serpas and chairman of the republican national convention may overan toe toshio villaraigosa and russell honore and richard knabb from the hurricane center will be with us as well. "starting point" begins right now. hi, everybody, welcome. let's introduce our team to you this morning, a little bit to my left is lenny curry, nice to see you again. >> nice to see you. >> always raining when i visit you. >> roland martin is with us as well. we're waiting on ryan liz za, a correspondent with the new yorker and jessica yellin joining our team this morning. >> cute boots. >> my boots, yeah, got the cute boots. >> mine are in the back. >> it's raining. it's quite a mess, not as bad as some projected when we were talking last week. we're talking first and foremost

about the weather. thousands of people in louisiana and mps and alabama are being told to leave their homes because tropical storm isaac is taking aim at the northern gulf coast. a state of emergency has been declared in those three states and hurricane warnings are now in effect from louisiana to the florida panhandle. the storm could become a hurricane at some point today. they are looking at projections of a category 1 hurricane, although some have said it could be category 2. when we look at the time line, if this hurricane hits on wednesday, that would be the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina. jim spellman is standing by in new orleans. jim, it looks to me -- forgive me, jim spellman is standing by in key west this morning. tell me how it looks where you are. >> reporter: they made out pretty well here. take a look. it is duval street, the winds came right in there and came right up here, heavy rains as

well. they were concerned about inland flooding here, it's very low island for key west. they got as many tourists out of the way as they could. only 20% of courccupancy in the hotels. they told everybody to stay inside. for the most people heeded the warning and stayed inside. they didn't want people out on the street. it looks like they didn't have any serious damage. the department of emergency management in florida is doing statewide assessment now that the sun is coming up. in key west, they have a little bit of a sense of humor even when storms are coming in, part of life in paradise in the island. they do take it seriously though when they are in one of these storms as you well now, soledad. >> glad to hear it wasn't as bad as some people were talking about last week. jim spellman in key west. appreciate the update. let's get right to rob marciano live in new orleans. where are you? >> reporter: --

>> all right, obviously it looks like we're having a little difficulty getting rob marciano's shot and we'll do. clearly when there's a hurricane approaching, we've had all opportunity to have been part or covered a number of these and obviously the winds get high and shots come in and out. i think we have rob's shot back. let's go back to rob marciano in new orleans. where are you standing exactly? >> reporter: we are at the 17th street canal and little puffs of winds but nothing more than 10 miles per hour at the moment. not enough to knock our shot down but technical glitches here and there. they had more than a technical glitch seven years ago almost to the day when hurricane katrina came ashore here and the water from lake pontchartrain became piling up in the 17th street kanl and that levee burst up on the industrial canal, same thichk and all of that water

flooding it for weeks on. they have done a ton of work and behind me is one of the elaborate storm walls and pump stations that they have in place. the army corps of engineers spending billions to beef up the levee systems around the city. over 100 miles worth and canals and pumping situation as well. no evacuations mandatory at this point because they think that these -- this system can hold up to at least a 2, if not a category 3 storm. until the forecasts are ramped up to that height, they are not mandatorily evacuating anybody. st. charles and plaquemines parish, there are evacuations going on there and oit platforms offshore. it's not a hurricane yet. it's taking it's sweet time trying to get organized. once it gets that eye core set up, we do think it will take on serious strength because it's

over big heat content. until it sets up, we're not too sure how strong it's going to get. it's 400 miles southeast of the mouth of the mississippi heading in this direction and it continues to zero in on new orleans. the national hurricane center will tell you our computer models have been all over the place with this thing and the forecast track has a wide margin of error. everybody from mobile bay really to the texas/louisiana border needs to be under the gun here for potential landfalling hurricane, 1 or 2 or even higher. tomorrow night into wednesday morning is the timing. soledad, there's a heightened sense of urgency already in new orleans. lines at the gas stations were long last night. a lot of gas stations already without fuel. they are certainly taking it seriously here. soledad? >> i bet. you only have to sit through one of those terrible storms and terrible aftermath to learn lessons from that. we'll continue to check in with

you throughout the morning. appreciate that. what can we expect in the days ahead from tropical storm isaac? let's go right to richard knabb, the director of the national hurricane center. a moment ago rob was talking about the eye wall being organized. explain what that means for what the power of the storm could be? >> we're talking about the inner core of the hurricane, where the thunderstorms are most concentrated around the center of circulation. over the last several days, isaac as a tropical storm has been struggling to develop that inner core but this morning it looks more organized internally than it has pretty much any time in its life cycle with the center of circulation embedded within the middle of the mass of thunderstorms that's become more circular and concentrated than yesterday. still not a hurricane yet. we're forecasting to become one. the question of course is how fast might it intensify in the last day and a half or so prior to the center coming ashore.

right now forecasting category 1 at landfall but it can be a little higher or lower than that. >> rob also talked about a large margin of error possibly in terms of where it could hit because right now the maps really look like it's going to hit head on into new orleans. as you say maybe a category 1 or 2. what's the likelihood or possibility that it could shift to the left or right? >> well, we are seeing the models in better agreement than yesterday afternoon even. part of that is because we're closer in time and we can start to narrow down the landfall a little more, the cone gets narrower as it approaches the coast. but the models have come into better agreement. there's still enough uncertainty we cannot pinpoint where the center of isaac will cross the coast and that makes the difference in terms of what gets the worst storm surge and so forth. because we can't pinpoint that, everybody in the hurricane warning area shown in red behind

me here, needs to prepare and follow the advice of the local management officials because we don't know who's going to get the worst. the officials know what the potential is, if you're told to get out today, you got to get out. starting tonight the weather will start to deteriorate. >> thanks for that. we appreciate it and obviously we'll keep watching it. we have another update at the top of the next hour. we'll check back in with you then. lots of shuffling because of the weather going on here at the republican national convention, it's going to convene today but for a very short time starting at 2:00 p.m. eastern. it will last about ten minutes, the entire event is condensed into three days. chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is here. they are going to convene it and start the clock. >> gavel in and gavel out for one day. tomorrow the real events begin. >> tell me about the condensing. >> they turned four days into

three and tomorrow you'll hear from ann romney, the governor's wife who will give a fuller picture of who he is as a man and gop favorite new jersey governor chris christie. on wednesday, mike huckabee is speaking and also bobby jindal, who is the governor of louisiana. he's scheduled to speak. as we know, his state is now under a state of emergency and so because of the hurricane we're waiting to see if he's going to come. the governor himself speaks on thursday introduced by marco b rubio and jeb bush. donald trump was going to speak on monday, no longer appearing at all. >> it's an interesting two-tier track. you've got to get the speeches done and pt business of the convention to get done. you have a pr issue in how you manage starting with just to some degree a big kickoff with the impending storm that could

potentially be devastating. >> it's an optics challenge because you don't want this sort of split screen picture of on one hand a bunch of people celebrating here while on the other hand people are getting damaged by a storm, particularly if it hits in louisiana on the anniversary of katrina. the republican convention held in minnesota four years ago also had a similar problem when a storm threatened at the same time and they canceled some events and things went on as planned afterwards. >> jessica, appreciate the update. let's get right to bob buckhorn. nice to see you, mr. mayor. thank you for welcoming us to your fine city. it's a bit of a downpour. >> it's a little soggy but it will blow through. >> the good news for you, your city has been spared the worst. some of the early projections showed a hit and now it kind of moved farther to the west. >> you know, as floridians we deal with that on an annual

basis, we know how to watch the tracks and know they are unpredictable. we have plans in place and we execute them ir respective of what the storm looks like. we're thankful the storm moved to the west, it only delayed the convention by one day and rnc will get back to business tomorrow and tampa will look great. >> for the mayor, you have that final sentence, the key sentence, wasn't it. >> i'm america's weatherman now. i'm used to talking about millage, now i have to talk about millibars. >> there was conversation, just briefly, about extending the convention past friday, into friday, take another day and make up for the day lost on the front end. then the conversation around that seemed to stop a little bit. is that even doable? >> that would be chairman priebus's call, we would be prepared as a city to handle that if that was their decision. >> it would be terrible to have the hotel rooms extended for another day. >> restaurants, all of that stuff. >> we have law enforcement deployed and we're ready to deal

with the situation if they needed to extend it, we could. but ultimately that is chairman priebus's decision. >> you're part of the discussions about that. for a moment it sounded like they might extend. a conversation around extending it for a day and that seemed to go away. >> everything i've heard it won't be extended. they can pack all of the speakers in within the three daytime frame. i think the important thing to note, governor scott made the call early. when he canceled his sunday and monday events, everybody recognized we have to put safety of floridians first and can sem the day's events today. >> how much of an optics issue do you struggle with as jessica was pointing out. this is a party, a celebration, a launch, a kickoff. all of those are celebratory words and potentially you could have severe damage. this path is what is being projected to be. >> from an optics it will be on a day to day basis and be mindful of people's homes and lives. in terms of getting to november,

most of the battle will be fought off labor day. you get a bump out of the convention but the real battle is after labor day. >> so you're not worried about all of that? >> we cannot control the weather. >> we cannot. what it's really like to experience the republican national convention from the inside, you can join the cnn election roundtable with wolf blitzer and his political team and get answers in realtime. don't miss it tomorrow starting at 12 noon eastern. go to cnn.com/roundtable. newt gingrich will sit down with us at the cnn grill. professor gingrich will explain newt university straight ahead. we have to take a short break and we're back in just a moment. cnn's coverage of the republican national convention is sponsored

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welcome back, the former speaker of the house, newt gingrich is here for the national republican convention. lending his support and delegates to mitt romney. he was at one time the front-runner for the gop nod will be holding a number of seminars throughout the week which the rnc has dubbed newt university. prormer presidential candidate and house speaker joins us this morning. >> nice to see you. >> tell us about newt university. >> a lot of delegates and activists will come. it's available online at newtuniversity.com and it's an effort to start taking big ideas and lay them out. it's two hours a day from 10:00 to 12:00, monday tuesday and wednesday. >> who goes to that? we have a lot of delegates and activists in the area. people interested in ideas and policy.

governor scott walker will be with us today for example. we'll be talking about reforming government and what he learned and what he's trying to accomplish. >> it's lectures or here are the talking points or things tore consistent on as a party? >> it's a combination. if we're telling you something on medicare, why are we telling you -- what are the facts behind the ad? we're we're telling you how to think about your state government, what has he done and learned from it? he's sharing with other activists, here's what i'm doing in trying to get things done. i think there's a real effort to bring together smart people, really good spokespersons who are sort of models for the rest of us. and big ideas that are going to be central to this campaign. >> let's talk a little bit about the weather, which is problematic. and we know it's now a shortened schedule. how much of a problem is this for the business of the rnc do you think? >> first of all, my younger

daughter was born in new orleans. >> you know hurricanes. >> i worry and one of the latest reports is may come ashore in new orleans on the anniversary of katrina. wherever it goes, we can't sit here and say at least it didn't hit tampa let me start with that. these things -- this doesn't seem like a giant storm but still a serious storm. second here, we've been through this before. if you remember, because we had hurricanes threatening both texas and louisiana, we suspended a day in minneapolis, st. paul in 2008. maybe one of the lessons ought to be you ought to have conventions a few weeks earlier. but i thin the delegates i have seen who are here are very enthusiastic and very excited. conventions are like giant family reunions. you see people you've known over the years and all get back together with a common purpose to beat the other guy.

>> you released your delegates, ron paul has not released his delegates. how much of a problem could that be on the floor? because historically it has been a problem, right? >> i think the ron paul people have said openly they are going to be supportive on the floor and do not expect problems. i thenk they worked out some things in platform in auditing the federal reserve and other issues important to ron paul. plus, rand paul has played a role and does get a speech. it's unlikely that ron paul will want to embarrass his son in that kind of a setting. >> what happens on thursday, you and calista speak together? do you get half a speech? >> we campaigned a lot that way. we did a documentary on ronald reagan a few years ago so the campaign folks and convention folks wanted to do a tribute to ronald reagan and why elections matter. so it will be a terrific, very powerful short documentary and

then calista and i will talk about applying the principles of ronald reagan to 2012. we're looking forward it. it will be a lot of fun. >> nice to see you, former speaker newt gingrich. great to have you. keep it to cnn for the best political coverage on tv. tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, join us for a profile for the presumptive nominee. and romney revealed, family and faith and the road to power. at 9:30 p.m. eastern, special convention of the coverage itself here on cnn. coming up on "starting point," tropical storm isaac is our top story, it's churning towards the gulf coast after lashing the florida keys and miami area. we'll take you to the cnn hurricane headquarters for the latest on isaac's path. we're back in just a moment. nee. and then, in one blinding blink of an eye,

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our top story is tropical storm isaac, well on its way to become a category 1 hurricane and on a path to strike the gulf coast. forecasters are expected to make landfall on wednesday. that will be seven years to the day since hurricane katrina hit the region. let's get a quick check on the weather with a bonnie schneider at the cnn hurricane headquarters, seven years ago today you ena were talking about hurricane katrina. >> i was just thinking that, soledad. luckily this is different. even though the track is somewhat similar way back then with katrina, luckily the storm is so much less intense and not as large. although, this is a large tropical storm, tropical storm

force winds extend well over 200 miles from the center. right now the storm center is about 400 miles south of the mouth of the mississippi river. but it is on the move. we are expecting a landfall somewhere along the gulf coast over the next couple of days. let's take a closer look at the track. as it comes over the warmer waters intensity grows from 80 miles per hour to 85, later on tuesday and possibly up to 90 miles per hour before landfall occurs somewhere on the louisiana coast or possibly mississippi. the cone of uncertainty is fairly wide even though we're a couple of days out. we are getting closer to pinpointing the landfall. it's important to keep in mind you must make the hurricane preparations now for the city of new orleans under a hurricane warning, soledad at this time. and you know how it is once the weather gets bad, it's a lot more difficult to bring things in from the outside to get supplies. do that now. >> obviously. thanks for monitoring it for us this morning.

we'll keep checking with bonnie throughout the morning. still ahead on "starting point," we'll check in on preparations in new orleans and the cities surrounding as well and the anxiety level very high as isaac is falling, bonnie said it's not quite as strong but it is certainly following a similar path that katrina followed seven years ago. we're going to talked to retired lieutenant general russell honore, he talk to us this morning about preparations there today. we're back in just a moment. stay with us. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank.

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the republican national convention. they are going to gavel in at 2:00 p.m., stay in session for ten minutes. donald trump was bumped from his spot today. governor romney still scheduled to accept the nomination on thursday. our team this morning, lenny curry, florida's gop chairman. nice to see you in person. >> always a pleasure. >> it's always raining when i see you. the editorial director, ron brownstein and roland martin and ryan liz dzza, the washington correspondent. the top story is not the rnc, it's really this hurricane, potential hurricane forming in the gulf coast as tropical storm isaac is taking aim at the northern gulf coast. the storm is expected to make landfall near louisiana almost seven years to the day after hurricane katrina struck. cnn's rob marciano is live in new orleans.

good morning, rob. >> reporter: good morning, soledad, you make that comparison as far as the timing is concerned and last night we were making the comparison of the track. i want to start off with this, the 5:00 p.m. advisory from yesterday and compare that with similar timing forecasted advisory of hurricane katrina seven years ago and that's when chills were to go down my spine. if you could -- go to switcher 710 and that would be the right source for that information. in the meantime, 65-mile-per-hour winds is the strength of this thing. west-northwest moving at 14 miles per hour. the last couple of hours showing better signs of improvement. there's an airplane in there right now that's saying the eye structure may be forming a little bit better now. so we do anticipate some strengthening. anybody from mobile bay to really to the louisiana/texas border needs to be wary of this. but forecasts are getting better

agreement pointed towards new orleans. as far as the strength goes, that is certainly an uncertainty. let's talk about new orleans and the prep. since the ugly time seven years ago when they had to plug holes in levees that were bursting frantically, the army corps of engineers has done amazing job. spent billions of dollars in structures like this, this is the 17th street canal which was an open canal back with hurricane katrina came through and water shot down through here, underwashed the levee and busted a hole through it. now they have the gates that weigh like 20 tons each. they drop down when they have to. that big pipe pumps out water from the city into the lake when it has to. so they are fairly confident, soledad, that unless this things gets to be a category 3 or higher, the new system can hold off. for that reason no mandatory evacuations ordered for new orleans yet. but outside of the levee system

there have been some in the lower lying communities. >> thank you for the update. as rob mentioned right there, volume tear evacuations have been declared for 15 parishes with a mandatory evacuation for st. charles and the east bank of plaquemines parish. it could make landfall as a category one hurricane in new orleans during the anniversary. 1700 people died in the entire area, neighborhoods completely destroyed. at one point 85% of the city was underwater. amazing to fly over as we did by chopper many times. it was most catastrophic natural disaster in u.s. history. as rob was pointing out, they have been spending $10 billion trying to strengthen the defenses in case of a storm like th. of course, this will be the first real test to see how the money has been spent and whether it was well spent and well

built. more about storm readiness than retired lieutenant russel honore, he wrote a book called survival and in baton rouge. thank you for talking with us. appreciate it. you've been concerned because of course katrina was category five. we're talking category one. people thinking category one, that's not as strong and serious potentially, right? >> absolutely. but a category one packing high category one winds with maybe 10 to 14 inches of rain if the storm lingers around in a low lying area, which is coastal louisiana and coastal mississippi, is still a disaster, soledad. >> i'm looking right now at sort of a side by side comparison of hurricane katrina back in 2005 and what we're seeing in tropical storm probably soon to be hurricane isaac for 2012. you see a difference in the path. you see a sharp right hook that katrina made to turn it into new

orleans. what they are predicting now seems to be a smoother slope into that city. big question of course, as rob was pointing out to us is the state of levees. they look great, lots of money spent but you don't know until you know, right? >> absolutely. they've $14 billion of federal money was committed for the levee improvement. they've spent 10 billion. they have about 4 billion left to spend in improving and armoring the levees and completing improvements down at plaquemines parish. they also replaced the pumps. when we went into katrina, the pumps dated back to 1936. we now have modern pumps and a quote from the corps of engineers, we have the largest drainage pump in the world on the west bank in new orleans. it's functional and operational. all that being said, people need to be cautious because anything built by man can be destroyed by mother nature. people still need to listen to

local officials, if you're outside of the levee system, you need to be evacuating today. >> let me ask you a final question about organizatn. you talked about the pumps and rebuilding of that. in terms of preparedness by the city, an organization by the city and all of that entire gulf coast region, what's different today than seven years ago? >> i think the local leadership is a lot more pro active. they start preaching category of storm and people go into the data bk say it's just a category one. politicians coming out more and more and saying, this area will flood, you need to move by a certain time. people without rides, you need to go to this location and be prepared to evacuate. evacuate your animals. if they are going to do a con tra flow out of new orleans,

they are telling people when that will start. i think there's more specific information going out about the potential effects of the storm as opposed to just talking about category. people need to listen if their area is projected to be in a flood zone or it will flood, based on rain or from tidal surge, you know we lose more homes every year to flooding than we do any other event in america. >> lieenant generoal russel honore, thanks for being with us, we certainly appreciate it. >> all of this has had a very very big effect on the rnc. i'm looking out the window but it's gloomy but tampa missed any big hit like we talked about last week. >> people are actually taking a more assertive step to move. since katrina, they say, no

sense playing around with it. >> here at the rnc, there is an element of pr that is part of the equation, you can't -- this is a celebration. this is a launch. how devastating in terms of messaging is this storm for you? >> i think the important thing to remind people. this is about nominating, having mitt romney as the official nominee so we can get on with spe spending our money and campaigning. >> so the business is fine -- >> the reality says the convention is after '68 or '72 has been about selling a message to the country. we're now in a split screen mode. our top story is understandably justifiably a hurricane hitting the gulf perhaps. this convention already has been affected enormously by the storm and will be the rest of the week. they have difficult choices to make on schedule. regardless of that, the country's attention is ditch di

'way, we would be sitting here with childhood friends of mitt romney -- >> if you think about these general elections, three big moments, picking the vp, convention and the debates. three moments when the most americans tune in and to the extent as we have a split screen and people focus on something else, not good news for romney. >> there is -- are people sitting in a room navigating, what's the storm doing over here so our messaging is appropriate and doesn't come across as unsympathetic or noncaring, et cetera. >> floridians are seeing republican leadership. governor scott stepped out and said i'm canceling my first two days of event. that's leadership in swing state. >> test for the president too, if it's new orleans seven years after president bush failed the test. >> a test where we've seen a track record before. much to compare and contrast to. we have to look at other stories making news today. christine, good morning. >> good morning to you, soledad. authorities in saudi arabia

foiling a terror plot with links to al qaeda. they busted extremist terror cells, eight suspected militants, most from yemen were arrested. the interior ministry says the suspects were in contact with the defend yant organization abroad. two troops are dead in the latest insider shooting in afghanistan. an afghan army soldier open fire in two soldiers in eastern afghanistan. coalition forces returned fire killing the soldier. it's the latest in a series of green on blue attacks against nato led troops. 42 have been killed by afghan forces or as insurgents disguised as soldiers or police. a swarm of hundreds much quakes near the california/mexico border, the strongest a 5.5. it centered near brawley, a sis

molgs saying they recorded 300 quakes. one family got several jolts on camera. >> oh, my gosh -- >> month god. >> the house is coming down. the house is coming down. >> this is the most sis miss activity since the 1970s. only minor damage reported. >> the toddler terrified and the teenager jumping up and down. >> they are terrifying, they are really really scary to be in a strong shock like that it is an awful feeling. the toddler is exactly right. the teenager -- you know, you know. >> even worse than the traffic in l.a., the earth quakes. still ahead, not just new orleans, emergency officials are urging mississippi residents, prepare now in case isaac strikes along the north gulf coast this week.

up next, the executive director of mississippi emergency management agency with the latest on what they are doing in his state. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪

welcome back, mississippi is preparing for tropical storm isaac to hit this week. thousands of people living along the coast have been told to leave their homes, the center of the storm could make landfall late on tuesday or wednesday as a hurricane. mississippi coast is within that projected path. it could hit seven years to the day after hurricane katrina devastated the gulf region, including parts of mississippi. the governor has declared a state of emergency. robert latum. mississippi emergency management agency is with us. thank you for talking with us. what's your number one concern right now looking at those maps and projections and listening to the weather? >> i think soledad, our main concern is even with the recent shift in the track more to the west, that puts the mississippi gulf coast on the worst side of the storm to receive significant storm surge.

the potential heavy rains of 10 to 16 inches and low-lying areas in hancock county, jackson county and harrison county. those living in low-lying areas will be subject to flooding. our concern is that people need to make sure and take the opportunity today to prepare themselves and their families to evacuate should the need arise. >> so tell me a little bit about where you're staging your relief efforts. you've got to put things in so they are close but at the same time they don't get stuck if a storm hits. what are you doing? >> well, absolutely. we learned during katrina that we've got to put supplies close to our coast or areas that could be impacted but not put them in harm's way. we're sending supplies forward today to the camp shelby area, which is about 60 miles off the gulf coast. they'll be close enough to get to the three coastal counties quickly after landfall, if necessary. we are also working with fema partners liaison to backfill the resources and commodities once

our stock is gone. >> i know you've changed the infrastructure as well and feeling more confident about that. robert latham of the mississippi emergency management agency. we'll keep checking in with you as we get news on where the storm is exactly heading. thank you for your time. >> thank you, soledad. >> you bet. complaints about the campaigns of mitt romney and president obama he is "time" magazine's joe klein says both are avading the issues. to one's military oath. d the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different.

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welcome back to "starting point." that's what it looks like insigned the forum where all the speeches will take place today. the national republican convention begins here today in tampa but it will be a short one. it will only last ten minutes. officials are concerned about the effects of tropical storm isaac, a shortened event could be a problem for governor romney embroiled in a particularly ugly campaign with president obama. joe kleine is covering the past ten presidential elections and one of his recent articles he had a scathing observation about the current battle between the president and governor romney saying this, the missing piece is what each would do going forward. you can't have a substantive debate without substance and this has been the most vapid, vaporous campaigns of the ten presidential races i've covered. joe klein joins us this morning. so tell what's you really think. why do you feel like it's vapid? >> there's no substance.

we've both been watching. the campaign has been almost entirely negative and the romney campaign has been almost entirely filled with platitudes, without any really -- any real detail about what they would do going forward. >> and some would argue if you don't have detail but no one can jump in and attack your detail. you can win on a spin versus having to defend a plan. >> when you do have detail, as the president does with his medicare proposal, what ryan does with his medicare proposal can be easily distorted by the other side. i mean, you know, a lot of the things that the romney campaign says are cuts to medicare are things that are efficiencies that are going to make the program better that ryan agreed with in his budget. >> wouldn't that argue for then the details, don't let anybody have any ammunition to say we're going to cut medicare? >> and you know what? i'll tell you what, we are a big

part of the problem. >> the media? >> we in the media. yes, we are, because we don't do substance very well especially on tv. >> joe, can i disagree a little bit? we know if mitt romney wins, we know what republicans in congress want to do. we just want an auto pen president. the republican party right now is a congressionally led party and i think romney put an exclamation point on that by picking paul ryan. paul ryan's budget, while not as detailed as it could be, we have a sense of where he wants to go. though the candidates aren't out there with specifics, don't we know where they want to go and how is the press not pointing that out? >> the public doesn't and that's a big problem. it's a big problem with the obama presidency since day one. as i travel around the country, which i do a lot, you ask people what's in the affordable care act, they have no idea. they have no idea what's in dodd frank, the regulatory reform bill, no idea what was in the stimulus until the road crews started showing up. they did know about the auto

bailout, though. >> whose fault is that? >> obama's. >> there are details that are missing and the campaign has mostly been on kind of personal attacks back and forth but we know enough to know that we have a very didvergent direction. the widest since 1964. the way politics works now, it's much more of a team sport the ability of a president and the party mainstream consensus is diminished. if you look at the ryan direction which i think romney would embrace, repealing dodd frank, repealing the epa's ability to regulate carbon. you're still talking about probably the widest since goldwater and johnson. >> i'm just not clear romney would go in that direction. to a certain extent but i think there will be a civil war if romney wins and a civil war in

the reamian party if romney loses. >> you guys keep saying we know. do they know? no, no, no, no. we sit here we live it, we breathe it, but the reality is when somebody makes a comment whether it's about a birth certificate, a dog on top of a car, all after sudden, that's where all the questions are. i look at some of the interviews lately, not only the candidates, their surrogates, when you say they're devoid of presidenting people on the critical issues, they're missing. and so we can't just sit here and say we know. we don't matter. the folks voting matter. >> that is not unique to 2012. >> i'm not saying it is. >> they are always elusive for the mass of voters. i think there is a sense of direction that both candidates have been given. >> what's unique we know the

fiscal cliff is coming. >> we have to short break. joe klein, appreciate it. we're going to see if maybe he'll stick around with us. ahead on "starting point" we're talking about isaac, too, spinning away from florida, churning into the northern gulf. urging residents to prepare. craig fugate will join us. for fastidious librarian emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her

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hey, everybody, welcome to a special edition of "starting point." you are looking at the forum where all of those speeches, as soon as the republican national convention officially gets the under way. we're coming to you live from tampa, florida. we're talking a lot about tropical storm isaac this morning because hurricane warnings are in effect as it heads for the northern gulf coast from new orleans to pensacola, the gulf coast on alert as the storm strikes eerie similarities to katrina

including the date of the landfall potentially. so what does that mean for the republican national convention? "starting point" begins right now. hey, everybody, welcome. our panel with us, lanny curie with the florida gop, roland martin is the host of "washington watch" and a washington correspondent with the new yorker and jessica is the chief white house correspondent. we're all here and roland feeling jessica's boots. he's just jealous because you have boots. >> it is a bit of a hot mess outside. it's not as bad as we thought it might be. actually, we were talking last week, we thought tampa would get the brunt of the storm and it's gone to the west. >> bad news for those folks. >> very news for folks in the west and along the gulf talking

louisiana, mississippi, alabama, all being told to leave their homes this morning as tropical storm isaac has taken aim at the northern gulf coast, hurricane warnings are now in effect from louisiana to the florida panhandle. the storm is expected to make landfall near or in louisiana almost seven years to the day after hurricane katrina struck. rob marches yiano is live for u. the track is eerily similar as well. these are two graphics side-by-side that taken last night on the left is the advisory for isaac last night at 5:00. on the right is the similar forecast advisory seven years ago for katrina. so that had us certainly concerned. what has us optimistic this morning, we go back to the satellite pictures, the satellite looks nothing like it did when katrina was barreling

to new orleans and it was exploding into a category 5 storm shortly before it struck, eventually as a category 3 storm. right now tropical storm isaac is just that, a tropical storm. 65-mile-an-hour winds but there is a plane in there right now and there are indications that the inner core is beginning to get a little bit more of a structure which means that intensification is likely here certainly before landfall. here is the forecast track. we're starting to nail down now where the coordinates are but a wide range of where this could make landfall. the center of this cone of uncertainty is certainly new orleans but from mobile bay to lake charles, louisiana, we'll be under the gun for this. timing tomorrow night into wednesday morning. no mandatory evacuations here yet in new orleans. beefed up levee systems like the one you see behind me. that flood gate was not here seven years ago and they hope it will protect the city this go around. >> soledad? >> rob marciano for us.

tropical storm isaac on the move and gaining strength. southern florida missed the worst of it, though. the storm lashed the keys with heavy rains and winds. people were inking the worst would happen. jim spelman is live. hi, jim, good morning. how is it looking? >> reporter: good morning, soledad. the sun is coming up and people are venturing out. they are finding little if any significant damage. we did get lashed here with high winds and heavy rains for most of yesterday afternoon. they found little or no significant damage in the keys. statewide the department of emergency management will be out, now that the sun is up, do a larger assessment for the rest of the state. they are feeling fortunate. it looks like they got a little lucky here, didn't really bear the full front of tropical storm isaac, soledad. >> all right, jim spellman in key west. we want to get to the director of the national hurricane center. i know you just got that advisory so why don't you fill

me in on what the latest is showing you about not just the track of the storm but also the satellite picture for the storm. >> it appears to be a gradual trend of getting more organized and strengthening. maximum winds at 65 miles an hour, that's ten shy roughly of becoming a hurricane. so we are forecasting that to happen be with the next 24 hours, just not sure exactly when. we'll be getting the data all day. the reason why strengthening is anticipated, it is over the open waters of the gulf of mexico, waters there 86, 87 degrees, very warm and the center of circulation is directly embedded with all the thunderstorms near the center. a much more concentrated ball of thunderstorms than we saw yesterday. it was a more sprawling structure over the keys. given that and the weak wind shear it will strengthen. >> the temperature of the water is critical. how does the temperature of the

water today compared to the temperature of the water seven years ago when it was hurricane katrina barreling in that direction? >> very similar. the gulf of mexico is almost always plenty warm in august and september, support strengthening thunderstorms and hurricanes. and there's not been any significant system ahead of this to churn up any cooler water. the gulf has some deep water beneath the surface. we're going to be expecting strengthening and how much strengthening is the big question. right now we're forecasting it's a category 1. could it become stronger than that. regardless it's a large enough system capable of producing a significant storm surge 6 to 12 feet of flooding aboveground level anywhere within southeastern louisiana, the coast of mississippi and alabama. those folks might be told to evacuate today and you need to heed the instructions from your emergency management officials. >> and when are you predicting landfall at this point? >> landfall will be

approximately some time tomorrow to late tomorrow night. that is somewhat depending on where it comes ashore because the coastline isn't straight. the weather will go downhill well in advance of that. and that's why today is the day in preparation because tonight is when it's going to see the weather go downhill it will get worse and then tomorrow night sometime the center will come ashore and it will last -- the bad weather will last after the center comes ashore. these are large systems, especially this one, and the weather will ben trait well inland as well. it will slow down so that will be a longer period of winds and rains pile up the flooding, pile up the ocean water. so slow moving, relatively large systems we don't like to see but that's what we've got here. >> richard knabb, thank you, richard. appreciate the update from you. and as isaac heads into the gulf, fema is mobilizing their staff. we want to get to administrator craig fugate. he has briefed present obama on what is tropical storm isaac

that happened yesterday. he was also the director of the florida division of emergency management. it's nice to see you. we appreciate talking to you. we were talking as you heard to richard knabb and rob marciano a moment ago. they said the good news, if there is some, we're looking at maybe hitting as a category 1 and i think the good news but might make people think, oh, well only a category 1 is. are you worried about that? >> well, yeah. it's moving slow so we would expect a lot of heavy rain, localized flooding and potential power outages so make sure you're charging your phones up today. you don't want to get caught short if that storm does impact you. >> a lot of the issues in hurricane katrina which i covered seven years ago in how do you get resources in around a storm and they went in well

after the storm hit and that was a big problem. what are you doing different ly today in terms of resources if, in fact, a storm hits and it hits hard and there's lots of damage? >> particularly in louisiana we've been moving stuff to get ready for the impacts but we're also working closely to the states and what their unmet needs are. we don't wait for a storm to get there. the president wants to make sure we have what we need in place before the storm hits. >> i was going to ask you about that briefing with president obama. how long did it take? what kind of questions did he want answered from you? >> the biggest questions he had was with dr. knabb was on the hurricane and intensity forecast and then what the governors would be looking at, evacuations, but he wanted to make sure we had all the things that the federal government would possibly need in support

of the states and we were working on that and his biggest concern is we were doing everything we needed to do to support governors depending upon this track and how strong it comes ashore. >> we were talking a few moments ago to rob marches yiano who wa standing in front of the 17th street canal which they have these big, giant, massive gates right there at the levee but, of course, none is tested. how confident are you that, in fact, this is going to resolve of many of the problems they saw in new orleans should this storm hit in a big way there? >> well, it was design edor a much larger hurricane than what currently isaac had forecast it for. i think that's why the mayor of new orleans is looking at that before he makes any more decisions about evacuations. but those coastal areas don't have that protection. so i think this is most important now to folks that are on the coastal areas. you're being asked to evacuate. remember, you don't have a levee system. the storm surge could be deadly. you need to move to higher

ground now. >> a good message to get out, craig fugate. nice to talk to you again. thanks for your time. we appreciate it. as that message has been getting out, we've seen lot of changes at the national republican convention because of what is storm isaac but expected to be hurricane isaac in the next 24 hours or so. they're going to convene but for a very short time, about ten minutes or so. that's going to happen at 2:00 p.m. eastern. the entire event has been condensed into three days. our chief white house correspondent is here in tampa. so walk me through the new three-day schedule which was a four-day schedule. who got chopped and who got to stay? >> micro compressed. donald trump got chopped. >> bummer! >> there will be no trump at the conventi convention. he was going to speak today. instead he spoke to sayer toe at that republicans. instead they are going to do the shortened schedule. tomorrow you'll see ann romney, the governor's wife, you can expect to present a more intimate picture of him, maybe warm him up, one of the governor's challenges is had his likability numbers.

and then governor chris christi of new jersey. you can expect him to take a 2x4 to the president's policies. governor jindal is a rising star -- >> he may not make it, right? >> given what his state is going through, we'll see. we don't know. thursday governor romney is speaking. he'll be introduced by marco rubio, rising senator here in florida and jeb bush has been moved to thursday. >> let me ask you, are people worried right now, those who are managing the rnc, is this a panic mode because of the weather and because of the optics with the storm that looks like the undertones of that or no? >> part of the narrative of the mitt romney narrative is known as a disciplined person that doesn't overreact to things that he can't control. we're going to see that. when we get on with this, see

mitt romney speak and we see the narrative and the story of his life, the story will be told. >> not to politicize the storm -- >> i think storms are certainly -- the aftermath is political. reaction and responses are political. one of the names is george w. bush. he's not here. the first thing they remember with katrina is the crisis management of e bush administration which i think was widely judged to be a failure. does the republican party worry about that right now, when you think of hurricane and republicans that it's not necessarily two things that have gone together in the past? >> a number of elected local, state, and federal government failed in katrina, they failed the people. but, look, the obama administration has a record. >> and they're gone. they're gone.

i guess my question would be the timing might be problematic. >> it will all come back to the economy and spending. >> real quick, look, here is the reality. republican governors in alabama, mississippi, and texas, still have republicans out front. the whole issue is what's the aftermath? what's the damage? until that happens, you really can't say what the impact will be on the republican party. >> and hopefully there will be no damage and no aftermath to talk about and it will be a story we can move on from. >> and we're seeing governors -- again, governor scott stepped up when it looked like the party was on and said i'm canceling my events. >> all right. so if you -- thanks, appreciate it. if you want to know what it's like to experience the national convention from the inside, lenny curry nose.

he knows. he's done it a zillion times. wolf blitzer and the cnn political team will be hosting that. you can submit your questions and get answers in real time and a live virtual chat. don't miss the election roundtable tomorrow at noon eastern. go to cnn.com/roundtable if you'd like to be part of that. still ahead this morning on "starting point, it's not the just republicans who are in town for the republican national convention, some democrats are trying to crash this party. up next, los angeles mayorvil w join us. we have live updates as we track storm isaac as we are expecting it to turn into a category 1 hurricane the next 24 hours or so. now you can swipe... scroll... tap... pinch... and zoom... in your car. introducing the all-new cadillac xts with cue. ♪ don't worry. we haven't forgotten, you still like things to push. [ engine revs ]

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welcome back, everybody. you are looking at a live shot inside the forum where all those speeches and the convention will be held. we're in tampa, florida, for the republicans national convention and it is not just republicans in town for the event, we'll see

lots of democrats in tampa as well. hmm, i guess they're following the gop's every move. one of them joins me now, the los angeles mayor, antonio villaraigosa. he is the chairman of the democratic national convention which takes place next week. thank you for talking with us. why are you in tampa? is it as simple as you want to j jump in and take some of the messaging away from the republicans? >> want to compare and contrast the candidate. let me just say our hearts and prayers are with the people of florida and the gulf coast and new orleans and obviously that's our priority and as you know the vice president has suspended his campaign activities here in florida because of that. prior number one is the safety and protection of the people of this area. >> while the convention is

running simultaneously to what you'll be talking about. >> well, you know, we called this the preconvention convention. there is an effort to bring in madison avenue type ad people to remake governor romne and mr. r ryan. we want to set the record straight. it's important for people to remember what they said during the primary season, what he's done when he was in business, what he's done as governor. they talk a lot about job creation and we know that he was 47th out of 50th, put more debt on the people per capita of massachusetts during this time as governor than anybody else in the country. >> so the answer to my first question is really, yes, we're here to be the democratic talking point at a time when everyone is focused on republican talking points. >> exactly right t.o. compare and contrast who the candidates are and what the choices are

before us. >> so when you look at the polling and most categories you see that have been polled upon, president obama is doing better than mitt romney about but in one main one he's not. he actually beats the president when it comes to questions about the economy. it's relatively close. 46% for president obama, governor romney gets 50% in the polling and that's flipped for almost every other question. when the conversation goes back to the economy, september job numbers, guess what, all we're going to be talking about is economy. how concerned are you about the numbers? isn't that the key poll question? >> first of all, i've said for a long time, at least a year now, this is a very close election. the country is evenly divided. this isn't going to be a walk in the park for either candidate. we've got our work cut out for us given the economy, and the fact that the country is so polarized. at the end of the day it isn't just about today, however. if you wt to talk about the last 29 months, the economy has been moving up. we have created more jobs in the last four years than they did

during the entire bush years. >> but no one is going to say, yay, the economy. growth is slow. >> we also have to talk about the future. when you look at the ryan/rom think budget. the safety net is $5 billion, almost $ trillion in cuts. cutting taxes as well to a level that isn't sustainable. they talk a lot about cutting the deficit and this budget will make it so that we can't fix the deficit for 29 years. so i think we have to talk about the future, about what's going on now but also about the investments we have to make going into the future. >> antonio villaraigosa here to be a bit of a spoiler for the republicans on the democratic side. nice to see you, mr. mayor. thank you for talking with us. >> thank you for having me. >> we appreciate it. still ahead on "starting point, the latest on tropical storm isaac's track turning to the gulf coast after lashing the florida keys in miami as well. going to take to you hurricane headquarters up next as we track

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welcome back, everybody. our top story is tropical storm isaac which is on 0 its way to becoming a category 1 hurricane. it's on a path to strike the gulf coast. it could make landfall near new orleans late on tuesday or very early wednesday morning and that would be seven years after hurricane katrina hit. a quick check of the weather with meteorologist bonnie schneider joining us from headquarters in atlanta. seven years ago today bonnie and i were having this exact same

conversation about the direction of a hurricane named katrina heading to the gulf coast. good morning, bonnie. good morning, soledad. that's right, seven years ago we were talking about katrina. this storm, isaac, getting better organized, it is nowhere near the size and intensity that katrina was though it does pose a risk and a threat to new orleans and the mississippi gulf coast as well as alabama. even if it comes in as a category 1 storm that could do some damage. we're looking at the storm becoming a big rainmaker for parts of the south as well as it will come onshore there. we want to let you know there is a hurricane warning that does continue from destin to morgan city, hurricane watches extend further westward. we're monitoring still some nasty weather through florida. frequent lightning strikes popping up right now on florida's east coast and then on the west coast heavy rain across tampa well into the gulf of mexico. this is a tornado watch. it's in effect for another 30 minutes so we're watching it very closely.

the expanse does show the entire southeast needs to be on alert for tropical storm isaac. >> it clearly does. bonnie schneider, thanks for the update. still ahead, back to new orleans. there they're under a hurricane warning. we will take you to check on the current conditions outside and also take a look at how that city is preparing for the storm. we're going to talk to the superintendent of new orleans police department who will join us live. entures with toothpaste. but they have to use special care in keeping the denture clean. dentures are very different to real teeth. they're about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. polident is designed to clean dentures daily. its unique micro-clean formula kills 99.9% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains, cleaning in a better way than brushing with toothpaste. that's why i recommend using polident. [ male announcer ] polident. cleaner, fresher and brighter every day. in communities across the country. whether it's supporting a delaware nonprofit

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wells fargo. i was born with scoliosis. without shriners hospitals, my life would be completely different. they gave me my future back. send your love to the rescue. donate to shriners hospitals, today. welcome back, everybody. we are coming to you live at the c cnn grill in tampa, florida. you are looking at the forum where all the speeches will be made. while they were doing rehearsals yesterday loud right on the floor but very exciting. look at all these pictures. of course the convention has been shut down for today. it will only be ten minutes long as they open it up and then

quickly close the convention. they're still doing a lot of the last minute building. what will be hurricane isaac is forming in the gulf and that's the big problem here. donald trump was taken from his spot. i have to imagine that has to be good news. >> every cloud has to have a silver lining. >> in all seriousness because some of the headlines he will bring could be a big distraction. >> the top story in tampa is your top story is the hurricane. >> that's true and that could be problematic. the florida gop chairman as well as the editorial director, roland martin is the host of "washington watch." will you stop? and the correspondent for the new yorker, nice to have all of you with us. the hurricane is really what we're talk iing about this morng and hurricane warnings are now in effect for folks from louisiana, the florida panhandle, storm isaac is what it is now but it's heading for the northern gulf coast.

it could make landfall near louisiana and that would be on the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina brings us right to rob marciano who is live in new orleans. rob, so what's the feel there? i have to imagine the anxiety is so high considering the timing, the anniversary and just whenever a hurricane comes to new orleans, that is emotionally very tough. >> reporter: it is. you're right about that. i think the timing of this and certainly the path it's taking, yesterday when we arrived there was high anxiety for sure. the gas stations that we saw, there were lines around the corner, many of them have run out of fuel. there you see a comparison, the tracks at 5:00 yesterday and the forecast tracks from hurricane katrina seven years ago and that compared with tropical storm isaac now. the good news is isaac is nowhere near the strength that katrina was back then. the satellite picture not extremely organized althoug

getting reports from the recon aircraft in there now, the clouds and radar suggest that an eye is forming as the hurricane center is telling us. once that happens, all bets are off. there's a lot of heat content. we do anticipate strengthening. right now just under 400 miles southeast of the mouth of the mississippi and heading in this direction and the computer models and our expertise and both here and at the national hurricane center are saying that we're looking at this landfall to come in through tuesday night to wednesday morning likely as a category 1 storm. the question is, can new orleans, if they get a direct hit, withstand that? the answer the army corps and certainly the city officials says is a resounding yes. part of the reason some of these structures that have been in place since katrina, this is the pumping station and a flood gate at the 17th street canal, one of the horrific scenes during katrina when the levee opened up

and all that water from lake pontchartrain poured into the northern part of the city. i don't think that will happen unless isaac becomes greater than a category 3 storm. hopefully that won't happen but until we get indications otherwise, only voluntary evacuations under way here within the city limits. soledad? >> i have a quick question to ask you. so we know the mississippi is very low and we know the path of the storm looks like it's heading right up the mississippi, what could the impact of that be? would that play any role on the strength or the weakening of the storm? >> reporter: not necessarily. if the mississippi is flooded out in a hurry like during the oil spill which was actually good for that particular situation, it will change the temperature near the mouth. but by the time the storm gets that close, it's almost onshore. so the flow of the mississippi shouldn't have much to do with

the strength of it at least. lake pontchartrain is down somewhat compared to what it was during katrina so that would only help any sort of surge we may get when the storm comes onshore. soledad? >> all right, rob marciano, thank you. appreciate it. as rob mentioned new orleans could feel the effects of tropical storm isaac or by then hurricane isaac by tuesday, expected to make landfall late tuesday, early wednesday. the single most catastrophic disaster in u.s. history. joining us this morning from new orleans is a superintendent of the new orleans police department. nice to see you, sir. thank you for talking with us. what's different this time around in what you manage than seven years ago? >> there are so many differences. since katrina there's been hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure built and put in place with flooded protection. we have the most state-of-the-art command and control systems that we use now

to make sure we can seamlessly cooperate and coordinate our efforts with local, state, and federal officials. we don't want to lose the opportunity to send our best wishes to those fallen in the path of isaac. there has been some death, devastation and destruction from wind and water. here in new orleans we feel comfortable and strong and our response, our government's response and our ability to get through this storm but, remember, the best plan for any storm is to be ready to evacuate if necessary. we don't see that yet f. we do, we'll let people know. it will come together very nicely. >> let's talk about your department's response. seven years ago the the new orleans police department really, i think it's fair to say, had alack eye in a lot of the response and some of that was because family members who hadn't been evacuated now became a focus for some of the police officers who had to decide between helping out the city or helping out their families. what's different now? are you demanding that femly members have a plan or be evacuated?

>> it's much different. we began testing our notifications and realigning officers' understanding that they are public certificaservan they have family, too. take care of them first so that you can give yourself fully to the people you serve. we feel strongly that's in place. the issues about katrina, the anniversary, makes this heightened, makes everybody a bit more concerned. i think we're going to do well. we have to get the officers to take care of their families first so they can stay here and take care of the people. >> what about the prisoners? i remember the early pictures when the choppers would fly over and show the prisoners out on the overpass in the baking sun after the hurricane had roared through. what's the plan for them? have you already mapped out -- are they being evacuated? >> we work closely with the sheriff. he's part of our emergency team.

yesterday we had a meeting with the mayor and part of the process is determining when and how the sheriff will move prisoners and will be there to assist him any way possible. it's all going to be orchestrated very carefully and in preparation before the storm gets here. >> all right, we're watching it. the superintendent of the new orleans police department. nice to see you, sir. we appreciate the time. >> yes, ma'am. >> it's interesting, the thing about the date, of course, i find so creepy. we spent a lot of time in new orleans when the storm hit and a lot of time since the storm has hit. so many people there, that anniversary. it's such a terrible anniversary even with no storm coming. >> extraordinary to have it on the same day. >> category 1 is far from what hit new orleans, which was a category 5. >> and of course the difference there it was the levees breaking that contributed to the beyond just the hurricane itself and the winds. so the hurricane was one thing.

levees breaking was a totally different thing that greatly contributed to that whole disaster. >> right. and i'm sure you see all this money poured into the levee system at least, again, i'm not from new orleans. until it's tested, who knows? who really knows? >> mother nature has taken care of many man built things. >> what a complex series of questions with this convention. what is appropriate depending on what happens in new orleans. this is one of the biggest moments left in the campaign and yet you have this enormous event that affects real lives and real people that you have to be cognizant of going forward wednesday and thursday. >> it happened in 2008. the republican convention, this is similar. >> the first day may be gone now forever but we're talking about potentially the climax moment which is when you have the national spotlight on the acceptance speech and how that will be affected. very difficult choices. >> never have another convention

in florida in hurricane season? >> i'll still try to make the case for it. it's not going to be easy. >> and it still affects the convention. >> so close to katrina. >> we've been talking about the rnc. we've been talking about what is going to turn in, we expect, to a hurricane isaac, but there are other stories. christine romans has an update. good morning again, soledad. authorities in saudi arabia foiling a it terror plot. they busted extremist terror cells in riyadh. eight suspected militants, most from yemen were arrested. they say they were in contact with that deviant organization abroad, a term the sawudi government uses to refer to al qaeda. two nato troops are dead in the latest insider shooting. an army soldier opened fire on the two in eastern afghanistan. coalition forces returned fire killing that soldier. it's the late nest a series of

green on blue attacks against nato led troops. officials say at least 42 have been killed by afghan forces or insurgents disguised as soldiers or police. a swarm of hundreds of quakes, the strongest a 5.5 mag mi tud jolt. the swarm centered in a town 100 miles east of san diego. a seismologist saying by last night they recorded about 300 earthquakes. one family got several jolts on camera. >> oh, my gosh. . >> this is the most seismic activity in the area since the 1970s, no injuries and, soledad, only minor damage reported. >> thank goodness. that's a terrifying thing to be in. >> you noticed the young girl

grabs the kids, the boy with the headphones on is -- all right. appreciate it. still ahead on "starting point" oil workers are scrambling as tropical storm isaac is bearing down on offshore oil and gas supplies in the gulf. prices are skyrocketing, too. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco.

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tropical storm isaac probably will become a hurricane and it is dodging really this close to florida and heading to the nerve center of american energy production, gulf oil production. you see all of these spots here, these are hundreds and hundreds of drilling platforms. this is a critical part of the nation's energy infrastructure. when i layer all of the refining facilities, low level refining facilities, also take a look at this, the strategic pe trotrole reserves, the emergency stockpiles of american energy, add in these storage facilities and you can see just how busy this area is. and now, soledad, i put in for you all of the pipelines here so this is exactly why we're looking at a bull's eye on the nerve center of gulf energy production here with the way tropical storm isaac is tracking

right now. closely watching gas and oil prices. soledad, gas prices for you and me are up 7% so far this month in august. this kind of disruption coupled with a big disruption in venezuela over the weekend bears watching. soledad? >> all right. thank you. still ahead this morning on "starting point" the hope and the change. hard-hitting documentary about president obama will be screened at the republican national convention. we'll have the director of the film join us live. we're also watching tropical storm isaac for you as it's expected to turn into a hurricane as it's going into the gulf coast. [ female announcer ] the coffee house. the lines, the cost, the hassle. ♪ express yourself [ female announcer ] why not try coffee-mate? with over 25 delicious flavors for a fraction of the cost of the coffee house. add your flavor, with coffee-mate, from nestle. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones.

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welcome back, everybody. you are watching "starting point." you are looking at the forum where activity is going on even though today it will only be about ten minutes of business at the republican national convention. we're expecting that tomorrow, tuesday, they will hold a full day. there's a movie coming out. it is not a glowing profile of mitt romney that will show at this convention. it is a stinging indictment of president obama. it is called the hope and the change and it highlights 40 democrats and independents who voted for president obama who say they are disillusioned. here is a little clip. >> the party is over. the smoke has cleared. >> he didn't come up with any solutions. >> he didn't make good on any of his promises. >> our credit rating went down. >> taxes are going up. >> we're spending way too much. >> he promised change and we all

got fooled. >> the film was produced by a conservative nonprofit advocacy group and the writer and director of the film joins me now. nice to see you. thank you for talking with us. we know you fund a lot of ads and that's been a strategy to funnel a lot of money into attacking the other guy through an ad. why do a full length film? >> actually the big thing is to do films. they have in the past. dave bosse actually went to the supreme court to have the right to make films like michael moore and then advertise them without having to put the disclaimer. >> that was the hillary clinton film in 2008. >> the unintended consequence was the super pacs. he went to make a film so we could put up on cable tv, do a commercial deal. >> what's the benefit of a film rather than a bunch of attack ads? >> i think in this film what we did is have taken a year -- we had this eidea -- we thought in

the runup to the election the key people would be -- people who voted for president obama, democrats and independents who either lean towards not voting or to not voting for president obama so we retained the democratic strategists to help us do focus groups, the key districts within the states. these people are all registered democrats and independents from the absolute micro targeting that david axelrod is doing. i would think david axelrod has done the same focus groups, the same focus groups for the same people. >> go ahead, roland. >> how do you deal with folks who lie? i heard one of the women say, taxes have gone up. we look at the stimulus bill, 40% of that are tax cuts. we look at an analysis of what has happened, taxes have not gone up. when somebody lies in the film, what do you do? >> they are called voters. >> but they also lie. >> voters can be low information

voters. we went and took a pool of voters who voted for president obama who are active today, registered voters who are likely to vote. we got their feelings. some of them had information that's not absolutely perfect. a lot of them don't know a lot about obama care. >> why include the lie? >> it sounds like it doesn't matter to you if the information of the voter is accurate? >> no, it matters but when they're talking aut their own personal beliefs, some that have is in there, absolutely. >> but taxes going up isn't a personal belief, it's a fact, right? >> it was a belief of hers. >> what was the common anti-obama sent snimt. >> the film starts off initially looks like the campaign film. i think it's that he didn't fulfill his promises. they felt he would focus on the

economy, on jobs, focus on, you though, making the american economy stronger and getting back to work and uniting the country. they feel the country is more divided than ever and in their lives they feel the economy is not going back. this is a film of the working class, the middle class of this country. >> is it preaching to the choir, though? you basically, okay, those 40 people. >> i didn't have any conservatives, there's no subject matter. here these are all democrats, in fact, we're going 0 to take this to the democratic national convention next week and play it in the theater across the street advertising this on cnn and this is not for the fox audience. it is for the undecideds. >> those who voted for romney back when he was governor but aren't going to support him in a presidency which the polls in massachusetts say there are thousands, what do you think? >> when we had a special on fox -- >> you can find voters who support someone and then flip.

>> had is just not 40 voters. we did focus groups for over a year. there were strategist who is did these for us. >> pat is no longer -- >> let me ask you one last quick question and i get your point. when people do analysis they keep saying it cannot be about the other guy, right? and we've heard this on both sid sides. it cannot be the other guy did this. it has to be this is what my vision is. isn't that your inherent problem? it is here is the other guy, we round up a bunch of voters who do not like him. by the way, these are his supporters. these are people that supported him, that voted for him. what i want to do is take a slice of that which people call the undecideds today and are they going to go vote this time so i want to take a slight this is not a pro-romney film. >> it's an anti-obama film. >> it's a film that gets ksh. >> it's an anti-obama film. let me help you with that. >> it's a film -- >> let me help you with that. >> it plays the argument of the

undecided. >> we're out of time. >> this is why we're wearing boots today. it's an anti-obama fill . >> thank you for coming in to talk about it. it's reaction to see the reaction. we have to take a short break. n of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. in communities across the country. whether it's supporting a delaware nonprofit that's providing training and employment opportunities, investing in the revitalization of a neighborhood in the bronx, or providing the financing to help a beloved san diego bakery expand, what's important to communities across the country is important to us. and we're proud to work with all of those who are creating a stronger future for everyone. ari'm fine.y, babe?

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