter to them this time around? We're going to dig deeper. Coming up next, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The next vice president of the United States...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: Governor Sarah Palin of the great state of Alaska.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: That's Senator John McCain, 72 years old, introducing his new running mate which brings the average age of his ticket a lot closer to McCain/Biden.
Well, the one constant in his campaign so far is that he enjoys a slight edge among seniors. Senator Obama has had a tougher time courting seniors.
The question this morning is what kind of clout older Americans have these days and which issues matter to them the most?
Joining us this morning is Mark Kitchens. He is a senior vice president with AARP.
Nice to see you, Mark. Thanks for talking with us.
You have said that you think Obama's platform of change, McCain's platform of experience, do not resonate with the 50-plus crowd. What issues do they have with those platforms and what do they want to hear? What are they not hearing?
MARK KITCHENS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, AARP: I think there's two things to keep in mind. The first is you show me a campaign worker, a campaign aide who is not focusing on the 50-plus vote and I'll show you somebody who is not going to be employed in January.
This is an incredibly powerful and historically dependable voting bloc. So that's first thing you have to keep in mind.
The second is, is what you just mentioned. The messages that have worked with the base -- experience and change -- are not really resonating with the independent swing voter. And one of the things that we have found they want to hear are really two things, Soledad, it's accountability and it's bipartisanship.
They want to know that folks in Washington are hearing them. They get the message that the issues are not being solved. And they're going to be -- they are willing to be held accountable for it. And the second part of this is they want to know, and this is interesting, nine out of the ten folks that we've talked to -- 90 percent tell us that the problems are really too big for one party to handle.
And they know that the only way these issues are going to be able to be resolved is by reaching across the aisle. So bipartisanship and accountability is what's going to help. And if you have a candidate that can breakthrough with that message, that's the candidate who's going to win in January.
O'BRIEN: When we look at the most important issues for registered voters who are 50 and older, it lays out like this. 49 percent say the economy is number one. The war in Iraq is 14 percent. And health care is 14 percent.
The only thing that we really haven't heard from last night coming out of the RNC was talking about the economy.
What has 50-plus people heard from the Democrats that they'd also feel like they need to hear from the Republicans this week?
KITCHENS: Well, interestingly, you know, our research shows by 2-1 that the economy is the top issue of -- my folks are being squeezed from all areas, it's food cost, it's gas cost, it's actually prescription drugs and health care costs.
And interestingly enough, what we're also finding is while you see health care always in our research as number three, it's actually spilling over into an economic issue. So -- because it's become a pocket book issue. It's not how do -- you know, how do I get better, it's how do I afford to get better.
So the economy is a top issue for both of these folks that they have to address. And if a candidate is going to win they're going to have to make that top priority.
O'BRIEN: We have voters who are 50 plus, kind of split right down the middle. 58 -- 48, excuse me, 48 favor Obama, 48 favor McCain.
Do you see opportunity for one side or the other to draw votes right now, because right now it's a tie?
KITCHENS: Yes, absolutely. No, I mean -- and if you just look at the voting bloc, again, this is the most historic, dependable, reliable voting bloc. This is where you can drew that from. So, you know, reaching out to this crowd -- we're actually having our "Life at 50" event this week in Washington, D.C.
And Senator McCain and Senator Obama are going to be speaking to our audience. So it's reaching out to these folks, talking to them directly, and really providing details.
One of the things, Soledad, that we found is that our voters and particularly swing voters do not feel that they are hearing enough details. They hear the sound bites. And I got to tell you as a former campaign operative, that's a hard thing to do in a 30-second ad as you well know.
But they want more details. What they're basically telling us is that the conventions and the ads and the media coverage really is not really swaying them or making -- helping make up their minds.
They think that by and large what's going to be the most important part of this are the presidential debates. And that's where they're going to hear the details that they want to hear.
O'BRIEN: I would kind of agree with them on that. And I'm not quite the 50-plus crowd you deal with but I'm getting there.
Mark Kitchens for us this morning, nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us. Certainly appreciate it.
Got much more convention coverage coming to you in just about 15 minutes, all, of course, throughout the day, coming to you from New York, Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center.
Back to Atlanta and "CNN NEWSROOM" right after this short break. Stay with us.
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ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning once again, everybody. Hurricane fears to the letter. Hanna closes in, Ike grows stronger, and Josephine fires up. It's an alphabet soup swirling out of the tropics.
The Bahamas hunkering down for Hanna. It's supposed to hit the U.S. on Friday after a deadly strike on Haiti.
Some evacuations could begin along Georgia's coast tomorrow.
And on the Gulf Coast, the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, 2 million people fled the area. The first are now trickling back in. They're discovering massive power outages and some grim predictions.
Let's get the very latest now. CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN Weather Center with more.
All right. So we've still got three left and then the aftermath, of course, of Gustav.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. Gustav not done with yet. Hanna is our next immediate concern, however.
It's a tropical storm right now so it's done a little bit of weakening. And if you look at the satellite picture, you're like, where in the heck is Hanna? Well, actually it's up here, believe it or not. But the center and, you know, the organization of this storm having a tough time keeping itself very well organized right now.
So that's actually a little bit of good news, especially for the folks here in Haiti and the Dominican Republic that are just getting lashed with some heavy rain showers associated with it and some gusty winds to go along with it.
Now the biggest problem that we've been dealing with Hanna right now in addition to those flooding rains and those wind is the direction that it's been going. You know, if we could drop that banner for one second, I just want you to look at this yellow line. Take a look at the curvy loop that this thing has taken all over the place.
This thing is going in almost every direction. We thought it was pulling up to the north around the 5:00 Eastern Time advisory and now we're seeing more of an easterly drift. We are waiting for that north to northwesterly push that drive where we actually get some good steering with this storm.
And once that happens, we'll have a much better handle on where Hanna is going and what time it could be making U.S. landfall. We still feel confident it's going to get picked up and move in that direction. As it does that it will likely intensify. So we'll be watching Hanna through the Bahamas Thursday afternoon throughout much of the day on Friday.
And then late Friday, possibly as late as Saturday, depending if we're more over here or more over here, we'll see that U.S. landfall. But our best thinking is there are just too many elements in play that, hopefully, Hanna will not become a major hurricane, that we'll be looking at maybe a Category 1 or so.
All right, moving on to Ike. You know, Ike -- this one worried me because it really has the potential to become a very powerful hurricane. This is moving off to the west right now. 65 miles per hour winds. It's not a huge storm. At least not yet. And it's still days away from impacting anybody. So we're looking at, you know, late in the weekend into early next week as this heads through the greater Antilles and heading towards Cuba.
But look at that cone of uncertainty. You know Florida not off the hook yet. But it's also equally as likely at this time that we could see it heading this way, you know, through the Gulf of Mexico. You need to be prepared for that potential as well as the Yucatan Peninsula.
So we're looking at early next week, maybe Florida, or possibly the middle of next week, getting into the Gulf.
And as for Hanna, take a look at Hanna. Or -- not Hanna, I apologize. Josephine, there's so many. You got to watch those names. This is Josephine. Here's the Caper Islands way out here. It looks like it's going to be curving up and moving into the central Atlanta.
So we have one little piece of good news out of all of that -- Heidi?
COLLINS: OK. We like the good news. I wish you'd say that.
JERAS: We like the good. Yes.
COLLINS: Keep on talking about that. All right, Jacqui, we'll check in a little bit later on. Thank you.
Hurricane Gustav, assessing the damage. This hour President Bush is on the way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to get a first-hand look.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve is already there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There's real concern about the storms now forming. One or more of which could deliver a punch to this already battered state.
(Voice over): There was so much debris and so much water in Grand Isle the helicopters carrying Governor Bobby Jindal and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had trouble finding a place to land.
The officials came here to assess the damage -- there was a lot -- and offer help to local officials like this fire captain who had been working with his men to clear sand from the streets.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: General, just let me know. We're going to be able to move some (INAUDIBLE) and help you clear it out starting tomorrow morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
JINDAL: You won't have to do it by yourself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Appreciate it. Appreciate all of that. I'll let them know. Thank you all very much.
JINDAL: No, it's important. We want to help you get back on your feet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, thank you, Governor.
MESERVE: Grand Isle was one of several stops at which federal, state and local officials generally applauded one another for preparations and response to the storm.
There was widespread agreement that the evacuation of much of the population had contributed to the happy outcome. Citizens had learned from Katrina and took themselves out of harm's way.
This tour was proof Chertoff had learned something, too. He was criticized for appearing disengaged during and after Katrina. This time he was here before the storm.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It's much easier to get ground truth if you're closer to where the ground is.
MESERVE (on camera): President Bush also faced criticism for staying away too long after Katrina, undoubtedly a factor in his decision to visit here today.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Baton Rouge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And about a half hour from now, we do expect a briefing from Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal. He'll update his state's recovery efforts. We'll monitor that event and, of course, bring you all of the latest news.
Hurricane Gustav's devastation. Here's a look now by the numbers. Nearly half of all homes and businesses in Louisiana are without power. Of the 2 million people who evacuated the Gulf Coast, most are still awaiting permission to return home. Early insurance estimates up to $10 billion, that's compared to $41 billion for Hurricane Katrina.
In Chicago, it's only the fist week of school and already more than a thousand inner city kids are skipping class. They're participating in a boycott against, what organizers say, is unequal education funding.
The Illinois suburban area schools generally spend more per student than those in the city. To protest that, the students boarded church buses yesterday and attempted to register at two better-funded suburban schools.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I want to see how the school is and see how other kids get to have opportunities at better classrooms, better teachers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The boycott is expected to go all week long. Organizers say they've set up impromptu classrooms to help the participating students keep up with the work they are missing this week.
Happening right now in Detroit, a historic hearing for embattled mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick. The Michigan's governor considering whether Kilpatrick will be ousted from office because of alleged misconduct.
Kilpatrick is accused of perjury and obstruction of justice. His problems began with steamy text messages to an aide. Yesterday his attorney lost an appeal to stop this removal hearing from happening.
An apparent assassination attempt. Gun fire hit the world leader's motorcade. Our correspondent tell us what he saw at the scene.
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ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
COLLINS: $1 billion from the U.S. to rebuild the Republic of Georgia. A government source telling CNN the White House will make that announcement today. The money would help the U.S. ally rebuild the area battered by Russian forces last month.
The announcement comes one day before Vice President Dick Cheney is scheduled to arrive in Georgia. He's in neighboring Azerbaijan today for talks on the conflict.
North Korea blew it up. Now it's reportedly putting its main nuclear reactor back together. Japanese media say it's because the U.S. has not removed the communist nation from its list of states who sponsor terror.
The cooling tower at the Yongbyon plant was destroyed in June. It was seen as a show of Pyongyang's commitment to ending its nuclear program. But Washington wants international verification before removing North Korea from the terror sponsor list.
A deadly shootout today between U.S. and Iraqi troops. Six Iraqi forces killed, 10 people wounded. Both American and Iraqi officials describing it as mistaken fire. It unfolded at an Iraqi checkpoint on the Tigris River north of Baghdad.
An Iraqi official says Iraqi troops did not realize they were firing on an American patrol boat. He says a U.S. chopper returned fire and that led to the casualties.
Shots fired at Pakistan's prime minister, his motorcade hit. The attack coming just days before Pakistan's presidential election.
CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has just returned from the scene of the shooting in Rawalpindi. He is joining us now live from the capital of Islamabad.
Nic, what do we know at this point?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, right now the prime minister's office is saying that they won't say whether or not the prime minister was in his vehicle when it was hit.
The vehicle was part of an armored motorcade traveling along the main highway between the capital Islamabad and the town of Rawalpindi where the main international airport is.
The prime minister's vehicle was hit by at least two bullets. The prime minister's office saying that a sniper fired multiple shots at the convoy as it went by. The bullets struck the prime minister's armored limousine. They didn't go in -- they didn't penetrate the limousine.
We've been told that the prime minister is fine and well, but the reason the prime minister's office said that they won't say whether or not the prime minister was in the vehicle, they say this is a security matter and they won't -- they won't say.
They are saying there's an investigation under way into how the shooting could have happened. After that, when they get the results, they say they will give out more details.
But the shooting took place on this main highway. Police, we understand, have taken three people into custody so far -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Well, that's exactly what I was going to ask you about, Nic, this investigation. And you mentioned very -- at the end there three people taken into custody.
Any idea, at this point, if there could be more? And could we be talking about a larger group here?
ROBERTSON: You know, we don't -- we don't know. There has been one claim of responsibility. It's not clear if this group is behind the attack or not. We don't know. The prime minister's office couldn't say how many gunmen were involved in the attack or if they had a support getaway vehicle. Again, that isn't clear.
What is clear at the moment is that tensions are high here. The government has been taking the fight to or against the Taliban right into their -- right into the areas they hold in the border regions. Government fighter jets have been bombing Taliban positions as recently as yesterday and the Taliban have been taking their fight into the cities and towards government officials.
There are presidential elections this weekend. Tensions are very high. One government minister I talked to in the last few days told me they started driving around in an armored protected vehicle, because they realize that the threat against them is going up -- Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, CNN's Nic Robertson on top of that situation for us, live this morning out of Islamabad, Pakistan. Thank you, Nic, for that.
Quickly want to go ahead and take a look at some of these live pictures. There you have the convention center right now, as you know, is in St. Paul, Minnesota. We are looking at those pictures because the running mate introduces herself to Americans tonight.
We're going to have more Republican coverage coming up in just a few minutes. I'm talking about Sarah Palin there.
And also more live pictures coming in from Metairie, Louisiana. This is police sort of taking a look at random -- it appears to me anyway that they're just taking a random check of vehicles, as people, I believe, begin to return home.
Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis has advice for Gustav evacuees. We'll get to that shortly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's live coverage of the Republican National Convention.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. Welcome back to the CNN Election Center in New York. Soledad O'Brien with continuing coverage of the Republicans in St. Paul, Minnesota.
You can see right there it's a fine day in the forecast. Somebody once said there are two seasons in Minnesota, winter and August. Well, I guess we'll still see August then.
Things are starting to cool off a little bit, though, we are told. Politically, though, the temperature is rising, the excitement building. Delegates and crew getting ready for John McCain to arrive in the Twin Cities, expecting it a little before noon local time.
He's not going to be speaking tonight, but a trio of rivals from the primaries will be.
