Two Blasts Heard at Seized School in Russia; Republican Convention
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A lot going on this morning. To our viewers at home, we'll watch that story. We're watching the latest with Frances, a huge storm right now still brewing, headed toward the Bahamas and perhaps Florida after that. And back here on the convention floor as well here at Madison Square Garden, we find ourselves today in a construction zone, literally. On the floor behind us, if you hear the hammers, if you hear the saws, they are literally at this hour transforming the floor and the stage where President Bush will address from later tonight. The delegate chairs have been moved and pushed to the sides. The president will speak in the round in the center of Madison Square Garden later tonight. That is his turn now to speak to the delegates and the nation right around 10:00 Eastern Time. Carlos Watson is standing by. He joins me in a moment here to talk about what the president needs to do later tonight. But first, back to last night and Bob Franken, who is here at the garden as well. Good morning -- Bob.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. It's hard to believe that this is the fourth day of the convention coming up and that the president is going to appear when see the construction of the platform behind us, so President Bush in a unique way can make his case.</s>FRANKEN (voice over): He'll speak from a special stage at the convention, but first...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years!</s>FRANKEN (on camera): ... President Bush was setting the stage for his speech with September 11 imagery by going to Queens for an endorsement by firefighters. (voice over): His ticket mate was at his podium inside the convention hall, the president's warm-up act, scorching the opponent who wasn't there.</s>DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator Kerry says he sees two Americas. It makes the whole thing mutual. America -- America sees two John Kerrys.</s>FRANKEN: The crowd loved it, but not quite everyone. Officials had to remove a protester, just one of the incidents where demonstrators have faked out all the security. But the Republicans were more than glad to let one outsider in, Democrat Zell Miller, keynote for Bill Clinton 12 years ago, keynoter for George Bush this time around.</s>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.</s>FRANKEN: Tonight, this party's big finish is with President Bush, but he'll quickly leave the roar of Madison Square Garden behind.</s>HEMMER: All right, Bob, thanks for that. Back up here now. Carlos Watson, our political analyst, joins me now to talk about what the president will say tonight and what he needs to say. Carlos -- good morning to you.</s>CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.</s>HEMMER: What does he need to accomplish tonight?</s>WATSON: Really three things, if you think about it. There are three issues right now that the American voters say all are pretty important. But he really needs one to stand out when he's done, which is terrorism and the war on terror. That's where he gets his highest ratings. Two, on the issue of the war in Iraq and on the economy, two issues which particularly independent voters have some questions, he needs to reframe his record of the last four years, offer broader contacts. And last but not least, the president needs to offer a very compelling and a very specific agenda for his second term. You'll remember in 1992, his father was criticized for not really seeming to have a second four-year plan. And the president has got to avoid that fact tonight.</s>HEMMER: So, if he hits all three of those points, what can you expect in terms of a bounce, in terms of success for this convention looking back tomorrow?</s>WATSON: Well, given that we haven't seen much of a bounce with the Democrats it's probably unlikely we'll see a big one here. But a three to five point national bounce would not be surprising if he did well here. No. 2, though, and maybe more importantly, he would look for a bounce in swing states. So, not a national bounce, but swing states: Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, the three big states especially. And last but not least, if pollsters start to find out that voters are saying -- 30 percent or more voters are saying the most issue is terrorism, then that would make a difference, because right now it's in the low 20s.</s>HEMMER: About 30 minutes ago, Dan Bartlett was sitting in your chair, and I asked him 24 hours from now it is quite likely the focus is back on the economy with the jobs report that will come out. Could that then take some air out of this balloon, depending on what way that goes?</s>WATSON: Very much so. It could either an exclamation point if the president has a good speech tonight and this is seen as good convention. It could be an exclamation point and help the president move forward. If it's a bad number like we saw a month ago, only 32,000 jobs instead of 200,000 that some would hope for, then it could be like a delete button. You could end up forgetting all four days here, and instead the campaign begins anew.</s>HEMMER: Zell Miller came out, age of 72, with one final fiery curtain call. After that, the vice president came out. Here's Dick Cheney from last night.</s>WATSON: Sure.</s>DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Even in this post-9/11 period, Senator Kerry doesn't appear to understand how the world has changed. He talks about leading a more sensitive war on terror, as though al Qaeda will be impressed with our softer side.</s>HEMMER: Zell Miller was tough. I mentioned that. Was Dick Cheney as tough as you thought he'd be?</s>WATSON: Oh, no two ways about it. But Zell Miller was even tougher, which was interesting. He kind of played his bad cop, if you will. I think what's interesting about Dick Cheney is that he'll continue to be an attack dog, as vice presidents often have been, and draw what they see as very important distinctions. But often you'll see that happening on the Internet and on radio, not as much on television.</s>HEMMER: A good analysis.</s>WATSON: Good to see you, as always.</s>HEMMER: Later tonight on primetime. You, too, Carlos.</s>WATSON: You bet.</s>HEMMER: We'll talk to you later.</s>WATSON: OK.</s>HEMMER: Across town again, more breaking news. Here's Heidi -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: In the last 15 minutes, Bill, there were two explosions near the school in Russia, where hundreds are being held hostage. These images are just coming to us now here at CNN. You can see some of that black smoke that's been rising out from the area. We're looking now at, of course, a lot of people standing by, very, very concerned citizens, rightly so, trying to figure out what is going on inside of that school. We're still trying to get numbers for you on exactly how many people are involved. We do know that it's parents, children, teachers inside that school in Beslan, southern Russia. We know of four people killed, nine wounded. And, again, the latest news coming to us, explosions happening at that site, a little bit earlier today hearing about sporadic gunfire inside as well. It comes amid three incidents this week now. The first, a subway station, female suicide bombers blowing that up. Two planes that went down, female suicide bombers there as well. And now this. A very tense week as you can imagine. And we're going to keep on that situation for you and get back to it just as soon as we can. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Colin Powell will call for the United Nations to impose sanctions on Iran. It follows a U.N. watchdog group's report that said Iran is processing uranium that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Last night, Powell said the U.S. will urge the agency to refer the case to the Security Council for action. Osama bin Laden's fortune may not be the driving force in al Qaeda. According to sources cited by the Associated Press, bin Laden does not have $300 million in personal wealth, nor is he financing the terrorist organization. It's through Sudanese businesses. The report claims al Qaeda's activities were financed almost entirely through donations from various sources. Florida's East Coast is bracing for Frances. The fear is a powerful category 4 hurricane barreling towards the United States. Residents in Orlando are boarding up windows. Evacuations have been ordered. A state of emergency is already in effect.</s>HEMMER: In a moment here live at Madison Square Garden, we'll go inside the Democrats' war room. What do they have to say about the speeches from last night? Back after this.