control, they were about to face a challenge of an entirely different sort. [ cheers and applause ] >> with the scandal over salt lake's olympic so the search was on for someone to repair the damage. >> the list of people who could have come in and saved the 2002 olympics began and ended with mitt romney. >> romney knew finance, politics and was a mormon, that made him the top choice. >> they call mead instead of mitt. they knew mitt would turn them down. >> she called me at work and said don't say no. i think you ought to run the olympics. i said that's crazy. i would never do that. overtime she convinced me. >> despite ann's health issues,

she left bain and moved to utah. when romney really left bain capital is controversial. he remained chief executive officer raising the question of responsibility for companies that laid off workers when he was in utah. he said he was gone from the company completely and the olympics were all consuming. >> we got there and it was a disaster. he was panicked. he seriously considered saying it's not going to work. there too many problems. >> romney needed help and he rallied an old friend from bain capital to be the game's chief operating officer. >> mitt described it as stepping into an empty elevator shaft. you are not sure if you are falling and not sure when you will hit ground. >> he joined the team and tried to do damage control. tried to convince sponsors to stay on board and took a

critical look at the nearly $400 million budget deficit staring them in the face. even got rid of the usual catering at olympic board meetings. >> we had domino's pizza and it was $1 a slice. he knew he could buy a pizza for $5, cut it into and get revenue. he turned the lunches from a cost center into a profit center. >> the olympics is seven super bowls a day for 17 days straight. >> here became the public face even becoming an amateur participant. >> did he say one day i will try the skeleton? >> he said i am going to try this. he got better and better and better. he could get going 70 miles an hour which is crazy.

>> but hidden from the public was the continuing personal struggle. >> mitt was always constantly worried about ann. she was really deteriorating. >> she battled through it and got good help from wonderful physicians. >> by august of 2001, it looked like they had ann's ms and the olympics under control. but then -- 9/11. unspeakable sorrow and a very real fear of terrorism at the olympics. >> it's a time for us to make sure that everyone in the world recognizes we don't stop as a nation. the characteristics of honor and courage, sacrifice and devotion represented by the olympic athletes and a message more important today than ever before. >> over the next five months and with the help of money from the

federal government, security was beefed up. and the games began. >> we had about 2500 athletes that came in and did the parade of nations and walked all the way around. >> it was a great moment for him, i think. as one political pollster said at the time, mitt romney could walk on water at that point. >> not everyone agreed. >> mitt and i often had disagreements about how or what we thought the games were about. i wasn't on his team so to speak. >> it's a gold medal day for utah. >> ken bullock, no relation to frazier bullock was on the committee of the salt lake city olympics before and after romney was brought on board. >> a my way or the highway? >> no question. to me the games were about utah. not about mitt. >> bullet claims romney made t

problems look worse than they were. a calculate political move to ensure public success. >> we need to raise revenue and were we short? yes. were we three years out? yes. big difference between the games being around the corner. >> you think he overstated the problem? >> dramatically. >> it's a charge the romney camp scoffs at and the 2002 olympics were profitable and one of the most successful winter games in history. >> he pulled off this big success and he rescued the games and now it was a question of what he would parlay that into. >> it wouldn't take long for that question to be answered. >> good morning. tracking the latest on tropical

storm isaac. still not a hurricane. looks like it could have the possibility over the next 12 hours or so. we are noticing the wide swath of the cloud field associated with the storm system. about 700 miles across. the northern tier of the gulf of mexico measures about 900 miles across and when you have this much motion, going to swirl up a lot of water. storm surge about six to 12 feet going to be a big time concern over the next 24 hours. gusty winds from new orleans to pensacola, but the heavy rainfall in the next few hours. upwards of ten inches and some areas could be pushing up to 12 to 20 inch when is it's said and done with. the official track looks like this. landfall tuesday night into wednesday morning. we are calling for a category one wind. take a look at the gusts around baton rouge. around new orleans, wind gusts upwards of 120. that's the latest.

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the opening ceremonies for the 2002 olympics were more than a month away, but mitt romney had other plans. beth meyers remembers getting a call from romney in january. >> i'm thinking about running for governor. would you have any interest in helping me run my campaign? >> massachusetts had a republican governor, jane swift. they saw her as weak and came to

romney in a panic. >> jane smith gets wind and bows out. she's out and mitt romney is in. goes back to the gymnasticses and get a press conference. >> as you know, democratic state. the legislature is 85% democrat and few republicans make it and we had a fight on our hands. >> he ran as a moderate and vowing to clean upstate government. >> would you raise your right hand please. >> it worked. >> congratulations, governor. >> thank you. >> from the beginning, romney relied on a small set of advisers. beth meyers was chief of staff.

>> people call you romney's romney. >> we stat in offices that had a door between us. we popped back and forth all day and talked about faith and the issues of the day. >> first order of business, treat government like a business. >> we have a huge deficit. we would have stacks and stacks of budget books and line by line, mitt would meet in his staff office every morning with the cabinet secretaries. >> it was the way he had always done it. at bain, at the olympics. here not everyone was on romney's team. >> he was a different cat than what people on beacon hill were used to. that's a good thing. >> i got better overtime and know i made mistake takes in how i dealt with others, but we started off pretty well. >> then two years into his term,

he set sights on something bigger. something that would mean a legacy. health care. >> he not had a major achievement as a political success in a future campaign. he needed something to say i had done this and it was a big deal. >> romney decided to push for health care to cover everyone in the state. that meant mandating most residents to buy health insurance. >> the governor felt it would be wrong for the economy and wrong for our business sector to impose a mandate on employers to require them to provide insurance to their employees. he felt it important that people take responsibility for their own health care. >> it was romney's big moment, but now a liability. republicans bitterly oppose any mandate in today's presidential race. >> the politics were so

complicated that the biggest thing he achieved is something he never talks about. >> no less complicated, the politics of abortion. while romney was personally a posed to abortion, he ran for governor supporting abortion rights. once in office and presented with stem cell legislation that would in romney's view have the potential of destroying embryos, he changed his mind. >> i realized what sounded good in a campaign, when i became the governor and was going to be the person who would sign a piece of legislation that can take human life, i simply couldn't do it. >> democrats say it was about ambition. >> he wanted to run for president of the united states and within the republican nominating process and someone who was pro choice or pro gay rights or a progressive stance would lose. >> it wasn't a flip flop. what you saw was the tension

between personal beliefs and a persona. >> none of this would slow romney down. his sights were set on the white house in 2008. but there were doubts about his convictions. and questions about his mormon faith. a religion some e vvangelicals call a cult. >> mormonism is politically toxic and dangerous because people pull out strands and secure them. >> there was no avoiding it though. romney decided to give a crucial speech on his faith early in the primaries. >> he wrote it. he really wrote every word. >> you very rarely hear that about a pitician. >> he did. >> i am an american runs for president. i do not define my candidacy by my religion. a person should not be elected

or rejected because of his faith. >> ultimately, 2008 was not mitt romney's year. it was john mccain's. a brutal loss for romney and his family. >> i feel i have to now stand aside. >> i was for me that's it. that's fine. never again.

>> you guys are great. almost and not quite. >> i would never do this again. very emphatic. >> the romney family seemed done with politics and didn't keep it a secret. >> mitt was a bruising thing. i think people forget these are real families with people that they love that are going through hard times. >> when you lose, there is a period of intense discipline. >> alex was a senior romney

adviser in the 2008 campaign. >> he is not a wallow in defeat kind of guy. he is okay, that's done. stand up and let's see where we go from here. >> the reasons for the loss were in plain sight. the campaign was a muddle and the staff divided. the candidate struggled to connect. >> mitt is a man who likes to talk more about what he does than who he is. it's hard to get beneath the shell sometimes. he's a private guy. >> hoary kept his options open. writing a book and raising money for other republicans and waiting for the right opportunity and the go ahead. >> ann is the 1 who came to mitt and said i'm ready. let's do this again. >> 'the change of heart? >> what this ms disease taught me was to learn how to be self-contained and not absorb the negative things and

recognize that it was an endeavor that was worth doing and pursuing. >> i'm mitt romney. i believe in america and i'm running for president of the united states. >> it was a different environment this time around. very anti-establishment. romney was reborn as an outsider. >> i served in government, but i didn't inhale. i'm a business guy. >> romney had one driving messa message. >> i have the experience is get the economy back on track. >> the man who reformed health care in massachusetts. eric erickson is the editor of red state.com, a conservative website. >> you sit in a room without cameras on and ask them how many believe mitt romney will repeal obama care, i don't think a hand would go up in the room. >> when are romney calls himself

this -- >> i was a severely conservative governor. >> that's something you hear democrats say about conservatives. >> this is not the time to be doubting people's words. >> one by one the demons reappear. >> bain capital. >> romney care. pro abortion. >> the primer on romney's vulnerabilities. >> i will release multiple years. i don't know how many years. >> bain, taxes,y is cress and his wealth. he crawled across the finish line and his new junior partner paul ryanas given conservatives some hope. >> i want to hear what he has to say. >> presidential politics is about more than piecing together coalitions, but about telling a story of what you are and what you believe and why you can be prufted. >> he is very professional. he has a bit of new england in

him. he is not the caricature that the media or the democrats want to portray. he is a warm, caring guy. >> romney is trying to let people in. as he speaks after the aurora colorado shootings. >> blessed be god who comfort us in all our tribulations. >> that's me about 90% of who he is. that's the mitt i wish people would see all the time. that's how i know of him and think of him. there moments where you can see that and get a lens into his soul. >> it can be fuzzy much of the time, leaving an opening for the opposition. poor people say you are secretive and out of touch. you play by a different set of rules. >> i know the obama campaign will do everything they can to try and deflect from the economic record of the president and his failure to come up with

a plan to get the economy going in the future. >> no doubt romney is on message this time. he wants us to believe he can fix things like the economy and won't give up until he does. that's the easy part of his story. the rest is harder. he is a devout mormon who worries it will be held against him. more private than public. in the end, more cautious than candid. perhaps the ultimate lesson mitt romney learned from his father's life. >> here cared about the passion for the mission he was in the middle of fighting for and winning or losing, didn't change who he was. he was defined as a man of character and elections don't change that. >> do you feel that way as you look at the election? >> absolutely. this is a choice that is up to the american people. who i am has been long ago decided by my wife and sons and

grandkids, daughters in law and the people who know me best. . >> we have gotten a rare glimpse into mitt and ann romney's personal lives. the republican national convention in tampa. >> i'm anderson coopner new orleans. politics has taken a back seat to personal safety and a big storm is on the way. we want to give you the latest on hurricane isaac. what will be hurricane isaac.

it's a tropical storm. it will be a hurricane soon 70 miles an hour and 4 miles an hour under hurricane strength. it's east of morgan city to the alabama border. the forward speed is only about 10 miles an hour and expected to slow down even more and a storm surge is expected. mandatory evacuations are ordered and low-lying areas, thousands of people headed inland today. there is a lot to talk about. we will be covering all over the next hour and a half. >> thanks very much. we also got a remarkable look at mitt and ann romney's faith, struggles and triumphs. gloria is here. you also in the sit down interview that huh with mitt

romney, you got into other political interviews with you as well. >> out takes tonight and one of the questions i asked him about is one that dogged him and the question of flip flopping on issues like abortion. take a look. >> one of the big concerns about you overall is that they take a look at massachusetts and they take a look at health care we form in massachusetts and you were pro abortion rights in massachusetts and you are not now. they look at how you changed over the years on issues and say what do you stand for? what is mitt romney's political core? >> my core is keeping america the strongest nation on earth. with the best homes and values and the best schools and with an economy second to none. a capacity to defend the military that is second to none. i want to keep america strong.

i love this country and the principal this is country was based upon. this applied honestly and consistently will help families and working people and grow a permanent middle class with better wages and prospects. i top the do that for the american people and for this country which i happen to believe is an exceptional nation unlike any other on earth. it was founded on the principal that our rights come from the creator and we can pursue happiness. this beginning leads to an exceptional and mission. >> the people who say you have been on both sides of the issues or changed too much. >> the position changed his position on gay marriage. no one commented on that. we say that's fine. he changes position and that's fine. he changes on a lot of things, he decided not to do.

in my case when i ran for office, i said i'm not going to change the laws as they exist on abortion. i will keep them the same and then a bill came to my desk that would have expanded the capacity of individuals to create embryos and destroy them. this was for scientific purposes and i said i can't sign that. i simply can't sign it and i realized what sounded good in a campaign, when i became the governor and was going to be the person who would sign a piece of legislation that can take human life, i couldn't do that. i wrote an op ed that was seven or eight years ago and said look, i'm pro life and i understand that and i have been. in the seven or years that passed since then. >> people say you are too secretive and you are out of touch and play by a different set of rules. >> i know the obama campaign dolleverything they can to try to deflect from the economic

record of the president and his failure to get the economy going in the future. they tried to attack me on a personal basis and frankly disport my policies is and saying things i do not believe. one of the things they have come up with is he won't release his tax returns. they didn't have the problem when john mccain was running. he released two years. they made an issue. one thing has changed. president obama is president and his record is not good and he is looking for something else to make it an issue. the american people care about good jobs and good schools. they know that's what i can deliver. >> the issue of flip flopping. >> it goes to the question of what's at his core. can mitt romney be trusted?

it comes at him from the conservatives in his party who were looking for anybody but romney during the primary race and i think it comes from democrats and women who are pro abortion rights. as eric erickson pointed out in the documentary he said if you have a bunch of conservative in a room. they would not trust him to repeal obama care, for example. i think it does go to this question of what does mitt romney believe? >> david is here. what can he do if anything in the speech he would deliver thursday night to deal with the problem? >> the most important thing is to pick ryan. he doubled down and that was the most important signal he can send. he has to decide in the speech, does he play to the base in which case that reinforces their

belief and conviction or does he broaden his message and try to reach for the independents who are still out there. they are still wafering. the president is most vulnerable on the economy and any day they are not talking about the economy. this issue without a doubt is overwhelmi overwhelming. romney has an advantage on the economy, but it's narrow. about points. that's not good enough if you are looking from an idea for a couple of years that have profound questions. they are looking to see if there is a viable alternative. to be ahead by points is a place of a disappointment. you need to stretch it out. why isn't he ahead more? people are not sure he understands. he has an empathy gap and does

he understand the middle class and will he fight for them? is governor romney on your side? that's the challenge. if they trust him as a person, his gap on the issues where he has the advantage, the business experience and he will be trusted as they don't think the obama campaign, she this cold hearted guy who cares more about money than the community. if he can close that gap. it will help on the issues. >> easier said than done. ari is here. do you accept the notion that his position on abortion changed as a result of moral factors as opposed to strictly political considerations? >> chk of course not. we have seen gay marriage and tax, mitt romney health care, they support an individual

mandate, this week the challenges from mid-romney to demonstrate not just those in the audience, but to those undecided voters that he is on your side and he cares about issues and the positions he is es pouzing if he is entrusted with the presidency. he faces the authenticity gap. people don't know if he's for real. >> the obama team have done a good job in defining him the way they want him defined. >> sometimes the flack gets through, but i don't know if they have done a good job. why is the race so close? >> if i'm barack obama, people think i'm popular and they don't like mitt romney that much so why is he so close? the biggest dynamic in the race will determine who wins and

loses. barack obama has little room to go up or down. the economy is not going to change between now and november, but it can change for mitt romney. he has room to grow and if he grows on the popular front that happens as a result of convention and debates. barack obama is dead in the water. that's why it is close. >> stand by for a moment. we have more to discuss. next monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, obama revealed is the documentary that they have been working on. obama revealed. it debuts next monday the 8:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. the louisiana governor bobby jindal decided to skip this republican convention and stay back home in louisiana to cope with the storm. coming up, we will be joined by another republican party's truly rising stars. senator marco rubio of florida is next. great shot.

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live pictures here at the republican national convention, technically a big ad and only ten minutes. the real thing begins tomorrow night. marco rubio will be talking to us in a moment. john has new poll numbers he wants to share with us. john, especially in florida where we are right now. >> our convention is in a battle ground state. a guest won statewide and he knows how difficult it is and how complicated the state is. this is a 2008 map. president obama won 51%. this is likely voters. not just registered voters, 50 to 46%. within the margin of error and slight advantage to the president.

i know senator rubio will tell you romney has to win to win the presidency. he almost certainly needs the state of florida. let's look at who is in play. it's important here in the state as well. among men romney has the lead. a much bigger lead for the incumbent among women. that is one of romney's challenges. he needs to keep the republicans and win among men to narrow the gap. let's look at one other thing. if you look at the state of florida, i wl show you more closely. among independents, they are tied. rough parody. whoever can win the independents is likely to win the state. this is a conservative convention and party, a lot of moderate voters. the president has an edge. let me push this out of the way. as the saying goes, the further south you get, the further north you get. you have a lot of northern

transplants. the blue counties are democrats. senator rubio lives in one of those counties and more conservatives in the north. where we are for this convention is here in the middle. a lot of minutes live from tampa to orlando. the split between obama winning the big areas and the suburbs. we want to go back in time when george w. bush won the state. those areas were red when president obama won it. they were blue. that's the battle ground. >> no one knows the state better than the senator from marco rubio. >> i have to get me one of those screens. >> you can play around it w it. >> change the results. >> 50-46, obama is doing well. if he gets 50%, he is going to win. >> for a period of time, senator

mccain was significantly in florida. florida is going to tighten up. tomorrow you will have something that says something else. i will not feel bad over four points down. that's what the convention is about. explaining to people in the state what's at stake. it's not just a choice between a democrat and a republican, this election is a referendum. what role we want government to play. what country we want to be. that's what we need to accomplish here. >> a bunch of complicating factors is the hurricane. tomorrow night when romney is speaking, there could be a disaster along the gulf coast and elsewhere. >> complicating, the bottom line is that's more important. the lives and the safety and welfare of people. we have many weeks. >> would you recommend postponing? >> i don't want to speculate about the decision. i don't make that.

the most important thing of all is the safety and well being of the folks in harm's way. you pray things will work out for them and they are better prepared than seven years ago when katrina hit the area. let's hope we don't have to face that. moving forward, we will have a convention and election that will be a clear choice between two different views of america. >> i asked the question, you are speaking thursday. we will know what would have happened. if you were speaking tomorrow night and had to make a decision, do i speak at a time when a hurricane it is hitting the gulf coast or do i say it's not the best time for me to speak, what would you do? there plenty of speakers lined up. >> we're need to wait and see the intensity or the current path and whether it continues to be the path. the convention is not just a big party. it's a working session. there is business to be transacted here and part is the important business of electing the next president of the united states. it's a unique and rare

opportunity that people will see not just members of the party, but the next president of the united states talks about this story and the vision of the future. >> it's one thing to do a roll call. that is the technical things you have to do and another thing for people to bash president obama at a time when there is a national crisis. >> this will be more about the choice that the american people face. we will have an election this november. i hate to get into the speculation, but i hope for at this time tomorrow, the storm is significantly weakened and found a part of an unpopulated region. >> let's take a look at why mitt romney may be in trouble in florida and elsewhere. we asked the poll of likely voters, who is more in touch with women. obama had 60%. romney 31%. who cares more about people? obama 53%. who is more in touch with the middle clags, 53%. those are pretty startling

differences. >> i'm not a political analyst and i won't go through and analyze it, but i will tell you what the selection is about. when we are done and the campaign is concluded, we are done putting out the case of why mitt romney should be the next president of the united states, those are the numbers. >> what does he need to do? >> be mitt romney. he is an extraordinary person and at the end, that will be clear to the american people. this is a person that is a father and a husband and a grandfather and a member of the church and the community. he has done special things. i said the man and the way he lived his life as a role model for men like myself with responsibilities at home and on the job, no matter how you feel about him on the issues, i think it's primportant for people to understand the choices.

when the economy gross, they spend money. mitt romney said when people take their own money and have the confidence and invest it and growing existing businesses. when that is clear to the american people, the numbers will look very different on election day. >> your former governor charlie crist not only endorsed president obama and is a former republican, but won't speak at the democratic convention. how do you feel? >> he has his right to change parties d do anything he wants to do. he is running out of parties to run under. i think he has any choice to make and that's fine. it will be interesting to hear what he has to say. what we stand for and at the end of the week, what will be clear to the american people is we offer a vision that will return us back to the exceptional policies that made us. >> are you finished with the speak you will be delivering introducing hit romney? >> i hardly ever write the

speeches and go in with notes and talk, but it's importa that they are written. i am confident about the man i am introducing and what he will do and i am honored to do it in front of so many friends. >> give us a line or two. a preview. >> no. you have to come thursday. >> we will watch it. >> that's a veteran move. >> give us a little flavor. >> journalistic jujitsu. i won't give away my lines. i will be giving a speech about 15 minutes long. >> that's pretty long. >> there is a lot to say about mitt romney and the selection. >> it's done and rate to go. >> i won't give it yet. >> have you practiced? >> i 92ed to. >> i never used a teleprompter. >>ou know what i can do, you want to read the teleprompter for the next plug? >> depends what it is, yeah. >> how is your eyesight? >> getting worse.

>> it's not that hard to do. if you stick around, we will see the teleprompter. not as easy as it looks. appreciate it. to a very serious subject of new orleans. not the only place that suffered catastrophic damage in hurricane katrina. parts of the city were washed away, but they will be ready this time. what's going on in new orleans. anderson cooper is standing by. ♪ ♪ ♪

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more from the republican national convention. tampa, florida. we want to give you an update of what's happening on the gulf coast and new orleans. i'm at the 17th street canal where seven years ago during hurricane katrina, the levies

failed. they pour into the city of new orleans. they spent billions to shore up the levies to build floodgates all-around the area and around new orleans. this may be the first real test of the floodgates of the systems that is now in place. there is a lot to tell you over the next hour. i want to show you the track of the storm. we anticipate feeling the effects in less than 24 hours here in new orleans. it's a slow moving storm and we expect it to be wet conditions and a storm surge like a 24-hour period or so. also along the mississippi gulf coast and bracing for the storm. david is in gulfport and what are you seeing in terms of preparations there. >> anderson, people have been through these storms many times. when they look back at the lessons they learned from ka

trin a the biggest lessons it pays to be prepared. bay st. louis, mississippi is battered and splinted. bay st. louis today is still rebuilding. gulfport, mississippi. ocean front destroyed. gulfport today. sea side lots are vacant and for sale. the scars are subtle, but plentiful. isaac bears down the same path due to hit the same day. mississippi ans acting on tough lessons and they stand rate. >> you look at what's happening, this should be high enough to sustain anything you we have seen in 200 years. >> the home was stripped to the foundation by katrina and so like others, he rebuilt stronger and higher. >> 24 feet. >> it's 24 feet above sea level. >> more than enough, it is believed to handle isaac. >> no more are the ranges obvious than right here on the

waterfront. when katrina hit, the city's old sea wall stood about eight feet high. that wasn't nearly enough to stop the storm surge. when they rebuilt, this is what they put in its place. some places a pile of cement and steel more than double what it used to be. >> the u.s. 90 bridge, a line on the coast broken into pieces by katrina and also restored stronger and higher. gulfport's new $42 million harbor bracing for the first test. >> the here before katrina was built out of wood. this is concrete and built like a fortress. >> that are confidence is everywhere. all his neighbors did not. a chance he is willing to take for beachfront living. >> he gets angry for time to time, but it's the most beautiful sight. >> this is what happened to the housing in katrina. the new one was built with the

next big one in mind. windows that can with stand winds and walls six inches thick. >> could this stand up to katrina? >> not with me in it. >> he is making a bit of a joke, but there is wisdom in that comment. people know there is no such thing as a truly hurricane-proof building when you live right here on the gulf coast. anderson? >> we are going to talk about the preparations in new orleans and through the gulf coast as they have been having. wolf blitzer is live in tampa, wolf? >> thanks, anderson. all five of mitt and ann romney's grown sons spoke with our own piers morgan and you will hear what they had to say about their dad's personal as well as politics. stay with us. [ female announcer ] the best things in life are the real things. nature valley trail mix bars

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