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Bill Clinton to Speak at Democratic National Convention; Syria's Weapons of Mass Destruction?; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Missing from the DNC?; Isaac Washes Up Balls of Tar onto Louisiana Shore, Remnants of B.P. Spill; Refugees Fleeing Syria's Ongoing Violence; New Electric Car Prototype Developed by Croatian Company

Aired September 05, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And, Piers, I promise we're going to talk Bill Clinton here in just a moment, but first the really -- the news of the day here, it broke this morning, the DNC changing up the venue, breaking down what would have been the big Thursday night at the Bank of America/Panthers Stadium.

Here are the pictures. They're breaking it down. They're taking it indoor. The Democrats say it's the weather. On the flip side, Republican Chairman Reince Priebus is saying they couldn't fill this outdoor stadium, what, 64,000 seats, with the Democrats.

Piers Morgan, what's the truth?

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": I think the Republicans would have claimed it was sunny when it was actually raining. Such is the nature of partisan convention rhetoric.

The reality is I have been in Charlotte all week and the weather has been getting increasingly tempestuous, big storms and a lot of very, very heavy rainfall. I think the idea of having an outdoor stadium on Thursday given the way the forecast is looking was completely ridiculous.

They made the right decision. I think anyone who reads into it the idea that Barack Obama still couldn't sell out a stadium is living in cloud cuckoo land. He's a president of the United States. He's at his own convention. I think they would have easily had a full crowd. But that's no good to you if it's raining so hard, they can't hear you.

BALDWIN: I'm sorry. Did you say clown cuckoo land? Is this is a British term that I'm just quite familiar with?

MORGAN: Not clown, cloud, cloud cuckoo land.

(CROSSTALK)

MORGAN: It's the clouds in the sky where the cuckoos go.

BALDWIN: I needed to clarify.

Let's talk tonight, though. Bill Clinton, he is speaking. What do you expect he will say? Do we have any idea?

MORGAN: He's going to be giving as you would expect a tub-thumping rally cry to the Democratic troops.

Apparently he is going to be giving a copy of the speech to the Obama camp before he makes it. There will be no Clint Eastwood empty chair shocks and surprises. Bill Clinton is a huge trump card. His relationship with Barack Obama is a fascinating one.

Ryan Lizza, our fellow friend and contributor to CNN, did a brilliant piece this week in "The New Yorker" analyzing how strained it has been quite obviously because when Barack Obama ran against Hillary Clinton things got pretty heated.

Things are now back on a much more even keel between them. They both need each other. I think President Clinton needs the exposure and having the President using him as his number one sounding board, an adviser, which he does do from time to time and I think similarly Barack Obama needs the magic power of an ex-president who is more popular now than he ever was even in office.

I think you can expect a real rally cry tonight and I would imagine it will do Barack Obama no end of good.

BALDWIN: I read Lizza's piece. Certainly I don't know if we could far as far as kumbaya between these two men even now in 2012.

I think one of the ways he phrased it was quasi-friendship. And President Obama's semi-embracing of Bill Clinton strictly because as you point out he needs him. Pierce, we started thinking about this. Here they are on the golf course. This is the beginning of the thaw, if you will.

These are two alpha males. It's a sitting president, a previous president. Is there really any surprise that their agendas aren't, I don't know, a pitch perfect match?

MORGAN: No. Absolutely not.

It's like when I meet up with Larry King. He's an all-time legend, hugely popular TV character. It's not like we sit there telling each other how wonderful we are. I think anyone that expects people like that who replaced each other in huge jobs or whatever, there's always going to be a little bit of tension. A little bit of competition, if you like.

All those things go with any of these situations. I think they actually get on remarkably well. I think there's been other presidents in the past where there's a much less healthy relationship but they are very combative, competitive, political street fighters, the pair of them.

I think together they are a very effective weapon for the Democratic Party, but apart they become a much more problematic situation for the party because the party loves Bill Clinton and they still love Barack Obama. They want to share the love with their two heroes. BALDWIN: They love Hillary Clinton, who is away, as it is normal for a sitting Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense not to be at a convention.

Let's talk about you. You talked to Paul Ryan. You got him talking about, surprise, surprise, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama. Let's play a snippet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, during the Clinton years, we had good economic growth. But Bill Clinton was a different kind of Democrat than Barack Obama. Bill Clinton gave us welfare reform. Bill Clinton worked with Republicans to cut spending. Bill Clinton did not play the kind of political games that President Obama is playing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Bill Clinton worked with Republicans. How do we put this? We don't quite recall Republicans speaking so fondly of Bill Clinton when he was president. If I recall correctly, they impeached him.

But I suppose that was when Ryan was in his 20s. I don't know.

MORGAN: I think it's again fascinating his analysis really of why Bill Clinton's an acceptable Democrat, whereas Barack Obama isn't, given that Clinton and Obama...

BALDWIN: Why is that?

MORGAN: ... are so ideologically similar.

I think it's obvious. They want to build up Bill Clinton so they can attack Obama and say Clinton was a good president. You're not, mate. That's why we need to take over from you. It's obviously more complicated than that.

I think it was interesting. When I push Paul Ryan today, I asked him everyone is here saying are the American people better off after four years of Barack Obama than they were under George Bush? And I rephrased that question for Paul Ryan. I said, well, there's another way of looking at this, which is were the American people better off after eight years of George Bush than they were under the previous Democratic president, Bill Clinton?

And by any real financial economic yardstick, they clearly weren't. He almost admits as much. He said Clinton obviously things were successful, but then he says a lot of that was down to the bipartisan style that he had. He worked with Republicans to get things done.

But many people on Barack Obama's team would say the reason we can't get the same things done that Bill Clinton did with someone like Newt Gingrich as speaker as that the speaker, John Boehner, and a lot of the senior Republicans have gone out of they be as disruptive and unhelpful as they possibly can. That's one of the reasons why I think the average voter is sick and tired of all of their rhetoric about this. They think Washington should bang their heads together and actually go back to what was probably the last great relationship between Republican and Democrat senior leaders, Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich.

I have spoken to Newt Gingrich about this several times. They used to get in a room and then when all the squabbling started, they would throw everybody out and have just the two of them with two chairs and they would thrash out a compromise. That's what's got to happen.

If Barack Obama gets reelected, he's got to sit down with John Boehner and clear the air and say the good of the country has got to now come before our internal...

(CROSSTALK)

MORGAN: ... problems and squabbling.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: It seemed like they were close to doing that when it came to that debt ceiling debacle. But then at the 11th hour, that folded, that folded.

But perhaps there will work, perhaps there will be a compromise. We shall see who gets elected. We will see who gets that chief spot come November 6.

Piers Morgan, we will look for you up late tonight in the post-game at midnight. Thank you, sir. Good to see you. Enjoy the Grill.

MORGAN: My pleasure.

BALDWIN: Just to remind all of you, prime-time coverage of the Democratic National Convention officially kicks off here tonight 7:00. You have Wolf and you have Anderson and the rest of CNN's political team.

In the 10:00 hour, as we were discussing, former President Bill Clinton addresses all those delegates inside the arena and then Piers Morgan midnight, don't miss it wrapping up night number two of the 2012 Democratic National Convention tonight on CNN.

There's a lot more happening here. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: The man in charge of Syria's next-door neighbor reveals what he knows about Syria's weapons of mass destruction. I will speak with Christiane Amanpour about her exclusive interview.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): Also in Syria, rebels accuse the government of dropping TNT barrels and they say craters like this one prove it. Plus, the 16 that is anything but sweet. What America's new debt marker means for you and me.

And zero to 60 in 2.8 seconds, an up-close look at the new electric super car.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Turning now to Syria.

Some numbers, UNICEF, the United Nations children's fund, said last week was the deadliest seven days of this entire 18-month conflict, 1,600 people killed just last week. That's one number.

Here is another. During August, more than 100,000 Syrians fled the country, fled the violence in a single month, many of them fleeing to Syria's neighbor to the north, Turkey. The U.N. call this is a "grave and deteriorating incident" with NATO ally Turkey suffering by virtue of being next door.

CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, recently we sat down for an exclusive interview with the prime minister of Turkey. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Does it surprise you that the United States doesn't take any other actions other than what they call nonlethal support?

Does it surprise you that they don't want to arm the rebels, for instance, or talk about a no-fly zone or buffer zones or safe zones?

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Right now, there are certain things being expected from the United States. And the United States had not yet catered to those expectations.

Maybe it's because of the elections. Maybe it's because of the pre- election situation in the States. It might be the root cause of this lacking of initiative. Well, nobody has spoken to us about their reasons and they are not obliged to state anything. We're very thankful and pleased they have stated they are against this regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Christiane, it's good to see you.

Hearing Erdogan say what he did about the U.S. and the elections and the timing, can you just give me a broader context of what he was explaining?

AMANPOUR: Yes. I think that he's very frustrated. Prime Minister Erdogan is a good friend of the United States, a strong NATO ally and he's a good friend to the Obama administration. He didn't want to come out and directly sledgehammer the Obama administration, but he did say he is frustrated. Perhaps the elections are playing a part in the fact that the United States is not leading in any kind of intervention in Syria.

He says he wants a no-fly zone. That is to have U.S., NATO, other aircraft patrol parts of Syria in order to protect some of those population, the people who are trying to get to safe areas. As you know, Turkey is housing some 100,000 refugees, according to what Erdogan told me.

They are spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to build camps for these refugees. And he really says that something more has to happen because he doesn't know how this is going to end -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Before we end, I want to ask you about how this -- the multiple situations in which this might end.

You asked the prime minister, what's the big danger to Turkey from the conflict and really the entire world? His answer to you was chemical or as he called them weapons of mass destruction and then you followed up with this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Do you think the weapons of mass destruction are under control right now? Do you think it's possible that Assad would use them or that they would get into the hands of terrorists?

ERDOGAN (through translator): In light of the intelligence that we have received so far, they are being still possessed by the regime. They are secure within the regime's possession right now.

But if you were to ask me if those weapons of mass destruction could be used against the people of Syria, in the light of everything that we have seen so far, I can say, yes, those weapons can be used against the people of Syria. And this is something that slipped out of the tongue of Bashar al-Assad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Christiane, what exactly is Assad saying? Whether it's a slip of the tongue or not, clearly he's admitting, yes, he has those weapons, so under what circumstances will he use them?

AMANPOUR: I thought it was really dramatic that the prime minister of Turkey said he was worried that those weapons, chemical weapons, might be used against the Syrian people themselves.

As you know, the United States has also basically said, at least that's what it's hinting, that if any chemical weapons or any weapons of mass destruction are even potentially thought about being used that would be the U.S. red line. This is where the international community is now coalescing, not intervening to save the current slaughter, to stop it, but saying if there's a threat of a bigger slaughter with weapons of mass destruction, that's where they will intervene. And that's where the CIA are involved. They are in Turkey, they're in the area and they're keeping a very close eye on actually who has and where are those stockpiles.

What he was talking about in terms of a slip of the tongue is, if you remember, weeks ago there was a huge brouhaha after the Syrian official spokesman, the government spokesman said Syria would never use weapons of mass destruction against its own people, thus confirming they had them.

That caused a huge hullabaloo in the international community. He then backtracked, saying, oh, well, if we have them. But the fact of the matter is the world believes that they do have them. The intelligence communities are watching them. They say they are under control of the Assad regime right now.

But as the Turkish prime minister so chillingly said, he's very afraid that the government could in a hole might actually use them. That's where they are drawing the red line, as I said.

BALDWIN: Then with regard to the red line, and we heard President Obama a couple of weeks ago in that White House briefing, the surprise briefing, in which he popped in and said that would be the red line for the U.S. as well, the usage, even the movement of these chemical weapons, so what are we waiting for?

I say we in terms of Turkey, U.S., et cetera. What's the breaking point for involvement then?

AMANPOUR: Presumably, when intelligence sees there's something unusual or extraordinary happening with these stockpiles, whether there's any action around where they are stored, where they are contained, where they are to be under control at the moment.

But, beyond that, I think what you're seeing is certainly and whether this will change after the U.S. election is what everybody's guessing game is in the rest of the international community, that there's no willingness by the United States to lead, as it did in Kosovo, for instance, all those years ago and this is what is causing frustration at least by the Turks, amongst the Turks and amongst other allies in the region.

BALDWIN: Christiane Amanpour, thank you so much for sharing your exclusive interview. Appreciate it.

AMANPOUR: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You can watch Christiane's full interview with the Turkish prime minister tonight. Go to Amanpour.com.

The U.S. just hit a milestone that absolutely no one is celebrating here. In fact, these numbers are downright frustrating. The national debt clock has now hit $16 trillion. We will tell you how that breaks down for every one of us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Our country's debt has now topped $16 trillion, trillion with a T. That's obviously a very grim milestone. That's more than $50,000 for every man, woman, child, or to put another way, it's $140,000 of debt for every taxpayer.

Republicans and Democrats, they strongly disagree exactly as to how we should reduce that debt. And the $16 trillion milestone may bring us even closer to another massive showdown in Washington.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

BALDWIN: One of the Democrats' most notable figures notably missing from the party's convention this week.

One you actually just tweeted me, where is Hillary? Where is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? Is she in Charlotte? We will have the answer for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Forget all the talk about the rain and the thunderstorms and empty seats. Just one day here before President Obama headlines his convention, Democrats announcing he won't be doing it from Charlotte's massive football stadium.

Let's go to chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin. She's live just outside the CNN Grill there.

Jessica, tell me just how dig of a deal do we really need to be making about this?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's a contrast you will see from 2008, when the President was speaking to that massive crowd outdoors in Denver.

The question everyone is asking is, was it political to move it indoors? I think there's a reality component because it would have been a really ugly scene if you had a lot of people there and lightning started and they had to start running out, not ideal dynamic for a convention.

But, also, it spares them the contrast between 2008 and this year and if there's any energy difference. So, instead of massive stadium with tens of thousands of people, almost 70,000, he will be in much smaller convention hall here. And all those volunteers that they said they were going to organize at that event, now that's not going to happen -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, so indoors tomorrow night, of course indoors tonight.

Bill Clinton, the big speech. But his wife, Hillary, will not be anywhere close to the convention. The Secretary of State is actually half a world away in China right now. And in fact she's in Beijing today on official business. But, Jessica Yellin, just to be clear, is this not the norm? Secretary of State or even a Secretary of Defense, they stay clear of conventions, they stay above the political fray, right?

YELLIN: That's right. It's even in State Department policy that the Secretary does not get involved in political events. It just makes sense. You don't -- the national security team of any presidential operation, any administration is not going to engage in the -- directly in the political campaigning and sloganeering that takes place at these events.

So you won't see the Defense Secretary here. You won't see Secretary of State Clinton. You won't see his homeland security director. And I would add that the Secretary of State is headed to a major world leaders summit that, were the President not here doing his convention, he would likely be attending. So, she's sort of taking the place for the President right now overseas, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jessica Yellin, thank you. We will look for you tonight prime time along with the rest and the best political team on television. Thank you very much, Jessica Yellin for us in Charlotte.

Moving on, absolutely outrage in Massachusetts. You heard about this? Taxpayers, they are forced to pay for an inmate's sex change surgery, yes, sex change surgery that could cost tens of thousands of dollars. We're "On the Case" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Absolutely a first here, a first of its kind federal ruling, Massachusetts taxpayers will have to pay for the sex-change surgery of a prisoner who has been transitioning into a woman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) the guy did it. How would you feel?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Robert Kosilek is serving life without parole for the murder of his wife back in 1990. Since he's been incarcerated, Kosilek, who now, by the way, goes by "Michelle," has been taking taxpayer-funded hormones for her gender-identity disorder. Still, she has attempted suicide not just once, but twice and self-castration. The judge ruled yesterday that the sex change is the only adequate treatment for Kosilek's mental illness.

Chief Judge Mark Wolf ruled, quote, "that there is no less intrusive means to correct the prolonged violation of Kosilek's Eighth Amendment right to adequate medical care."

Back in 2006, a psychiatrist who testified for Kosilek said this was not elective surgery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. GEORGE BROWN, PSYCHIATRIST: Why should the citizens of any state or commonwealth pay for a liver transplant of somebody who's incarcerated without which they will die? These are philosophical questions that are ultimately decided in courts and legislatures, but it's the same principal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Defense attorney Joey Jackson on this one and, wow, I mean, this is a first. I just want your reaction.

JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNY: Yikes, wow, that's the reaction. Brooke, it defies explanation.

Listen, ultimately, there is a legal explanation. As to whether it makes sense or not, well, we can dispute about that, but it's about the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment talks about cruel and unusual punishment, so, Brooke, here's the theory.

He believes himself to be a woman and, as a result of that, he would have to go for the rest of his life, his prison sentence, living as a woman in a man's body. As a result of that and as a result of his mental defect and his serious disorder, he believes that and doctors believe that a sex-change operation, or sex-reassignment operation, is the only appropriate measure to ensure that we don't inflict cruel and unusual punishment upon him.

BALDWIN: So, what happens if taxpayers of Massachusetts are thinking about, you know, you could look at it one way. This is a murderer and they're paying for his, her sex reassignment surgery. Can they do anything? Is there any chance anyone could appeal, the prison?

JACKSON: You know what, Brooke? It's crazy from a policy decision to think that you have a person who is a murderer, murdered his wife, in jail now, undergoes this and the taxpayers, right, not the individual, has to pay. So, ultimately, I think what we'll see is we'll see an appeal because what happens here is that the rule talks about you can't be deliberately indifferent to the medical treatment of a prisoner. There's a distinction between being deliberately indifferent and enabling someone to get an operation that they want to undergo, so it's not the last of this, I don't think.

BALDWIN: So, once the operation is complete, does Robert/Michelle go to a female prison or a male prison and wouldn't that put her at risk if she was with a bunch of men?

JACKSON: Oh, boy, Brooke, talk about more litigation. The issue now is, once this does go into effect, provided it does, then, of course, since she now is a "she," what will end up happening is there'll be an assignment to a female prison.

As a result of that, you could also see other inmates who may have a problem with that and you could see other litigation not only as a result of that going to an institution that's female, but other people, Brooke, who have issues that are medical in nature, whether they be physical or mental, that say, you know what? I think the state should pay for a ...

BALDWIN: Opening the door.

JACKSON: ... the parade of horribles. Exactly.

BALDWIN: Wow. Let's follow that one. I want to see where that goes.

JACKSON: It's not the end.

BALDWIN: Case number two. So, this is something just completely different. These TV news stations, the idea of using drones. An article by TVNewsCheck says the technology is getting so good that drones will be able to provide broadcast quality images now. So, we had talked before about drones being used by your local police department. Man, I can't tell you how many times I've chased around stories in a TV news van, but drones?

JACKSON: You know, it's interesting because it comes down to money and, if you think about it, right now, what do we have? Helicopters. For helicopters, you need pilots to pilot them, right? And you need the fuel and this astronomical, rising fuel cost, so it's a problem, as to that. You need insurance because if there's an accident. So, if you can get a drone for $400,000 and have it up there, you're all good. The problem, as you rightly raise, Brooke, there's privacy, right? Because these drones, they can surveil anything.

But real quick and real interesting, the Supreme Court's ruled on this issue, not the drone itself, but it said, if there's something flying overhead, right, if you're in a public place, you have expectation of privacy, right? Katz v. United States, 1967.

Then there's another Supreme Court case where a guy was on private property, his own property, and he's getting all this marijuana. Helicopter flies over, happens to be a police helicopter. They say, uh, huh. You're under arrest. What doe he say? It's my property. They say huh-uh. It's a place where anybody could see it. It's overhead, so, therefore, you have limitations on your expectation to privacy. So, still litigation which is good for us lawyers.

BALDWIN: Keeps you in business, speaking of money. Joey Jackson, good to see you. See you tomorrow "On the Case," Joey Jackson. Now, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Parents cradle their children. Those who can walk clutch meager belongings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. Families forced to leave everything behind to survive. You're about to get an inside look at life with snipers on the roof and explosions around the corner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: Moms, dads, young children, I want you to listen to what these families are facing, day in and day out, in Syria -- snipers up on roofs, bombs on buildings, death on the streets they used to walk, places they used to call home. But with nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, they're forced to run just to stay alive. Here is another story from Arwa Damon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: Parents cradle their children. Those who can walk clutch meager belongings. A scene that has replayed itself across the country. People faced with little choice, but to make the agonizing decision to flee. The endless videos of death and destruction speak for themselves. "Home" has lost its meaning. In many cases, no longer safe. In others, it simply doesn't exist anymore, utterly decimated. Those still alive are considered the lucky ones. August, the deadliest month to date, as the Assad regime intensified its use of air power. Coupled with fighting spreading to Syria's largest city and commercial hub of Aleppo and other areas.

As a result, the month saw the rate of refugees skyrocket as the violence took another deadly turn. Desperate families poured into the neighboring countries, August's influx doubling the total number of refugee, 103,000 for August, bringing the total to 235,300 since the initial peaceful demonstrations began more than 18 months ago. And that is just those who the U.N. is aware of. Unofficial estimates run much, much higher. Internally, more than 2.5 million Syrians are in, quote, "grave need of assistance and protection," according to the U.N.

The head of the International Committee for the Red Cross is on a three-day trip to Syria to urge the Assad government to allow more widespread humanitarian access. Initial meetings were called positive. The ICRC has long been urging the Syrian government to allow more aid and workers into the country. It remains to be seen if, this time, actions will follow rhetoric. But with the violence showing absolutely no sign of abating, more and more will flee, forced to choose between death and their homeland or living like this.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Arwa Damon, thank you.

Also, want to let you know we're going to be doing a special report this coming Friday, specifically about the children in Syria and how many of them are being taught to hate. Don't miss that on this show on Friday.

Two people are dead following a strong earthquake that really rattled Costa Rica today. One victim died from a heart attack. No word yet as to the how the second victim died. We're still getting the damage estimates. You can see here the shaky camera, the shaking ground. This is San Jose, the capital. The quake was centered 87 miles west of San Jose with a magnitude 7.6. A hotel worker in Samara says things were, quote/unquote, "falling off the shelves." The ground was rolling. Earlier, tsunami warnings were issued for the region. Those warnings have since been cancelled.

And here we go again with those tar balls. Baseball-sized tar balls washed up on a Louisiana beach. This is the latest here because of Hurricane Isaac. Twelve miles of Louisiana's coastline closed to fishing, closed to other activities after these oil tar balls appeared. It is way too soon to tell whether the tar oil here is, in fact, conclusively linked to that massive oil spill, remember, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon spill. B.P. says, if tests show a link, it will clean up the mess.

And I want to bring Chad Myers in because we're also learning, just in to CNN, the storm churning in the Atlantic has now officially become a hurricane.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Leslie.

BALDWIN: Talk to me about Leslie. Where is Leslie?

MYERS: Leslie will not affect the U.S. Leslie will not be the Isaac. There it is, out there in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, but it will make a run as a Category 2 right at our friends there in Bermuda and the maybe up toward Atlanta Canada, as it continues to move on up there.

Maybe - well, Nova Scotia. I'm not even sure. It could be Newfoundland by the time it gets there. But there you go, look, 110-, 115-mile-per-hour hurricane right over Bermuda in a couple of days.

And you're talking about those tar bar ...

BALDWIN: Let's go back to the tar balls.

MYERS: Because you know what? We talked about how Isaac and how that obviously pushed that tar up onto the shore. Had this been two years ago and this storm, Isaac, when the B.P. was still leaking, it would have been a disaster.

This was the worst-possible case scenario that we dreaded two years ago and it didn't happen. We didn't get those winds pushing up onshore. And, so, now after a long time, the oil just turns into kind of tar. It loses a lot of its viscosity and it just turns into a ball. Balls can be picked up. Had that washed up as oil, that would have been just a huge -- a bigger disaster than we even had.

BALDWIN: I remember holding those tar balls in the gloved hand two years ago, you know, just about the size of a foosball, I suppose. But that would have been horrendous had the hurricane happened that August.

Before I let you go, we know now the news with Charlotte. They have moved the big Thursday night inside. How bad is the weather?

MYERS: You know, I don't get it. I didn't get it yesterday. I did a piece for Kate Bolduan. It's no different than any other Charlotte day in the summer. You grew up in North Carolina, right? It rains. Thunderstorms pop up. They knew this was Charlotte. They knew it was summer, kind of like the Republicans knew that it was Tampa. It was hurricane season. I just don't understand why now it's going to be cancelled because of the potential for severe weather. There's no added severe weather, no real focus for severe weather tomorrow.

BALDWIN: Perhaps they just didn't want to take a chance. That's a heck of a lot of people, Chad Myers, 64,000 people.

MYERS: And you'd have to call it. You can't call it at 7:00 and say, OK, everybody inside. They had to call it days in advance, so there you go.

BALDWIN: Yeah, OK, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: Let's go back for a minute to last week's keynote address at the GOP convention in Tampa. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the speech, remember this?

Some loved it. Critics said it was too much about Chris Christie and New Jersey and not enough about Mitt Romney, so what did voters think of Christie's speech? Those poll numbers are now out. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Chris Christie's appearance seemed to really raise the roof in Tampa at the Republican National Convention last week. Remember this? Listen to those screams.

But the New Jersey governor's speech did little to raise his popularity. Check out this poll released today from Quinnipiac University, shows this. Twenty-two percent of those surveyed think more favorably of Christie after his speech, 18 percent think of him less favorably and 54 percent were unchanged. The man Chris Christie was there to endorse at the convention is preparing for the presidential debates in multi-million-dollar style. Take a look at this. This is the home where Mitt Romney's practicing. This is a $3.9 million mansion, West Windsor, Vermont, owned by the state's lieutenant governor, Kerry Healey, 6,500 square feet, six bedrooms, five baths and a couple of Vermont state troopers guarding the driveway.

Romney did make a stop in neighboring New Hampshire today, visiting a building supply shop there. His biggest cheerleader was also out and about on the road. His wife, Ann Romney, led the call at a Women for Mitt rally in Ohio at the Winebrenner Theological Seminary in Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF MITT ROMNEY: It's time to fire the coach. We are zero-and-23-million. That's the score of this game. And, those kids, I promise you you'll have a better future if Mitt is the president. And, women, if you want a better future, if you want a better job, if you want better hope for you, you better vote for Mitt. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Got some more numbers for you. CNN/ORC poll released yesterday shows Mitt Romney needs to boost his appeal with female voters. We have been talking about this. Fifty-four percent of women surveyed said they were leaning toward or supporting the President, 42 percent backed Mitt Romney.

And, out of this, just some fun here. Fasten your seatbelts. This is not your ordinary car. Oh, no. Because it's the "Super Car." Details on the bells and whistles, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We are just a couple minutes out from "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer, on the road, of course, at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Wolf, you having fun?

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Having a lot of fun. It was a very good night for the Democrats last night. We'll see how President Clinton does tonight. I assume he'll do an excellent job. He's been gearing up. He's been working really hard. We've got a number of guests all standing by. Our live coverage begins right at the top of the hour. And, Brooke, as you know, a lot of our viewers know, I stay on the air 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, until midnight. Until midnight, the three-hour show is not enough. We're on the air for eight hours of live television from this Democratic convention, just as we were at the Republican convention last week.

And you know what? If you're a political news junkie, as I am, they pay you to have a front row seat to history and I love every minute of it. Loved it in Tampa. Loving it in Charlotte this week. I've got Rahm Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff, now the mayor of Chicago. He's here. He's going to explain why he has decided - and I'm not making this up -- he's leaving the Obama campaign, Brooke. Did you hear what I'm saying?

BALDWIN: I heard you. He's leaving.

BLITZER: Rahm Emanuel.

BALDWIN: Yeah.

BLITZER: Leaving the Obama campaign as a national co-chairman. You know why? Because he's going to get involved over these next 60 days in that pro-Obama Priorities USA Super PAC. You can't be involved in both. They have to be arm's-length differences, so he's going to be working with Bill Burton, Paul Begala, trying to raise a lot of money to compete in the Super PAC dollars. Money is going to be critical over these 60 days, so Rahm Emanuel is here. I'll explain.

We've got Robert Gibbs, the former White House Press Secretary, now a senior advisor to the Obama campaign. He's here. John Sununu will be giving us the Romney perspective, the former New Hampshire governor. So, lots of guests, lots of news. The actual convention day two starts 4:50 p.m. Eastern. We'll have live coverage of all of it.

BALDWIN: I can hear the excitement in your voice. Hope you got a good night's sleep and your time in on the treadmill that you love. Wolf Blitzer, you've got a big night ahead of you. We'll see you tonight.

BLITZER: Can I tell you one more thing? Can I tell you one more thing, Brooke?

BALDWIN: Please. Go for it.

BLITZER: You got a sec?

BALDWIN: For you, sure.

BLITZER: Tonight's going to be a good night. Tonight's going to be a good, good night.

BALDWIN: Thanks, will.i.am. Appreciate that. Appreciate that. That was a funny moment. A funny moment. Thank you. Now, I'm telling you, Wolf Blitzer's a hip man. He is. He is hip.

So is this guy, Chad Myers. We're going to talk about the super fast car. It's got four motors. It is so quiet, though, you will never hear a single engine. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where the rubber meets the road, tires on asphalt is the loudest noise you'll hear from this auto. There's no engine growl to speak of because this super car is electric. And it's not from Detroit, Germany or even Japan. This prototype comes from a small company in Croatia. Rimac already has an order from the royal family in Abu Dhabi. The company says its first "Concept One" should be delivered early next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Chad Myers, you got a cool million to buy one of these bad boys?

MYERS: $980,000. I don't have that either.

BALDWIN: Tell me about it.

MYERS: Have you ever driven an electric car?

BALDWIN: Yes.

MYERS: If you ever get to Vegas or someplace else, find a place called Pole Position Raceway. There are these electric carts, go- carts. They fly. They have so much torque. Electric cars really are - like, they must be the wave of the future because I get excited. Eleven-hundred-and-some-odd horsepower from four motors. BALDWIN: Talks about the torque, the torque-vectoring control system, so each wheel is controlled by a separate engine.

MYERS: Yep. Because when you go around a corner, the left wheel, if you're going around a right corner, the left wheel has to go farther, right, so it just gives that wheel more power. And it will turn the car for you, literally. It's like an active suspension. The right rear will spin more times than the left front will to get you around that corner. But only for a million dollars. And it's made in ...

BALDWIN: Croatia.

MYERS: Croatia.

BALDWIN: Croatia, who knew?

MYERS: Well, they do make a lot of parts for other people. This is the first time they've tried to put an entire car together. They've built it from scratch. And, wow, is it something.

BALDWIN: How fast? How fast does it go?

MYERS: 190.

BALDWIN: 190-miles-per-hour?

MYERS: That's what they think.

BALDWIN: Zero-to-60 in 2.8 seconds. If you could take a spin, would you?

MYERS: Someone tweeted to you about a cheetah. It's still not as fast as a cheetah.

BALDWIN: Not as a fast as a cheetah, yes.

MYERS: Absolutely, I would drive that thing.

BALDWIN: Yeah, I think I would take a spin in it, as well.

MYERS: Sure.

BALDWIN: Would I let you drive me in it? Maybe.

MYERS: If there was a five-point harness system ...

BALDWIN: Yeah.

MYERS: Then we could really buckle you in.

BALDWIN: Strap me in. Chad Myers, thank you very much.

MYERS: Good to see you.

BALDWIN: Good to see you. And, now, that's it for me. Let's take you to Charlotte. Wolf Blitzer, "The Situation Room" begins right now.