week if you're all available, if you're not still squabbling in the street. thank you for now. i'll be back tomorrow. cnn's live coverage of the democratic national convention. plus republican vice presidential nominee, paul ryan. i've also got a date with eva longoria in prime time tomorrow night which i'm sure she will be very excited about. very excited about. see you tomorrow. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i have seen firsthand that being president doesn't change who you are. no, it reveals who you are. >> michelle obama gets personal. the first laidy on her husband' value and vision and really what was the speech of her life. >> a victory rally in canada. a politician rushed from the podium after deadly gunshots

rang out. good morning ining to you. welcome to early start. i'm zoraida zam blsambolin in n york. >> i'm john berman live from the democratic national convention. this morning everyone is talking about the misses. he may be the commander in chief. but she is the mom in chief. and it's no longer clear which one of them can best sell a speech. because michelle obama was the highlight of the first night of the democratic convention with a passionate, personal appeal for her husband's re-election. to hear the first lady tell it, president obama is just like the rest of us. tonight, the big speech comes from former president bill clinton. so there is a lot to talk about. joining me now is cnn's dana bash. who's been killing it all week with us here on "early start" in the mornings. thanks for being with us again. what were the highlights from last night? >> you're absolutely right. there's no question we all left last evening listening to the first lady who for sure has gotten her mojo when it comes to

speaking and when it comes to really being a politician. >> reporter: who better to convince voters that the barack obama they were so excited about four years ago is still that same guy. >> when it comes to his character and his convictions and his heart, barack obama is still the same man i fell in love with all those years ago. >> reporter: obama officials are keenly aware that polls show michelle obama is the most popular political figure in america. the perfect character witness. >> i have seen firsthand that being president doesn't change who you are. no, it reveals who you are. >> reporter: though most americans are familiar with the president's biography, her job was to underscore their shared middle-class philosophy. >> he believes that when you've worked hard and done well and walked through that doorway of

opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. no, you reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed. >> reporter: she called herself the mom in chief, but showed she is also a savvy politician who didn't have to say mitt romney's name to get her digs in. >> because for barack, success isn't about how much money you make, it's about the difference you make in people's lives. >> reporter: the evening's other headliner? a newcomer to the national stage. the 37-year-old mayor of san antonio, texas, julian castro. >> texas may be the one place where people actually still have boot straps. >> reporter: castro, the first latino keynote speaker at a democratic convention, was introduced by his identical twin brother, a candidate for congress. castro told the american dream story of his self-taught mexican

born grandmother. >> i can still remember her every morning as joaquin and i walked out the front door to school making the sign of the cross behind us, saying. [ speaking in foreign language ] may got bless you. >> reporter: still in true keynote tradition, he threw the eager democratic crowd plenty of red meat. >> when it comes to letting people love who they love and marry who they want to marry, mitt romney says no. when it comes to expanding access to good health care, mitt romney -- >> says no! >> actually, mitt romney said yes and now he says -- >> no! >> reporter: he also reached out to younger voters by calling romney a flip-flopper in a lexicon of today's pop culture. >> governor romney has undergone an extreme makeover. and it ain't pretty.

>> so julian castro showing a very impressive ability to give the crowd the red meat they so love. but he wasn't the only one. there was a lot of energy in that hall last night. >> a lot of energy starting off with cory booker, the mayor of newark. i thought the most biting speech that was given was a little stark was by the now former governor of ohio ted strickland. let's listen to a little part of that, for example. >> mitt romney proudly wrote an op-ed entitled "let detroit go bankrupt." mitt romney never saw the point of building something when he could profit by tearing it down. if mitt was santa claus he would fire the reindeer and outsource the elves.

>> really a lot more talk about mitt romney from the democrats than we sort of had about barack obama from the republicans, at least the first night. >> absolutely. they were trying to achieve a few things. as you heard from michelle obama and even rahm emanuel, sort of character witnesses, this is the guy you fell in love with also to many people in the country. but they also, big part of ted strickland's speech was to talk about the things that they believe the president accomplished that should be applauded. - ta he was talking about the auto bailout. a lot of people talked about health care reform. the other very important issue is something you just mentioned. it is mitt romney. we were just talking about this. the fact is many of the democrats did it without really sounding -- sounding overly harsh. they were very tough but without sounding like they were going too far. >> julian castro, he had that smile that's so priceless for a politician where you can deliver an attack while grinning and really stick in the shim. it will take him far, i believe,

in politics. dana bash, thank you so much. we'll see you again soon. the question is how did mrs. obama's speech play at home, her home? the white house released a photo of the president and his daughters, sasha and malia, watching the first lady's speech from the white house. the president himself is skej yum yuled to arrive in charlotte this afternoon ahead of his big speech tomorrow night. you know who didn't like the convention speeches last night? the romney campaign. rapid response from romney spokesperson andrea saul. she said on the first night not a single speaker uttered the words americans are better off than they were four years ago. instead there was a night full of tributes to government as the solution to every problem. a pretty fair bet the romney people will not like tonight's speeches either. as we said the headliners are bill clinton, former president, and massachusetts senate candidate elizabeth warren. how close is this race? a new cnn/orc poll shows mitt romney getting a wee tiny bit of a bounce from last week's

republican convention. both romney and president obama are now at 48%. that is a gain of one percentage point for mitt romney. the presidential horse race has gone from a virtual tie to an actual tie. 5:30 eastern we're going to talk about convention politics with margaret hoover, cnn contributor who served in the bush administration and democratic strategist and cnn contributor maria cardona. before that back to zoraida in new york. >> i know you stayed up late. you listened to all of those speeches live as well. what did you think? what was your takeaway or your favorite moment last night? >> i think dana brought it up, stated it perfectly. mrs. obama. michelle obama, the first lady, delivered a really politically astute piece. it was well written. but her delivery was phenomenal. her growth as a politician or political figure over the years has been extraordinary. everyone left that building last night really buzzing about how she did. >> yeah. definitely charged up. we'll check back in with you.

thank you, john. eight minutes past the hour. canadian investigators are trying to figure out why a gunman opened fire during a newly elected premier's victory speech. one person was killed. another is now critically injured. quebec's premier elect was rushed off the stage, not hurt, as a suspect was dragged to the police cruiser he shouted in french, tehe english are waking up. what that alludes to is clear. she'll be quebec's first female prime minister. in just about two hours, two astronauts are scheduled to venture outside the international space station for their second spacewalk in six days. they will be attempting to install a spare power switching unit on the space station. a similar attempt last thursday failed when the astronauts were unable to bolt that unit into place. listen to this. today's space walk is expected to last more than six hours. quite an undertaking there. louisiana officials forced to close 12 miles of beaches this morning. that's because tar balls and oil

are washing up onshore from hurricane isaac. bp is insisting it is too early to tell whether that oil came from the deepwater horizon accident. state officials are also getting a handle on the extent of the damage from isaac. ten parishes suffered serious flooding with over 13,000 homes damaged there. electricity has now been restored to all but 38,000 customers. two bitter rivals clash in tonight's nfl season opener. forget the giants and the cowboys. the real story might be the replacement refs on the field. how it could affect the game. that's coming up. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft.

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interfering with president obama's convention address on thursday night. some important members of the game will not be on the field. the nfl is locking out its referees because of a labor dispute. replacement refs are making the calls. but will this put the players at risk? maggie gray joins us to tell us what this means for the upcoming season. thanks for coming. first i just kind of want an overview of the situation, what's happening. >> right now both sides are stalled in their labor negotiations. essentially what these referees want is an increase in compensation. of course, it's all about money. also for their pensions. right now the league wants to put them on a 401(k) pension even though these are part-time employees, not full-time. and the referees want to keep the pensions that they have right now. >> in the meantime while they're negotiating and trying to work that all out we have some other referees that are joining the game now. a lot of people are criticizing them because they're inexperienced. >> yeah. the much maligned replacement referees. can you imagine stepping into the spotlight when you're a

division 2 or 3 referee or arena league football? and now all of a sudden you have stadiums of 80,000 ravage fans hanging on every word that you say and every call that you make? it's a very difficult position for them. the league has tried to give them the kind of education that they need. but it's impossible to make up for the type of experience that the normal referees would have. so there have been some embarrassing gaffes for the replacement officials in the preseason games. and those have gotten a lot of attention. people have to remember the fans and the players complain about referees whether they're replacements or whether they're the full-time ones. so i think in a way the spotlight is very hot on these replacement referees, and it's -- it's unfortunate because you want to have the best of the best on the field. because of this labor dispute, it doesn't seem like that's happening. >> particularly for the players. couldn't this be a problem? >> if you listen to the nfl referees association they believe they're an integral part of keeping the players safe. because they are trained to recognize the symptoms of

concussions. how much a referee can actually keep a 350-pound offensive lineman safe, i'm not really sure. but the other argument that's being made to have the regular referees back is, you know, the pace of the game can be very important strategy to a lot of teams. if the replacement officials are taking too long to decide on calls and to huddle and taking longer than regular referees are, that can be a problem. also if they're afraid to throw flags. sometimes these players and coaches can get very intimidating. and if you're not used to that kind of treatment and scorn on the sidelines, then maybe you swallow your whistle at a time when you maybe wouldn't. >> i can't let you go without giving a little preview of the 2012 season. >> there's major storylines. of course, in new york tim tebow. all over the world tim tebow is the most famous backup quarterback of all time. that experiment starts sunday against the bills. we'll see the wildcat formation and how tebow does. the new orleans saints, how they're going to respond from the bounty gate scandal that

plagued them this off season. they'll be without their head coach sean payton all yearlong. a few other suspensions. finally peyton manning in a new jersey. he's a bronco now. first of all, is he healthy? is the arm strength still there for the four-time mvp. >> it's really beginning. >> the best day for the year of us. >> maggie gray in for sports illustrated video. back to you in north carolina. >> go, patriots. >> he wishes he was here talking to you, maggie. >> tom brady is so dreamy. how can that not be the big story of the season? we'll move on about the top stories of today. how about some politics? tom brady is dreamy and you're top stories coming up right now at 17 minutes after the hour. first lady michelle obama, she brought the house down with her opening speech at the democratic national convention. her message? the president shares the values of average americans, and she says he understands their

struggles. >> barack knows the american dream because he's lived it. and he wants everyone in this country, everyone, to have the same opportunity no matter who we are or where we're from or what we look like or who we love. >> newark, new jersey, mayor cory booker brought some fire to the convention floor. he was one of the early speakers talking about the differences between the gop and the democratic party platforms. he said asking the rich to pay more taxes is their patriotic duty. >> when your country is in a costly war with our soldiers sacrificing abroad and our nation is facing a debt crisis at home, being asked to pay your fair share isn't class warfare. it's patriotism.

>> tonight's convention headliner, zoraida, former president bill clinton. 18 minutes past the hour. the pentagon really not pleased with the retired navy s.e.a.l.'s book with the firsthand account of the killing of osama bin laden. the head of the naval special warfare command saying the book "no easy day" includes classified material and could give enemies dangerous insight into the way the s.e.a.l.s are trained and the way they operate. the book was released yesterday a week early and it stormed to the top of amazon. even outselling the "50 shades" series. it is time to get an early read on your local news that's making national headlines. first up, we're going to begin with some democratic national convention word play couurtesy the "new york times." they have an interactive cloud. the biggest so far, there's obama, work, women, romney a

jobs. that makes sense. obviously the names of the people and the messages they're really trying to push here. >> no surprises there. a california attorney says he is considering filing a discrimination lawsuit against american airlines for preventing his family from taking a cross-country flight. the fresno bee reports robert vanderhorst, his wife and 16-year-old son with down's syndrome were told they couldn't get on their newark flight on sunday. why? because their son, quote, was not ready to fly. the airline claims the teenager was agitated and was running around the gate area right before boarding. the attorney says none of that is true. he believes after upgrading his family to first class for $675, the airline was afraid his son might disturb the other first-class passengers. american rebooked the family on a united airlines flight in the last row of coach. the family actually released some video as well showing that boy sitting right next to his mom and playing with a hat.

i'm sure we'll have much more on that story. >> thanks, zoraida. for an expanded look at all our top stories you can head to your blog, cnn.com/earlystart. one week from today apple will reveal its latest gadget. and we think we know what it is. more on that coming up. [ female announcer ] quaker yogurt granola bars. they're whole grain good... and yummy good. real fruit pieces. 12 grams of whole grains and a creamy yogurt flavored coating.

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we are minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are downright now. trading is expected to be choppy worldwide ahead of two big events. the european central bank's stimulus plans and friday's big jobs report. got some explaining to do. ceo mark zuckerberg is expected to give his first interview since the embarrassing facebook ipo at the tech crunch conference. that's in san francisco on september 11th. even though many early investors dumped facebook stock, zuckerberg says he is hanging on to his share for at least the next year. zuckerberg owns about 444 million shares plus an option for another 60 million. facebook stock fell to a new low of $17.55 a share during trading day yesterday. walmart is cutting its layaway fee from $15 to $5. the company brought back the really popular payment plan last year after a five-year hiatus. walmart announced the change after toys r us said it is offering free layaway until

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when it comes to getting the middle class back to work, mitt romney says no. when it comes to respecting women's rights, mitt romney says no. >> chance of a lifetime. a relative unknown delivers the democrats' keynote convention speech. dramatic video. take a look. a high-speed cruise takes a very dangerous turn when the boat slams into a wave. welcome back to "early start." it's 30 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin in new york. >> i'm john berman live at the cnn grill in charlotte for the democratic national convention. this is where first lady michelle obama closed the first day of the convention overnight, which included also speeches

from newark mayor cory booker, chicago mayor rahm emanuel and a keynote address from rising democratic star and san antonio mayor julian castro. we have a revolving door of panelists with us this morning to break this all down. with me now senior cnn congressional correspondent dana bash, cnn contributor and republican strategist margaret hoover and cnn contributor and democratic strategist maria cardona. three outstanding individuals. three accomplished human beings. also three women. i want to talk about women. because michelle obama talked a lot about women. ann romney talked a lot about women. it's almost like you're an interest group, but you're more than half of it. let's listen to the comparison of what mrs. obama and mrs. romney said in their speeches. take a listen. >> he's thinking about the pride that comes from a hard day's work. that's why he signed the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. to help women get equal pay for equal work. and he believes that women are more than capable of making our

own choices about our bodies and our health care. that's what my husband stands for. >> we're the mothers. we're the wives. we're the grandmothers. we're the big sisters. we're the little sisters. and we are the daughters. you know it's true, don't you? i love you, women! >> there is nothing subtle about this, speaking directly to women. both mrs. obama and mrs. romney. what's going on here? >> what's going on is women make up the majority of the electorate. when you look at the areas of the swing states that really could turn this election they are, and they are historically, suburben areas and suburban women are the swing voters. >> margaret, last week you weren't so sure mrs. romney was

the home run. you said maybe she hit a note that may not resonate perfectly with women. what did you think about last night? >> look, i think they are both wonderful ambassadors of their husbands. i think michelle obama might have even done a better job than ann romney as personalizing and serving as a character witness to her husband's successes. interestingly i think she didn't get into any of the policy. we actually know who her husband is. he's been the president for four years. she told us again anyway. without getting into any of what she saw over the last four years as a character witness of the difficult decisions her husband made. she didn't mention osama bin laden. she didn't mention cars. she didn't mention stimulus. she in an overarching way talked about the difficult decisions he's made. look, we're fighting over women. what dana says is true. it's independent women in eight different states and about 300 different counties. those are the women that are going to make up the election. >> i'll add one thing. in addition to being a woman i'm a latina woman. last night i think not just michelle obama, but julian castro really spoke to the

interest of latina women and frankly all immigrant women who speak to the experience of what it is to fight for and achieve the american dream. what i think is interesting about michelle obama's speech is that it was incredibly personal in a way that i hadn't really heard her be in terms of relating to her husband and the difficult decisions that he's made. but i do think that she was political because she mentioned lilly ledbetter, for example. she mentioned the choice issue. she mentioned, and julian castro did this brilliantly as well, they really explained all of these government programs that republicans don't like. but they did it in a way that was very personal and tangible. and they did it in a way that explained how that bridges for people to opportunity and to success. especially those people who aren't born with it. >> the republican criticism, though, of the night, that it was really a big government night. this was promoting government. >> absolutely. >> it was. >> when you talk about -- >> no debate here. >> investing in ourselves, that's code for spending.

how is the government investing in people and infrastructure. one of the things i was struck by, this necessity of the democrats to take back the american dream narrative from the republican national convention. marco rubio talked about it. republicans talked about it very compellingly. so did julian castro. >> maria, you tweeted last night. i follow you on the twitters. you said you're so proud to be a latino democrat right now. that was during castro's speech. i want to play a small clip of it right now. >> and because he knows that we don't have an ounce of talent to waste, the president took action to lift the shadow of deportation from a generation of young, law-abiding immigrants called dreamers! republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better, that somehow the rest of us will, too. folks, we've heard that before.

first they called it trickle down. then they called it supply side. now it's romney/ryan. or is it ryan/romney? either way, their theory's been tested. it failed. our economy failed. the middle class paid the price. your family paid the price. mitt romney just doesn't get it! >> i want to go back to the first part of that where he talked about lifting the shadow of deportation. because in truth the shadow you could argue has gotten a little bit darker under president obama he deported 1.4 million illegal immigrants in his first 3 1/2 years in office. george bush deported 2 million over eight years. >> what julian castro was talking about were the dreamers, the students, the deferred action, executive order the president put in place about two months ago which, yes, it actually has lifted that shadow of deportation for all of these kids who came here through no fault of their own and who just want to study, want to work hard, want to serve in the military. want to achieve the american dream for a country that is their own. they know no other country. many instances they only know

english. they know no other language. so, yes, that absolutely has happened. that is a huge deal in the latino community. it actually shows that this president, though he wasn't able to get immigration reform done, he is committed to trying to do what he can to do right by these immigrants. >> unfortunately that's got to be our last word. i wish we could keep on talking. fascinating. maria cardona, margaret hoover, dana bash. it was a rousing speech from former ohio governor ted strickland last night. it not only fired up the democratic convention, it also became one of the highest trending topics on twitter. strickland relentless less llesd mitt romney for practicing what he calls vulture capitalism, accusing the gop nominee of profiting off the destruction of jobs and companies. >> mitt romney never saw the point of building something when he could profit by tearing it down.

if mitt was santa claus, he would fire the reindeer and outsource the elves! >> ted strickland, he didn't stop there. the former ohio governor claimed mitt romney has so little economic patriotism even his money needs a passport. strickland on fire last night. meantime, the romney campaign, mitt romney himself, continues to prepare for the upcoming debates which leaves his running mate paul ryan to spread their message that americans are not better off than they were before president obama took office. campaigning in iowa, ryan continued to use jimmy carter to mock the president's record on the economy. >> this is not working. obamanomics is not working. more bankruptcies. more delinquent mortgages. higher unemployment. when it comes to jobs, president obama makes the jimmy carter years look like the good ole days. if we fired jimmy carter then,

why would we rehire barack obama now? >> paul ryan campaigns in iowa again today before he heads to utah for a fundraiser. mitt romney is expected to make a brief campaign stop this afternoon in new hampshire. at the top of the hour coming up, ryan lizza, cnn contributor and washington correspondent for the new yorker will join us on a look at what's still ahead for the democrats. he's written a really fantastic inside look at the obama/clinton relationship. he has some secrets about what is behind tonight's speech. you'll want to stay with us for that. in the meantime, back to zoraida in new york. >> 39 minutes past the hour. the national debt tops $16 trillion. and the gop, you know, they pounce. a mitt romney spokesman saying, quote, the next generation has been saddled with enormous debt because of president obama's policies. president obama has said republicans blocked a debt deal because they don't want to level higher taxes on the wealthy. he has also said the debt began exploding under former president

george w. bush. the fbi denying claims by a hacker's group that they accessed personal information on millions of apple users from a government computer, including president obama's ipad. the group antisec posted online what it claims are the ids of more than a million iphones and ipads. the group says in all 12 million ids were obtained from an fbi agent's laptop. look at this video from a video of lake of the ozarks in missouri. a family hits a large wave as their boat passes another boat. they all violently topple. the driver and six passengers were injured in last friday's accident. five were sent to the hospital with what's described as minor to moderate injuries. scary moments there. 40 minutes past the hour. let's get a check on today's weather. rob marciano live in atlanta for us. good morning to you, rob. >> good morning, zoraida. want to start off with tropical

storm leslie way out there in the atlantic about 500 miles south of bermuda. large storm with tropical storm force winds 200 miles in this thing. already waves propagating to the east coast. rip currents as well. we think it will become a hurricane and make a run at bermuda and potentially the maritimes of canada over the next really week. it won't get to bermuda till over the weekend saturday night into sunday. speaking of tropical, boy, that tropical moisture across the eastern third of the country, you're just wearing it the past couple of days. some of the rainfall tallies across the east coast yesterday, philadelphia, 3 inches. islip, new york, 1.5 inches. it came down in a hurry. similar stuff today. spotty showers p when it happens it will happen with a lot of rainfall. severe weather potentially across parts of the western great lakes. temperatures that will be well above average from chicago all the way down to dallas. temperatures could touch 100 degrees in some spots. how about that? zoraida, back out to you. >> like sum r all over again. thank you very much, rob. ahead on "early start," it

is the place where president kennedy celebrated his last birthday. it's also where president nixon made the decision to resign. i'll take you onboard the presidential yacht "uss sequoia" when "early start" continues. us. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. drive around town all the time doing errands and never ever have to fill up gas in the city. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. the last time i went to the gas station must have been about three months ago. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. ♪ [ dog ]i forget how to put gas we found it together.upbeat ] on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing...

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have led to an increase intands whatclinical depression. drug and alcohol abuse is up. and those dealing with grief don't have access to the professional help they need. when you see these issues, do you want to walk away or step up?

with a degree in the field of counseling or psychology from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others. let's get started at capella.edu welcome back to "early start." it is a national landmark, home to dozens of moments that changed history and actually the world forever. i'm talking about the "uss sequoia." and 87-year-old 104-foot-yacht that's served at least nine presidents and hosted dozens of world leaders as well. i got a chance to take a tour. take a look. >> reporter: before air force one or marine one, there was the "uss sequoia." known as the presidential yacht this vessel has quietly held some of the most poignant moments in u.s. presidential history. from decisions on the atomic bomb to a resignation to a

president's last birthday celebration. welcome aboard the "uss sequoia." gary silversmith is the owner of this restored 1925 trumpy te signed yacht. silversmith is a lover of history and luckily for me, a fantastic tour guide. >> this table is where president kennedy celebrated his last birthday. it's where president truman played poker. where truman reportedly decided to drop the atomic bomb. where lyndon johnson lobbied for civil rights legislation. and where eisenhower and field marshall montgomery worked on the marshall plan for rebuilding europe. >> reporter: is this pretty much the way that it looked? >> yes, it was. >> reporter: did you see that? you got to see. >> it says queen elizabeth. >> reporter: first class only. then it says queen elizabeth. i'll consider myself a queen. not queen elizabeth, huh? oh. >> so this is where -- this is where everybody relaxes. >> reporter: president johnson often enjoyed the upper deck. >> lyndon johnson liked to use

the boat a lot both for business and pleasure. so we have letters from senators to lyndon johnson from the lbj library that say thank you for the ride on the issequoia. now we'll vote for the voting rights act. the joke was he would take you out on the is a csequoia, not tu back until you agreed to vote. >> reporter: it was here that president kennedy celebrated his 46th birthday. despite the revelry, he was reportedly suffering such intense back pain his brother ted blew out the candles on his cake. he would not live to see another birthday. >> his last birthday party, may 29th, 1963, he had crab meat with holen dais sauce with asparagus. they did have -- >> reporter: 1955. >> 1955. >> reporter: it was an august night in 1974 when nixon arguably made one of the biggest decisions of his presidency

sitting at the piano drinking scotch. >> nixon sat alone at the piano drinking out of a bottle of scotch. and in the dark. and played for a half hour over and over again on the piano "god bless america." as he finished, he got up from the piano, staggered to this door, opened the sliding door and he said to his family, i'm resigning tomorrow. so this was reportedly where he decided to resign the presidency. >> reporter: and now the vessel's guest quarters. if these walls could talk. >> all right. so kennedy slept in this bed. >> kennedy slept in it. and -- >> reporter: may i? >> absolutely. it was a firm mattress put in for kennedy. >> reporter: oh, it is. it's hard. >> it is hard. i know. >> reporter: how does it feel to own a piece of history? >> when i'm having drinks on the fish deck with the president of the czech republic, it's -- it's because of a vessel. it's not because he wants to meet a washington lawyer. >> so it was president carter who made the decision to sell

the sequoia during his administration. he felt having a presidential yacht was just a bit ostentatious. john berman, we're going to head back to you in charlotte. i know you were really looking forward to this piece and that piece of history. when i was talking about the sequoia you knew exactly what the "u srks srkss sequoia" was. >> such an important piece of history. so fascinating. i can't believe you really got to go on it. so interesting jimmy carter sold it, as you said, in 1977. can you imagine in this day and age, all the debt and deficits we've racked up, if the president had a yacht? how badly that would seem today? it's amazing it ever was acceptable to me in some ways. >> gary silversmith, what he said was that, you know, this is a piece of american history. it really belongs to the government. although he feels privileged to own it, he just feels that he is not the rightful owner. that we should be the rightful owners. at the end of the day he would love to see it in a museum. i argue how great that we can actually get on it, right,

really enjoy it and walk through history. >> i think it's amazing. some of the stories there that i had never heard before were just really, really interesting. thank you so much, zoraida. so glad you got t see it. next on "early start," maybe not so much history. actor cal penn's attempt to be both hilarious and insightful at the convention. why the term sexy face is trending this morning. your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am i i had pain in my abdomen...g. it just wouldn't go away. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause.

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wem come back to "early start," everyone. time for a look at what's trending on the internet this morning. what is trending is kumar saying yes, we can, again. actor and former obama appointee, yes, he worked in the white house, kal penn firing up the crowd at the democratic convention and using some lingo that the kids will probably love. >> so before i close, and as i

wonder which twitter hashtags you'll start using when i'm done talking, hashtag sexy face, i ask all of you young people to join me. you don't even have to put pants on. go to commit.barackobama.com and register right there. you know what? the oldies out there, you guys can do it, too. >> the oldies out there. that's going to go over well. >> i don't know how it played at home. actually, i have to tell you, the crowd did not seem that into it. there weren't the huge laughs you might expect from kal penn. >> that's because they always expect him to be super over the top. the new green lantern is an arab-american muslim. dc comic's debuting simon baz, lebanese-american hero from dearborn, michigan. nearly half of dearborn's population is arab-american. he shares the same background as the writer.

the relaunched green lantern series. he's not the first muslim comic hero. marvel has dust, a young afghan woman, part of the x-men series. >> i did not know dust was a muslim. interesting from green lantern. i to like the super heroes, i have to admit. you did not hear from ron paul last week at the republican national convention. he did not speak there. but mitt romney's former campaign rival did get to speak last night as a guest of jay leno on "the tonight show." >> that had to be rough for ron paul. you run for president. you win a bunch of delegates. not only is he not allowed to speak, he couldn't even sit down because they gave his chair to clint eastwood. you had delegates. obviously you have popularity. why didn't you get a speaking role? >> you know, on sunday before the convention started, we had our own rally. we had about 11,000 people show up. of course -- of course, the convention was supposed to start on monday. it was postponed because the hurricane didn't come.

but, anyway, when we went over there, we had high expectations. thought maybe we could work things out. they said the tent was too small. we had too many people. >> let me ask you a question. had you endorsed romney, would you have gotten a speaking role? >> i imagine i would have, yes. i think so. sure. >> really? do they make that -- is that a prerequisite? >> it's not in writing. >> what did you make of clint eastwood's talk? it was really a talk. it wasn't a speech. >> i probably wouldn't have given that one either. >> the big question, any chance you will run as a third party? >> no. not much. i have to take a rest and prepare for 2016. >> did he say just kidding at the end there? >> he said 2016. he is not a young man. a lot of people think his son, senator rand paul from kentucky, is more likely to run in 2016, zoraida. 56 minutes past the hour here.

this morning's top stories are coming up, including a high stake space walk outside the international space station. astronauts about to try where they've already failed before. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

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i have seen firsthand that being president doesn't change who you are. no, it reveals who you are. >> michelle obama gets personal. the first lady on her husband's values and vision and what was really the speech of her life. chaos at the victory rally

in canada, a politician rushed from the podium after a shooting in the back of the room. good morning, welcome to "early star start". i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman live any cnn grill. tonight one of the highlights, former president bill clinton will speak, this is the first time a president's predecessor will deliver the nominating address. this morning all of the talk and buzz is about the first lady. her speech really set the tone here. dana bash and ryan lizza and ryan, i want to get to dana. give me the highlights. >> michelle obama. there's no question about it. she was validator and character witness and reaching out to women to do that she talked about being a mother.

>> you see, at the end of the day, my most important title is still mom in chief. my daughters are still the heart of my heart and the center of my world. but let me tell you, today i have none of those worries from four years ago, no, not about whether barack and i were doing what was best for our girls. >> now, the other person to talk about important women in his life was the key note speaker, julian castro from san antonio. he gave a biting speech but did so with a smile. listen to what he said about mitt romney. >> republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better, somehow the rest of us will too.

folks, we've heard that before. first they called it trickle down. then they called it supply side. now it's ryan -- romney/ryan or is it ryan/romney. the theory has been tested. it failed and our economy failed and the middle class paid the price, your family paid the price, mitt romney just doesn't get it. >> so the crowd in the house last night, they loved it. someone who didn't love it so much, ryan lizza, just wrote a blog piece and you said it was mediocre. >> my criteria is the person tell us something about -- give us a newy idea about where the country is now and where the candidate is going to take the country. by that standard he delivered some really effective anti-romney lines, some perfectly acceptable pro-obama lines and he told a really heart

warming compelling personal story about his own family's immigrant experience. i think he had an impossible task because me and everyone else are going to compare him to obama in 2004 when he had the same spot. it was not obama 2004 speech. >> you're not a hater, it's okay. but you cannot underestimate the importance of the constituency he was really trying to reach, latino voters, their overwhe overwhelmingly for president obama. the question is, will they get out and vote. >> a piece in "the new yorker" magazine, the paper edition about bill clinton and president obama and that relationship and how it came to pass that bill clinton will be speaking tonight. >> it's a long, complicated relationship, lots of bad feelings for a long time after that famous wrenching primary

between hillary clinton and obama. all through 2009 these guys basically didn't communicate. and there's a sense in the clinton world that clinton was kind of sitting by the phone waiting for the president to call him and reach out to him and use him for something. he went to north korea for obama, a few other things like that. the relationship really didn't get better until 2011 when barack obama and his political advisers are thinking about the 2012 campaign and looking at the poll numbers and saying, you know what, the most popular national democrat these days is not barack obama, it's bill clinton. so the balance of power in the relationship really shifts and they reach out to clinton. one of obama's political advisers calls and ask if clinton can do campaign events in florida. clinton's political adviser says you don't call bill clinton up and say you need him to campaign. you need rapport. let's start by letting them play golf. 12 hours later barack obama

calls clinton and says let's hit the links. >> as of yesterday we've been told the obama people had not seen bill clinton's speech yet. if you're on the obama side, how nervous should you be about that. what are you expecting? >> i was told in 2008 when bill clinton gave a speech for barack obama they did not see it until late in the process and i was told by the clinton people this time that this will be a bill clinton speech and he will be writing it and they will let them see it at the appropriate time but this is a bill clinton production. >> i'm told to people close to both camps, that's right, it's a clinton production and he has been vintage clinton and getting ideas all over the world and sentences and will put it together and i'm told by a pretty good source they are not worried because they are talking to him at the highest levels of the obama camp. >> thanks for being here. both pieces, both the blog piece

and piece in the paper. first lady michelle obama wowed the crowd here in charlotte, but a key audience was watching at home, that home being the white house. the white house released this photo of president obama and daughters watching from the treaty room at the white house. the president is scheduled to arrive in charlotte this afternoon ahead of his big speech tomorrow night. not such a friendly audience, the romney campaign. some rapid response from andrea saul. on first night not a single speaker ulterred the words americans are better off than four years ago. instead there was a night full of tributes to government as the solution to every problem. how close is this race? wicked close. a new poll shows mitt romney getting a tiny sliver of a bounce from last week's convention. both romney and president obama are at 48%, that's a gain of one point for mitt romney. it has gone from eye virtual tie

to an actual one. at the half hour, we'll talk politics with congresswoman allison schwartz and terri sewell. >> seven minutes past the hour. gunshots stop a canadian politician's victory speech cold. one person is killed and another critically injured. the premiere elect was rushed off stage and not hurt. paw la newton jones joins us from phone. can you break down exactly what happened here. >> well, speaking to police overnight, they believe this man who was wearing -- with a house coat, shot at least once. he was armed and apparently had more than one weapon on him. this was at the back of a concert hall where the premiere elect of the province was giving her speech. there was a lot of confusion.

one person critically injured and one dead. after that he also attempted to set something off. they don't know if it was fire with accelerant and made some sort of noise. at that point back on stage, keeping in mind this was at the back of the concert hall outside. her security team took her off the stage and afterwards when she came back she decided it would be prudent to evacuate the building, which is no small fete. in the video, you do see a man and police say he did certainly did resist arrest at the time. he's 50 years old. we don't know any more at this time. one dead and one critically injured in that speech in montreal. >> apparently he blurted out something, it reads the english are waking up. can you explain what that means? >> they are a separatist party,

a highly charged political situation. the premiere elect is not shying away from having a referendum of separation. on making those comments is driving a wedge between the english and french communities in quebec. it's a highly charged political situation and no one wants to see this event spark any kind of conflict in the province itself. it doesn't seem like this at in any point in time. i received a statement from the public safety administrator offering condolences and expect a full investigation. it's a shocking event in canada, not in decades have people here had this kind of incident at a political event and people will be watching closely to see exactly what the man's motives were and how close it came. police were very clear in saying there was danger to the people in the concert hall and he was armed perhaps with more than one

weapon and also this accelerant. tense times and people not knowing exactly what it means at this point. we will hear more in the coming hours. >> we appreciate your time, paula newton, reporting live. thank you. are you ready for some football? with replacement refs, the nfl set to kick off the season without regular officials and the fans are ready to pounce. how could it affect the game? we'll break that down coming up. cnn's coverage of the democratic national convention is sponsored by -ev-eryo al goals. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. every step of the way. from big steps, to little steps. since 1863 we've helped guide our clients, so they can take the steps to help grow, preserve, and pass along their wealth. so their footsteps can help the next generation find their own path.

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platform and said asking the rich to pay more taxes is their patriotic duty. >> when your country is in a costly war with our soldiers sacrificing abroad and our nation is facing a debt crisis at home, being asked to pay your fair share isn't class warfare, it's patriotism. >> tonight's convention headliner former president bill clinton. we got a glimpse into the future of the democratic party. san antonio mayor julian castro electrified the crowd when he called mitt romney -- said mitt romney doesn't understand the average american. castro and twin brother sat down with cnn's piers morgan after the big speech. >> a lot of buzz about your speech, electrified everybody, prompting some people to say we

haven't heard a speech like that since barack obama in 2004. this guy could be president. now either of you -- >> i'll leave that to him. if he becomes president, i need secret service protection. >> first of all, barack obama thought he had a problem with a name like barack obama becoming president, the first president castro of the united states of america is quite a moment. >> yeah, it's never going to happen. but i do grant you florida would be pretty hard. >> you can get to know the castro brothers a little brother. they'll be joining soledad o'brien live on "starting point" at 8:10 eastern time. let's go back to zoraida in new york. >> we are talking football. the nfl kicks off tonight. the first nfl game played on a wednesday since 1948 and that is to avoid interfering with president obama's convention address on thursday night. some important members of the game will not be on the field.

the nfl is locking out its referees because of a labor dispute. replacement refes are making the calls but will this put the players at risk. maggie gray joins us to tell us what this means for the upcoming season. i want to start off with an overview of where we are. >> right now both sides are away from the negotiating table. the last time they met was on friday and there was no resolution on the table that both sides could agree upon. the replacement refs will be taking the field tonight and for the season as we can tell. what the two sides are debating over is compensation and also pensions, those have been the two sticking points and they just cannot agree. a lot of people are concerned because these are inexperienced referees. >> but at much lower levels. talking division ii and iii, arena league football player referees, don't have to deal with the speed of the game that

the nfl brings to the field. a lot of times they can miss calls and in the preseason it's been very tough for the officials to get used to the speed of the game and get used to how the players and coaches act towards the officials and wrap their brain around this game. it's come out in embarrassing gaffes. there has been an improvement over the preseason it's not like the best of the best. >> the problem is not just for the fans. but for the players as well. >> the players -- but you have to keep in mind, fans and player as coaches will complain about referees whether it's the first day on the job or 25 years of experience. you have to take that with a grain of salt. because there have been embarrassing gaffes -- >> like the coin toss. >> they said the wrong team that wasn't playing in the game was going to be awarded. a couple of big things that have been sticking points that the media and fans can point to,

look, we have a problem here. overall, it's just a learning -- these replacement referees are on a steep learning curve and trying to catch up in a short amount of time. >> what about safety concerns? >> the referees are integ ral to the health and safety and of players s on the field to lookr concussions. that's the argument that they are making and with the nfl facing a lawsuit from 3,000 former players about the concussion history that the nfl has had, it could be a sticking point and that's what the nfl referees association is trying to let the public know. the referees out there are keeping the players safer. >> we've run out of time. what do you think it's going to bring them back to the table? >> we've seen the embarrassing gaffes in the preseason and you wonder is it going to take a big

hit or penalty or embarrassing situation? will it take a replacement referee deciding a game that is in favor of one team and should have been in favor of the other. what is going to bring them back to the table? we're not sure. >> maggie gray, thank you for being with us. 19 minutes past the hour. one week from today, apple reveals its latest gadget. are you excited? some say this invitation right here reveals what it is. did you get one? the story coming up mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs

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. welcome back, we are minding your business, u.s. stock futures are down. trading is expected to be choppy worldwide ahead of two big

events, the european bank stimulus plans and jobs report. mark zuckerberg is expected to give his first interview since the embarrassing facebook ipo. this is at the tech crunch conference scheduled september 11th. many early investors dumped facebook stock, zuckerberg says he's hanging on to his shares for the next year. he earns 440 million shares and option for another 60 million. facebook stock fell to a new low, $17.55 a share during the trading day yesterday. walmart is cutting its layaway fee from $15 to $5. the company brought back the popular payment plan after a five-year hiatus, they announced the change after toys "r" us said it's offering free lay away until october 31st then $5 after that. apple is handing out invits

to a special event on september 12th, it is expected to be the unveiling the new iphone. it includes the number 5 in the shadow of the 12 date. it has pushed apple stock price and shares are up more than 60%, just this year alone. and if a claim by a bold group of hackers proves to be true, personal i.d.s of millions of apple users may have been stolen, including president obama. how a government computer may have been breached. that's coming up.

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first lady and ann romney, the fight for women voters. >> take a look at this video, passengers slammed to the deck

when a small boat hits another boat's wake. good gracious. i'm zoraida sambolin in new york. >> i'm john berman at the cnn grill here live for the democratic convention. last night the democratic party made a major push to lock in the female vote with speeches from the first lady and a handful of prominent women in congress. it's an effort that will likely continue throughout the convention as democrats try to paint the republican party as being out of touch with the concerns of women in america. i'm joined by two democratic congresswoman, one from pennsylvania, allison schwartz who spoke last night and representative from alabama, terri sewell. a long time friend of the president and first lady. you thought the speech was pretty good. >> hit it out of the ballpark. >> she was great, not just for the people in the arena but for americans, speaking to their

hearts and minds. >> one thing that struck any was something she said that made me think about what ann romney said last week. talking about when she first met the president how they were dating and how tough they had it let's listen. >> he was still the guy who picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out -- i could actually see the pavement going by in a hole in the passenger side door. he was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he found in a dumpster and his only pair of decent shoes was a half size too small. >> we got married and moved into a basement apartment. we walked to class together, shared the house keeping, ate a

lot of pasta and tuna fish. our desk was a door propped up on saw horses. our dining room table was a fold down ironing board in the kitchen. those were the best days. >> so mrs. romney talking about eating tuna fish sandwiches and talking about riding to school in a rusted car. why do you think we heard so much about how hard both candidates had it long ago. >> i thought she hit it out of the ballpark and known both of them, one from law school and one from college. hers is a uniquely american story. i just thought that her warmth and intelligence it beamed out. i think she just really touched the hearts of americans as she's done throughout her career as first lady. >> representative schwartz, who had had harder, michelle obama and ann romney? >> that shouldn't be the debate we're having. both are in good places right

now obviously. the fact is we are talking to american voters and talking to them about whether they want to say do we understand your struggles and understand the reality of your lives. and i think michelle obama was so -- it was so genuine. >> and connected. >> and it is really about living out the american dream that they've worked hard and done well and admitted that and talked about that. i think it was how genuine it is came across. >> it is true why we're hearing from both sides. i have sound about her talking about college which is pertinent because you went to college together. you got emotional when you heard this last night. >> i did. >> when my brother and i finally made it to college nearly all of our tuition came from student loans and grants. but my dad still had to pay a tiny portion of that tuition himself. and every semester he was determined to pay that bill right on time, even taking out loans when he fell short.

>> you were with her back then when that was happening at princeton when she was in college. how has she changed since then? >> she's exactly the same person. >> exactly? >> she was my big sister, great mentor then and now. tears came to my eyes when i heard her talking about sdent loans. i know my dad was doing the same thing in alabama. i think the connection she made with the american people is phenomenal and goes to show you we're so lucky and blessed to have her as first lady and barack obama as our president. >> what do you think will be the decisive factor for women voting this year? >> there are a lot of reasons women in america should vote for president obama. almost on every issue, the president obama, the democrats have stood up for women's rights and equal pay and ability for women to succeed. and in the fact that they really understand and have -- we have

policies that we'll work to help make sure that happens. higher education matters to get the college loans matter and put the pieces together which is what all families do. we take care of our elderly parents and kids. we try to take care of ourselves when we have a chance. that's really what came across. the fact is that it's who we are generally and it's also we back it up with policy and positions and direction. >> i think really, you saw on display the diversity of america. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning. see you again on the floor tonight. >> absolutely. >> a rousing speech by former ohio governor ted strickland not only fired up the convention but became one of the highest trending topics on twitter. strickland relentlessly skewered mitt romney for vulture capitalism and accused him of profiting off the destruction of jobs and companies.

>> mitt romney never saw the point of building something when he could profit by tearing it down. if mitt was santa claus, he would fire the reindeer and outsource the elves. >> there was plenty else to say from ted strickland last night in his speech. the former ohio governor claimed mitt romney has so little economic patriotism that even his money needs a passport. margaret hoover and richard socarides will join us to talk more politics but let's head back to zoraida. >> ahead, shots fired and a politician rushed from the podium at the political rally in canada. that story is coming up.

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how about we look outside our window this morning. good morning, new york city, it is 77 degrees right now. a little bit later, 84 and thunderstorms. kind of an icky start to the day. let's check the weather with rob marciano. give me the official terms. i'm calling it icky. >> icky, yucky, it's just soupy stuff out there. very tropical. remnants of isaac kind of strewn across much of the eastern third of the country. speaking of tropics, tropical storm leslie is in the middle of the atlantic and it's a big

storm and drifting towards bermuda. so big that some of the waves are already getting close to the u.s. and that will continue for the next several days, rip current heavy surf and beach erosion and may make a run at new england but more likely the canadian mare times at this point. but bermuda, how close will it get and what category strength will it be, likely to develop into a category 1, if not 2 or 3 hurricane. a lot of tropical moisture and it's going to be soupy and foggy and pop-up thunderstorms in the afternoon. decent energy for thunderstorms that could be severe across chicago. right now thunderstorms moving across northern illinois. the heat is also building so where it's not humid and very muggy, it's very, very hot. temperatures in dallas will get to 104 today. 89 deees will add fuel to fire, watch for thunderstorms across chicago later on.

zoraida, back to you. >> it is 40 minutes past the hour. shots fired during a victory speech in canada. one person was killed and another is critically injured. quebec's premier elect was not hurt. he shouted in french, the english is waking up. it's a reference to tensions between the english and french communities there. marois will be the first female premier. denying claims by a hacker's group that they accessed millions of information from apple users from a government computer including president oba obama's ipad. the group claims are the i.d.s of more than a million iphones and ipads and they say in all 10 million apple i.d.s were obtained from an fbi agent's laptop. this is incredible video out of lake of the o zarks in missouri, this is a family out

boating and hits a large wake as their power boat passes another boat. they are strewn all over the place. they all violently topple over. the driver and six passengers were injured. this was last friday. five of them were sent to the hospital with what is described as minor to moderate injuries. some people hitting their head there. two astronauts are scheduled to venture outside the international space station for the second space wlk in six days, attempting to install a spare power switching unit on the space station. a similar attempt last thursday failed when the astronauts were unable to bolt that unit into place. listen to this. today's space walk is expected to last more than six hours. that's a long time. let's head over to john berman at the cnn grill in charlotte. >> thank you so much, she was on the floor of the democratic convention until the wee hours of the morning now in here live this morning.

ladies and gentlemen, soledad o'brien. >> and mostly awake. >> what's on "starting point"? >> democrats going on the attack after night one of the dnc. painting mitt romney as out of touch and gop as well. we'll talk this morning about the big winners and messaging from the speeches last night and were there any losers? plus an in-depth look at michelle obama's speech, she had to transfer some of her high approval numbers off to her president. how did she do? former president bill clinton will take center stage. can the comeback kid help president obama. what will he say in a highly anticipated speech tonight? we'll talk to the former white house chief of staff rahm emanuel and robert gibbs, former press secretary and now campaign adviser. san antonio mayor, julian castro gave a speech last night that was wildly approved by the crowd. everybody standing to cheer for

him. he has a twin brother who did his introduction, joaquin castro and john leg guz zam moe. >> we have tim daly talking politics and all-star panels and margaret hoover and richard socarides there they are enjoying the hot sauce and refreshments they offer in the morning. stay with us. 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.

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welcome back to "early start." this is john berman.

my name is john berman, i'm live in the cnn grill in in charlotte. i'm joined by cnn's senior congressional correspondent dana bash and former clinton white house special assistant richard socarides and tim daly and republican strategist margaret hoover. i want to get to why tim is here. interesting we're talking about it. but first let's talk about the convention last night. big speeches we heard from julian castro and michelle obama and the first lady talked about something that a lot of politicians like to talk about, the american dream. let's listen. >> if a young preacher could lift us to the mountain top with his righteous dream and if proud americans can be who they are and boldly stand at the alter with who they love, then surely, surely we can give everyone in

in country a fair chance at that great american dream. >> margaret hoover, you have an interesting take on this. lay it out there. >> here's what i loved about last night. it was very clear no party owns the american dream. the democrats, julian castro is talking just as provocatively about the american dream as marco rubio was the week before. the question then is if they both believe in the american dream, what's the difference between the two parties. the difference is what is the role of government and the individual. how do they relate to the two? conservatives and republicans would maek the case one would empower the individual versus a bigger government and individual power. i know you're going to interrupt but i want to say because we talk -- they talk so much about investing in people. and investing means spending yet not a single democrat. the entire nig spoke about the fact that the debt clock toked to 16 trillion. >> the big difference between the first night of the

democratic convention where i think we were off to a beautiful start and the first night of the republican convention was democrats understand that this is about connecting emotionally with people with real voters and last night was a fantastic night for the democrats. mrs. obama, the first lady, beautifully crafted speech and beautifully delivered but every speaker delivers in a way. compare last night's keynote to chris christie's keynote, angry. last night was perfect. mitt romney got skewered and nobody even mentioned him and he got skewered. >> is political theater enough when there is a $16 trillion national debt? >> i think connecting emotionally is important. that's what you need to do at a convention. democrats know how to do this. >> margaret made an important point and i was thinking about this sitting on the floor of the convention remembering what it was like in tampa. they are sort of talking about the same thing, the american dream and how to achieve that.

boy, do voters have two very different philosophies, invest, invest which means the government should help, that is definitely the theme here, the democratic philosophy and it was just the opposite on the republican side. >> you were on the floor last night, what did you think, tim? >> i've read clifford and john steenbeck and author miller. they want to make it as accessible as possible to most people. i'm not sure spending is the reason. it might be reallocating that money. but i don't think there are any less concerned about the national debt. everybody is. you know, and it was -- that has been stated clearly over and over again on both sides. >> you're here in your capacity as being head of the decree itive coalition, a group looking to enhance the role of the arts in education, correct?

>> yes. >> what would you like to hear from these parties? you've been to both conventions. >> entertainment is the second largest export of the united states of america and huge driver of our economy and i would like it to be spoken about by politicians by both sides like we speak about the automobile industry or pharmaceutical or insurance industry. it's a huge part of who we are. and you know, i would especially like the democrats and someone like cal pen who owes everything he has to the arts to talk about the vibrancy and importance of the arts in this country. the creative coalition are big for the national endowment of the arts and as condoleezza rice pointed out, we have a k through 12 education crisis in this country that is threatening the fabric of who we are. studies have shown over and over again kids that get a full -- that study arts in k through 12 are three times more likely to graduate from high school.

that's a great way to take steps towards curing that. >> do you think cal penn stiffed you? >> not just him but i think it's true of both parties. i hope someone listens tonight from the democrats and talks about the vibrancy of arts in this country. >> it is interesting -- >> hear that bill clinton. >> it is interesting mitt romney talks about defunding. when you ask him how he's going to solve the budget crisis and cut spending, we're going to fix the economy by cutting -- >> that is bad business. every dollar spent by the federal government on the national endowment of the arts reaps them 7 tax dollars in return. if mitt romney knows anything about business, he would know that's a good investment. >> tim daly thank you so much. margaret hoover, dana bash. >> that was an interesting conversation, thank you, john. coming up, former ohio governor

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have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. 12 miles of beaches along the louisiana coast are closed because tar balls are washing up onshore because of hurricane isaac. bp is insisting it is too early to tell if it came from the d p deepwater horizon accident ten parishes suffered serious flooding with 13,000 homes damaged. electricity has been restored to all but 38,000 customers. remember at the height of this, there were about a million people witho power there. and 16 members of a

breakaway amish group are on trial. this is in ohio. they are charged with hate crimes. for allegedly cutting off the hair and the beards of other members of the amish faith. prosecutors argue that the defendants spent months planning these attacks while the defense claims that the acts were motivated by a family feud and do not constitute in their opinion a hate crime. it is 58 minutes past the hour. "starting point" is just moments away. actually, the iphone, right, we have that -- oh, that's too bad. we had the little iphone graphic up and the new iphone is scheduled to be headed your way and you may have gotten an e-mail about it. soledad o'brien is coming up next. yesterday we caught up with former ohio governor ted strickland about the best advice he has received. take a look at this. >> perhaps the best advice i've ever received that i chose not

to follow was this, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. and didn't give up. there's no sense being a damned fool about it. the fact is i've never given up and i don't think we ought to ever give up because life of full is challenges and we need to continue to confront the challenges and that's what i tried to do. never give up. >> i wonder who gave him that best advice. 59 minutes past the hour. that's it for us, "starting point" now with soledad o'brien is live in charlotte and starts right now. welcome, everybody, our starting point, sharp attacks, democrats kicking off their convention with a parade of political stars attacking the gop. listen. >> santa claus, he would fire the reindeer and outsource the