democrats' turn. we'll be holding them to the truth as well. it's their convention next week. tune in saturday at 1:00 p.m. eastern and sunday at 3:00. in the meantime i do want to hear from you. i think you heard a serious economic plan from republicans. i didn't, but let me know if you think you did. find me on facebook.com/a facebook.com/alivelshi, and tweet me my handle i is @alivelshi. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello, everyone. i'm fredericka whitfield and you're in the "newsroom." we're about to hear from president obama. he's about to give a campaign speech in 20 minutes from now and maybe earlier than that in that location urbandale, iowa. the president has been hitting the campaign trail hard in the runoff in the democratic convention that gets under way

tuesday. our athena jones is in urbandale. it looks like a sizeable crowd. what is the president hoping to accomplish here that perhaps he won't or maybe it's the warm-up to the convention? >> reporter: hi, fred. that's exactly what it is. today launches what the campaign is calling their road to charlotte which is, of course, the road to the big speech he'll be giving on thursday night in charlotte at the democratic convention accepting his party's nomination once again. his goal is to continue to draw contrasts between the plans he has and what he's already done to help the middle class in terms of tax cuts or affordable access to health care and college and what he says his opponents do which is offer plans and proposals that will favor the rich. tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and we expect to hear some of that today. this is his third trip to iowa in the last three weeks and the state has six electoral votes and it shows you how important it is for them to fight for the state and to keep those six votes in a race that could be

very close, fred. >> so what is the real objective, i guess, at the dnc where we saw the rnc, they wanted to really humanize the republican nominee, romney. in the case of the president is there, like, one collective goal, a mission? >> reporter: well, certainly, if you talk to the campaign officials they believe that people know about the president. they know what president obama stands for. they don't feel they need to re-introduce him or they put it reinvent him. their plan is to make an affirmative case for his re-election and talking about his record and everything from ending the war in iraq to again, health care and also this idea that he's going to fight for the middle class. it's not really a new theme, but that's what they plan to continue hammering home. this idea that he's going to look out for everyday people unlike the republican ticket. one thing they did say is this is going to be a working convention. that's how they described it and

they'll work on getting people registered to work and knock on doors, canvass and in doing so, earn a ticket to fill that huge stadium that he's going to be speak at. so we don't have too much of a preview of the speech and we'll try to contain and make the case that he's the one that will give him more time to keep the economy back on track, fred. >> athena jones. thanks so much in urbandale. we'll take the president live when he arrives there in iowa. let's talk about the democratic national convention which starts tuesday, charlotte, north carolina. that's the place right there. some of the high-profile speakers include the first lady, former michigan governor jennifer granholm and eva longoria who is expected to focus women's issues. the president's big speech is at an outdoor stadium. so party leaders are keeping an eye on the weather and having a contingency plan just in case. the romney campaign, meantime is hitting the road hoping to build momentum from the republican national convention. the presidential nominee is

holding rallies in a couple of battleground states today. this morning it was ohio and in just a couple of hours he'll be taking to the stage with running mate paul ryan in orida. jim acosta joining me live from jacksonville where a crowd is gathering there. so, jim, the president -- or not the president, that's going to be in iowa, but in this case in florida, the republican nominee, romney, he'll be solo or will ryan be along with him? >> reporter: well, you can just look right over my shoulder, fredericka, they have the big banner there. erica's comeback team and that should give you an indication right there, paul ryan and mitt romney will be at this event in jacksonville, florida. in a few hours from now you can see the crowd gathering behind me and we're on the st. john's river in jacksonville, florida. i am told this river flows northward, so a unique site. a unique setting for this campaign event that will be kicking off for a few hours and speaking of kickoffs, this is

college football game day and kickoff game day and he was out on the campaign trail when he was in cincinnati and drawing sports references and going after the president basically saying it was time for a new head coach in the white house. here's what he had to say. >> measure us, hold us accountable. do the same with the president. look, you're making a choice as to who the servant will be of the nation. who is the person, who are the people who will lead this country and do what you want to be done? you listen to the last guy running for president and he laid out what you wanted to do and he was unable to do it and it's time to give someone new a chance. >> now romney's running mate, paul ryan was in another part of the state in ohio and he was in columbus attending a college football game and the ohio state university buckeyes were taking on ryan's alma mater and the miami university of ohio. last time i checked fredericka, ohio was in the lead and not so

good news there for paul ryan and he'll be coming on later this afternoon for the man at the top of the ticket and just to give you a little bit of news that you gathered earlier in the day and we are told by a romney campaign source that mitt romney during the week of the democratic convention would be in debate prep with rob portman. the ohio senator who will be playing the role of braharack o boo bama. >> isaac is a drop kl depression and is in the midwest. the storm is dumping much-needed rain. farmers there have been dealing with a severe drought for months now. back along the gulf coast the mississippi river has reopened to barge traffic, but some communities are still flooded and the storm's death toll has risen now to four. isaac also has left lingering

power outages. almost half a million homes and businesses across three states still don't have electricity. in louisiana, officials say many will be in the dark for two more days. isaac has had a lot to do with rising gas prices as well. right now the national average is at $3.83 for a gallon of regular unleaded. that's up 8 cents over the last week, but some stations in the south have seen a 20-cent bump in the past week. a lot of it is because of the closure of oil rigs and refineries that were in the path of isaac. all right. you know what else is going up? food prices, up by a whopping 10%. that's according to a new report from the world bank. the drought farmers here in the u.s. are experiencing is partially to blame. national correspondent susan candiotti has a look at the reality right now in the fields. >> reporter: with cornstalks crunching under his feet, richard dietrich goes to

harvest, but thanks to this summer's drought, his field corn in farmington, missouri is fried to a crisp. in blistering, 90-degree heat, not much else to do, but climb into his combine and mow down the stalks. >> you put a lot of money, time and effort into it and then you see no return. it's a hard thing to do. >> hard for every farmer in the midwest whose crops are virtually a total loss. >> this is so brittle. i mean, what is left in here? what is left in here? >> there's essentially nothing. this one has -- it has basically died right before reproduction. >> it's like dust, practically. he'll salvage what little he can and maybe five bush else of green an acre compared to the usual 120. >> i'll turn the cows into this field the next few days and they

can eat some leaves and stuff like that, but they won't get much. it will keep them alive for a few more days. >> here in missouri, rain is 9 to 15 inches below normal. even i isaac delivers 3 to 5 inches of rain as predicted it won't wipe out the drought, but every little drop will help. isaac's rain is coming too late to help some ranchers who already threw in the towel. >> it really hurts when you see a producer come up to the counter who said i just sold my cattle today. he would be crying there at the counter, is there any help out there? there's nothing we can do. >> reporter: no cattle means no grazing on brown pastures and the price of meat has skyrocketed and they're giving their cows hay now way before they usually do in the fall. his son brad won't let hard times get to him. he's fifth generation. farming's in his blood. >> this is just farming and

that's the way it is. you take the good with the bad. >> reporter: so what's your message to isaac? >> come take a visit. i'll grill. i'll have some drinks in the cooler. come on, set up shop. >> reporter: you've been staring at that sun all summer long. the rains are coming. what do you think? >> great. i can't wait just to walk in the rain once. >> reporter: just to feel it. >> just to feel it come down. >> reporter: and start walking in greener pastures. >> all right, susan joining me live from farmington, missouri. that rain, you've got your rain being. >>et on. has it arrive the yet? is it close? what? >> reporter: i'm afraid the farmer and his son only had a very brief walk in the rain since last night. you know, they've been waiting all summer for the rain gauge to fill up. they have received in the last oh, 12 hours or so, just under two inches of rain, fred, so they didn't get very far, but

like they said every little bit helps. they're just trying to green those pastures a little bit. >> all right. so, you know, at this point since so many of those pastures are bone dry. we saw the corn that is so tiny. you can't really pick it. what good will that rain really do right now or is it that they're thinking about the future crops? >> reporter: well, i'll tell you, for a lot of people around here who have just cattle they have -- some of them have had to sell them off because they just cannot get by. feed is too expensive. however, this little bit of rain will green those pastures so they can send the cattle back out again. the soybean crop. these are soybeans. they'll be okay. there's the soybean right there, but the thing is this is about two feet long. they're normally twice this size. they're getting something out of it. you see that soybean crop over my shoulder and at least other farmers are also starting to plant their winter crop a bit

early as much as a month early now with a little bit of rain, that will help soften the soil a little bit. so they are forecasted to get maybe a couple more inches today and tomorrow. more rain, thunderstorms they're expecting and so that again, every little drop, literally, will help them get by. >> thanks so much. susan candiotti, appreciate that. so we know isaac is moving or is giving the midwest and ohio river valley a pretty rainy labor day weekend. let's get an idea of the bigger scope now and meteorologist karen maginnis. how is this being distributed? >> very unevenly. it's been a terrible summer for the farmers and growers in the river valley and it's been a terrible summer on this serveth anniversary of katrina in new orleans where it made its way on shore on the anniversary. right now there is a tornado

watch which encompasses a good portion of central illinois and the doppler radar-indicated tornadoes. if any of these fire up they will be short lived and fairly weak, we think, for the most part, but this goes until 9:00 p.m. local time. there's a slight risk for some thunderstorms extending from send ral and southern illinois all of the way down to missouri where those remnants continue to ring out across the midwest and for those folks who still are suffering with the high water that is very slow to recede, we do have the heat and the heat has been so oppressive across this region where almost half a million people are still without power. temperatures, the actual outside air temperatures are also in the upper 80s and low 90s, but with the heat index, fredericka, in new orleans it feels like it's 102 degrees. >> my goodness. the last thing people need there. thank you very much, karen maginnis. appreciate that. 50 years in the making, apologies from a company that

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try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. sdwloo the crowd is there, but the president of the united states is not quite yet. this is urbandale, iowa. this is a big rally and this will be the president's seventh

stop in iowa leading up to presidential election this november. all of this as he kicks off the warm-up act before the dnc gets under way this week in charlotte. we'll take you back to urbandale, iowa, as soon as the president arrives. all right. a check of some of the news happening right now overseas. in central afghanistan two suicide bombers have targeted an afghan military base. the attacks killed 13 people, among the dead, a child, two women and four policemen. the taliban has claimed responsibility. in south africa, protests are breaking out over the arrest of 270 platinum mine workers charged with the murder of 34 of their colleagues, but those workers were actually shot by police. south africa's justice minister is now demanding answers. >> after 50 years, the german inventor of the drug thalidomide has apologized to its victims. the drug taken by pregnant women

caused babies to be born with deformed limbs. the head of a survivor's group says the apology is too little, too late. the humanitarian crisis in syria is now spilling over the border into turkey as a civil war rages, syrians are attempting to flee the violence. thousands are now holed up in camps across turkey, but now the government there says it cannot handle any more refugees. nic robertson is on the turkish-syrian border. >> reporter: so far turkey has absorbed about 80,000 refugees. more than 200,000 people have fled syria so far. many of them, those that have crossed the border here into turkey are either in camps, well-established camps like this one right at the border that provide a relatively decent amount of shelter, food, water. some of them are also housed in schools inside turkey. the turkish schools are about to start up in another two weeks so

the turkish government has built another three camps relatively close to the border here. those tens of thousands housed in schools, government buildings will be moved into those new camps. however, there are many thousands piling up in the border literally, just half a mile's walk away from where i'm standing here across the border inside syria. that border area now controlled by the free syrian army. we crossed there and we saw about a thousand people camping out in the open and one young man described the conditions here. >> we have two days. >> how is it bad? why? >> not much water and much of the people are sick. >> reporter: the unhcr says there are about 8,000 people waiting at that border area as well as the thousand or so that we saw waiting to try and cross into turkey. the processing has been very slow. a lot of frustration among the syrians who want to come in. the concern is in turkey that if you allow those people to cross

over quickly, then many more will come from the villages and flood into turkey. the turkish government can't cope with those numbers. turkish foreign minister talking about he wants the u.n. security council members to come here, see those camps, get an idea of what they're like. he wants better security provided so that the syrians, rather than crossing to turkey, can be supported in camps right across the border inside syria, that area now controlled by the free syrian army. the u.n. security council thinks about doing that it needs to provide a free fly zone, a no-fly zone and right now there is no international appetite. refugees piling up on the border waiting to cross here into turkey. nic robertson, cnn, at the baba salaam crossing at the turkish-syrian border. >> you have just finished your workout and you're hungry and thirsty and what should you

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>> all right. so you've gotten in a good workout and you're ready to eat or drink something, so what do you think is the best choice after a workout?

i'll give you a hint. it involves chocolate. recently i did a yoga workout with fitness expert and dietetic nutritionist desiree nathanson and we talked about nourishment. >> let's go down to the mat. we're going to start on our hands and knees and when you're doing any of these balance positions on your hands you want your fingers spread so that givious a nice, wide base and helps you balance. we can either do a beginner plank which just walk your hands out and bring your hips forward. >> you want the hands directly under the shoulders. >> okay. and then you want the crown of your head, the shoulders and your hips in line so from here, we'll tuck our toes under and lift our knees off the mat. so with this we're working our upper body, we're working our core, balance. >> i'm shaking. >> if this becomes too difficult you can always your drop your

knees to the mat and then the recovery, the child's pose. >> that's a favorite. >> desiree, we should feel really good about our workout. i do. i'm feeling energized now, but you know what? i often feel like i want to eat something right away or i want to drink something right away and you say reaching for water or vitamin water or gatorade isn't always the only option in which to reach for aer a workout. >> actually, within 30 to 60 minutes of concluding activity the studies have shown that the best post-workout drink is chocolate milk. >> drum roll. >> why chocolate mill snk. >> it would seem like a waste of calories. >> no. the studies have shown that it has the best ratio of carbohydrates to proteins to fats. so it's got everything your body needs and it's got the simple sugars that your body will just up and recover to get the glie

cojen back in there and your body loves it. >> you're encouraging us to eat every three hours when you're working out or whether you're not working out. the kinds of things you need to be reaching for? does this mean that this gives me license to say mid-morning snack. i want that chocolate cake now or the chocolate chip cookies because i've got to fuel my body. >> well, okay. most often you're going to want to stick with the better choices which would be an apple and peanut butter say for a snack or a peanut but thor and jelly sandwich would be good, but if you are at work and forgot your snacks and don't have a, and you're at that three-hour mark, the best thing to do would be to get that doughnut. that does not mean that you can eat doughnuts all of the time. >> i have an excuse to eat those doughnuts, et cetera, because it's better to put something in your body as opposed to skipping a meal and not putting anything. >> correct. >> so what are the snackis that want to reach for in between

meal snacks that i want to reach for in between the breakfast, lunch, dinner. >> you want to go for greek yogurt with some fruit. hummus and vegetables is always a good option. apple and peanut butter i always go back to. apples and cheese. i love apples and cheese. bananas and nuts. a little bit of protein and a little bit of carbohydrate, but you want to keep it in moderation. >> we get to celebrate desserts after a workout. that's the message i get out of that. find out more about exercises and other fitness tips on desiree's website. it is desiree nathanson.net. that is her. she is so fit. amazing. every saturday at this time we bring you new information about overall medical breakthroughs or ways to improve your health or quality of life. $14 billion later were the new and improved levees worth it? we'll get a levee report card.

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president obama to begin speaking there in urbandale, iowa, just outside des moines. he is rallying folks there. it looks leak a pretty sizeable crowd there right now. just some introductions before the president actually arrives and when he does, we'll take it live. all of this in the leadup to the national convention which officially begins on tuesday. >> mitt romney is campaigning in since natty and what he calls a victory rally. he's repeating his convention promises to help the middle class. >> a united america, built the strongest economy in the history of the earth. united we put neil armstrong on the moon. united we faced down unspeakable darkness. united, our men and women in uniform continue to defend freedom today. i love those people who serve our great nation.

>> later today he'll be joined by paul ryan in florida. he's hoping to build the momentum on the tampa convention which tried to boost his appeal to women, young voters and the middle class. >> what's left of isaac is moving through the midwest right now as a tropical depression. the storm is being blamed for four deaths in louisiana and mississippi. almost half a million homes and businesses still don't have electricity. most of them are in louisiana -- which is where president obama will be on monday taking a firsthand look at the damages. republican presidential nominee mitt romney got a close-up view of the situation yesterday in new orleans. all right. the largest barrier of its kind in the world helped protect much of new orleans from flooding in hurricane isaac. our josh levs is here to takes inside it. >> reporter: fred, more than $14 billion has been spent on this new system in new orleans to protect the city in the greater new orleans area and by far, the

biggest piece of it which we saw in action this week is right here. it's called the surge barrier. let's take a look at this right now because i want you to could where this money is going. $1.1 billion into this barrier in lake bourne which is 1.8 miles long and in order to understand how critical it is and how much went into it, let's get to the map right now. we'll show you what that looks like because this is a critical location that was flooded during hurricane katrina. here's what you have. new orleans east right here. you have the lower ninth ward right here in st. bernard parish and you see this yellow line that's appearing right along there, folks, that right there is the surge barrier that everyone's talking about right at lake bourne. there's a piece of this project that's over to the west of it over an area called sea brook bridge that's appearing over there, and by far, the biggest project was right here. this is the largest surge barrier of its kind in the entire world and what i can do is take you inside of it. let's go to that video and you'll be able to see how this

was created and what was done to help protect new orleans and the first thing that you're seeing here is that this trench was dug, basically, a deeper foundation that sand was dug at the bottom and then you have the concrete blocks and it was put in 100 feet down and in order to keep that up you have this ground and you also have these that were placed against it. so concrete piles and these piles reaching down 200 feet. a concrete wall on top of that and then that, folks, is what extends along the entire surge barrier. this is what you're seeing here, 1.8 miles and all of that and all of the work that went into it. now, during the year, traffic needs to get through to the other side. so you left gates here like that that can allow ships to access it and all of the way to the end you also have these two 150-foot lanes that allows ships to get through. i've been talking to the army corps of engineers. this is a massive project, the

whole idea of man fighting nature and it seems to have worked very well and the key here is that it's supposed to help protect new orleans against a 100-year flood. which means any given year, a 1% chance of having a storm that is so big that can even overcome this is the central park of what's been going on with the taxpayer dollars to help protect new orleans. >> thanks so much for bringing us that information, good stuff. let's go to iowa now and there is the president of the united states saying his greetings and hellos to the crowd that turned out in urbandale. this is the president's seventh trip to iowa this year. let's listen in. >> oh, it is good to be back in iowa! i love you back that's why i'm back. this is a great crowd.

it's good to see my outstanding friends tom harkin in the house! learn art bo leonard bosswell, tom miller and can everybody give lucas a big round of applause, not just for the introduction, but for his service to our country! and it is great to see all of you. we've got a spectacular day. college football's in the air. [ cheering ] we will try to get you home in time to see the hawk eye and the cyclone cyclones, and although -- although you guys got to see the

nationals and chris cornell performed before i got here. i just want you to know that i could not appreciate them performing -- i could not appreciate more of them performing for us. so please give them a round of applause, as well. >> now, iowa, this is our first stop on the road to our convention in charlotte, north carolina. but there was a reason for me to begin the journey right here in iowa. where it first began more than four years ago. because it was you, iowa, who kept us going when the pundits were writing us off and it was in your living rooms and backyards and vfw halls and

diners where our movement for change beg, and it will be, and the path we choose to take from here. last week, the other party gave them your pitch at the convention down in florida. don't boo -- vote. [ applause ] >> it was something to behold. despite all of the challenges that we face in this new century, what they offered over those three days were more often than not an agenda that was better suited for the last century. it was a re-run. we've seen it before.

you might as well have watched it on a black and white tv. if you didn't dvr it, let me recap it for you. everything's bad, it's obama's fault and governor romney is the only one who knows the secret to creating jobs and growing the economy. that was the pitch. there was a lot of talk about hard truths and bold choices, but nobody ever really bothered to tell you what they were. and when governor romney had his chance to let you in on his secret, he did not offer a single new idea. just retracted the same, old

policies that have been sticking it to the middle class for years. they talked a lot about me. they talked a lot about him, but they didn't say much about you. >> and they spent even less time talking about what they planned to do. not just because they know you won't like it, but because you've lived through it and you can't afford to repeat it. see, it turns out that we don't think making the middle class pay for another budget-busting $250,000 tax cut for folks making $3 million a year or more will magically translate into jobs and prosperity for everybody else. we don't think families will be better off if we undo financial reforms that are there to

prevent another financial crisis or rules that are there to protect our air and our water, protections to make sure your health care is there for you for when you get sick. [ applause ] we rely don't think the best way to strengthen medicare is to give seniors a voucher that leaves them to pay any additional costs out of their own pockets. iowa, they have tried to sell us these tired, trickledown you're on your own policies before. they did not work. they've never worked. they won't create jobs and they won't cut our deficit. they will not strengthen our middle class. they are not a plan to move our country forward. [ applause ] >> and we believe in something better.

we believe in an america that says our economic strength has never come from the top down. it comes from the bottom up. it comes from the middle out. it comes from students and workers and small business owners and a growing, thriving middle class. that's what we believe. [ cheering and applause ] >> we believe in an america that doesn't matter how much money you've got determine whether you can afford good health care or get a higher education. we believe in an america that leaves not just by the force of our military, but also with the strength of our ideals and the power of our example. we believe in an america where no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love, you can pursue your own happiness and you can make it if you try.

[ [ cheers and applause ] >> four more years! four more years! four more years! four more years! >> that's what the last four years have been about, iowa, and that is what this campaign is about and that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states! [ cheers and applause ] >> now this thursday night i will offer you what i believe is a better path forward, a path that grows this economy, creates more good jobs, strengthens the middle class. and the good news is we get to

choose which path we take. we can take their path or we can take the path that i'm going to present. [ cheers and applause ] we can choose whether we give massive tax cuts to folks who have already made it or whether we keep the tax cuts for everybody american who is still trying to make it. [ cheers and applause ] i have cut taxes by a total of $3600 for the typical family and i am now running to make sure that taxes aren't raised a dime on your family's first $250,000 of income. that's the path forward. you will have to choose it. it will be up to you. you can choose whether we cede new jobs and new industries to countries like china, india and germany or whether we fight for those jobs in states like iowa.

my opponent's experience, he likes to talk about it has been investing in companies that often were called pioneers in the business of outsource jobs and what his advice was to let detroit go bankrupt, i said a million jobs are at stake. an iconic american industry is at stake and i'll bet on american workers and american manufacturing and today the american auto industry has come roaring back. that's the choice. unlike my opponent, i'm going to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas. i want to start rewarding companies that create jobs in urbandale and des moines, right here in iowa, right here in the united states of america, that's what we're fighting for! [ cheers and applause ]

you can decide whether borrow money from your parents is an acceptable answer for a young person hoping to go to college or start a business. or you can say, let's make sure america once again leads the world in educating our kids and training our workers. let's help more young people go to college ready to learn. let's hire more great teachers especially in math and science. let's help more americans go to community colleges to get the skills for the jobs they need right now. governor romney wants to end the college tax credit we created that's saving families $10,000 over four years for tuition. i want to extend it. in america higher education can't be a luxury.

it is an economic necessity, and something everybody should be able to afford. that's what we're fighting for. >> iowa, you can choose an energy plan written for and by the big oil companies. or you can choose an all of the above better strategy for america. at a time when homegrown energy is creating new jobs right here in iowa. where farmers are helping to create more biofuels, when factories are turning out new wind turbine, my opponent wants to end tax credit for wind energy producers. he said new sources of energy like these are imaginary. his running mate calls them a fad.

nearly 7,000 jobs in this state depend on the wind industry. those jobs aren't a fad. they are the future, and i think it's time to stop giving $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies each year to big oil companies that are making money every time you go to the pump. let's get some of that money to homegrown energy sources like wind that have never been more promising. that's the choice in this election. that's what we're fighting for. it's up to you whether we go back to a health care system that let insurance companies decide who to cover and when. or whether we keep moving forward with the new health care law that's already cutting costs and covering more people and saving lives. [ cheers and applause ] now is not the time to refight

the battles of the past four years. now is the time to move forward. this november, you get to decide the future of this war in afghanistan. governor romney had nothing to say about afghanistan last week let alone offer a plan for the 33,000 troops who will have come home from the war by the end of this month. [ cheers and applause ] you know, he said ending the war in iraq was tragic. i said we'd end that war and we did. i said we'd take out bin laden and we did. [ cheers and applause ] >> usa! usa! >> today, all of our troops are out of iraq. we are bringing them home from

afghanistan and as long as i am commander in chief we will serve our veterans as well as they've served us, veterans like lucas who got his education thanks to the first 9/11 g.i. bill because nobody who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or an education or a roof over their heads when they come home! that's what's at stake in this election! [ cheers and applause ] >> on issue after issue, iowa, governor romney and congressman ryan will take us backward, but the story of america is about moving forward and soon, you'll get a chance to choose a path that will actually lead to a better future, but over the next two months, the other side will spend more money than we have

ever seen on ads that basically tell you the same thing they told you at the convention. the economy is not doing good and it's obama's fault. they know their economic plan isn't popular. go figure, raising taxes on middle class families to pay for new tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires doesn't go over that well. so that's not what they're going to talk about. they're counting on the fact that you get so discouraged by these negative ads, that you decide your vote doesn't matter. you'll decide that you can't compete with $10 million checks from wealthy donors. i'm counting on something different. i'm counting on you. and i need your help. first and foremost i need you to

gottaregister.com to make sure you register to vote. this is gottaregister. i'm sorry, english teachers in the room. it is gotta, not got to. g-o-t-t-aregister.com and once you register, you've got to go to gottavote.com. that's g-o-t-t-a vote.com to find out how to cast your ballot early because in iowa you don't have to wait until november 6th to vote. you can be among the very first to vote in this election starting september 27th. that's gottaregister.com and gottavote.com because we've got a lot more work to do. we gotta lot more work to do. we've got more good jobs to create. we've got more homegrown energy to generate.

we've got more young people to sendz to college. we've got more good teachers to hire and we've got more good schools to build. we've got more troops we have to bring home. we've got more veterans we have to take care of. we've got more doors of opportunity to open to every single american who is willing to work hard and work walk through them. we've come too far to turn back now. that's why i'm asking for a second term, iowa, and if you're willing to stand with me and join with me and knock on some doors with me and make some phone calls with me and if you're willing to vote for me in november, we will win polk county again. we will win iowa again. we will win this election. we will finish what we started and we will remind the world just why it is that the united states of america is the greatest nation on earth! god bless you and god bless the united states of america!

>> a very fired up president barack obama there in urbandale, iowa, returning to iowa, he said where it first began more than four years ago. this is his seventh visit to iowa this year alone in his third in as many weeks important state, and his view to clinch the precedence toe return to the white house. he took that time to be critical of the rnc convention taking place in tampa and critical of the idea that the republican nominee in the president's words, spoke more about criticizing the president than he did in presenting any new ideas and so instead, this president took this opportunity while there in urbandale to clarify some of the information that the rnc conveyed about his record. he talked about cutting taxes and he's cut taxes for the typical family. he continues to make a promise of not raising taxes for the first $250,000 of income. he wants to improve education.

he touted many of his successes including getting troops out of the iraq war while criticizing his opponent for not making one mention of the afghanistan war and the president saying that he continues to bring troops home from afghanistan. so the president there wrapping up his visit in iowa, just three days away from the start of the democratic national convention in charlotte which officially begins on tuesday and of course, we'll be having live coverage throughout the week on the convention taking place and continue to keep tabs of the president's whereabouts this weekend as he campaigns as a warm-up to the convention. we'll have much more in the "newsroom" after this. two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. and every day sinc we' worked hardkeept. bp haid twey-the llion dollars

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tropical depression now isaac is dousing the midwest with rain and almost half a million people still without power and our own -- visited a town still under water and stay tuned to find out what he found. >> a prominent priest is apologizing for comments. child victims of sex abuse are to blame for beingolested and that children seduce their a sill ants. in his apology the priest said, quote, his mind and my way of expressing myself are not as clear as they used to be, end quote. a victory for the u.s. justice department taking on states changing their voter i.d. laws ahead of november elections. a texas law requiring voters to show photo i.d.s is struck down by a federal court in