ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A deliberately low-key Republican National Convention has adjourned for the day after first lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain spoke, urging for contributions to help Hurricane Gustav victims.

Video Of Protests | RNC Section | CNN.com Coverage

The convention's opening session was abbreviated as Gustav hit the Gulf Coast. President George W. Bush skipped his planned speech to go to disaster and relief centers, determined to avoid a repeat of the disaster mismanagement of Hurricane Katrina. Vice President Dick Cheney also canceled his planned speech.

During the opening minutes of the convention, Republican National Chairman Mike Duncan asked delegates to use their cell phones to text a five-digit code that would make a donation to the Red Cross for victims of the hurricane.

First lady Laura Bush and John McCain's wife, Cindy, sparked cheers when they appeared before the delegates, shunning politics to urge contributions to help storm victims.

Bush told Republican National Convention delegates that America's priority has shifted to those in Hurricane Gustav's path, rather than politics.

She said that when events such as Gustav occur, "we're reminded that first, we're all Americans."

"Our shared American ideals will always transcend political parties and partisanship," Bush said before a cheering RNC audience. "We hope that the people on the Gulf Coast know that the American people are here to do what we can to assist them." (Watch Laura Bush's speech.)

Cindy McCain, the wife of GOP presidential candidate John McCain, also made a brief appearance on the opening day of a shortened convention. She asked delegates to visit hurricane relief Web sites and donate money.

"This is a time when we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hat," she said.

Behind the two women was a giant screen showing the names of state-approved charities in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Bush also introduced videos by Republican governors from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana who had to miss the convention because of the storm. (Watch the governors' addresses.)

Protesters Not Deterred

As Republicans began their shortened RNC, thousands of protesters rallied outside on nearby streets. Convention organizers scaled back their agenda, but 8,000 to 10,000 protesters went ahead with their march, mostly peaceful.

However, some smashed windows, punctured car tires and threw bottles during an anti-war march to the site of the RNC. Police used pepper spray in confrontations with demonstrators and arrested five. (Video: Police, protesters clash outside RNC. )

Instead of the single coherent march that organizers had hoped for, fringe groups of anarchists and others wrought havoc along the streets between the state Capitol and the Xcel Energy Center where the convention was taking place. Protesters attempted to block several main bridges and streets leading to the center. Police were positioned to stop protesters and push them back. The clashes brought parts of St. Paul's downtown to standstill for about two hours. (Read more about the protests.)

GOP Adopts Primary Calendar Rule

RNC delegates have adopted Monday a rule to keep the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary at the front of their presidential nominating calendar.

The binding rule bans any states other than Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina from holding their 2012 primary or caucus votes before the first Tuesday in March.

The rule approved during Monday's truncated opening session of the convention also says those three states can't hold their own votes before the first Tuesday in February.

Certain nominee John McCain favored the changes to preserve the states' grassroots politicking. Republicans also want to prevent a repeat of this year's crowded calendar, when other states moved up to gain clout.

RNC Schedule Changes Amid Gustav

McCain said he felt frustrated and could do little Monday but await the outcome of the storm before gauging its further impact on the RNC, but he ordered the convention to mute its tone and volume.

Several Monday speeches at the convention were canceled, and the entire four-day program is up in the air as the Republicans attempt to grapple with the possible impact of the hurricane.

"This is an overwhelming thing. Let's hope and pray that it's not going to be so severe," McCain told "Today" on NBC in an interview broadcast Monday. Acknowledging that he felt some frustration, he added: "This is just one of those moments in history where you have to put America first."

RNC chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan said that by law, the convention had to be called to order on Monday. A quorum of at least half plus one of the 2,400 delegates was needed to conduct business such as securing a report of the Credentials Committee, adopting the convention's rules, electing the convention's officers and adopting the party's platform.

A quorum is also needed to formally nominate both McCain and running mate Sarah Palin, although they would not have to be on site to accept their nominations.

Mike Hubbard, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, predicted the GOP convention would be "a little less of a party, celebratory and partisan show, like you saw last week on television with the Democrats, because of what is going on. Everybody understands it -- understands the magnitude of it."

Mindful that Bush and the Republican Party lost credibility after the federal government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina three years ago, McCain and Palin visited Mississippi on Sunday in advance of the storm and promised swift recovery efforts. Bush visited emergency response centers in Texas.

Another wrinkle was added to the Republican script Monday when the McCain campaign disclosed that Palin's unmarried teenage daughter is pregnant -- and has been for five months.

Palin said her daughter, Bristol Palin, will keep her baby and marry the child's father. The baby is due in late December.

"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media, respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates," the campaign statement said.

Obama Scales Back

Meanwhile, McCain's Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, on Monday urged hundreds of thousands of supporters to donate to the Red Cross to help victims of the hurricane. He also scaled back Labor Day speeches to unions in an effort to keep the focus on the Gulf Coast.

Obama planned to finish his campaign schedule Monday with stops in Michigan and Wisconsin, two battleground states the campaign views as possible wins, before heading home to Chicago to monitor the situation and decide his schedule for the rest of the week.

"Instead of a speech, what I'd like to do is to ask all of us join in some silent prayer for all those Americans who are spending this Labor Day in a shelter waiting for another storm to pass," Obama said at an outdoor rally in the shadow of General Motors' headquarters.