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Tropical Storm Gaston Makes Landfall; U.S. Troops Battle Insurgents in Mosul

Aired August 29, 2004 - 09:30   ET

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

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


DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what's happening right now. Stay inside. That is what South Carolina officials are telling Charleston residents and everybody else along that coast this morning as tropical storm Gaston crosses shore; the storm just under hurricane strength. High winds, heavy rain are already lashing out in some areas of Charleston.
Northern Iraq, U.S. troops tangle with insurgents in Mosul. 34 people wounded, two seriously. In a raid yesterday near Mosul, U.S. troops arrested 11 suspects, including one they called a well-known insurgent leader. They did not name that suspect.

As the violence continues in Iraq, so do kidnappings. French officials this morning working out a response to the abduction of these two French journalists. Iraqi insurgents threatening to kill the two unless France gets rid of a law banning Islamic headscarves in public schools in France.

Whether uniting or dividing, how much do we really know about the candidates' positions on major issues? Every Sunday between now and November we're going to offer a series of report cards. Our first examines where George Bush and John Kerry stand on homeland security.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: In the 2000 presidential election, homeland security wasn't in our vocabulary. In 2004 it's become a hot button issue. The Office of Homeland Security, led by Secretary Tom Ridge, was created in October of 2001. It became a cabinet department in 2002. Its mission is to prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect and respond to threats aimed at the United States.

Let's break down some key parts of the homeland security issue and where the candidates stand.

The Patriot Act. Passed in October of 2001, it allows the U.S. to better track terrorists, disrupt their cells and seize their assets. By expanding the government's access to private information without proper checks on that access, critics say the act infringes on Americans civil liberties. President Bush created the act in response to the September 11th attacks and supports it as is. Senator Kerry voted for the Patriot Act, but now wants to rework it, claiming civil liberties need to be better preserved.

On enemy combatants. As opposed to traditional rights for U.S. prisoners, by labeling someone an enemy combatant the rules of detainment are relaxed. Unlawful enemy combatants, such as Al Qaeda members, have the least rights. Critics say it strips prisoners, some Americans, of many legal rights. President Bush supports labeling some U.S. citizens as enemy combatants, while Senator Kerry is against it.

Intelligence agencies, CIA, FBI and NSA, are among the agencies that collect and monitor intelligence information. A key criticism after September 11th was the agencies failed to share information with each other. President Bush created the Homeland Security Department as a central filter for threat information. Senator Kerry has called for reform in domestic intelligence, and wants to create a targeted alert system. He has also called for a director of national intelligence.

Here's a side-by-side look at how the candidates stand on homeland security. And for more on the election and the issues, logon to CNN.com/Americavotes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Next week on SUNDAY MORNING we're going to look at the candidates' stands on gay rights.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now is the time for you to talk to CNN about the GOP convention and related issues.

GRIFFIN: Two members of our illustrious "Capitol Gang" crowd are ready, willing and able. Here are Al Hunt and Mark Shields. Good morning to you both.

MARK SHIELDS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Drew.

AL HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

GRIFFIN: We have a lot of questions this morning, but I'm going to begin with one of my own. John Kerry's going to lay low, apparently, during this convention, but suddenly we see the Clintons front and center. Al, is that a strategy there, or was this all planned in advance?

HUNT: Drew, when you and I are taking care of our great grandchildren the Clintons will be front and center. They always will be there. It's a little bit of a strategy. The candidate of the opposing party traditionally doesn't do a lot during the other party's convention week. But the Clintons will be front and center, John Edwards will be campaigning, so the Democrats are not going to be quiescent for a week.

NGUYEN: Mark, we do want to get to our viewer questions this morning. And Kelly from Bolton Landing in New York writes, "Here's my question about where Bush and Kerry each stand on an issue that does not seem to be a high profile issue." Here's the question, "What is the position on illegal immigration?" Can you tell us what both think about that? SHIELDS: I would say this, that both are against illegal immigration if you asked them that question. As far as immigration and making it -- those who have come here illegally and have gotten work and making it easier for them to stay, President Bush certainly has an aggressive plan. One that quite frankly many conservatives in the Republican Party and on the platform committee resisted and objected to and were outvoted and overruled. John Kerry, I think, has the traditional Democratic position, which is liberalization of immigration, but nobody will endorse illegal immigration. I can assure you.

GRIFFIN: Question number two, "I wonder who where the real ram rods of the Republican Party are such as Tom DeLay, Grover Norquist. They all seem to be absent from the speaker's platform in the lineup for the coming week of the convention." This is coming from Salem, Illinois.

HUNT: Marlin from Salem is on to something, Drew. Carl Rove and George Bush have built the base. The conservative base is absolutely solid. So they don't need Tom DeLay and Grover Norquist and Jerry Falwell and Rick Santorum out front and center this week. This is about getting that 15 to 20 percent of the electorate that we call persuadables. Who appeals to persuadables? John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Those are the people that will be front and center. It's very calculated and it's very understandable.

SHIELDS: I'd just add one thing to that, and that is there's no question Al's right, they're putting a moderate face on this convention. And the test will be whether they put a moderate voice on it. Not the speeches that those individuals give, but in the president's own. Whether, in fact, the president assumes that the Kerry bashing is a thing of the past or not to be done this week, at least. And, in fact, he is now going to appeal particularly to women with children, many of who are republicans who supported him last time who are disenchanted with the Bush administration. He's going to reach out to them. His message has to be moderate to do so.

HUNT: Yes, in five seconds, I have no doubt that will be the approach that Bush takes. Zell Miller and probably Dick Cheney will be the Kerry bashers.

NGUYEN: All right, in talking about Kerry bashers, I have this question for you, Al. If we're not going to talk about swift boat and all those ads, is the shift going to focus now on the Kerry senate record? Is that where the Kerry bashing is going to slip in in this convention?

HUNT: Yes. That's going to be the above the radar screen attack. The swift boat stuff was below the radar screen. This is the above the radar screen. You saw that in -- as long ago as three, four weeks ago, right at the Democratic Convention. They're going to talk about his record, his non-record, his absences, his votes on intelligence and military matters. First they will say he's a left- winger and secondly they will say he's an inconsequential senator.

SHIELDS: One Republican presidential campaign manager, not in the Bush campaign, marveled to me - not in George W. Bush's campaign - marveled to me the nerve of going after John Kerry on Vietnam, and compared it if in 1996 Bill Clinton had decided to run against Bob Dole on the allegation of rumors that Bob Dole 25 years earlier had spent a wild weekend dalliance with a stewardess somewhere. Thus trying to neutralize and take advantage of what has been a weakness in Bill Clinton's own case. All we know about these two guys is that one of them went to Vietnam, was wounded in action, the other went to Alabama and was missing in action.

GRIFFIN: Mark Shields, a concerned citizen from Connecticut writes, he is concerned about your safety. We saw the pen in Boston. We don't see it in New York. "Is there any truth about how dangerous and how close the protesters are to the Republican Convention? Are the attendees to the convention really being protected?"

SHIELDS: I don't think there's any question. The Democrats in Boston, certainly they were no friends of civil liberties when it came to protesters. They put them in a pen several blocks away out in the boiling sun.

New York is more used to dealing with protests, quite frankly. More have come here, and it's understandable. It's the administration that's in power, if you are objecting to policies. But it's a two- edged sword. Democrats a little bit nervous that it doesn't get out of control. They would like to see resistance and opposition, but they don't want to see open rebellion. Wouldn't you agree, Al?

HUNT: I think that's right. My impression is, at least, we don't really have the story yet, but my impression is that the city has handled it well so far. And as for any fear that we might have from delegates, we have Bob Novak to protect us.

NGUYEN: You guys are just funny this morning. All right. We only have time for one more of your questions.

Bill from North Carolina writes, "Do you know the ratio of Republicans voting for Kerry compared to Democrats voting Bush? How much of a surprise upset can this make?"

HUNT: Bill has asked a very good question.

SHIELDS: Great question.

HUNT: The answer is, about 85 to 90 percent of the GOP is solidly in the Bush corner. Won't change. And almost as many Democrats are solidly in the Kerry camp. So, that 15 percent to 20 percent of persuadables that I talked about earlier, a handful of soft republicans, and a little bit more, but not much more soft democrats, and the truly independent voters.

SHIELDS: When Al speaks of soft democrats and republicans, he's not talking about physical conditioning or mental capacity; he's talking about their firm conviction or loyalty to their party. But he's absolutely right. I would say right now, just based on anecdotal evidence, that there are probably more republicans who voted for George Bush in 2000 who are wavering this time in 2004 than there are Al Gore voters who are wavering towards John Kerry.

GRIFFIN: All right. Mark Shields, Al Hunt, thanks for joining us. We'll see you, I guess, all week. When is the next time you are on today?

HUNT: Thank you so much.

SHIELDS: I think 10:00 tonight, Drew. So I want you to stay up.

GRIFFIN: You know, I never miss you guys.

NGUYEN: And if we do, we're going to TIVO it. OK. Thank you.

SHIELDS: You're the best, Betty.

NGUYEN: Take care. CNN's coverage of the Republican National Convention kicks off tonight with an investigative look at the president, "THE MISSION OF GEORGE W. BUSH" Sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern time, and that is followed by a special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE." Then, at 10:00 p.m. eastern, join Wolf Blitzer and Judy Woodruff for "AMERICA VOTES 2004 SPECIAL." It's a preview of the Republican National Convention.

She had one of the most popular voices of the 1980s. That sound, now silent. That story right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Drew Griffin. Here's a check of our top stories on this Sunday morning.

Tropical storm Gaston is hitting land in Charleston, South Carolina right now. Second tropical storm in two weeks to hit this area. Charley blew through a couple weeks ago. The winds, rains soaking the Charleston coast. People have been putting out sandbags as they brace for Gaston. Tree limbs are down in some areas. Charleston's airport is closed. The mayor told us this morning he's telling everybody just to stay inside.

On the campaign trail, President Bush stumping in steel country today. He's holding a rally in Wheeling, West Virginia where he plans to remind workers about the tariffs he put on foreign steel. He was in Ohio yesterday.

Where can you get -- go for the best political updates online? That's coming up in our "Best of the Web" segment. That is still to come.

Betty?

NGUYEN: Here's a look at the news across America today. The cleanup continues in Kansas after this. Check it out. And another tornado tore through parts of the state. Officials say one of the twisters damaged a house just outside of Wichita. There are no reported injuries. The singer known for the 1980s mega-hit "Gloria" has died. Laura Branigan was 47. Her brother said she died of a brain aneurysm at her Long Island home. Now, Branigan had several albums and four Grammy nominations. There's the song. But she never topped the song from her debut album, of course, that's what we hear right now. "Gloria" stayed atop the pop charts for some 36 weeks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Gaston is just under hurricane strength right now after coming ashore on the South Carolina coast. Now, unlike hurricane Charley two weeks ago, the tropical storm is moving much more slowly and that means the South Carolina low country could get more flooding, with up to ten inches of rain in some places.

GRIFFIN: You know, you don't have to be James Bond to keep an eye on your neighbor this political season. Look at this Web site. If you want to know how much money your neighbor or anybody else is giving to the presidential candidates, all you have to do is logon to the Internet. This is called fundrace.com. Just one of the many Web sites we feature in the debut of a new segment called the "Best of the Web." Dozens of information-packed web sites cover the political spectrum, and web savvy voters visit them frequently.

Adam Rogers, a senior associate editor at "Wired" magazine, is in San Francisco this morning.

I've got to tell you, I was fascinated reading through the stuff on this Web site, fundrace.com.

ADAM ROGERS, SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "WIRED": I love that Web site.

GRIFFIN: After years and years of having to go through those federal election filings, this is a snap.

ROGERS: It's amazing. The great thing about it, of course, you can put in your own zip code. So you can see who your neighbors are, for one thing, I don't know mine that well, and also who they're giving to. It's just really an amazing kind of data fire hose if you're that kind of geek.

GRIFFIN: Yes. You can search by states, counties, names. If you have a personal name and you think somebody is giving money you want to know about, it's right there.

ROGERS: Or celebrities. My favorite thing, actually, are the city maps, because you can look at about a dozen cities across the country and see where the donations are coming from there. They really confirm just about every stereotype you have about any city. You know, like Berkeley turns out to be quite liberal. And the republicans really do live on the upper east side of Manhattan. It's really great to see the red and blue dots on cities that you know.

GRIFFIN: Let's talk about some of these other sites, because they deal with information, fact versus fiction, a lot of them trying to help people sort out. Are they accurate?

ROGERS: Well, I find them to generally be quite accurate. The thing that I like about the web generally, and about these sites specifically, is that you can link to source material. So if you are not sure if the sites are giving you something that verifies what the candidates are saying, or what media is saying about the candidates, you can actually click on a hyperlink and look at the report from the Congressional Budget Office or from what the IRS is saying. It's a resource that fact checks itself, in some respects.

GRIFFIN: We have factcheck.org up on the screen right now. That's run by the Annenberg Foundation. They go through commercials, speeches, charges and tell you basically fact from fiction and where the story comes from.

ROGERS: Yes. The advantage that the world wide web has, of course, is one of resources. They don't have the limitations of time and of real estate that traditional media does. So, they can really go into details, drill down, I guess, is the current cliche for that, and tell you here's what the candidate is saying, and here we can now parse every single aspect of that claim.

GRIFFIN: Politics1.com. What's unique about this site?

ROGERS: Well, a couple of things. First of all, it has a blog on the front, a web log, that kind of talks about what's going on in politics that day. And that's a lot of fun. I was actually just looking at it just before I came on to see what the state polls were saying in battleground states, which is terrific political wonky material if you like that kind of thing. And then it also has these tremendous links about political resources, just finding information about every president who ever served, for example.

GRIFFIN: Yes, I thought that had a little too much information for my taste. Hard to read through. It certainly is there if you want to get to it.

Adam thanks for joining us and debuting our "Best of the Web" segment. Thanks a lot. And you can check out all these links, we have them on CNN.com, as well. Adam, see you later.

ROGERS: Bye.

NGUYEN: As we have been talking about all morning long, Gaston hit the beach in South Carolina. Rob Marciano is tracking the storm from our Atlanta weather center. He's straight ahead right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Want to give you a live look over Seattle right now. And just south of there, in Washington state, guitar players from all over the country are coming to Tacoma to play "Louie, Louie." The 1,000 guitar event is trying to break the Guinness world record of the largest guitar ensemble.

Just ahead Rob Marciano is here with your complete forecast. Maybe he'll play a little guitar as well. Drew?

GRIFFIN: In Williamsport, Pennsylvania, California, the kids from the Conejo Valley, they advance to the Little League World Series Championship. They beat Texas 4-0. So the Thousand Oaks team takes on Curacao in the title game later today. Congratulations to those kids.

NGUYEN: Definitely. So, Rob, can you play guitar?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Air guitar, yes, I'm pretty good.

NGUYEN: We can all play air guitar. But not well.

MARCIANO: No. I like watching and listening to other people play guitar. I love the Little League World Series. Those kids are so good. It's like watching these little men, professional baseball players running around.

Hey, what's the name of our storm?

NGUYEN: Gaston.

MARCIANO: Gaston. Thank you. I can't keep them straight. We've had so many so far. We have another one after Gaston goes through. There it is, moving on shore. Look at the last couple frames of this. You can kind of pick out a little eye there.

It's moving on shore. If it has any strength at all it will quickly diminish in intensity as it moves across the northern parts of South Carolina. It is officially 30 miles east of Charleston, winds at 70 miles an hour. If they increase to 75 then we have a hurricane. So it's a strong tropical storm at this point, but is moving on shore and moving to the north at seven miles an hour.

As Betty and Drew have been saying all morning long, it's moving slowly, it has moisture and we've already seen a ton of moisture from the last hurricane that moved through here.

Look at the radar; just north of Charleston to Myrtle Beach, even inland in Columbia, South Carolina, up to Fayetteville, North Carolina, we're looking at heavy rains to Williamsburg, as well. Now we have flash flood warnings out for Berkeley, Charleston, Williamsburg, Georgetown, and even Brunswick County, North Carolina. Already over four inches of rain has fallen. In some cases a rate of two inches per hour. So flooding in the low lands there for sure.

Here's the forecast, cold front coming through. Showers and storms across the Ohio River valley. Hazy, hot and humid from D.C. to New York and Boston. Definitely feeling like summer there. Chicago, a cool 70 degrees.

NGUYEN: So Gaston didn't make it to hurricane status but there's another one brewing.

MARCIANO: Hurricane Francis, we'll be watching that all week. It's a major category 4 hurricane at this point.

NGUYEN: Pretty big already.

MARCIANO: Yes, but it's way out there right now.

NGUYEN: Thank you, Rob. Watching everything for us.

GRIFFIN: That's all for us. "INSIDE POLITICS" is next. But first, here's what's happening now in the news.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired August 29, 2004 - 09:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what's happening right now. Stay inside. That is what South Carolina officials are telling Charleston residents and everybody else along that coast this morning as tropical storm Gaston crosses shore; the storm just under hurricane strength. High winds, heavy rain are already lashing out in some areas of Charleston.
Northern Iraq, U.S. troops tangle with insurgents in Mosul. 34 people wounded, two seriously. In a raid yesterday near Mosul, U.S. troops arrested 11 suspects, including one they called a well-known insurgent leader. They did not name that suspect.

As the violence continues in Iraq, so do kidnappings. French officials this morning working out a response to the abduction of these two French journalists. Iraqi insurgents threatening to kill the two unless France gets rid of a law banning Islamic headscarves in public schools in France.

Whether uniting or dividing, how much do we really know about the candidates' positions on major issues? Every Sunday between now and November we're going to offer a series of report cards. Our first examines where George Bush and John Kerry stand on homeland security.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: In the 2000 presidential election, homeland security wasn't in our vocabulary. In 2004 it's become a hot button issue. The Office of Homeland Security, led by Secretary Tom Ridge, was created in October of 2001. It became a cabinet department in 2002. Its mission is to prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect and respond to threats aimed at the United States.

Let's break down some key parts of the homeland security issue and where the candidates stand.

The Patriot Act. Passed in October of 2001, it allows the U.S. to better track terrorists, disrupt their cells and seize their assets. By expanding the government's access to private information without proper checks on that access, critics say the act infringes on Americans civil liberties. President Bush created the act in response to the September 11th attacks and supports it as is. Senator Kerry voted for the Patriot Act, but now wants to rework it, claiming civil liberties need to be better preserved.

On enemy combatants. As opposed to traditional rights for U.S. prisoners, by labeling someone an enemy combatant the rules of detainment are relaxed. Unlawful enemy combatants, such as Al Qaeda members, have the least rights. Critics say it strips prisoners, some Americans, of many legal rights. President Bush supports labeling some U.S. citizens as enemy combatants, while Senator Kerry is against it.

Intelligence agencies, CIA, FBI and NSA, are among the agencies that collect and monitor intelligence information. A key criticism after September 11th was the agencies failed to share information with each other. President Bush created the Homeland Security Department as a central filter for threat information. Senator Kerry has called for reform in domestic intelligence, and wants to create a targeted alert system. He has also called for a director of national intelligence.

Here's a side-by-side look at how the candidates stand on homeland security. And for more on the election and the issues, logon to CNN.com/Americavotes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Next week on SUNDAY MORNING we're going to look at the candidates' stands on gay rights.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now is the time for you to talk to CNN about the GOP convention and related issues.

GRIFFIN: Two members of our illustrious "Capitol Gang" crowd are ready, willing and able. Here are Al Hunt and Mark Shields. Good morning to you both.

MARK SHIELDS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Drew.

AL HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

GRIFFIN: We have a lot of questions this morning, but I'm going to begin with one of my own. John Kerry's going to lay low, apparently, during this convention, but suddenly we see the Clintons front and center. Al, is that a strategy there, or was this all planned in advance?

HUNT: Drew, when you and I are taking care of our great grandchildren the Clintons will be front and center. They always will be there. It's a little bit of a strategy. The candidate of the opposing party traditionally doesn't do a lot during the other party's convention week. But the Clintons will be front and center, John Edwards will be campaigning, so the Democrats are not going to be quiescent for a week.

NGUYEN: Mark, we do want to get to our viewer questions this morning. And Kelly from Bolton Landing in New York writes, "Here's my question about where Bush and Kerry each stand on an issue that does not seem to be a high profile issue." Here's the question, "What is the position on illegal immigration?" Can you tell us what both think about that? SHIELDS: I would say this, that both are against illegal immigration if you asked them that question. As far as immigration and making it -- those who have come here illegally and have gotten work and making it easier for them to stay, President Bush certainly has an aggressive plan. One that quite frankly many conservatives in the Republican Party and on the platform committee resisted and objected to and were outvoted and overruled. John Kerry, I think, has the traditional Democratic position, which is liberalization of immigration, but nobody will endorse illegal immigration. I can assure you.

GRIFFIN: Question number two, "I wonder who where the real ram rods of the Republican Party are such as Tom DeLay, Grover Norquist. They all seem to be absent from the speaker's platform in the lineup for the coming week of the convention." This is coming from Salem, Illinois.

HUNT: Marlin from Salem is on to something, Drew. Carl Rove and George Bush have built the base. The conservative base is absolutely solid. So they don't need Tom DeLay and Grover Norquist and Jerry Falwell and Rick Santorum out front and center this week. This is about getting that 15 to 20 percent of the electorate that we call persuadables. Who appeals to persuadables? John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Those are the people that will be front and center. It's very calculated and it's very understandable.

SHIELDS: I'd just add one thing to that, and that is there's no question Al's right, they're putting a moderate face on this convention. And the test will be whether they put a moderate voice on it. Not the speeches that those individuals give, but in the president's own. Whether, in fact, the president assumes that the Kerry bashing is a thing of the past or not to be done this week, at least. And, in fact, he is now going to appeal particularly to women with children, many of who are republicans who supported him last time who are disenchanted with the Bush administration. He's going to reach out to them. His message has to be moderate to do so.

HUNT: Yes, in five seconds, I have no doubt that will be the approach that Bush takes. Zell Miller and probably Dick Cheney will be the Kerry bashers.

NGUYEN: All right, in talking about Kerry bashers, I have this question for you, Al. If we're not going to talk about swift boat and all those ads, is the shift going to focus now on the Kerry senate record? Is that where the Kerry bashing is going to slip in in this convention?

HUNT: Yes. That's going to be the above the radar screen attack. The swift boat stuff was below the radar screen. This is the above the radar screen. You saw that in -- as long ago as three, four weeks ago, right at the Democratic Convention. They're going to talk about his record, his non-record, his absences, his votes on intelligence and military matters. First they will say he's a left- winger and secondly they will say he's an inconsequential senator.

SHIELDS: One Republican presidential campaign manager, not in the Bush campaign, marveled to me - not in George W. Bush's campaign - marveled to me the nerve of going after John Kerry on Vietnam, and compared it if in 1996 Bill Clinton had decided to run against Bob Dole on the allegation of rumors that Bob Dole 25 years earlier had spent a wild weekend dalliance with a stewardess somewhere. Thus trying to neutralize and take advantage of what has been a weakness in Bill Clinton's own case. All we know about these two guys is that one of them went to Vietnam, was wounded in action, the other went to Alabama and was missing in action.

GRIFFIN: Mark Shields, a concerned citizen from Connecticut writes, he is concerned about your safety. We saw the pen in Boston. We don't see it in New York. "Is there any truth about how dangerous and how close the protesters are to the Republican Convention? Are the attendees to the convention really being protected?"

SHIELDS: I don't think there's any question. The Democrats in Boston, certainly they were no friends of civil liberties when it came to protesters. They put them in a pen several blocks away out in the boiling sun.

New York is more used to dealing with protests, quite frankly. More have come here, and it's understandable. It's the administration that's in power, if you are objecting to policies. But it's a two- edged sword. Democrats a little bit nervous that it doesn't get out of control. They would like to see resistance and opposition, but they don't want to see open rebellion. Wouldn't you agree, Al?

HUNT: I think that's right. My impression is, at least, we don't really have the story yet, but my impression is that the city has handled it well so far. And as for any fear that we might have from delegates, we have Bob Novak to protect us.

NGUYEN: You guys are just funny this morning. All right. We only have time for one more of your questions.

Bill from North Carolina writes, "Do you know the ratio of Republicans voting for Kerry compared to Democrats voting Bush? How much of a surprise upset can this make?"

HUNT: Bill has asked a very good question.

SHIELDS: Great question.

HUNT: The answer is, about 85 to 90 percent of the GOP is solidly in the Bush corner. Won't change. And almost as many Democrats are solidly in the Kerry camp. So, that 15 percent to 20 percent of persuadables that I talked about earlier, a handful of soft republicans, and a little bit more, but not much more soft democrats, and the truly independent voters.

SHIELDS: When Al speaks of soft democrats and republicans, he's not talking about physical conditioning or mental capacity; he's talking about their firm conviction or loyalty to their party. But he's absolutely right. I would say right now, just based on anecdotal evidence, that there are probably more republicans who voted for George Bush in 2000 who are wavering this time in 2004 than there are Al Gore voters who are wavering towards John Kerry.

GRIFFIN: All right. Mark Shields, Al Hunt, thanks for joining us. We'll see you, I guess, all week. When is the next time you are on today?

HUNT: Thank you so much.

SHIELDS: I think 10:00 tonight, Drew. So I want you to stay up.

GRIFFIN: You know, I never miss you guys.

NGUYEN: And if we do, we're going to TIVO it. OK. Thank you.

SHIELDS: You're the best, Betty.

NGUYEN: Take care. CNN's coverage of the Republican National Convention kicks off tonight with an investigative look at the president, "THE MISSION OF GEORGE W. BUSH" Sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern time, and that is followed by a special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE." Then, at 10:00 p.m. eastern, join Wolf Blitzer and Judy Woodruff for "AMERICA VOTES 2004 SPECIAL." It's a preview of the Republican National Convention.

She had one of the most popular voices of the 1980s. That sound, now silent. That story right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Drew Griffin. Here's a check of our top stories on this Sunday morning.

Tropical storm Gaston is hitting land in Charleston, South Carolina right now. Second tropical storm in two weeks to hit this area. Charley blew through a couple weeks ago. The winds, rains soaking the Charleston coast. People have been putting out sandbags as they brace for Gaston. Tree limbs are down in some areas. Charleston's airport is closed. The mayor told us this morning he's telling everybody just to stay inside.

On the campaign trail, President Bush stumping in steel country today. He's holding a rally in Wheeling, West Virginia where he plans to remind workers about the tariffs he put on foreign steel. He was in Ohio yesterday.

Where can you get -- go for the best political updates online? That's coming up in our "Best of the Web" segment. That is still to come.

Betty?

NGUYEN: Here's a look at the news across America today. The cleanup continues in Kansas after this. Check it out. And another tornado tore through parts of the state. Officials say one of the twisters damaged a house just outside of Wichita. There are no reported injuries. The singer known for the 1980s mega-hit "Gloria" has died. Laura Branigan was 47. Her brother said she died of a brain aneurysm at her Long Island home. Now, Branigan had several albums and four Grammy nominations. There's the song. But she never topped the song from her debut album, of course, that's what we hear right now. "Gloria" stayed atop the pop charts for some 36 weeks.

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NGUYEN: Gaston is just under hurricane strength right now after coming ashore on the South Carolina coast. Now, unlike hurricane Charley two weeks ago, the tropical storm is moving much more slowly and that means the South Carolina low country could get more flooding, with up to ten inches of rain in some places.

GRIFFIN: You know, you don't have to be James Bond to keep an eye on your neighbor this political season. Look at this Web site. If you want to know how much money your neighbor or anybody else is giving to the presidential candidates, all you have to do is logon to the Internet. This is called fundrace.com. Just one of the many Web sites we feature in the debut of a new segment called the "Best of the Web." Dozens of information-packed web sites cover the political spectrum, and web savvy voters visit them frequently.

Adam Rogers, a senior associate editor at "Wired" magazine, is in San Francisco this morning.

I've got to tell you, I was fascinated reading through the stuff on this Web site, fundrace.com.

ADAM ROGERS, SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "WIRED": I love that Web site.

GRIFFIN: After years and years of having to go through those federal election filings, this is a snap.

ROGERS: It's amazing. The great thing about it, of course, you can put in your own zip code. So you can see who your neighbors are, for one thing, I don't know mine that well, and also who they're giving to. It's just really an amazing kind of data fire hose if you're that kind of geek.

GRIFFIN: Yes. You can search by states, counties, names. If you have a personal name and you think somebody is giving money you want to know about, it's right there.

ROGERS: Or celebrities. My favorite thing, actually, are the city maps, because you can look at about a dozen cities across the country and see where the donations are coming from there. They really confirm just about every stereotype you have about any city. You know, like Berkeley turns out to be quite liberal. And the republicans really do live on the upper east side of Manhattan. It's really great to see the red and blue dots on cities that you know.

GRIFFIN: Let's talk about some of these other sites, because they deal with information, fact versus fiction, a lot of them trying to help people sort out. Are they accurate?

ROGERS: Well, I find them to generally be quite accurate. The thing that I like about the web generally, and about these sites specifically, is that you can link to source material. So if you are not sure if the sites are giving you something that verifies what the candidates are saying, or what media is saying about the candidates, you can actually click on a hyperlink and look at the report from the Congressional Budget Office or from what the IRS is saying. It's a resource that fact checks itself, in some respects.

GRIFFIN: We have factcheck.org up on the screen right now. That's run by the Annenberg Foundation. They go through commercials, speeches, charges and tell you basically fact from fiction and where the story comes from.

ROGERS: Yes. The advantage that the world wide web has, of course, is one of resources. They don't have the limitations of time and of real estate that traditional media does. So, they can really go into details, drill down, I guess, is the current cliche for that, and tell you here's what the candidate is saying, and here we can now parse every single aspect of that claim.

GRIFFIN: Politics1.com. What's unique about this site?

ROGERS: Well, a couple of things. First of all, it has a blog on the front, a web log, that kind of talks about what's going on in politics that day. And that's a lot of fun. I was actually just looking at it just before I came on to see what the state polls were saying in battleground states, which is terrific political wonky material if you like that kind of thing. And then it also has these tremendous links about political resources, just finding information about every president who ever served, for example.

GRIFFIN: Yes, I thought that had a little too much information for my taste. Hard to read through. It certainly is there if you want to get to it.

Adam thanks for joining us and debuting our "Best of the Web" segment. Thanks a lot. And you can check out all these links, we have them on CNN.com, as well. Adam, see you later.

ROGERS: Bye.

NGUYEN: As we have been talking about all morning long, Gaston hit the beach in South Carolina. Rob Marciano is tracking the storm from our Atlanta weather center. He's straight ahead right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

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NGUYEN: Want to give you a live look over Seattle right now. And just south of there, in Washington state, guitar players from all over the country are coming to Tacoma to play "Louie, Louie." The 1,000 guitar event is trying to break the Guinness world record of the largest guitar ensemble.

Just ahead Rob Marciano is here with your complete forecast. Maybe he'll play a little guitar as well. Drew?

GRIFFIN: In Williamsport, Pennsylvania, California, the kids from the Conejo Valley, they advance to the Little League World Series Championship. They beat Texas 4-0. So the Thousand Oaks team takes on Curacao in the title game later today. Congratulations to those kids.

NGUYEN: Definitely. So, Rob, can you play guitar?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Air guitar, yes, I'm pretty good.

NGUYEN: We can all play air guitar. But not well.

MARCIANO: No. I like watching and listening to other people play guitar. I love the Little League World Series. Those kids are so good. It's like watching these little men, professional baseball players running around.

Hey, what's the name of our storm?

NGUYEN: Gaston.

MARCIANO: Gaston. Thank you. I can't keep them straight. We've had so many so far. We have another one after Gaston goes through. There it is, moving on shore. Look at the last couple frames of this. You can kind of pick out a little eye there.

It's moving on shore. If it has any strength at all it will quickly diminish in intensity as it moves across the northern parts of South Carolina. It is officially 30 miles east of Charleston, winds at 70 miles an hour. If they increase to 75 then we have a hurricane. So it's a strong tropical storm at this point, but is moving on shore and moving to the north at seven miles an hour.

As Betty and Drew have been saying all morning long, it's moving slowly, it has moisture and we've already seen a ton of moisture from the last hurricane that moved through here.

Look at the radar; just north of Charleston to Myrtle Beach, even inland in Columbia, South Carolina, up to Fayetteville, North Carolina, we're looking at heavy rains to Williamsburg, as well. Now we have flash flood warnings out for Berkeley, Charleston, Williamsburg, Georgetown, and even Brunswick County, North Carolina. Already over four inches of rain has fallen. In some cases a rate of two inches per hour. So flooding in the low lands there for sure.

Here's the forecast, cold front coming through. Showers and storms across the Ohio River valley. Hazy, hot and humid from D.C. to New York and Boston. Definitely feeling like summer there. Chicago, a cool 70 degrees.

NGUYEN: So Gaston didn't make it to hurricane status but there's another one brewing.

MARCIANO: Hurricane Francis, we'll be watching that all week. It's a major category 4 hurricane at this point.

NGUYEN: Pretty big already.

MARCIANO: Yes, but it's way out there right now.

NGUYEN: Thank you, Rob. Watching everything for us.

GRIFFIN: That's all for us. "INSIDE POLITICS" is next. But first, here's what's happening now in the news.

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