Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama get prime time spots
(CNN) – The Democratic National Convention announced its “headline” speakers Sunday, with Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama each getting a starring role in prime time.
As CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux and Candy Crowley reported last month, Clinton will speak on Tuesday night. That day, August 26th, will be the 88th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote.
A statement from the convention called Clinton a “champion for working families and one of the most effective and empathetic voices in the country today.”
Michelle Obama will address the convention in the headline spot on Monday night.
Wednesday night will feature a speech from Barack Obama’s still unnamed running mate. Former president Bill Clinton will also speak that night.
Obama will accept the party’s nomination Thursday night, delivering his acceptance speech away from the convention hall at the larger Invesco Field at Mile High. Sixty-thousand tickets for his speech were given away the first day they were made available. His speech, on August 28th, comes on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
McCain VP buzz starts at the airport
(CNN) - Sen. John McCain spends the next two days campaigning through Pennsylvania with the state’s former Gov. Tom Ridge at his side.
Anytime McCain appears with someone that might be on his vice presidential shortlist, it stirs up a whole new round of speculation. And as Pennsylvania is a key battleground state, Ridge is getting plenty of attention.
Ridge, a former Homeland Security Secretary, grew up in Erie and begin his political career in the northwest Pennsylvania city where the McCain tour begins.
And if the presumptive Republican nominee needed any reminder of Ridge’s prominence, he’ll get it the moment his plane sets down. The Erie International Airport where McCain lands late Sunday afternoon is also named “Tom Ridge Field” in the hometown politico’s honor.
This week on the campaign trail
What's on the candidates' agendas this week? CNN's Paul Steinhauser reports.
(CNN) - The presidential candidates are starting their weeks on opposite ends of the country.
Sen. Barack Obama is vacationing in Hawaii, and Sen. John McCain is hitting the trail in Pennsylvania.
The White House hopefuls will end the week together at a faith forum in California.
Check out this report from CNN's Paul Steinhauser for a preview of the week ahead.
Edwards affair: Was media part of a 'conspiracy of silence'?
(CNN) - Rumors about John Edwards' love affair had been circulating for months, but it wasn't until the former Democratic presidential candidate admitted to the affair that national news organizations jumped on the story.
After the National Enquirer reported catching Edwards making a late-night visit to see his ex-mistress last month, the blogosphere exploded, asking why the mainstream media was not reporting the story.
Was it because of a condescending attitude toward a tabloid's reporting? Bias toward a Democratic candidate? Or sympathy toward Elizabeth Edwards, who is battling an incurable form of cancer?
David Carr, a columnist for The New York Times, said many news organizations "tend to pick up stories from the National Enquirer with tongs."
"They have been very right about some things ... but there's been some misses too, so it's a little scary to follow on those stories," he said Sunday on CNN's Reliable Sources.
"It's also a little scary for big outfits to step up on a story like this. Sex may sell, but it can really hurt your relationship with readers," he added.
Enquirer editor David Perel said his organization feels a "big sense of vindication" now that Edwards has admitted to the affair.
Sec. of Housing: We are in the middle of the housing crisis
(CNN) - Steve Preston, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said Sunday that the country is “pushing through the middle” of the housing crisis.
There is a surplus of homes on the market, but not enough customers, he said.
“We need new homebuyers to come back into this marketplace. And we have to work hard to stem the tide of foreclosures so we don't have more of those homes coming into the inventories,” he said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”
Preston said the roots of the problem are multifaceted and no one person is to blame.
"I think there was confusion at the closing table as to what people were getting into. I think you had builders overbuilding in many of these markets, and as a result, needing to sell that inventory and doing so aggressively.
“And I think at the end of the day, you had mortgage instruments that were poor financial risks that ultimately landed in the hands of investors that they probably should never have bought,” he said.
Preston advised people who fear they are on the brink of losing their home to find a counselor to help them decide if they should restructure their mortgage.
Hud.gov has contact information for housing counseling agencies throughout the country.
McCain, Obama both speak with Georgian president
(CNN) - John McCain and Barack Obama both spoke to Georgia's president Saturday and continued to call for an end to Russia's bombing of the former Soviet republic.
Both candidates pressed for recognition of Georgia's sovereignty pushed for diplomacy in the conflict.
"For many years, I have warned against Russian actions that undermine the sovereignty of its neighbors," said McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, on Saturday. "Unfortunately, we have seen in recent days Russia demonstrate that these concerns were well-founded."
Obama also condemned "the violation of Georgia's sovereignty" and called for "an immediate ceasefire."
"Russia must stop its bombing campaign, cease flights of Russian aircraft in Georgian airspace, and withdraw its ground forces from Georgia," Obama said.
McCain said he has spoken to Georgian President Saakashvili twice since the conflict began. "It is clear the situation is dire ... I again call on the government of Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw its forces from the territory of Georgia."
He called the conflict a "threat to Euro-Atlantic security," and supported attempts by Western powers - including the United States, the European Union, and NATO - to broker a ceasefire.
Obama is receiving breifings om the situation while on vacation in Hawaii. He also spoke with Saakashvili, and in a statement afterwards direct talks between Russia and Georgia are necessary.
"Diplomats at the highest levels from the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations must become directly involved in mediating this military conflict and beginning a process to resolve the political disputes over the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia," he said. "A genuinely neutral mediator - not the Russian government - must begin a process of negotiations immediately."
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