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CNN Saturday Morning News
Obama Chooses Joe Biden as Running Mate; Tropical Storm Fay Still Hammering Florida
Aired August 23, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It's official. Obama/Biden '08.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) DELAWARE: You have a brilliant, relatively young man who is the nominee of the Democratic Party, who is leading John McCain on every area except the one where experience just intuitively suggests people think if you're experienced, you must know more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Joe Biden's experience, Barack Obama's promise to bring real change to Washington. Is this the ticket to win the White House?
Well, is it? I guess we'll know here in a few months.
From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. A busy Saturday, August 23rd. Now, officially the day that Obama made it official that Biden is his guy.
Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Saturday came very early, especially for those of you who got that 3:00 a.m. text message. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
And our breaking news, is the Democratic ticket all set, OBiden (ph) -- I think I made up a new word there, Obama/Biden, you'll see on a bumper sticker, Obama/Biden '08.
HOLMES: Yes, make sure they give you credit for it though.
NGUYEN: Exactly. I'm going to copyright that.
Democrats are hoping it is the winning ticket. So, if you're just waking up with us overnight, as you know, Barack Obama tapped Delaware senator, Joe Biden, to be his running mate.
HOLMES: And Biden has been, as you know, a veteran U.S. senator with blue-collar roots and years of foreign experience. He's actually serving as chairman right now of the foreign relations committee.
We're covering the story from all angles, from Delaware to Denver, all points in between. Our political team first reported the news around 12:30 Eastern Time. What you're seeing on the right side of your screen right now is actually a live picture outside of Senator Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, where people there are -- not people, those aren't people, those are reporters and photographers. They're there trying to get a shot of the senator who is expected to hop in a motorcade and head to the airport and then head to Springfield, Illinois, for a rally later.
But the text messages that so many of you signed up for, so many people signed up for, from the Obama campaign went out just after 3:00 a.m., telling people that they would be the first to know. Of course, Obama said. But of course, they were not the first to know. John King was.
NGUYEN: Yes, exactly. He broke the news at 12:30 this morning. And maybe we'll get down to the business of why 3:00 a.m. was chosen as the time to send out that text message. Maybe it harkens back to Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign and her ad she placed during the time that she was running. But we'll get to that in a moment.
In the meantime though, Obama and his newly named running mate will be side by side at a rally today. They'll make their debut in Springfield, Illinois, around 3:00 p.m. Eastern. And, of course, CNN will have it live.
But in the meantime, CNN's Jessica Yellin is in Springfield.
Jessica, fill us in on all the details of how this unfolded, and as I mentioned, why 3:00 a.m.?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Betty, we have been hearing as of late yesterday that it might not come out until this morning, maybe not until 7:00 or 8:00, but the campaign hadn't confirmed anything solidly about what time they were releasing it.
We had all been pursuing the story. We started to hear that Obama had been calling people to let them know that they, in fact, were not the choice. And so, as he went through the call list, it got narrower and became clear that there were only a few options left.
Once it was clear that Biden was really the only likely candidate left, everybody became furiously calling sources, et cetera, and as you said before, it was John King who was able to get two sources go on the record and break this after midnight last night. And the campaign eventually confirmed it overnight.
I don't know that 3:00 a.m. was necessarily the plan. We'll find out eventually. But the big question, of course, is: How many people signed up for that text message. It sounds like it was quite a few -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Comes (ph) to picking Biden, let's get to the bottom of the mentality behind that, the strategy behind it, because it seems like Obama's really looking to beef up his foreign policy chops here. And it seems like Biden was the perfect fit for that, but at the same time, as T.J. mentioned a little bit earlier, is he also admitting that he's not so good in that area?
YELLIN: Exactly. There are pluses and there are minuses; and sort of where you already view Obama, how you come to this will be how you view this choice. Biden's advantages are many. I'll tell you, I've been in touch already this morning with one of Obama's top advisers who says they feel that Joe will be very well-received. He's popular in the Senate. He has a compelling life story and he brings assets to the ticket that Obama needed -- experience, accomplishment and institutional memory.
And I should add that he's an aggressive attack dog. Obama, as you've noticed, is often uncomfortable going after the opponent on the stump. He's not always as critical and as direct in his attack as others can be on his behalf. And Joe Biden is a guy who says it with a smile and then really gives it to you. And so, he could be a perfect attack dog for Barack Obama and complement Barack Obama's sort of more gentle approach to this political back-and-forth.
On the other hand, you know the "A.P." has already written a story this morning saying the pick shows weakness because it's an acknowledgement, they're saying, from Obama's camp that he is lacking in two key departments -- this area of experience and in national security. If it's seen as Obama showing weakness, that could hurt him. On the other hand, it could reassure voters. We're just going to have to see how this place out.
NGUYEN: But also, Jessica, Biden has to really come back at what he has said in the past. And that being that Obama is not ready to be president. He's going to be attacked on that. He already has been. We've seen McCain hitting us with an ad today, already this morning, in the early hours, attacking Obama on this pick saying the man that you chose doesn't even think you're ready to be president.
YELLIN: But, you know, that might not be as effective in this political climate because there are so many Republicans who have said they don't support John McCain months and months ago. And so, the Democrats could unleash those against the Republican side to counter balance this charge that, you know, Biden didn't approve of Obama to begin with. So, this might not be the most comfortable attack from the McCain side to keep up over time.
The big other problem is that Biden has had a tendency to make gaffes on the trail, he's not always very disciplined. So, we'll see if he can stay disciplined. He did stay quite silent as he was under consideration for the V.P. slot. So, maybe that's a sign that he'll keep to the script this time. Democrats are certainly hoping so, Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, no doubt. And we'll be watching every step of the way.
All right. Jessica Yellin is joining us live early this morning. We do thank you.
HOLMES: Now, what exactly does Senator Biden bring to the table? One word for you -- experience. But during the primaries, Biden raised questions about Obama and his experience, but in an interview last month, he did say that he would choose Obama's judgment over John McCain's experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Look, you have a brilliant, relatively young man who is the nominee of the Democratic Party, who's leading John McCain on every area except the one where experience just intuitively suggests people think if you're experienced, you must know more.
But 20 years of experience that has not been very solid in terms of being projecting what was going to happen, it doesn't make you a better commander-in-chief. We don't need as a commander-in-chief, a war hero. John's a war hero. We need someone with some wisdom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Well, certainly, a lot of speculation, intense speculation around Biden over the past couple of weeks. One thing that many people thought was a sign that he might be under serious consideration for the V.P. job is that he became quiet. He is one known who will talk and who will talk a lot but he got quiet over the past couple of weeks, wasn't giving a lot of interviews, and also speculation increased after he made a recent trip to the Republic of Georgia.
NGUYEN: Well, I mentioned a little bit earlier that John McCain's campaign quickly reacted to the news Biden would be Obama's running mate. A McCain spokesman issued a statement saying, quote, "There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama's lack of experience than Joe Biden. Biden has denounced Barack Obama's poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words that what Americans are quickly realizing -- is that Barack Obama is not ready to be president," end quote.
The McCain campaign also wasted no time coming right out with a campaign ad, taking shots at the Obama/Biden ticket. I want you to check out this new TV ad the McCain campaign brought to us early this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: What does Barack Obama's running mate say about Barack Obama?
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: You were asked, "Is he ready?" You said, "I think he can be ready, but right now, I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on the job training."
BIDEN: I think that I stand by this statement.
NARRATOR: And what does he say about John McCain?
BIDEN: I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm John McCain and I approve of this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: This race is in full swing.
HOLMES: Yes. That is hot off the press this morning. They wasted no time getting that to us.
We have the Democratic ticket in place now. The countdown is on to the party's national convention. It opens up on Monday in Denver after or at a newly revamped Pepsi Center. Joe Biden, of course, is going to be the headline speaker on Wednesday night.
Right now, we have it live, our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, who has made his way through the security sweep and we now have him, have his face there for us in Denver.
Bill, good to see you there. Thank you for being up early with us. I think you could hear that ad that we just played.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
HOLMES: That is some serious, hard hitting and blatant and blunt stuff there. Is that going to be effective?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I don't know if it will be effective for very long. I mean, people -- eyebrows will be raised when they see that Biden said, but Biden, I think, can explain it and say, you know -- he is going to be ready, that's why I'm on the ticket. Change and experience, that's the ticket.
HOLMES: That's the ticket. Well, Biden now being a part of that ticket, was this pick made more so to make Democrats happy, was this pick made more so to attract some of those independents, or does this pick essentially do both?
SCHNEIDER: I think, it does both. I think, Democrats will be satisfied. They like and respect Joe Biden. He adds some stature, some gravitas, some expertise to the ticket, and also, he does appeal to independents because they see him as a guy who speaks his own mind. He speaks his own mind at great length sometimes but he does speak his mind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): What does Joe Biden bring to the ticket? The ability to speak knowledgeably about issues like these...
BIDEN: What's going on in Pakistan this very moment as I speak to you, what's going on in the subcontinent overall, the Korean peninsula, China, Hugo Chavez rewriting the Constitution to make himself leader for life in the de-democratization of Latin America, ladies and gentlemen, there's a great at stake. SCHNEIDER: Biden is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He's been in the Senate for 36 years. He knows Washington, he knows the world -- two areas where Barack Obama's credentials are a little weak. And, he's from Delaware. Delaware -- just three electoral votes, pretty reliably Democratic.
How does Biden help Obama politically? Biden is a Catholic and Catholics are swing voters. He has roots in Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania is a swing state, one that Obama lost to Hillary Clinton in the primaries.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're getting national security experience, you're getting enthusiasm, and you hope you're getting some help in those white working-class, blue-collar towns where Obama needs help.
SCHNEIDER: Biden talks a great deal, sometimes saying things he shouldn't say.
BIDEN: I mean, you got the first sort of mainstream African- American...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BIDEN: ... who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice- looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
KING: The wrap on him is that he talks too long, his speeches don't end, and occasionally, he goes off the reservation.
SCHNEIDER: Can Biden control his tendency to say too much? He's certainly trying.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC NEWS: An editorial in the "Los Angeles Times" said, "In addition to his uncontrolled verbosity, Biden is a gaffe machine." Can you reassure voters in this country that you would have the discipline you would need on the world stage, Senator?
BIDEN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Biden has held two of the most important jobs in Washington -- he's been chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That could be reassuring to voters who sometime express concern about Barack Obama's lack of experience in national and foreign affairs -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Our Bill Schneider again there for us in Denver -- thank you so much. Good to see you. Glad you made it in front of the camera. We're going to check in with you plenty more this morning. SCHNEIDER: Sure.
HOLMES: Thank you so much.
And, yes, Monday is when the Democratic National Convention rolls around. But, as you see, our Bill Schneider and many more of our best political team on TV are already in place. And you can join them tonight 8:00 Eastern for a kickoff. We have a CNN special for you about the convention live from Denver.
NGUYEN: So, what do you make of this news? Did Barack Obama make the best choice for vice president? We're going have a story on that coming up at 2:00 p.m. today with Tom Foreman, that's going to be just before Obama and Biden step out together at 3:00 p.m. Eastern as they have an event there in Springfield, Illinois, the site where Obama launched his campaign.
And we have another big story though that we want to talk to you about. Tropical storm Fay is still dumping rain and steering up winds in Florida. Reynolds Wolf joins us now with the latest on that.
And, I understand, we're looking at a sixth landfall?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hard to believe, maybe even a seventh. Fay right now continues to spin its way across parts of the Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Coming up, I'm going to let you know how long the storm is going to last and where it's going to go. That's coming up right here on CNN, your hurricane headquarters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: There they are and you'll be seeing more of them in the coming days. That's the new ticket. Obama picked Senator Joe Biden of Delaware as his running mate. The two will appear together today in Springfield, Illinois, the site where Obama launched his campaign. That will take place at 3:00 p.m. Eastern and, of course, CNN will have live coverage.
And right now, we are outside his home in Delaware, where this morning, we understand, a motorcade has arrived. Several vehicles have come and gone. And at some point, he is going to be getting in a vehicle and heading to the airport and making that flight to Springfield, Illinois. And we will be watching every step outside his home there in Delaware.
HOLMES: Relentless, ruthless, tropical storm Fay has now killed at least six people in Florida. Neighborhoods now are literally underwater. Now this morning, Fay is bashing the coast again for a record fourth time.
Our Susan Candiotti is in Panama City Beach.
Susan, this is just unbelievable. We've been talking about this morning -- this thing is just beating up on Florida.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It sure is, T.J., good morning to you. Can you imagine four landfalls? I mean, that is not only historic, it is obviously remarkable. I can't remember obviously being historic, ever having experienced something like this.
Starting last Monday across the Florida Keys and then the west coast of Florida, going across to the northeast end of the state, and then now, making its way across the panhandle, making landfall for the fourth time. I mean, this is unbelievable.
Right now, you're in Panama City Beach, Florida. We're experiencing rain bands. It's kind of a light misty rain right now. But as you have seen from the radar, we're just going to be experiencing this all day long. It's an amorphous glob of rain that is marching across the panhandle.
And you don't see much evidence of high winds at this time. When you look at the palm trees and the plants around here right now, they are talking about winds of maybe 25 to 30 miles per hour, up to gusts of 60 miles per hour throughout the day this day. Rainfall, maybe five inches around here, could go as high as 12 inches.
But imagine, they had more than two feet in parts of Florida earlier this week. It just goes to show that you don't have to be hit by a hurricane to have your life turned upside-down. In this case, by a tropical storm called Fay.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): More than 100 nursing home residents had to be evacuated by boat to escape rising water at the facility near Jacksonville. One by one, the elderly were lead to waiting row boats and transfer to other facilities out of harm's way. The question everyone's asking...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When is it going stop?
CANDIOTTI: Hard to predict when the rain will stop. It's been pounding the state for nearly a week. On Friday, emergency management officials said radar indicated tornadoes slammed the area. Whipping winds sliced into this gas station near Gainesville, tearing apart a canopy.
Unrelenting rain weaken the ground around this tree and it fell on to a mobile home. Debris littered streets after Fay rumbled across a wide swath of Florida, from the central part of the state to the northeast corner and then meandered back across the panhandle. As much as 27 inches of rain in some areas, combined with high tides, forcing some rivers to overflow their banks.
Florida's Governor Charlie Crist promised FEMA's help to those who need it but warned the storm is not over yet.
GOV. CHARLIE CRIST, (R) FLORIDA: Fay is not out of Florida yet, as you know. So, stay vigilant, stay calm, and stay focused.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CANDIOTTI: That's right. Stay focused because there have been, as you have said, at least six deaths reported, some of those are due to drowning, others are car accidents that are blamed in part on the storm. The governor says 1,500 homes have been destroyed. So, at this point, everyone is saying, as you can well imagine, T.J., "Fay, Fay, please go away."
HOLMES: Please go away.
CANDIOTTI: Back to you.
HOLMES: Well, she ain't gone just yet. All right, Susan Candiotti, keeping an eye on things for us in Florida.
We will turn now to Reynolds Wolf who's keeping an eye on this thing for us.
People want to it go away, it's not going anywhere. I want to ask you something else here about people and it's still a tropical storm.
WOLF: Partly storm (ph).
HOLMES: Is there just the psychology, in people's minds, "OK, it's just a tropical storm, it's not a hurricane. So, I'm not going to take it as seriously." People have a tendency to do that?
WOLF: Absolutely. Yes, I mean, you know, you mentioned the "H" word, hurricanes, beacon (ph) going on. Oh, hurricane. This could just as damaging in many ways. I mean, we've been talking about the rainfall, T.J., some places over two feet of rain. Rain continues to fall.
We have some damage right now to report also in Tallahassee, some fresh video for you at home. Take a look at this. Let's go right to it. You see the trees that have been knocked over. See, T.J., when these systems come onshore, not only is rain one of the issues, but the possibility of tornadoes also occurs. And some of the damage you see there, it looks like it may have been by a weak tornado.
We do have many of them that actually do develop in these kinds of systems, not always particularly the strongest. They usually don't last that long. They do usually rain-wrapped (ph) but they do cause quite a bit of damage. And unfortunately, it's difficult with these tropical systems.
Let's go right back to the weather computer as we go back to the weather computer. Susan Candiotti was reporting live from Panama City. You could see some of the scattered rain showers in the area. But as we pull away a little bit, you can see also just a big broad shape of this storm system.
During the break, T.J. and I were talking about the heavy rainfall. Well, virtually all of the Sunshine State this past week has been dealing with the heavy rain. Not necessarily living up to the belief (ph) of being a sunny state. Heavy rain now moving into parts of the southeast Alabama and near the campus of Auburn University, southward to Troy, Troy State area -- you're going to get some rain there, too.
We've got watches and warnings that are popping up across parts of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, even into Arkansas and Louisiana. And as we make away over the next couple of days, notice how the storm is going to move or rather notice how it's not going to move that much.
Still, as we make your way to the west, it's only doing so around seven miles per hour. It's going to be barely moving over the next 72 to 48 hours, or even 96 hours, barely moving at all. It's the L- shaped pattern going into Mississippi from now to Thursday. And we expect that rain to continue to fall and flooding is going to be a big story as we make our way into next week.
That's the story for you guys if send it back to both of you in the studio. Betty, by the way, wonderful to see you. I wish the story was a little different.
NGUYEN: Yes, absolutely. And glad to be back.
And, what a day though. Listen to this news. It is Biden, if you haven't already heard, the suspense ends and the hoopla begins over the Obama/Biden ticket. How it all unfolded. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Wake up. Did you get the text message? Obama has picked Senator Joe Biden as his running mate, his pick for the V.P. nominee. You know a lot of buzz surrounding Biden really intensified after he returned from a two-day trip to the Republic of Georgia after Russian troops invaded there. So, a lot of people were really looking to see if this, indeed, would be the pick and we know it is.
And this is a pick that's very strategic in that it brings a lot of experience to the Obama ticket; it brings years of experience, some 35 plus years. And he also served as chairman and currently does, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also served on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
So, there's a lot of leverage there. And this is his new pick. Senator Joe Biden will be on the Obama ticket.
They're going to be appearing together today in Springfield, Illinois, the site where Obama launched his campaign several months ago. We're going to have live coverage of that. It takes place at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. So, don't miss it.
HOLMES: All right. The way this is supposed to go down. All right. A lot of people thought it was brilliant on the Obama campaign -- get all of these to sign up, give them your cell phone numbers.
NGUYEN: Right. HOLMES: Tell them you'll be the first to know whom my pick is, you'll hear directly from the senator in a text message. So, Barack Obama would get all the cell phone numbers, he could use those later in the campaign.
NGUYEN: And a calling list.
HOLMES: It's huge rolodex.
NGUYEN: I'm thinking there.
HOLMES: That's how it was supposed to go down.
NGUYEN: But...
HOLMES: Supposed to.
NGUYEN: But some guy named John King kind of threw a wrench in the program there.
HOLMES: Because he's good at like that.
NGUYEN: Yes, and that's why we have him on our team -- the best political team on television. Josh Levs joins us now to kind of give us an idea of what people are saying now that the word is finally out.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, look, that part rocks. And obviously, John's a superstar and it's great that he matched (ph) it. But, you know, if the Obama campaign had sent out that text any time Wednesday or Thursday or Friday, people who got the text would have been the first to know. I mean, this would have actually been the case.
And one thing that's really struck me today is: yes, we broke up and go us, but, at the same time, they also sent out the text at 3:00 in the morning, people. Who is checking your text at 3:00 in the morning except the media? So, we were going to be the first to know anyway.
So, we opened up this e-mail question to you today which is: How do you feel about the way Barack Obama has handled his V.P. announcement? Let's go to some of the e-mails. We've already gotten -- just after 7:00 a.m., we already have some.
We're starting with this one from Sharon Plon. "I'm a lifelong Democrat. I think Obama turned the V.P. pick into a ridiculous game. It reminded me of when my kids were in kindergarten. Particularly on Thursday when he said, "I've decided, but I'm not telling." Hopefully the rest of the campaign will be handled better."
The opposite view now. We have from Paulette Kellner. "Biden is a brilliant choice. He's smart, his foreign policy experience is unmatched in the country. He is a perfect complement." So for her, "It was exciting to wake up to my cell phone flashing." She checks her text overnight. And then, I will have one more here, from Mike in Florida. "I think he should have kept his promise. Other than that, I think he made the right choice."
Let's zoom back in on the screen. I want to show you, guys, some important developments that are going on on the Web today. This is obviously from BarackObama.com. Now, one thing that might have been a giveaway, if you haven't gotten the text, JoeBiden.com which was Joe Biden's Web site when he's running for the presidency, is now this, part of the campaign.
And look what they do not have. They apparently do not have JoeBiden.org because we can't get to it. It does not exist. It's not loadable. And, also went to this, ObamaBiden.com, they don't appear to have that one. It's already been parked at GoDaddy. So, we can expect some business dealings maybe.
In that respect, coming up, if you want to weigh in on this e- mail question -- write us at: Weekends@CNN.com. What do you think about how Obama handled the V.P. announcement? We're going to share your responses throughout the day.
Betty and T.J., it's fascinating to see what we're getting from folks this early in the morning.
NGUYEN: Oh, no doubt, because a lot of people, you know, had a person in mind and if it wasn't Biden, well, they've got something to say today.
LEVS: Yes, you got it.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks.
NGUYEN: Yes, as we have said, CNN was the first to confirm the news about Obama's V.P. pick hours before the official announcement.
And CNN's Ed Henry joins us now from Washington with some insight on how all of this played out.
So, you got the inside scoop. How did it go down, Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, it's interesting. Obviously, we had cameras, as you know, yesterday staked out at all the wannabes perhaps, the people on the shortlist. And basically, how it went down, is Barack Obama was making his calls yesterday to people who were not getting it. And we got word late last evening that Tim Kaine, the governor of Virginia, for example, had gotten word that he was not going to be him. Evan Bayh then got a call as well.
And basically, it started leaking out through a process of elimination to start out and then John King got the actual word though after midnight Eastern Time that, in fact, it was Joe Biden. CNN is first on that. And what we're seeing this morning that's quite interesting, praise coming in, not just from Democrats but Republicans. Dick Lugar, a top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, putting out a statement today praising Joe Biden and congratulating Barack Obama on his pick. I think that's a sign of the fact, (A), Joe Biden has real heft in the Senate from a policy standpoint, specifically, national security and, secondly, he's reached across the aisle and got these relationships with the Republicans.
And what Democrats like as well, is that, as one top lawmaker told me late last night, he's somebody, Joe Biden, who can take a punch but also deliver a punch. Nervous Democrats have been watching John McCain chipped away at Barack Obama's lead in the poll by basically saying he's not ready to be commander-in-chief.
If you've been watching Joe Biden, like this recent appearance on "AMERICAN MORNING," he has been an attack dog on John McCain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Do you believe Senator Obama knows how to win wars and if he does, how?
BIDEN: I do, and it's because he's -- he has a much more centered view on what our problems are. Look, John McCain was wrong about the war in Iraq. John McCain says the surge worked. But remember the purpose of the surge -- the surge wasn't just to bring down violence. It was, quote, "to create breathing room for a political settlement in Iraq."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: That's what Joe Biden has been saying in recent weeks as he was almost auditioning for the job of Barack Obama's vice presidential nominee.
But the McCain camp has been watching all this and waiting. They had the computer file. They were ready to hit "send" as soon as Joe Biden turned out to be the selection. And immediately this morning, they're out with a new TV ad pointing out, that's not what Joe Biden has previously been saying about Barack Obama.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: What does Barack Obama's running mate say about Barack Obama?
STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: You were asked, "Is he ready?" You said, "I think he can be ready but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training."
BIDEN: I think that I stand by this statement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Obviously, we knew that would be something that the McCain camp would be bringing up right away, also Republicans are pointing out that Barack Obama has been talking a lot about change and now he's got a Washington insider, someone who has been in the Senate since 1972, could be a clash there.
Interesting as well that John McCain in his weekly radio address today basically congratulated the new ticket. He taped it before he knew it was Joe Biden. He congratulated the ticket and said, "Just wait pretty soon, you're going to have a sparring partner in those debates."
So, we expect John McCain to be the next one, obviously. It could come as early as Friday, at the end of the Democratic convention where John McCain to name his pick, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, and judging from that McCain ad, the sparring has already begun. And, as you mentioned, it seems like a bit of a double-edged sword that he picked Biden, a guy who really helps Obama when it comes to the issues of foreign policy and whatnot, but at the same time, is it also an admission that he is not strong in that area?
HENRY: Absolutely. It is a double-edged sword. And I spoke to a very senior Obama advisor yesterday who was advocating -- he thought it would be better for Obama to go with another change agent, somebody like Tim Kaine, for example, outside of the Beltway, outside of Washington, and really underline that message that we're going to shake things up, and this advisor was saying he just thought double down on that and not bring in a Washington insider.
Obviously, advisers like that lost out and Barack Obama just made a very straightforward, political calculation. If he had gone with someone like Tim Kaine, the attacks you could hear them now from the Republicans saying, this ticket has absolutely no national security experience post 9/11. He made the calculation. It's better to check that box and take the risk on change, because ultimately, people are more likely to vote about the top of the ticket. And if Obama talks about change, he can have this guy at the bottom of the ticket to sort of check that box, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, it's really going to be interesting to hear both of them on stage today at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, because obviously, they're going to have to address what McCain has already started attacking them for -- and that's Biden's own words. So, we'll with be watching for that.
HENRY: That's right. Biden is not shy. He's going to push back.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Ed.
HENRY: Thank you.
HOLMES: Well, I have to tell you, this rally that Betty just mentioned, the next big stage for the Democrats will, in fact, be their convention in Denver.
And CNN deputy political director and our buddy here on CNN weekend, Paul Steinhauser, he has made his way out to Denver and is up early with us.
Paul, we appreciate you. We'll pick up on the theme that Ed and Betty were just talking about with Joe Biden here kind of checking a box, if you will, a need that Barack Obama has. Does he necessarily upset anybody with this pick, upset any Democrats with the Democrat he has now chosen to be on the ticket with him?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know, the big question, T.J., right here in Denver for this week coming up at the convention is party unity. And what you were just asking is very important: Are Clinton supporters -- remember, 18 million people voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries -- will they be happy with this pick of Joe Biden as the running mate and not Hillary Clinton? That's going to be a big story line right behind me there at the Pepsi Center this week when the convention starts.
And now another big story line, we know it's going to be Joe Biden Wednesday night right behind me there. He's going to be making his first big primetime speech. As Betty just mentioned, we're going to see him this weekend with Barack Obama but come primetime, Wednesday night, he's going to be giving his acceptance speech for the vice presidential nomination. Joe Biden as Ed Henry was mentioning, an attack dog.
And one other thing, I saw him a lot on the campaign trail last year, T.J., when he was out there running for president, he is an energetic and enthusiastic campaigner. He is going to be out there day and night pushing it and working it for Barack Obama, T.J.
HOLMES: Dynamic. What do we know about the relationship between these two as far as their work in the Senate and maybe just as far as behind the scenes, any friendship? What do we know about the -- just the dynamic and personalities between Obama and Biden?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, they've been together in the Senate for about four years now, Barack Obama joining the Senate in 2005. Biden has been somewhat of like an older brother or senior statesman to Barack Obama. You know, they're cordial. They're friendly. They're not best buddies in any way, shape or form, but they have worked together over the last three years in the Senate, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. You say he's kind of the big brother but it's little brother at the top of the ticket right now. Paul Steinhauser for us out there in Denver. Good to see you this morning. I know we're going to be talking to you plenty throughout the day. Talk to you soon, buddy.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
HOLMES: And for the coverage of the big Democratic National Convention that starts on Monday, you can get your start for all that coverage this weekend. Join the best political team on television. You see a couple of our members already out there in Denver. You'll see the rest of them shortly. But a special tonight, 8:00 o'clock Eastern for a kickoff live from Denver, Colorado.
NGUYEN: So, Delaware Senator Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Analysts say that he'll fill in where Barack Obama is weak. But who is he?
HOLMES: What does he exactly stand for? We'll look into exactly who this guy is. You might know the name, might not know a lot about him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, the speculation can end. We have the big political news of the day. If you are just waking up, this is what you missed -- Barack Obama makes it official that Delaware Senator Joe Biden is in fact his running mate. Our political team, John King specifically, first broke this story around 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time. We are following this story on a lot of fronts.
You're actually seeing one picture there on the left, at the top of that corner, a live picture outside of his home in Wilmington, Delaware, where reporters have been really staking that place out, waiting to get a glimpse of him. Obama and Biden will appear together this afternoon. They're going to hold a rally in Springfield, Illinois, around 3:00 o'clock Eastern Time. And you will see that live right here on CNN.
But big political story today which ends weeks of intense speculation -- the other big story we are having to cover today, tropical storm Fay. Our Reynolds Wolf is all over this story which has made a record number of landfalls now, possibly about to makes a sixth or a seventh. But again, meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is here, he'll show you where she is and where she's headed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, Senator Barack Obama has picked Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. And right now, you can see the media as it stakes outside of Biden's house there in Wilmington, Delaware. At some point, he will be making his way to Springfield, Illinois, where the two will appear today at 3:00 o'clock Eastern.
Right there on the right-hand side of your screen is where you're going to see both of them appear at 3:00 p.m. and it's also the site where Obama launched his campaign. So, there's a lot of significance today as we wait to see both of them on the same platform as they come out to speak.
HOLMES: Tropical storm Fay is making its fourth landfall in Florida this morning. A big concern for some tropical systems making land is the possibility of tornadoes. Well, you're looking here now at video damage from Fay in northern Florida. We don't know yet if this was caused by a tornado. However, the central Florida residents there watched a tropical storm related water spout come on land.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I saw it come across, I thought it was just a little water spout. And I never realized it was going to develop into something this big.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It came across the lake and then it came on the land and it was coming towards us. It looked like it was like two doors down from where my cabin was. So, it was pretty scary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. And our Reynolds Wolf is keeping an eye on this scary situation.
We're in -- and help us here, for us meteorological novices up here at the desk. But we're told a water spout is a tornado over water, correct?
WOLF: It can be. But there were also times...
HOLMES: Can be.
NGUYEN: What?
WOLF: It can be. If you have a tornado that goes over water, it will become a water spout. But there are times you can also see water spouts that actually form in fairly decent weather, without thunderstorms, about anything.
NGUYEN: Oh, really?
WOLF: Yes, it can happen. It's a weird phenomenon.
Hey, right now, the phenomenon is that we got a tornado watch that is in effect for parts of Georgia into Florida. And it will last until about 3:00 local time, Eastern Time.
Now, it is not unusual when these tropical systems come onshore. They often can spawn tornadoes. Now, the tornadoes usually don't last very long. They usually are pretty weak, but they can strike quickly and they can cause all kinds of damage. We've had some damage in parts of say, Tallahassee and up and down parts of the state. Here's a chance to see more of it today.
Not only that but the other issue could be some flooding, and as this storm system makes its way to the west and then veers northward from now through Thursday, it could be a major rainmaker. Some parts of the Sunshine State are getting rainfall totals in excess of 20 inches, winds currently 45, gusting to 60, moving to the west at seven miles per hour.
This storm could get another landfall, not just near Apalachicola but maybe even near the Perdido Key area. The Perdido and the Alabama, that's the Florida and Alabama border. And then makes its way back into Louisiana as we get in to Monday with winds at 40.
Then, as just tropical disturbance moving northward, or rather a depression, into Wednesday and Thursday, weakening considerably in terms of maximum sustained winds by Thursday -- forecast to be 25 miles an hour. But still, a huge rainmaker and flooding potential we're going to have to deal with for a good part of next week.
That's the story; let's send it back to you at the news desk.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: Any time.
HOLMES: Well, Fort Pierce, Florida, swamped. Ron Dillon searched his soaked home for anything he could save, and mainly, some clothes and some blankets. He says his furniture is ruined. The flooding is worse than what he expected with hurricane Katrina and Rita. These photos were taken by his neighbor, Trish Powers, just one of several, iReports we are getting from that region, from people who are really going through it.
NGUYEN: Well, on the political front, you've got a report this morning via text message. Yes, the suspense of who Senator Barack Obama was going to pick as his running mate was building online and just to make it even more interesting, some people were placing their bets. Josh Levs is here to talk about that pick and those bets -- and, of course, that pick being Senator Joe Biden.
LEVS: Yes, well, virtual space bets. But still, as you're about to see, some people at our Web site pulled in millions of dollars.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Be the first to get your Obama/Biden bumper stickers, they should be hot off the presses right about now. But yes, that is his guy. He has picked Senator Joe Biden of Delaware to be his number two.
CNN broke this news overnight about him choosing the Delaware senator. But many of you, the text messages you signed up for to get from Obama's campaign to find out first, they actually started going out around 3:00 in the morning.
Now, the pictures you're seeing here on the screen, on the top left side, that is outside of Senator Joe Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware. Reporters have been staking the place out for several hours now, waiting to get a glimpse, expecting him to go from that place to the place you see in the top right of your screen, the state house there in Springfield, Illinois, where the two will make their first campaign appearance -- Obama/Biden '08, making their first campaign appearance together at a rally there.
So, we're keeping an eye on those live pictures, again, right outside of the home where they've been scrambling and a little movement, little activity, here and there.
NGUYEN: A couple of here and there.
HOLMES: That should give us a little of anything and we're going to jump on it, the media.
NGUYEN: It's big news.
HOLMES: But we're keeping an eye on that as well. A motorcade is expected to take him to the airport. Well, politics, a sport to many, full contact sport some may say.
NGUYEN: They should have seen the latest ads.
HOLMES: Yes, which we have been sharing this morning and we will...
NGUYEN: McCain has launched them already.
HOLMES: He did not mess around, he didn't wait -- we can't even edit a piece together that quickly the way he did. But we'll show you that campaign...
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE) ready and waiting it appears with that well ahead of time, don't you think?
HOLMES: Oh, yes, they were waiting. Who was picked, they were going to have something to say about it.
NGUYEN: Yes, but a lot of people were really wagering on who Obama was, in fact, going to pick and Josh Levs has been watching and especially those who bet on Biden, because they must be feeling pretty good right about now.
LEVS: Yes, they have reason to be excited just in general because they guessed right, but also because if they're playing the game, they win a whole lot of monopoly money. Have you guys seen this yet, our political market?
HOLMES: Oh, yes.
LEVS: It's really cool. It's really fun. I mean, you know, I'm going to emphasize at the top it's not real gambling, it's not real money, there and (ph) covered. All right, but you can have fun with it.
Here's how it works. Basically, you go to PoliticalMarket.CNN.com, you just see it at our Web site, you can't miss it. And what happens is you buy a share of whoever you think is going to win. And at the end, if your person wins each share becomes $100.
So, let's go in. I want to show you where this race was just a couple of days ago. This is where the Democratic race was standing and this is where people were betting. A lot of people were betting on Evan Bayh and then Biden was right behind him and then Clinton was down here. You can see Kathleen Sebelius as well. So, let's say you bought shares of Joe Biden at $28.86. Well, last night when it closed out, all of a sudden, every one of these becomes $100. Now, some people have been doing this a long time. I got to show you the overall leader board, we have more than 50,000 people participating in this thing. This guy, Lincoln, is the all- time winner at 2.5 million imaginary virtual dollars, and just this week alone, this weekly game, for TLSFK, $287,000.
Now, let me show you the GOP, because that's still ongoing and people can weigh in on that right now. Mitt Romney is currently winning way ahead of everybody else. This is interesting. Tim Pawlenty, less than half of what he's at than Mike Huckabee, he gotten a half of that. So, a lot of people are betting on Mitt Romney.
Now, you might start to wonder -- does this ever prove accurate? Well, our market system did get it right a couple times. They were right about the Georgia Republican primary which surprised a lot of people when Huckabee got that one, also back in the Iowa caucuses on the Democratic side. And right now, people are betting on a lot of questions including who's going to win overall.
Let's zoom in one more time. You can see what people are saying about the whole race. Obama is going way ahead in our market system as of right now -- green line is Obama, yellow line is McCain. I'm not imaging the campaigns are taking any cues from this but you never know what might be significant.
You can join in on it. Just go to our Web site at CNN.com. You will see the political market, have some fun while you're here, everybody is talking about it, and while you're there, click around a little bit and learn about the news, learn about Joe Biden, et cetera. And there you go, back outside his house.
NGUYEN: Yes, and we see a motorcade pulling out. Well, not exactly sure if it's a full-on motorcade. It's a one vehicle at the moment, but we have seen several cars going in and out of that driveway and many of them being police vehicles, and at some point, we will see Senator Biden, at least we think he's home, leave from that residence in Wilmington, Delaware, and head toward Springfield, Illinois, where there will be a 3:00 p.m. appearance by both Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
So, that will be coming to you live, 3:00 p.m. Eastern. In the meantime, we are watching all of it for you and you are watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We, you, everybody, continuing to keep an eye on that spot, that is Senator Joe Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, where reporters -- uninvited -- have been hanging out, trying to keep an eye on him, trying to get a glimpse of him since he has been named the vice presidential nominee or pick of Barack Obama.
We're expecting him to be taken by motorcade. We've seen several cars go in, haven't seen very many come out, seen a couple of police vehicles go in there as well, take him to the airport where he will be shuttled off to Springfield, Illinois, where he's expected to make his first official appearance as the new V.P. pick of Barack Obama.
Live picture there the state house in Springfield, Illinois, the same spot where it seems like forever ago, Senator Barack Obama made the announcement that he was, in fact, running for president in the first place.
But right here on CNN, you can see that 3:00 Eastern Time, 2:00 Central there in Springfield, Illinois. But you can stay with CNN for all the continuing coverage of the pick, that we finally got word, officially, around 3:00 o'clock this morning Eastern Time that Senator Joe Biden is Barack Obama's pick to be his vice president.
NGUYEN: And like you said, they'll appear there in Springfield, Illinois, the same the site where Barack Obama launched his campaign some 19 months ago. And in this race, it does seem like forever. They've been at it for a long time.
Do remember, though, for all the late-breaking campaign news, freshest polls, the political ticker and analysis from the best political team on television -- you're online destination is CNNPolitics.com.
HOLMES: Good morning, everybody. From the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, it's Saturday, August 23rd. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
We do have breaking news this morning. While you were sleeping, Barack Obama picked Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate. CNN and the best political team on television was first with this news. In fact, they beat Barack Obama to the punch.
HOLMES: Yes. The text message wasn't fast enough for our John King who broke this story. We'll be talking about how the information came out and again we've been keeping an eye on this picture as well as the reporters keep an eye on the front door and the driveway of Senator Joe Biden's home in Delaware. He's expected to leave there and head to Springfield, Illinois, for a campaign rally with Barack Obama this afternoon.
All right. You probably got tired of us talking about it, tired of hearing the experts, so-called pundits talking about it and guessing as well, all the hoopla is over and now there's new hoopla over the Democratic ticket for the White House.
NGUYEN: The big news is Obama's choice of Delaware Senator Joe Biden, that will be his running mate. This is the picture on the Obama Web site this morning and it's the picture that you will see later today when the two appear side by side. They hold a rally in Springfield, Illinois, around 3:00 p.m. Eastern and, of course, CNN will be there and bring it to you live.
HOLMES: Well, a big part of what Biden brings to the ticket, one word, really, experience. During the primaries though, Biden raised questions about Obama, about his level of experience. However in an interview just last month, he said he would choose Obama's judgment over John McCain's experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Look, you have brilliant, relatively young man, who is the nominee of the Democratic party, who's leading John McCain on every area except the one where experience just intuitively suggests people think if you're experienced you must know more. But 20 years of experience that has not been very solid in terms of being projecting what was going to happen, doesn't make you a better commander in chief. We don't need as a commander in chief a war hero. John is a war hero. We need someone with some wisdom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, Biden's stock began to rise in the VP stakes as they're called when he got a little quiet. A lot of people say that's not like Joe Biden. He must be auditioning for the job, if you will, but also a lot of the buzz increased around him after he made a recent trip to the republic of Georgia.
NGUYEN: All right. So want to give you some more details now on Senator Biden's background and experience. Highlights from his political and personal resume. So here they are. He represents Delaware in the Senate and was first elected in 1972. He's in his sixth term, some 35 years of experience here. Biden ran for president in 1988 and of course, in 2008. He remained neutral, though, after ending his 2008 bid after a poor sharing, faring I should say at the Iowa caucus.
Biden is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and serves on the Judiciary Committee. He initially supported the use of military force in Iraq. Biden is 65 years old and a Roman Catholic who a lot of experts say is key as they often are swing voters. He received his law degree from Syracuse University in 1968 and he earned a bachelor's from -- or BA from the University of Delaware in 1965. Biden is married and has three children.
HOLMES: Well, a lot of people expecting to be the first to know with those text messages the Obama campaign was supposed to send out. However, sorry, the best political team on television beat you to the punch there, broke the story overnight last night.
Our reporters are all over the story again this morning. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider, he's at the Democratic convention site in Denver, our Jessica Yellin there in the middle in Springfield, Illinois for today's rally and our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley standing by for us in Chicago.
So, we will start, however, with Bill Schneider, who's out in Denver for us. Bill, a lot of people might recognize the name, Joe Biden. A lot of people might even recognize the face. He's been in Washington a long time. He's always a regular on a lot of the Sunday morning talk shows, but a lot of people still may not know a whole lot about him.
SCHNEIDER: Well, they're going to find out real soon. Change and experience, that's the ticket.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): What does Joe Biden bring to the ticket? The ability to speak knowledgeably about issues like these.
BIDEN: What's going on in Pakistan this very moment as I speak to you, what's going on in the subcontinent overall, the Korean peninsula, China, Hugo Chavez rewriting the constitution to make himself the leader for life in the de-democratization of Latin America, ladies and gentlemen there's a great deal at stake.
SCHNEIDER: Biden is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He's been in the Senate 36 years. He knows Washington, he knows the world, two areas where Barack Obama's credentials are a little weak and he's from Delaware, Delaware? Just three electoral votes, pretty reliably Democratic.
How does Biden help Obama politically? Biden is a Catholic. Catholics are swing voters. He has roots in Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania is a swing state, one that Obama lost to Hillary Clinton in the primaries.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Joe Biden can immediately put to rest any fears people mighty have about Barack Obama's lack of foreign policy experience. Also, he can really appeal to these working class, white voters in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and even Michigan.
SCHNEIDER: Biden talks a great deal, sometimes saying things he shouldn't say.
BIDEN: I mean, you got the first sort of mainstream African- American who is articulate and bright and clean and nice looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.
PRESTON: Joe Biden can be long winded and in the past he has had to go back and apologize for some of the statements that he's made.
SCHNEIDER: Can Biden control his tendency to say too much? He certainly is trying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An editorial in the "Los Angeles Times" said in addition to his uncontrolled verbosity, Biden is a gaffe machine. Can you reassure voters in this country you would have the discipline you would need on the world stage, senator?
BIDEN: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Biden has held two of the most important jobs in Washington, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That might be reassuring to voters who worry about Obama's inexperience in national and world affairs. T.J. HOLMES: All right. Our Bill Schneider for us there in Denver this morning, where the Democratic National Convention kicks off on Monday. We appreciate you Bill. See you again soon.
NGUYEN: One-time rivals, now partners, when running for president himself, Biden questioned Barack Obama's readiness to hold the top office in the land. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were asked is he ready? You said I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.
BIDEN: I think I stand by the statement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, anticipation over Obama's choice reached a feverish pitch over the past few days. In a CBS interview that aired yesterday morning, Obama talked about what he looked for in choosing a running mate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Obviously the most important question is, is this person prepared to be president. Second most important question from my perspective is, can this person help me govern? Are they going to be an effective partner in creating the kind of economic opportunity here at home and guiding us through some dangerous waters internationally.
And the third criteria for me, I think, was independence. I want somebody who is going to be able to challenge my thinking and not simply be a yes person when it comes to policy making.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So we want to talk more now about the pick there with Joe Biden and joining us for that is senior political correspondent Candy Crowley who is live in Chicago. Candy, when it comes to Joe Biden, it seems like he fills a lot of voids there on the Obama ticket.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, he does. I think if you look back at that interview and you superimpose Joe Biden over it, you have a match. Clearly, what they wanted was exactly what he -- what Obama just articulated and in fact, Joe Biden fits those things. They're not best buddies. They were not that close in the Senate, but I can tell you, when the Obama team was up on Capitol Hill, they heard an awful lot about Joe Biden.
There were many people behind this pick up on Capitol Hill when they were asked. He is well respected up there. They thought, in fact, that someone with the sort of credentials that Biden had would be an assuring quality on this ticket. So that certainly is one of the things that pushed the Obama team toward looking at Joe Biden.
Now, we saw the debate where he said, yes, he didn't think that Obama was ready to be president. This happens all the time especially when you're picking a former rival. I remember when Reagan picked George Bush, George Bush, the first Bush, Bush had criticized Ronald Reagan as having voodoo economics and that thing plagued him all the way through the campaign. People say, well you said that the economics you're now defending were voodoo economics.
So, we will hear a lot about well, you said that Barack Obama wasn't experienced, but I think you saw Biden begin to make that turn earlier when he said, well, we have someone with judgment and that is a classic theme from the Obama campaign. It's not so much the experience and time in the Washington, but that Obama has judgment and we have seen Joe Biden already get on board that particular line.
NGUYEN: Does Biden need to come out today at 3:00 p.m. Eastern when he steps on stage with Obama and really speak firmly about what he has said in the past and lay that to rest, because as you mentioned he said Obama is not ready. He also said the presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.
CROWLEY: I think you will hear subtle things. I think, obviously, you will hear praise for Barack Obama. I don't think directly that he will bring that up in the speech simply because it's not the time for it. I think that will be more a question than it will be something of Joe Biden kind of on the defensive about it.
Again, he is going to come out and he's going to say, this is the man with the judgment. This is the man who can bring about a whole new era in foreign policy. I have been, again, looking back at kind of the clues, what we know is that Barack Obama did make his final judgment on who he would like to be number two while he was in Hawaii and as we all know on the first day of that Hawaiian trip, Russia went into Georgia and this certainly sort of highlighted, put John McCain in the lead of all the papers, of all the broadcasts, because, obviously, John McCain is seen as so vastly experienced in foreign policy.
Meanwhile, Obama was on vacation, looked at first hesitant when he made his first statement, so it is interesting to me that that final decision was made in a period of time when the world was reminded that they are uncertain times.
NGUYEN: And on that same note, you think if the polls weren't so tight right now between Obama and McCain, that he might have picked someone different.
CROWLEY: Boy, I don't know. I think there were a lot of ways he could go. We'd discussed before that this is a campaign that has said, I'm about change. I'm about getting rid of the way that Washington does business and then you pick a man who's been in Washington for 35 years. On the other hand, you do as you heard Obama say, need somebody that can walk into that job, if he needs to. Certainly Joe Biden fits that.
So, you can't have everything on a ticket. This turns out just to be a judgment call as to what you think strengthens your ticket and by the way, what you think strengthens your ability to be president, should you get there.
NGUYEN: Senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, as always, we do appreciate your insight.
HOLMES: All right. As we've been mentioning, Obama/Biden will make their first rally appearance today in Springfield, Illinois. Jessica Yellin is the first to arrive. She's there in Springfield live this morning for us, rally not expected for several more hours, five, six, seven hours that this thing is going to happen, but you're there.
Tell us what we are expecting to see, another big rally, another big event with thousands of people there to see Barack Obama and now Joe Biden?
YELLIN: This is a little more of an intimate setting. You'll probably have maybe 2,000 people here, max. That kind of size I'm guessing, but it is going to be a packed crowd, people already talking and buzzing about it in town here. We are in the location where Barack Obama announced he would be running for president back in 2007. This is also a historic site.
Not only is it the place where Barack Obama started his legislative career because it's the old state capital of Springfield here in Illinois, this particular site is also where Abraham Lincoln served as a state legislator briefly and in a building across the street from me, you can't see it on camera, but it's where Abraham Lincoln wrote his first inaugural address in the back room of one of his old law offices.
So, there are a lot of nods to history here. Abraham Lincoln, obviously, a transcendent historic figure who appealed in a bipartisan way these days, was a man when he became president who had served very few years in government. He was a man of little government experience, so a parallel there with Barack Obama.
Let me tell you what we think we're going to see. Both Obama and Biden on the stage and it strikes me that one of the criticisms of Obama has been that while he can do very well in huge crowds with his soaring rhetoric, sometimes he doesn't come across as warm in smaller crowds and Joe Biden's the opposite.
Joe Biden is one of those people when had he's on a stage, he's like a guy just talking to you. He's -- he kind of exudes warmth and I think that he'll pose an interesting contrast to Barack Obama. It will be interesting to see them together. The big question is, can Joe Biden stick to the script. He's had some trouble by wandering off it in the past. We heard some of his gaffes in Bill Schneider's script a few minutes ago.
But T.J., I will tell you that I spoke, I connected with a top Obama adviser this morning who says they feel he handled himself with great discipline during this whole process by staying so quiet, that he was very disciplined on the campaign trail and has even gotten better on the morning talk shows, so clearly they are quite enthused. They think he will be an aggressive attack dog on their behalf and they're very hopeful that he won't stray too far from the printed text.
HOLMES: Yes. An aggressive but a tamed and trained attack dog, if you will. We will see how he handles that. Jessica Yellin for us, we'll be checking in with you again. Thank you so much.
NGUYEN: And as Jessica just reminded us, we are -- we are going to be hearing from both Barack Obama and Joe Biden as they appear together in Springfield, Illinois. That live coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
In the meantime though, John McCain has wasted no time reacting to Obama's VP announcement.
HOLMES: No time. We're not kidding. We're going to show you a new TV ad that his campaign delivered to us at our Washington bureau.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: We do have breaking news this morning and that being Barack Obama picks Delaware Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate. The bumper stickers are on their way folks. Obama and Biden will appear together at a rally in Springfield, Illinois, 3:00 p.m. Eastern and we will take you there live.
So in the meantime though, what do we know about U.S. Senator Joe Biden from Delaware? Well, he's 65-years-old. He was elected to the Senate in 1972. He comes with 35 years of experience. He's the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and he is going to address the Democratic convention Wednesday night. He also ran for president in 1988 and of course, in this election year.
HOLMES: All right. It became official around 3:00 in the morning Eastern time. We all got the text message. How long do you think it will be before McCain comes out with a TV ad criticizing the Biden --
NGUYEN: I know that answer. It took less than an hour because we got it at our bureau in Washington, delivered to the doorstep.
HOLMES: Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does Barack Obama's running mate say about Barack Obama?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were asked is he ready. You said I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.
BIDEN: I think that I stand by the statement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what does he say about John McCain?
BIDEN: I would be honored to run with or against John McCain because I think the country would be better off.
MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approved this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Didn't take much time at all. So what about McCain's running mate? When is he going to reveal it? Do we have to be sitting around, waiting on a text message to come across or do we have to come into work early or anything like that?
The last thing we heard from the McCain camp is that he will actually make his announcement on August 29th in the battleground state of Ohio. That's the day after the Democratic convention ends. It's also going to be McCain's 72nd birthday. I tease there, but still he's just doing it a different way than Obama is doing it, but he's going to make an official announcement and we think we will know when it will be on that day after the convention.
NGUYEN: So you have been notified, don't have to wait on that 3:00 a.m. wake-up call.
The white powder mailed to the Denver campaign office of Senator John McCain, today Marc Ramsey, he is facing charges for it. He's already in jail in Colorado on other charges. Investigators haven't yet identified the powder, but they say it's not anthrax or anything deadly. McCain campaign staffers got a package with a threatening letter and that white powdery substance on Thursday.
In the meantime, we are following another big story for you and it's the storm that just keeps on coming back. Tropical storm Fay making its fourth landfall in Florida, but I think sixth overall.
HOLMES: It hit May 2 in Cuba as well. Reynolds Wolf is tracking this thing. He says we might actually get up to a seventh landfall. There he is. He is keeping an eye on Fay as he has been doing all day for us and really all week and he's going to tell us where she's headed next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It is official. That guy on the right, Senator Joe Biden, well on the left now, Joe Biden of Delaware is now the number two for Senator Barack Obama. He has been tapped and it is official now. Obama letting us know he made his decision a few days ago, however didn't become official until today.
We are keeping an eye on a couple of places and a couple of things happening today. One, we're keeping an eye outside of his home, Joe Biden's home, in Delaware. Well, there's a vehicle. That doesn't mean a whole lot to us right now, but reporters there have been staked outside of his home, have been scrambling at any little ounce of movement that's happened there.
But waiting for him to be -- believe he's there, waiting for him to be taken to the airport, where he will then go to Springfield, Illinois, where we will see the first Obama/Biden rally which will happen there in the state house in Springfield, Illinois, the same place where Barack Obama launched his campaign over a year and a half ago now. But we are all over the story keeping you up to date on every move that is made in the VP stakes.
NGUYEN: We do have this news to bring to you today, just three pounds, six ounces, he captured our hearts. Today, there is some sad news that New York's miracle baby has died. He was delivered by c- section after a terrible bus accident trapped his mom. You may remember these pictures. Bystanders actually came together to lift the five ton school bus off of her. She died about an hour after he was born. He was two months premature and had been in intensive care.
There are also some new developments this morning on that deadly plane crash in Spain. A source close to the investigation says the plane was not on fire as it took off from Madrid airport on Wednesday. Instead, it lifted slightly into the air, fell back to the ground and then caught fire. One hundred fifty three people aboard were killed. Only 80 bodies, though, have been recovered from the wreckage and they've been identified. Nineteen people though did survive and are still in the hospital this morning.
HOLMES: We turn now to tropical storm Fay. Reynolds, record- breaking storm we're keeping an eye on now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Busy day for you, busy day for politics as well, Reynolds.
HOLMES: And it was a busy night for John King. He was the first and CNN was the first with the news about Barack Obama's running mate.
NGUYEN: And we've got more on Joe Biden joining the Democratic ticket, like how it all went down. Stay tuned for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
