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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Over A Million People Evacuate Eastern Coast of Florida; Interview with Rudy Guiliani; 3 French Journalist Hostages Released To Sunni Group

Aired September 02, 2004 - 17:00   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.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now. Getting out. This is a live picture of a clogged Florida interstate. More than a million people make their way for what could be a deadly hurricane.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

Danger offshore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're really focused people here on keeping people alive and safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: As Hurricane Frances heads for Florida, a mass exodus heads inland.

Unveiling his promise. The president prepares to share his four- year plan. I'll talk with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senate majority leader Bill Frist.

Escape from terror. New progress and new setbacks in a hostage horror story.

And keynote combat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ZELL MILLER (D), GEORGIA: Our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander-in-chief!

WOLF: Correct me if I'm wrong. You seem very angry.

MILLER: Me angry? No, no, not angry. I'm sorry if I gave that appearance.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: ... just this angry, angry rhetoric about Senator Kerry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Did the zealous effort help or hurt the Republicans?

ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, live from the Republican national convention in New York. BLITZER: Hello from Madison Square Garden. We're just a few hours away from what may be the most important speech George W. Bush has ever delivered. Will he persuade voters to do for him what they refused to do for his father, namely, keep him on the job for four more years?

Going into tonight's speech, another indication of just how tight the race is. A new American Research Group poll shows John Kerry leading President Bush by two points among registered voters nationwide. Among likely voters, Bush is ahead of Kerry by 1 percentage point, all these numbers well within the poll's sampling error, meaning, in effect, a statistical dead heat. This survey was taken before Zell Miller and Dick Cheney's speeches here at the Republican convention last night.

We'll have much more on politics and the president's acceptance speech. That's coming up later tonight.

But first we turn our attention to brand-new information just out about a major storm threatening Florida. It's big, it's powerful, and it's approaching the state's east coast right now. Hurricane Frances is about the size of the state of Texas. For the latest weather forecast, we turn to our meteorologist, Dave Hennen. He's at the CNN Center in Atlanta -- Dave.

DAVE HENNEN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks, Wolf. We do have the latest numbers from the National Hurricane Center. Still a very dangerous hurricane is Frances. The eye of the storm just passed over San Salvador Island, which, interesting enough, that's where Christopher Columbus first landed. They just reported sustained winds of 114 miles per hour and higher gusts, so this is a very dangerous hurricane. The latest numbers we have from the National Hurricane Center as of the 5:00 PM advisory, still a category 4. The wind speed's down a bit. Wind's down to 140 miles per hour. Still, though, a strong category 4.

And the forecast track pretty much unchanged. It appears like it's going to head over the Bahamas. You can see the time, the wind speed. And it looks like a landfall somewhere along the Florida coastline sometime during the early morning hours on Saturday. That's our best guess now, somewhere on the central Florida coast.

This is a very large hurricane, though, remember, and so don't focus on exactly where landfall is. This is going to affect a large area. Hurricane warnings are in effect for all the Bahamas, and they extend from Flagler Beach southwards to south of Miami, as well, hurricane watches back toward the central Keys. So we're not out of the woods yet, certainly, as this very dangerous storm approaches.

Look how big it is. This is kind of an interesting product, a forecast radar image showing what will happen through tomorrow morning. And see how big this storm is, as it moves into Florida? It will cover the state with high winds, heavy rains. We could see hurricane-force winds into Orlando, into Tampa, and eventually, this storm will move into Georgia and Alabama, Wolf.

BLITZER: Dave Hennen, thanks very much for that update.

It's been very tense, as our viewers probably suspect, especially in eastern Florida, where residents and authorities are bracing for the worst. Roadways already clogged. Hotels are filling up. Vendors say they're running out of emergency supplies. Much of the coast is under a hurricane warning, and mandatory evacuation orders have already been put into effect in several counties.

CNN's John Zarrella, who's been covering hurricanes for many years, joining us now live with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there is a calm before the storm, this is the only place you'll find it, flying high over Frances in a hurricane-hunter plane. At ground level, the frenzy has already hit Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You cannot put this off. You cannot delay. It is not time to hope, it's time to act.

ZARRELLA: From the Keys to Miami to just north of Daytona Beach, people are gassing up and getting out. Mandatory evacuations are posted for most of the state's East Coast, leaving major interstate like I-95 clogged. The area on notice is more than 300 miles long. That's more than one million people searching for safety, rushing for plywood, and praying there will be no sequel to Hurricane Charley, which caused damage that still has gone unrepaired in many areas, like this Daytona home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't wish to have two storms of this magnitude hit our state in a three-week period.

ZARRELLA: In fact, two category 4 hurricanes have never hit the United States in the same year since forecasters have kept track.

Keeping track from space, you get a sense of just how big Frances is, roughly the size of Texas. It's two to three times larger than Hurricane Charley and larger than the notorious Hurricane Andrew that devastated South Florida in 1992. It was directly blamed for 26 deaths and more than $26 billion in damage. CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And you can log on to cnn.com/hurricanes for Frances's projected path, links to emergency information and tips on what you should do in a hurricane. We'll have more on the hurricane story. That's coming up.

But there's a developing story we're also following out of Iraq. Two French journalists taken hostage by Islamic militants there on August 20 have been handed over to an Iraqi Sunni Muslim opposition group that favors their release. The news comes after three French Muslim clerics arrived in Baghdad to begin diplomatic talks to help gain the men's freedom. Now back to tonight's big event here at the Republican national convention. In just a few hours, George W. Bush will face thousands of delegates gathered here and a primetime national television audience around the country and, indeed, people all over the world will be watching. It's round two for him. The podium is going to be at center stage on the floor here at Madison Square Garden. They've rebuilt it overnight so he can walk out.

The president's goal: encourage a nation perhaps as deeply divided as it was four years ago to return him to the White House for another four years.

Joining us now with a preview of the president's speech, our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley -- Candy.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is arguably a very important speech for the president, certainly the most important speech of this convention. Everything up to now has been drum roll. Here's what we are told. About 50 percent on the war on terrorism and Iraq and about 50 percent on domestic issues.

On the first score, the president will talk about Iraq in what sounds like at least a subtle pushback on charges that he has maintained a arrogant and reckless foreign policy. Bush will say, according to some of the quotes that have been released by the White House, "We have fought the terrorists across the earth, not for pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are at stake."

Aides talk now about the "liberty agenda." I know you can see over my shoulder those Statue of Liberties, so that's the thematic part of Bush's speech tonight. He will talk on the domestic issue, aides say, about, quote, "what he cares most about." Another excerpt: "Many of our most fundamental systems -- the tax code, health coverage, pension plans, worker training -- were created for the world of yesterday, not tomorrow. We will transform these systems so that all citizens are equipped, prepared and thus truly free to make your own choices and pursue your own dreams."

So again, the "liberty agenda." But this is not just about substance, Wolf, it is also about style. You mentioned this kind of theater in the round. The White House thinks that the president feels more comfortable in this kind of setting. What they would like to do is remind people of the George Bush, the compassionate conservative, that came to office in 2000. As you know, over the past several months, he has been portrayed as harsh, rough and tumble. What they'd like to do tonight is remind people what they looked about George Bush in the first place -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Candy Crowley on the floor for us here at Madison Square Garden. Thanks.

John Edwards came out fighting today, blasting last night's Republican attacks on John Kerry as over the top and simply false. Edwards says the verbal assaults by Dick Cheney are more examples of a White House refusing to talk about people who've lost jobs and health care. CNN's Joe Johns is with the Kerry campaign and has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Kerry spent part of his last day on vacation out on a boat, taking in the sights off the shores of Nantucket, but his campaign was very busy slamming the Bush administration on jobs and economy. They are hitting the road tonight, headed to Ohio, the all-important battleground state. They also have a new ad going up there, also talking about jobs and the economy. It's scheduled to start airing tomorrow. Senator John Edwards, the running mate, is expected to meet up with Kerry in Ohio.

Earlier today, Edwards talked about what he expects from the Bush speech tonight.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Now he's got a record. He's got a record. We're going to see what he says tonight, how it compares to what he's actually done over the last four years.

JOHNS: So the candidates and their spouses are all expected to meet up tonight in Ohio for that midnight rally scheduled just about an hour after the president is expected to finish his speech in New York. After that, they go their separate ways to Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan. It's all expected to culminate on Monday with front-porch events in virtually all the battleground states. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Joe Johns, thanks very much.

Tracking Frances. You'll hear directly from the National Hurricane Center this hour. We're standing by for that. Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Thank God that George Bush is our president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president's plan. Hear from two of his biggest supporters, the former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, and the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist. They're here at the convention. They'll join me live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILLER: No pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Zealous Democrat. Will the Georgia senator's attacks on his own party help or hurt the Republicans?

Attention diverted. How outside events may affect the president's message tonight. We'll have details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Still fairly empty here at Madison Square Garden, but shortly, it will be packed. A lot of Republicans will inside, getting ready to hear the president of the United States.

Joining us now with his take on what the president must do tonight, the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist. Thanks very much, Senator, for joining us.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: Great, Wolf. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

BLITZER: We've heard a lot about the war on terrorism, Iraq, we haven't heard much about jobs, the economy. These are the issues that a lot of Americans are deeply worried about.

FRIST: And that's the goal tonight. And I think we've seen (ph) the last three days with a pretty good framing of the debate, a framing of the contrast. Obviously, Zell did, I thought, a great job last night.

BLITZER: You didn't think he went over the top?

FRIST: No, I didn't. And remember that Zell, like me, in part -- I sit in the United States Senate every day with John Kerry. Zell sits not just in the Senate, but he sits in the caucus, and he sees John Kerry, not just the policy votes, which we can all look at and which people will look at the next 60 days, but he sees the subtle side of John Kerry. He sees him in action, and I think that really hasn't been talked about very much.

BLITZER: Well, what does that mean exactly?

FRIST: Well, it really means you get to know somebody, not just what they say, even just at conventions, as important as it is. Where you really get to know somebody is watch them, watch their judgment, how they make decisions. And...

BLITZER: But he depicted him as someone who's a pacifist, a wimp, someone who really hates America.

FRIST: Well, all I can say is the thing what Zell Miller has, even more than I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the United States Senate, is that closeness. He's in the caucus. He's in there five days a week, sitting in the next -- in that room with John Kerry. So I think the American people will listen because of that closeness, that intimacy with John Kerry, and will at least listen to what he says. And then they have to make their decisions.

BLITZER: He was very, very angry. And a lot of people think he was almost like Pat Buchanan in the '92 convention, which alienated a lot of voters.

FRIST: Well, I know a lot of people have tried to sort of look at it that way. We won't really know for, I think, a few days. He didn't come across that way to me. He came across upset, discouraged. The fact that his party has left him and John Kerry has stayed with his party as it's moved to the left is very disappointing to him. And I looked at it more as being hurt.

BLITZER: We've been asking our viewers to get some e-mails to us on issues that they want answered by guests like you. Let me read a couple of them. "What the president needs to do tonight" -- this is from Trina. "Bush needs to show me a plan of action to help alleviate the deficit while providing jobs for those who are not working. He also needs to establish health care and retirement plans and improve conditions here in America before concerning himself with policing the world."

I'm sure a lot of your constituents believe the same thing.

FRIST: I think the e-mail is exactly right. We spent three days framing the debate. Now the president has to show how he's going to move us forward. And it means health care, which obviously means a lot to me, it means jobs and the economy, which have been built up to tonight. It's been mentioned a lot, but it hasn't been addressed head-on. It means addressing education, A lot of the issues -- and this is what the president has to do, is touch people...

BLITZER: Are you worried about the jobs numbers that are coming out tomorrow morning?

FRIST: Oh, I don't know. I don't know what they're going to be. And I've talked to a lot of people. I think the fundamentals of our economy today, if you tall to Alan Greenspan, if you talk to so many economists -- I was at the New York Stock Exchange today, asked him that question. The fundamentals of our custody are good. The American people, because they don't feel that good about jobs yet, recognize a few days (ph) it's going to be up or down, up or down, but the fundamentals are good. And the president will address that tonight.

BLITZER: The deficit, though, is a real big problem.

FRIST: Deficit is a -- its a really challenge, but if you have that growing economy because of the tax cuts, because of the jobs and growth package of the president in the past -- and he'll talk about that tonight -- the deficit will take care of itself, as long as we in Congress restrain that spending over a period of time.

BLITZER: Senator, I know you got to go. Thanks for spending a few moments with us.

FRIST: Wolf, great to be with you. Thank you so much.

BLITZER: Appreciate it.

FRIST: Appreciate it. Thank you. BLITZER: What does President Bush have to do on the issue of values to win the election? You can submit your thoughts at cnn.com/wolf. We'll read some of your comments here tomorrow.

A former mayor delivering one strong message to voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: And since September 11, President Bush has remained rock-solid!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Up next, I'll speak live with Rudy Giuliani.

Plus that monster storm. More than one million people told to leave their homes in Florida. We'll have a live update with the latest information from the National Hurricane Center. That's coming up.

And developments out of Russia. Loud explosions heard near that school where hundreds of children are being held hostage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're back at the Republican national convention here in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Joining us now with his take on the president's important speech tonight and other convention issues, the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani.

Mr. Mayor, thanks very much for joining us.

GIULIANI: Hi, Wolf.

BLITZER: You delivered a speech that was very well received here the other night, pretty positive. You had your little attacks, snide attacks at John Kerry. But did Zell Miller go over the top a bit last night?

GIULIANI: No, he didn't! I don't think he did. Look, he feels very, very strongly about what he's saying. The man has been a Democrat all his life. He's supporting a Republican because he seems to be fed up with both his party's leadership and, in particular, with John Kerry's unwillingness to support defense programs. And that's just true. John Kerry...

BLITZER: but as a politician, though, are you concerned that the anger that millions of people saw on his face last night could wind up turning off voters, as opposed to bringing them into the Republican Party?

GIULIANI: Maybe if it was a Republican doing it. Maybe if I gave that speech or John McCain or Arnold Schwarzenegger or...

BLITZER: I don't think any of the three of you could have given a speech like that. GIULIANI: What if -- but it's a Democrat doing it. I mean, it's a Democrat saying, I'm fed up. I mean, I sat with this man in the Senate. I watched him vote against every weapons program that I thought was necessary and valuable for the country, and I'm very concerned that a man like that would be president of the United States. I can see the -- you know, the reason why he would feel angry. And I think because he's a Democrat, it doesn't really reflect on our party. It isn't -- he's not expressing our feelings.

BLITZER: Well...

GIULIANI: He's expressing the feelings of some Democrats who feel, We just can't follow this man.

BLITZER: There is a Republican who's here who's running for the U.S. Senate from the state of Illinois, Alan Keyes. He's a Republican, and he had some words that many people believe certainly went over the top when he referred to gays and lesbians as "selfish hedonists," including Mary Cheney, the daughter of the vice president of the United States. What do you -- what do you make of that?

GIULIANI: I haven't heard that. I mean, I haven't heard -- I haven't heard those statements. And obviously, that's not the way to describe anybody or anything, but I really -- it would be unfair to comment because I haven't heard his...

BLITZER: But knowing what you know...

GIULIANI: ... his statement.

BLITZER: ... about Alan Keyes, is he an embarrassment to the Republican Party?

GIULIANI: I wouldn't say that about Alan Keyes, the person. I would say those statements, if he made them, would be. And those obviously don't reflect the views of the Republican Party. I mean, Dick Cheney and his wife made it very clear how they feel about their daughter. They have every right to feel that way. and I -- you know, I share those views with them.

BLITZER: You've always been supportive of gay rights...

GIULIANI: Right.

BLITZER: ... and a lot of other issues -- abortion rights for women -- that not necessarily all Republicans support. Why is it -- and explain this to me. And I'm a New Yorker, originally, from Buffalo, New York -- why is it that you have a Republican governor, a Republican mayor, a former Republican mayor, but this state, by almost all accounts, is not even up for grabs for the Republican presidential candidate?

GIULIANI: Well, because, I -- you know, this is -- like California, this is a place where, if you're a Republican, the kind of Republican that's going to win statewide is going to what you would describe as a moderate Republican -- fiscally conservative, conservative on law enforcement and national defense, but moderate on social issues, like Arnold Schwarzenegger or George Pataki. I don't think you could find much difference between Arnold Schwarzenegger's positions and George Pataki's or probably mine.

BLITZER: So what you're suggesting is the president's not a moderate Republican?

GIULIANI: No, I think that -- the president -- the president's appeal to the base of the Republican Party is very, very strong, and the president has tremendous outreach. And I think the president has a chance of winning in this state. I think there's a chance that the president could win New York. Now, if he did, it would be a nice big win. It wouldn't be a close win. But the president has a chance of winning New York. I think he's got a good chance of winning Pennsylvania. I've been there twice in the last four weeks. The races could be even, actually. So if that happens -- if Pennsylvania happens, then I'd start to encourage the campaign to spend a lot more time in New York. Then we'd have a chance here.

BLITZER: The only time they really come to New York is when they want to raise money, but that's another story.

GIULIANI: And you know -- and you know, Ronald Reagan won New York twice, and you'd have to describe Ronald Reagan as a pretty darned conservative Republican.

BLITZER: On the issue of abortion rights, a lo of women, and some men, have said to me they're concerned if the president is reelected, he'll appoint Supreme Court Justices who oppose abortion rights for women, and that could turn -- set back the clock for women who support abortion rights for years to come.

GIULIANI: I don't think that anybody's going to set anything back. I think that's unrealistic kind of political argument that's made. I think the president's going to appoint good judges. He's going to appoint judges who interpret the Constitution fairly. I mean, that -- that's not...

BLITZER: It's a pretty evenly divided Court right now, as you know.

GIULIANI: There's no real sentiment to overturn Roe against Wade, and that's -- I don't think that's -- that's a real issue. I think...

BLITZER: Now, you would...

GIULIANI: It's the law...

BLITZER: You would oppose that?

GIULIANI: Yes. It's the law of the land. It's the accepted law of the land. I don't see any real issue there. I think it's more or less kind of a Democratic tactic, like they used to use Social Security, to kind of frighten people. You know, it works with some people. BLITZER: Are you going to run for president in 2008?

GIULIANI: I have no idea, Wolf, what I'm going to do in 2008!

(LAUGHTER)

We got to get out of 2004 first. I mean, this election -- you know, I -- a lot of the Republicans here, because the convention has gone so well, feel now that we're going to get a big bounce. And I'd just like to be cautious about it. This is going to be a very close election and, you know, we can't take anything for granted. We got to concentrate on 2004.

BLITZER: As they used to say, a win is a win is a win is a win. That's what they used to say.

GIULIANI: It is, but you know, you got to get it first.

BLITZER: That's right.

GIULIANI: You can't be looking beyond the playoffs to the World Series. You may never get there.

BLITZER: Rudy Giuliani, thanks very much for joining us.

GIULIANI: All right. Thanks.

BLITZER: And we got some reaction from Democrats, a very different view. Just ahead, I'll speak live with the retired U.S. general, Navy -- U.S. general Wesley Clark, the former NATO supreme allied commander.

And also our top story. More than 1 million people ordered to flee the Florida coast as a powerful hurricane, Hurricane Frances, approaches. We'll have a live update from the National Hurricane Center on a major hurricane.

New reports on the president's National Guard service way back in the early '70s and more. Will they draw attention away from his convention speech tonight?

School stand-off. Hundreds still being held hostage. An update on negotiations. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's a storm about the size of Texas. Forecasters say Hurricane Frances could potentially be even more dangerous than Hurricane Charley and wetter than the 1992 Hurricane Andrew, all because of its enormous size.

By noon, northbound traffic on parts of Interstate 95 started backing up. More than a million coastal residents have been ordered to flee. And that includes the entire city of Miami Beach. Those who are staying are boarding up their homes and businesses and hoping for the best, but officials say those efforts might not withstand a direct hit and a storm surge, a storm surge of 15 feet or more.

Several things could draw attention from the president's address tonight at the Republican National Convention. Other events, other events in the news cycle seem to be competing with the president's message.

Here's CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An informal rehearsal for a carefully crafted mental. Campaign officials tell us the president will hit on optimistic themes, transforming government to help families with health care, pensions and worker training, highlighting progress made in Iraq and Afghanistan, words, gestures, timing, everything planned in detail. But will the targeted audience be as captive as the campaign hopes?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Bush's message is, these are dangerous times. You need a strong, resolute leader, but there are events out there that could happen that could just step on that message.

TODD: This evening, while Mr. Bush ticks off his accomplishments and lays out his vision for the future, hundreds of thousands of potential voters in the coveted state of Florida will be evacuating ahead of Hurricane Frances. Others will be watching local news.

And his own brother, who he's again counting on to deliver the state, has his hands full.

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: This is a serious storm. And so when your leaders tell you to evacuate, and they will be telling you to evacuate low-lying areas, mobile home communities and if you have special needs, you need to heed their call.

TODD: Another important story which may distract viewers in two key battleground states and might flatten any potential post- convention bounce, the monthly employment numbers to be announced Friday, along with production cuts at GM and Ford.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: That will roll back not just through Michigan, but through auto suppliers in Ohio.

TODD: And on the heels of the anti-Kerry swift boat ads, two news items regarding President Bush's National Guard service. One involves the man who managed the Alabama Senate campaign that Bush worked on in 1972 after transferring from Texas to the Alabama Air National Guard. Today, the man's widow tells Salon.com it was her impression that Bush's family wanted to get him out of Texas because he was getting into trouble. The widow tells CNN she never saw any sign that Bush was in the National Guard at the time.

And a week from Sunday, "60 Minutes" is reportedly airing a story on how Bush got into the Texas Air National Guard at the height of the Vietnam War, a piece focusing on former Texas Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes.

BEN BARNES, FORMER TEXAS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: I got a young man named George W. Bush in the National Guard when I was lieutenant governor of Texas, and I'm not necessarily proud of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Now, we contacted "60 Minutes" and they would not confirm the Barnes interview. A Bush campaign official tells CNN that Barnes has no credibility and he's changed his story every times.

As for tonight, the campaign is confident the president's speech will dominate the news cycle and not be superseded by other events -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd, thanks very much.

Let's get back to that top story we've been following, the monster storm approaching Florida. Let's get the latest update on Hurricane Frances.

Max Mayfield is the director of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Florida. He's joining us now with the latest information.

Mr. Mayfield, thanks very much. What is it?

MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, Wolf, the eye is actually passing over San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. About an half a hour ago, they reported a sustained wind of 120 miles per hour. This is still a very powerful category 4 hurricane, capable of causing extreme damage and considerable loss of life if people don't go ahead and make those preparations.

BLITZER: When do we expect the first effects of this hurricane to start impacting Florida?

MAYFIELD: Well, these outer rain bands will spread out on to southeast part of the coast tomorrow afternoon. We'll probably get tropical storm force winds in some of those outer bands. They will dissipate. New bands will form.

So I think, by tomorrow night, conditions will start going down and then it is going to slow down even more as it continues to move over the Florida Peninsula over the next couple days.

BLITZER: So you think it will hit within 24 hours? Is that what you're saying?

MAYFIELD: We think that the -- we will actually feel the effects here by tomorrow afternoon, certainly by tomorrow evening. And then it is going to take a slow time Saturday and even most of the day Sunday as it moves across the Central Florida Peninsula and may well get into the Northeast and Gulf of Mexico most likely as a tropical storm by that time.

BLITZER: So, basically, because this is such a big hurricane in terms of the geography

(CROSSTALK)

MAYFIELD: I'm sorry. Wolf, I lost you.

BLITZER: Can you hear me now?

I was saying, because this is such a big hurricane, the area -- all of that coast, that eastern coast of Florida, everybody has to be prepared for it.

MAYFIELD: Right.

And, you know, just a small change in the direction of motion is the difference between the southern part of the warning area and the northern part of the warning area. And we really don't want people to make the mistake that some people made on the Florida west coast with Hurricane Charley, focusing on that skinny line. We also want to remind people that hurricanes are not just coastal events. Those strong winds and the heavy rains, especially as it slows down, the heavy rains and some isolated tornadoes will spread across the Florida Peninsula over the next couple days.

BLITZER: All right, we'll be speaking often, Dr. Max Mayfield. Thanks very much for that update.

MAYFIELD: Thank you.

BLITZER: Now the latest on another developing story we're following, that school standoff in southern Russia. Two loud explosions were heard near the school, where more than 300 children, teachers and parents are being held hostage.

Earlier, 26 women and children were freed by their captors on the second day of the standoff. Russian troops, tanks and armored vehicles surround the school. Officials say there are more than a dozen armed assailants inside. The hostage-takers are threatening to kill children if an assault is lost. They're also reportedly demanding two dozen Chechen prisoners to be released and for Russia to withdraw its forces from Chechnya.

Live coverage of the Republican National Convention just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ZELL MILLER (D), GEORGIA: Nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He fired up the Republicans, but did Democrat Zell Miller's speech last night also hurt some of the Republican cause? We'll review it and compare it to the Democrats' keynote speech in Boston. And the Democrats' response. I'll speak live with a top Kerry adviser, the former presidential candidate, retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark.

And we'll hear from a Florida delegate who's a veteran of the war in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The most fiery speech at this Republican National Convention was delivered last night by a Democrat. Convention organizers took the unusual step of having an opposition senator deliver their keynote address. The idea was to broaden the GOP base, but some critics say Senator Zell Miller's attack on his fellow Democrats was so angry, it may have had the opposite effect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Democrat Zell Miller talking about his own party.

MILLER: Our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BLITZER: Zell Miller talking about Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry:

MILLER: This is the man who wants to be the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces? U.S. forces armed with what, spitballs?

BLITZER: Miller's keynote address to the Republican National Convention was a passionate and pointed attack.

MILLER: Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator, and nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers, rather than liberators.

BLITZER: Miller's remarks came in sharp contrast to earlier convention speeches from moderate Republicans like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuliani. Miller's speech also had a very different tone from Barack Obama's more inclusive remarks during his keynote address to the Democratic Convention.

BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. In the end, that is what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?

BLITZER: Miller's red-meat speech was a feast for the Republican Party faithful gathered in Madison Square Garden. But critics compared it to Pat Buchanan's cultural war speech at the 1992 Republican Convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 1992)

PAT BUCHANAN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is a religious war going on in this country. It is a cultural war as critical to the kind of nation we shall be as the Cold War itself, but this war is for the soul of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Buchanan's '92 speech was so angry, it may have hurt the first President Bush. Some say Miller's speech was equally angry and may hurt the second President Bush.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I suspect that Zell Miller maybe in addition to helping the president with conservative Democrats in border states may also reenergize Democrats who have had a tough week or two.

BLITZER: Miller himself dismisses such talk?

MILLER: Me angry? No, no, not angry. I'm sorry if I gave that appearance.

BLITZER: But you -- you seemed so angry that there are already some suggesting that the appearance could actually backfire from the cause that you're promoting tonight...

MILLER: I'm sure probably some anchors are saying that.

BLITZER: ... and the bottom line...

(LAUGHTER)

MILLER: That's what anchors do.

BLITZER: Upcoming polls may disclose whether Miller's speech had any unintended consequences. So far, though, Republicans show no sign of being worried.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm sure glad Zell Miller is on our side.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: So what do Democrats have to say about Senator Zell Miller's speech last night?

Let's get some reaction from the retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark. He's a former Democratic presidential candidate. He's now a top Kerry campaign adviser.

What do you make about questioning the military credentials of John Kerry? WESLEY CLARK (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think Zell Miller's speech went way over the line of any accurate interpretation of John Kerry's career.

He knows better than those -- that long list of weapons systems and so forth. Look, Dick Cheney voted...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: He did oppose a lot of those weapons system earlier in his Senate career.

CLARK: Wolf, Dick Cheney, as secretary of defense, tried to kill those same weapons systems. We were going through a cutback. And everybody was searching for -- we cut the size of the armed forces 30 percent. We cut the size of the defense budget. We chopped all kinds of weapons systems down.

So I think that Zell Miller ought to have enough perspective in his position to know that there's a choice in this election. There is a choice. There are two different parties, two different candidates. One candidate's been praised for being resolute. He's the commander in chief. What he's done is, he has taken us to war with Iraq. He's resolute in wanting to go to war with Iraq. He took us to war with Iraq despite the evidence and he's staying with it.

But it wasn't a smart decision as far as winning the war on terror. In fact, the war with Iraq, as all of the evidence is starting to show and has shown, it had no connection to the war on terror.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: But you know that even Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards both voted to give him authorization to go to war.

CLARK: No, they voted to give him authorization to hold Saddam Hussein accountable in front of the United Nations, keeping the military option on the table to empower diplomacy.

What the president did with it after that, he did entirely on his own. John Kerry's been very clear. He wouldn't have done it that way. This president rushed us to war. He rushed us to war before the diplomacy was exhausted, before the inspections had been completed, before the allies were on board. We didn't have enough troops. He didn't do the planning that was required. But most fundamentally, this is the only thing that has been cited as an accomplishment of the Bush campaign.

(CROSSTALK)

CLARK: We've lost jobs. We've lost health care. We've had more people under poverty. It's not a good record.

BLITZER: General, the criticism of Senator Kerry is that he's had different positions on Iraq over the past several years, going back to the first Gulf War. He voted against that resolution. This second war.

The problem he has is to try to come up with a consistent position, because the Republicans, as you know, are hammering on the various differences in his stance.

CLARK: Well, Wolf, John Kerry's had a long and distinguished record of public service. George Bush comes up with a different position on whether you can win the war on terror every 24 hours.

So I think that when he comes back and says something that -- the press reports he's clarified his position. John Kerry's position on Iraq since the Gulf War, since Saddam Hussein entered into the agreement with the United Nations to give up his weapons of mass destruction, I think his positions have been very consistent. He's always said we should hold Saddam Hussein accountable.

BLITZER: Let me just get your specific reaction to this charge. And you spent more than 30 years in the United States military. "Our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief."

You're one of those Democrats. And I want your specific response how you felt when Zell Miller said that last night.

CLARK: Well, I think he's a man who really doesn't understand democracy.

Look, first, George Bush is the commander in chief of the United States armed forces, but he's not the commander in chief of the American people. He's not the commander in chief of our government. We have a democracy. And his conduct in the office of the presidency is subject to approval by the American people. And so the major thing he's done is take us to war, so the major thing that we're going to be talking about in this election, a lot of us, is, was that a good decision?

And was it well-executed? I think that's the duty of people in democracies, to hold their leaders accountable. It's not unpatriotic. It's the patriotic thing to do.

What we found...

BLITZER: All right.

CLARK: What we found in Vietnam, Wolf, is, the generals didn't speak out, the retired ones didn't. We are this time.

BLITZER: All right, General Clark, thanks very much for speaking out on this program.

CLARK: Thank you.

BLITZER: The war in Iraq is certainly a key issue in this presidential election. We'll meet a Florida delegate who fought in the dangerous Sunni Triangle. Here why he's supporting President Bush right now. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: All this week, our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, has been introducing us to various Republican delegates attending this convention. Today, he concludes his series with Carey Baker. He's a member of the Florida legislature, a gun shop owner and an Iraq war veteran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREENFIELD (voice-over): The Fourth of July parade, Tavares, Florida. Along with the floats, the funny cars, the beauty queens, and, of course, Uncle Sam.

CAREY BAKER, FLORIDA DELEGATE: Now, you got to smile big.

GREENFIELD: There's 41-year-old state Representative Carey Baker. For Baker, this Independence Day holds special meaning. Back in December 2002, 1st Sergeant Carey Baker said goodbye to his family and marched off with his National Guard unit to Iraq and the Sunni Triangle.

BAKER: Our job was to protect a logistic base north of Baghdad. And at the time, this base was under attack by mortar fire and rocket fire and our job was to try to reduce that threat.

BAKER: Now, that is the Benelli.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the Benelli.

BAKER: Right.

GREENFIELD: Fifteen months later, Baker is back home in central Florida, where he owns the A.W. Peterson Gun Shop.

BAKER: This is our museum, a little bit of our shop history.

GREENFIELD: He proudly shows off some relics of the shop.

BAKER: This is actually a Winchester 1873.

GREENFIELD: Along with photos of his father.

BAKER: My dad brought the shop from Denver to Mount Dora in 1952.

GREENFIELD: Leighton Baker was a Barry Goldwater delegate at the 1964 convention in San Francisco.

BAKER: He spoke about being inspired by Ronald Reagan, about the inspiration of Barry Goldwater. And those are just some of the things that sort of excited my interest in politics as a young man.

GREENFIELD: Carey Baker was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, a yellow ribbon and son Leighton kept his House seat warm during the war, until a hero's welcome home ceremony last March.

BAKER: I was able to present the governor also with an American flag that had flown in Iraq.

GREENFIELD: Now reunited with his wire, Lori, and with Leighton, Baker is running unopposed for the Florida state Senate in November. And as a first-time delegate to a Republican Convention, national politics is now front and center, as is fellow vet and fellow hunter John Kerry.

BAKER: Really, seeing John Kerry holding a shotgun, explain how he loves to hunt, to me, that doesn't jibe with his voting record. And that is an anti-gun voting record. And like a lot of issues with John Kerry, he flip-flops.

GREENFIELD: But after the requisite Democrat bashing, Baker stresses the upbeat.

BAKER: Really, this country has just offered me so many blessings that it's just a way of paying back the country. And that's one reason I also ran, was just to pay back all the freedoms and liberties that I'm allowed to live underneath and just to be a part of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All right, Jeff Greenfield reporting in our series.

And joining us now here in the Florida delegate on the convention floor is Carey Baker.

You've got a hurricane coming to Florida. You're ready to get out of here, aren't you?

BAKER: We leave in the morning and I report to my National Guard armory tomorrow afternoon.

BLITZER: You think that you're going to be there in time? Because that's moving in about 24 hours from now.

BAKER: Yes. Our flight comes in at 9:00, and the airport doesn't close until noon, so we're going to make it.

BLITZER: How do you feel here, knowing what's going on in Florida?

BAKER: Well, I'm a little anxious right now. It's been a great week, but, right now, of course, I'm looking forward to hearing the president, but I definitely need to be home.

BLITZER: Good luck to you. Good luck to all the people in Florida.

BAKER: OK. Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks very much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In case you missed it, here's an excerpt of my interview earlier today with boxing promoter and Bush supporter Don King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON KING, BOXING PROMOTER: George Walker Bush, four more years! And I think it's so tremendous to have a president who has the courage, who has the faith, who has the ability, the capability...

BLITZER: All right...

KING: ... and he fights. He's a great fighter, and I'm his promoter!

BLITZER: We got to leave it there. There's nothing else I can say.

KING: God bless America.

BLITZER: Don King, thank very much for joining us.

KING: God bless America. God bless the president. God President George Walker Bush.

BLITZER: Much more coverage coming up in the next hour. LIVE FROM, Kyra Phillips...

KING: Four more years!

BLITZER: ... Miles O'Brien standing by with that.

Miles and Kyra, go ahead.

KING: Four more years of George Walker Bush!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Nothing else I can say, except, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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 September 2, 2004 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now. Getting out. This is a live picture of a clogged Florida interstate. More than a million people make their way for what could be a deadly hurricane.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

Danger offshore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're really focused people here on keeping people alive and safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: As Hurricane Frances heads for Florida, a mass exodus heads inland.

Unveiling his promise. The president prepares to share his four- year plan. I'll talk with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senate majority leader Bill Frist.

Escape from terror. New progress and new setbacks in a hostage horror story.

And keynote combat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ZELL MILLER (D), GEORGIA: Our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander-in-chief!

WOLF: Correct me if I'm wrong. You seem very angry.

MILLER: Me angry? No, no, not angry. I'm sorry if I gave that appearance.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: ... just this angry, angry rhetoric about Senator Kerry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Did the zealous effort help or hurt the Republicans?

ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, live from the Republican national convention in New York. BLITZER: Hello from Madison Square Garden. We're just a few hours away from what may be the most important speech George W. Bush has ever delivered. Will he persuade voters to do for him what they refused to do for his father, namely, keep him on the job for four more years?

Going into tonight's speech, another indication of just how tight the race is. A new American Research Group poll shows John Kerry leading President Bush by two points among registered voters nationwide. Among likely voters, Bush is ahead of Kerry by 1 percentage point, all these numbers well within the poll's sampling error, meaning, in effect, a statistical dead heat. This survey was taken before Zell Miller and Dick Cheney's speeches here at the Republican convention last night.

We'll have much more on politics and the president's acceptance speech. That's coming up later tonight.

But first we turn our attention to brand-new information just out about a major storm threatening Florida. It's big, it's powerful, and it's approaching the state's east coast right now. Hurricane Frances is about the size of the state of Texas. For the latest weather forecast, we turn to our meteorologist, Dave Hennen. He's at the CNN Center in Atlanta -- Dave.

DAVE HENNEN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks, Wolf. We do have the latest numbers from the National Hurricane Center. Still a very dangerous hurricane is Frances. The eye of the storm just passed over San Salvador Island, which, interesting enough, that's where Christopher Columbus first landed. They just reported sustained winds of 114 miles per hour and higher gusts, so this is a very dangerous hurricane. The latest numbers we have from the National Hurricane Center as of the 5:00 PM advisory, still a category 4. The wind speed's down a bit. Wind's down to 140 miles per hour. Still, though, a strong category 4.

And the forecast track pretty much unchanged. It appears like it's going to head over the Bahamas. You can see the time, the wind speed. And it looks like a landfall somewhere along the Florida coastline sometime during the early morning hours on Saturday. That's our best guess now, somewhere on the central Florida coast.

This is a very large hurricane, though, remember, and so don't focus on exactly where landfall is. This is going to affect a large area. Hurricane warnings are in effect for all the Bahamas, and they extend from Flagler Beach southwards to south of Miami, as well, hurricane watches back toward the central Keys. So we're not out of the woods yet, certainly, as this very dangerous storm approaches.

Look how big it is. This is kind of an interesting product, a forecast radar image showing what will happen through tomorrow morning. And see how big this storm is, as it moves into Florida? It will cover the state with high winds, heavy rains. We could see hurricane-force winds into Orlando, into Tampa, and eventually, this storm will move into Georgia and Alabama, Wolf.

BLITZER: Dave Hennen, thanks very much for that update.

It's been very tense, as our viewers probably suspect, especially in eastern Florida, where residents and authorities are bracing for the worst. Roadways already clogged. Hotels are filling up. Vendors say they're running out of emergency supplies. Much of the coast is under a hurricane warning, and mandatory evacuation orders have already been put into effect in several counties.

CNN's John Zarrella, who's been covering hurricanes for many years, joining us now live with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there is a calm before the storm, this is the only place you'll find it, flying high over Frances in a hurricane-hunter plane. At ground level, the frenzy has already hit Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You cannot put this off. You cannot delay. It is not time to hope, it's time to act.

ZARRELLA: From the Keys to Miami to just north of Daytona Beach, people are gassing up and getting out. Mandatory evacuations are posted for most of the state's East Coast, leaving major interstate like I-95 clogged. The area on notice is more than 300 miles long. That's more than one million people searching for safety, rushing for plywood, and praying there will be no sequel to Hurricane Charley, which caused damage that still has gone unrepaired in many areas, like this Daytona home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't wish to have two storms of this magnitude hit our state in a three-week period.

ZARRELLA: In fact, two category 4 hurricanes have never hit the United States in the same year since forecasters have kept track.

Keeping track from space, you get a sense of just how big Frances is, roughly the size of Texas. It's two to three times larger than Hurricane Charley and larger than the notorious Hurricane Andrew that devastated South Florida in 1992. It was directly blamed for 26 deaths and more than $26 billion in damage. CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And you can log on to cnn.com/hurricanes for Frances's projected path, links to emergency information and tips on what you should do in a hurricane. We'll have more on the hurricane story. That's coming up.

But there's a developing story we're also following out of Iraq. Two French journalists taken hostage by Islamic militants there on August 20 have been handed over to an Iraqi Sunni Muslim opposition group that favors their release. The news comes after three French Muslim clerics arrived in Baghdad to begin diplomatic talks to help gain the men's freedom. Now back to tonight's big event here at the Republican national convention. In just a few hours, George W. Bush will face thousands of delegates gathered here and a primetime national television audience around the country and, indeed, people all over the world will be watching. It's round two for him. The podium is going to be at center stage on the floor here at Madison Square Garden. They've rebuilt it overnight so he can walk out.

The president's goal: encourage a nation perhaps as deeply divided as it was four years ago to return him to the White House for another four years.

Joining us now with a preview of the president's speech, our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley -- Candy.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is arguably a very important speech for the president, certainly the most important speech of this convention. Everything up to now has been drum roll. Here's what we are told. About 50 percent on the war on terrorism and Iraq and about 50 percent on domestic issues.

On the first score, the president will talk about Iraq in what sounds like at least a subtle pushback on charges that he has maintained a arrogant and reckless foreign policy. Bush will say, according to some of the quotes that have been released by the White House, "We have fought the terrorists across the earth, not for pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are at stake."

Aides talk now about the "liberty agenda." I know you can see over my shoulder those Statue of Liberties, so that's the thematic part of Bush's speech tonight. He will talk on the domestic issue, aides say, about, quote, "what he cares most about." Another excerpt: "Many of our most fundamental systems -- the tax code, health coverage, pension plans, worker training -- were created for the world of yesterday, not tomorrow. We will transform these systems so that all citizens are equipped, prepared and thus truly free to make your own choices and pursue your own dreams."

So again, the "liberty agenda." But this is not just about substance, Wolf, it is also about style. You mentioned this kind of theater in the round. The White House thinks that the president feels more comfortable in this kind of setting. What they would like to do is remind people of the George Bush, the compassionate conservative, that came to office in 2000. As you know, over the past several months, he has been portrayed as harsh, rough and tumble. What they'd like to do tonight is remind people what they looked about George Bush in the first place -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Candy Crowley on the floor for us here at Madison Square Garden. Thanks.

John Edwards came out fighting today, blasting last night's Republican attacks on John Kerry as over the top and simply false. Edwards says the verbal assaults by Dick Cheney are more examples of a White House refusing to talk about people who've lost jobs and health care. CNN's Joe Johns is with the Kerry campaign and has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Kerry spent part of his last day on vacation out on a boat, taking in the sights off the shores of Nantucket, but his campaign was very busy slamming the Bush administration on jobs and economy. They are hitting the road tonight, headed to Ohio, the all-important battleground state. They also have a new ad going up there, also talking about jobs and the economy. It's scheduled to start airing tomorrow. Senator John Edwards, the running mate, is expected to meet up with Kerry in Ohio.

Earlier today, Edwards talked about what he expects from the Bush speech tonight.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Now he's got a record. He's got a record. We're going to see what he says tonight, how it compares to what he's actually done over the last four years.

JOHNS: So the candidates and their spouses are all expected to meet up tonight in Ohio for that midnight rally scheduled just about an hour after the president is expected to finish his speech in New York. After that, they go their separate ways to Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan. It's all expected to culminate on Monday with front-porch events in virtually all the battleground states. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Joe Johns, thanks very much.

Tracking Frances. You'll hear directly from the National Hurricane Center this hour. We're standing by for that. Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Thank God that George Bush is our president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president's plan. Hear from two of his biggest supporters, the former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, and the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist. They're here at the convention. They'll join me live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILLER: No pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Zealous Democrat. Will the Georgia senator's attacks on his own party help or hurt the Republicans?

Attention diverted. How outside events may affect the president's message tonight. We'll have details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Still fairly empty here at Madison Square Garden, but shortly, it will be packed. A lot of Republicans will inside, getting ready to hear the president of the United States.

Joining us now with his take on what the president must do tonight, the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist. Thanks very much, Senator, for joining us.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: Great, Wolf. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

BLITZER: We've heard a lot about the war on terrorism, Iraq, we haven't heard much about jobs, the economy. These are the issues that a lot of Americans are deeply worried about.

FRIST: And that's the goal tonight. And I think we've seen (ph) the last three days with a pretty good framing of the debate, a framing of the contrast. Obviously, Zell did, I thought, a great job last night.

BLITZER: You didn't think he went over the top?

FRIST: No, I didn't. And remember that Zell, like me, in part -- I sit in the United States Senate every day with John Kerry. Zell sits not just in the Senate, but he sits in the caucus, and he sees John Kerry, not just the policy votes, which we can all look at and which people will look at the next 60 days, but he sees the subtle side of John Kerry. He sees him in action, and I think that really hasn't been talked about very much.

BLITZER: Well, what does that mean exactly?

FRIST: Well, it really means you get to know somebody, not just what they say, even just at conventions, as important as it is. Where you really get to know somebody is watch them, watch their judgment, how they make decisions. And...

BLITZER: But he depicted him as someone who's a pacifist, a wimp, someone who really hates America.

FRIST: Well, all I can say is the thing what Zell Miller has, even more than I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the United States Senate, is that closeness. He's in the caucus. He's in there five days a week, sitting in the next -- in that room with John Kerry. So I think the American people will listen because of that closeness, that intimacy with John Kerry, and will at least listen to what he says. And then they have to make their decisions.

BLITZER: He was very, very angry. And a lot of people think he was almost like Pat Buchanan in the '92 convention, which alienated a lot of voters.

FRIST: Well, I know a lot of people have tried to sort of look at it that way. We won't really know for, I think, a few days. He didn't come across that way to me. He came across upset, discouraged. The fact that his party has left him and John Kerry has stayed with his party as it's moved to the left is very disappointing to him. And I looked at it more as being hurt.

BLITZER: We've been asking our viewers to get some e-mails to us on issues that they want answered by guests like you. Let me read a couple of them. "What the president needs to do tonight" -- this is from Trina. "Bush needs to show me a plan of action to help alleviate the deficit while providing jobs for those who are not working. He also needs to establish health care and retirement plans and improve conditions here in America before concerning himself with policing the world."

I'm sure a lot of your constituents believe the same thing.

FRIST: I think the e-mail is exactly right. We spent three days framing the debate. Now the president has to show how he's going to move us forward. And it means health care, which obviously means a lot to me, it means jobs and the economy, which have been built up to tonight. It's been mentioned a lot, but it hasn't been addressed head-on. It means addressing education, A lot of the issues -- and this is what the president has to do, is touch people...

BLITZER: Are you worried about the jobs numbers that are coming out tomorrow morning?

FRIST: Oh, I don't know. I don't know what they're going to be. And I've talked to a lot of people. I think the fundamentals of our economy today, if you tall to Alan Greenspan, if you talk to so many economists -- I was at the New York Stock Exchange today, asked him that question. The fundamentals of our custody are good. The American people, because they don't feel that good about jobs yet, recognize a few days (ph) it's going to be up or down, up or down, but the fundamentals are good. And the president will address that tonight.

BLITZER: The deficit, though, is a real big problem.

FRIST: Deficit is a -- its a really challenge, but if you have that growing economy because of the tax cuts, because of the jobs and growth package of the president in the past -- and he'll talk about that tonight -- the deficit will take care of itself, as long as we in Congress restrain that spending over a period of time.

BLITZER: Senator, I know you got to go. Thanks for spending a few moments with us.

FRIST: Wolf, great to be with you. Thank you so much.

BLITZER: Appreciate it.

FRIST: Appreciate it. Thank you. BLITZER: What does President Bush have to do on the issue of values to win the election? You can submit your thoughts at cnn.com/wolf. We'll read some of your comments here tomorrow.

A former mayor delivering one strong message to voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: And since September 11, President Bush has remained rock-solid!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Up next, I'll speak live with Rudy Giuliani.

Plus that monster storm. More than one million people told to leave their homes in Florida. We'll have a live update with the latest information from the National Hurricane Center. That's coming up.

And developments out of Russia. Loud explosions heard near that school where hundreds of children are being held hostage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're back at the Republican national convention here in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Joining us now with his take on the president's important speech tonight and other convention issues, the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani.

Mr. Mayor, thanks very much for joining us.

GIULIANI: Hi, Wolf.

BLITZER: You delivered a speech that was very well received here the other night, pretty positive. You had your little attacks, snide attacks at John Kerry. But did Zell Miller go over the top a bit last night?

GIULIANI: No, he didn't! I don't think he did. Look, he feels very, very strongly about what he's saying. The man has been a Democrat all his life. He's supporting a Republican because he seems to be fed up with both his party's leadership and, in particular, with John Kerry's unwillingness to support defense programs. And that's just true. John Kerry...

BLITZER: but as a politician, though, are you concerned that the anger that millions of people saw on his face last night could wind up turning off voters, as opposed to bringing them into the Republican Party?

GIULIANI: Maybe if it was a Republican doing it. Maybe if I gave that speech or John McCain or Arnold Schwarzenegger or...

BLITZER: I don't think any of the three of you could have given a speech like that. GIULIANI: What if -- but it's a Democrat doing it. I mean, it's a Democrat saying, I'm fed up. I mean, I sat with this man in the Senate. I watched him vote against every weapons program that I thought was necessary and valuable for the country, and I'm very concerned that a man like that would be president of the United States. I can see the -- you know, the reason why he would feel angry. And I think because he's a Democrat, it doesn't really reflect on our party. It isn't -- he's not expressing our feelings.

BLITZER: Well...

GIULIANI: He's expressing the feelings of some Democrats who feel, We just can't follow this man.

BLITZER: There is a Republican who's here who's running for the U.S. Senate from the state of Illinois, Alan Keyes. He's a Republican, and he had some words that many people believe certainly went over the top when he referred to gays and lesbians as "selfish hedonists," including Mary Cheney, the daughter of the vice president of the United States. What do you -- what do you make of that?

GIULIANI: I haven't heard that. I mean, I haven't heard -- I haven't heard those statements. And obviously, that's not the way to describe anybody or anything, but I really -- it would be unfair to comment because I haven't heard his...

BLITZER: But knowing what you know...

GIULIANI: ... his statement.

BLITZER: ... about Alan Keyes, is he an embarrassment to the Republican Party?

GIULIANI: I wouldn't say that about Alan Keyes, the person. I would say those statements, if he made them, would be. And those obviously don't reflect the views of the Republican Party. I mean, Dick Cheney and his wife made it very clear how they feel about their daughter. They have every right to feel that way. and I -- you know, I share those views with them.

BLITZER: You've always been supportive of gay rights...

GIULIANI: Right.

BLITZER: ... and a lot of other issues -- abortion rights for women -- that not necessarily all Republicans support. Why is it -- and explain this to me. And I'm a New Yorker, originally, from Buffalo, New York -- why is it that you have a Republican governor, a Republican mayor, a former Republican mayor, but this state, by almost all accounts, is not even up for grabs for the Republican presidential candidate?

GIULIANI: Well, because, I -- you know, this is -- like California, this is a place where, if you're a Republican, the kind of Republican that's going to win statewide is going to what you would describe as a moderate Republican -- fiscally conservative, conservative on law enforcement and national defense, but moderate on social issues, like Arnold Schwarzenegger or George Pataki. I don't think you could find much difference between Arnold Schwarzenegger's positions and George Pataki's or probably mine.

BLITZER: So what you're suggesting is the president's not a moderate Republican?

GIULIANI: No, I think that -- the president -- the president's appeal to the base of the Republican Party is very, very strong, and the president has tremendous outreach. And I think the president has a chance of winning in this state. I think there's a chance that the president could win New York. Now, if he did, it would be a nice big win. It wouldn't be a close win. But the president has a chance of winning New York. I think he's got a good chance of winning Pennsylvania. I've been there twice in the last four weeks. The races could be even, actually. So if that happens -- if Pennsylvania happens, then I'd start to encourage the campaign to spend a lot more time in New York. Then we'd have a chance here.

BLITZER: The only time they really come to New York is when they want to raise money, but that's another story.

GIULIANI: And you know -- and you know, Ronald Reagan won New York twice, and you'd have to describe Ronald Reagan as a pretty darned conservative Republican.

BLITZER: On the issue of abortion rights, a lo of women, and some men, have said to me they're concerned if the president is reelected, he'll appoint Supreme Court Justices who oppose abortion rights for women, and that could turn -- set back the clock for women who support abortion rights for years to come.

GIULIANI: I don't think that anybody's going to set anything back. I think that's unrealistic kind of political argument that's made. I think the president's going to appoint good judges. He's going to appoint judges who interpret the Constitution fairly. I mean, that -- that's not...

BLITZER: It's a pretty evenly divided Court right now, as you know.

GIULIANI: There's no real sentiment to overturn Roe against Wade, and that's -- I don't think that's -- that's a real issue. I think...

BLITZER: Now, you would...

GIULIANI: It's the law...

BLITZER: You would oppose that?

GIULIANI: Yes. It's the law of the land. It's the accepted law of the land. I don't see any real issue there. I think it's more or less kind of a Democratic tactic, like they used to use Social Security, to kind of frighten people. You know, it works with some people. BLITZER: Are you going to run for president in 2008?

GIULIANI: I have no idea, Wolf, what I'm going to do in 2008!

(LAUGHTER)

We got to get out of 2004 first. I mean, this election -- you know, I -- a lot of the Republicans here, because the convention has gone so well, feel now that we're going to get a big bounce. And I'd just like to be cautious about it. This is going to be a very close election and, you know, we can't take anything for granted. We got to concentrate on 2004.

BLITZER: As they used to say, a win is a win is a win is a win. That's what they used to say.

GIULIANI: It is, but you know, you got to get it first.

BLITZER: That's right.

GIULIANI: You can't be looking beyond the playoffs to the World Series. You may never get there.

BLITZER: Rudy Giuliani, thanks very much for joining us.

GIULIANI: All right. Thanks.

BLITZER: And we got some reaction from Democrats, a very different view. Just ahead, I'll speak live with the retired U.S. general, Navy -- U.S. general Wesley Clark, the former NATO supreme allied commander.

And also our top story. More than 1 million people ordered to flee the Florida coast as a powerful hurricane, Hurricane Frances, approaches. We'll have a live update from the National Hurricane Center on a major hurricane.

New reports on the president's National Guard service way back in the early '70s and more. Will they draw attention away from his convention speech tonight?

School stand-off. Hundreds still being held hostage. An update on negotiations. All that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's a storm about the size of Texas. Forecasters say Hurricane Frances could potentially be even more dangerous than Hurricane Charley and wetter than the 1992 Hurricane Andrew, all because of its enormous size.

By noon, northbound traffic on parts of Interstate 95 started backing up. More than a million coastal residents have been ordered to flee. And that includes the entire city of Miami Beach. Those who are staying are boarding up their homes and businesses and hoping for the best, but officials say those efforts might not withstand a direct hit and a storm surge, a storm surge of 15 feet or more.

Several things could draw attention from the president's address tonight at the Republican National Convention. Other events, other events in the news cycle seem to be competing with the president's message.

Here's CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An informal rehearsal for a carefully crafted mental. Campaign officials tell us the president will hit on optimistic themes, transforming government to help families with health care, pensions and worker training, highlighting progress made in Iraq and Afghanistan, words, gestures, timing, everything planned in detail. But will the targeted audience be as captive as the campaign hopes?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Bush's message is, these are dangerous times. You need a strong, resolute leader, but there are events out there that could happen that could just step on that message.

TODD: This evening, while Mr. Bush ticks off his accomplishments and lays out his vision for the future, hundreds of thousands of potential voters in the coveted state of Florida will be evacuating ahead of Hurricane Frances. Others will be watching local news.

And his own brother, who he's again counting on to deliver the state, has his hands full.

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: This is a serious storm. And so when your leaders tell you to evacuate, and they will be telling you to evacuate low-lying areas, mobile home communities and if you have special needs, you need to heed their call.

TODD: Another important story which may distract viewers in two key battleground states and might flatten any potential post- convention bounce, the monthly employment numbers to be announced Friday, along with production cuts at GM and Ford.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: That will roll back not just through Michigan, but through auto suppliers in Ohio.

TODD: And on the heels of the anti-Kerry swift boat ads, two news items regarding President Bush's National Guard service. One involves the man who managed the Alabama Senate campaign that Bush worked on in 1972 after transferring from Texas to the Alabama Air National Guard. Today, the man's widow tells Salon.com it was her impression that Bush's family wanted to get him out of Texas because he was getting into trouble. The widow tells CNN she never saw any sign that Bush was in the National Guard at the time.

And a week from Sunday, "60 Minutes" is reportedly airing a story on how Bush got into the Texas Air National Guard at the height of the Vietnam War, a piece focusing on former Texas Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes.

BEN BARNES, FORMER TEXAS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: I got a young man named George W. Bush in the National Guard when I was lieutenant governor of Texas, and I'm not necessarily proud of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Now, we contacted "60 Minutes" and they would not confirm the Barnes interview. A Bush campaign official tells CNN that Barnes has no credibility and he's changed his story every times.

As for tonight, the campaign is confident the president's speech will dominate the news cycle and not be superseded by other events -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd, thanks very much.

Let's get back to that top story we've been following, the monster storm approaching Florida. Let's get the latest update on Hurricane Frances.

Max Mayfield is the director of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Florida. He's joining us now with the latest information.

Mr. Mayfield, thanks very much. What is it?

MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, Wolf, the eye is actually passing over San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. About an half a hour ago, they reported a sustained wind of 120 miles per hour. This is still a very powerful category 4 hurricane, capable of causing extreme damage and considerable loss of life if people don't go ahead and make those preparations.

BLITZER: When do we expect the first effects of this hurricane to start impacting Florida?

MAYFIELD: Well, these outer rain bands will spread out on to southeast part of the coast tomorrow afternoon. We'll probably get tropical storm force winds in some of those outer bands. They will dissipate. New bands will form.

So I think, by tomorrow night, conditions will start going down and then it is going to slow down even more as it continues to move over the Florida Peninsula over the next couple days.

BLITZER: So you think it will hit within 24 hours? Is that what you're saying?

MAYFIELD: We think that the -- we will actually feel the effects here by tomorrow afternoon, certainly by tomorrow evening. And then it is going to take a slow time Saturday and even most of the day Sunday as it moves across the Central Florida Peninsula and may well get into the Northeast and Gulf of Mexico most likely as a tropical storm by that time.

BLITZER: So, basically, because this is such a big hurricane in terms of the geography

(CROSSTALK)

MAYFIELD: I'm sorry. Wolf, I lost you.

BLITZER: Can you hear me now?

I was saying, because this is such a big hurricane, the area -- all of that coast, that eastern coast of Florida, everybody has to be prepared for it.

MAYFIELD: Right.

And, you know, just a small change in the direction of motion is the difference between the southern part of the warning area and the northern part of the warning area. And we really don't want people to make the mistake that some people made on the Florida west coast with Hurricane Charley, focusing on that skinny line. We also want to remind people that hurricanes are not just coastal events. Those strong winds and the heavy rains, especially as it slows down, the heavy rains and some isolated tornadoes will spread across the Florida Peninsula over the next couple days.

BLITZER: All right, we'll be speaking often, Dr. Max Mayfield. Thanks very much for that update.

MAYFIELD: Thank you.

BLITZER: Now the latest on another developing story we're following, that school standoff in southern Russia. Two loud explosions were heard near the school, where more than 300 children, teachers and parents are being held hostage.

Earlier, 26 women and children were freed by their captors on the second day of the standoff. Russian troops, tanks and armored vehicles surround the school. Officials say there are more than a dozen armed assailants inside. The hostage-takers are threatening to kill children if an assault is lost. They're also reportedly demanding two dozen Chechen prisoners to be released and for Russia to withdraw its forces from Chechnya.

Live coverage of the Republican National Convention just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ZELL MILLER (D), GEORGIA: Nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He fired up the Republicans, but did Democrat Zell Miller's speech last night also hurt some of the Republican cause? We'll review it and compare it to the Democrats' keynote speech in Boston. And the Democrats' response. I'll speak live with a top Kerry adviser, the former presidential candidate, retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark.

And we'll hear from a Florida delegate who's a veteran of the war in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The most fiery speech at this Republican National Convention was delivered last night by a Democrat. Convention organizers took the unusual step of having an opposition senator deliver their keynote address. The idea was to broaden the GOP base, but some critics say Senator Zell Miller's attack on his fellow Democrats was so angry, it may have had the opposite effect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Democrat Zell Miller talking about his own party.

MILLER: Our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BLITZER: Zell Miller talking about Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry:

MILLER: This is the man who wants to be the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces? U.S. forces armed with what, spitballs?

BLITZER: Miller's keynote address to the Republican National Convention was a passionate and pointed attack.

MILLER: Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator, and nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers, rather than liberators.

BLITZER: Miller's remarks came in sharp contrast to earlier convention speeches from moderate Republicans like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuliani. Miller's speech also had a very different tone from Barack Obama's more inclusive remarks during his keynote address to the Democratic Convention.

BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. In the end, that is what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?

BLITZER: Miller's red-meat speech was a feast for the Republican Party faithful gathered in Madison Square Garden. But critics compared it to Pat Buchanan's cultural war speech at the 1992 Republican Convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 1992)

PAT BUCHANAN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is a religious war going on in this country. It is a cultural war as critical to the kind of nation we shall be as the Cold War itself, but this war is for the soul of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Buchanan's '92 speech was so angry, it may have hurt the first President Bush. Some say Miller's speech was equally angry and may hurt the second President Bush.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I suspect that Zell Miller maybe in addition to helping the president with conservative Democrats in border states may also reenergize Democrats who have had a tough week or two.

BLITZER: Miller himself dismisses such talk?

MILLER: Me angry? No, no, not angry. I'm sorry if I gave that appearance.

BLITZER: But you -- you seemed so angry that there are already some suggesting that the appearance could actually backfire from the cause that you're promoting tonight...

MILLER: I'm sure probably some anchors are saying that.

BLITZER: ... and the bottom line...

(LAUGHTER)

MILLER: That's what anchors do.

BLITZER: Upcoming polls may disclose whether Miller's speech had any unintended consequences. So far, though, Republicans show no sign of being worried.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm sure glad Zell Miller is on our side.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: So what do Democrats have to say about Senator Zell Miller's speech last night?

Let's get some reaction from the retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark. He's a former Democratic presidential candidate. He's now a top Kerry campaign adviser.

What do you make about questioning the military credentials of John Kerry? WESLEY CLARK (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think Zell Miller's speech went way over the line of any accurate interpretation of John Kerry's career.

He knows better than those -- that long list of weapons systems and so forth. Look, Dick Cheney voted...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: He did oppose a lot of those weapons system earlier in his Senate career.

CLARK: Wolf, Dick Cheney, as secretary of defense, tried to kill those same weapons systems. We were going through a cutback. And everybody was searching for -- we cut the size of the armed forces 30 percent. We cut the size of the defense budget. We chopped all kinds of weapons systems down.

So I think that Zell Miller ought to have enough perspective in his position to know that there's a choice in this election. There is a choice. There are two different parties, two different candidates. One candidate's been praised for being resolute. He's the commander in chief. What he's done is, he has taken us to war with Iraq. He's resolute in wanting to go to war with Iraq. He took us to war with Iraq despite the evidence and he's staying with it.

But it wasn't a smart decision as far as winning the war on terror. In fact, the war with Iraq, as all of the evidence is starting to show and has shown, it had no connection to the war on terror.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: But you know that even Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards both voted to give him authorization to go to war.

CLARK: No, they voted to give him authorization to hold Saddam Hussein accountable in front of the United Nations, keeping the military option on the table to empower diplomacy.

What the president did with it after that, he did entirely on his own. John Kerry's been very clear. He wouldn't have done it that way. This president rushed us to war. He rushed us to war before the diplomacy was exhausted, before the inspections had been completed, before the allies were on board. We didn't have enough troops. He didn't do the planning that was required. But most fundamentally, this is the only thing that has been cited as an accomplishment of the Bush campaign.

(CROSSTALK)

CLARK: We've lost jobs. We've lost health care. We've had more people under poverty. It's not a good record.

BLITZER: General, the criticism of Senator Kerry is that he's had different positions on Iraq over the past several years, going back to the first Gulf War. He voted against that resolution. This second war.

The problem he has is to try to come up with a consistent position, because the Republicans, as you know, are hammering on the various differences in his stance.

CLARK: Well, Wolf, John Kerry's had a long and distinguished record of public service. George Bush comes up with a different position on whether you can win the war on terror every 24 hours.

So I think that when he comes back and says something that -- the press reports he's clarified his position. John Kerry's position on Iraq since the Gulf War, since Saddam Hussein entered into the agreement with the United Nations to give up his weapons of mass destruction, I think his positions have been very consistent. He's always said we should hold Saddam Hussein accountable.

BLITZER: Let me just get your specific reaction to this charge. And you spent more than 30 years in the United States military. "Our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief."

You're one of those Democrats. And I want your specific response how you felt when Zell Miller said that last night.

CLARK: Well, I think he's a man who really doesn't understand democracy.

Look, first, George Bush is the commander in chief of the United States armed forces, but he's not the commander in chief of the American people. He's not the commander in chief of our government. We have a democracy. And his conduct in the office of the presidency is subject to approval by the American people. And so the major thing he's done is take us to war, so the major thing that we're going to be talking about in this election, a lot of us, is, was that a good decision?

And was it well-executed? I think that's the duty of people in democracies, to hold their leaders accountable. It's not unpatriotic. It's the patriotic thing to do.

What we found...

BLITZER: All right.

CLARK: What we found in Vietnam, Wolf, is, the generals didn't speak out, the retired ones didn't. We are this time.

BLITZER: All right, General Clark, thanks very much for speaking out on this program.

CLARK: Thank you.

BLITZER: The war in Iraq is certainly a key issue in this presidential election. We'll meet a Florida delegate who fought in the dangerous Sunni Triangle. Here why he's supporting President Bush right now. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: All this week, our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, has been introducing us to various Republican delegates attending this convention. Today, he concludes his series with Carey Baker. He's a member of the Florida legislature, a gun shop owner and an Iraq war veteran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREENFIELD (voice-over): The Fourth of July parade, Tavares, Florida. Along with the floats, the funny cars, the beauty queens, and, of course, Uncle Sam.

CAREY BAKER, FLORIDA DELEGATE: Now, you got to smile big.

GREENFIELD: There's 41-year-old state Representative Carey Baker. For Baker, this Independence Day holds special meaning. Back in December 2002, 1st Sergeant Carey Baker said goodbye to his family and marched off with his National Guard unit to Iraq and the Sunni Triangle.

BAKER: Our job was to protect a logistic base north of Baghdad. And at the time, this base was under attack by mortar fire and rocket fire and our job was to try to reduce that threat.

BAKER: Now, that is the Benelli.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the Benelli.

BAKER: Right.

GREENFIELD: Fifteen months later, Baker is back home in central Florida, where he owns the A.W. Peterson Gun Shop.

BAKER: This is our museum, a little bit of our shop history.

GREENFIELD: He proudly shows off some relics of the shop.

BAKER: This is actually a Winchester 1873.

GREENFIELD: Along with photos of his father.

BAKER: My dad brought the shop from Denver to Mount Dora in 1952.

GREENFIELD: Leighton Baker was a Barry Goldwater delegate at the 1964 convention in San Francisco.

BAKER: He spoke about being inspired by Ronald Reagan, about the inspiration of Barry Goldwater. And those are just some of the things that sort of excited my interest in politics as a young man.

GREENFIELD: Carey Baker was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, a yellow ribbon and son Leighton kept his House seat warm during the war, until a hero's welcome home ceremony last March.

BAKER: I was able to present the governor also with an American flag that had flown in Iraq.

GREENFIELD: Now reunited with his wire, Lori, and with Leighton, Baker is running unopposed for the Florida state Senate in November. And as a first-time delegate to a Republican Convention, national politics is now front and center, as is fellow vet and fellow hunter John Kerry.

BAKER: Really, seeing John Kerry holding a shotgun, explain how he loves to hunt, to me, that doesn't jibe with his voting record. And that is an anti-gun voting record. And like a lot of issues with John Kerry, he flip-flops.

GREENFIELD: But after the requisite Democrat bashing, Baker stresses the upbeat.

BAKER: Really, this country has just offered me so many blessings that it's just a way of paying back the country. And that's one reason I also ran, was just to pay back all the freedoms and liberties that I'm allowed to live underneath and just to be a part of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All right, Jeff Greenfield reporting in our series.

And joining us now here in the Florida delegate on the convention floor is Carey Baker.

You've got a hurricane coming to Florida. You're ready to get out of here, aren't you?

BAKER: We leave in the morning and I report to my National Guard armory tomorrow afternoon.

BLITZER: You think that you're going to be there in time? Because that's moving in about 24 hours from now.

BAKER: Yes. Our flight comes in at 9:00, and the airport doesn't close until noon, so we're going to make it.

BLITZER: How do you feel here, knowing what's going on in Florida?

BAKER: Well, I'm a little anxious right now. It's been a great week, but, right now, of course, I'm looking forward to hearing the president, but I definitely need to be home.

BLITZER: Good luck to you. Good luck to all the people in Florida.

BAKER: OK. Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks very much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In case you missed it, here's an excerpt of my interview earlier today with boxing promoter and Bush supporter Don King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON KING, BOXING PROMOTER: George Walker Bush, four more years! And I think it's so tremendous to have a president who has the courage, who has the faith, who has the ability, the capability...

BLITZER: All right...

KING: ... and he fights. He's a great fighter, and I'm his promoter!

BLITZER: We got to leave it there. There's nothing else I can say.

KING: God bless America.

BLITZER: Don King, thank very much for joining us.

KING: God bless America. God bless the president. God President George Walker Bush.

BLITZER: Much more coverage coming up in the next hour. LIVE FROM, Kyra Phillips...

KING: Four more years!

BLITZER: ... Miles O'Brien standing by with that.

Miles and Kyra, go ahead.

KING: Four more years of George Walker Bush!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Nothing else I can say, except, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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