i'm going to say after that. in order to keep my job, i will say nothing. as a matter of fact, i will go to the sittion room with wolf blitzer a little bit early to keep myself out of trouble. wolf, take it away. don, thanks very much. happening now, tropical storm isaac on a potential collision course with the republican national convention. we're live in tampa where republican leaders are preparing for the worst. also, we're live at earthquake-ravaged haiti where more than 400,000 people living in camps are bracing for a devastating hurricane to hit just 24 hours from now. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." up first, the wrath of

tropical storm isaac barreling through the caribbean. right now we're watching what's going on as it picks up steam over the warm waters of the caribbean, heading towards florida potentially. the governor of florida, rick scott, is joining us right now. governor, what's the latest information you're getting? how worried should floridians be right now? >> well, you know, we're used to hurricanes in florida. we have a great emergency management team at the state level and at the local level and we work with fema well. we're doing updates. we'll do our next update about 5:15. we'll get some additional information from the national hurricane center at 5:00. it fortunately is going a little further west but we'll be prepared whatever happens. but hopefully it will dissipate and go away. but if something happens, we'll be ready for it. >> what parts of your state are you most worried about right now, governor? >> well, right now it's clearly the keys. you know, we'll see what happens when it goes across cuba, but the keys are our biggest concern right now.

after that it appears to be going further west away from tampa. but right now it's the keys and that would happen early -- it looks like early monday morning. so that's what we're getting ready for first. but as we find out where it's going, we'll get the rest of the state ready. i want everybody in our state to get prepared. at the same time, we're a tourism state. you know, we're ready for hurricanes. i want everybody to feel comfortable that they should be coming to tampa. we're going to have a great convention in tampa. we'll have 50,000 people there and it will be a great convention. >> so you're not suggesting evacuations or anything along those lines, at least not yet, even in the keys, is that right? >> oh, absolutely. i mean absolutely we're not. right now as you know it's a tropical storm. we'll see what happens as it goes through hispaniola and cuba to see how much is left. it looks like we'll clearly get some rain, but we'll see how much wind we get. >> i'm heading myself off to tampa to cover the convention. i'll be there over the weekend. are you in touch with republican

national committee leaders, the republican party leaders, giving them some potential worst case contingency advice? >> absolutely. we have -- we're doing two calls a day and with the republican leaders, local officials, state officials, federal officials, they keep everybody informed, get everybody with the same information so we can make a good informed decision together. but clearly we're going to have a great convention, but we're going to be ready for this. if something happens, we'll be ready. >> are we convinced, based on all the information that you're getting right now, governor, that this tropical storm by the time it reaches florida, wherever it reaches, will in fact be a hurricane or will it still be a tropical storm? >> right now we don't know. the projections are that it will be -- it should be a hurricane, but look, it's still going to go over a lot of land so there's still a lot of issues to deal with. we don't know the intensity, we don't know how much rain there will be and we don't even know

the path yet. so it's still a few days out. every time, every day we'll get a little bit better information. that's why we're doing twice-a-day phone calls with everybody involved, federal, state and local, the rnc committee, to keep everybody informed so we can make a good, valid decision. just remember, florida is used to this. we have had hurricanes before. we have a great team here. so we're very comfortable we're going to have a great convention. >> here's what concerns me and i've got a lot of family and friends that live down there, the elderly. you have a lot of seniors that live down there right now. is there any advice you think you need to give them even at this relatively early stage before we know for sure where it might make impact? >> absolutely, wolf. we want everybody to have a three-day supply of food and water. you should go on a website called floridadisaster.org. have your checklist. make sure you know who you want to contact if there's a problem. if we need them, we'll have

shelters all across the state. you'll know -- follow the weather, follow any evacuation plans if we have any. but we have a great plan for the elderly, for anybody with special needs. but the first thing you need to yourself get prepared. >> and folks, about an extra 50,000 people or so will be coming to tampa for this convention. at this point you're telling everyone, correct me if i'm wrong, you're still telling everyone don't cancel your flights, don't make any changes, come to tampa for the convention. >> tampa is open for business. we're going to have the convention. we're going to have a great convention. tampa is ready for this. the city looks beautiful. remember, we're a hospitality state. we do this every day. we're prepared in case there is a hurricane, but in the meantime we're going to make sure we have a great convention. >> when you picked -- and you're a republican. when you picked tampa to be the site of the republican convention, was there a lot of discussion about potentially bad

weather and tampa being the site of the republican convention? walk us backwards a few years when they made that decision to select tampa. >> well, everybody knows that we're a state that has had hurricanes, but we have the best emergency management team in the country. we're ready for these things. so they knew we would be prepared at the state level and the local level and they knew tampa and the state of florida was going to be a great hospitality location because we do this. we have 87 million tourists a year come to our states. we're good at these things. >> one final question before i let you go. what would it take to cancel that convention? how bad would it have to be and who would make that call? >> well, the decision will be made by the host committee of the convention. the ceo is bill harris. his team will be the ones that will make the decision. my job is to help keep them informed, make sure everybody, state, local and federal have

all the facts. so that's a hypothetical. but the most important thing is we'll make sure everybody is safe. i'm responsible for this state. the local elected officials are responsible for their communities and the convention will make a decision if they couldn't have a good convention. but wee a great team in place, we have plans in place and will implement those plans. >> we'll get the latest forecast in a little less than an hour from now. governor, good luck to you. good luck to everyone in florida. we'll be watching this very, very closely. thanks very much for joining us. >> sure. i'll see you next week. >> i'll see you maybe in tampa, who knows. appreciate it very much. rick scott is the governor of florida. brian todd is in tampa right now. he's standing by with a closer look at how high the water could surge if a hurricane or bad tropical storm weather were to hit. what are they saying over there, brian?

>> reporter: wolf, experts are telling us that they could get a storm surge of maybe up to six feet if this hurricane hits full force and comes into the tampa bay area but that's if it hits full force. right now the models don't have it hitting full force, they have it projecting out to the west but there's still going to be a lot of rain here probably in the next few days when debbie either tropical storm strength or hurricane strength moves in. most of tampa is either at sea level or below sea level. storm surge is the number one killer during these storms. when the surges come in, people stay around these shorefront areas to watch the storm, to maybe walk around because maybe they're thinking it's not going to be as strong as it could be, but that's a very deceiving thing. officials are telling us people have got to get away from the shoreline areas. just eight weeks ago, bay shore

boulevard here was pretty much completely underwater with tropical storm debbie and that's a tropical storm, not a hurricane as isaac is projected to be. the mayor of tampa has said they have contingency plan after contingency plan but what we do not have right now are specifics on exactly how they're going to evacuate the 50,000 or so added people who are going to be all around this area in the next few days. those are the 50,000 people converging here for this convention staying where we are, at that hotel behind me. they have to figure out what to do with them if and when the storm hits right here. >> but they're making those kinds of contingency plans, i assume. as we all hope they won't have to implement those contingency plans. >> reporter: that's right. of course you're hoping they won't have to. they of course have plans to carry on with this convention and nominate mitt romney. by week's end next week, by a week from today, so that process

will go through no matter what happens with the weather here. one of the contingencies that they're planning for just the local people in and around the tampa area and st. pete, they're handing out sandbags. they were doing that today. i think that's still going on, at least probably for the next hour so people are able to come and get sandbags, those who are experienced in this area, live in this area and think that they need it for their homes. we just came in off the causeway also, wolf. that's a big issue because downtown tampa probably doesn't have hotel space for all the 50,000 people staying here so the causeways are a key artery for where a lot of people will be staying. they're going to be staying at the beaches, maybe in clearwater, st. pete. the best way to get there are the causeways, the bridges. those are the first roads to be shut down during tropical storm or hurricane force winds. so that's not going to be an option for people if that hits. you can get to the city by going north and around. it takes a lot longer.

during a storm that's a lot more problematic as well. >> brian todd is on the scene for us as he always is. brian, thanks very much. i'll get the forecast live at the top of the hour. richard knabb will join me. we're tracking isaac all along the way. also we'll be speaking later with the mayor of tampa. he'll be joining us live as well. floridians certainly aren't the only ones bracing for isaac's wrath. so are more than 400,000 haitians who are living in camps, many of them only in tents. their country still hasn't recovered from a devastating earthquake almost three years ago. we'll go there live. another potential bain distraction for mitt romney. we have details of a document dump that could cause potentially some new political headaches just before the convention. our jim acosta is reviewing all those documents. and not all republicans are

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new potential headache for mitt romney just a few days before the republican convention. this one involving his former private investment firm, bain capital. jim acosta is here in the situation room. you've been going through a lot of these documents. what are you finding out? >> it's a headache that keeps coming back time and again for mitt romney. as soon as the story was up on the gawker website, both campaigns started reviewing these newly released bain documents. in the end they may only reinforce voters' opinions one way or the other about romney's time at the firm. just days before the start of the gop convention, gawker released hundreds of pages of internal documents from mitt romney's former prooichlt investment firm, bain capital. it includes financial statements

that suggests some of the firm's offshore holdings are parked in the cayman islands to avoid paying u.s. taxes. this financial statement shows assets totaling $3.6 billion with investments in big-name companies, burlington coat factory and dunkin brands. according to the statement, the partnership intends to conduct its operation so that it will not be engaged in u.s. trade or business and therefore will not be subject to u.s. federal income or withholding tax on its win come from u.s. sources. under the current laws of the cayman islands, there are no income, estate, transfer, sales or other cayman islands taxes. governor and mrs. romney's assets are managed on a blind basis. the investment decisions are made by a trustee. furthermore the trustee does not decide where funds he invests in are domiciled, the sponsors of the funds do. another bain document seems to contradict romney's attacks on the president's stimulus plan.

this letter sent to the investors in 2010 warns with an economy that is still highly dependent on fiscal support, the outcome of the midterm elections could lead to gridlock that would have major ramifications. an expiration of stimulus would be a significant fiscal drag. compare that to what romney told a crowd in new mexico. >> the president's policies have not worked. almost everything he's done has made it harder for this economy to recover, and as a result of that, middle income families across america are having hard times. >> president obama has a plan to rebuild america from the ground up. >> reporter: to defend the president's handling of the economy, this new obama campaign ad turns to bill clinton. >> it only works if there is a strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president. we need to keep going with his plan. >> reporter: the bain documents resurfaced as yet another distraction for romney, who went to new mexico to detail his new manager plan. >> i will set a national goal of america and north america, north

american energy independence by 2020. north american energy independence by 2020. that means we produce all the energy we use in north america. >> and not everybody is impressed with the gawker story. one writer from "fortune" magazine dubbed the website's exclusive as tons of smoke without any fire. >> the bain capital talk about the stimulus in 2010, he was long gone. >> he was long gone. >> even by 2002, 2003 at the latest. >> that's right. >> even though he left in 1999 to go work for the olympics. so some of the current executives of bain are obama supporters and giving money to the campaign, so we shouldn't necessarily be all that surprised that some of the comments from current bain executives are complimentary to the obama administration's positions. >> lo and behold bain capital being a private firm was trying to make money for its investors. part of the way of doing that for a lot of these firms was to put money in the cayman islands.

mitt romney was making money off of these investments, but the campaign is saying and they have said this before, keep in mind those funds, those assets for mr. and mrs. romney are managed by a blind trust and that trustee is controlling where those funds are going, not the romneys themselves. >> it's still interesting to review all those documents. >> it's what the public needs to do. >> thank you very much, jim acosta. he'll be heading down to tampa as well. isaac isn't the only threat authorities are watching in tampa. the other serious concern, anarchists. jill dougherty is joining us with this part of the story. what is the latest on the potential for anarchists to show up in tampa? >> reporter: well, wolf, you know the fbi and homeland security both say when it comes to demonstrators, most of them tend to be peaceful at these conventions. but what they're saying, they're warning law enforcement to be on watch for extremists who might be, for example, trying to buy material that could be used for a bomb or who were undergoing firearms training.

>> we are anonymous. all of us have carefully prepared to face our authoritarian government. >> reporter: extremist groups already have posted things on youtube threatening to shut down the republican national convention in tampa, florida. >> the national convention august 27th, 2012, is the day we take our battle to the streets of tampa. >> reporter: authorities are taking the threat seriously. in an intelligence bulletin obtained by cnn, the fbi and department of homeland security warned state and local law enforcement that anarchists are targeting the democratic national convention in charlotte, north carolina, too and they could even try to use improvised explosive devices, ieds, the type of homemade bomb insurgents use in afghanistan.

the bulletin says since march the fbi has had intelligence indicating that individuals from new york plan to travel to tampa and attempt to close all of the tampa bay area bridges during the convention next week. the groups are likely to focus on critical infrastructure outside of the security perimeter, the bulletin says, because they expect the main venue to be tightly controlled. extremist have a history of trying to disrupt major events, like the g-20 meeting in pittsburgh in 2009. using tactics like blocking streets, intersections and bridges, and sparking violent confrontations with police. >> our mission is to ensure that everyone has a safe platform on which to express themselves. >> reporter: thursday in an undisclosed location, the secret service showed reporters their multi-agency communication center where law enforcement officials will coordinate their operation to keep tampa safe during the convention. extremists claim they're ready

too. >> you have an opportunity to fight back at the republican national convention. how you might back is up to you. >> reporter: a law enforcement official tells cnn there is no specific threat to the conventions and they're not watching any specific anarchists who they think might be trying to mount an attack, but they do say they have to be prepared based on what they learned, the lessons they learned at the republican convention four years ago and also on an alleged anarchist plot this spring in which a bridge near cleveland was supposed to be blown up and there were, by the way, wolf, arrests in that case. >> i remember that case. thanks very much, jill dougherty. a sobering report indeed. we'll stay on top of that story. we're also keeping an eye on tropical storm isaac. we're standing by for an update from the national hurricane center. the director will be joining us live with the latest forecast. and in its path, haiti still

rebuilding from a devastating earthquake with hundreds of thousands of people still in tent cities. our own reporter on the ground, gary tuchman, makes a shocking discovery. do a lot of these people even know what's heading in their direction? ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with advanced haldex all-wheel drive. [ engine revving ] it's bringing the future forward. [ male announcer ] you work hard. stretch every penny. but chances are you pay a higher tax rate than him... mitt romney made twenty million dollars in two thousand ten but paid only fourteen percent in taxes... probably less than you now he has a plan

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opposition forces say at least 155 people were killed across syria today. lisa sylvester is monitoring that and some of the other top stories in the situation room right now. what's the latest, lisa? >> reporter: wolf, violence is raging in damascus. more than 60 of those killed were in and around the capital city. president obama spoke with british prime minister david

cameron last night and both dpraed it would be completely unacceptable if the syrian government began using chemical weapons. if that happened, the two countries say they would revisit their approach. in california, hoerauthorit say rodney king died from an accidental drowning and drugs were involved. alcohol, marijuana, pcp were found in his system. king was in a state of drug and alcohol-induced delirium when he either fell or jumped into a pool. no foul play is suspected. king gained notoriety in 1991 when he was beaten by l.a. police. video of that incident sparked widespread rioting. and federal reserve is through with aig and has billions to show for it. the new york fed has shown it has sold the last of its securities related to the insurance giant's bailout. all told it turned taxpayers a profit of nearly $18 billion. the treasury department still

owns $29 billion in aig stock but it too expects to turn a profit when it's all said and done, so that is not bad at all. $18 billion going to the taxpayers. >> i just assumed all that money going to aig is lost to taxpayers. it's encouraging that they got it back, at least most of it. >> reporter: i know a lot of people at the time were saying that money is going out the door, we'll never see it again. treasury, though, still sdoes have that $29 billion. >> but once they get rid of that stock or whatever, they're going to make money as well. let's hope they do. taxpayers could really use it. let's hope for the best. thanks, lisa. nearly half a million haitians still live in tents after a massive earthquake. now a tropical storm is bearing down on them bringing massive rain, flash floods and mudslides. we're going live to haiti when we come back. ♪

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tropical storm isaac is barreling down on haiti. it's forecast to be a hurricane -- at hurricane strength when it makes landfall, unleashing strong winds and as much as a foot of rain. gary tuchman is in port-au-prince and is joining us now. gary, as all of our viewers know, haiti suffered a devastating earthquake two and a half years ago. so many of the hundreds of thousands of people are still recovering in tent cities, if you will. how bad would this hit be?

>> reporter: well, the situation has been desperate, wolf, for the last two and a half years, for the last 955 days since the earthquake and now it's increasingly dire because of this tropical storm or hurricane that's coming right towards port-au-prince. this is a community that's in port-au-prince. you can see the people behind me. these are just five of the people. hello. these people were just a few minutes ago pointing to their stomachs. they want some food, they're very hungry. it makes you feel terrible as an outsider because they're all hungry. they don't know where to go. here's another thing they don't know. they don't know a tropical storm or hurricane is on its way. we had a translator go into the community a short time ago. every person is unaware of something called isaac on the way. when we tell them, they say what are we to do. we explain there are shelters and they say we're not leaving these tents or houses, this is all we have, we're staying. it may rain, the mud may come down but then it will get sunny and be dry again.

what they don't know that in 2008, 800 people were killed in storms and 2004, hurricane jean killed 3,000 people here. there hasn't been a tropical storm or hurricane since the earthquake. but 3% of the nation's entire population, there are still 400,000 people, 4% of the population homeless, living in tent cities like this. most of these people are staying put inside their tents, inside their ramshackle homes, and they are going to ride out whatever isaac is when it comes through tomorrow. >> gary, what's being done as far as preparations on the island are concerned? >> reporter: wolf, this is the first time in any of the hurricanes or tropical storms i've covered where i haven't seen one business, one residence boarded up. i'm sure there is some boarding in some of the wealthier neighborhoods but in the average neighborhood here in port-au-prince, there is no sign whatsoever that a tropical storm or hurricane is on its way. >> what a sad, sad story.

we'll stay in constant touch with you, gary. and you'll update us on what's going on. our heart already is going out to all the folks who are going to suffer in haiti to be sure. gary tuchman on the scene for us. the latest isaac update from the national hurricane center only minutes away. we'll bring it to you as soon as it comes in. we'll also speak live with the national director of the national hurricane center. he'll be joining us live. plus, not everyone in the republican party is happy with the backlash against the embattled congressman todd akin. we have details of that story. that's coming in as well. and president obama has been known to throw back a beer or two since taking office, but now aficionados are on a quest to find out what's in the special white house brew. >> i'm not aware of any plans at this time to divulge the secret recipe. now count the number of buttons on your tablet.

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the backlash against republican congressman todd akin and his so-called legitimate rape comment has created a new divide inside the gop. let's bring in our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash. we know almost every leader in the rip parepublican party want out of this race but there seems to be some backlash in some republicans. >> we've been hearing growing frustration and in some case it's outrage from a number of social conservative leaders and activists about the way akin was treated. pretty much across the board they say the term "legitimate rape" is wrong but the concern is that the stampede away from akin was not just about him but

social issues in general in the republican party. i want you to take a look at this quote from an e-mail from an evangelical activist, david lane. he said the swift knee-jerk reaction to throw akin, a strong conservative pro-life, pro-family born again christian under the bus by some in the republican party is shining the light on their actual agenda. he said we haven't seen anything this vicious since some of the same operatives did this to sarah palin. now, wolf, ironically palin was one of those who said that akin should go. but what this is doing is exposing a split within the social conservative movement. i want you to listen to two interviews that we got with two points of view on that. >> if he were to ask me, i would say, brother, it's unfair. it's sad. you won the nomination fair and square. but for the good of the cause, you need to step aside. >> sometimes if it looks like a

pylon, it can have the opposite of the intended effect. and, you know, congressman akin is a highly respected member of congress. he's served for six terms. he's a serious legislator. he's respected by his colleagues. he's won with a huge percentage of the vote in his district. he won a huge upset in this primary. he's a very serious figure in missouri politics and in the house. so he made a mistake. >> now, one social conservative activist i talked to today said that he thinks that the republican party really applied a double standard here because akin is socially conservative and in some cases in the past when more moderate republicans have made gaffes or mistakes or done things that could hurt their chances, the party has stuck by them. >> ralph reed, we just heard the sand bite from ralph reed, a political activist, does he want akin out or is he telling akin to stay in? >> he won't say.

he made pretty clear to us that he -- and i talked to him for a while today. that he -- that the party is split, the social conservatives are split, but he personally only gives his advice privately. he's being very careful there. but what is also interesting is that akin is in tampa. akin is not going to the convention, but as we speak he is in tampa. the reason he is there, wolf, is that there have been quiet, almost secret meetings today with social conservatives. they have actually been going on for the past 24 hours or so. they're holding a reception for him today. now, part of this is to make sure that akin can keep his campaign going when it comes to money. now, he announced today that he raised $100,000 in the last few days. now, just to be clear, it's not bad, but it is nothing compared to what he needs, the millions that he needs to raise to effectively campaign against the democrat, claire mccaskill. now, we should also know that he has been underfunded and done pretty well in his past campaigns. >> we know that the republican

establishment, republican party, the senatorial campaign committee. >> super pacs. >> are going to give him zero. >> nothing. >> so he'll have to raise all that money himself if he stays in. he's got till the end of september. we'll see what he does. >> okay. so do you want to know what it's really like to experience the republican national convention from the inside? listen to this. on tuesday you can join the cnn election round table with me and cnn's political team. submit your questions and get answers in realtime in this live, virtual chat. don't miss the cnn election round table tuesday, 12 noon eastern, pie logging on to cnn.com/roundtable. that's where you'll go and we'll talk. all of us will talk tuesday at noon eastern. we're keeping a very close eye on the tropical storm brewing in the caribbean right now. we'll get an updated forecast in the next few minutes and go live to the national hurricane center. the director is standing by to

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let's get to our strategy session. joining us, our cnn contributor, the democratic strategist, donna brazile and alice stewart, a former spokeswoman for both rick santorum and michele bachmann presidential campaigns. ladies, let's start off with this new obama campaign ad featuring a star. >> this election to me is about

which candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper income people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from the ground up, investing in innovation, education and job training. it only works if there is a strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president. we need to keep going with his plan. >> i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. >> all right, alice, what did you think of that ad? >> well, it's kid of hard to say who he's promoting there. he wants to talk about who is going to return us to jobs and who is going to help promote the middle class. that's governor romney. that's the romney/ryan ticket. with all due respect to president clinton, he's never let the truth get in the way of his message. when we're talking about the best person to create jobs and a stronger middle class, it's the romney/ryan ticket. that's their whole message. >> you obviously weren't

listening all that closely to the ad because he goes after the republicans plan. he said the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper income people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place so he is hammering away there. >> the romney/ryan plan is about cutting government spending, promoting free market growth and that will help turn the economy around. it includes energy exploration, improving skills for workers, doing away with burdensome regulations and promoting trade that's best for america. all these steps will go about turning the economy around and creating confidence in our current economic situation that will help those who create jobs create more jobs, unlike the current president, who happens to think the private sector is doing fine and thinks that those who actually start businesses don't build it themselves. that's insulting to the american people. >> donna, i want you to react to that, but react in the context of this as well. he does criticize the republican

plan, but he doesn't mention mitt romney or paul ryan by name in that ad. what do you think about that? >> look, i think it's an effective ad for the simple fact that bill clinton understands how to krcreate jobs, 22 millio jobs. the clear message in that, wolf, is that the country should not go back to the same failed economic policies that put us in this deep mess in the first place. under this president, the leadership of the democrats, we have created more than four million jobs over the last three years. if the republicans actually start implementing some plans -- bill clinton is one of the most popular politicians, with 65% approval rating. the only other politician -- well, she's not really a politician, but our first lady, michelle obama, she's also popular. so to have bill clinton out there talking about the choice

in this election, laying out the vision, it's a net plus for president obama and democrats who hope to win back the house and senate. >> i want your quick reaction to these new polls that are just out on some of the key battleground states. i'll put them up beginning in florida. it's very, very close within the margin of error. 49 obama, 46 romney. slightly closer than august 1st. let's go to ohio right now. look at this, it's still obama 50 to 44, ahead in ohio, very much the same as it was on august 1st. let's take a look at wisconsin, a little bit of a bounce thanks to paul ryan. right now 49-47 for obama in wisconsin. it was 51-45 august 8th. it looks like it's narrowing in those key battleground states. how worried should the obama team be? >> we know there's a lot of volatility in this electorate. such a small number of

independents will ultimately decide this election. i'm surprised the president is still so strong in these states given the financial advantage they have had and the press advantage they have had. the good news is that i think the president will be able to continue to bring more independence as well as rally the base and reach out to the middle but right now i think we're in good position to win this election. >> alice, as you know, no republican has ever won the presidency without ohio. the president still has a six-point advantage in ohio. is there a scenario that romney can win without capturing ohio? >> well, there certainly is, and the path to victory is based on the current referendum on the president's policies and how he has failed to make things better for the american people. as things get closer to november, we're going to see governor romney continue to overtake the president in these key battleground states. and the number to really watch, the important number these days, is the fact that the romney

campaign is outraising the obama campaign tremendously. and currently they're sitting at $60 million -- $60 million more cash on hand that will help them get through this convention and get closer to november. that's quite a bit of money to put ads on the air -- >> they have deep pockets. >> we've got to leave it there, donna. unfortunately the clock is ticking right here in the situation room as well but money as we know in politics certainly is an important factor. ladies, thanks very much for coming in. we're keeping a close eye on isaac right now. right at the top of the hour we'll go to the national hurricane center. the director is standing by, to release the latest forecast for us. stand by. and first, thousands are asking for a white house to release a specific recipe. you see the picture, you know what we're talking about. introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text.

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there's a call for the president of the united states to release more information about his beer. but the press secretary over at the white house says there's no plans to give it up, at least not now. our white house correspondent is here in the situation room for us. this is quite a situation. i didn't even know there was a white house recipe for beer. >> there are three recipes actually. there's three different kinds of beer. as you know, it really doesn't hurt to drink beer if you're a candidate, right? this gives a person the appeal of that every day guy or gal. and that's really a plus when you're trying to appeal to voters. but brewing beer is something different. the obama white house is the first to make its own. during his time in the white house, president obama has thrown back more than a few beers.

there was the infamous white house beer summit with the harvard professor and the police officer who arrested him, a visit to a pub in obama's ancestral hometown in ireland. >> i am very impressed. this is delicious. it is wonderful. >> reporter: this past st. patrick's day in washington -- >> cheers! >> reporter: and most recently. >> bud lights, all the way around. >> reporter: at the iowa state fair, prompting the crowd to alter the four more years chant to this. >> four more beers, four more beers. >> it is ice cold and tasty. >> reporter: on that trip the president told a voter his campaign bus is stocked with a special beer brewed at the white house. now beer enthusiasts want the recipe. they're urging its release on the white house website, and one blog has even filed a freedom of information act request to get it. so what's the chance that will work? we asked cnn's senior legal

analyst jeffrey toobin. >> as a legal matter, i think there's a remote chance the white house would be forced to disclose the beer recipe. but as a political matter, why wouldn't they want the beer recipe out there? what would be better? >> do you think the white house should release its recipe? >> definitely. >> reporter: jay is co-founder of chocolate city beer brewery, one of the few microbreweries in washington. >> reporter: what does that mean if the recipe is released? what happens. >> people will probably clone it, which will be fun. everybody will be hey, mr. obama, look what i'm drinking. >> reporter: there are three kinds brewed at the white house. according to this blog. white house honey ale, white house honey blond and white house honey porter made with honey from the bee hives on the south lawn. all this hoisting of suds is good politics too. it's supposed to make the president easier for voters to

relate to. >> it's nice to see obama drinking beer. you might have george bush clearing brush, hunting, that relates to a lot of people. this one is pretty much across the board. from washington state to florida, maine to california, everyone is drinking peer. >> reporter: but not everyone is drinking the white house beer. even the white house press corps has weighed in brain storming more original names. >> our reporters said white hops and someone else said beeracracy. >> maybe he should look into a wheat beer style. that would be cool. >> reporter: now, this is actually my personal favorite for a beer name, baracktoberfest. this was made by a company that made this while obama was campaigning. so far we don't have the recipe for any of these beers, but people are going to

petitions.whitehouse.gov trying to get the white house to release it. >> you want that recipe, don't you? >> i'm just curious to know what's in it. maybe do some home brewing here in the situation room. >> thank you. and you're in "the situation room." we have the new forecast for the tropical storm isaac. alerts are up across the caribbean as florida braces for trouble. we're going to tell you where the storm may be headed. wind, rain and high water won't stop mitt romney's nomination in tampa. republican officials speak out about their plans for going ahead with convention activities. and getting ready for the thousands of visitors to tampa. get ready, the city's strip clubs, they are ready. why some expect republican convention goers to bring more business than the super bowl. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

just coming in, the latest forecast for tropical storm isaac. warnings are up from island to island across the caribbean where hundreds of thousands of people are extremely vulnerable right now and tensions are rising in tampa, where a potential hurricane slamming into the bay area could send waters rising over the site of the republican national convention. here's the latest from the national hurricane center. the government of the bahamas has issued a tropical storm warning for the southeastern bahamas, including the acklands. crooked islands, the turks and caicos as well. chad myers is also watching this very closely, our severe weather expert. chad, tell us more about this.

only moments ago we got this new update. >> brapd nnd new. yeah, the hurricane center not seeing enough organization to raise the wind speed. still 40 miles per hour. but they do see how large the storm is and now we're getting, again, warm water but also a lack of other wind in the area to break the storm apart. and they do expect rapid intensification. it may stay a little pitt farther to the south of port-au-prince than we originally thought and that will help port-au-prince a lot, because obviously the 400,000 people living in tent cities will not enjoy that whatsoever with winds that could be 60 or 70. a little farther to the south of haiti, maybe ten miles. at this point we are only talking shifts in this line five miles here, five miles there, one way or the other. it has been moving a little bit farther to the west all day but i still want you to focus on this. everyone at home where the east side of the line is and the west side of the line is. this could still go all the way

to the carolinas or to new orleans or louisiana. i've seen one model that took it to galveston as a category 1 hurricane. that's all said and done, all good. we always look at the middle of the cone more likely, a little less likely and probably not likely once you get past the cone. five days out, you have to understand five days away but that's north coast. that's the pensacola area of florida, not tampa, as it makes a swipe at the west side but it looks like it will make landfall on the northern gulf coast. >> that would be good for tampa, bad for the northern gulf coast. we're going to go to cuba to havana in a moment. what's the prognosis for cuba right now, especially the havana area? >> especially the havana area because you have so many people packed together there. this storm will travel right up the spine of cuba, wolf. very rugged, mountainous country. we don't know much about it because we were never taught much about it when we were kids.

lots of mountains that will tear the storm up but it will also put down an anormo ousa -- enort of rainfall. you could get 15 inches of rainfall making flash flooding there. all the way up to about havana and then it loses control of the shore right here, gets back into the warm water in the florida straits south of key west and that's when it begins to get stronger again. storms get stronger when they're in the water, they get weaker over land. the land part will be a blessing for the u.s., that it does hit cuba. i tell you what, the amount of rain cuba could get from this could be landslide and multiple fatalities if the people can't get out of the way of these very, very heavy rains. >> chad myers will be staying in very, very close touch with you. let's go to havana right now. what are the folks over there in ha havana, patrick, saying?

>> reporter: wolf, as you can see behind me, it's a beautiful day in havana but that could be changing very, very soon. the cuban government has been warning the last several days for people to keep a close eye on tropical storm isaac as is churns towards cuba. just about everything else, hurricane preparation is a little bit different here in cuba. you don't see the long lines at stores because many of these stores are already very, very bare. another issue here is the dekrep id buildings. many of the buildings are already falling down. one cuban architect told me today about every other day a building in havana falls. you add in the factor of the heavy rain, heavy winds from tropical storm isaac and people here are expecting more and more of those buildings to collapse so that's another real concern for officials and people here in havana. one thing cuba does have is generations of experience dealing with these kinds of hurricanes. there really isn't many places for people to evacuate so they

tend to go to shelters, hold their ground, be mobilized by the government. then when everything is all over and done with, then come out and clean up very, very quickly whatever damage has taken place. wolf, in years past, recent years, cuba's already weak economy has been virtually destroyed by hurricanes. they're hoping tropical storm isaac doesn't bring that kind of damage, wolf. >> quick question about the u.s. military base in guantanamo bay, cuba. we know there are a lot of prisoners there, a lot of u.s. military personnel. what's the assessment for that area? >> reporter: this is so interesting. it's the only thing we've heard of that's been interrupted by the approaching storm. yesterday they halted the trial for several 9/11 plotters, including khalid sheikh mohammed. non-essential personnel and journalists have been ordered evacuated. several hundred people are

eventually going to leave -- >> looks like we just lost our connection to patrick oppmann in havana but we'll stay in close touch with him. while keeping a nervous eye on isaac's path, republican national convention officials are determined to get mitt romney nominated next week. mark preston is over at the site of the convention and is joining us now. mark, we're hearing the first extended words from convention organizers. what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, wolf, it is -- you know, the convention organizers have been very careful not to say very much about tropical storm isaac and the impact that it could have here in tampa. they have been working the past couple of days about putting out a very, very, very careful statement about what they have to say. let's take a look a little bit about what the ceo of the convention had to say in this written statement just a leased a few hours ago. this is from william harris. governor scott and local emergency officials have assured us that they have the resources in place to respond to this storm should it make landfall. as our primary concern is with

those in the potential path of the storm. we will continue to work closely with them and apt federal officials to monitor the storm and discuss any impact it may have on the tampa area and the state of florida. wolf, this is the most important part. we continue to move forward with our planning and look forward to a successful convention. i have to tell you, wolf, if tampa is not in line for the storm, it still could have an impact on the republican national convention. if this storm slams into the gulf, the death and destruction would in fact take the convention message off kilter and then of course the convention organizers would have to deal with that and have to figure out how they would nominate mitt romney. wolf. >> what happened the first day of the republican convention four years ago, as i recall, on a totally unrelated matter, that controversial republican congressman todd akin who's running for the senate in missouri, he actually has been in tampa. what do we know about that? >> reporter: well, we caught up

with the congressman and got some pictures of him at a hotel about 15 minutes away from where i'm standing right now. he is meeting with some of the leading voices in the social conservative movement. he's at a hotel assessing his candidacy. we know that he arrived yesterday. he held some private meetings. and then today it looked to us that he was having one-on-one meetings with some very influential figures. we spoke to many of the folks who were at this meeting, which is this very secretive group called the council for national policy, wolf. what we heard from them is that there is a frustration among grassroots activists and conservatives that the republican establishment, specifically knows in washington, d.c., are trying to push todd akin out of the race. so while we've seen this swelling to try to get todd akin out of the race from the republican establishment, we're seeing a little back lack from the grassroots movement. we don't know when todd akin is going to leave tampa, but we do know that rienz priebus as

suggested he not attend. to our viewers, this is an important note. you can experience what it's like to be at the republican national convention. on tuesday i'll be hosting the cnn election roundtable along with cnn's political team. you can submit your questions and get answers in realtime. join our virt tal chat tuesday at noon eastern. log on to cnn.com/roundtable and it will walk you through the process. lose ten pounds in two weeks by exercising just three minutes a day? not so fast. the federal trade commission is slapping a huge fine on the marketers of an ab device. more ahead on the republican convention. mitt romney gives "time" magazine an in-depth interview opening up about his business history, his government history, his beliefs. we're taking a closer look at that. plus, 50,000 visitors are about to start flying into tampa for a convention. if a storm moves in, what

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with mitt romney's nomination only a few tase away, the latest issue of "time" magazine gives us an in-depth interview in which he talks about government, business and his religious beliefs. "time" magazine's deputy washington bureau chief michael crowley is here. "time" is our sister buck publication, as i like to say. let me read a line from the interview you did with mitt romney, you and rick stengel, the managing editor. in the private sector he says there's an urgency to constantly update, renew and rethink your enterprise. as i look at government in some respects people in government don't recognize that they are in a competition with governments of other nations, they tend to think there isn't a need to change the way things have been done. his philosophy was really -- his working philosophy as a

businessperson at bain really has inspired him. >> yeah, it absolutely has. another point he made in that same riff was he looked at a broad variety of companies. the original question is what did he learn that was different from the management style of his father who ran an auto company that was all cars. romney said there was telecom, a company like staples, so he really had a wide range of experience. but that was the key point he wanted to drive home was competitiveness, staying ahead of the curve and of course there's a national implication of keeping the united states ahead of competitors like china, for instance. >> just because you've done it in a certain way in the past doesn't mean you should continue doing it that way. you spend some time talking to him about when he was a business guy at bain. he looked at a lot of companies before deciding to buy one. >> we have a wonderful story that goes into detail about how selective he was about bain's investments. he might get 3,000 investment opportunities across his desk and he would go for six of them.

even staples, which was one of the famous investments he made, he was slow slow to get in on the staples deal. there were a lot of other companies trying to get in on staples and staples ended up choosing bain. romney saw it but was very methodical about making sure it was a good investment of the ran the numbers, reran the numbers and did research on how much companies were spending on office supplies spl we know staples has been a huge success. you also asked him about afghanistan and this jumped out at me. i concurred with his, the president's decision to add surge troops to afghanistan. i also concur with the timetable of bringing our troops home by the end of 2014. there are some differences. i would not have announced publicly the withdrawal date of the end of 2014. that is something i would have kept between our military and the afghan military and political leadership. i don't think the taliban and other forces ought to know the precise timetable of our plan. but basically he's not

disagreeing with the president's strategy in afghanistan. >> not really. he's talking about the messaging and communication but even romney is talking about a 2014 date to transition to afghan forces being in the lead so i don't see a lot of daylight there. something interesting there, wolf, came later in that answer. i asked him about a time when he had said that he wanted to defeat the taliban, not negotiate with them. he said that f a debate back in january, i believe. what i heard him say is the taliban is not going to be eradicated entirely. i thought i heard him step back a little bit from that claim, we can defeat the taliban, and suggest we're going to have to tolerate them on some level, which i think is probably a more realistic answer. >> i noticed that nuance as well. you've got a separate article on paul ryan and the origins of his own political philosophies. >> that's the article that i wrote. we break it down for people because paul ryan is a budgeteer. budgets are political documents

and ideological documents. i think paul ryan more than a lot of people in politics really has done reading and has a world view. one of them is ine rand. he loves free market economists. milton friedman, and so the supply side economists. i think it's very important when you're understanding paul ripe to understand his view that cutting taxes, especially upper rate taxes leads to more economic growth. so when people say you're cutting taxes, isn't that going to create deficits, people like paul ryan and the supply siders say, no, growth will make up the difference. i have to add that a lot of mainstream economists would strongly disagree with that and there are examples of big tax cuts that didn't do what they expected. but that is paul ryan's world view so we break down the differences so people understand where he's coming from. >> thank you so much, michael. the new issue of "time"

magazine. there you see it right there, the mind of mitt. >> and everyone, please download our convention app. >> i was going to show it. stand by. people can check out our new cnn/time convention floor pass app as we're calling it for the 2012 republican and democratic national conventions available via iphone, ipad, android or any web-enabled device. it features breaking news, updates and commentary, exclusive early access to cnn/time polls and we'll have photos, video and a lot more. it's your virtual ticket to the convention floor. this is it. your pretty proud of this? >> yeah, i think it looks great, it will be a lot of fun and we're looking to covering the heck out of the conventions. >> i love it when we partner on these kind of projects. we should do it more often. >> let's. >> can you speak to your big shots over there? >> i'll have my people call your

people. >> thanks very much. you can look but you can't go in. the washington monument still off limits after an earthquake here in the nation's capital last year. now experts have assessed if it can ever be open to visitors once again. later, dressing it up before taking it off. strip clubs in tampa are getting ready for republicans carrying lots of cash. stay with us, you're in "the situation room." what will happen, i feel, is now in society we have a very narrow view of what beauty is. a beautiful woman kind of looks like this and a beautiful mankind of looks like this. and in that future, you can have all kinds of different human beings with body types and different types of minds. an it won't be ugly because it won't -- the conversation won't be about disability. it will be about capability, about ability.

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monsoon is bringing disaster to pakistan and india. lisa sylvester is monitoring that and some of the other top stories. lisa, what's going on? >> dozens of people are actually dead in pakistan and northern india from flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy

monsoon rains. more than 20 deaths are confirmed in pakistan and india reports 20 dead. hundreds of homes have been damaged by the rush of water. pakistan's disaster agency says a city in kashmir was hit by a major landslide. roads are blocked and an unknown number are dead and injured. and the federal reserve has cut its final cord related to the government bailout of aig and in the process has turned a tidy profit. the federal reserve bank of new york announced today that it sold the last of its securities dubbed maiden lane three. the final deal brings the total profit for taxpayers to almost $18 billion. it's now up to the treasury department to sell the rest of washington's stake in aig. treasury says it expects to turn a profit too. and a seismic study released today says the washington monument can withstand a worst case earthquake scenario. the findings were announced by the superintendent of the national mall and memorial parks. the 555-foot monument has been

closed since a magnitude 5.8 earthquake damaged it a year ago today. damage to marble panels and interior beams will be repaired before it reopens. no time frame, though, has been given. and if you bought something called an ab circle pro, well, you could be in for a refund. the federal trade commission has filed deceptive advertising charges against marketers of the device. the fdc said this move is part of its effort to stop overhyped health claims. the defendants have agreed to pay between $50 million and $25 million in refunds. infomercials promise that three minutes a day on the device could make users drop ten pounds in ten weeks. i guess that was just too good to be true. three minutes a day on it dropping ten pounds? >> if your mother always told you if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true. it's good advice from your mom, my mom and all the moms out

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the new forecast is now out for tropical storm isaac which could become a hurricane by tomorrow. alerts are up all across the caribbean and officials in tampa are eyeing isaac nervously as they push ahead with plans for the republican national convention that opens monday. let's get the latest from our meteorologist, chad myers. this latest forecast came out. what's the headline? administrat >> the headline is there's more than one center. you think how can that be a headli headline. well, when there is one and it beco has an eye, it becomes a hurricane. there's more than one very close to the center and they're all

fighting each other, they're fighting to be the big dog, the real center, and so it's not getting stronger yet. when it works that out, that's when it will get stronger and move over haiti, port-au-prince and eventually into cuba. the forecast is for it to not really be too far into the bahamas anymore. as we get this center closer to america, the cone is smaller. see how small the cone is here. so the cone getting smaller and almost taking eastern florida out of the cone, shifting that track farther and farther west every single time the hurricane center puts out a new forecast. we'll continue to watch it. the models are still pushing it farther. let me show you some of these models. right now they're coming way down south of puerto rico. there's a couple right through miami but most of them are either on the keys, past key west or up to here. if it's from here to more in the water it might be a 60-mile-per-hour storm as it

leaves cuba but it could be a lot bigger as it makes a run at the gulf coast. >> stand by, we'll get back to you, chad, because we've got a lot more to discuss about this. chad myers watching all of this unfold. tens of thousands of people will be heading to tampa for the republican national convention, but if a major storm also visits the city, what happens to all those flights? cnn's sandra endo has been looking into this part of the story for us. i'm flying down saturday, what should i expect? >> reporter: you may be in the clear, wolf, but it's something everyone is looking forward to because they have to keep track of this forecast. tampa is no stranger to severe weather and everybody knows that. right now airlines and tampa airport officials say they're keeping a watchful eye on tropical storm isaac. now, if it hits the city, it could be a travel nightmare for people heading to the rnc. virginia delegate matt hurt isn't going to let bad weather keep him from his first

convention. >> i'm ready to go, you know. storm or no storm, i'm planning on making my flight sunday morning. >> reporter: he'll be joining some 50,000 people, expected to be flying into tampa. >> i've packed an extra umbrella and a couple of jackets just to make sure. it would definitely be my first tropical storm. >> reporter: right now the major airlines are monitoring the storm from their operations centers, like this one at delta headquarters in atlanta. the airlines we talk to say it's still too early to know what impact, if any, the storm could have on flights. this far out, isaac's path is too unpredictable. >> right now no indications of cancelled flights to tampa but if this track does turn back to the east, running this storm over tampa, certainly there would be cancellations. >> reporter: the storm is turning in the caribbean now and airlines are allowing passengers to change their flights for free if they're flying to impacted islands. that waiver would be extended to

tampa travelers if the weather gets messy there. if that happens, it's bound to be more complicated because so many travelers are heading there at the same time. airlines could also add extra flights or use larger planes to move people out of tampa before the storm hits. if the storm comes, they are ready. >> we've been through this before. it does not completely paralyze us. it might shut down the airport for a little while or stop flights for a while, but as i said, we're very used to dealing with this. >> reporter: regardless of the potential storm, matt hurtt is determined to ride it out. >> what's your message to mother nature? >> that's a great question. bring it on, i'm ready. let's do this. >> now, the forecast will get clearer in the next few days and that's when more decisions will be made about what will happen to those flights. >> nervous travelers just watching your report right now, me amongst them.

sandy, thanks very much for coming in. the massive storm that could become hurricane isaac may or may not bear down on tampa, but the florida city is sprucing up anyway, and that includes the strip clubs. john zarrella is joining us now with more on what's going on. convention, strip clubs, expl n explain. >> reporter: you know, wolf, it can't be all work at the convention so what do you do with your downtime? there are these clubs in tampa that are rolling out the red carpet. the waitresses are in red, white and blue. so's the vodka bottle here at thee dollhouse in tampa, they spruced up, put in a 225-inch video wall. they're bringing in a sarah palin look-alike too. no kidding. what did you put into it? >> i bet the bottom line will be close to a million five, inside, outside. >> reporter: yep, tampa strip clubs are dressing up before unkresing. there's an excitement in the air

like going to the polls on election day, but going to the polls has a different meaning here. >> i've been in this business 30 years and i've got goosebumps thinking about this. i've never been so excited in all my life. >> reporter: there were these t-shirts made up that read thee dollhouse, rnc headquarters, certainly a must have for any conventioneer. so why all the anticipation? well, an adult industry trade association says the republicans spend the money. an informal survey by the association of club executives found that during their conventions in minnesota and new york, republicans spent $150 per person at adult clubs. the democrats only $50 per person in boston and denver. the rnc told us it's focused on having a great convention and nominating mitt romney. club dancers are counting on the supposed big dollar republicans to make it rain dollars. go-go, she's the one in the

middle, thinks this will be bigger than the super bowls she's worked. >> $1,000 an hour. that would be like -- i'm really optimistic. >> reporter: a thousand an hour? >> yeah, that would be -- >> reporter: for like how many hours? >> well, i'll work as long as my body can take it. >> reporter: for the most part the city tolerates the clubs but won't let them cross the line. police have already raided a few and charged 16 women with prostitution. the mayor says the clubs are the least of his worries. >> are we going to be running around strip clubs checking i.d.s? probably not. >> we added that vip section up here. >> reporter: don owns the 2001 odyssey club, you can't miss it. the vip room is shaped like a flying saucer. the way up is known as the stairway to heaven. he says there's so much money to be made, dancers are calling from everywhere to work the convention. >> just this morning we had five different calls of girls from las vegas, new orleans, chicago and new york. >> reporter: word has spread

when the elephant's in the room, the money is good. now, if you're concerned about being recognized going into one of these clubs, the owners tell me not to be worried, they have set up private vip entrances. wolf. >> all right, thanks very much, john zarrella, our man on the scene for us, as he always is. appreciate it very much. other news we're following, including some important news. the iranian military now feeling the need for speed. they bought a super fast boat like this one. now it has a fleet that has the united states navy worried. and it's not video of an accident, it's a popular and very dangerous extreme pastime that's also getting people killed. we'll share with you. are you okay, babe?

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the aircraft carrier the uss stennis will head back to the middle east, returning ahead of schedule to meet any new threats from iran. the move comes amid tensions over iran's nuclear program and new signs that it is boosting its own naval capability. cnn's senior international correspondent, dan rivers, has the details. >> reporter: this is the bradstone challenger, a record-breaking speed boat capable of an incredible 72 knots. a smaller version was driven by david beckham during the opening of the olympic games. but now this boat is in the hands of the iranian navy, according to the people who built it. they say the iranians bought the boat after numerous western attempts to block the sale. they finally got their hands on it in 2009 from a south africa arms dealer. and they have successfully copied the prototype, part of a

fleet of super fast gunships bristling with rockets and weapons, a component of iran's asymmetric tactics, using small boats to attack warships. western concerns about iran's fleet of speed boats increased after war games in 2002 when a u.s. navy team suffered heavy losses in a simulated attack in the gulf. some of their fleet was sunk by a swarm of small boats. >> the propellers run on the surface. >> reporter: the bradstone challenger was designed by lon champ bell who shows me the unique hull design which makes it so fast and stable in rough seas. now, the iranians have his design. >> it's very annoying, very frustrating. >> reporter: british military intelligence have contacted him about the boat as well as other rather more shady characters. >> i've had students from iran

trying to pump me for information. >> reporter: ian millen works for a marine intelligence company which monitors areas like the straits of hormuz and where the bradstone challenger could be deployed. we took to the water to discuss the threat to western navys. >> the idea behind the threat is that it would saturate defenses and would in effect swarm like bees and be a death by a thousand bee stings. but, yes, the modern navys are capable of dealing with situations like this. >> reporter: you can see how difficult it is filming in a convention aal speed boat doing about 20 knots. you can imagine how much harder it is in something three times this speed. the bradstone challenger provides a much more stable platform from which to fire a weapon. the iranians could build an entire fleet of this super fast

small craft and pose a significant threat to western navys. iran's navy commander has boasted the u.s. tried and failed to stop delivery of the bradstone challenger in 2009 during a high seas stand-off that lasted 18 hours. now that iran has the design and its fleet of copies, the fear is it's just waiting for the pretext to deploy them in anger. dan rivers, cnn, portsmouth. a new account of the bin laden raid written by one of the ultimate insiders, a former navy s.e.a.l., is setting off a firestorm of controversy, and they call it "drifting." it's risky and potentially deadly. uild an aircraft, you want to make sure it goes up and stays up. [ chirp ] with android apps, you get better quality control. so our test flights are less stressful. i've got a lot of paperwork, and time is everything here. that's why i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. [ chirp ] and the fastest push-to-talk nationwide. [ male announcer ] upgrade to the new "done." [ chirp ]

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a former u.s. navy s.e.a.l. that took part in the raid that killed osama bin laden has written an insider account of that vision and top brass at the pentagon are not happy. officials say the upcoming book could have dangerous repercussions. barbara starr is working this story. what's going on? >> wolf, it started earlier today when fox news online reported the name of this navy s.e.a.l. commando. many say it is a name that never should have been disclosed to the public. associated press is reporting the name, cnn is not doing so at the request of the pentagon, which is citing concern about the security of the other s.e.a.l. team members. ap said they weren't asked to withhold the name. the question is what's in the

book? the book called "no easy day." firsthand account of the mission that killed osama bin laden. the author calls himself ma mark owen, a fake name he picked. the former s.e.a.l. was on the raid according to penalty gone officials. his publisher says his account includes the stealth helicopter crash that could have killed the author and his teammates. it already set off a fire storm even before the september 11th publication date. >> he has no right to make public details of that raid and the operational information that is necessary in order to do that without getting approval. >> penalty gone officials say the s.e.a.l. did not submit the book for security review. now they urgently want to read it. he left the navy in april, but could be subject to criminal prosecution. the pentagon is asking cnn not to disclose the s.e.a.l.'s real name and cnn is not doing so.

the worry, other s.e.a.l.s on the raid could then be identified through social media links like facebook. the 36-year-old chief petty officer is a highly decorated commando, five bronze stars with a special combat designation. a purple heart, after being wounded, leading others under fire at least seven times. but since the 2011 bin laden raid, controversy over how much information has gotten out. wolf blitzer recently asked a four star head of special operations command about unauthorized leaks. >> i mean, are people effected by information that comes out? you bet. are lives at risk? absolutely. >> but with a new book written by a s.e.a.l., it may be awkward for a group of former operatives criticizing the white house for leaking. >> we're upset about the amount, unprecedented amount of leaks that have come out past couple years as well as

overpoliticizing of the raid, absolutely. >> now, i have to tell you, i have spoken today to a number of officers and troops in the special operations community and they have one clear message. they say the names should not be out there, it should be withheld at this point. there are security concerns, they insist, and they say there are plenty of other navy and army commandoes on the front line, risking it all, not becoming famous. wolf? >> barbara starr, thanks very much. we will continue to watch this. a dangerous thrill gaining popularity and putting innocent lives at risk. the capital one cash rewards card

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it is dangerous, thrilling, could be a recipe for disaster. muhammad jamjoon looks at thrill rides. >> reporter: in the saudi desert, thrill seekers gather. cars skid and spin. it is called drifting and originated in japan before seeping into the mainstream in films like "the fast and furious tokyo drift." drifting reckless and often dangerous was celebrated by pop star mia for bad girls filmed in morocco. ♪ in saudi arabia where many forms of public entertainment are banned, it is a rare outlet for young men. their exploits captured on countless amateur videos. most of the time, the streets are empty.

sometimes the drivers weave man eye cli through traffic, here narrowly missing a school bus. joy riders go out of control, crashing in horrific fashion. in this video, two passengers are ejected. it is unknown if they lived. the authorities are beginning to clamp down on the high risk adrenaline rush. drifting has been gaining in popularity in the uae. in the past few years, some drivers have gun to promote it as a sport, saying it can be done in a much safer way. >> here we go. >> reporter: this is the 2012 drift champion. >> this doesn't get old for you. you love this. >> my life always, i like my

life to be sideways. >> reporter: he learned the technique in japan and now competes as part of toyota emirates drifting team. he takes me around the track a few times. >> what you are looking for to do it in public street? maybe some of our family members on that street, maybe you can kill them. for what? for nothing? for few seconds of enjoyment? come and enjoy this forever. >> reporter: drifting can be done safely with the right precautions. >> how to set up the car, how you make your car a safety car when drifting, the roll cage, seats, suits, helmet. >> reporter: for some young men, restless and bored, drifting with rules may not be enough. being beyond the law, showing off and cheating death is what gives them the high octane thrill.

muhammad jamjoon, cnn. happening now, florida and the republican convention brace for isaac and worst case hurricane scenario. the storm closing in on haiti now where hundreds of thousands of homeless from the country's last disaster. plus, anarchists threatening to target the republican convention in tampa, possibly with homemade bombs. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." all eyes on isaac right now, the tropical storm churning through the caribbean. the latest forecast is cause for concern for millions of americans. the national weather service calls for the storm to gain strength and become a category one hurricane as it closes in on

the u.s. mainland. florida governor rick scott is starting a press conference which we are monitoring. we're going to bring you the headlines in a moment. certainly tampa in florida lies in the storm's potential strike zone, as that city prepares to host the republican national convention. let's bring in brian todd in tampa for us. brian, what are you seeing, what's going on in tampa? >> reporter: a lot of preparation, wolf, monitoring. most of the models have isaac moving pretty far west of here, but even if it does, whether it is a hurricane or tropical storm, it could cause some problems here for the convention just because of the residual rain and wind that could occur here. it is low lying, surrounded by water, and plenty vulnerable. the city of tampa is about to have tens of thousands of visitors downtown, and one of them might be isaac, whether it is a tropical storm, a hurricane, or an outer band of

either. from the water, what's the worst case for storm surge in a place like this? >> perfect category five would produce 30 feet of surge, about the level of the first strip of blue tiles. >> reporter: dan noah, a meteorologist with national weather service says it probably won't happen with this storm. the area of the city where the republican convention is held is in danger of storm surge, no matter what isaac brings. the mayor is preparing to issue evacuation orders for downtown tampa if the storm brings any force, but only after consulting with law enforcement, state and federal authorities, and republican party officials. for their part. >> no, there's no such thing as cancelling. as i said, we have continued to plan. the first priority is the safety of the people that are here in tampa bay, both visitors and residents. >> reporter: but evacuating tampa while the convention is under way has specific challenges. because tampa may mott have enough hotel space to house the 50,000 or so extra coming for the convention, many that attend are staying on the beach areas

and in places maybe like clearwater, across the bay and st. pete to the south. best way to get in and out of tampa from those places are these causeways and bridges here. the problem is when hurricane and tropical storm winds hit, these are among the first roads shut down. the florida governor said residents should get three days of supplies. dan noah is concerned about out of town visitors moving build to building through the storm, whatever the strength. >> one thing about tampa bay, once water gets in the bay, it piles up. some of the biggest storm surges occur right here. >> reporter: another major concern is having enough law enforcement officers here to work the convention. many of those law enforcement personnel scheduled to be here are coming from out of town, so they may be effected by the storm, whether they have to stay and serve in home jurisdictions or whether they may be marooned somehow, wolf.

>> thank you. our severe weather expert chad myers is tracking isaac in the cnn hurricane headquarters. a new advisory is up. what's the latest, chad? >> the latest it shifted a little farther to the west of tampa. again, about 105 miles now if you look at the line, don't look at the line, line, if you know what i mean, we're not supposed to pay attention to the line, it is just the center of the forecast, not really the only place it could go. it could be here in the atlantic or all the way here in the gulf of mexico. there is the 105 miles away. think about it. this is a category one, maybe category two hurricane. 100 miles from the center of that is not far enough away to not get damage. there would certainly be damage in tampa. then, wolf, when this storm is there, then the wind is going to be like this. that's the surge, almost like a back side surge. that's the surge that dan noah there in that package was worried about when the water is pushed onto shore, it funnels

into tampa and right up into the middle of the city, right into the exact same place that they were standing. our next problem will be haiti from where we are now to where we are in haiti, that will be tomorrow night. let me show you why that's such a problem. here is the country of haiti. if you haven't looked at google earth over haiti, i recommend you do. then count your blessings. take a look, fly into port-au-prince. i want you to look at all of the tents that literally are people's homes. when the earth shook two-and-a-half years ago, this town crumbled, rocks, stones, concrete, crumbled. every one of those dots are tents. there are hundreds of thousands of tents all over the city. this is a large tent city. every little dot somebody's home, somebody's possessions, the life of these people are in canvas and plastic, literally blue tarps everywhere. now think about that with 80 miles per hour winds through port-au-prince. that will get ugly quickly,

wolf. >> the advice you have for folks watching, say in florida right now, is it too early for them to start making preparations? i suspect it is too early for evacuations, but what advice do you have, chad? >> today is the day to make a plan. if you don't have a plan, you need to get one. you should have already had one. make an a, b, c, d list. if we have to get out, what should we take, where are the papers. where are the pets, where are we putting them, is the car full of gas. that's the stuff to think about today. then tomorrow if you start getting into this cone of more certainty rather than uncertainty, then you need to start putting that plan into action. start taking things away, out of your pool area, throw the lawn chairs in the pool. sounds weird. if the lawn chairs are in the pool, they don't fly around. bring everything else inside, get your home, apartment, kids, pets prepared to evacuate. it is a long trip to get out of

the way in key west. that's a one for a hurricane, but this has a chance to be a much bigger hurricane than a one. >> good advice from chad as he always gives us. thanks very, very much. let's find out more, kate. what's going on in haiti now? i am really worried about the people, hundreds of thousands of them intent cities. >> exactly, wolf. haiti is a big concern always when talking about weather conditions because of the situation that happened two years ago especially. right now, as chad mentioned, hundreds of thousands of still homeless from the country's last natural disaster, that massive earthquake two years ago. gary tuchman is in port-au-prince. there you are. you're in the middle of a tent city. what are residents telling you, how concerned are they about the storm headed their way? >> reporter: here is the amazing thing. i am standing here with five of the 400,000 that have been

homeless the last two-and-a-half years from the great earthquake from january 12th, 2010. they don't understand english. we had an interpreter talk to them before, they had no clue that a tropical storm named isaac was on the way to haiti. this area here is called ecar. it is a neighborhood in port-au-prince. there are about a thousand families that live in this tent city. it is delap dated tin homes. have been here 955 days since the earthquake. 300,000 died on january 12th. there's great concern that if a tropical storm or hurricane comes to port-au-prince, what happens to the 400,000 people that still live in these places. what we're finding is this. they don't even know what's happening and most aren't planning on going anywhere. there are shelters in this country, police stations, churches, people are there, but

these folks are afraid to leave their home because if they evacuate the homes, they're afraid they can't come back to them, never mind the fact if a tropical storm or hurricane hits, these spots will be gone. these are mud slides, many were killed in the storms. 300,000 killed, we wish the best for the folks. it is hard to say to go because realistically they can't take everything and go to small shelters. you don't know what to do. you feel helpless as a reporter. that's what's happening, these people are waiting it out. >> i am sure they feel helpless, just the pictures you're showing us, you can see how devastating even a heavy thunderstorm could be for them, let alone a tropical storm or category one hurricane. is there anything realistically that can be done as far as trying some sort of preparation to help them? >> reporter: i think what stands out, kate, this is the only

hurricane or tropical storm i've covered where i've seen absolutely zero preparation in the city. when you drive from the airport in port-au-prince to this neighborhood which is about a 40 minute drive, there's absolutely no indication that bad weather is on the way. i am sure in some parts of the city, wealthier parts, there is boarding up. right now, feeling the first rain drops since being here. there's absolutely no preparation in the poorer parts of port-au-prince. >> and hundreds of thousands could be hit. gary, thank you so much. other stories we are tracking this evening. health experts are giving new details of a very disturbing and mysterious illness that damages the immune system, producing symptoms like aids, even though not caused by hiv. cdc says it doesn't appear to be contagious and is not spread by a virus. majority of cases in thailand or taiwan, some reported in asians living in the u.s.

also, one year ago today that a magnitude 5.8 earthquake rocked washington, d.c. area and the washington monument. a study says the extent of damage from that kind of quake is unlikely to occur more than once in 2400 years. the national cathedral also suffered serious quake damage and repair work began with the blessing of laying of a decorative stone today. pretty amazing view from on top. you and i both remember that day. they did say the latest projection was the washington monument may not be reopened through 2013 or into 2014. >> i remember. sitting at my desk on the eighth floor of this building, and all of a sudden, we started swaying. >> i ran out, you stuck it out doing live shots. >> i stayed awhile, then we got out. it was scary. >> it was. preparing for a major convention in a possible hurricane. tampa mayor is working around the clock. will take a few minutes out to talk about what's going on. and new polls from critical

battle ground states that could decide who the next president of the united states will be at the bottom of the hour. at 22 past, details of a texas judge, not making this up, really elected texas judge talking about civil war in the united states if president obama is reelected. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possible. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones.

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experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. we are tracking tropical storm isaac as it heads towards florida, so is the tampa bay mayor, bob buckhorn, bracing as the city prepares to welcome 50,000 to the republican national convention. the mayor joins us now. mayor, first of all, governor rick scott was in "the situation room" earlier. i want you to listen to what he said about your city. >> tampa is open for business. we're going to have the convention. we're going to have a great

convention. tampa is ready for this. >> is he right, mayor? is your city ready for whatever happens? >> wolf, we have been preparing for this for a year and a half. we couldn't be more excited to host the rnc. we are absolutely ready. the governor is dead on right. we're going to have a great show starting sunday night at the tropicana, and opening ceremonies monday. isaac is just a distraction. >> what happens if isaac moves up the coast and starts to blow water into tampa bay? we've all seen the diagrams, potentially what could happen? how worried are you about that? >> not particularly worried. i was on a conference call with the governor about an hour ago with all of the emergency management officials, national weather service. the track looks good for tampa. looks like it is moving west, looks like it is heading into the gulf. it is only a category one storm or perhaps a tropical storm. there would not be much storm surge if the current track continues. there might be a little wind and

rain, might occur monday. it appears to be a fast moving storm, done by tuesday, out into gulf of mexico, and tuesday, wednesday, thursday of the convention will absolutely be fine. >> i am heading down there myself, i am one of the 50,000 heading to your beautiful city. who would make the final call if there is a need, and certainly hope there isn't, if there is need for alternate changes or evacuation of sorts, who makes that decision? >> well, there's multiple decision points and multiple decision makers. as relates to the republican national convention, that's internal to rnc. they will make that decision. they have a process in place. they have to get a nominee out of this event. i am sure they have taken precautions, thought of every scenario. as relates to tampa proper, that's my jurisdiction, that would be my call as regard to an evacuation. the governor on his end would look at a state of emergency for the effected areas. but the decision to actually evacuate would be made in

conjunction with all of the partners. and we have been working hand in hand, wolf, for a year and a half. we will not make a decision without all our other partners having the same information, in all likelihood at the same table at the same time. >> what are you telling the residents of tampa, what should they be doing, if anything? >> when you're a floridian, you go through this every summer. go through a half dozen of these in the course of a year alone. we tell them to take precautions, do what they always do, look at their hurricane plan, be sure they're stocked up. we don't think there will be evacuation. we really don't think this storm will have much of an impact, but we need to train every year all the time in the event that something really catastrophic does happen. our residents are used to it, but we always remind them every time we get one of these occurrences. >> especially the older residents, the most vulnerable. mayor, see you in tampa over the weekend. thanks so much. good luck. >> thanks, wolf. >> i know it is a little worrying. i know the mayor is trying to

put the best foot forward, i'm a little worried. >> they're taking precautions, just have to track it and watch it. we are tracking it through the show. there's another threat facing the republican national convention, anarchists, threatening mayhem and possibly use homemade bombs. more on that coming up at 40 past the hour. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco. ♪

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here is a quick look at some of the stories trending now on cnn.com. an iowa archer is going for gold at the paraolympic games. he was born without arms, can use parts of his nose, mouth and chin to help him shoot the bow.

truly amazing. the opening ceremony is next week. he has his first shot at a gold medal on labor day. good luck to him. a new milestone for nasa's commercial space administrator announcing a finalized agreement with space exploration technology, also known as spa x spacex, supposed to launch the first of 12 flights of cargo to the space station in october. they also announced progress towards the launch of astronauts in the u.s. soil in the next five years. watching that closely. don't want to miss this one. texas democrats call for resignation of republican elected county judge that warned this week the country could descend into civil war if president obama is reelected. >> what do you think he is going to do if he gets in next term? >> he is going to hand over

sovereignty of the united states to the u.n. thinking worst case scenario. civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war, not talking a few riots and demonstrations, we are talking lexington, concorde, take up arms and get rid of the guy. >> there's no recall process for that texas office. the county's republican party chief says he does not agree with the judge, but he is entitled to his own opinion. >> that's sick, sick thought. what is he thinking? >> it was amazingly strong. >> he has been elected? >> he said he talked to the sheriff, and sheriff told him he has his back, but the sheriff says he had no conversation like that. >> thank you. the embattled congressman todd akin is in tampa but not for the republican convention. he is huddling with social conservatives, assessing his campaign in missouri. what advice do they have for him? so our test flights are less stressful.

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help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. happening now, race for the white house state by state, we have new poll numbers. and a warning of anarchists possibly planning to bomb the republican convention. and hundreds of thousands with virtually no shelter, exposed to the storm as isaac closes in. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room".

president obama is leading mitt romney sometimes narrowly in three critical battleground states according to a new poll. "the new york times," quinnipiac survey has him three points ahead in florida, two points ahead in wisconsin. let's talk about what's going on with cnn senior congressional correspondent dana bash and ron bronstein, editorial director of the journal. what should we take away from key battleground states? >> first of all, if obama wins ohio or florida, he is a favorite to win. the fact he's ahead is good news. the other thing that's good about the polls is the consistency how the demographic groups are. last round of those polls, once again, centrality in democratic coalition of college educate white women, tend to be socially liberal, tend to be effected by what's going on in missouri. 54 in wisconsin, 57 in ohio,

better than any other group of whites. that and the minority vote staying in his corner 4 to 1 is the margin putting him ahead in these places and nationally as well. >> dana, what do you take away, the wisconsin number, 49, 47, this is paul ryan's home state. what do you take away from that. it is close. >> this is the latest of many polls, that show it effectively within the margin of error. i was in wisconsin for the recall effort, even before paul ryan was on the ticket, they were very excited because everything was ahead of schedule in terms of the ground game. 25 offices up six months before in the past, and now that of course paul ryan is on the ticket, they feel they're in better position. remember, presidential candidate has not won on the republican side since ronald reagan in almost three decades. been blue since '84, for a long time. locally has been trending red. the amount of energy there on the republican side, vis-a-vis

scott walker, you can't underestimate that, and put paul ryan on top of that, it is really good. >> wisconsin's natural condition is to be close. obama won it big last time. most of the previous wins were nail biters. wisconsin, ohio, michigan are anomali anomalies. part of what's happening in the democratic party is losing grounds with white, blue collar workers. michigan, ohio, wisconsin, they do better than other areas of the country with those voters. that's why they're competitive there. it is defying gravity. look at obama's numbers nationally, nbc, "the wall street journal" poll, down to 35% in blue collar white men, 34% in blue collar white women. in those states, he does better enough to stay competitive. stay ahead. >> one last point, talking about the map when it comes to obama, if you flip it around, obama officials say if they don't win wisconsin, it is difficult looking at the map to get the votes they need. >> republicans won it, todd

akin, assuming he stays in, who knows if he drops out, is that state realistically a battleground state? >> i don't see any way for obama to compete in that state. classic place, heavily blue collar electorate. very difficult for obama. the overall story of 2012 to me is the groups obama won in 2012 by and large are sticking with him, but groups that resisted him first time, blue collar whites, college men, white college seniors move further from him. states like missouri where there are a lot of voters get much tougher. >> dana, you have been following the fallout of todd akin's comments, he raised a lot of money since the scandal vote. it is counter intuitive of the pile on effect of top party leaders, mitt romney saying it is time for him to step down. now you're seeing conservative voices stepping out to say he is

getting a bad rap. we have some ralph reed. >> there are certainly social conservatives that feel he has gotten a bum rap, that there's been a rush to judgment, and that he's apologized and ought to be given adequate opportunity to see if he can mount a campaign. >> so did this rush to pile on, push him out, is this going to back fire? >> it will with some social conservatives. ralph reed is in tampa for a secretive meeting, two day conference of social conservatives, council for national policy, like fight club. if you're in fight club, you don't talk about it. it is like that, very secretive. a number of people are down there, talked to some of them secretively, they say there's a split internally. todd akin is there now with them and trying to gauge support among them. from what we heard, he's getting different points of view. lot of members saying stay in, it is important for our movement. >> this just coming in, share with dana, senior congressional

producer deirdre walsh reports u.s. capitol police are working with the fbi on a reported threat against congressman todd akin, according to a u.s. capitol police spokeswoman. the spokeswoman says it is an active, open investigation. she declined to say more, citing a policy discussing the security of members of congress. that's a late-breaking development. >> that is. unfortunately, it is the times that we live in during the time of gabrielle giffords and other concerns. most members of congress are like us, walk around without security. in this situation -- >> getting ready to head to tampa, hope isaac stays away from tampa. >> no one wants isaac. >> by the way, you can experience what it is like to be at the republican national convention. tuesday, i am hosting a round table with cnn's political team. submit your questions and get

answers in real time. join our live virtual chat tuesday, noon eastern, log onto cnn.com/roundtable and get all the information. republicans are days away from the national convention in tampa and the weather isn't the only serious threat they face. up next, anarchists, yes, anarchists are making plans to disrupt the party, some violent plans. and later, bracing for a tropical storm. we're going to show you what it takes to withstand the strong winds expected to bear down on haiti and the gulf coast. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america

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concerns about security at next week's republican

convention in tampa are growing, with federal officials warning that anarchists may target the gathering, possibly with homemade bombs. cnn's jill dougherty is working the story. what are you finding out? >> reporter: wolf, you know at these conventions there are always demonstrators. what they're talking about is a and archist extremists. most are peaceful, but they're warning local and state officials about to be on the lookout for anarchists and extremists that may be purchasing explosives material that could be used for bombs, or for anybody who might be obtaining firearms training. these are the things they're watching for. >> greetings world, we are anonymous. all of us have carefully prepared to face our

authoritarian, for well over a year now. >> reporter: extremist groups posted videos on youtube, threatening to shut down the republican national convention in tampa, florida. >> republican national convention august 27, 2012 is the day we take our battle to the streets of tampa. >> reporter: authorities are taking the threats seriously. in an intelligence bulletin obtained by cnn, the fbi and department of homeland security warned state and local law enforcement that anarchists are targeting the democratic national convention in charlotte, north carolina, too, and could even try to use improvised explosive devices, ieds, the type of homemade bombs insurgents use in afghanistan. the bulletin says since march, the fbi has had intelligence indicating that individuals from new york planned to travel to tampa and attempt to close all

of the tampa bay area bridges during the convention next week. the groups are likely to focus on critical infrastructure outside the security perimeter, the bulletin says, because they expect the main venue to be tightly controlled. extremists have a history of trying to disrupt major events, like the g-20 meeting in pittsburgh in 2009. using tactics like blocking streets, intersections and bridges, and sparking violent confrontations with police. >> our mission is to ensure everyone has a safe platform on which to express themselves. >> reporter: thursday, in an undisclosed location, the secret service showed the multi agency center where law enforcement officials coordinate to keep tampa safe during the convention. extremists claim they're ready, too. >> you have an opportunity to fight back at the republican national convention. how you fight back is up to you.

>> reporter: a law enforcement official tells cnn there's no specific threat at the conventions, and also they're not looking at any specific individuals, any specific anarchists who they think may be trying to plot some type of attack. they say they have to be prepared, cite the lessons learned after the republican convention four years ago, and cite this alleged and archist plot this spring that was supposed to blow up a bridge near cleveland and there were arrests in that case. wolf? >> jill dougherty, thanks very much. i asked the tampa mayor about the and archist threat. here is what he had to say. >> we know who they are, we know their tactics. we were in chicago a couple of weeks ago. there will be a very, very small minority intent on trying to disrupt this event, but we're going to have 4,000 law enforcement personnel deployed on the streets and we're going to take them out. i mean, we're not going to tolerate the shenanigans in seattle or minneapolis, saint

paul. >> rick scott said he will call out the national guard if necessary to keep the peace at the republican convention. we will be watching that closely. america's highest profile catholic official, cardinal timothy dolan is picked to deliver closing prayer at the republican convention. one of the stories erin burnett takes outfront later. tell the viewers what's coming up top of the hour. >> wolf, we looked through this. why cardinal timothy dolan. you now have a catholic vp. but this is significant, you know, at the convention to say we're going to have a catholic priest give the benediction and have a mormon also offer a prayer. why is mitt romney doing it? well, there's a real interesting statistic here, wolf, that is catholics. second biggest religious group of the united states of america and the group that could decide who goes to the white house. numbers are pretty stunning, we have broken it do you know how crucial it is. we have a panel of catholics, all people included, even the moderator are catholics. we get to the bottom of that.

and plus, molly ringwald, master or mistress of reinvention. interesting words for barack obama, how she supported him for president in 2008. >> we will be watching top of the hour. erin, thanks very much. always a good show. >> always has a good show. i look forward to it top of the hour. coming up, deadly misconceptions about hurricane force winds. we'll show you why people that choose to write off the storms are risking their lives coming up.

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preparations for republican national convention in tampa include preparing for a possible hit by a storm that could become hurricane isaac.

walking outside of the convention is a concern. they have to deal with powerful winds potentially. john ser i will ooh gives us a taste. >> reporter: there i am battling the wind and water last year in hurricane irene. looks pretty bad, doesn't it? the problem is sometimes our perceptions of a storm's strength are different from reality, and that can lead to injuries and death. >> what we're actually doing here is we're creating a little constructive unease, and that unease is going to propel people to do something differently. >> reporter: university of florida and federal alliance for safe homes teamed up to try and understand how people perceive wind, rain, and water. >> are you ready? >> yes. >> you're sure? >> yes. >> don't want to call this off? >> no.

>> all right. it is your funeral. >> reporter: standing on a wooden platform, university student volunteers are strapped into harnesses on top of a wooden platform. then giant turbines are turned on. they're blasted with six different wind speeds up to are different wind speeds, up to 100 miles an hour. sometimes they are hit with wind and water. they hand signal their wind guesstima guesstimates to a researcher. >> the highest i estimated was 85 miles an hour. >> how fast it really was? >> how fast? >> 60. >> reporter: researchers say they are accurate the at the lower wind speed. but most overestimate the higher speeds. >> it's part of the humans not having the experience with these types of winds. >> reporter: researchers say that people with prior tropical storm of hurricane experience

are better estimators of wind speed. the problem is, most people have never been through one. >> reporter: and that is really the truth. i got in that wind machine, and wolf, you remember after i did the piece the last time. and they cranked the winds up to 100 for me. when you are in that, it's a sustained wind of 100. coming at you and coming at you relentlessly. in a storm, when you are in storm that strong, it gusts that prong and lays down and gusts again. unless you are in a core, right at the center, you continue really experience the sustained winds of 100 miles an hour. wolf, kate. >> that would be a category one. >> if i remember, john czar really l.a. did accurately guess the winds speeds.

>> he did. he is a professional. >> floridians are no strangers to storms. 20r78 is the 20th anniversary of andrew. how worried are people about isaac, do you think? >> that is in the back of their minds. and if it wasn't forrer isaac there are events to mark 20 year. because it literally changeded the entire face of south miami, hurricane andrew and mike dade county. and people yesterday, scrambling to buy batteries, flashlights, fly wood for their homes, well in advance of what they usually do. and lot of that is because so much talk has been given to the fablgt that 20 years ago, andrew, only the third category 5 hurricane in recorded history to strike the united states, hit south miami. and it was certainly a wake-up

call, that storm as far as building codes and preparations for hurricanes. >> so devastating. that is why we use the line better safe than sorry. >> i remember andrew 20 years ago. >> john zarrella, thank you. still coming up, move over remote, apparently. there is a button that could change the way you watch tv. that is jeanne moos up next. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco. you want to make sure it goes up and stays up. [ chirp ] with android apps, you get better quality control. so our test flights are less stressful. i've got a lot of paperwork, and time is everything here.

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your body needs. oh, yeah! wow. once you experience it, there's no going back. at our biggest sale of the year, every bed is on sale. queen mattresses now start at just $599. and save an incredible 40% on our silver limited edition bed. only at one place: one of our 400 sleep number stores. we have certainly all been there, scrounging for the remote to hit the mute button when that same annoying ad coming on, if only it was easier to find. but one company has found a new way and a new button to help.

here is jeanne moos. >> reporter: when you are desperate to make the tv shut up. when you are in a rush to get rid of rich. >> it's barack hussein kardashian. >> reporter: when you are sick of snooki, no longer do you have to fumble for that tiny mute button you can never mind. >> put zip back in your love life. >> reporter:er introducing, smash mute. >> you can't miss the mute button. it's 200 times larger than your average mute button. >> reporter: the creator calls it a mute button with attitude. >> when you find it, it's like, excuse me, will you please discontinue speaking up. this is more from the gut. shut the -- you know. >> reporter: smash mute may be the political novelty of 2012 to

do with the president suggested. >> most of what you hear, you can just go mute. >> reporter: mute you and you too. the button is selling on the smash mute website for 25 bucks. it's easy to program by pointing it at your regular remote as if they are mating. perfect for michael moore. >> for me to come on here and have to listen to some of that crap -- >> reporter: good-bye, michael. >> we have a president a that doesn't give a damnink inconveniencing people. >> you're fired. >> reporter: it's going after the dog demographic. it's maker says smash mute was designed with those erectile

dysfunction commercials are on. >> when the time is right. >> reporter: but there are so many moments when the time-out is right. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> you know, our executive producer said she would like one of those for real people, real time, not just television. >> nothing though to say with how much she loves hearing us talk. i would never mute you, wolf. >> you can mute me if you want. >> would you -- >> no mute. we have to finish the show. >> we are counting down to the republican national convention in tampa. i will be in tampa heading up the coverage. i will be joined by anderson cooper, erin burnett and john king for coverage you won't find any where