Assassins or 'knuckleheads'?

Last Modified: 26 Aug 2008
By: Newsroom blogger

In the morning meeting.

"It's not every day you get a plot to kill Obama at the top of the news list, but we'll see how much credence it has later today."

That's how the programme editor kicks off this morning's meeting - and it's not every post-bank holiday Tuesday that has such a packed news list, either.

The Democratic convention is underway in the States, with former first lady Hillary Clinton, aspiring first lady Michelle Obama and veteran senator Edward Kennedy all due to speak today.

But leading the Democratic story pack so far is the news that police are investigating a plot to assassinate candidate Barack Obama.

'The idea is to see what this election means for America - before it was about the desire for change, but is that still true in these times of uncertainty?'

Suspects have been arrested driving erratically, with rifles and amphetamines in their car. But we wait to see whether the men will in fact turn out to be "knuckleheads", as one cop has said, or something more sinister.

Evidence for the former comes from the fact that CNN and other credible American news sources are not, so far, reporting a "plot" on their websites.

Jon Snow is on the ground in Golden, Colorado - the home of Coors beer - taking the temperature of views among ordinary voters.

"We wanted Jon to start this week, this fortnight, outside the convention room before going into the political bubble," an editor explains.

"The idea is to see what this election means for America - before it was about the desire for change, and redefining America's place in the world, but is that still true in these times of uncertainty?"

"It will be interesting if McCain picks Mitt Romney as his running mate, because he's seen to be the economic expert, and Obama picked Biden, who's seen as the foreign affairs expert. It's quite short-termist - these are big things at the moment, but that could change."

A number of stories vie for attention on this side of the pond, including the latest data scandal - a million bank customers' personal details have been found on a laptop sold on eBay.

"Isn't this story about how many companies have our personal information? You give your information to the bank because you trust them, but then they get passed on to an independent company. Who regulates these companies?"

We are following the shocking tale of a 16-year-old Qatari student who has died after what seems to be a racially motivated attack outside a takeaway in the seaside town of Hastings.

Three hundred people have been arrested as riots broke out at the end of the weekend's Notting Hill carnival - our ITN colleagues have compelling picture of the event.

And on a happier note, double medal-winning swimmer Rebecca Adlington is back from Beijing to an open-top bus tour of her home town, Mansfield.

Our correspondent Nick Martin will be at the scene, but can we move the story on with Olympic-related discussion, rather than just another congratulatory picture story? Find out at 7pm.