obviously the other big story is happening in tampa, florida. and i'll be heading back there in just a couple of hours for the republican national convention. mitt romney's big speech tonight. we're going to catch that. keep it here on cnn. our primetime coverage kicks off at 7:00 p.m. with wolf blitzer, and at midnight piers morgan will put the wrap on the 2012 republican national convention. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello starting right now. direct attack. vp pick paul ryan going for obama's policy jugular. medicare, stimulus, and occasionally throwing out a punchline about his running mate. >> i hope it's not a deal breaker, mitt. but my play list starts with acdc and ends with zeppelin. >> but this morning, serious questions about some of the claims in ryan's speech. we're fact checking in 40 minutes. rescued.

the mississippi delta acting as the stage for dramatic life saving missions. the national guard on alert this morning. book of raid. the navy s.e.a.l. behind the book breaking his silence. the bin laden mission and what he claims really happened that night. the support and the outrage sees "no easy day." plus, this. [ applause ] >> the boss of baseball, bruce, hitting the fields from coast-to-coast. grab your peanuts and crackerjacks. we take you to his land of hopes and dreams. "cnn newsroom" begins right now. good morning. thank you so much for being with us. i'm carol costello. we begin with the republican party's biggest night in four years. just hours from now, mitt romney will accept the presidential

nomination and deliver the most important speech of his life. setting the stage, romney's running mate, paul ryan. and he may be a hard act to follow. last night, he energized the crowd, promising to deliver a new america and exercise the demons of a failed presidency. a head's up. we'll take a break from the usual short excerpts and run longer chunks of sound to give you a better sense of exactly what paul ryan said. >> obama care, as much as anything else, explains why a presidency that began with such anticipation now comes to such a disappointing close. it began with a financial crisis. it ends with a job crisis. it began with a housing crisis they alone didn't cause. and it ends with a housing crisis they didn't correct.

[ applause ] >> it began with a perfect aaa credit rate for the united states. it ends with a downgraded america. >> boo! >> it all started off with stirring speeches, greek column, the thrill of something new. now all that's left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already past, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday's wind. [ cheers and applause ] >> college graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading obama posters wondering when they can

move out and get going with life. [ cheers and applause ] >> i am honored by the support of this convention for vice president of the united states. [ cheers and applause ] i accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity, and i know we can do this. [ applause ] >> i accept the calling of my generation to give our children the america that was given to us with opportunity for the young and security for the old. and i know that we are ready. our nominee is sure ready. his whole life, his whole life prepared him for this moment, to meet the serious challenges in a

serious way, without excuses and idle words. after four years of getting the run-around, america needs a turn-around, and the man for the job is governor mitt romney. [ cheers and applause ] >> ok. so there were plenty of applause lines. lots of enthusiasm from the party faithful. but did paul ryan do enough to mobilize middle america, independent voters? well, consider this. after the speech, cnn senior political analyst david gergen called ryan, quote, the new reagan. joining me now, cnn political analyst roland martin, he leans left. and with him, our republican guy, will crain, a contributor to cnn and an analyst for theblaze.com. welcome to you both. >> he is on the left today. >> good morning to you. >> you're on the wrong side. will, let's start with you, because david gergen calls paul ryan the new reagan. really? >> you know what? i don't agree with david gergen.

here is the deal. i really like paul ryan. i think paul ryan is great in policy proposals. i think paul ryan is great in forwarding ideas full of integrity that aren't necessarily politically popular. paul ryan to me is the definition of a leader. but when you say he is the next ronald reagan, you're talking about somebody who is dripping in charisma and delivers an awesome speech. i'm going to tell you something. as much as i like paul ryan, i just can't quite go that far. it wasn't exactly the most compelling speech i've ever heard. good. not great. >> carol, let me go ahead and say it. stop it! i hate these comparisons. remember when grant heel was the next michael jordan? he wasn't, all right? that's what people said early on. let congressman paul ryan be congressman paul ryan. there's no need to try to say, oh, he is the next ronald reagan, who is the next president bill clinton. when you begin to make comparisons, people are going to say, wasn't reagan early on pro choice but then changed his position? ryan is not that way.

forget that nonsense. let congressman ryan be congressman ryan. stop with all of these old school comparisons. >> oh, but they are so much fun. perhaps the most emotional -- i know. i'm just kidding. come on. get a sense of humor. >> people who can't get out of the past. >> so the most emotional moment of the night may have been when paul ryan praised his mother. let's take a listen to that. >> and to this day, my mom is my role model. [ applause ] >> ok. so he appeared to wipe away tears. the audience stood up.

>> let me tell you, before you throw cold water on this, let me -- >> actually, i'm not. >> ok. good. let me say this, carol. you know, my dad was a lawyer. i went to law school because my dad was a lawyer. but my dad died when i was young as well. and i watched my mom do exactly what paul ryan talked about his mom doing. start over. reinvent a life. i think there's a lot of people who saw that moment, who can identify with it. and then to see his mom, you know, so sweetly and meekly kind of deflect the attention and stand up. look, it was genuine. and it was without a doubt, i think you described it, carol, the most emotional moment of the night, hands down. >> carol, i play golf. that's called a gimme. i don't care who you are. you can give a speech anywhere in america. it could be at your old high school, at the gop or democratic convention. if you praise mama and daddy, it will always shut the house down. so you never lose with that, just like i'll tell every

candidate or anybody, if you have a wife, or husband, give them a shoutout first or you're going to catch a lot of hell later. so mama always will get you applause. >> absolutely. and a lot of candidates do that. and you're right. it evokes emotions in people. but just once i'd like to hear a candidate say, i had a terrible relationship with my parents. [ laughter ] >> well, guess what? then they'll say, but i still want my mom to stand up. and they are all going to cheer. >> will cain, roland martin, thank you so much. clearly, paul ryan was swinging for the fences -- bye. clearly, ryan was swinging for the fences and did hit some home runs. but ryan also explicitcommittedt one glaring error by leaving out some important context this is about a general motors plant closing in his hometown of janesville, ohio. >> candidate obama said i believe if our government is

there to support you, this plant will be here for another hundred years. that's what he said in 2008. well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. it is locked up and empty to this day. >> ok. so here's the context. general motors actually announced it would close that plant long before candidate obama took office. the verdict by cnn fact check, ryan's claim is technically true but incomplete. our friends at politofact go stronger, saying that the claims are false. and then his claim that president obama is gutting medicare to pay for health care reform. we'll check the facts in this claim from last night's speech. >> you see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover, even with the new law and new taxes on nearly 1 million small businesses, the players in

washington still didn't have enough money. they needed more. they needed hundreds of billions more. so they just took it all away from medicare. $716 billion funneled out of medicare by president obama. >> boo! >> an obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed all to pay for a new entitlement we didn't even ask for. [ cheers and applause ] >> the greatest threat to medicare is obama care. and we're going to stop it. [ cheers and applause ] >> we are going to continue to hear that throughout the campaign. and we just want to check whether it's true or false. cnn medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is here to give us the real story. >> right. the implication is that obama

funneled money from medicare, raided medicare in order to pay for obama care, the $716 billion that we've heard so much. let's hear again from politifact. here's what they have to say. neither obama nor his health care law literally cut funding from the medicare program's budget. rather the health care law instituted a number of changes to try to bring down future health care costs. and that's important, to try to bring down future health care costs in the program. they were mainly aimed at insurance companies and hospitals, not beneficiaries. and factcheck.org says something similar, that this was limiting the rate of growth of medicare in the future, and that beneficiaries won't feel the impact of this. they will still go to the doctor the same as they always did, still go to the hospital the same way they always did. >> so the money is cut from the providers, not the beneficiaries. and what about this money paying for obama care? >> well, there's no question that the savings, as the democrats call it, or the cuts as the republicans call it, that

that did help pay for obama care. obama care was paid for in a number of different ways. this is one of them. >> elizabeth cohen, thank you so much. programming reminder for you. cnn's primetime convention coverage continues tonight at 7:00 eastern with wolf blitzer. at 10:00 p.m. eastern time, republican presidential nominee mitt romney will deliver the speech of his life, his acceptance speech. piers morgan wraps up the convention's last full day. we're now getting a closer look at the former navy s.e.a.l. who's giving a first-hand account of the osama bin laden raid in his brand-new book. this book is called "no easy day." and it's written under a phony name, mark owen. the pentagon originally didn't want cnn to reveal the author's true identity for fear he and others in s.e.a.l. team 6 would be targets for terrorists. but now the pentagon says those s.e.a.l.s have had time to protect themselves. so let's show you the real author, matt bissonnette, in his interview with cbs. >> my worry from the beginning

is, you know, it's a political season. this book is not political whatsoever. it doesn't bad mouth either party. and we specifically chose september 11 to keep it out of the politics. you know, if these crazies on either side of the aisle want to make it political, shame on them. this is a book about september 11. and it needs to rest on september 11. not be brought into the political arena, because this has nothing to do with politics. >> the publisher actually med the release date up to september 4 because of overwhelming excitement. it's already number one on amazon, the book. the defense department is reviewing the book to make sure classified information was not leaked, and says that bissonnette could still face criminal charges. in just about 20 minutes, one of the people to get an inside look at the compound where bin laden was killed will join us to talk about this new book. cnn national security analyst peter bergen. he is an expert on this raid.

he's been to pakistan. he's talked to intelligence officials. and he has read this new book, "no easy day." we'll get his take. the restaurant chain chipotle has been keeping your pennies, literally. maribel aber is at the new york stock exchange. really? >> hi, carol. yes. chipotle has been keeping your change. and we're only talking about pennies, as you said there. but still, carol, it's the principle. here are the details on this. at certain high volume locations like new york and new jersey, chipotle was rounding your receipt to the nearest nickel, either up or down. so sometimes it's in your favor. but sometimes it's not. so here is an actual example of a customer rieeceipt reported i nblg. the customer bought $8.64 worth of food. the tax was 60 cents. it should have come to $9.24, but it didn't.

this customer was charged $9.25, an extra penny there. so, carol, why do this, well, a chipotle spokesperson says it's all about keeping the lines moving. if you have been to a chipotle, cashiers are digging for pennies and it can slow things down for them. but the restaurant says they're changing their policy. it says as of this month, it's no longer rounding up. it will only round down. so you can keep those extra pennies. >> what about those little pennies they usually have in there? you add a penny or take one. is this legal, to charge a customer -- even if it is just a penny, they are charging you more for your food than they should. >> according to "the star ledger," new jersey consumers must be provided with clear and pratt information about prices they are charged. and chipotle confirms it had a conversation with the state's department of consumer affairs about the rounding practice. and the restaurant has now started including a line about rounding on its receipts. even if you get some extra pennies, they are letting you know about it. but, carol, i did reach out to

one lawyer and talked to him about this. and he said if it's disclosed before people buy, then it's probably fine. but if it's not, it's a potential class action waiting to happen, carol. >> ouch. so it's a good thing they changed their policy. maribel, thank you so much. all around new orleans, dramatic life saving rescues by water and by air. plus, more flooding and more evacuations. [ male announcer ] let's say you need to take care of legal matters. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense. with scottrader streaming quotes,

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to the other story grabbing the nation's attention, isaac. isaac is now a tropical storm. it's still moving at that agonizingly slow pace. several levees have been overtopped. new evacuations have been ordered. dramatic rescues still happening. more than 200 in plaquemines parish, louisiana. one of the hardest-hit areas. and things there keep getting worse. >> just as we speak, i got word that another levee in south plaquemines on the west bank has been overtopped. and this will be the third area of the west bank that is now underwater, to add to the east bank troubles where we have been rescuing people all day. >> new orleans and the surrounding areas hit hard too. here is cnn meteorologist rob marciano. >> reporter: carol, here along the shores of lake pontchartrain, for the most part the levees and the floodgates and the pumping stations worked. the station you see behind me,

the water you see behind me, was not here when we started our coverage a few days ago. it's much, much higher. and the pumps, these pipes, continue to pump out water. each pipe, over 8,000 gallons a second. during the height of the storm, they had all of them going at one time. so that gets the rain water out of new orleans. these flood gates, each one of which weighs about 20 tons, and they were dropped right before the storm came in, that keeps the water from coming in off lake pontchartrain. now, this situation doesn't exist across the entire lake. west and north of here, in an area called laplace, they have a serious situation. they have huge flooding from this lake and a storm surge off the lake. hundreds of people needed to be rescued. dramatic video coming in from cnn. let's show you the video we shot yesterday off i-10. tractor-trairs nearly completely submerged there. now at the town, which we couldn't get to, rescue efforts underway. here is video from the coast guard. they were plucking people off rooftops last night. this couple and their two dogs

managed to survive. and here's what they had to say about their harrowing experience. >> i think he had a harder time because he had the bigger dog, which i'm sure she probably -- >> it gives you more of an preeshds for what these guys do, i can tell you that. >> yes, yes. topnotch. >> god in a helicopter. >> so they will be back to work today. the sheriff tells me this is the worst flooding he's seen in laplace in his lifetime. last time it flooded there was gus tof, and it took a week and a half for the floodwaters to recede. it will be an ongoing rescuest today and a long time before they dry out. thanks, rob. you can get the latest information on isaac at cnn.com/hurricane. and please share your videos and photos with cnn ireport. it's a busy day for a pair of astronauts. a morning spacewalk going on right now at the international space station. chances are your job doesn't give you the views that are out of this world for those astronauts. we'll show you more later. are you okay, babe?

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now is your chance to talk back. the question for you this morning, why is race an issue in campaign 2012? the republican party is eager to show america its diversity. their convention lineup featured rising stars of all races. yet if you ask the democrats, republicans are guilty of race baiting in election 2012. case in point, this romney ad saying that president obama is trying to gut welfare reform. >> on july 12, president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and you wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare check. >> we fact checked that ad. it's untrue. nevertheless, they will continue to run it because it's effective. republicans say it's an example of big government helping those who really should be helping themselves. democrats say it's racist. >> this stuff about getting rid of the work requirement for

welfare is dishonest. everyone has pointed out it's dishonest. and you are playing that little ethnic card there. you can play your games and giggle about it. but the fact is your side is playing that card. you start talking about work requirements you know what game you're playing, and everybody knows it's a race card. >> republicans accuse democrats of having their own problem with race baiting. remember when vice president joe biden made this comment in front of a black audience in virginia? >> look at what they value and look at their budget and what they are proposing. romney wants to let the -- he said in the first 100 days, he's going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. unchain wall street. they are going to put you all back in chains. >> it is a shame we are still fighting about race in 2012. and it's not likely to end soon. just yesterday, republican star mia love, an african-american, her wikipedia page was allegedly hacked with racist and sexist

rants. political analyst larry sabbado tells us some america is polarized around racial lines with minorities favoring president obama and whites favoring romney, expect both sides to continue to encourage the polarization. so the talk back question for you, why is race an issue in the 2012 campaign? facebook.com/carolcnn. your comments later this hour. we're getting a look at the former s.e.a.l. who wrote all about the raid on osama bin laden's compound. so what are we learning from his tell-all book? you won't believe it. we'll tell you. we'll share, next. ♪ i can do anything today ♪ i can go anywhere ♪ i can go anywhere today ♪ la la la la la la la [ male announcer ] dow solutions help millions of people by helping to make gluten free bread that doesn't taste gluten free. together, the elements of science

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for a lower open as investors react to disappointing economic news with initial jobless claims staying about the same. ringing the opening bell at the new york stock exchange this morning, the management of wageworks, a leading provider of flex spending accounts. two international space station crew members now walking in space. these are live pictures of that spacewalk. astronauts sonny williams and japanese astronaut have begun a 6 1/2 hour mission to replace a camera and electronics outside of the international space station. tropical storm isaac moving slowly across louisiana. the storm now centered 110 miles northwest of new orleans where more rescues are underway. nearly 1 million people in five states without power due to isaac. 2012 could be the worst year ever for the west nile virus outbreaks in the united states since the disease first appeared in 1999. that is according to the cdc, which reports 66 deaths so far, with nearly 1,600 more people infected.

almost half of this year's cases are in texas, with all of the lower 48 states now reporting west nile activity. a new book detailing s.e.a.l. team 6's raid that killed osama bin laden is the new number one on amazon. so much hype, the publisher moved the release date from september 11 up to september 4. the book is called "no easy day" and was written by one of the s.e.a.l.s involved in the raid under the phony name mark owen. but we're going to tell you his real name. his name is matt bissonnette. in an interview with cbs news, bissonnette talked about the training leading up to the raid. >> this is nothing new to us. the part that was new was all the vips sitting there watching. you know, one of the things that i liked after the fact was i remember admiral bowlen coming by and talking to each of us and

admiral olson as well. i thought that was cool. they shook each of our hands and said, are you guys ra ed? can you guys pull this off? and i'm pretty sure to a man we said, yes, absolutely. the defense department is reviewing the book. it says bissonnette could still face criminal charges. cnn national security analyst peter bergen is in washington. he is an expert on the raid, on osama bin laden's compound, and he has read this book. this new book. welcome, peter. >> good morning, carol. >> so what bissonnette was talking about in that last bit of sound we heard, apparently the s.e.a.l.s had this big fake compound they practiced in. what did he say about that in his book? >> well, he said something in his book that we kind of knew about this compound. it was reported in the "new yorker" piece which was a very good account of the raid. it was in my book, "manhunt." what happened was that early in april, bissonnette and others were summoned to north carolina for what was supposedly a

training exercise. and bissonnette quickly realized it was a dream team of the s.e.a.l. team 6 that were there. clearly something was up. very quickly it became apparent that the target was bin laden and in pakistan. they built an exact replica of the compound, carol. using shipping containers, plywood, and chain link fences in the piney forest of north carolina. they practiced there for some period of time. and then in fact they moved to nevada, which has the thought was the weather was going to be a little bit more similar to what it would be in central pakistan at that time of year. and they did a much more full rehearsal of the raid there. bissonnette doesn't get into that particular detail. that may well be because he is concerned about he and his lawyers concerned about a possible infractions that the department of defense as you know, carol, has said that they are going to take a look at the book. i'm not an expert in national security law. it didn't -- it seems to me that bissonnette was pretty careful

about not letting tactics and procedures be part of the book. >> well, well, let me ask you about a few more details. some of the details leaked out are quite fascinating. so they practiced in this fake osama bin laden compound. they don't really know exactly what the inside of the compound looks like, though. so they carry out this rai and how did the shooting of osama bin laden go down, according to bissonnette? >> well, i would say that it isn't -- i mean, i have read the passage pretty carefully. he's not a direct eyewitness to what happened. you know, bear in mind, carol, first of all, it's the middle of the night. there's no moon and no electricity. and there has been a firefight about 15 minutes earlier. so, you know, people's recollections of these events are not perfect. and bissonnette's is one. but he suggests that the point man who was leading the assault on the third floor of bin

laden's bedroom shot at bin laden as he poked his head out the door of his bedroom. and when they reached into the bedroom, they found that bin laden was already did and they shot him a couple of times more to finish him off that. does differ from the previous account, which is that bin laden was shot in his bedroom with one shot to his left eye and one shot to his chest. you know, somewhere in between there might be the actual complete version of events. i think there will be other witnesses that will come forward at a certain point. we have already had one account only a little over a year after bin laden was killed. and my guess is -- >> let me ask you about those accounts, peter. because there are so many books out about this raid. and there's going to be a movie coming out in december about this raid. >> yeah. >> so which book should people buy and believe? >> well, i think there's an accurate one out there that fits with everything i have reported

on this, carol. i have spoken to dozens of people with first-hand knowledge of the operation. i got inside the compound with bin laden was killed. the only outside observer to do so. i spoke to pakistani officials who investigated the aftermath of the raid. and basically my book and bissonnette's book are quite similar in many respects. my book, of course, is also focused on the president and his team and their decision making. and also the intelligence picture. bissonnette's view is very much on the ground, and he was there. and i -- you know, i think it's well told. and i think it's accurate. >> peter bergen, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you. republicans are talking a lot about the need for change at their convention. so are they getting the message out? we'll hear from a democrat about that convention. in fact, he's there. ask me what it's like when my tempur-pedic moves.

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paul ryan spent the night chastising the obama administration. actually, it was the topic wednesday at the republican national convention. >> these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the white house. what is missing is leadership in the white house. [ cheers and applause ] >> gop headliners telling a receptive crowd that mr. obama is a disappointment, divisive and out of ideas. the theme, we can change it. >> the experts tell us that if we don't change our policies, we're going back into recession next year. >> and this is america's future

if we don't do something to change the course this president seems perfectly content to leave us on. >> without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years? [ applause ] >> if the change line reminds you of obama's 2008 campaign slogan, change we can believe in, it's no accident. republicans say it was a change for the worst. joining me now from tampa is democratic senator chris van hollen. welcome. >> carol, great to be with you. >> thanks for being with us. if you talk to republicans, paul ryan was a hit. one of our analysts, david gergen, called ryan the new reagan. are democrats worried? >> no, we're not worried. this was a very disappointing speech, because republicans have claimed that they want to have a serious conversation about the issues. and last night proved that they're not serious at all. that speech that paul ryan delivered contained so much

misinformation in distortion that it's kept the fact checkers up all night. and i'd be happy to go through some of them, because they go to the core of these issues. >> i know the most glaring one was probably the general motors plant in wisconsin closing. it actually closed under the bush administration, not the obama administration. but still, paul ryan's theme of people wanting a change in the white house, and mr. obama's policies not working. and the economy still moving at a sluggish pace. that resonated with the audience. >> well, the reality is that paul ryan and these republicans voted for all of the policies that got us into the mess to begin with. and that when the president took office, he immediately took action. he took an economy that was in freefall. we are now in 29 months of positive private sector job growth. we need to do more. and the republicans in the house of representatives are sitting on the president's jobs bill. they haven't voted on it since last september. then they say they want to talk seriously about budget issues. paul ryan last night criticized

the president for not adopting the recommendations of the bipartisan simpson-bowles commission. problem is, paul ryan was on the commission. he voted no. he didn't like their recommendations. but then it gets worse, carol. because the president then submitted a budget that does adopt the framework of simpson-bowles. you don't have to take my word for it. one of the co-chairmen, erskine bowles, said that three weeks ago. he said that the president's budget plan is much closer to the bipartisan principles of simpson-bowles than the romney-ryan plan. and the whole reas that romney and ryan oppose the president's plan is because it contains this balanced approach, rather than their approach, which provides another round of big tax cuts for people like mitt romney. >> republicans say that paul ryan is actually pushing romney's policies, not his own. so that really doesn't matter. >> well, both of them are opposed to the simpson-bowles approach, which is a balanced approach, that says we need to tackle our long-term deficit through a combination of cuts, and the president has put

forward many deep cuts. but also through more revenue from the folks at the very top of the income ladder. because if you don't ask one more penny from them, then you have to hit everybody else harder. the seniors on medicare and the students. and romney and ryan have been very clear. they do not support one more penny of revenue from the very wealthy. romney was asked that question during the debates. whether he would take $10 of cuts to $1 of revenue. no deal. he takes a very inflexible approach. it'sll about this trickle down economics theory that more tax cuts for the wealthy people like mitt romney will somehow lift us all up. but we know that that theory crashed at the end of the bush administration. the facts are in. >> well, i wanted to of courask about something else. just yesterday the president accused governor romney of not caring about young people and their health care. >> you have to look at the impact of the policies on people. so mitt romney is proposing to

repeal obama care. one of the things obama care does is make sure that young people -- >> but that doesn't mean, congressman, that mitt romney doesn't care about young people and their health care. >> well, he is taking away a very important health benefit and protection for young people. you can decide to characterize what that means in terms of his feelings. but the impact on young people is that they're not going to get health insurance coverage. so if they're stuck in a car accident now, since they are not covered under their family's policy, it could bankrupt the family. so i think that that tells a lot about what mitt romney cares about and what he doesn't. and that's what these budgets are about. there are a lot of numbers. but at their core, they tell you what your priorities are. what you care about, what you don't. >> chris van hollen, congressman from maryland. here is a programming reminder for you. cnn's primetime convention coverage continues tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern with wolf blitzer and three hours later, at 10:00 eastern time, the republican presidential nominee

mitt romney delivers his acceptance speech. there've be. 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. ♪ check out the latest collection 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.

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we are breaking out the truth meter on vice president ryan's speech.

first, listen to what he said about the general motor plant in wisconsin. >> right there in that plant, he said i believe if we are to support you this plant will be there another 100 years. that's what he said in 2008. well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. and is locked up and empty to this day. >> bill adair is editor of the nonpartisan bomb lit fact.com. he is in tampa. are ryan's comes about this gm plant accurate? >> we were specifically looking at a claim that he has made that president obama broke his promise to keep that plant open. he made that point a little more sharply about ten days ago in a campaign speech he gave in which he actually said that obama broke his promise. i think he made that same point last night. we rated that false. it's really not accurate to say obama broke his promise because the gm plant actually closed

down in december 2008, before he took office it is not like he said obama should have kept that open it closed under president bush before obama took office a false on the truth o'meter on that one. >> hear what he said about mitt romney's record in massachusetts. >> mitt has not only succeeded but succeeded where others could not. he turned around the lines at time when great institution was collapsing under the weight of bad management, overspending and corruption. sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it? he was a republican governor of state where almost nine of ten legislators are democrats. he balanced the budget without raising taxes. unemployment went down, household incomes went up and massachusetts under governor mitt romney saw its credit rating upgraded. >> that sounds fantastic s it

true? >> we rated the last three pieces of that talk bound employment going down, credit rating going up and incomes going up. the reason we rate it had half-true on our turth-o-meter is first in the case of the income, yeah, it went up, but not if you control for inflation. if you control for inflation it actually went down. a governor has limited affect on a economy. yes, it is true the credit rating went up and yes it's true on the other point but romney's impact on those were -- was not that great. over all, half true on the truth-o-meter on that one. >> bill adair, thanks so much. politifact.com if you want to know more. cnn's prime time coverage continues tonight at 7 eastern with wolf blitzer. we will be back.

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one of the big stories of the day the question, why is race an issue in camp feign 2012? this from gill d.a. because obama and the black community made this an issue. he is not qualified to be president and it's not because he is black. he is as much white as he is black. this from ryan if your party has to go out of your way to convince america that it's open to people of another race or culture, then that, in itself, speaks volumes. this from randall, vase an issue because it used to always work as a default argument when everything else failed. more whites are on welfare than blacks. so, no sale. this from another chris, because we are stale very racist nation, ask any person of color. this from water. race is an issue, the whites feel that romney will show them favoritism. the black and others feel obama will show them favoritism. keep the conversation going. facebook.com/carolcnn. more comments in the next hour of newsroom. ncy. i bought the car because i could eliminate gas from my budget.

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for a fraction of the cost of the coffee house. add your flavor, with coffee-mate, from nestle. stories we are watching now in the newsroom -- >> if you are feeling left out or passed by, you have not failed. your leaders have failed you. >> paul ryan making his case at the republican national convention. now the man at the top of the ticket gets ready for his big night. tropical storm isaac keeps hammering louisiana with more flooding, more rescues and evacuations are under way.

and nearly 1 million people across five states without power. and replacement referees. a new group of men and women in striped shirts will be on the field for week one of the nfl. but will players be there, too? newsroom starts right now. good morning, thank you so much for joining me. i'm carol costello. we begin with the republican party's biggest night in four years. just hours from now you mitt romney will accept the presidential nomination and deliver the most important speech of his life. and he may have a hard act to follow. last night, his running mate, paul ryan, energized the crowd, promising deliver a new america and exorcise the demons of a failed presidency. heads up, we will take a break from the usual short excerpts and run longer chunks of ryan's sound to give you a better sense of what he said. >> it began with a financial

crisis. it ends with a job crisis. it began with a housing crisis they alone didn't cause. it ends with a housing crisis they didn't correct. [ applause ] it began with a perfect aaa credit rating for the united states. it ends with a downgraded america. we will not duck the tough issue, women lead. we will not spend the next four years blaming others. we will take responsibility. women not try to replace our founding principles, women reapply our founding principles. the work ahead will be hard. these times demand the best of all of us. all of us. but we can do this we can do this. together, we can do this we can get this country working again.

we can get this economy growing again. we can make the safety net safe again. with he can do what. whatever your political party, let's come together for the sake of our country. join mitt romney and me. let's give this everything we have. let's see this all wait through. let get this done! >> paul ryan and a host of others have set the stage for mitt romney, i'm sure you've heard, romney will have to deliver earth speech of his life to win over voters. cnn he's brooke baldwin takes a look at the political speech that could make or break his chance at the white house. >> reporter: it's a microphone moment unlike any time in politics, the presidential convention speech. >> to old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second crowd, change is coming. >> reporter: a moment that could either catapult former governor mitt romney to next president

mitt romney or not. >> there's always the possibility that something very dramatic and very exciting might happen at a convention and that could hit the reset button on the conversation that's been happening over the past few months. >> reporter: as far back as barry goldwater, party nominees have got an postconvention popularity bump. 66% of voters told cnn pollsters that the candidates' convention speech matters. >> family, work, neighborhood, peace and freedom. >> reporter: but, according to pew research center, just three of the last 12 wannabe presidents have improved their image after those conventions. obama and both bushes -- >> read my lips, no new taxes. >> i'm running with a compassionate, conservative philosophy. >> reporter: that same pew study shows romney's challenge. his unfavorability rating is 52 to 37%. >> i should also tell my story.

i'm also unemployed. i'm not concern about the very poor. weave a safety net there. >> reporter: he steps up to the tampa podium knowing words count. >> i like being able to fire people that provide services to me. >> reporter: his latest choice of word does determine whether the voters get to hire or fire him. >> and brooke baldwin joins us now from the rnc in tampa. i know is a little bit off topic, but never hurts to have a special guest further energize the rnc. we hear there's a rumor that clint eastwood may show up? >> can you imagine dirty harry speaking at that forum? what a night it will be. here is what i can tell you what i can confirm. the romney camp saying, yes, there is this mystery guest, character witnesses, folks that worked with romney, staples and during the olympics i and also when he was, you know, running

the state of -- then governor of massachusetts, but we cannot definitively tell you that clint eastwood is showing up. here is what i will say clint eastwood at a huge fund-raiser in sun valley, idaho, did indeed endorse mitt romney. that is interesting. we remember watching the super bowl not too many months ago and it was that, you know, semicontroversial ad promoting chrysler in which it sort of appeared to be a more or less subtle push toward obama but now know that clint eastwood has indeed endorsed romney. will he show up? we will have to wait and see. carol? >> i have heard rumors he is starting in florida. people are excited about the possibility. >> they are watching. might he be in tampa? might be lurking somewhere in the cnn grill? i will look around the corner and try to find out. so far, no signs. >> oh, yeah romney is going to speak. i'm kidding about that part. but amazing how many people are talking about clint eastwood. thanks so much. brooke baldwin reporting live from tampa today. cnn's prime time coverage

continues tonight at 7 eastern with wolf blitzer around then at 10 eastern, the republican presidential nominee, mitt romney, will deliver that speech. on to isaac now, it is moving tortuously slow, drench and flooding everything in its path. one tornado has tow touched down in mississippi, one death confirmed in that state, blamed on a falling tree. police going door to door, warning residents in washington parish, louisiana, to evacuate. national guard troops are looking for people stranded in st. johns parish, louisiana. hundreds had to be rescued after becoming trapped. >> why did you decide to stay? >> i didn't think it would happen again. i had two trucks, a boat i never used. >> you were here for katrina? >> we left for katrina. but that's it. had enough.

i ain't coming back no more. >> martin savidge is in new orleans. there's no shortage of stories like that, martin. >> no, there aren't, carol. you know what's interesting is that authorities now in certain areas of louisiana are telling people to evacuate. this is after the storm has gone by. you don't necessarily anticipate that. but that is the case for a number of communities where now, authorities telling people, look, we know the water is going to rise. we also know your house is going to be below the level where the water is going to rise, too you better be on your way and get out and get out now. we are at the 17th street pumping station, one of the stations that helped keep new orleans in very good shape during hurricane isaac and that's the irony. now it seems to be all the communities outside that flood protection system that especially today, are running into systems. lake pontchartrain is extremely full. you've got a strong southerly wind. so, what that means is that the water is not draining away. all the rivers up to the north of lake pontchartrain can't drain into the lake and then

drain into the gulf. lake pontchartrain can't drain out, which is why on the north shore of lake pontchartrain, slidell, in particular, you are seeing a lot of problems. but you also yesterday had flooding in plaquemines parish, to the south of new orleans. yesterday as well as well, a place called la place, the west of new orleans. there, too, is where the coast guard was in action. they had to launch their helicopters try to rescue people that were trapped again in their homes. the rescues went ahead. they were able to save families, in some cases families and their pets. that's actually very important, the reason many people don't leave. here's one of those who was rescued talking about what it was like. >> i think he had a harder time 'cause he had the bigger dog, which i'm sure she -- >> more of a appreciation for what these guys do i can tell you that. >> yes. yes. >> they are god. >> top no. >> god in a helicopter. >> reporter: it is not just the coast guard it is the local new

his municipalities, the sheriff's offices. warning people to get out of the way, out of the high water. carol? >> thank you. isaac pushed up gas prices nationwide, i'm sure you've noticed. that is leading to accusations of price gouging. in mississippi two gas station owners have now been arrested. the state attorney general's office says it has received almost 160 calls about gas price complaints. the nationwide average at the pump right now, by the way, stands at $3.83 a gallon. experts predict prices will drop in a few days after refineries come back online. they are predicting i think monday. mitt romney the biggest political speech of his career tonight, but will it be enough to win over voters beyond the base? i will talk to a former republican governor of virginia and he will tell us what mitt needs to do to seal the deal.

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afghanistan. soldiers said to be relaxing and talking when someone in an afghan national army uniform opened fire. officials say the shooter escaped by scale willing a fence. 14 nato troops have been killed in this type of attack so far this month. in money ws, citigroup will pay nearly $600 million to investors to set al class action suit. shareholders claim the bank misled them about the firm's health in the leadup to the financial crisis. citi bank denies wrongdoing but says it was in the bank's best interest to set. the first lady is not hiding during the republicans' big week. michelle obama was a guest on david letterman last night where she told the late night host she has not been paying close attention to what's going on in tampa. >> i -- i as the wife of the guy they are running against, i tend not to watch it but i think it's important for everyone to watch these conventions, because this is the time you get know the

party, you understand the platform, you understand the candidates. this is technically where the campaign begins some i think it's very important for everyone to watch as much of both conventions as possible to make their decisions. i didn't watch it. >> mrs. obama was also part of the rachael ray and dr. oz shows yesterday. the president, her husband, he is breaking with campaign tradition, hitting the trail while republicans rally around mitt romney and their con ven regs. and given the heated tone of the campaign so far, it's probably no surprise there is no let up in the attacks. >> i'm telling you, on almost every issue, he wants to go backwards. sometimes all the way to the last century. maybe the steam engine is more his speed. >> jim gill support a former governor from the state of virginia. he joins us now from the republican con ven eggs. welcome, governor. >> hello, carol, how are you? >> i'm good. thank you so much for joining

us. you heard how president obama is characterizing governor romney. what can he say to combat that tonight? >> well, you know, i appreciate the fact that we are in a political season and it's sort of a cut and slash and all that kind of thing, i just don't think it's very presidential for the president to say that his political opponents are trying to go backward and making wise guy statements like the steam engine and all that kind of thing. i mean, he has always been kind of likable but that isn't particularly likable. this is a serious business about the serious business of the future of the united states of america. the republicans are here in tampa in order to address those issues and talk about the economic concerns and crises facing the american people and what we have to do to move the country in the right direction after four years of basically drifting inactivity. i think it is better to be respectful of why you are opponents and the hard work going into it in tampa. >> governor, part of this convention, a big part, was to

dedef redefine voters. maureen dowd, and i understand it is maureen dowd, she writes, "it has failed. the sin nettic convention aches with the enormity of the effort of trying and failing to make mitt aluring and compelling. the fruitless, endless hunt for the enigma code that will decipher the cipher." in other words, we don't know her better than before the convention. >> i like maureen and like to read her material but the truth is everything the people have seen this week in tampa she is concern for working men and women in this country, a concern for people who had jobs and then all of a sudden, don't have jobs, working in a lesser job. young people, paul ryan was very specific about it last night, very clear. young people who need to get started and can't get started. our concern is for the people of the united states. and things aren't going to get any better if we just keep on

the same path doing the same thing. >> talk about the likability factor. john avlon wrote a column today for the daily beast answered said we expect our presidential candidates to come with a character narrative, however big or small, a hero's journey of suffering and redemption that informs their judgment, arming them with empathy and wisdom once they reach the oval office. if mitt romney has such a story, he has not shared it yet. >> i think what mitt romney does and plenty of republican does and paul ryan does and i think he was real clear about it, it was a very speech last night and i think it will be another one tonight. and i do think that mitt romney needs to show his empathy and concern for the people, but why run for president if you're not concerned about the people of the united states? we know he is. we know he is. and he is going to express that tonight. and frankly, everything that's come of tampa this week, the republicans expressing concern about the distress that the american people have faced over the last four years. they want somebody who can

actually get the job done and it just hasn't gotten done in the last four years it is time to pick somebody that can do the job and mitt romney is that guy. >> i think voters also want to know that the president cares about him. and i'm going to bring up the wealth thing. we all know mitt romney is extremely wealthy. i think there's a sense, even among some republicans and i have talked to them, so i know this, that mitt romney hasn't had to suffer because he's had -- he's had things that many others, most people in the country, haven't had. you know, parent with money to fall back on. >> i think it's a really interesting narrative we are seeing and what makes this election so crucial is that sort of an effort being gone on, change the culture in america to say people shouldn't strive, they shouldn't succeed earthquake shouldn't gather to themselves success which they can then share with other people, family people, their employees, people who are working with them in order to create success.

america's always been about the striving for success. it's the engine that makes this country go it almost feels like the president wants to turn that engine off. frankly, doug that for a few years, the success isn't there the wealth isn't there, we begin to go down. the republicans -- the republican party and mitt romney and paul ryan want this country to continue to move ahead. that is what this condition is about. the theme and message we have seen all week consistently that will carry into the campaign. i'm for it and i think we all are. that's what we want for america what we aspire to for america, greatness and the opportunity to do something good instead of settling and settling for less and less. >> governor gilmore, thank you so much for being with us to share your thoughts. we appreciate it. >> good. thank you very much. back to our other big story for this thursday morning, scenes from isaac. some of them have been heart wrenching. in many ways, the devastation has equaled katrina, especially in plaquemines parish where the

levees have not yet been totally rebuilt. here's parish president bully nungesser. >> we have over a billion and a half dollars for federal levees that have not been started yet. but absolutely. my home had more damage for this storm than katrina. i rode out katrina 14 miles from the eye of that storm and yet i've seen more damage to my home from these winds that kept o for two days. >> joining me now pete gaultier, the sector commander for the coast guard sector new orleans. captain, welcome. >> good morning, carol. >> the coast guard has been busy. are you surprised by that? did you think more people would evacuate? >> you know, carol, all emergency management agencies have been very busy for the last -- really for the last week, getting ready for this storm and now in the past 48 hours, responding to it. when we get got a little bit of a good weather window yesterday, we brought our search and rescue

helicopters back from safe haven in houston and put them immediate fly service to aid search and rescue operations. we got up into la place a little bit north of new orleans to rescue people off of roofs. we rescued some mariners in distress in the river and in the bayous. so, it has been very busy. >> tell me what has been the most difficult rescue for you so far. >> well, i think the weather conditions have been what's most challenginabout doing the helicopter rescues. you know, i think the really brave air crews are just close in some of the weather conditions they were flying n really this is a team effort together with the terrific efforts on the part of the parish emergency management folks, the national guard and the state of louisiana, to do what we need to do to save people. >> we are looking at pictures now of a rescue from someone's attic and this man apparently has three or four dogs.

how have pets kind of hindered your rescues? if they have? >> i think since hurricane rita we've -- we've learned that we need to take care of people and their pets, too. so, i think that, you know, we do the rescues with the people and their pets because they are so important to the health and well being of people. >> captain gautier, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you. paul ryan gets his chance to woo delegates at the republican national convention are, but was everything he said last night absolutely true? we put his speech to the truth test. the blissful pause just before that rich sweetness touches your lips. the delightful discovery, the mid-sweetening realization that you have the house all to yourself. well, almost. the sweet reward, making a delicious choice that's also a smart choice. splenda no-calorie sweetener. with the original sugar-like taste you love and trust.

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now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, why is race an issue in campaign 2012? the republican party is eager to show america its diversity. their convention lineup featured rising stars of races but if you ask democrats, republicans are guilty of race baiting in 2012. case in point this romney ad case in point this romney ad. this ad was fact checked and it is untrue. republican i say it is an example of big government helping those who should be helping themselves. democrats say it's racist. >> getting rid of the work requirement for welfare is dishonest. everyone has pointed out it is dishonest. you are playing that little ethnic card there you can play your games and giggle about it, but the fact is your side is playing that card. you start talking about work requirements, you know what game you're playing and everybody

know what is game you're playing. it's a race card. >> republicans accused democrats of having their own problem with race baiting. remember when vice president joe biden made his comment in front of an audience that included african-americans? >> look at what they value. look at their budget what happened they are proposing. romney wants to let the -- he said in the first hundred days, he will let the big banks once again write their own rules. unchain wall street. they are going to put y'all back in chains. >> that is a shame we are still fighting about race in 2012. but it's not likely to end soon. just yesterday, republican star mia love's wikipedia page allegedly hacked with racist and sexist rants. she is african-american. political analyst larry sabato says since america is polarized along racial lines with minorities favoring the president and whites favoring

romney, expect both parties to continue to encourage polarization. the talk back question for you why is race an issue in the 2012 campaign? facebook.com/carolcnn. facebook.com/carolcnn. your comments later this hour. a rousing speech at the republican national convention and paul ryan basks in the spotlight. today, he is also feeling heat for some of live claims. we're gonna check the facts for you. 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. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪

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good morning. thank you for joining us this morning, i'm carol costello. tonight, mitt romney delivers his prime time speech, formally accepting the gop's presidential nomination, inevitably face comparisons to his running mate, paul ryan, delivered a rousing performance last night but ryan is facing criticism for questionable campaigns. the obama campaign was quick to pounce with this online ad. >> i thought it was a very constricted, negative, nasty speech. >> cnn white house correspondent brianna keilar is in tampa. you are going to do a fact check for us. first up, ryan's lament over a general motors factory closing in his hometown of janesville,

wisconsin, he paints that as obama's failure. what are the facts? >> we actually found the way he presented it in his speech last night to be true but incomplete. he has talked about this before where it has been more misleading. first, let's listen to what he said last night, carol. right there at that plant, candidate obama said i believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here for another hundred years. that's what he said in 2008. well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. it is locked up and empty to this day. >> now, it actually did last another year, although it did close. and the closure was planned before president obama became president. this is what ryan said last night as a follow of what he said august 16th, yes said that president obama promised to keep the plant open. did he not go as far as that

last night, maybe because, carl, president obama did not promise to keep the plant open. >> all right. so, here's another ryan talking point that's drawing fire. ryan claims president obama is gutting medicare to pay for "obama care." so, what's the truth? >> well, let's listen first to what he said. here he is. $716 billion funneled out of medicare by president obama. an obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed all to pay for a new entitlement we didn't even ask for. >> it's kind of debatable whether these are actually cuts. what they do is they reduce -- pardon me, reduce the growth of costs in medicare and not by

reducing guaranteed benefits of medicare but by reducing payments to hospitals, doctors, what they say, carol, to be on the provider side. so, this isn't exactly correct. and what is really going on here is paul ryan and mitt romney, they are trying to inoculate themselves against the criticism over paul ryan's budget, which, of course, would voucherize medicare. so there's certainly a desire there to fire back and this is the way that they have been doing it ever since paul ryan was picked as mares veep. >> likely to hear that line many, many times in the month to come. well, actually, just the months to come. thank you so much, brianna cooler, reporting live for us. ann romney says she is a fan of the tv show "modern family." so the series creator has offered her a role. some unfamiliar faces will be on the field for week one of the nfl. a new group of men and the first

woman. they will referee regular season football games but the players union is not too happy about that. we will tell you why. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with advanced haldex all-wheel drive. [ engine revving ] it's bringing the future forward.

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♪ that was bruce springsteen. he has been playing ballparks as part of the current u.s. tour. now, the boss is joining with major league baseball and our sister network, tbs, to promote postseason coverage. springsteen lends his song "land of hope and dreams." tbs coverage of the playoffs begins october 5th. i hope my tigers win. tonight is the final -- i had to get that in there, car loss. tonight is the final night of the nfl preseason and it may also be the most important for the nfl's replacement refs. the group of college and high school referees just found out they will be in place for the opening week of the season. hln's carlos diaz joins me. and players aren't happy about this. [ sigh ] >> i want to give both sides to this story. i want to give you the -- [ sigh ] here is the nfl swhichld they want to do is they want to hire more referees so they can have

more referees on hand to pick and choose the best ones for each game. that's their side. the other thing is they bring in $9 billion a year. if a referee wants to make a little more than $149,000 a year and you're stressing player safety, why wouldn't you just pay them an extra $40,000 a year? that is thing. $40,000 is a lot to you and me, talking about protecting players that make $100 million, and you're stressing player safety like crazy, i don't understand. as you saw last night in the game between the giants and patri patriots, the exhibition game, the referee had a tough time. >> both teams will -- both will -- both fouls were on the kicking team. five-yard penalty. >> way too many examples of that you can chuckle at that right there but let me ask you that question, okay? what if on the opening weekend, the players see that they can play it fast and loose because the refs aren't calling every egg and then off hit on a quarterback and then in

retaliation, the other team's defense wants to put a hit on their quarterback, knowing that, hey, we can get away with this? and what if peyton manning goes down, because you wouldn't pay a referee an extra $40,000? i want to give both sides of this, but what people are talking about with this is that for a league that brings in so much money, you know, how can you not take care of the referees that police all of these guys traveling so quickly on the field? >> okay. so, the players union, they are upset about this. are they really saying they might go on strike? >> they can't. they signed a collective bargaining agreement last year. the players saying they are upset about this once the referees come back, they are going to be yelling at them like crazy again. if the players were so upset about this when they signed the collective bargaining agreement last year, they knew this was coming up this year, they said we would sign the agreement but don't want to play for replacement referees. we want to get their agreement down now. truly in favor of the refs, would have done it the same time

and wouldn't have hung them out to dry in this watch the players want the real referees because they don't want to get hurt it is going to be -- here's the thing, week one, week one, it's all about week one. if it goes smooth, all the leverage shifts to the league. if you have big problems, all the leverage shifts to the referees. >> i know i'll be watching very closely. carlos diaz, thanks. isaac has been relentless, caused tremendous flooding. just ahead, we will take you live to another hard-hit area, grand isle, louisiana. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems.

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to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us. [ ding ] oh, that's helpful! well, our company does that, too. actually, we invented that. it's like a sauna in here. helping you save, even if it's not with us -- now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! the relentless storm continues, pounding gulf coast residents. we have confirmed reports of one death in mississippi. it was caused by a falling tree. in louisiana, more people are being told to evacuate. ed lavandera is in grand isle, louisiana. this thing is a tropical storm and they still want people to

stay away? >> reporter: well, you know, the concern and the biggest problem throughout the region, carol, is flooding, it takes some time for the storm surge waters to move away. there's questions the way the water moves through the levee system. problems can arise in various parts, different parts of the state at any given point. that's why, because at bulk of this storm passed through the region there are problems left in its wake. so, those are the things that people will still have to be carefully monitoring and watching out for here in the hours ahead. here in grand isle, louisiana, where we rode out the storm, finally starting to get that break and seeing the water levels receding rather quickly, carol. where we are, we are still on the second floor of the deck of dean blanchard's home here in grand isle. below us, we had probably close to six feet of water, five to six feet of water surrounding us here for most of this time during the bulk of this storm.

we are starting to get a break and see the water level go down rather quickly. here in the next couple of hours, we are going to venture out and take a drive around the island to get a better sense of the damage we have seen here. but you know, at the bulk of all -- through all of this dean blanchard had about six inches of water inside on the bottom floor of his home here in grand isle, louisiana. and we took a little time we thought that would be a good time to sit down and talk a little bit with dean blanchard about what that was like. what's it like being trapped here, seeing all this water? >> it is aggravating. i feel like getting in my truck and go ride r we took water a while ago. it has gone down a few inches. >> gone down a little bit. >> probably dropped five, six inches in the last hour. but it looks like it stopped, you know? that's what is worse. i would hope it would continue to drop. >> this is a sight that i just find amazing, when you sit here and you look out your side door. >> yeah. yeah. >> you see water.

>> well, everybody wants waterfront property. >> reporter: you got to keep a sense of humor there, carl. the water is not rushing by. he got out in his truck, left a while ago to start driving around a little bit himself. so, now it is just a matter of time before water disappears much the good news, from our vantage point, carl, we can see dozens of homes around us, no structural damage. many of the homes around here are built on stilts and the water and the storm surge can rush underneath it and then go back out to the gulf of mexico. but we don't see much, if any, structural damage to the homes around there >> terrific. i spent a lot of time in grand isle during the gulf oil spill. everybody seems to be like mr. blanchard, zbraits sense of humor, positive outlook and they have been down that road before. ed laugh vane dare rah live from grand isle, louisiana. on to colorado now, where the man accused of killing 12 people and wounding nearly 60

years by opening fire during a midnight movie, he is back in court today. today's hearing focuses on the notebook james holmes sent to the university of colorado psychiatrist just before that shooting. what's in that notebook could be the y to figuring out why the shooting happened in the first place. ted rowlands outside the courthouse. ted, tell us more about this hearing. >> reporter: well, it's expected to be a big hearing, carol. we are expecting dr. lynn fenton that psychiatrist, nobody court today. she may answer questions to the judge as to her relationship with james holmes, the prosecution really wants toth notebook, the defense says absolutely not this is privileged information, it will also be interesting to see james holmes' reaction n other court appearance, he hasn't really focused in on any particular person, not even the judge in the courtroom. it will be interesting to see if he focuses in on his former psychiatrist, when she's in the courtroom. >> tell us more about this confidentiality law about whether these diaries could be

toifrnd to prosecutors. whatever decision to made, it could set precedent? >> reporter: right. they have doctor/patient privilege and then a psychologist/patient privilege and much easier to get information through the doctor route. that ae's why prosecutors want fenton, a psychiatrist, no classification in colorado for a psychiatrist, looked at her as a doctor in this case. defense is saying that is hogwash, she is much closer to a psychologi psychologist. whatever is decided in this will set precedent, because right now there is no precedent in colorado law as to that distinction. that will be an interesting part for the legal analysts here. >> ted rowlands live in colorado. you hear it all the time, mitt romney saying he wants to repeal obama care. what would happen if he did? we will break it down. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year.

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we are really doing this, huh? >> yeah, last chance to enjoy family christmas. >> until next year, you mean? >> mom, with all the snatchings. >> get out of my head, luke. >> okay who is going to get the tree? >> oh, i will, i will. you know, get the wrong kind, people get upset. >> you get upset. >> mitt romney's wife, ann, says she is a big fan of the tv show, "modern family." that news making to the show's co-creator, who has offered ann romney a role. steve levitan says ann romney could officiate at the wedding of partners cam and mitchell, just one catch, as soon as same-sex mar around is legal. levitan pointing out her

husband, mitt romney, opposes same-sex marriage. mitt romney says he will repeal obama care if he is elected. all this week, we have been looking what the he will do in place of that controversial law. one of the biggest concerns, middle class americans who have had a tough time affording health insurance. our senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, is here. i know that part of obama care includes subsidies for those who can't quite afford insurance. what would happen to that if mitt romney puts his plan into place? >> those subsidies will go away. those subdid sid dispretty big. take a family of four earning about $50,000, they can get around $8,000 in subsidy goes to buy an insurance policy. those would go away. governor romney takes a very different approach. let me read what you which is hist spokesperson says. she says, "mitt romney will institute reforms that control the cost of health care so that all americans will be able to afford the coverage they need." so instituting reforms.

just so little information, you don't quite know what exactly he will do and i think that's the problem many voters are having, like he has a plan, but they are short on specifics. >> well, he has -- in speeches, he has given some specifics you can kind of have to go back and listen to his speeches, but we did. so let's take a listen to the reform specifically that he would like to do. >> i want these individuals and businesses to be able to buy insurance across state lines so get the best deal they can get anywhere in the country. and i want to be able to join asocial yifgs like-type organizations so they can get bargaining power, purchasing power and get insurance at a reasonable rate. i would like to make health savings accounts which really empower the consumer far more efficient and effective by such things permitting health saving account funds to be used to pay the insurance premiums, which isn't allowed today.

these kind of solutions, allowing people to band together or buy insurance across state lines is that enough to make insurance affordable to middle class americans having trouble affording it? who knows. remains to be seen. >> elizabeth cohen, thanks so much. >> thanks. we asked to you talk back on one of the biggest stories of the day the question for you this morning, is race -- why is race an issue in campaign 2012? this from michael. it's only race baiting. it's not true what biden said is dead on and not just for black people this too, race will always be an i shall human. election of president obama brought all those hiding and pretending for years a postracial america is a big joke. this from debbie, ask i ask how talking about welfare is racist? does that democrats think only minorities on welfare and if so hello, doesn't that, in fact, make the democrats racist? and this from kevin with neither side providing a real plan what other issue is there? please, continue the

conversation, facebook.com/carolc facebook.com/carolcnn. thanks, as always, for your comments and thanks for joining me today. i'm carol costello. n newsroom continues with ashleigh banfield after a short break. at usaa, we believe honor is not exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. 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. [ male announcer ] isn't always the one you plan to take. whoa, check it out. hey baby goat... no that's not yours... [ hikers whispering ] ...that's not yours. [ goat bleats ]

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