[ both ] ♪ emma, emma bo-bemma ♪ banana-fana-fo-femma ♪ fee-fi-fo-femma ♪ em-ma very good sweety, how do you feel? good. yeah? you did a really good job, okay? [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson. welcome back. i'm brooke baldwin live from the cnn grill in tampa, florida, the 2012 republican convention. i give you republican chairman one hour ago. >> the republican national convention has directed that the 2012 republican national convention be held in tampa, florida starting at 2:00 p.m. on the 27th day of august 2012.

it's my privilege to proclaim the 2012 republican national convention in session and call to order. [ applause ] the share announces pursuant to clause 12 of the rules of the the house of representatives, the 2012 republican national convention stands in recess subject to the call of the chair. >> there you have it. gaveling the convention to order and call for a recess. they will convene tomorrow. as you know by now the big storm

in the gulf has delayed things by day. chairman did unveil this debt clock. the first attracts the amount of debt from the start of this convention. it's to illustrate the unprecedented recklessness of the obama administration. tropical storm isaac is expected to be a strong category one hurricane when it makes landfall. the gulf coast in a really all too familiar mode bracing for this hurricane high pressure chad meyers is in the severe weather center. first, someone who has just flown through this storm. i want to bring in the weather officer with the hurricane

hunters. it's a unit of the air force reserves that gathers information. they go inside these storm systems. nicole, i want you to explain to me what it is you do as you and your teams are flying through these storms. why are you doing it? what are you looking for? >> besides the fact that we're crazy. >> maybe. >> we're looking for -- the hurricane center has satellites and different forms of data and all that stuff but you don't always have a lot of data over water. we fly by the storms and collect all that information, wind, temperatures, pressures. things like the pressure. if the pressure is going down or the wind going up. we fly right inside the storm. it gives a feel of how large the storm is. how far out the damaging winds go. all of that goes back to the

hurricane center and helps improve their forecast and ultimately protect the people that are going to be in the path of these storms. >> i'm sure folks like chad meyers, i think you're here listening, you rely on information. >> absolutely. >> and show our viewers what to expect. >> i look at these atlantic, rekcon messages. we just found a 76 miles per hour wind in the storm which means it's going to be hurricane soon. nicole, what did you see with this storm that's changed that's better organized or less organized? what was your personal experience? >> our experience, and we were happy to see it during our flight was the flight from the lovely hours of 2:00 a.m. central time until about noon. at least during that period of time it was pretty much holding steady pressure wide.

it was a slight drop in the pressure on our observation. the plane after us would have followed us up whether it was a trend. now you're saying there's high ere winds. we also saw the winds being pretty steady. for us it was nice. it wasn't intensifying at that time or wasn't intensifying very much. the longer we with keep this a tropical storm the better. there's already another plane in there. they found higher winds. as one lane leaves another is going in. we're already lined up. we're going to be in here nonstop until this makes landfall. >> we appreciate your doing that nicole even if it's 2:00 in the morning. remember talking to you during irerene last year. thank you. coming up, we want to shift

focus to northerly where we have brian todd standing by. they will be marking the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina. that's wednesday. $11 billion has been spent strengthening all those levees that failed back in 2005. how confident are folks who you're talking to in new orleans that they will do their job. >> well, brooke, the mayor acknowledge there's a lot of anxiety because of the track of the storm and approaching the almost identical angle. they are trying to reassure people there will is a much different situation. this is the 17th street canal levee and pumping station. look at those massive pumps.

none of this was here. the infrastructure here, the levee system here much different, much more equipped to handle a storm like this. >> quite ironic we have a hurricane that's threat tennesseeing us on the seventh anniversary of katrina. it's worth noting that brings a high level of anxiety to the people of new orleans. i want to assure you all that there is nothing that this storm is going to bring us that we do not believe that we are prepared to handle. >> the mayor and others are quoting the figure that you mentioned in our lead in here that at least 10 and close to maybe 11 brlds of the $14 billion that were allocated to

improvement, at least $10 billion of that $14 billion have been spent to upgrade these areas here so they are reassuring people that the infrastructure is much better equipped to handle it and pointing out this storm is not expected to be as strong as katrina. they are ordering some evacuations. the mayor is not ordering anyone in new orleans proper to be evacuated. that could change. he is saying that some of the residents do need to think ant leaving. we'll keep monitoring that for you. thank you. back here in tampa all eyes on the storm and politics including mitt romney. a closer look at how the presidential candidate and his

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mitt romney's wife ann will be speaking tomorrow night. we also learned that she is now getting secret service protection. that's what's coming out here. her spokeswoman confirms that the security detail began back on friday. a defining moment in ann romney's life and her husband's life. in this interview she opened up about the fight. she opened up about the husband and showed a side of her husband that americans don't always get to see. >> reporter: it was just before thanksgiving 1998. >> she began to see some numbness on her right side. it began spreading. she was having more difficulty getting upstairs. >> reporter: romney's life was about to take an up expected and unhappy return. >> we went to his office. he performed an examine nation and it was clear she was flunking.

she couldn't stand on her right foot without falling over. he stepped out. she began to cry. i welled up tears as well. we hugged each other and she said something is wrong. >> reporter: at age 49 ann romney was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an incurable disease that can shut down the central nervous system. >> you don't know how much is it going to chew me up and when it is going to spit me out. how sick am i going to get? is this going to be progressive? it's a very, very frightening place to be. >> i know ann was really distraught and distressed with the diagnosis as time went on because she was really ill for quite a while. >> i was very a very, very hard time and was very depressed and had kind of given up. >> it was a tough moment for both of them. it was interesting to see the way he treated her as they went

through that, very caring, very loving. very frustrating not to be able to step in and fix it. they drew him closer. >> he could curl up in the bed with me. >> you want to take a minute. >> you just knew that's where he was. he was going to do anything he could to say i'm here. you're okay. just stay right there and we'll be okay. >> i want to bring in gloria borger. just hearing romney speaking. that was '98 when she found out about m.s. and it's very emotional for them. it's a side of them or a side of mitt romney we don't always see. >> in talking to people

throughout his life, particularly people he worked with at the olympics after she was diagnosed it's very clear this was a really, really difficult for them. what tagg was tearing about is the question i asked is your father's a fix it guy. tagg said he couldn't fix it. that was very difficult for them. ann romney talks about this as if it happened yesterday. in an interesting way so does mitt romney because it stays with her. it's still a struggle she has every day. she had a relapse after super tuesday and collapsed. >> you see this side of them. there was a washington post poll out in terms of females that the gender gap between the president and mitt romney is six. the president is up six.

i was talking to margaret hoover and said it's so key hearing ann romney speak tomorrow night. it's ann romney who can truly, can i use the word humanize? >> yeah. >> humanize mitt romney. >> people want someone to fix the economy but voting for president is a personal vote. you have to be able to trust that person. yes it's about mr. fix it but being an efficiency expert is not good enough. this is the person about making the decision about sending your kids to war, the future of our country. not only the economy, which is large part of it. i think the dam pain has taken a look at mitt romney's li likeability numbers which are under water and people have to like him if they're going to vote for him. women, of course, but generally people have to feel like they trust you and like you.

>> it will be interesting to see how he capitalizes on showing that sliver of his personality. >> he's a private guy. >> you can tell he's cautious. we'll see thursday night. thank you very much. tonight, the special in-depth look at mitt romney. romney ve vealed. it airs at 8:00 eastern. only here on cnn. what does the tea party think about presidential candidate mitt romney? will tea partiers embrace him? ♪ (train horn)

vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

president obama will not be taking the traditional time off during his rival's party convention. he is heading out to colorado, iowa and virginia over the course of the next two days. everyone agrees the states are crucial when it comes to victory november 6th. joe biden was supposed to be in tampa today campaigning but he cancelled those plans because of tropical storm isaac.

a new cnn orc polls the economy remains the president's weak link when it comes to voters. mitt romney leading 50% to 46%. the president leads romney on range of other issues. amy, welcome. nice to meet you. let's again with mitt romney. is he acceptably conservative for you? >> this is our ticket. he is our presidential nominee. paul ryan is our v.p. nominee. we have one opportunity to defeat barack obama and make him a one term president. >> do you say that because it's your only choice and you wished it was something else? >> we went through the no, ma'am ma

nominating process. everybody needs to rally around him. if you compare him and paul ryan to president obama and vice president biden, he's absolutely conservative. >> how about this? do you trust mitt romney? >> yeah. it showed he understands the problems we're facing when he picked paul ryan as his v.p. it was very courageous. i think it was a brilliant move. paul ryan understands the situation we're this financially. i don't know anything else out there that would have the courage to step forward and put plan together and do what paul ryan's done. >> i have to you about todd akin. he made some remarks when it came to rape. i know a lot of republicans were pushing him to stay aside. he's a member of the tea party

caucus. do you support him? >> we called on him to get out of the race. we didn't agree with what he said. it wasn't just misspeaking. believed in what he said and it was wrong. that's not what we need to be focused on. as you've seen they're using it and going to run with it. we can't afford to not take back the senate and we can't afford to not defeat president obama. >> what would you say to him? >> i've already communicated to him but it's no secret how we feel. we were one of the first ones to call on him to get out of the race. >> get out. some gop elders have spoken out and have talked about the tea party influence on the republican party and specifically i want to read you something that dan quayle said. he said they're posed to

anything that is perceived as being any kind of establishment that is conservative. he said ha is craziness. this is bob dole. there's this undercurrent of rigid on kerve schism where you don't dare not tow the line. what do you say about that? >> i completely disagree with them. i would say that they're living in the bubble in washington, d.c. and have no clue what the p tea party movement is about. if you look at what scott walker did in wisconsin, they knew they had a serious problem and did what was necessary to fix it. they defeated that recall overwhelmingly. this movement is all about the responsibility of limited government and free markets. we don't talk about social

issues. th that's why we have democrats and independents that agree with us. that's all we're focused on. >> final quick question since i have you. now there's two debt clocks. it's the national debt clock and the debt clock ticking away the debt. folks are saying that's a nod to the tea party specifically. others would argue it's more effective to the economy saying unemployment rate instead. >> i think most of them are significant. jobs is a huge issue. when people can no longer afford to send their kids to college and pay for it or having trouble filling up their gas tanks or putting food on their table, that's when people engage and people are paying attention. they are paying attention more than ever before. it's affecting them personally. i think that's why president obama will be defeated. your own poll shows he's very

weak on the economy and that's what people will be voting on in november. >> thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. now to this. we want to know exactly what it's really like here. if you want to know what it's like to experience the republican national convention from tampa, tomorrow join the cnn election roundtable with wolf blitzer. you can submit your questions and get answers in realtime. it happens tomorrow 12:00 noon eastern time. you have to go online. go to cnn.com/roundtable. we will see you online. tropical storm isaac forces big changes here at the republican national convention. we go storm watching with republican delegates to see how they are rep preparing for isaa. all energy development comes with some risk,

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seven years to the week since hurricane katrina finds it potential bulls eye for a hurricane this time around. at some point it's expected to turn into a category one hurricane. the video shows what it did earlier. this is the florida keys beating up parts of florida's coast and now emergency officials in the u.s. are preparing for when isaac is supposed to hit tuesday night into wednesday. evacuations are in part of louisiana and alabama. mississippi shut down some islands and called in the national guard. as troops are going in folks across the gulf are getting out.

it's basically the same. i'm not taking any chances. >> isaac has already proven deadly killing six people on saturday. they have weathered the fair share of blizzards but a group of delegates from north dakota have never experienced a hurricane let alone a tropical storm and are making sure they are ready for anything. take a look. >> reporter: on the eve of what was supposed to be a full first day of the national convention, cindy is prepared for a possible storm. >> i packed a flash flight. i never packed a flashlight before. >> you packed a flashlight. you are prepared delegate. >> reporter: she's from north dakota. back home she and her state

party chairman are used to battling blizzards not tropical storms. >> just like everybody else. we watch hurricanes on tv. >> reporter: delegations from north dakota and connecticut thought they scored with this beach front property near tampa. instead all eyes are on isaac. the rnc has suspended monday's session. the governors of alabama and louisiana are staying home and florida governor rick scott cancelled his convention speaking appearance to stay on top of his official duties as the storm threatens his state. governor scott is asking floridians to help the out of towners to cope. >> make sure the delegates have information about how they should act around here because sochl them have never been around a hurricane. we dieal with these things.

>> this is the closet we try not too use too often. >> reporter: he's weathered his fair share of hurricanes. he has his guests covered. >> what are the chances you think you'll be using any of this this week? >> we'll probably go to the flashlights and maybe the rain suits. we're going a few sand bagging to protect the sand sculpttures out back. >> reporter: this north dakota delegate isn't too concerned. she thinks the storm won't detract from the convention much at all and reminds us why she's here rain or shine. >> i'm excited about the energy that comes from everyone together with the same values and the same desire to make the united states a better place.

>> she told me she's so thrilled to be in tampa whether it's three or four days at the rnc. where ever isaac may land you could be filling the impact when you fill up your gas tank. production in the gulf of mexico suspended. gas prices could be up ten cents this week. aaa says the price of gas is $3.75. to the crisis in chicago in the city's killing field. gun violence there at a new high. 37 people shot over this past weekend but police can't get anyone to talk. but they have to use special care in keeping the denture clean. dentures are very different to real teeth. they're about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. polident is designed to clean dentures daily. its unique micro-clean formula kills 99.9% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains, cleaning in a better way than brushing with toothpaste.

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being made in the fight against shootings and homicide. explain that to me given those numbers. >> reporter: he's couching it a bit and rightfully so. he is pointing out that crime is down a bit and in certain districts that have been very violent, they've gone in with a concertive effort and plan and crime is down. overall let's be honest, 27% rise in homicide so far this year through the month of august through july. once the august numbers come in, that's going to go higher. they're not happy, he's not happy and neither is the superintendent who is the new superintendent of police in chicago. >> ted, i covered crime pretty extensively for a couple of years when i lived in washington, d.c. there's a difficulty to get people to talk. there's this no snitching

mentality. i imagine it's the same in chicago. >> reporter: 80% of the nonfatal shootings, the victims are not helping the police. when the victims don't help police it's tough to take case to the district attorney. many of the hurdles they are up against. it's just staggering to think that 80% of the people that are shot aren't cooperating. >> 80%. it's a stunning number. thank you for all that you're doing and showing the efforts of police there as well working the streets this chicago. thank you, ted. tomorrow ready, not for tropical storm isaac but for rock concerts. find out why they added a weather crew to the concert tour. [ female announcer ] quaker yogurt granola bars.

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ncht as the gulf coast is bracing for isaac, a concert in texas tonight is part of the first forum music and weather. the group's tour has received a special line off from the national weather service. it's deemed the tour storm ready. take a look. >> reporter: heart thumping out door concerts have been part of the summer lifestyle for decades. recently severe weather has had a deadly impact. last summer five concert goers were killed during a cheap trip show the band barely escaped and in

indiana seven people were killed and scores injured in this frightening scene at the state fair. rock bands like linkin park are stepping up to protect their fans. >> i feel like there's a big responsibility on us to make sure that we're doing what we can to make sure the show is safe. >> reporter: they've hired a weather consultant form pinpoint a forecast specific to their stage. what do you start doing behind the scenes? >> we have meteorologist back in norman, oklahoma monitoring the show live back in norman, watching the weather and the radar and the models. >> reporter: there's a mini weather station right up on stage with the band. >> this information in conjunction with the forecasting information and potentially meteorologistist on the phone is telling me we've hit or 40 miles

per hour threshold. >> reporter: it's specific action for specific weather scenarios. they are plastered on everything. >> everybody knows what they have to do before it happens. we're not making the decision in the face of imminent threat. it's as simple as referring to your sheet. >> reporter: winds in excess of 40 miles per hour, secure the video wall. more than 60 miles per hour, everyone take shelter. >> is there any pressure to put the show on rain or shine? >> i think there's a lot of pressure to make sure you're making an informed decision about having to cancel or postpone. certainly the financial burden, safety burden. you want to be right. >> reporter: while it becomes a joint decision between the venue and the band to delay the show, linkin park is trying to set a new standard for safety. >> i think the industry is late to the game. hopefully others can follow behind the chart. ♪

>> reporter: leading the way to safe summertime fun. >> thank you for that. we are about to show you a pretty extraordinary account of syrian towns. one town in particular under siege. there's chilling pictures we'll share next. do not mix this exclusive report on cnn. so, it comes down to the people. because, bad weather the price of oil those are every airlines reality. and solutions won't come from 500 tons of metal and a paint job. they'll come from people. delta people. who made us one of the biggest airlines in the world. and then decided that wasn't enough. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪

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across syria today. that's on top of a staggering weekend total of 684. syrian rebels claim to have shot down a government helicopter. we have to preface it by saying c thrks n cannot c cnn cannot confirm the authenticity of this video. activists say 245 bodies were found in daraya over the weekend. just today cnn obtained account of life in daraya just before the neighborhood was overrun. some of the images are graphic and for safety reasons we are not naming the journalist who filed this report. it's a story you'll see only right here on cnn. >> reporter: downtown daraya, here every night the townspeople came together after nightly

prayers in celebration. i travel to daraya because i heard that nearly two months after forcing out syrian authorities the town was declaring itself free syria. the safety of those who helped me get into syria, i've promised not not to reveal my identity. after forcing out syrian government forces nearly two months ago anti-regime activists had been spending their days rebuilding the town. it was a site i'd never seen before in syria. the activists eagerly told me that they were in the next stage of their revolution. and for the first time, the free syrian army based out in the

gardens and fields on the outskirts of town even agreed to allow us to film them carrying out exercises in broad daylight. but syrian government forces were on the move. and after breaking the fast on the last day of ramadan, we began to hear mortars fall. it was relentless.

the activists told us we have to live darayya or risk being trapped. after our departure, they continued to send us these pictures of the onslaught. ♪ even as the hospital became overrun with casualties, the syrian government switched off electricity and running water. listen to the clips they sent us as they narrated the unfolding massacre, struggling to keep their voices steady. leaving the few doctors that remained to stumble in the dark. in 72 hours, activists said 100 men, women and children were killed and more than 300 wounded. and that toll continues to rise.

at first we were told they tried to bury the dead, but even funeral processions weren't safe from the shelling and the bodies had to be abandoned. after five days of bombardment, the town was eventually overrun by syrian government forces and i lost touch with the activists trapped inside. one of the last messages they did manage to send read, simply, darayya is now cursed. ♪ ♪ ♪ every mom needs a little helper. that's why i got a subaru. announcer: love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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back here live in the cnn grill which, by the way, used to be a parking garage. now it's a restaurant full of all kinds of important folks kind of coming in here on this first official unofficial day of the republican national convention. take a look and you can see folks sitting around. i know wolf blitzer is not too far away from me, high, perched high above the convention floor for a huge first night of a team political coverage. wolf, how are you? >> good, brooke. good to have you here in tampa. there's going to be several important days. you know what? we're also watching stuff that's not happening here in tampa. namely what's about to happen along the gulf coast, maybe even new orleans. we're going to have extensive coverage of this tropical storm, could turn into a hurricane by tomorrow night once the big speakers start speaking. can you imagine if there has to

be split screen coverage of a hurricane hitting the gulf coast at the same time speakers here at the opening, real opening session of the republican convention? we're all over both of these stories. we're watching what's going on. we're not going to ignore other news as well including our own ressa sayah now in iran, in tehran where nuclear tensions are clearly escalating. important news coming up. good to have you, brooke, here at this republican convention. >> wolf blitzer, thank you. i'll come find you a little later. we'll watch for you and the a team reporting from the convention center. in the meantime as you mentioned we're not ignoring other stories either. hundreds of earthquakes have been rattling folks in southern california in something scientists actually call a swarm, this earthquake swarm. it's the most seismic activity in southern california since the '70s. they're expecting thousands, you heard me, thousands more quakes over the next couple of days. casey wian is in california in

the city that's apparently closest to this swarm. how strong are these earthquakes, casey? >> reporter: they're ranging in magnitude, brooke. we felt one not long ago 3.8 magnitude. it was a good, sharp jolt that you could really feel. some of them have been as strong as 5.3, even 5.5 magnitude. those are the ones that have actually done some damage. but by our account, nearly 500 er earthquakes in the last 36 hours. 60 of approximately more than 3.0 in magnitude. when we got here last night this pharmacy was an absolute mess. many of these products were completely off the shelves. i think we can show you some of the pictures of the cleanup effort. it's remarkable how much work they've been able to do. there is damage more significant you're seeing around the city. see these cracks on the wall here. those were not here before this earthquake storm. >> oh, wow. >> some of these residents in this area have actually been

displaced from their homes. here's what one woman had to say about that experience. >> freaky, crazy, scary. and very -- i don't have my house anymore. i want to come home, and i can't. >> reporter: also, today was supposed to be, brooke, the first day of school. school has been canceled for today. we don't have any idea when school is going to reopen. they are checking those buildings to make sure the structural integrity remains intact. homts have also been closed. the one hospital in town closed to nonemergency and non-icu patients. if you want to see what the biggest of these earthquakes look like firsthand, here's what one family felt. they had a camera rolling while the earthquake was actually happening yesterday afternoon. let's listen. >> oh, god. >> the house is coming down.