Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

McCain to Speak Tonight; Carolinas Brace for Hurricanes, Gulf Coast Recovers from Gustav

Aired September 04, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon, everybody. Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center in New York.
We're counting down to tonight's grand finale for the Republican National Convention. In this hour: what John McCain needs to tell the country as well as his party during his moment of triumph.

A question a lot of people never thought they'd be asking, at least before last night, was can McCain's speech possibly top his running mate's? Then there are other questions being asked about what Governor Sarah Palin told the country in her speech. A lot to talk about, including whether Barack Obama's slim lead in the polls will stand up to the Republican flame throwers that we've seen all this week and what he's telling his supporters today.

First, though, tonight's the big night. Senator John McCain's going to accept the GOP nomination for president of the United States. Let's get you right out to St. Paul and CNN's Ed Henry, part of the best political team on TV.

What can we expect tonight, Ed?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Soledad.

I think you framed it exactly right, which is the fact that John McCain now has a very tough act to follow. It's sort of ironic that everybody was setting up such low expectations for Sarah Palin. She more than exceeded them last night. I was on the floor. The atmosphere was electric. Obviously, she was preaching to the choir. I mean, these are hard-core Republicans. But she fired them up more than anyone else has at this convention so far. And so I think the expectations now, ironically, are being raised for John McCain to try and top that tonight.

One way they're going to try to do that is, as soon as it was over last night, and the new ticket came out together for a quick picture, they started essentially changing the stage. They worked all night on some construction to add a little cat walk to the stage we saw last night so that John McCain will actually be speaking in the middle of the crowd. They're moving some of the delegate seats in the Ohio delegation.

So they want to make it more intimate, more like the town-hall- style format that John McCain excels at, rather than the stiffer, at a podium teleconference kind of thing which he doesn't usually do as well at. Sarah Palin, though, she basically defended herself against various attacks from Democrats, and then also unleashed some pretty tough jabs at Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers. And there is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the state senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, what's interesting is we spoke yesterday, Soledad, about the fact that Sarah Palin was probably going to have to lay out some specifics about what a McCain-Palin ticket would do. She really steered kind of clear of that and focused much more on the broader themes. This obviously was her first chance to introduce herself to millions of Americans watching at home, in addition to the delegates.

But I think the challenge for John McCain tonight is Palin really, as a conservative, fired up the base last night. John McCain's challenge tonight, perhaps, is to get a little more specific about the proposals, about what this ticket would do if they get elected, and reach out beyond just conservatives. Reach out to independent voters that John McCain always likes to target with his maverick image, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ed Henry for us. Ed, thank you very much.

Well, Senator John Thune of South Dakota was himself mentioned as a possible running mate. Senator Thune joins us now. He's in the CNN Grill, as well.

Nice to see you, Senator. Thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it. You had mentioned sort of...

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: Nice to be with you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Thank you. I appreciate that -- the curiosity factor when you were interviewed before Governor Palin's speech, really, that people needed to get to know her. Do you think, with what people heard last night, they liked what they got to hear?

THUNE: I really do. I think in the convention floor, it was -- there was really high expectation. People really didn't know a lot about her going into her speech. But I think she silenced all of the critics. She delivered a terrific speech. And I think that she really -- she seemed very comfortable up there. She proved that she can deliver a punch and she can do it with a smile. She's been taking punches all week. And so I think it was a real opportunity for her to get her message out there and get people comfortable with her. And that certainly happened. And I think it was way beyond the convention floor, Soledad. I think across the country, there are a lot of people in small towns and my part of the country, in rural areas, who really identify with her and with her story and are very excited about having her on the ticket. I think she's going to be a tremendous asset to Senator McCain.

O'BRIEN: You were a part of the Gang of Ten, a bipartisan group of senators who wanted to break that stalemate on energy legislation over the summer. When she said "drill, baby, drill" during her speech -- it was being chanted, rather, while she was speaking, during her speech. What do you think of her stance on the drilling?

THUNE: Well, I'm for that. I've always been for drilling, and our Bill includes a lot of drilling. It includes a lot of energy sources. We're for everything American. We're for all of the above. And I think that that fits nicely into what she talked about last night.

She comes from an energy state. I think she's going to bring a wealth of experience on energy issues and be a real -- as I said before, really benefit the campaign as we focus on this issue of energy independence.

But I think there's a lot of people across the country, Soledad, not just Republicans, but Democrats and independents alike who really believe we need to be developing our resources right here at home and that we need to be drilling where we have those oil and gas resources. And I think that she delivered that message. That fits in nicely with what we're trying to accomplish, as well.

O'BRIEN: You know that on Monday the Republican Party unanimously passed a platform that calls for the federal government to end a mandate that gasoline would contain a set amount of ethanol. And you have said on this one they got it wrong. What's wrong with it? Why do you disagree?

THUNE: Well, I think that if you keep doing what you're doing, you're going to keep getting what you're getting. And what we're getting right now is 70 percent of our energy from outside the United States.

We have great resources here at home. As I said before, we're all for more oil and gas. We're for nuclear. We're for coal and liquid. That's what our proposal does.

But I also believe that we have to have a commitment to biofuels. It's a renewable source of energy we have an abundance of in places like the upper Midwest. We need to be developing these resources. We put policies in place that investors are depending upon.

And I think it would be wrong to go back on those, reverse course, and it would really undermine an industry that is growing and contributing in a big way to helping reduce our dangerous addiction to foreign energy.

O'BRIEN: Senator John Thune, joining us this afternoon. Thanks for your time, sir. Nice to see you. Appreciate it.

THUNE: You, too, Soledad. Thanks.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

Coming up next, a look back at all of the fireworks of the Republican National Convention and then a look ahead to the grand finale tonight when John McCain takes the stage to accept his nomination. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back to the CNN Election Center, and our special coverage of the Republican National Convention. Big finale tonight, with Senator John McCain taking the stage to accept the nomination. There have been fireworks all along, though, making my job much easier to report on.

How will the Democrats respond at the end of the day? We're joined now by CNN political contributor Amy Holmes. She's an independent conservative. Also, Leslie Sanchez is with us. She's a Republican strategist and CNN contributor. Author and journalist Carl Bernstein with us, as well.

All right. Everybody take a stab at it. What do you think? And Carl, why don't you start? How do Democrats deal?

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I just watched a Democratic ad in response to the Sarah Palin speech and pick. I thought it was lame.

O'BRIEN: Since I haven't seen the ad, what made you think it was lame?

BERNSTEIN: It was just not -- it didn't do anything. And it didn't have Barack Obama in it, except to say, "I approve of this message," and you're going to get four more years of George Bush. And I think they're going to have to do a lot better than this.

Look, Sarah Palin's youth. She has a certain appeal. She's got the party energized. They're going to have to deal with this in a major way.

And the other thing is, having chosen this almost Atwater/Rove route to the presidency, this "let's go to the base," only Bill Clinton has been successful against this kind of campaign. It's worked for the Republicans in the past. This was a Hail Mary pass because they were down and losing, the McCain people. And the Republicans...

O'BRIEN: You might look at the poll numbers and say, "Not so much."

BERNSTEIN: Well, no, no. They're going to -- let me finish here. Let me finish here.

O'BRIEN: No, let him finish his thought quickly and then Amy will jump in.

BERNSTEIN: It simply -- simply is that the Democrats now have a new situation in front of them. And they have to adjust to it. And so far it's only been, you know, 24 hours. But she's been named a bit ago. They got -- they've got to change their plan.

AMY HOLMES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: OK. I agree with this part of what Carl's saying. I think Democrats have really been scrambling on how to deal with this, you know, bold, maverick, shocking pick that McCain made.

We saw on Friday that Bill Burton, the Obama spokesperson said, "Well, this takes the experience issue off the table." And then they decided to start attacking her on the experience. Now they have the four more years.

You know, Paul Begala last night, when we were talking about how does Joe Biden deal with this in debating a woman? We saw that when Rick Lazio was up against Hillary Clinton, he got a lot of criticism for looking like he was beating up on a girl. Is Joe Biden going to have to -- you know, have that same problem?

O'BRIEN: There's all kinds of issues.

HOLMES: Very interesting. And Begala...

O'BRIEN: Tone and things that you wouldn't necessarily have to think about.

HOLMES: Begala said something interesting. He said what Biden will have to do is ignore her and attack John McCain. And that's the way to get around that whole sort of gender land mine thing that the Sarah Palin pick puts into play for the Democrats.

O'BRIEN: Is the reverse true for her? I mean, does she have a gender land mine in terms of, you know, and Hillary Clinton saw, and I would imagine that if I interviewed every single female candidate ever in the history of mankind, they would say the same thing. Different standard for women. And so they cannot, you know, be aggressive, because then they're shrill. You know, that word that rhymes with witch that everybody loves to throw at women, et cetera, et cetera. Does she have a similar issue?

LESLIE SANCHEZ, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I think there are many women who feel that there probably are those issues out there. But fundamentally, you have to run a good campaign. You have to be the right candidate. You have to be confident, and you have to be able to connect.

There's an interesting thing in the way that she -- that Sarah Palin talked to the audience. She spent most of the time talking directly at the American people and not necessarily the people in that hall. She knew they were with them.

O'BRIEN: But that's not my question.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Is there a challenge when you are doing a debate that, if you use the tone that maybe the public doesn't think is respectful or is not lady-like, suddenly people are judging you on that and not really the words that you're saying?

SANCHEZ: The knee-jerk response is to call her, you know, a witch or one of these other pejoratives. But I think overall, I think Sarah Palin's going to be in a good position to balance that. I want to bring it back to her.

And I want to bring it back to a comment that Carl just said when he was talking about Bill Clinton was the only one that was able to master this. It's because he was a populous centrist. I mean, every time the Democrats come out with these liberal extremists from the left and from the Northeast, you know, from McGovern to Dukakis to Mondale or whatever..

BERNSTEIN: When did Chicago become the northeast? I just want to ask.

SANCHEZ: When did he represent middle class, which is where the fight is going? And I think that's what the dynamic has changed.

Look at what she's done. She's energized the base. Everybody's talking about that. But this is a party that was not excited because of the direction of the war, that was not excited because of the corruption.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it will be interesting to see. We're out of time, so we'll stop there, but it will be interesting to see if -- OK, energizing the base, great. Step one.

SANCHEZ: Critical.

O'BRIEN: But the bottom line is, you have whatever that number is, 12, 15 percent of people who don't know how they want to vote. Are you going to reach that?

SANCHEZ: Making the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

O'BRIEN: Are you -- these are not people who are in those chairs in the convention hall. Outside, what do they think? That's kind of the $64,000 question.

Don't answer me back. We're out of time. We've got to take a short break.

You want to be sure to stay with the best political team on TV and the best political convention coverage on TV. I'm Soledad O'Brien in the CNN Election Center in New York. We'll see you back here in about 15 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, just look at that. It is a gorgeous day on the Carolina coast. You'd never know Hanna was on the horizon and bigger and badder Ike was right behind her. Our Chad Myers is tracking both and Josephine, besides.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GRONER, JUDGE: You're also giving up the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. You understand that?

KWAME KILPATRICK, OUTGOING DETROIT MAYOR: I think I gave that up a long time ago, honor. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: You hear that? That was the parting shot from Kwame Kilpatrick, as the mayor of Detroit takes a plea deal that will cost him his job, four months in jail, and $1 million.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. We're on hurricane alert. The southeast coast could get hammered by two hurricanes in a matter of days. Tropical Storm Hanna is getting bigger as it drenches the Bahamas and aims for the Carolinas.

Then there's Ike, a Category 4 hurricane, its path still unclear.

From Florida to the Carolinas, the surf's already picking up. Residents are boarding up, stocking up, and getting ready to head inland. National Guard troops are at the ready and U.N. peacekeepers are helping out.

In Haiti, where communities are underwater, thousands of people are homeless, at least 61 people dead.

Let's get right to it now. Chad Myers has got an eye on all of the storms and much, much more -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Three of them out there: Hanna, Ike, and then Josephine. Hanna the first one that will affect us, although this thing is a mess right now. There's dry air coming into it. Not impressed whatsoever. I'll tell you what it's going to do.

And then Ike, this is an impressive Category 3 storm right now. It is out there. It is a spinning buzz saw.

Here's Hanna, 65 miles per hour. I think that's a gift. I'm not even sure there's that many gusts out there. But the plane's finding them, so we'll hang with it.

The problem with Hanna is that this brown mass right there is dry air. Don't worry about that one flashing frame. I'll have to get rid of that later. But there you go. This brown air here, this is dry air wrapping itself now into the system. That is going to cut the potential for what Hanna can be. Hanna will never be a Category 2 or 3 hurricane. It could be a Category 1, but I think maybe a tropical storm at landfall sometime Saturday morning, probably 6 a.m. or so Saturday morning, somewhere.

It'll be earlier than that if it's Myrtle Beach. It'll later than that if it's Cape Hatteras, but probably, the daytime hours, you'll see the heaviest winds along the Carolina coast. Probably North Carolina.

LEMON: All right. We will see. Chad Myers, thank you very much for that.

MYERS: You got it.

LEMON: Well, along the Gulf Coast, folks are trying to get back to normal after Hurricane Gustav. More than a million homes and businesses in Louisiana are still -- still without power, and officials warn it could take -- get this -- a month to get them all back on.

Thousands of evacuees are on the road, many heading for New Orleans. An estimated two million people cleared out before the storm. Offshore oil and natural gas production is back on a very limited basis there.

A lot of people who scrambled out of New Orleans, well, they headed to Baton Rouge. And this time, Baton Rouge, that city took a beating. Took a big beating. On the phone with me now is a woman who lives in West Baton Rouge, Katherine Lemon Clark. She is my mom.

Mom, thanks for joining us. How are you doing?

KATHERINE LEMON CLARK, WEST BATON ROUGE RESIDENT: I'm trying to make it.

LEMON: You're trying to make it.

CLARK: Trying to survive. It's just so humid here right now.

LEMON: Yes, I know, and you told me about the problems. I've been getting e-mails, and we've been on Twitter, as well. And I've been hearing people saying, you know, "You guys are reporting a lot about New Orleans, but we're not hearing a lot about Baton Rouge, and Baton Rouge was really devastated by it."

You can't see the coverage, but tell us what you're going through. You have to go to the FEMA truck to get ice.

CLARK: Yes, I did. And they only allowed me one bag per household. And the only household here is me. So I only got one bag of ice. Of course, they gave me a case of water.

LEMON: And mom, we're looking at pictures of the house, a fence that has fallen down in our back yard. And some of the trees -- I think we're looking at a palm tree that's down there.

CLARK: Yes.

LEMON: And these are the workers up on the roof putting tarp on your roof. And you said you were having trouble even getting gas. The lines were long. They're letting two people, only, in at a time?

CLARK: Two people to go inside of the station there at a time. Of course, I'd already filled up with gas. But I made my way in like, probably, two miles of cars in line for gas. But I got out of my vehicle and walked into the store. And someone there let me in, because I told them, "I don't want any gas. I am just so hungry for something warm to eat."

LEMON: Yes. And you know, people are looking at this. And obviously, mom, I mean, you do OK. It's not just people who are in need or people who are at a certain level of income. It's everyone.

I mean, you see the pool in the backyard. So you're OK. But everyone is affected. You can't get gas. You can't get food. And you, you know, someone of means, you're hungry. So I can imagine what other people are going through.

CLARK: Yes, of course, I barbecued, but it's cold now. I wanted something warm in my stomach.

LEMON: Yes. So...

CLARK: And I went out this morning, and there's one store that come up with -- they're open now, partially.

LEMON: Right.

CLARK: So I was able to get, like, sausage and a biscuit, but nothing really, really solid to eat. But that helped out some. But...

LEMON: All right.

CLARK: We are struggling here a lot.

LEMON: Yes, Mom. And I'm sorry. I wish I was there with you. I love you guys.

CLARK: I love you -- I love you, also. And hopefully, our lights will be back on, but they've not come on yet.

LEMON: OK, Mom. We're praying for everybody down there. We'll see. We'll try to report more on what's happening in Baton Rouge. Thanks, Mom. I'll talk to you soon.

CLARK: Thank you.

LEMON: OK. And if you'd like to help those affected by Hurricane Gustav, please go to our "Impact Your World" page, where you'll find links to groups offering assistance. That's at CNN.com/impact.

Well, he didn't go quickly or quietly, but after seven months of scandal and controversy, Detroit mayor -- there you see him right there -- Kwame Kilpatrick is going. As you may have seen live here on CNN, Kilpatrick pleaded guilty today to obstruction and agreed to resign, effective in two weeks. He admitted lying under oath about an extramarital affair with his top aide. He also pleaded no contest to assaulting a deputy sheriff.

Kilpatrick will serve four months in jail, pay $1 million in fines, and spend five years on probation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRONER: Mr. Kilpatrick, you understand that, by pleading guilty, that you're going to give up certain constitutional rights, and one is the right to be tried by a jury. Do you understand that, sir?

KILPATRICK: Yes.

GRONER: You're also giving up the right to being presumed innocent until proven guilty. Do you understand that?

KILPATRICK: I think I gave that up a long time ago, your honor, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Just yesterday, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm opened a hearing to remove Kilpatrick from office.

I want to take you now to Los Angeles. New developments in the so-called MySpace suicide case. Lawyers for Lori Drew accused prosecutors of misusing federal cyber laws to charge the 49-year-old defendant.

Drew faces four counts relating to the 20 -- 2006 suicide of Megan Meier. Prosecutors say it was Drew who created a phony MySpace profile that was used to harass Meier. Today, a judge will hear arguments on whether the case merits going to trial.

Now, we want you to look at some amazing pictures from a high- speed chase in Houston today. Wow, look at that. It lasted half an hour before the suspect lost control of his car and rolled several times before crashing into a house. Luckily, that car didn't catch on fire, but look at that.

The suspect was able to climb out of his car after police got to him, but cops, well, they took it from there. No word on what prompted that chase. Amazing pictures there.

The dos and don'ts of first aid. We'll have advice to live with in today's "Empowered Patients."

And the fourth and final day of the Republican National Convention, featuring John McCain's presidential nomination acceptance speech. We'll have continuing coverage right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's live coverage of the Republican National Convention.

O'BRIEN: And good afternoon. Welcome from the CNN Election Center in New York. I'm Soledad O'Brien with continuing coverage of the Republicans in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In just a few hours that hall you're seeing right there is going to belong to John McCain as he officially accepts the presidential nomination of his party. He'll make a brief appearance before that as we've seen people do each and everyday around 3:00, where he'll do a walk through, check out the podium, get his photo taken and everyone will talk about it, is what I think sometimes happens up there.

Everybody is talking, though, about his running mate, Sarah Palin, and her speech last night at the convention. So let's dig deeper now with CNN contributors Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist, and her Republican counter part, Leslie Sanchez.

Ladies, thank you for being with me. I appreciate it.

Let's play a little chunk of -- a little bit of Governor Palin's speech from last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom and signed up for the PTA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: That's the spin, hockey mom, PTA, I'm a regular person just like you. How do you think she did on that, Hilary?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: I think on that floor, she did great. I think the issue going forward is the rest of the speech towards the end was, you know, real hostile, real aggressive, and real partisan and I think she showed herself to be a politician, which opens up a whole opportunity for the Democrats to not go so easy on Governor Palin. She's not a newbie in this. So now the partisan game is on.

This is eight weeks until Election Day, and she's got to defend her positions, and John McCain's positions, on education, on health care, on the economy, on tax cuts for the wealthy. So I think she proved herself last night that she can handle it and we'll see how it goes.

O'BRIEN: Leslie, let's say you got a phone call from the Obama/Biden campaign, and they wanted you to give advice on what they should now do to counter, which will never, ever happen, and she would never accept. But go with me with my hypothetical for a moment.

What would you say? Here's what you need to do -- LESLIE SANCHEZ, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: I think privately what you hear the Democrats saying is they want to discredit Governor Palin --

O'BRIEN: What would you tell them to do to win?

SANCHEZ: I think that's part of what the strategy is, is to discredit this candidate. Because what's interesting, the old dynamic of the vice presidential candidate really didn't matter. I think that attitude is changing. And in talking to a lot of political strategists, especially in the Republican side, they're saying this a very -- the whole election is different. She has changed the dynamic.

And if you even look at Joe Biden, somebody is really roaring and very strong in the Democratic convention, of the four candidates, he's dropped to No. 4. She's almost moved up to No. 2. Now the question -- can John McCain even trump that? So the power that she's brought, not only introducing gender, but also small town versus big elite liberalism, is dynamic. With respect to all of that, that's why tying these two candidates together is what you're going to see John McCain do tonight more than you've seen before. And that's why the Democratic strategy of discrediting her maybe the biggest --

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: Vice presidents are more important just because they are. We saw the trend with Al Gore being a very strong second to Bill Clinton and then Dick Cheney being a strong second to George Bush.

Think about this, on September 11th, when George Bush was sequestered on an airplane, flying around the country, it was Dick Cheney in the situation room seeking authority to shoot down aircraft that flew into U.S. air space. The vice president was making that decision and conferring with the president. That's what Governor Palin has to be seen as being able to do. That's a big challenge for her.

O'BRIEN: She made a special reference in her speech to families of special needs children. Let's play a little chunk of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: To the families of special needs children all across this country, I have a message for you. For years you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters, and I pledge to you that if we're elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Big roar of applause, but there are a number of people who are advocates for special needs families and children who said she cut the budget for special needs children in her own state by 62 percent when she came into office. And now she's the mother of a special needs child. How does that jive with what she just promised?

SANCHEZ: I know you've been asking that question a lot, Soledad and got different kind of responses and maybe non-responses from the campaign. I can't speak for the campaign or for the governor in that respect. But I will say there are programs, just when you're looking at budgets, some of them are not effective, some of them are, some of them need to be held accountable. And maybe there was an issue of measurement. We did it in the Department of Education with Head Start. We were looking at some of these programs for early childhood education that were not working. What can you do to fix them?

I'm not saying that's the case here, but just because there's a change in the budget, you really have to look internally.

O'BRIEN: A pretty big change.

SANCHEZ: No one necessarily knows what that means. And I think more importantly the point that was alluded to this morning, is she has the compassion for the issue now. She's committed to those children, you even had somebody like Rosario Marin who is over there -- was a former U.S. treasurer who has a child with Down syndrome who is also part of the Republican platform talking about women and needs.

This is not something that's Republican or Democrat, it's something that's good to see.

ROSEN: It shouldn't take having a child with special needs to worry about families with kids with special needs. Just like she has health care now, John McCain has health care now. It shouldn't take them losing their health care to want to insure the 48 million Americans that don't have health care. Same with education funding.

They're going to have to justify, going forward, how this sort of, you know, nice, middle class mom, compassionate -- projected image jives with some of the pretty tough radical positions that they're taking on the campaign trail and that she has taken as governor. I think that's the Democrats' challenge is to hold her accountable for those policies.

SANCHEZ: I think the Republicans have the same challenge in talking about Democratic policies that have continued to fail, for example, not supporting school choice, Barack Obama knows that has helped communities of color and he refuses to support those kind of measures. And just wants to throw more money at bad schools or bad teachers. That's not necessarily something that is going to work. It's a good debate to have. But --

O'BRIEN: The good news is, we have a long time until November 4th. And you are teeing me up perfectly for the conversations we will continue to have to talk about the issues moving forward.

Thank you very much, I appreciate it.

Up next, we'll talk more about Sarah Palin's small town values and the religious right. Right after these messages. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's harder to save, it's harder to retire. Wages and incomes have flat lined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Barack Obama -- who is on the campaign trail in York, Pennsylvania, today. He is at a hydro -- the Voith Siemens Hydro- Power Plant in York and talking about the economy. As you can see there is a small crowd of about 60 people behind him.

Today on the Republican side, it's day four of the Republican convention. People getting ready to receive the nominee, John McCain. The whole and the country still talking about, though, the words of his running mate. As we mentioned briefly at the top, when she wasn't throwing punches, Sarah Palin was telling the story of her life, a story heavy on small town values and told in a way to resinate with Christian conservative voters.

At one point the text even borrowed from the rhyme and rhythm of a famous passage from the book of Ecclesiastes -- I can never say that -- about a time -- I can see my pastor rolling his eyes at me right now -- about a time and a purpose under heaven. It was actually very well delivered, very nice.

And speaking of time, Governor Palin is a cover story in next week's edition, which is available tomorrow, as they say, at newsstands everywhere. Let's talk with political correspondent Amy Sullivan who specializes in religion and women's issues for "TIME" magazine.

Nice to see you, Amy. Thanks for being with us.

AMY SULLIVAN, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Thank you for having me.

O'BRIEN: I always ruin the books from the Bible. I'm sorry.

OK. Here's the question for you -- I've heard so many conversations about the crowd being energized now and reaching out to the religious right, which seems to have been done incredibly successfully by this speech last night. You would agree?

SULLIVAN: Well, there's no question, definitely, that conservative Christians have been more energized just by the introduction of Governor Palin to the Republican ticket than they have throughout all of John McCain's campaign. He's had a pretty tense relationship, particularly with the Christian right, dating back to 2000 when he referred to some of their leaders as agents of intolerance. And he's kind of been walking that back in the eight years since and trying to get back into their good graces.

O'BRIEN: Seems to have done very well then in his pick if that was the goal. How do you think the conversations about Governor Palin and having five children have been going? I've been surprised that there's even as a mother of four, that there's even a debate about that. But I've been also even more surprised that a lot of working mothers are part of that debate over whether yes or no, she could be the vice president.

SULLIVAN: Well, it has been surprising. Particularly, I think, who's been coming down on what sides of the debate. I mean, you would expect a lot of traditionalists in the Christian community to be more sympathetic to the idea that a woman with a family maybe shouldn't put herself in a position that requires so much time and really investment.

And yet that's not what we've seen at all. They've been very supportive of her. And a lot of people in the Evangelical community are hoping that that's a sign that the community is actually going to move forward when it comes to women's roles in societies.

O'BRIEN: How will that play? I mean, we could see how it played to the convention hall, which was a home run. But, how does that play outside of the convention hall, where people are sitting in their living rooms trying to decide how they feel about it, do you think?

SULLIVAN: It's a real question. I mean, there was a focus group last night that ran during her speech. And it was of undecided women voters in Nevada. And while all of them to a person -- saw she delivered the speech very, very well. They were very impressed of her delivery as a speaker. A lot of them had really serious reservations. And it wasn't necessarily to the question whether she was being a good mother by accepting this nomination to be the running mate.

They were questions about the substance of what she believed. You know, she got into the issue of energy. But other than that, she really left unanswered questions about where she stands on a lot of key issues, including the economy, which right now is obviously extremely important, particularly in some key states around the country.

O'BRIEN: How much of a concern is it for the people who sort of manage these things, about as a woman candidate, as a female candidate, how you navigate not being shrill, not being an attack dog, which is kind of the job of the vice presidential candidate in the race to be the attack dog. And yet, I mean, history is littered with women who get attacked when they seem angry or strong or tough. And yet that's kind of the job she has to do.

SULLIVAN: It is. But it's kind of amazing. The McCain campaign has really turned that on its head and they've put it onus the Democrats. They did not hold back in putting her out there as the attack dog, to be perhaps, even including Rudy Giuliani, the toughest speaker so far at the Republican convention in terms of going after Obama, doing it in a very harsh sarcastic way. And assuming, I think, that as a woman she could get away with saying things that were tougher because her feminine qualities supposedly soften it somewhat. They're also setting it up as kind of what they're hoping will be bait for Democrats. They're very much hoping that in the vice presidential debate, for example, that Joe Biden will just let her have it, as we know he's capable of doing. And they're just waiting for what people are thinking of as the Rick Lazio moment, for that to backfire and for her to seem very sympathetic. It's just unclear whether that's going to happen.

O'BRIEN: It's going to be a lot to watch over the next several weeks as we continue to follow this campaign.

Thanks, Amy. Certainly appreciate it.

We've got much more convention coverage coming to you in about 15 minutes, throughout the day, as well. In New York, I'm Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center. We'll send it back to Atlanta, and CNN NEWSROOM after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A day after the vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin electrified the Republican convention, well, it's John McCain's turn to speak. You're looking at live pictures from Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, where a few hours from now, McCain will officially accept the Republican presidential nomination. Live coverage throughout the day and night right here on CNN.

And of course, we want to tell you. They're still talking about Governor Sarah Palin's speech last night. And did you see it? What did you think? Please share your thoughts with me, twitter.com/donlemonCNN. Getting responses from some people. Cheryl Mazelle (ph) says Palin gets an A for delivery, but sarcasm was over the top. Ninja Steve says she seemed very confident and well spoken, but I still don't have any real idea of her stances on the economy and so on. And we are following right here twitter.com/donlemonCNN. All of your comments on Sarah Palin's speech. Go and send your comments there. We're following them here on CNN.

Meantime, 47 past the house. Time to tell you about some of the stories we're working on for you today, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

After months of fighting sex and misconduct charges, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick entered a guilty plea today. He agreed to resign effective within two weeks. He faces four months in jail, five years on probation and $1 million in fines.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled in about 15 minutes for a former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He's admitted to bribing lawmakers. But, because he's been cooperating with investigators, prosecutors are recommending a sentence of less than four years.

And look at this. An incredible end to a high speed police chase in Houston, this morning. Wow. The suspect lost control of this vehicle, which rolled over several times and crashed into the side of a house. Remarkably, the suspect survived and he was taken into custody. And there are police, none too thrilled with him. They basically just yanked him right out of the car and put him in handcuffs.

Three days after hurricane Gustav slammed Louisiana, the Carolinas are bracing for Hanna. Hurricane watches are in effect though for now Hanna's still a tropical storm. And right behind Hanna, extremely dangerous hurricane Ike is coming. Its track is still uncertain though.

In New Orleans, Gustav evacuees are heading home to survey the damage. The city's mandatory evacuation order ran out at midnight. Gustav battered Baton Rouge, knocking down trees and power lines and damaging homes and businesses. And across the storm line, about 1 million people still don't have power. Authorities say it could take weeks to get all of the lights back on.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Vice President Dick Cheney made a visit to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Just yesterday, the U.S. announced a $1 billion aid package to reverse the ravages done by the recent Russian invasion. Cheney was greeted by pro-American president Mikheil Saakashvili, who's pushing to get Georgia into NATO. Cheney says the U.S. is all for it.

In Pakistan, four people are dead today in a blast near the Afghan border. Pakistani intelligence says a missile strike is suspected. That usually means the U.S. The apparent strike occurred in North Waziristan, not far from where U.S. forces entered Pakistan, yesterday, in a deadly nighttime raid. That was the first known incursion of U.S. troops in Pakistan's tribal regions, a long-time haven for militants. At least 15 people were killed. Today Pakistan summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

Hurricane season. It can be dangerous if not deadly. We'll tell you what to do and not to do to save a life including your own.

Overtime means good money, but can too much work be deadly? In the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM, a man in Japan whose family says his job literally killed him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're keeping a close eye on hurricanes Hanna and Ike. In the midst of the hurricane season, safety is of course, a top concern.

And CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with this week's Empowered Patient.

Elizabeth, you have been talking to experts and what are all the things we need to know, especially this time of year?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what they say is that of course, we should all have some formal first aid training. But that the sad truth is most people don't have first aid training. So I asked these experts, if you could just name a few things -- a few real basics that people should know, what would they be? And here they are.

First of all, they said, when someone is bleeding profusely, do not use a tourniquet, which I thought was interesting. They said, if you don't know what you're doing, you could really hard that person's limb. Instead put pressure on the wound and elevate the limb.

The second one is, leave a foreign object where it is and go get help from an emergency room. That whatever has impaled you, let's say you have been stabbed for example, could be plugging a hole in a vessel or an artery and you don't want to pull it out, you could cause serious bleeding.

Also, this isn't live saving but I thought this was interesting. Don't clean a tooth that's fallen out. If your tooth falls out, you want to either A) you would never clean it, put it back in places in the socket that if fell out from, or put it in milk. If you clean it out, you're going to clean off nerves and ligaments and things that are important. It may look gross, but keep it the way it is.

LEMON: In milk?

COHEN: In milk. Or, someone also said like a sports drink might work. But milk would be the first choice. Or, just put it back and hold it in place.

And, Don, you can see other tips for how to help and these are just basic things that anyone can do -- CNN.com/health. It's up there right now.

LEMON: Yes. Very interesting stuff. And you mentioned the tourniquet because you cut the blood flow off. And you said you can injure the (INAUDIBLE) you have.

COHEN: If you don't know what you're doing it works. But, if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it.

LEMON: Very good tips on empowering patients. Thank you. Go to the web site that Elizabeth mentioned.

Thank you, Elizabeth Cohen.

Let's talk about tropical trouble. Just days after hurricane Gustav slammed the Gulf Coast, the south east coast braces for what could be a rough ride in the days ahead. We'll get the latest on tropical storm Hanna and hurricane Ike and where they might be heading.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)