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newsroom." i'm suzanne malveaux. you're looking at the latest satellite image of what is now hurricane isaac, expected to make landfall as a category 1 storm tonight in louisiana. people along the gulf coast from the florida panhandle to louisiana are doing what they can to get ready for this storm. we're expecting to hear any minute now from new orleans mayor. we're going to take that live as a matter of fact. isaac is intensifying, hurricane strength within the last hour or so. president obama says response teams, supplies are ready to move in when the storm hits. he spoke at a white house meeting this morning directly addressing those who are expe expected to be in the path of that storm. >> i want to encourage all residents of the gulf coast to listen to your local officials and follow their directions. including if they tell you to evacuate. we're dealing with a big storm and there could be significant flooding and other damage across a large area. now is not the time to tempt fate. now is not the time to dismiss

official warnings. you need to take this seriously. >> i want to bring in jennifer delgato who's tracking isaac. there are a couple developments. first of all, the path of isaac. i understand you have new information about possible tornadoes. >> absolutely. this is because of hurricane isaac. we're going to start out now, suzanne, i want to let people know we have a tornado warning in place. as we walk over to our graphic here. this is going to be until 12:15 local time. of course, that's central time. we still have a little ways to go. as i show you on our radar, i will make it big for you, this is the area we're talking about. the areas under this tornado warning includes the st. tammany parish, as well as the cities of slidell, eden's isle and southwestern hancock county. this is our tornado warning area. we're going to look at a potential for this thunderstorm, of course, to produce a tornado. if you're in this region, certainly make sure you get to the lowest level of your home

and seek shelter. again, this is the cell we're talking about. still see for yourself right in that very southern part of louisiana. again, as i play this for you, make it a little bit bigger, we do have overall -- technical malfunction right now. hopefully we'll be able to pull up radar a little later on. we have a tornado watch in place for really a good part of the southeastern part of louisiana over toward the florida p panhand panhandle. here is hurricane isaac, gusts up to 85. the national hurricane center issued an advisory just last hour ago, roughly about 12:15, to let everyone know this is a category 1, the winds at 75. now, we track this for you and the big concern is it's going to be moving very slowly and as it does move slowly, we're talking about the threat for the heavy rainfall is going to be even greater. as we go through tuesday evening, notice still in the very southern part, and we're expecting it to make landfall looks like late tonight into

tomorrow morning as a category 1. but notice this is 8:00 a.m. it's still moving through parts of louisiana. there's new orleans. and as we go through really the next 48 hours the storm system is going to be moving quite slowly. weakens into a tropical storm. looks like eventually that moisture will be working into areas including the midwest bringing beneficial rainfall. as i mentioned to you, on the radar right now, we do have a tornado watch in place anywhere you're seeing in red. as the day goes on, we're going to continue to see more of those storms developing. if you look right here, also start to see some of that lightning pop up. yes, that's an indication of a strong storm developing. now, as i continue to play on with this, we talk about some of the rainfall totals. now, suzanne, we're worried about potential for inland flooding. some of these regions could be looking at rainfall totals up to 18 inches. what you're looking at in white, that's 10 or more. as i said, we could certainly see more than that. then we factor in the storm surge. when some of these locations could see waves up to 7 to 11

feet above land. so that is certainly our big concern there. the storm surge, heavy rainfall, now category 1 and now the tornado warning. that threat. that lasts until 12:15 local time, that's central time. >> jennifer, thank you so much. the president of plaquemines parish says most people listened to his warning to get out. they have evacuated. billy nungesser is with us now on the phone. first of all, thanks for joining us. i know you're very busy, that your time is valuable here. you say that folks inside the parish, their parish is outside the levee system, folks have evacuated. what is your biggest concern right now? >> well, our biggest concern is still those levees that are not in the federal system and we're trying to make sure that we keep the water behind those levees. as this storm comes ashore and brings that storm surge, we have the potential of those levees being topped. with the new federal protection, the federal government has given the new orleans area and the surrounding parishes, we were able to keep the people that we

have in shelters here in the north end of the parish. usually we bus them three or four hours away. so that has been a good thing that we don't have to take them so far from home. but we're still concerned about those levees that are not in the federal system at this time. >> if you are a resident of that area, and you are in plaquemines parish and you're not able to get out, what should you do? >> well, you should stay in place. the weather's getting pretty bad here. the wind and the rain has really picked up. it's not safe to be out on the roads. we're talking now about putting a curfew in at dark for the areas we didn't evacuate just to keep people off the highways. the wind, you know, plaquemines parish sticks out in the gulf about 60 miles. it's that finger that sticks out in the gulf. so we get it a lot worse than the metropolitan new orleans area. it's getting nasty down here now. >> what does it look like? tell me, paint a picture. >> well, the wind, you can barely open your eyes in the

south. the wind is blowing quite hard. we've clocked some winds in excess of 50 miles an hour. and the rain is blowing sideways. so it makes it very difficult to see when you're outside. there is some light debris blowing across the highway. and we anticipate it continue to get worse late into tonight. >> have you had to do any rescues so far? have you actually seen people out on the streets? >> we have seen some people out in the street, and, you know, where the corps is now closing off the 100-year protection, we're building a ramp over those flood baskets. they're putting in place. we're actually out there working now so we have emergency access to south end of the parish in the event we have to get someone that did decide to stay. >> one of the problems with earlier storms including katrina was really the lack of communication. people not being able to reach out to each other and to call out, to cry out for help. to you feel like you've addressed that problem? are people able to communicate if they have an emergency? >> absolutely. we now have a reverse 911.

the website, the satellites, satellite phones, and the rescue equipment. we've got airboats and port authority boats sitting here at our headquarters in the event we would have to rescue someone or to go out and flood fight to try to save a community from flooding. we actually go out there the storm and try to sandbag those areas if we have levees that give way or in danger of being overtopped. so we have a lot more equipment. we're a lot better prepared and the communication, not only in this parish, but the mayor of new orleans, jefferson parish and all the surrounding parishes, we communicate on a daily basis and we're there to assist with equipment, sandbags, or anything they may need in the event there's an issue in one parish that we can assist them in. >> all right. billy nungesser, thank you very much. appreciate your time and your attention. of course, wish everybody the best in getting through this hurricane. one of the places that is really going to be a problem here, this

is the outer bands of tropical storm isaac hitting grand isle, louisiana. that is happening right now. you can see there, the map. there's a mandatory evacuation order that is in place in effect there. just about everybody in the small community has essentially packed up and left, at least according to our own ed lavendera there braving the storm. ed, how many folks are still there? the weather kind of comes and goes. what are people dealing with now? >> reporter: well, you know, the people that are left here on the island, suzanne, what we've seen, making last-minute runs to try to get any kind of food, gas cans filled up, whatever they feel they might need. there are very few people left. this is an island, grand isle, which is about seven miles long, about half mile wide at its widest point. and this is really the end of the road when you come south out of new orleans and you get down to the gulf of mexico, there's nothing left after this. you know, the gulf of mexico is right out there over these homes that you see here. we're a decent ways in from the

levee that protects the beach here. hurricane isaac is out in that direction. that's where our attention is focused. interestingly enough, the wind throughout most of the day has been coming out of the north, so it's actually the water out of the bay that had been kind of slightly surging into the back side of this island. that's minimal issue -- mat thi point. we expect to be at the center of hurricane isaac as it gets closer to making landfall here in the hours ahead today. so the storm surge is what officials here are very concerned about. back in 2008 when hurricane gustav came through here, all this area that you see behind me had about 3 feet of water that had surged into here, and actually got into the home where we'll be riding out this storm. so they anticipate that it hopefully will not be that bad but that is something they're going to be looking out for. normally 1,500 residents on this island. that is now down to about 30 we're told by the mayor.

many of those people are emergency officials that are riding out the storm at a command post just a few blocks away from where we are. suzanne? >> and ed, describe this for us if you will. i know you said about 30 people are staying there and at least there are several different stories to those structures. are you on a second story structure? how is it that you're actually going to be protected from some of the elements? >> reporter: yeah, let me see if i can give you the best perspective possible here. behind me here is dean blanchard's home. he's the shrimp king here in grand isle. has a huge shrimping operation he does. this is inside the home. we set up most of our gear. he tells us this home has been extremely well fortified over the years back since hurricane katrina and he's continued to upgrade it. he has no concern. in fact, the mayor and several other city officials here came by a little while ago and said, you know, this is one of the best places to be on this island. we feel well fortified. if you look over here, we're on the second floor of the home

here, we're 15 feet up off the ground. what's interesting here back in 2008 when ali velshi rode out the storm here, hurricane gustav, this carport, this cover leading into the car garage, all of this was ripped off by the winds. hopefully we won't see that happen, but that is something we'll be keeping our eyes on. but outside of that, you know, we're relatively well protected here and this structure is extremely solid. in fact, several neighbors have come by and kind of jokingly said you're in the best place in town here, this is the safest place to be. we feel confident. it's always nice to hear that from the locals who spend a great deal of time here. >> all right. foo good. we're glad you're in the safest place in town. we're going to go to the mayor of new orleans, mitch landrieu, carrying a press conference live talking about storm prep. let's listen in. >> the storm is different. isaac is different from everything we've seen before because it's going to slowly. when a storm of this magnitude travels that slowly, it poses its own risks which we will talk about in-depth. we can expect 10 to 16 inches of

rain. and some areas will be higher. so let me just indicate to you guys, do not let this storm lull you into complacency. that would be a terrible mistake. we have dodged a bullet in the sense that this is not a category 3 storm, but a category 1 at this strength, from 85 to 100-mile-an-hour winds with 125 miles an hour gusts is plenty big enough to put a big hurt on you if you fall into complacency. let's not do that. i would ask you, however, not to panic but to remain calm and remain vigilant. we have for a long time planned for this. the individual citizens in this city have done an excellent job of getting a plan together. those citizens that intended to evacuate have done so. those of you that have decided to shelter in place have done that as well. in my travels across the city, starting very, very early this morning and all around the city, it appears as though the

citizens are heeding our warning and are doing a really good job of having boarding up their residence and/or not going out unless they absolutely have to. i would ask you to continue to follow that rule. i am somewhat dismayed there are a number of people right now out on lake shore drive trying to experience what a lot of heavy water feels like. if you get pulled into it, you won't like that feeling. and so i would ask you to rethink where you are. i can understand that because isaac has taken such a long time to form that people may be getting bored. it's better to be bored than to get hurt. so i would ask you, again, to, you know, take your time and think about what it is that you're doing before you put you or your family in harm's way. one of the great examples of our plan being in place and being executed flawlessly took place a little while ago. colonel fleming who is with us today, colonel -- there you are -- and i had the opportunity to close what i affectionately call the great wall.

for the people of the city, there is a great sense of security that is now in place. the american people, with the citizens in new orleans included, financed a $1.1 billion investment that is the largest civil project that has ever taken place in the united states of america. it was completed in a year. it is a wall that is 1.8 miles long. it is 26 feet high. it is 13 miles from downtown new orleans and it is protecting new orleans east and lower ninth ward and st. bernard parish. that has never been done in america before. that wall is now up. we closed the gate this morning at about 10:30 or 11:00. that part of the city is secure from a tidal surge that came during katrina. thank you, colonel fleming, for that. we closed the orleans canal last night. we expect the 17th street canal

will close when the appropriate triggers take place. the colonel can address that issue when he talks more about that work. i want to thank the corps of engineers. on top of that, as you know, the wall is part of a levee system we reinvested in, $10 billion of invefment went into building a category 3 strength levee system that's 300 miles and is very robust at this point in time. we are not expecting as a consequence of that a katrina-like event. that not to say, however, we will not have flooding in the city of new orleans. from anybody who's lived here a long time, if there's a large amount of water that falls in a short period of time, parts of this city are going to flood and parts of south louisiana as well. we're not out of the woods on a water event or electrical event. i'd say the best part to a quick response, the best way to a quick recovery is the cooperation of the citizens. the citizens have to be prepared for significant rain, wind and electrical events so i'm going to ask you to hunker down.

as we have all agreed to do if that was your plan. now is the time in the next 24 to 36 hours to do that. also as i drive around, i do see some debris. folks have put stuff outside. go pick it up and bring it inside. if you have any loose items that might appear a little bit heavy to you, not very heavy to 125-mile-an-hour winds. if you have a table outside in your yard with wrought iron chairs, put them some place where the wind can't get them because we'll have that. unsecured debris will get flown around. pay particular attention to that. as i said yesterday, we're al w allowed to park on the neutral ground. do me a favor, don't knock down any trees if you can help it, and be courteous of your neighbors as well. do not, to not, let me repeat park on bridges or overpasses. they need to be passable. i'm going to urmg yge you, agaio check on neighbors, particularly elderly residents who may be

shut in, afraid, and need some help. out of the abundance of caution, forgive me for being forward about this, but i want to be explicit. there are things about category 1 storms and category 2 storms that will kill you or hurt you badly. let me walk through this again because i don't want to be standing here in a coupledies mourning the loss that was avoidable. driving and walking through standing water near canals and/or overpasses and even on streets, manhole covers that might come, is a very dangerous activity and could cause drowning. flying debris during the storm, when the winds hit 40, 50 miles an hour, things start flying. and it is very, very dangerous and there have been many examples in category 1 storms and category 2 storms of there being deaths as a result of people hit by flying debris. the same thing is true of fallen trees and of downed power lines. you've heard the stories of if ever for the grace of god, how is it possible that person and that tree met at that moment in

time? it has happened unfortunately too many times. i ask you to be vigilant about that. of course, the improper use of generator and candles can be particularly problematic and i'm sure there are hundreds of other things we have done over time that has been careless that has caused a problem. again, just using common sense and vigilance is really important. we know that streets in the city of new orleans are prone to flooding. this should not be a surprise to anybody. any time there is a hard rain that comes in a very short period of time, we have a lot of streets that flood and everybody knows where they are. but if you want to see a list of them and think that you're in that area, go to ready.nola.gov. at the risk of being excruciatingly detailed i'm going to read the list so everybody has a sense of where they are. calio and -- on ramps. the i-10 and tulane exits toward claiborne avenue. airline and tulane avenue intersection. the 4400 block of washington.

washington avenue near xavier. claiborne at arlenes. south carrollton at palmetto. magazine at st. mary. broad at louisiana and claiborne. state street and claiborne. josephine and britania. airhart at jeff davis and carrollton. canal boulevard at i-10 and nevard. city park at carrollton. washington avenue at xavier. >> you're listening to the mayor of new orleans, mitch landrieu, talking about things he said, warning residents that could kill you from a category 1 hurricane including flying debris, standing on manhole covers, fallen power lines and, of course, saying that there are streets that are prone to flooding. he's actually listing those streets now. he says you can also go to the website, ready.nola.gov. we're going to follow all things on this category 1 hurricane isaac. this is also what we're working on for this hour. people along the gulf coast are preparing for a storm surge

tonight. we'll take a look at how folks in mississippi have rebuilt after hurricane katrina. today, delegates will formally nominate mitt romney for president at the republican national convention. we'll look at what his wife, ann, has to do to help win over female voters when she takes the podium tonight. and prosecutors say a group of soldiers hatched a plot to overthrow the u.s. government. we'll tell you how that alleged plot was discovered. we're here at walmart with gabriel and sylvia whose sons are going back to college.

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convention gets starred today. mitt romney on ground in tampa. romney and his wife, ann, arrived within the last couple hours. see him there. one of the first high-profile events we're going to see is ann romney's speech in primetime tonight. there you see about an hour ago preparing at the convention center there, checking everything out. speech wases originally scheduled for last night. that was moved when the main networks refused to carry monday night primetime coverage. many people are expecting her to add more of a human and a family side to mitt romney with her appearance. there she is speaking with cnn's gloria borger about her struggle with multiple sclerosis. >> that's the one thing about this disease is that you -- i try to explain to people, too, it's like everyone else has a reserve tank. with ms, you go to empty and you go to empty and that's it. it's like you can't take another step. you will fall over. >> want to bring in john avalon at the convention. cnncontributor.

a lot of people are looking forward to what she has to say and the picture she paints of her husband. what's the thing she needs to do tonight? >> reporter: give a sense who mitt romney is as a person, his family life, makes him a relatable figfigure. not a successful businessman, but a fully rounded human being. he hasn't been able to give that impression to the american public yet. the second piece of her agenda has to be more political. what she's got to do is help close the gender gap that exists between president obama and governor romney right now and has traditionally existed between the two parties. last cycle, roughly 10 million more women voted than men. so the gender gap has profound implications in a national race. she has to do those two things. tie to the agenda of the overall campaign even more so than just the specific speech. >> john, let's talk about the gender gap. we have polls that are showing president obama leading romney 54% to 42% among likely women

voters. and the poll was taken after congressman todd akin's comments where he talked about legitimate rape, which really caused quite an outroar. you had romney and ryan both saying those were inappropriate comments here. how much does ann romney need to really make up, if you will, for some of these problems that they've had? >> reporter: the gender gap is critical because it's not just a special interest vote. obviously every democratic of voter is at least 50% women and, again, women actually turn out at a higher rate than men. so one of the reasons the romney camp was so quick to condemn akin's remarks, they realized the seriousness the remarks could make in damaging not just missouri's senate race but having national implications. those comments went straight to the heart why so many of the women find it hard to vote gop even if they agree on economic issues. what he said was difficult, the way he said it was awful. the gop platform calls on

effectively a constitutional ban on abortion. many of the same policies that were beneath what akin was saying. that's the substance of the problem they have. stylistic, that was a stick in the eye. they knew it and had to shut it down and denounce it quickly. the gender gap is a provide implication for the entire election. >> real quickly here, any concern with this hurricane isaac that the eyes, the attention are not actually going to be on ann romney tonight? >> reporter: that is a real danger. and it's one of the many balancing acts they've got to take, balancing focus and compassion for people who may be in harm's way but betting their message out. they know the lessons of katrina. hurricane isaac is a major factor in this convention. >> all right, john, good to see you as always. be sure to stay with cnn for complete coverage of the republican national convention. primetime, my colleague wolf blitzer and cnn's political team in tampa. president 10:

10:00 hour, the keynote address from new jersey governor chris christie. that's live. after that, lights go out, piers morgan, he's wrapping it up here on cnn tonight. former pennsylvania governor arlen specter is struggling with a serious health threat. (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move

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former pennsylvania senator arlen specter, he is battling for his life. that is according to a source close to his office. tells us he was diagnosed with

what was called a serious form of cancer. that was about six weeks ago. it is not his first health battle. he was overcome -- he overcame, rather, a brain tumor and nonhodgkin's lymphoma. arlen specter serve in u.s. senate for 31 years. he made headlines in 2009 when he switched parties and became a democrat. we wish him the very best. georgia now, prosecutors say a group of soldiers at ft. stewart planned to overthrow the government. that came out during a murder trial. the soldiers are accused of killing a fellow soldier and his girlfriend because they were afraid the victims would talk about this plot. one of the soldiers made a plea deal to prosecutors and is testifying now against the others. the family of my former colleague was hit hard when katrina hit mississippi's coast seven years ago. we're going to talk to her about her family's preparations now for isaac. and don't forget, you can watch cnn live on your computer while you're at work. head to cnn.com/tv. go-gurt?

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right now isaac is not packing the speed and power of hurricane katrina, but the timing pretty unnerving here. hurricane isaac set to hit land late tuesday. seven years to the day that hurricane katrina devastated the coast. as isaac gains strength, cnn has a team of reporters, producers on the ground along the gulf coast. just like we did during katrina. for me and my colleague, kathleen, the story is personal. some of the homes destroyed belonged to kathleen and her friends. as the gulf coast braces for isaac, kathleen joins us. >> nice to see you, neighbor. >> tell me about the people you talked to. your family, your friends. how are they doing in mississippi. >> everybody is very nervousen suzanne. this anniversary, when it rolls around is always difficult. it's especially tough this year. you know, i heard folks say one of the beachfront restaurants

that has just re-opened in the last year in my town, one of the few businesses on the beach, she said a lot of locals were hanging out there sunday night going, really, really, another hurricane? this is how mother nature wishes us happy anniversary, huh? >> it's a cruel irony when you think about it. it's obviously still emotional to you. >> very. >> can you tell us, what has the community done since katrina? do you think they are now ready mentally or physically ready for what they're going to be hit with next? >> well, i'll tell you what, suzanne. people have changed mentally and emotionally because of katrina. it wasn't just the landscape that was really devastated. pre-katrina, if a hurricane of this size was heading toward my town, people would go, forget about it. if it's anything less than a 4, you know, wake me up when it's over. but people are just -- they're so much more vulnerable now. they've lost so much.

i mean, mississippi, as you know, caught the physical brunt of the hurricane. 95% of my hometown was under water. 75% of the homes and businesses heavily damaged or destroyed. you just saw a couple shots from the balcony of 200 north beach restaurant. so much has been rebuilt. people are coming back. this is the last thing we need. >> are they actually heeding the warnings? are they hunkering down? are they evacuating? are they doing what people say is the safe thing to do? or do they feel like, you know what, we're just going to do it our way? >> suzanne, they're heeding the warnings and they're getting out. people are evacuating for this category 1 who i've never seen evacuate for anything less than a category 3 before. and not just elderly parents. friends of mine. they're putting their furniture up on cement blocks. people on the -- as the weather channel calls it, that landmass between new orleans and mobile, are taking this seriously. >> all right. well, we know they're taking it

seriously. kathleen, as always. it is wonderful to see you. keep us posted on how things are going in your hometown. we really appreciate it. and, of course, we'll be checking in with you a little bit later. nauc thank you, kathleen. >> you bet. when hurricane katrina hit the gulf coast seven years ago this week, mississippi got hit with severe flooding. hundreds lost their lives. today many have rebuilt along the coast, stronger, better. we're going to take a look at what some are doing to now get ready for isaac. ♪

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try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. isaac is now a category 1 hurricane. dusk to dawn curfew has been announced in harrison county, mississippi. that is the gulf port area. david mattingly is there. i want to share with you and our viewers the president has now declared a state of emergency in the state of mississippi which means they'll be getting federal funds, whatever they need to address the hurricane that's approaches them. are people confident here that they have what they need, that they are ready? >> reporter: well, in the years since katrina, there's been a very slow and very determined rebuilding process. there have been some very rigorous building codes that have been put into place, demanded by the residents as well as by insurance companies. and as a result, we're seeing structures that have gone back

into place that are, instead of being built with wood, they're being built with cement and steel. built to withstand hurricanes like the one we're seeing coming. but, of course, people here will tell you there's no such thing as a hurricane-proof building anywhere. so they're paying attention to this storm. they're making sure that they're doing the right things to prepare for it. but right now, structurally and with with their infrastructure here, they believe they're in much better shape to greet this storm than they were when katrina came through all those years ago. >> david, what are you finding now so far in terms of the weather and where people are going? have they stopped? i can see there's traffic behind you there, clearly people are still on the move before this arrives. >> reporter: that's right. we really haven't seen any serious weather yet. right now it's just been the bands coming through. occasionally we'll have some driving rain followed by sunshine, followed by wind and misting rain kind of like what we're having now. some of the schools are out in the area, so people took advantage of that to come down to the beach here to get one last look at the beach to look

at the unusual high tide that we're seeing this afternoon. so everybody making their plans to either hunker down or to leave. they know exactly what they believe is coming here and they're preparing as best as they think is at least best in their own personal situations. >> and, david, last question here. very quickly. that road behind you, obviously there is water. i'm assuming that that road will be closed, that that's going to be a blocked off area? >> reporter: we have a small seawall just behind this road that leads on to the beach. now, when the storm surge comes in, it will very likely cover the beach here. it may come over the top of the seawall at some of the higher projections. and if that's the case, it would come on to the eastbound lanes of the highway here. this road was torn apart by katrina. we're not going to see anything like that happening here, but some parts of it we could see water encroaching upon it and creating a traffic hazard.

>> okay. david, thank you. appreciate it. we're going to have more on the storm, but obviously president obama declaring a state of emergency in the state of mississippi. more on hurricane isaac after the break. hey there, everyone. today on the help desk we're talking about the best way to build up your credit. joining me, donna rosoto and ryan mack. take a listen to this question that came in for me. >> i try to get credit and i don't have any. i need to know what are my best options to establish credit? >> he's a fairly young guy. he's got time. what would you say he should do? >> it's a frustrating catch 22. you need to have credit to get a loan, but you need a loan to get credit. so it's frustrating especially for young folks. but there are options. a good way to start is to get a secured credit card. it's similar to a regular credit card and counts toward your credit store. instead of a bank lending you a line of credit, you're actually putting up the collateral yourself. typically you need several hundred dollars.

$200 or $300 use it and draw down your own money. if you use it responsibly, paying it off in every month, you can apply for a traditional credit card. retail cards are easier to qualify for. like a store card. so that's a good option, too. but those have very high interest rates. use them, pay them off. >> pay it right away. >> a lot of the prepaid debit cards and other financial creditors out there are coming out because a lot of individuals have not established credit. one of the best defenses in financial creditors, just establishing credit and making sure you're starting to build responsible things today starting right now. >> early on. thank you, guys. appreciate it. if you have a question you want our experts to tackle, upload a 30-second video with your question to ireport.com. people with a machine.

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keeping an eye on two big stories we're following. of course, hurricane isaac, now

a category 1 hurricane. you're looking at live pictures there out of new orleans. people bracing for this fierce storm. 41 parishes at least under emergency declarations expecting tropical-force winds up to 36 hours in that area. also mississippi declared a state of emergency. taking a look as well at the republican national convention. that is starting at the top of the next hour. and, of top of the next hour. the marquee players, the big speakers. we're talking about ann romney who will be speaking and new jersey governor chris christie speaking addressing that audience. we got a quick glimpse of ron paul on the convention floor yet to give up his delegates. the libertarians getting play and attention there on the convention floor bringing both of those stories as we go on throughout the day. we'll have more of that after a quick break. what could be better than a summer vacation? we'll tell you what went wrong

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park officials are contacting everybody who stayed in the curry tents. virus is carried by mice and rats and can live on their droppings, urine and saliva. people can become infected just by breathing that area. health care a big issue. mitt romney said he will repeal obamacare if elected. tonight governor romney's wife, ann romney will address the convention. she's a breast cancer survivor and has multiple sclerosis. under obama care insurance has to insure people like her with preexisting health conditions. how this might impact her and others if the law is repealed. >> he's made it clear that he would repeal obama care which means no more guaranteed insurance for people with

preexisting conditions. instead, mr. romney says that he will allow for or make sure that people who have had continuous coverage in the past that they will get affordable insurance. let's hear what he's had to say about this. >> let's say someone has been insured and develop a serious condition and say they lose their job or change jobs. they move and go to a new place. i don't want them to be denied insurance because thaifr got some preexisting condition. we have to make sure the law assures that people who have a preexisting condition and been insured in the past are able to get insurance in the future. >> a romney spokeswoman said this applies to children as well. if a child with diabetes is applying for insurance they will

have had to had insurance in the past. >> tell what you say he means when he says continuous coverage. >> we asked that question and didn't get an answer. we don't know. we don't know if you've had to have it for the past year, five years or ten years. we don't know. >> thank you for following that. go to cnn.com/empowered patient. elizabeth will be back with us tomorrow. also young adults on their parents insurance plans. "cnn newsroom" continues right after this. game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all.

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hello. coming at you live from the cnn grill here. huge show for you today. we're talking about three major events happening at this moment. first up, just in the national weather service releasing an update on hurricane isaac as the gulf begins now to really start feeling that storm. we will take you straight through the coastline live. plus, right now reason i'm sitting here in tampa the republican national convention. republicans are kicking off day number one of the convention here at the forum. this as new jersey governor chris christie and ann romney get ready to speak tonight.

two huge speeches we'll be watching out for. also raining on that parade is president obama who is expected to speak at any minute from iowa from iowa state university. we're monitoring all of that. we'll bring part of it live as we understand he will be mentioning isaac, but first the weather. here we go. hurricane isaac. officially a hurricane on the move while parts of louisiana, alabama, florida and mississippi have brought themselves to a near stand still just waiting for the storm. you're looking at pictures. this is off canal boulevard in new orleans. look at those waves. they are wrapping up against the streets here. we're talking about schools and airports even casinos closed. whoever has yet to evacuate now are hunkering down as the storm is building up speed. it reached hurricane strength. this government video shows the

swirl there. the swirl of the storm path and you can see where isaac is aiming. the land hurricane katrina devastated seven years ago tomorrow. isaac is supposed to hit as a category 1 hurricane. i want to go straight to this. national weather service gave an update. jennifer, tell me where isaac is and what you know right now. >> right now it's located about 100 miles southeast of new orleans. as i show you on the graphic here are the winds at 75 miles per hour. we are dealing with a category one. an advisory was issued a couple hours ago. some of the outer bands starting to work into the mouth of the mississippi. weather conditions are going to deteriorate. we are experiencing tropical storm conditions. it's going to be spreading up

towards the northwest as we go through really the next 24 hours. it's going to be a rough one. as we track this for you we want to put this into motion. tuesday, 8:00, notice we could see making landfall within about next six hours and heading towards new orleans in the overnight hours. we're talking late tonight into tomorrow as a category one. the real threat is going to be storm surge as well as the heavy rainfall. we're talking some of these locations we're expecting anywhere between four to 14 inches of rainfall. very quickly on the radar have to point out to you we do have a tornado watch in place. anywhere you're seeing in the red box is louisiana over to florida. we're starting to see the storms starting to develop. over toward south carolina this moisture from isaac is causing an incredible amount of rainfall. we go back over to our radar very quickly and we zoom in to charleston, look at the area here being pounded.

this is moisture from isaac that's been branched off over the last couple of days. we're talking some of these locations have picked up three and a half inches of rainfall in less than three hours. >> yeah you have to think about the outer bands. as you mentioned a tornado watch all the folks on the gulf coast. we're thinking about them. i want to go straight there. thank you. the winds may be going around 75 miles per hour but it's the water. it's the water that could bring really the prime concern. isaac could trigger as much as 20 inches of rain in some places and create as jennifer was mentioning a storm surge as high as 12 feet. to handle the excess the army corps of engineer has done something they have never done before. they are closed the flood gate to the largest pumping station in the world built in response to katrina's devastation.

brian todd is live for us in new orleans. brian, why? why close the gate? what does that do? >> reporter: when you close that gate it enables them to pump water out when the flood levels get to trigger points. that is the process that's starting right now. got an update from the army corps of engineers on that particular gate. you mentioned it's the world's largest pumping station. it can pump out 20,000 feet of water per second. we just now talked to the army corps of engineers. they had an update on that for us. they have not closed the gates. they plan on closing them when they get to their trigger points. they are thinking that would be tomorrow when the storm is at its peak. it's bracing to close the gates. they haven't done it just yet but it's a very impressive piece of engineers with the massive gates and ability to pump out

20,000 cubic feet of water. we just got a band from hurricane isaac. it's sweeping in over the mississippi river here. that's the crescent city connection bridge. they have closed the port area down and no barge or tanker traffic is allowed up here unless the captain of the port needs to order a vessel secure. operations in this busy important area shut down for now. >> okay. obviously we know that will change in a couple of hours. i know brian the mayor says it's too late to evacuate if you live in this city center. i know people just have to really stay put and ride it out. why not call for mandatory evacuations? >> reporter: they just feel this storm will not be of the strength to really trigger that kind of an evacuation. the mayor was talking about this a moment ago. he is telling people in lower lying areas of the city that are

outside the levee protected areas that you should leave if you can do that. he doesn't want a panicked exodus. if you're not protected you still have a bit of time to get out. for anybody that wanted to leave, yesterday was probably the better time to do it. no mandatory evacuation for new orleans. they don't believe the storm will be strong enough to trigger that kind of thing and they are very confident that the levees, walls and flood gates are going to hold. >> brian todd live for us in new orleans. we'll check back in with you. while this hurricane is expected to make landfall tonight, there are sending ugly uncomfortable weather to some parts of louisiana now. florida, alabama, mississippi all getting hit. kr you can see the white caps churning out. you're going to see pictures from bay st. louis.

mark is on the phone from gulf port. as you're looking at your pictures here, talk to me about what it looks like. what it sounds like where you are right now. >> we are actually on the move. we got a lot to do today. we finished up our work in mississippi and heading to new orleans to put up another one of those cameras. not any rain yet. definitely some gusty wind. the thing that's really astonishing to me is see all the people that are out checking everything out. it's not a quote, scary hurricane to them and they're staying behind. there's a lot of onlookers this time. quite the contrast from seven years ago. >> why do you think that is? why are those folks just watching and waiting? why not take shelter just yet? >> i think that a lot of people are fixated on wind speed and

category and don't fully understand the true nature of tropical storms and hurricanes and the effects they can bring. they look at the category. we saw that with ike. only a category 2 yet it brought nearly 20 feet of water. they have more than just wind. they have torrential rain and can cause life threatening flooding days after they make landfall. the wind is a big problem too. i think that people are too fixated the number. the higher the numbers in our society, the cooler something is. it's a ten, oh goodness or a five star rating. you get the point. if it's only a category 1, why bother with it. >> i'm glad you're giving us a reality check because it's a hurricane whatever the category number. >> that's correct. >> you mention what happens in cat 1 or cat 2. i know a lot of the trouble

happens after the storm hits. what should they be looking for? >> this is going dump a lot across the mississippi valley. people need to be mindful that 15 to 20 inches of rain is nothing to mess around with. that could be leading to fresh water flooding on top of all the surge coming in and then hopefully for some brought relief, isaac will get its rear end moving and get in the upper midwest and turn the corner and bring rain up into the ohio valley but we don't want too much at one time. >> mark, safe travels as you head to new orleans to place that camera there. thank you. also the storm on the mind of president of the united states. he is expected to speak live any minute about the storm. we just got that recently and oh, yeah, he's campaigning here

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i want to take you live to the president speaking at iowa state university now. we're going to put up live pictures. there's going to be pictures from new orleans. he just said thoughts and prayers with the folks on the gulf. take a listen. >> i didn't hear as many cheers. come on. cyclone football kicks offer at home this saturday. i won't pretend i can give a speech like coach can, but i'm going to try because just over two months from now for the first time in most of your lives you will get a chance to pick a president. the truth is you got more at stake in this election than just

about anybody. when you step into that voting booth the choice you make in that one instant will shape your country and your world for decades to come. i know that's a pretty heavy cd to lay on you on a tuesday, but it's true. the decisions we make as a country on big issues like economy and taxes and war and climate change, all these decisions will directly affect your life in very personal ways. i got say i'm acutely aware of when i make the decisions because they will affect malia and sasha, my daughters, as well. it's the way it's always been. the one generation makes decisions on behalf of the next but here is the thing, cyclones, your generation chooses which path we take as a country.

your vote decides where we go from here. [ cheers and applause ] we make sure more jobs take root. not in china or germany but right here in america so you don't have to leave home to get those good paying jobs. are we going to reward an honest days work with the chance to buy a home of your own? with health care that's there for you when you get sick, with the ability to put a little away for your retirement. are we going to make it easier for you to afford your degree and pay off your student loan debt. are we going to build more good schools and hire more good teachers so our kids are prepared to attend colleges like

iowa state and repa prepared fo 21st century work force. will this be a country that keeps moving away from foreign oil and toward renewable sources of energy like wind and solar and biofuels. >> no coincidence that the president is speaking flanked by youngsters in our country. he is at iowa state university and speaks to colorado state and the university of virginia. here we goes trying to reinvigorate the youth vote. can he do it? we'll talk to an obama aids and talk about how mitt romney is trying to capitalize on the higher tuition cost and lower unemployment rate when it comes to young people. more on those later here. as the president campaigns in iowa, here in tampa the republican national convention under y. some ron paul delegates.

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we're live here at the cnn grill just on the outside of the republican national convention center here in tampa. just moments ago got into full swing. national political correspondent jim acosta is standing by on the floor there. talk to me about what's happening. i hear congressman ron paul showed up with an orchid lei and i know a number of his delegates fired up about this. >> reporter: they are. i was just down on the floor with ron paul. ron paul walked out on to the floor and the crowd of ron paul

supporters starting chanting his name. obviously they were very fired up. a lot of this has to do with the new delegate rules. the romney forces would like to put in place here at the convention. this would bind delegates in future primaries and caucuses to the winner of those primaries and caucuses. there's been some rangling to try to get a delegate here and there to strengthen their candidates presence here. you can tell he didn't want to get into this but he thought his supporters were expressing themselves rather well. ron paul having some fun down here. mitt romney and his supporters have so much support here. they are going to win this debate. they are going to win this fight. nevertheless, that does not

deter the ron paul forces out there. they were making their voices heard. >> with regard to the delegates, a lot of them say what the rnc did with rewriting the rules was a slap in the face. where does it stand? is there still sort of that possibility that there could be some disruption later on? >> reporter: well, i got to tell you, i think the energy level is pretty good here right now. you can look across this floor. i can see haley barbour standing by the guam delegation. party insiders are starting to make their way down here. there's guys in the west virginia delegation wearing coal miner hats. you can sense the excitement that is starting to build with this convention really getting started in earnest. my since of it is when i was over there by the main delegation the ron paul folks were fired up. they are upset about what's

happening here. they don't have the votes. they don't have the support. mitt romney does. at the end of the day they're not going to win this battle. that doesn't stop ron paul. it hasn't stopped him before. >> jim thank you so much. we'll be dipping in and out as this convention is under way. this full full day there at the convention center. another man getting plenty of attention at the rnc is chris christie. keynote spoker tonight. he's going to be sharing the spotlight with the hopeful first lady, ann romney. we're watching isaac. now officially a category 1 hurricane. rain, high winds. take a look at the radar. they are reaching the coastlines of louisiana and mississippi. live from the cnn grill. back in a moment. we're here at walmart with gabriel and sylvia whose sons are going back to college. they need a new phone and you guys need a better plan. you want to see what walmart's got? [ family ] sure. let's go. walmart has the latest smart phones

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live pictures inside the cnn grill. this place used to be parking garage but in six weeks it took to build it's now officially a cnn grill. guess how long it will take to tear this down. four days. as at 10:00 eastern tonight the nation will be hearing from the person who knows mitt romney best, his wife and governor romney will address the republican national convention in tampa. ann romney is expected to talk about her husband. speaking about how he's a gracious husband, father and grandfather. the two were high school sweethearts. they have been married for more than 40 years. she took questions from reporters about her speech tonight. take a listen. >> do you have a line to tweet? >> there's not a line i need to tweet but we are refining it up

there. [ inaudible question ] >> i think you will see my speech is heartfelt and i've never gone off a written text. this is a unique experience to me to have something written. >> ann romney playing a key role in here husband's presidential campaign. she has faced some pretty tough health challenges. she's a breast cancer survivor and she has multiple sclerosis. they are a hoping her speech will appeal to women voters. also taking the stage primetime in tampa tonight. the republican national convention's keynote speaker is new jersey governor chris christie. you know the man known for his big personality and his straight

talk. he'll aim to rally the base, emphasis party unity and grab some of those undecided voters. it's a tall order for the most important speech of his political career. >> reporter: even a late summer walk onquickly becomes an event. >> how are you? >> how are you? >> reporter: christy has become a republican rock star who is about to play the concert of his life. >> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. best thing happened to new jersey. >> thank you. >> reporter: a week before he was supposed to deliver his keynote speech he talked of building a middle america economy that looked a little more jersey shore. >> i've said that the new jersey comeback has begun. not that the new jersey comeback

has peaked. >> reporter: better, bolder, brasher, it's a dish republican keynoters like to serve hot. >> americans know that bill clinton's promises have the life span of a big mac on air force one. >> reporter: and the democrats like to dish back. >> there is not a black america and a white america and latino america, asian america, there's the united states of america. >> reporter: while the democrats never miss a keynote speech, the republicans had none in two of the last three conventions. >> they have to try to avoid the risk of someone saying something their not supposed to say or risky to say. >> reporter: chris christie is different. he's popular because he's combative. he controls his story line. >> did i stay on topic or are you stupid? on topic.

next yes. >> reporter: he's happy as new jersey's governor at his jersey story didn't make for a good keynote speech after the state unemployment rate rose. >> the unemployment rate is a poll of 1200 people in the state. it's not like they are counting heads and jobs. >> reporter: by the end of last week his jersey comeback scene has gone away. >> there are three words that are not in my speech or tuesday night. the jersey comeback. >> reporter: he's saving his new story line for the party faithful. >> here is some fun trivia. 16 keynote speakers went onto run for president. two won the party's nomination. president obama, 2008. warren g. harding in 1920. all eyes on hurricane isaac. look at these pictures. you can see the white caps.

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in just a couple of hours hurricane isaac will make landfall along the gulf coast. the effects of isaac are very much so there. take a look at live pictures we have. you can see the waves really crashing. we have mayor mitthe mayor aski to remain calm. the first part of louisiana to feel be brunt of isaac is grand isle. jennifer, let me bring you in. when should this gulf region,

when should new orleans start to feel just the outer bands before it makes landfall? >> we are going to expect to see hurricane conditions arriving into the southern part of louisiana as we go later into the evening. we are already feeling as tropical storm conditions. as i take you back over the our graphic here, notice what is heading into there. some of those bands working in very heavy rainfall and that southeastern part of louisiana. weather will continue to go downhill. we're seeing wind gusts up to about 60. right now nthey are sustained a 75. the big problem is it's going to be moving slowly. we talk about more the potential for flooding because of excessive rainfall. some of the areas could see anywhere about 14 inches of rainfall. as we go through tuesday at 8:00, the winds 80 miles per

hour. very close to the mouth of mississippi. looks like it's going to get close to areas including new orleans as we go into the overnight hours and notice wednesday 8:00 a.m. 75 miles per hour and with it moving slow all that rainfall will be going up towards the north affecting parts of the midwest. it will bring beneficial rainfall to that region. that's another part of the story. i also want topoint out about the storm surge. look at the surge, 7 to 11 feet. that's why they close that flood gate because they want to protect the region especially with the storm surge. look at gulf post mississippi. the area right here it's a bit more shallow. that provides a even stronger storm surge. that's why we're staying there anywhere between 8 and 12 feet. again, we show you on the radar. we are dealing with a tornado watch. notice some of those bands moving through.

a lot of lightning tracking with the storms. we're seeing the storm get stronger so we could see more strengthening out of hurricane isaac. >> thank you. we're greater for our "i-report"ers. if you are in a safe place, let me say that again, if you're in a safe place and you have a camera, we would love for you to share your photo, video, your experiences here. coming up next, moments ago on the convention floor, dana bash spoke with a delegate from maine who is angry about the rnc rules regarding ron paul. ♪ i ca ♪ i can do anything today ♪ i can go anywhere ♪ i can go anywhere today

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here we go. live pictures. it's the first full day of the republican national convention. you're looking at different delegations. you can see michigan, maryland. new mexico. as we pull out from those pictures, i want to go to dana bash. dana is somewhere in there in this convention center. fill us in because i know you're talking about ron paul. as we spoke earlier today they are very irked about these new

rules when it comes to selecting delegates to represent the different candidates. tell me about this. >> reporter: that's right. ron paul delegates from various states but particularly states that he did well are unhappy for a number of reasons. i want to bring in one of those delegates. this is bryan from the state of maine. you were protesting earlier here on the floor. >> absolutely. i feel that rnc has not followed the rules. they have thrown out our duly elected delegates up here in the stand. there's ten alternates that were replaced by nine state committee that didn't include any input from maine voters. they elected us to represent ron paul. >> one of your main committee women is trying to fight this. >> shee trying to fight two of

the rules that are are trying to pose along. they met last week and decided which delegates would or would not be seated. we were really hoping they would follow their own rules which states that if they were to, if it's within ten days of the convention that it would go back to the duly elected delegates. >> there's another rule you are upset about about changing the rules for future conventions making it hard for someone like you to be here. >> it gives them a rubber stamp to change the rules any way they want. we elected to represent the body. our input is that is needed. it's our party. unfortunately, now they can change the rules at will without, with three quarters the executive committee. >> let's talk more broadly about ron paul. you were protesting you're one

of the several because he's not speaking. he was offered a speaking slot. >> he was offered a speaking spot under two conditions. one, they would have to vet all his remarks and he would have to fully endorse mitt romney. for a man that's put 30 years into fighting for american people, unfortunately they will stick a two minute video they have clipped and put to support mitt romney's positions. it says nothing about the national defense act. it says nothing against the erosion of our liberties and everything that dr. paul stood for. it's disheartening. >> they are having ron paul's son, rand paul speak. is that a consolation for you? >> he's another great senator from kentucky fight for liberty.

>> you're clearly not happy and you're not the only one here. how are you going to show that, illustrate that as the days go on here? >> we would like to amend the credentialing report and we would like to get our duly elected delegate back on the floor. if they're not willing to sit seven out of eight who were veterans and allow the rnc nine state committee who picked these other delegates as they continue to sit here, i don't want to participate after that. i will walk off the floor. yes. >> we'll be keeping in touch with you to see how things go. i spent a considerable amount of time cover dr. paul and during the primaries. this is a prime example of the passion that you see for him and for the causes that he espouses.

they are just relentless when it comes to compromising and throwing their support behind the guy who the rest of the party is doing. not everybody is behind him. >> he said he would walk off the floor. my question is when the last thing is the republican party want is a floor fight among delegates. is this the first time you've heard of something like this happenin happening? >> reporter: it's not a first. this is the forum for the real fight for the nomination. that's not done anymore. it's more of a show. there have been variations of protests in the past. for example, i remember when congressman jim colby who is

openingly gay, some members of one of the delegations bowed their head in prayer. there are symbolic protests but it sounds like the paul contingency is getting ready for more than symbolic protest. we'll see how it goes. sg soun >> sounds like it. thank you for that. one note to pass along. we're now hearing about a former long time u.s. senator, senator arlen speckter is battling for his life. a source says he has a serious form of cancer. the 82-year-old has overcome a number of serious illnesses over the past two decades including a brain tumor and liymphoma.

the man who holds a the office, we'll talk to robert gibbs about why the heck he's here in tampa in the first place. at usaa, we believe honor is not exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different.

all eyes on isaac. the grand isle about to get snacked. a closer look at louisiana. you can see it just from the location. look at this. way out there. why it will be taking the brunt of that storm. today there are mandatory evacuations for the 1500 people who live in grand isle. ed is braving the storm with our crew. tell me about the conditions right now.

can you hear me? >> reporter: just lost audio in any ear. i'm having problems with the ear piece. there you go. now i can hear you. hear in grand isle we're starting to see the strongest wind so far that we've experienced today. it's leaving to some of the technical difficulties to work. we'll continue to do that. hurricane isaac is now about 55 miles away from the mouth of the mississippi, not too far away from where we are here in grand isle. with the storm moving at 10 miles per hour and over the course of the next five to six hours we will begin to see the strongest effects here on the southern shore of louisiana. we're about 60 miles or so south of new orleans. this is the end of the road here as you get to the gulf of mexico. the gulf is over these homes over my right shoulder.

nay will continue to monitor that. what they are concerned about is the storm surge. back in 2008 during hurricane gustav my colleague rode out the storm. there's about three feet of water surrounding the home. we'll continue to watch out from that. we're seeing the strongest winds we've seen all day. >> it's no surprise we had a tough time hearing at first. we'll check back in. we appreciate you. i remember ali riding out that storm. it's the end of the road. thank you. a democrat, dare i say, a democrat here at the republican national convention, robert gibbs sitting next to me. we'll talk about the campaign and if president obama is playing nice campaigning this week. back in a moment. go-gurt? yep...doh. [ boy ] slurpably fun and a good source of calcium.

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welcome back to the 2012 republican national convention. with me now a guy from the other side, robert gibbs. you used to stand behind that fancy, fancy podium at the white house giving us reporter types briefings. welcome. nice to have you here. >> thank you. >> i know you left the white house in february of '11. what's your role with the campaign now? >> i'm a senior add visor for the president's re-election.

did a lot of time doing a little tv and trying to spread the good word. >> you're a sport s guy. >> i am. >> let's talk fair play. you're a guy. president obama, three state, two days. some people say that's not fair. this is the republican's week to really shine. why is president obama out campaigning? doesn't that violate tradition? is this very sportsman like behavior for the president? >> i think it's well within the bounds of what we do in political campaigns. >> skirting the bounds a little? >> i don't think so. i have no doubt that the republicans will be doing the same thing while we're in charlotte next week. conventions are extremely late this year. there isn't that much time left in the conventions. i think it's important time for the president to be out. he's obviously on three college campuses over the next two days talking to students as they get

back and in their college routines about what's important in this election. >> either conclusions, number one, or the fact he is out campaigning and the first lady is on late night tv and the vice president was supposed to be here. either the president is worried or something, team romney has done something right? i'm assuming you're going to tell me i'm wrong. >> the president is understanding what's at stake. he's a hard worker. i don't think he does down time real well. i think he feels like there are a lot of huge and important issues in this campaign. for him to spend every minute of every day both as president and trying to run a re-election campaign to get him reelected because those issues are so important, i don't think you can keep him down. >> we've talked a lot about money and the re-election campaign has blown through a lot

of it. we're in the home stretch. did someone screw up? >> not at all. we've been building organizations here in florida in the battleground states of places like iowa, colorado and virginia where the president is for the next couple of days. you can't build these things in late august or early september. we've been having conversations with voters where they live about the issues that concern them not just for the last few weeks and the last few months. >> where is the money? >> two things. it takes a lot of money to build an organization. it's a remarkably good investment especially in a close election. we feel great about our organization. make no mistake, we're going to be out spending this race. not just by mitt romney but by a lot of big money interests. you don't know where the money is coming