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Campbell Brown

Preview of the Democratic National Convention in Denver

Aired August 24, 2008 - 20:00   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 Democratic National Convention.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the Democratic National Convention here in Denver. We're at the Pepsi Center. And it's been an exciting last hour, at least as a tornado has come sort of close to Denver, about 20 miles outside of Denver. We'll be watching that tornado, although we're told by Jacqui Jeras, our meteorologist, that there doesn't seem to be significant danger to the people here in Denver, at least right now. There is severe weather about 20 miles south of Denver that we'll be watching.

I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting, together with my colleague, Anderson Cooper. We have extensive coverage coming up on this, the eve of the Democratic National Convention. We have the best political team on television standing by to bring you all the latest developments. Gloria Borger is here. Donna Brazile is here. Our own John King is here. We're all watching everything that's going on.

We have our analysts who are standing by -- other analysts who are standing by at the CNN Election Center in New York. There you can see Jeff Toobin, Alex Castellanos, Bill Bennett and our own David Gergen. You see Soledad O'Brien as well. Guys, stand by. We'll be coming to you shortly.

Our reporters are all over the place here at the Pepsi Center, including Candy Crowley. She's up on the podium. She'll be very close to Barack Obama once he gets here and Joseph Biden, the Democratic vice presidential candidate. He'll be coming during the course of these next few days as well. Suzanne Malveaux is on the floor, our reporter. She'll be speaking to delegates and others. Jessica Yellin is here as well. She's on the floor.

And only within the last hour or so, Jessica, we did get breaking news on an important political development that has just occurred here on the eve of the Democratic Convention. Tell our viewers what we've learned.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, CNN has learned that Senator Hillary Clinton is going to release her delegates to vote for Barack Obama. A Democratic official I spoke with, not long ago, told me that Senator Clinton was planning to make this announcement on Wednesday, when she meets with her delegation. But now that the news is out, it could come as early as 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.

Big picture, what does this mean? It means a state like Michigan that voted for Senator Clinton, when the chairman of the state delegation comes to this microphone on Wednesday, they could announce that Michigan is actually going for Barack Obama. It's a show of unity by Senator Clinton, a symbolic effort to bring the party together. She's also going to tell them, I'm told, that she personally will vote for Barack Obama. Candy Crowley has also learned the same.

So Senator Clinton is trying to bring the party together. I should tell you that these delegates still have the right to vote for Senator Clinton if they choose to. They do not have to vote for Barack Obama. I've spoken already to a number of Clinton delegates who tell me they are insistent they will vote for Senator Clinton. Many of these people still angry, still impassioned. They want this to go down in history as this woman coming as far as she did. So they want to cast a ballot here at the Democratic Convention for this female candidate.

But many people want to stand behind Barack Obama, bring the party together, and Senator Clinton taking another step in that direction. And telling CNN about it tonight. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Jessica, stand by. We'll be coming back to you. The challenge for the Democrats is enormous. It's just been underscored in a brand new CNN Opinion Research corporation poll. Among Hillary Clinton supporters, take a look at this, 66 percent of them say they will support Barack Obama. But 27 percent -- yes, 27 percent on the eve of the Democratic Convention say they will actually vote for John McCain. And that's a significant increase from only a month or so ago, when 16 percent said they would vote for John McCain, 75 percent said they would vote for Barack Obama.

Anderson Cooper, if you look at that number alone, and we'll be releasing more numbers from our CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll over the next hour, it's a pretty depressing thought for these Democrats who are desperate for unity, but they don't have it yet.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Depressing indeed, especially when you consider this poll was taken after Joe Biden was announced as the vice presidential nominee. The question, of course, how much of this is anger at the fact that Joe Biden was picked. John King, what do you make of these numbers?

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: I don't it's anger at Joe Biden. I think it is a lingering tension among Clinton voters and supporters. I'm in the same hotel as the New York delegation. I took a walk over to the gym today. Trust me, my ears got the best workout. A lot of Clinton delegates approaching me saying, a lot of them wish she was picked as vice president. Most have known for a long time she probably wouldn't be. They don't think -- they have this perception that she has not been treated with respect, that Obama didn't call Hillary Clinton and say you're not going to be the VP, but who should I pick? What do you think? Am I treating your people OK?

A lot of the delegates themselves have said, look, we're party activists in our states. They know who we are. Why aren't we getting calls from the Obama people? Why aren't they reaching out to us, too, not just to Senator Clinton? There are lingering tensions. These people, remember, these are die-hard activists. They fought in a long campaign and some of them don't feel their candidate and they themselves are being treated with respect. That is a sub-drama at this convention, despite all of Senator Clinton's efforts to try to calm it down.

COOPER: Donna Brazile, 11 percent more though are saying that they are going to vote for John McCain. That's got to alarm the Obama people.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't think the Obama campaign is alarmed. I think Senator Clinton will make a tremendous case for Senator Obama on Tuesday night, and Bill Clinton will make a case for Senator Obama on Wednesday night. This is an opportunity to unite the party and to unite the country behind change in a new direction. I'm confident that Democrats, when we leave here on Friday, will be united to go out there and work hard to elect Barack Obama.

COOPER: There's got to be an issue. Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton is going to be speaking. Now we learn Wednesday night she's going to be meeting with her delegates and then releasing them. Basically for two days, analysts will be talking about the Clintons.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That doesn't make the Obama people very happy. Remember, it didn't make Al Gore happy at his convention when people were talking about the Clintons raising money there. I think there is a sense among the Obama people I talked to that enough already. We -- they say, we've done what we can. There is a sense among particularly Bill Clinton supporters, not so much even Hillary Clinton supporters, but die-hard Bill Clinton supporters that he should have been consulted, that she should have been brought into the fold, and that that's the big mistake that Barack Obama made.

And they ask very openly, what does this tell you about Barack Obama?

COOPER: Hillary Rosen is upstairs at our other location here. Hillary, how do the Obama people appeal to those Hillary Clinton supporters who are refusing or who are saying very publicly they're going to go for John McCain right now?

HILLARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the big thing this week, of course, is Senator Clinton is going to be a ringing endorser of Barack Obama. And then by the end of the week, all of these voters are going to know that Barack Obama agrees with them in favor of universal health care, in favor of alternative energy, in favor of tax cuts for the middle class, in favor of choice, of pay equity, of all the things that Senator Clinton has fought for all these years, and that John McCain has opposed every single time it's come up in the Senate.

I think we have to let this play out a little bit in terms of the issues. I think it is going to be the issues that bring these folks around. After all, these very same people that you poll about their undecided final vote, also are on the side of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the issues. That keeps coming out. So I'm not sure that the personalities are going to win this through. Obama has to sell them on the issues and I think he will.

COOPER: Just one of the many challenges he faces this week, Wolf.

BLITZER: I still don't understand myself why the Hillary Clinton team wants to have this formal roll call on Wednesday that will merely reinforce, remind people of some of the divisions. We'll have a chance to talk about that shortly and maybe Donna Brazile can explain that to us. It seems like that's still poking a finger in the eye. We'll talk about that in a second.

John, I want you to go over to the magic map that we've brought here to the Democratic Convention. We'll have the same magic map at the Republican Convention next week in St. Paul. This whole notion that 27 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters say they will now vote for John McCain, that's up from 16 percent back in June. That has to get -- that has to get Democrats here pretty concerned.

KING: You just heard Hillary Rosen, Donna Brazile is of the same opinion, that they firmly believe most of these voters, over time, will come back into the Democratic fold. Let's assume that a significant number of them do not. Let's assume a significant number stay out and let's take a look at how dramatic that could impact the election.

What I'm going to do here first is show you, this is the Democratic primary map. I'm going to show you the results by county. Remember, the light blue is Senator Clinton. These are counties across the United States. I'll pull this out a little bit here. Take this off and stretch this out. I wanted to show you this here, then we're going to go to another map. This is Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.

I'm going to focus just on these three states right now. All that light blue is support for Senator Clinton. Let's take this off and let's go to our electoral college map. This is where we start now coming into the Democratic convention. Barack Obama has a slight edge, 221 electoral votes in states leaning his way, 189 states leading to McCain; 270 is the goal to win. If these significant number of Clinton supporters stay in the McCain Column, what the Republicans believe is that Pennsylvania, a state we now have leaning Clinton, could go red. If that state goes red -- I need to do that. If that state goes red, look what happens overnight. That one state puts John McCain in the lead in the electoral college.

Here is I a continuation of that. What are the states that I showed you, under that scenario, the Republicans think they keep West Virginia and they think if Pennsylvania is voting Republican, then Ohio, a more conservative state, is going to go as well. If Ohio goes red, now you have John McCain up to 230. John McCain at that point is within striking distance of the presidency. Hillary Clinton also did very well among blue collar voters in the state of Michigan. If those same voters stay over, Michigan goes red, John McCain is at 247 up on the map right here, 247. All it would take at that point is for John McCain to come down here and hold the state of Florida and John McCain is the next president of the United States. Now that is an extreme scenario. I know that and many Democrats will say that will never happen. But if John McCain can keep 15 percent or more of the Clinton voters, the McCain campaign firmly believes they put Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan in serious play. They believe they would hold Ohio and put Michigan and Pennsylvania, two huge states in the Democratic electoral basket, into play.

Wolf, as we start the Democratic Convention, it does clearly convey the urgency of not only bringing peace in this hall, but convincing Clinton voters out there, if you are Barack Obama, that despite your differences, despite the lingering tensions, I need you to come home. It's a huge challenge to Barack Obama.

BLITZER: All right, John, thanks very much. We'll be going back to the magic map and watching what's going on as well. We're here --

COOPER: I didn't know that was Suzanne Malveaux. But she's performing on stage right now. If only we had a camera.

BLITZER: We're competing with a little bit of music. It's very good music her on the floor. If you think this is loud now, guys, just wait. It is going to get intense. That's why we have these here --

COOPER: Candy Crowley is singing backup.

BLITZER: Candy Crowley is back there. We've got Jessica Yellin and we've got Suzanne Malveaux, the trio. All right, guys, we have a lot more to do right here on the floor of the Democratic National Convention. It's lively already. Guess what, we have more poll numbers that are just about to be released. You're going to want to stick around. Lots more of our special coverage from Denver right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to the Pepsi Center at the Democratic National Convention. We're getting ready for the start of the convention tomorrow. But right now, there's still preliminary activities, a lot of activities going on here in Denver. Bill Schneider is just getting in brand new CNN poll numbers on a whole range of critically important questions, a poll taken by the CNN Opinion Research Corporation group. Bill, that was taken completely after Senator Barack Obama decided that Joe Biden would be his running mate. Obviously, obviously, some fascinating new numbers we're getting in.

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN ANCHOR: The headline, deadlock. That's where the presidential race stands as the conventions get under way; 47 percent for Barack Obama, 47 percent for John McCain. Can't get any closer than that. A month ago, Obama had a seven-point lead. But his support dropped four points over the last month. Why? Partly because of Clinton supporters. More than a third of Democrats say they'd prefer to see their party choose Hillary Clinton rather than Barack Obama as the nominee; 27 percent of those voters say they'll vote for John McCain. In June, just after Clinton and Obama held a joint rally in Unity, New Hampshire, only 16 percent said they would vote for McCain.

What happened? Obama did not put Hillary Clinton on the ticket. And some Clinton supporters feel his selection was disrespectful of Senator Clinton. McCain is actively trying to exploit those resentments. By our calculation, half of Obama's decline in the polls, two out of the four points that he's lost are attributable to angry Clinton supporters, Wolf.

BLITZER: What are the voters out there thinking about the selection of Joe Biden as Barack Obama's running mate?

SCHNEIDER: Actually, a majority of voters think it was a pretty good or even an excellent choice; 73 percent of Democrats say it was a good choice. And get this, even 59 percent of Clinton Democrats say it was a good choice. They don't have a problem with Biden himself. Their problem is Obama didn't choose Clinton; 38 percent of Democrats say, they wanted Obama to choose Clinton. And some of them clearly are taking it out on Obama. Wolf?

BLITZER: That's not necessarily good news, obviously, for the Obama camp. Bill, stand by. We'll get back to you. Anderson, 47 percent, 47 percent on the eve of the Democratic Convention, Obama/McCain. That's got to be disconcerting to some of these Democrats who are coming to Denver.

COOPER: Barack Obama supporters will say he was on vacation for a week. Certainly, John McCain made the most of the incident in Georgia. But those are not the kind of numbers obviously Democrats like to see on the eve of their convention. Candy Crowley is standing by on the podium. Candy, how concerned is the Obama campaign? Are you hearing about these numbers?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The Obama campaign says everybody ought to chill out. They point out what most pollsters do, which is we're at the end of August here. Some kids aren't even back in school. Families are taking last-minute vacations. Otherwise, they're somewhere shopping for school. Whatever it is they're doing, they are not paying attention to this race.

The other thing they're saying in the Obama campaign is these national polls don't mean a thing. We're looking at the state polls. It's about electoral votes. It's about winning in states. It's not about winning the popular vote, although obviously that usually comes with it. So their concern is the state polls. They say they have a strategic look at this map that John was just talking about. And they are -- they're certainly not saying one, but they are certainly feeling pretty good about where they are right now.

Having said that, they certainly hope to come out of this convention with a nice bounce. This is their debut, really. This is a four-day long advertisement for the Democratic party and for Barack Obama. So they are going to make the most of this. They are going to try to say, listen, this is Barack Obama who may have a name that sounds different, who may not look like you, but he is very much the story of America, just as Joe Biden is. They're trying to wrap it around these working class, middle-class voters, saying we are you and we can help you achieve the dream that we've achieved.

So they look at this as a very important time to reach out to those voters that they have yet to be able to touch. And they're not -- you know, they're not overly worried about the polls. This is certainly a time to begin moving them.

COOPER: David Gergen in New York, Candy Crowley saying the Obama folks are hoping for a bounce out of this convention. This is only the fourth time we've had back-to-back conventions, one right after the other. Last convention time around, neither Republicans nor Democrats got much of a bounce. Should the Obama people be relying on a bounce to raise their numbers this time around?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Not much of one, Anderson. The Republicans come immediately after, so they may get a temporary two or three days, but then the Republicans have their time at-bat. I think about three weeks from now, we'll be looking at numbers that are -- a dynamic that's very similar to what have today, unless one of these parties stages a spectacularly successful convention, or one of the candidates makes a terrible mistake. We're likely to be where we are.

But I do want to put some caution into over-reading this one poll from last night on a Saturday night. Yes, does it hold some signs that can be potentially ominous for Barack Obama? Absolutely. But we know a couple of things. As Bill Schneider said, this is partly a reaction from Democrats who are disappointed that Hillary Clinton did not get the nod. The likelihood is that those people are going to eventually come back into the fold. We also know from experience, over the last three or four weeks, this is what the Obama campaign would tell you, that polls taken Friday, Saturday night tend to -- the McCain numbers actually tend to be better those nights, because a lot of the younger voters are not at home. They're away.

And if you watch the Gallup Tracking Poll, strikingly, in the beginning to middle of the week, Obama does better in the tracking polls than he does at the end of the week. We've gone through a couple of these kind of cycles in recent weeks. I think these numbers are important. They're interesting. But I wouldn't put so much weight on them to say that suddenly he's in trouble. I don't think that's the case. There was just another -- the national polls averaging, coming into this convention, had Obama three or four points ahead.

COOPER: Donna Brazile, the issue that Wolf Blitzer raised right before the commercial break, I understand why Hillary supporters may be angry. I understand, you know, they've been holding on to it. Why are the numbers growing of Hillary supporters saying they're going to vote for John McCain?

BRAZILE: Because they want to hear from Senator Obama. They would like Senator Obama to reach out to them, to talk about the issues that Hillary had spoke about, health care, job creation. They care deeply about these issues. It's not just personalities. They care about the issues. They knew that Hillary would carry a strong platform into the White House. They want to hear about Senator Obama's platform.

COOPER: How much is Hillary Clinton stoking the fires? And if so, why?

KING: She's doing everything she can. Her team is working behind this podium where they're doing it in the boiler room. Her team is working very closely -- The Obama concede the point -- to manage this floor, to keep it from becoming disorganized. One of the interesting things I find is what you call an inside-outside game. A lot of Hillary Clinton supporters who go out and do television, including two of our contributors, James Carville and Paul Begala, they are out there repeating these lines: why haven't they reached out? There's no respect. There are still lingering tensions between the two camps.

If she wanted to stop that, she could. There's no indication she has. So there's sort of an inside game there's no doubt she is working. The pressure is on her as much as it is on Barack Obama this week. If she wants to have a future in the Democratic party, she doesn't want to be blamed for disruptive conventions.

COOPER: Let's talk to two Republicans, Bill Bennett in New York. Bill, we're hearing that the Obama folks, according to Candy Crowley, basically saying people should chill out about these numbers. Should the Obama people be chilled right now?

BILL BENNETT, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I wouldn't chill if you look at the trend in the polls the last couple of weeks. I don't think I'd chill. I think I'd get warmed up here and be ready to engage. Look, I don't understand why they didn't pick Hillary Clinton to be the running mate. I thought that was the obvious choice. I didn't say they should because I didn't want them to. I thought that would electrify the ticket, get all these people behind.

I don't understand, except Barack Obama doesn't want anything to do with the Clintons. If you think about it, it's not my camp, this is a gutsy move on his part. This is pretty dog gone, courageous. These people have been in charge of this party for 15 years and he says, you have no place on the ticket. They're not even treating them very well. This is a pretty strong, pretty strong position.

But, you though, I imagine what David said, and what Hillary said, these are counselors of rationality, they will all come back; they will all see that they agree on these positions. The problem is, this doesn't account for what Freud called the narcissism of small differences. People are not just rational agents thinking about policy. They're full of resentment and partialities and jealousies. These things matter big time. To suggest that there's not a lot of that in the Obama/Clinton tension, I think is to miss the point.

I think you're in for -- I think we're all in for a real interesting few days out there.

COOPER: No doubt about that. Our coverage continues. We'll take a short break and be right back live from Denver, Colorado. Be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: You're looking at live pictures of the Pepsi Center here at the Democratic National Convention. They're putting the finishing touches. The Democratic National Convention actually starts tomorrow, but we're taking a closer look at all the developments. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.

Let's go to the floor. Suzanne Malveaux is there. Earlier this morning, Suzanne, they did a favor to Joe Biden and his state of Delaware, which originally the delegation had been way up in the nose bleed area. They decided to give them some better real estate up front, which is appropriate. We'll show our viewers, as you're telling us what happened. It took about a half hour to make the move. We sped up the video. We're going to show our viewers what happened as you explain the background.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we're here. It was about 9:00 in the morning or so. It was a ton of buzz, what was going to happen. Obviously, where was Delaware going to be moved and who was actually going to be moved and switched over in its place because Delaware, as you said, was in the nose bleed section. There was a lot of hoopla and a lot of movement. Even the DNC folks wouldn't tell us exactly where or who was going to make that switch, if you will.

They ended up getting up on a ladder. They put up Delaware front and center, obviously very close to the stage in a nod to Joe Biden. I want to show you. This is Idaho here. That is actually where Delaware used to be. They somehow managed to get a pretty good floor spot before, but were moved. Idaho, pretty much the same in terms of electoral votes and 23 delegates. They explained to us they made that switch. It was a pretty even swap when it comes to the number of delegates and the rows here.

You can see Delaware pretty much front and center here. This is the stage. It's all really about the tradition of all of this. As you know, a lot of pomp and circumstance, tradition. This is obviously a big nod to Joe Biden that he gets it right here along with Florida. Wolf?

BLITZER: Interesting. All right, Suzanne, thanks very much. You know, Anderson, I was always wondering why Idaho was getting such prime real estate. It's a pretty red state, a pretty Republican state. The Democrats don't have a lot of chance. In the primaries, the presidential primaries, the Democrats in Idaho did vote for Barack Obama. So that was sort of a reward for them, but now they have to go back to the nose bleeds. It was a limited reward.

COOPER: Very limited reward. Want to talk with our panelists about the challenge for Barack Obama coming into this week. As you see it, John King, what is the number one challenge? What does he have to get out of this convention besides unity?

KING: There's two challenges. Manage the unity issue inside the hall. The much bigger challenge is what he projects to the global audience, the people watching. The fundamentals of this election are all in the Democrats' favor. There are just a number of voters in there in key states and in key constituencies who say is this guy ready? Do I share his values? Does he share mine? Is he ready to be commander in chief? He's 47 years old. He's been on the national stage only four years.

And he's an African-American. So he's asking the country to take a big leap. Change -- the country wants change, no question about it. They just don't know if he's ready. Can he be effective an effective president and commander in chief? If he can answer those questions starting here, but I think the debates are even more important than the convention. It starts here. If he can answer that questions, the fundamentals are all Democratic.

COOPER: I want to bring in Michael Eric Dyson, Georgetown sociology professor who joins us also from the convention hall tonight. Michael, as you see it, what is the challenge for Barack Obama?

I can't hear him. We're having problem with the audio. I'll come back to Michael. Gloria?

BORGER: You know, I think he's got the change thing down pat, Anderson. Everyone knows he's about change. I think his challenge is to really put some meat on the bones for the American people, to let them know what he's going to do for them in their pocket books, what he's going to do for the middle class, what kind of tax cuts he's going to try and give them, how he's going to lower gas prices. He has to sort of take it to their kitchen table that Joe Biden was talking about.

COOPER: There is a danger, Donna Brazile, in becoming too specific. If you wanted the policy specifics, you can go to his website. They are out there. Is that what he needs to do, get more specific?

BRAZILE: I don't think Senator Obama needs a 32-point plan on how he's going to fix the economy. He needs to connect the dots between his life story, his vision for the country to the ordinary struggles of the American people. If he can do that, he will erase the doubts about his years of experience and whether or not he's prepared to be commander in chief.

It's about connecting with people who really are struggling out there. Bill Clinton did it in '92. He used his life story to tell the American people, look, I know where you are. I've been there. I want to help you. I'm going to put people first. These are big themes. If he comes away on Thursday night with a big thematic speech, he'll win them over.

BORGER: Presidential votes are so personal. And Obama has a problem on the values front. Lots of polls, four out of ten Americans are not sure that he shares their values, or even understands their values. He has to connect with them at that level and say, even though I look different from other presidential candidates, I have your values as Americans. COOPER: Alex Castellanos in New York, Republican strategist. The Republicans have done a very effective job of defining Barack Obama, or at least raising questions about who Barack Obama is and the value issues which Gloria Borger mentioned. Does Barack Obama need to redefine himself or has the time for biography passed?

ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think that's long gone now. I think in addition to what John and Gloria were talking about, the big task for Obama in this election is not to make the September about him. It's to make this election about John McCain and George Bush. I think Obama is not going to get those Hillary Clinton voters back talking about his detailed plans for tax cuts or anything like that, or even talking about his values. I think the voters have looked at it. It's been a long campaign. Barack Obama just may not be ready to be president. Hillary voters feel wounded.

There's one strategy that does unite Democrats, and that's to go hard against Bush and McCain. What we're going to see is this year, it's going to be the Democrats trying to swift boat the Republicans. That's going to determine their success.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, one thing you'll see at this convention that is different from four years ago -- four years ago, John Kerry's forces, in their wisdom, said we're going to have a totally positive convention. This is going to be a very negative convention about the Republican party.

COOPER: Want to talk also about the role of Michelle Obama coming up. She is scheduled to speak here Monday. She arrived in Denver today. We'll talk about that and a lot more when our coverage continues. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: They're rehearsing here, the band on the floor of the Democratic National Convention. We're watching what's going on. We're also watching a very important element, a sensitive element of this convention, as tens of thousands of people pour into Denver, the whole issue of security. Our Joe Johns has been looking at this part of the story. What are you picking up, Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Wolf, wanted to give you once again a sense of where we are. We're on top of the CNN Grill, looking out on the Denver skyline. As we sort of pan left, we see a big city street out here that's been blocked off. Denver residents can't be too happy about that right now.

We keep panning to the left, you see tents. There are a number of tents in this complex. That is one of the media pavilions, "Washington Post," among others, inside. Pan more to the left, there it is -- that's the meeting. That's the Pepsi Center. That's where 50,000 Democrats hope to nominate Barack Obama as what they hope will be the next president of the United States.

Moving along this cat walk, I want to talk to you about what happened out here today. There was a demonstration that came right down the street and it sort of found itself next to the CNN Grill where we are and right outside of one of the major places where people actually come and go to get into the complex. It was a bit of a problem. We have video of it there. The problem was that nobody was arrested, nobody was taken away, nobody got hurt. But they had to shut down this checkpoint down here. People in the street had to stand around and watch. Anybody trying to get in or go out just couldn't do it.

So, security glitch. The day before there was another problem, a similar problem, a long line, took people an hour and a half to get in at some points. These are the things the security people are trying to work out. They say they're going to do the very best they can. They also say they're just going to take each situation as it comes. The big question is, how big will the protest be? Nobody really knows right now. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: All right, Joe, thanks very much. We'll stay on top of this story together with you and for our viewers. We'll take another quick break. When we come back, we're going to look ahead. What exactly is going to happen in Denver over the next four days? We'll walk through it, step by step and get analysis right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome to the floor of the Democratic National Convention. The Pepsi Center right here in Denver, Colorado. I want to walk you through, briefly, what's going to happen over the next four days as the Democrats have laid out their agenda. Monday's agenda includes the theme "One Nation." Former President Jimmy Carter and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi among the speakers. There will be a video tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy, who is ailing from brain cancer. That will be an emotional moment.

The main prim time speaker will be the wife of the Democratic nominee, Michelle Obama. She'll speak of her husband.

On Tuesday, the theme that the Democrats have come forward is "Renewing America's Promise." Women of the Senate will be speaking on that night. It's the 88th anniversary of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. The former governor of Virginia Mark Warner will give the keynote address. He's running for the Senate from the state of Virginia. A lot of attention will be focused on one of the prime time speakers. That will be Senator Hillary Clinton.

On Wednesday, the theme is "Securing America's Future." Barack Obama's name will be placed in nomination. There will be a roll call. Joe Biden will be nominated by acclamation as the vice presidential candidate. Among the featured speakers, the former President Bill Clinton will be watching and listening. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson -- one of the prime time speakers, the main prime time speaker, I should say, that night will be Joe Biden, who will accept the vice presidential nomination.

On Thursday, the final day of this Democratic convention, the theme will be -- guess what, and he's been making this point for a year and a half -- "change you can believe in." Among the speakers, former Vice President Al Gore, the host of this convention, the Colorado governor Bill Ritter. August 28th, by the way, is the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech." No doubt that will be mentioned at length. The big event will not be here at the Pepsi Center. We're all moving over to Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium, where Barack Obama will accept the Democratic presidential nomination before 75,000 or 80,000 people, Anderson, who will be gathered inside.

COOPER: Only the second time a candidate has done that. John F. Kennedy did that in Los Angeles. Since then, no candidate has given an acceptance speech outside of this hall. We're joined now by Georgetown sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson. He's joining us in the Pepsi Center. Professor Dyson, as you look at Barack Obama on Thursday night, in that speech, on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's famous "i Have A Dream" speech, what do you think the greatest challenge for Barack Obama is?

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: I think, obviously, he'll be conscious of the weight of history. He will embrace Dr. King's grand legacy as one of the articulators of the promise of American democracy. He will measure the distance between what Dr. King idealized 45 years ago and what has come to fruition now. He will look at some of the barriers that remain. But I think he will more broadly embrace the promise and his own candidacy is the example, shining example, many would argue, of the fulfillment of Dr. King's dream, that one day we would not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character. He will see his own candidacy as an extension of not only the thematic emphasizes of Dr. King, freedom, justice and equality, but the expansion of opportunity for all Americans, and then walking boldly into the 21st century with Dr. King's wind beneath his wings.

COOPER: CNN contributor Paul Begala has also joined us. A little fight broke out in commercial break between Paul and John King. We think the scuffle has ended. Paul, you took issue with something John King said about you being on television. I don't think he used the term, fomenting discontent, but explain your role.

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I just call them as I see them. I do think the Obama campaign mishandled the politics of Hillary Clinton and the vice presidency. I never have wanted to see her on the ticket. I'm a Hillary supporters. I voted for her in the primaries. But I didn't think it was the right fit. I didn't think ti was the right job for her. That wasn't the problem.

The problem was handling the politics of it. They should have called her, I think. They should have at least kept their word, saying that she would be on the short list. They probably should have called Bill Clinton and asked his advice as well. Having done that or not done that, he couldn't have picked a better choice for these Democrats in this hall or for me personally as a Democrat. Joe Biden was extraordinary yesterday when he got up and spoke. Perfect.

Here's the thing, he went right after John McCain and George Bush. He linked them together and he attacked them. We're talking about this during the break. King and I were having an argument, a fight. The way you would reunite us is not to order us to kiss and make up, when we plainly hate each other. What you do instead --

KING: That's a joke.

BEGALA: You identify an external threat, right? If all of a sudden, Fox News showed up, King and I would be linked together. John McCain and George Bush are the external threats to Democrats. If you want to unite the party, link Bush to McCain and attack Bush and McCain.

COOPER: We were talking with Professor Dyson about Barack Obama's speech on Thursday. Is that something you see Barack Obama does directly or is that something Joe Biden and everyone else does?

BEGALA: I think Joe will do it. I think Barack needs to do some. I think Dr. Dyson -- by the way, a remarkable commentary on how he linked together the two of them. I do think Obama will want to be a little more elevated. You don't want the candidate to be the principle attack dog. But I've gone back and looked at what John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton said, all three running as candidates of change in interesting times like this, and they went right after the status quo. I think Barack will do that as well.

BORGER: I think one of the reasons we see his poll numbers go down is that he's let the McCain campaign make this about Barack Obama. He has to turn this around now and make this about George W. Bush being yoked in every which way to John McCain.

COOPER: The poll numbers that Gloria referred, 47/47, essentially a dead heat in the latest CNN poll, taken the day after or moments after Joe Biden was selected, taken on Saturday and Sunday. It is essentially a dead heat as these Democrats head into their convention starting tomorrow. Our coverage continues in a moment.

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SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody, to CNN's continuing coverage, the night before the Democratic national convention kicks off. John King, when he is not engaging in fisticuffs apparently with Paul Begala, is actually working the magic map. I want to ask you a question about a new map of new swing states. The classics are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, John. But talk to me about Virginia. Talk to me about Colorado.

KING: That's a fascinating question, Soledad. One of the reasons we are here, the Democrats picked Denver, Colorado for their convention is because of the changing electoral map. I want to show you this map here. This is how it all played out in the 2004 election, excuse me, between George Bush and John Kerry. You see Colorado here. That's a red state. It's been a red state. Bill Clinton did win Colorado in 1992, with an assist from Ross Perot. Virginia, you just mentioned, that's been a red state for quite some time.

Now I want to bring up another map. This is our electoral map and how we see things right now entering the Democratic convention. You see the state of Virginia. We have it gold because we call it a tossup. It has a governor. It's had two Democratic governors in a row. The state of Virginia has been reliably red. It's in play this year. That's what makes the electoral map so interesting.

Let's come out here. It's even more interesting out where we are. This is the state of Colorado. Let's turn this off for a second. If you look at the map, it has nine electoral votes. It is a swing state right now. The Democrats believe they can grow in the mountain west. Look at this, nine electoral votes in Colorado. If you come down here in New Mexico, five electoral votes. I'm going to move that out of the circle for you. This state was razor thin margin last time out, New Mexico, and over here in Nevada, a state that is growing, rising Latino population, five electoral votes here.

The Democrats see the prospect out here to make up for the fact they're not doing well at all in the south, especially since you have a ticket that has two gentlemen from north of the Mason Dixon Line, a senator from Illinois, a senator from Delaware. Bill Clinton was president of the United States because he was able to challenge and break through the Republican southern strategy and pick up some southern states. That is how -- Jimmy Carter was from the south. With this ticket, the Democrats are looking to remake the map. Virginia is one of those because of the growth in the Washington suburbs and in the African-American population.

But the mountain west, where we are for this convention, we're here for a reason. The Democrats believe they can make some gains out here. It is one of the big questions as we go forward and we follow this dicey and fluid electoral map at the moment.

COOPER: Monday night, Michelle Obama is scheduled to speak. She's supposed to basically give a biography, introduce her husband. The role of Michelle Obama has changed in the last several weeks in this campaign. Some of the interviews she's been doing are to softer publication. What has she -- has she had a makeover? The Obama people say categorically no. But it does seem to be a different side of Michelle Obama that we've been presented.

BORGER: I definitely think it is. I think, in a way, she's a character witness for her husband and her husband's values and their family. Again, it goes back to the theme of telling you that their family unit is like our family unit and that they share our values. I think they believe that's the best way that she can talk to voters, particularly women voters, where they believe she can be really effective.

BEGALA: This is why I think women have a harder time in the media and in politics. We allow men to be multi-dimensional, right? We think it's interesting that Barack Obama is playing basketball with soldiers one day. He's a Harvard law review president, you know, and teaching constitutional law. He's a community organizer. We see him in lots of different roles. And, by the way, a very loving dad.

Michelle Obama, I think, runs the risk of many women these days, they try to pigeon hole her. I don't know her very well personally at all. It seems to me completely authentic that she's both a very accomplished attorney and a woman who happens to be madly in love with Barack Obama and raising two great kids with him. I think it's OK to be multi-dimensional. It doesn't mean she's had a makeover. It means she's just authentic.

COOPER: Jeff Toobin in New York. She's certainly been hit pretty hard by critics early on in the campaign, really up until the last month or two, when she's been recast somewhat.

TOOBIN: Yes, she's been a target. She's part of the whole attempt to define Obama and his wife as weird, as other, as -- it's all part of how a lot of people think he's a Muslim. He's not a Muslim. He's a Christian. But all of this -- what tomorrow night is going to be an attempt to refute the ideas about the Obama family that are completely wrong, but she is going to be, I think, the best character witness for him.

COOPER: I want to talk about this roll call that is going to take place on Wednesday night. How is that going to play out? How should it play out?

BORGER: Well, I think the goal here is party unity. So Hillary Clinton releases her delegates. I spoke to someone who said if she wanted to be magnanimous about it, she could stand up and call for a vote by acclamation for Barack Obama. Now, Paul, you may know something about that. I don't know whether she would do that or not. Some people say it's not likely.

BEGALA: She may do that. I think -- I definitely know Hillary and Barack want to see this party united and leave united. I think the Obama people have done a good job of reaching out to Hillary, giving her a prime time spot, letting her place her name in nomination or have the roll call, or whatever she's going to do. There are roll calls and there are roll calls. They could have an electronic roll call, for goodness sake. I know that's all still being negotiated. At least it was in the last couple of days.

COOPER: It will be interesting. We'll see what happens.

BLITZER: I love the music even as we're speaking. We hear it well. Anderson and guys, thanks very much. I want to remind our viewers what's in store for us beginning tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern. "AMERICAN MORNING" will have special coverage from right here on the floor of the Democratic National Convention. John Roberts will be here. Kiran Chetry will be with him. We'll continue our coverage throughout the day. Soledad O'Brien will be anchoring our coverage throughout all of the day tomorrow.

I'll be back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll kick off our coverage in "THE SITUATION ROOM." And then with the best political team on television, we'll go through the night. We're going to show you everything that's going on here in Denver. And we'll repeat that schedule Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, culminating Thursday night at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium, when Barack Obama will formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination.

Thanks very much for joining us. For Anderson Cooper and the best political team on television and all of us at CNN, thanks very much for watching. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.