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John McCain Prepares to Address Republican National Convention; Interview With Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader; Power Problems Persist for New Orleans Residents
Aired September 04, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's live coverage of the Republican National Convention.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon. Welcome from the CNN Election Center in New York, Soledad O'Brien with continuing coverage of Republicans in Saint Paul, Minnesota. You're looking at the hall there.
And we are expecting to see John McCain very shortly inspecting the podium and the hall, too. He has got to be happy today. His running mate gave a powerful speech her first time in the prime-time spotlight.
On the hand, now he's got a tough job of topping that speech. He's getting a pop in the polls, at least in Alaska. A new survey which was done by Ivan Moore Research shows the McCain/Palin ticket has a commanding lead over Obama/Biden 54 to 35 percent. That's up from a virtual tie in a previous poll. That's three electoral votes, and 267 to go.
A tight race, in fact, is expected and perhaps a rough and tumble campaign to match. We're going to have to see about that.
First, though, let's get right to CNN's Ed Henry, and a quick look at the very latest from Saint Paul.
Hey, Ed. Good afternoon.
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Soledad.
You hit it exactly right. I was on the floor here last night. Expectations have been low for Sarah Palin going into that big speech. One delegate after another told me they felt like she hit it out of the park. John McCain now, expectations are going to be higher because of that.
And, right behind me, you can see the podium where he will be standing. And that is where he will deliver his speech. And, to my left over here, the media is gathering, because, later this hour, John McCain himself will be walking through. We will be able to get some new pictures of him, as he practices, gets ready for the Teleprompter, and all of that.
And the woman who is charge of all that, Maria Cino, is with me. She runs the convention. She's been doing it for 19 months, getting ready. But there's a new addition. This catwalk here was not here last night when Sarah Palin spoke.
Your workers worked all through the night to build this out, to make it more like a town hall style format for John McCain.
What's the point of all that?
MARIA CINO, PRESIDENT AND CEO, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION: Well, I think, as you saw on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, a different contrast to what the Democrats had in Denver. And it was always planned.
This is a four-foot stage, four feet off the ground, lowest it's ever been. Usually, they're battleships, seven, eight, nine feet. In addition to the fact that we have got that wonderful video screen -- people were wondering about that -- but the video, I think, you have seen over the last couple of days really adds and complements to that.
What we did on the last night is, we decided to build out even further. It's 10 feet, center ice, those of you who are hockey fans.
(LAUGHTER)
CINO: Center ice. And the senator will then walk out on to the stage...
HENRY: Interesting.
CINO: ... and be even closer than we already had him.
HENRY: OK. Now, above me, I see a lot of balloons.
CINO: Oh, yes.
HENRY: Now, you told me there are over 300,000?
CINO: Three hundred thousand balloons and 300 pounds of confetti.
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: And they're all going to drop when he comes.
CINO: I hope so.
HENRY: Now, how do you put all that together?
CINO: You know, it's been 18 months of planning, organizing. The last six weeks have been total implementation. We took this hockey rink over six weeks ago. We transformed it into a stage. It will catapult John McCain to the White House.
HENRY: And how does John McCain -- he has a tough job tonight. He is not known for using the Teleprompter and doing well in this kind of a setting. And he's following someone who, by all accounts on this floor last night, really hit a home run.
CINO: You know, last year, we heard John McCain's campaign was over, and he sprung back. Then, Friday, well, we're not sure about this vice presidential candidate. And she wowed and woohed. And the energy and the excitement that was here last night was unbelievable. I think John McCain's going to do just fine tonight.
HENRY: One more question for you. I have only been here four or five days, and I'm exhausted. You have been here 18, 19 months. How are you doing it? And where are you going next? Are you going to Disneyland or what?
CINO: A lot of coffee.
(LAUGHTER)
CINO: No, I'm going to Mount Rushmore.
HENRY: Oh, you are, really?
CINO: Absolutely. We're taking a road trip.
HENRY: Well, have a wonderful, well-deserved vacation.
CINO: Thank you very much, Ed.
HENRY: And, Soledad, what's quite interesting is that these balloons, hundreds of thousands of balloons that are above us, they do not use helium for the plans, because then they can't drop. So, they actually had local high school students here in the Saint Paul area blow up each balloon, so they would be ready for tonight's big show. So, that...
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, that sounds like a lot of work. Good thing to assigned to a high schooler, absolutely.
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: And they're biodegradable, too.
O'BRIEN: Oh, that's good to know.
All right, Ed Henry for us -- thanks, Ed for the update.
HENRY: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Up next, if you don't find much to like about either party, a man who says he's the alternative. He's also got something to say about how his running mate stands up to Sarah Palin.
Ralph Nader joins us right after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: You're taking a look at the inside of the Xcel Energy Center and the 2008 Republican Convention. Neither of those two things will probably make our next guest feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Ralph Nader, after all, has made a career out of taking on big business, and, more recently, both major political parties. He's running for president again, holding a rally this evening not very far from the convention site. He's got a running mate he would like to talk about.
Joining us now is Ralph Nader.
Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us.
RALPH NADER, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Give me a favor -- do me a favor and run down the candidates for me. Let's start with the Republicans. Let's then go to the Democrats and talk about your ticket as well.
McCain/Palin, what's your assessment?
NADER: Well, we don't have to go into much detail.
Both candidates' parties are corporate parties. Just read the newspaper, and you will see that both parties have run our country into the ground. They have allowed our government to be taken over by big business.
Look at the bloated, wasteful military budget. Look at how the government has not given people a living wage. They still -- 60 years after Harry Truman proposed it, we still don't have full Medicare for everybody.
We still have a terribly harmful energy policy. They keep talking about energy independence, but they don't push for energy efficiency and solar power, like wind power, in a big way.
We don't get into the details, Soledad, of theater, balloons, parades, bands. This is just a spectacle. Back home, where American people live, things are pretty grim. They're getting worse all the time, recession, consumer debt, you know, unemployment increasing.
And they're confronting a massive government deficit that, in effect, tells them that there's very little for them from their tax dollars and everything to bail out crooked businesses on Wall Street, and they're about to bail out the mismanaged auto industry.
O'BRIEN: So, what you lay out is an economy that is in pretty dire straits. And, if you look at the polls, that shows that Americans would very much agree with you, number-one issue, and they think that the economy is in bad shape.
But, when you look at your standing, with just a couple of months away from Election Day, you're mired in the low single digits there. I have you up there at 4 percent. What are you doing -- what are you hoping to achieve with your campaign? I mean, is it realistic to think that you're actually in the game?
NADER: Well... Well, the Nader/Gonzalez campaign is the third -- we're seeded third, to take a tennis analogy, but although the 60th seat on Wimbledon can get a chance to go to center court, we can't get on the presidential debates.
If Nader/Gonzalez got on the three presidential debates, which is the only way to reach tens of millions of people, there would be a three-way race. The CNN poll, by the way, is a little better. We are at 7 percent in Pennsylvania, 7 percent in Colorado, 8 percent in New Mexico, and 8 percent to 10 percent in another poll in Michigan.
But two-thirds of the people don't even know we're running, because the national TV networks, with the exception of CNN, have in a sense put a blackout on us. We haven't gotten on Brian Williams, Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson, nothing since our February 24 announcement on "Meet the Press."
And this is typical of the way the two-party system and their corporate paymasters try to exclude and minimize third-party candidates. In our case, if you look at our Web site, VoteNader.org, you will see 17 areas that are on our table to redirect and improve our country and its people that are off the table for McCain and Obama.
(CROSSTALK)
NADER: So, we are representing, Soledad, majority support for single-payer, living wage. All these things are supported by a majority of the American people.
O'BRIEN: After the 2000 election, Democrats, as you well know...
NADER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... said you were a spoiler in that race, because it was so close, a third-party candidate was able to take enough votes away from the Democrats, Democrats would tell you, to spoil the race for them.
NADER: That's a politically bigoted word, spoiled the race. It's never applied between a Republican and Democrat.
If you ask Al Gore why he didn't go to the White House, he would say it was the Electoral College, number one, because he won the nation popular vote, and it was taken from him in Florida by Bush's people before, during and after the election in all kinds of documented ways, from Tallahassee to the five politicians on the Supreme Court.
We shouldn't talk about spoiler. If we all have equal right to run for election in this country, which I hope we do, we have an equal right to take votes from one another. You don't apply a second-class citizen stigma to a third-party independent candidacy, which, throughout American history, have led the way against slavery, for women's rights to vote, for workers' standards, for farmer rights. They have led the way, even though they have never won a national election. We have got to have more dissent protected in this country, because dissent is the mother of assent. And the American people have said again and again they want more diverse debates. They don't want two guys in parallel interviews on the same stage in the fall on these hoked-up (ph) presidential debates.
O'BRIEN: Ralph Nader is the independent presidential candidate. Thanks for talking with us. We certainly appreciate it. Good luck with your campaign.
Much more convention coverage coming to you in just about 15 minutes and throughout the day.
In New York, I'm Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center. We will send it back to Atlanta in the CNN NEWSROOM after our break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, well, you know the drill, put up the plywood, fill up the sandbags, stock up on water, food and fuel. The Carolinas are bracing for Hanna and cringing at the prospect of Ike. Our Chad Myers is tracking both.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're also giving up the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Do you understand that?
KWAME KILPATRICK (D), MAYOR OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN: I think I gave that up a long time ago, Your Honor, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, that was a parting shot from Kwame Kilpatrick, as the mayor of Detroit take a plea deal that will cost him his job, four months in jail, and a million bucks.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
All right, let's talk now about those three named storms lined up in the Atlantic. Which ones could hit the U.S. and where? That's the questions.
Our Chad Myers is keeping an eye on all of them.
Which ones could hit the U.S., Chad, and where?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, so far, it looks like Hanna and Ike are making a run at the U.S. somewhere. And it looks like Josephine may be just up here in the Atlantic in colder water, which would be good, and the colder water would kill it.
But here's -- here's Hanna right there, not looking very good today, a little bit of a flare-up, a little bit of convection right there. Basically, it's raining over the Bahamas. That's all it is. The center is actually not even where that flare-up is right there. That just tells us that it's not really getting more organized, although hurricane hunter aircraft in it, found the 65-mile-per-hour winds. So, there you go.
But this is dry air. This is an odd color map. This is dry air getting wrapped into the storm. And if you wrap dry air into what wants to be a very wet hurricane, you don't get that storm to get any stronger. And that's what I think we're going to have. We're going to get a storm that stays where it is right now, maybe a Category 1, but no stronger than that, absolutely not, and then on up into the Carolinas, maybe central-south Carolina, the low country here, but probably up into North Carolina somewhere. It's still too early to tell.
That happens late tomorrow night, but probably more likely, if it's over here in the Carolinas, probably around daybreak Saturday morning.
The next storm, though, Ike, getting a little bit of shear right now. It's getting a little bit torn apart. This morning, it was perfect. It was a 140-mile-per-hour storm, maybe now a little bit less. But, still, even as a Category 3 approaching the southeast coast somewhere Tuesday or Wednesday, a couple models bouncing it off Cuba. That will take some energy away, making it smaller.
A few models turning it harder to the right and into the middle of the ocean. That would miss it altogether, just make big waves. Wouldn't that be a perfect scenario. We will have to see. Ike is definitely a big storm, and it's big now, and it will be big when it makes the approach at the southeast Atlantic coast somewhere.
And there's Josephine. It's still only a tropical storm, 60 miles per hour by Tuesday, but notice its northward drift into cooler water up here -- Don.
LEMON: All right.
Chad Myers, thank you very much for that.
MYERS: You bet.
LEMON: A big-city mayor gives up. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has submitted his resignation effective two weeks from today.
Kilpatrick pleaded guilty this morning to felony charges stemming from a sex scandal. He will serve four months in jail, spend five years of probation, and pay $1 million in restitution. He will also forfeit any future pension. Kilpatrick was accused of having an extramarital affair with a top aide, lying about it under oath, then using city money to cover it all up.
Two years after Jack Abramoff admitted bribing lawmakers, the former high-flying lobbyist went to court today to be sentenced.
CNN's justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, joins us live now.
Kelli, sentencing proceedings are under way right now, aren't they?
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: They are.
And, you know, Jack Abramoff is very used to influencing people, Don. You know he got a lot of money to do that when he was a very powerful lobbyist. And he is doing his best to try to influence the judge, who's going to sentence him today.
In a letter to the court, Abramoff said that he wasn't a bad guy. He wrote: "It's hard to see the exact moment that I went over the line. But, looking backwards, it's amazing to me to see how far I strayed, how I did not see it at the time."
Now, Abramoff is already serving, as you know, nearly a six-year sentence for a fraudulent Florida casino deal. He does face up to 11 years in prison for corrupting Capitol Hill lawmakers by buying them expensive meals and luxury gifts.
Abramoff's lawyers argue that he should serve less time because he's done so much for the government. The prosecution actually agrees, Don. Since his conviction, he has spent more than 3,000 hours helping agents in this ongoing corruption probe. And the judge does have a lot of wiggle room here. And, you know, we should get the answer today. We will see if this is all successful.
LEMON: All right, we will see. Justice correspondent Kelli Arena -- appreciate that, Kelli.
ARENA: You're welcome, Don.
LEMON: Now amazing pictures of a high-speed chase in Houston today. It lasted half-an-hour -- you got to look at this video -- before the suspect lost control of his car and rolled it several times, before crashing into a house.
This is all taken, of course, from our affiliate's chopper, KHOU. The suspect was able to climb out of the car. But you can see the police took it from there. No word on what prompted his chase, but he is in jail now.
Another grim turn in the search for a Florida toddler and more bad news from the mom.
And we are just a few minutes away from John McCain's presidential -- a few hours, I should say, from his presidential nomination acceptance speech. Make sure you stay with CNN for the very latest on the Republican National Convention, full coverage tonight in CNN prime.
And also we are Twittering here in CNN NEWSROOM. You can also join us MySpace and Facebook. The Twitter link is Twitter.com/DonLemonCNN. We will take your comment on the Republican National Convention, on the storm stories, and whatever you want to write to us about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): It's a delicate procedure, but researchers at North Carolina State University are helping a few pets get a new leg on life.
ERIKA EDWARDS, DOG OWNER: He's a good, very good candidate for the surgery. We're hoping everything turns out well for him.
JERAS: Erika's dog, Nubby (ph), is missing part of one leg, but may soon be able to walk like a normal dog again, thanks in part to an artificial titanium limb that's surgically attached to the leg bone. It's a procedure that takes practice.
DR. DENIS MARCELLIN-LITTLE, NCSU: Well, the surgery is really done on a plastic model beforehand, so we get to know the patient very well before we bring him to the operating room.
JERAS: Practice models are custom-made from three-dimensional scans of the animal's bone structure.
OLA HARRYSSON, PROFESSOR, NCSU: You're building the models one layer at a time. Now, we can custom design anything. We can build it in one step.
JERAS: In 2007, a cat named Mr. France (ph) underwent surgery for the experimental artificial limb. The cat's muscle and skin tissue eventually grew on to the implant, making the prosthetic part of the bone. Mr. France walked around with a temporary foot for several months before being fitted with a custom-made one.
His owner says he's a different cat and now runs around and socializes with others in her household.
And that's good news for Erika, who is looking forward to Nubby's operation.
EDWARDS: He's going to benefit from it quite a bit. We're excited about doing it.
JERAS: Jacqui Jeras, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's live coverage of the Republican National Convention.
O'BRIEN: Welcome back. From the CNN ELECTION CENTER in New York, I'm Soledad O'Brien, as we continue our coverage of the Republicans in Saint Paul. It's the fourth and final night and the big night of course for John McCain, after a big debut for his running mate, what he says and how he says it all vital if he wants to leave the Twin Cities with a full head of team for the next eight-week sprint to the finish line.
Some perspective now from CNN senior political analyst David Gergen.
David, thanks, as always. Nice to see you.
How much pressure is on John McCain? Because the truth is, he doesn't deliver great speeches a lot. Even his own team will admit that. On a Teleprompter, it's not his strength.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's true. It has not been his strength.
But, Soledad, it's worth remembering, he has spoken at Republican Conventions before, and he's gotten rave reviews for his convention speeches. So, I would expect him to give a very strong speech tonight.
In terms of the importance, it's probably one of the two most important moments between now and the election for him, tonight and the first debate. Those tend to be really, really critical in a close election. That's when people really -- that's when Americans tune in and take your measure in ways they may not have so far.
O'BRIEN: Does it help to be last at bat within your own convention? I mean, Senator Palin did a great speech, by a lot of people's estimation, which means that's a hard act to follow.
GERGEN: Senator Palin gave a speech that electrified the Republican base. We don't know yet how well it played with the rest of the country. It's too early to tell. It played well in the hall, and I think we know it played well with the base.
But whether it played well with independents, whether it played well with women that they're trying to bring in, I think we have to wait a day or two more for the evidence.
So, does it pay to go last? Absolutely. Cleanup batter? You know, Senator -- with Senator...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: I was never good with the sports metaphors, but, yes.
GERGEN: Well, but trust me on this one. With Palin on base and McCain up at bat, yes, it helps to go last. You want to have the big swat last night. And if he knocks it out of the park tonight, it will help his party a lot and help him a lot in the fall.
O'BRIEN: So, even between Democrats and Republicans, it pays to go last?
(CROSSTALK)
GERGEN: Absolutely. And -- oh, I think that's a good point.
Coming especially after that rousing Democratic Convention that did electrify the Democratic base and brought in some wavering voters, he needs to -- they have closed the enthusiasm gap now with Sarah Palin. So, I think the issue tonight -- there are two issues tonight.
One is the tone that is set. This has been a very combative convention that has appealed a great deal to the base. It's not so clear it's appealed much beyond the base. So, does he bring in a more inclusive message than what we have heard so far, one which reaches out in a positive way and invites in independents?
O'BRIEN: Because those are the voters you really need...
GERGEN: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: ... I mean, if it really is neck and neck.
GERGEN: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: And look percentage. I mean, I have heard the number 12 percent. I have heard 6 percent. I have heard 15 percent.
GERGEN: Well, the truth is we don't know because when you get to -- as the numbers have gone up a little bit, Barack has maybe got -- Obama has got maybe 47, 48 percent of the electorate now. McCain 's got maybe 42. 43 percent. That leaves 10 percent or less that's still undecided. There's some leaners in there, but they're (INAUDIBLE) are still undecided.
But the -- I think some of the -- I think there are two things tonight.
One is the tone -- does he try to invite in people or is it really going to be the elbows and knees we've seen in the last couple of days?
And, secondly, is he really going to spell out what he's going to do on the economy?
Karl Rove said today that the real test is can he...
O'BRIEN: Kitchen table.
GERGEN: ...can he have the kitchen table conversation that convinces people he's got a serious plan to go forward?
And one of the issues here is going to be that his economic plan sounds an awful lot like George W. Bush economics -- you know. Cut taxes is central to his -- you know, keep the Bush tax cuts and cut taxes more. That's very central to what he wants to do. That's what George W. Bush is going to do.
So how do you present an economic plan that's persuasive and compelling and at the same time separate yourself out from Bush?
I think that's going to be a challenge for him. We'll see.
O'BRIEN: We've got Senator Obama, who is speaking today. He was in York, Pennsylvania. And I want to show that shot.
So you guys, do we have that?
I'm told we've got some pictures of Senator Obama, who continues to campaign.
Oh, there he is. OK, let's listen in.
You guys want to listen in for this?
Let's raise the audio so you can hear it for a minute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: ...engaging her enough and criticizing her enough.
Is that a concern of yours?
Or why are you taking sort of a hands-off approach and focusing on Senator McCain?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE: Because John McCain is running for president. I'm running against John McCain. And as far as I can tell, I don't get a sense that Governor Palin has ideas that are different from John McCain's. And that speech that she delivered was on behalf of John McCain.
And the essential question in this campaign is who's got a better plan, a better agenda to move this country forward and fundamentally change it from the economic and foreign policy failures that we've seen over the last eight years?
I believe that the American people need change, they want change and I'm in the best position to bring it, on a whole host of issues, from energy to health care to education.
And if, at some point, Senator McCain is -- actually addresses those issues, then I think that's going to be a useful debate for the American people to listen to.
QUESTION: How does your strategy change at all now that -- after not only Governor Palin, but also Giuliani and several other speakers sort of went on the attack?
Does your strategy change? Do you have to go more on the attack now?
OBAMA: Hey, what did you guys expect, right?
I mean I anticipated this last Thursday in my acceptance speech. This is what they do. They don't have an agenda to run on. They haven't offered a single concrete idea so far in two nights about how they would make the lives of middle class Americans better. They've spent the entire two nights attacking me or extolling John McCain's biography, which is fine. That's -- they can use their convention time any way they want.
But you can't expect that I'd be surprised about attacks from Republicans. And, by the way, I mean I -- you know, I've been called worse on the basketball court. It's not that big of a deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you.
QUESTION: Were you surprised by the choice of Palin and does it change the way that you look at the race at all, given it's such an unconventional choice?
OBAMA: You know, I think ultimately this race is going to be about myself and John McCain and who's in a better to lead the country, to make sure that young people can go to college, people who don't have health care get it, that we're creating jobs here in the United States that pay well and that provide decent benefits and that people can retire with dignity and respect and that we can keep the American people safe and rebuild our standing in the world.
That's what this election is going to be about. And, you know, ultimately, all I can say is I'm very proud of my pick, Joe Biden. And I'm absolutely confident that he's going to be able to help me govern in a very effective way should I have the honor of being president.
All right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, senator.
OBAMA: All right, guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Senator Barack Obama in York, Pennsylvania. He was there earlier talking about workers at Voice Siemens Hydropower plant in York, Pennsylvania. And we heard a couple of things.
Let's bring David Gergen back in.
Interesting first question from the reporter where we picked up, which was what is this about your hands-off approach? And he said I am running against Senator McCain.
People have said, earlier in the day, if you get into a fighting match with a V.P. you repeat what was done historically and was disastrous for the Democrats. Talk about that.
GERGEN: Right. I do think that's right. And it is -- and you were absolutely right, he did not want to get into Governor Palin. He wanted -- I think he does not want to set it up so that she can make a statement he makes a statement and the two are equated and John McCain can float above. That's what you never want to do as a candidate.
You want to let your own vice presidential candidate, Joe Biden, or other surrogates, go out and take her on. And in this case, the Democrats are going to be very -- because she's a woman and they don't want to be accused of sexism. And they also want to keep the children and the family out of it. They're not to go after any of those issues.
But it's fair game for them to go after her ideas, say on abortion, creationism, those kind of things; go after her as being to the right of George W. Bush. She's not the same as George W. Bush, she's actually to the right of him. That's fair game. And they will do that.
But I think he's right to sort of say no, no, I want to be above that, just as John McCain shouldn't get into a fight with Joe Biden. That doesn't make any sense.
The other thing I thought, Soledad, that was interesting about his -- he clearly doesn't want to make this about personalities. He doesn't want to have it his personality versus John McCain's personality or -- you know, when Rudy Giuliani spoke last night, he said this is a job interview.
Now, do you want this person with this biography or do you want this person with this biography?
And Barack Obama is saying that's not the real question. It's not between two personalities. It's what direction do you want the country to go in.
What are the ideas we have for moving forward?
So he's challenging John McCain to lay down some ideas tonight, to -- which they have not addressed. Bill Schneider has been saying this for a couple of days on CNN -- where the economic ideas?
I think, as I was saying a few minutes ago, it seems to me the tone that John McCain sets tonight, whether it's inviting or combative and also whether he lays out clear plans for kitchen table conversation by voters, are the two big tests, to me, tonight of whether his speech is a success or not.
O'BRIEN: They make -- they come out of the conventions and now start campaigning.
GERGEN: Right.
O'BRIEN: How tricky is it? I mean you mentioned it a minute ago. You have a woman vice presidential candidate on the Republican side. And is it going to be a challenge for someone like Joe Biden, who can be a tough talker, to tackle somebody who was pretty tough in her own speech?
I mean can you -- are you able to visually, to the person watching TV at home, give it back as hard as she gives it and be considered fair or is it a boy attacking a girl? GERGEN: Well, that's a very interesting question. And you've got to watch the bullying question if you're a man. And you've got to watch -- you know, we had a controversy -- a little tiny controversy last night when Harry Reid's office issued a statement calling her -- Mrs. Palin's speech shrill. You know, that's a code word for -- and every woman knows.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Every woman who...
GERGEN: Every woman hears that and says, you know...
O'BRIEN: ...knows that...
GERGEN: ...cringes when they hear it.
O'BRIEN: No man is ever called shrill.
GERGEN: Exactly. Exactly. We're called bullies, but not shrill. We're called a lot of other things, too.
But I have to tell you, I think that they do need to be very careful how they go about it. But she weighed -- she weighed into the fight last night. You know, she showed -- you know, as I said on television, as others have said now, the pit-bull with lipstick. You know, she's going to be very tough in the arena. And so it's only fair play to be equally tough with her, but on the level of ideas and experience and whether she really offers -- the direction of the country will go in.
If you've got -- you know, the Democrats have got every reason to argue -- they cannot talk about her motherhood. And I don't think that's fair game for the Democrats. If other people want to talk about that, other people can talk about that. If journalists want to talk about that, that's a whole different. Issue. But the Democrats don't want to get into that -- you know, raising her kids and so forth and so on.
I -- keep the kids out of this, as Obama said -- and as McCain said.
But they can go after -- wait a second, let's see on this abortion issue. John McCain has -- you know, it's well-known now he had two other candidates that he really liked, Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge, to be his running mate. But he got a lot of feedback, a lot of pushback that...
O'BRIEN: That that's was never going to fly.
GERGEN: They're not going to fly. They're pro-choice. So now he's come -- and he wouldn't -- and he didn't take Kay Bailey Hutchison, extremely well qualified, pro-choice; Meg Whitman, pro- choice.
He chose Sarah Palin, pro-life.
Now, it's very clear -- and he promised Rick Martin that he's going to -- at Saddleback -- that he's going to run a very, very pro- life administration. That means court appointments. That means other kind of regulations. That is a fair conversation for Democrats to have, because that's what has enlivened the Republican base. That's what got them electrified about Sarah Palin.
A lot of this -- she didn't mention the abortion issue last night. But the Democrats can't leave that alone. Of course, they're going to go after that and go after her views, as she's expressed them on several things. That's fair game.
O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a question about the motherhood thing.
GERGEN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I was surprised -- we were talking to the editor-in- chief, the woman -- the CEO, actually, of Working Mother Media, so they -- "Working Mother" magazine is under that.
GERGEN: Right.
O'BRIEN: And they had this very informal poll on their Web site. But a much greater number of women polled said that they thought that because of all that was going on in her personal life, she should not be the pick for V.P. which shocked me, I mean floored me. Again, small, informal, unscientific poll. But I was surprised that the working mothers who -- that -- you know, that she's reaching out to and who I would have thought would identify with Governor Palin, overwhelmingly said, you know, I don't think -- almost voting against themselves, in a way.
Is that...
GERGEN: Yes, it's true. It is very striking. And it's contrary to what -- you know, Campbell Brown last night on CNN was -- you know, when she saw Sarah Palin out there with the kids, she said it brings out her maternal instincts. She that that would play well with a lot of women. And so there are a number of women who see it differently, that this -- that they admire the way she is balancing her public life -- her professional life and her private life.
O'BRIEN: Is that a risk, as you, again, pitch to people at home, not people in the middle of that crowd who might agree with that poll...
GERGEN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ...which I've got to say, surprised me in this day and age.
GERGEN: Well, it did until you talk to a number of working women who are younger who are only working because they have to, because they're so economically pressed, that they do feel a maternal instinct -- especially in those early years and would rather be home with their children. And they think...
O'BRIEN: Meaning it's really hard and they know how hard it is? GERGEN: Yes. Well, I think we in the journalistic community and in the politics have to be very careful not to be judgmental on this. I think if people want to make up their own minds on that, that's -- that's fair. But I think we have to avoid being judgmental on the personal.
I think what we can be judgmental on is qualifications for office and policies. And those we should have serious conversations about.
O'BRIEN: David Gergen, always great to talk to you.
GERGEN: OK, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
We've more convention coverage coming throughout the day and into the evening, of course.
In New York, I'm Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center. We're going to send it back to Atlanta and the CNN NEWSROOM after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: While the Carolinas brace for a possible Hurricane Hannah, now a tropical storm appears to be heading that way. And right behind it, extremely dangerous Hurricane Ike.
Let's get right to meteorologist Chad Myers with the very latest on that -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: One little, two little, three little, here we go.
LEMON: Yes.
MYERS: There's Hanna, there's Ike and then way, way back behind me, there's Josephine way back there. Not looking very good at this hour.
The best one obviously is Ike. It's the one that we're most concerned about. It's still probably six days away, if it makes a direct line right to Florida or maybe the southeast coast. That's still six days away.
Hanna is not. Hanna comes in late, late tomorrow night, probably into Saturday morning for the Carolina beaches somewhere -- from Myrtle to Topsail to maybe all the way back up to Morehead City. Not quite sure just yet. The models are still spread out a little bit.
What the models are not spread out about is this dry air getting entrained into the storm. And hurricanes don't like dry air. They want humidity. They want tropics. That's why they start in the tropics.
If you start putting in dry air, you start cutting off its chance of getting stronger. So that's why it's only going to be a tropical storm -- maybe a small category one hurricane at landfall.
Not the same with Ike. Look at this -- a category three, four, somewhere in there, making an approach somewhere in the Southeast. It could be Cuba, it could be all the way up a little bit farther to the northeast as it turns to the right. We'll see. But it's a big storm. It's a major hurricane -- the third major hurricane of the season -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Chad Myers, thank you very much.
And, you know, Chad, for hundreds of thousands of people from the Gulf Coast who fled from Hurricane Gustav, there's no place like home. And that's where they're headed for today.
For many of them, home is New Orleans. The city's mandatory evacuation order expired at midnight. Now, when they do get home, many who fled from Gustav will be in the dark. About a million people in the storm zone are still without power. And it could be weeks -- weeks before it is back on.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Louisiana is in the dark.
(on camera): What's the worst thing about living without power?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't blow dry my hair.
MESERVE (voice-over): This man can laugh. He found a rare gas station with electricity to run the pumps. But even here, no credit card transactions. In vast blacked-out areas, there are no ATMs, no grocery stores, no pharmacies -- in some places, no power for water and sewer systems.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: Restoring power is the number one -- the number one challenge we continue to face as a state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any idea how many generators you've got coming here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got 16.
MESERVE: Trucks, crews and equipment have come in from 26 states and D.C. Generators are being brought in to restore power immediately to critical facilities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hospitals, water treatment facilities, nursing homes. MESERVE: But until the power is back in communities, evacuees are being urged to stay away. For some, that could mean weeks in shelters.
Only two parishes in the state have full power and in the storm area, 40 percent of transmission lines are out of service. Restoration rivals the scale and difficulty of Katrina, says the power company.
Whether one of the storms lurking in the Atlantic hits here or elsewhere, it could have an impact on Louisiana's recovery.
GEORGE FORESMAN, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: We're going to get to a point, particularly if we see one, two or even three more storms hit, where the amount of resources in terms of people, equipment, transformers, wires, poles, those type of things, are going to really stretch the ability to be able to do a quick rapid restoration.
MESERVE (on-camera): There are worrisome questions about how the lack of power could complicate efforts to get ready for another storm.
Would people be able to pump gas to evacuate? Would first responders be able to communicate?
Fingers are crossed the storms will go elsewhere.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Baton Rouge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Another grim turn in the search for a Florida toddler and more bad news for the mom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Let's get you live now to St. Paul, Minnesota and the Xcel Center there. That is the exterior. We want you to take a look on the inside now. Live pictures of John McCain checking out the podium there. He will, of course, give his presidential nomination acceptance speech tonight at the Republican National Convention that is going on.
I want to bring in my colleague here at CNN, the host of "THE SITUATION ROOM," Mr. Wolf Blitzer.
And, Wolf, viewers and people there, even people at the convention, will notice something very different about the stage tonight, won't they?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right. They certainly will. It's, first of all, low to the ground. And he's not just going to stay behind a podium. We're told he's going to walk around, which is what he feels more comfortable doing. He's not all that great strictly reading a speech from a teleprompter. He will do that, of course, and you can see the teleprompter on the side of the podium right over there. Joe Lieberman right behind him; his good friend, Lindsey Graham, up on the stage right now.
They're doing a little walk-through to make sure he feels comfortable with the staging and everything else. He'll read the speech. He'll talk about what's going on.
We're going to have extensive coverage leading up all the way to the big speech later tonight in prime time.
Rudy Giuliani is going to be joining us live here in "THE SITUATION ROOM." And Robert Gibbs, from the Obama campaign, he'll join us live.
Lots of news coming up, Don, right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
LEMON: Yes, Wolf, it should be very interesting. From what I'm hearing here and some of the pictures that I'm looking at, it said that they began dismantling crews last night at midnight and they're putting a catwalk out there to make it more town-hally, because, as you said, he's more comfortable in that sort of setting rather than just reading at a podium from a teleprompter.
So it should be very interesting to watch.
BLITZER: Right. And he can thank all those town halls -- dozens and dozens of them that he did way back last year and early this year in New Hampshire for getting that political revival that he had, because a lot of people a year or so ago thought his political career, as far as being president of the United States, was over with.
LEMON: Yes.
BLITZER: But those town halls really helped him. And he's going to showcase that strength later tonight.
LEMON: All right. Wolf Blitzer, we'll see you in just a little bit at the top of the hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
We appreciate it, Wolf.
Meantime, more grim news surrounding the missing Orlando toddler whose mother is being held in connection with her disappearance. A source tells CNN that FBI tests have found trace amounts of chloroform in the trunk of the car driven by Caylee Anthony's mom. The source also cites evidence suggesting the mother, Casey Anthony, used a laptop to research the potential deadly chemical.
Nancy Grace discussed the new leads with her onsite producer in Orlando.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATISHA LANCE, PRODUCER: This is the laptop that Casey had said to other people before that she used this for work purposes.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Work?
LANCE: So we don't know...
GRACE: Work?
What work?
LANCE: (INAUDIBLE).
GRACE: I know of three jobs she's lied about -- the job at Universal, the job at The Fusion Club and the job at Sports Authority. None of those -- none of that was true.
LANCE: That's correct.
GRACE: So what was she using the computer for, other than to go to Web sites about chloroform?
LANCE: She was also using the computer to go on Facebook and MySpace.
GRACE: OK. Wait, wait. Forget about that.
Was she searching about how to buy it, how to use it, how to create it?
What were the searches, Natisha?
LANCE: Those details haven't been released as of yet, Nancy. But we just know that there has been a history of chloroform searches on the computer.
GRACE: And we know that these searches were discovered on or around July 16th, when police seized the laptop, correct?
LANCE: That's correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Headline News, Nancy Grace. Prosecutors say a deadline has passed for the mother to accept a partial immunity deal to tell what she knows about Caylee. Police have said they fear the little girl is dead.
It's been a very interesting day on Wall Street. Take a look at those Dow numbers. Will they get better within the next couple of minutes?
We'll tell you. The closing bell is straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, the closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street. Our Susan Lisovicz is standing by with a final look at this trading day.
Susan, not good just three minutes ago, before we went to the break.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, September is supposed to be the worst month for stocks. And the first three trading days of the year have kind of lived up to that.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
LEMON: That's it for us.
Now, let's go to "THE SITUATION ROOM" and Wolf Blitzer, who is in St. Paul, Minnesota for the convention.
Wolf, take it away.
