government,moregovernment, morsi, take a listen. >> translator: our solidarity against the a repressive regime is an ethical duty and a political and strategic necessity. we all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in syria. >> that led syria's delegates to walk out in protest. and we continue on, live from the cnn grill here in tampa, florida. i'm brooke baldwin. we are at the center of all things republican national convention. hours away from a tremendously huge night for who will eventually be the nominee once he accepts the nomination, mitt romney. biggest speech, really, of his political career. this is what all, the months and months of handshaking, the campaign ads, the money, the stump speeches, it all comes down to this. former governor of

massachusetts, taking the podium, at the rnc, inside the forum, steps from where i am to accept his party's nomination for president of the united states. but i wanted to show you this one moment. this is from last night. >> hey, you guys -- you look into the cameras, okay? >> mitt romney, sitting around with some little ones, sitting on his sofa. this is, obviously, in tampa. he's watching the convention coverage, and his grandfather here, as well. they have the takeout pizzas on the coffee table, and, you know, obviously the fact that we have a camera there, you're hearing the camera flashes, tells us this is certainly not an unscripted moment. but it does highlight one of the challenges mitt romney faces, making a connection with voters beyond simply being mitt romney the candidate. getting them to connect with

mitt romney the human being. chief political correspondent, candy crowley, host of "state of the union," who has been to so many conventions, since 1980. so you are the perfect person to talk to. but really, question number one, how does he connect? how does he connect tonight? >> well, i mean, that's what they've been asking themselves for the last, you know, 9, 10, 11, 12 months. it isn't even -- we've talked a lot about the likability aspect, but i don't think it's likability. it's that people cannot go in and pull a lever on voting day for a guy they don't think gets them. >> because voting is personal. >> voting is personal. and you don't want someone in the oval office that doesn't understand what you deal with on a daily basis and where government can get out of the way and where government can step in, how you view government, what your daily problems are. that kind of thing. so it's the relatable part that he needs to show. now, the problem is that there's -- whenever off candidate who doesn't seem to emote, and we've seen, you know,

bob dole, same kind of thing. everyone says, yeah, but he just seems so stern, and this and that all the time. michael dukakis, another guy that people just couldn't get a handle on, and felt -- >> people who didn't go on to -- >> who didn't go on, but i'm also naming midwesterners, and maybe it's my sort of michigan/missouri axis that i grew up in, but it's not a group that emotes all that well. >> but will the rest of the can country understand that? >> that's right, no. and they may. in the end, i think people do want someone who's going to fix the economy. but they want them to fix -- they want the president to fix the economy in a way that will help them. so that's where the relatability comes in. >> so tying in empathy with economy. >> right. >> because he's obviously out-polling the president a little bit when it comes to the economy, but to the likability or whatever word you want to use, he's not as strong. >> right. what's interesting is, when you're trying to door their

problems, you get something like a george bush, the dad, when he goes message, i care. because, you know, they're just -- so you can't go overboard and you can't underdo it. i mean, it's a very tricky situation, because it's a feeling. it's not about what you're saying so much as, yeah, yeah, i think that guy gets it. at the same time, he's going to have to flush out some of the big ideas that ryan talked about last night. because where this campaign has moved, it's no longer, do they think it's just enough to say the economy bad and president obama has failed. they've got to say, and here's what i'm going to do. >> right, specifics. >> well, i don't know that you're going to get details like, and then i'm going to get rid of this tax deduction or put this new one this in. i think that you will get a direction with some meat to it. but you also, remember, these -- you have to know -- i think you will get a lot about what -- you know, who i am. here's where i came from. here's how i view america, and

here's what shaped my views of america. how i got here. >> do you think he has a funny bone in his body? >> oh, sure. sure. but i think -- i've seen so many politicians along the way, that just could not -- it just wasn't -- their humor didn't translate. i mean, even his kids will tell you he's goofy. and it's hard to be -- have a goofy sense of humor, a slapstick, sort of prankster sense of humor and come across as presidential. so i don't envy any of these on either side of the aisle, trying to, you know -- and i think always the best thing is, do what you're comfortable with. do what you're comfortable with. anyone else looks fake. >> after tonight, the next few moments, really, before november 6th, the debates, you, congratulations, it's been two decades, hallelujah, it's time we have a female moderator. what's the aha moment that we should be looking for in this campaign? >> i don't -- honestly, i think

it's a building up. i mean, and you're right. this is the biggest audience that mitt romney has ever seen. this is his biggest chance to date. and really, when you add it all up, and there are 90-minute debates and there's three of them, he has less than ten hours left, as does president obama -- >> to make a pitch. >> to make the pitch. because the rest of it is, where does this add go, where does that guy -- where do we put the candidate? what do we do? sure, something could happen on the campaign trail, but largely that's strategy. it's these few hours left to these two men, between now and november, that they have a chance to say, hey, swing voters, hey, persuadables, i'm you're guy. >> no pressure. >> no pressure at all. >> candy crowley, we will all be looking for your analysis. i love hearing your analysis. a little later on tonight. thank you very much. paul ryan, he does have some harsh words for obama care's possible impact on seniors. he says it is threatening to

destroy medicare. dr. sanjay gupta, i want to bring you back in. and let's just play some sound here. let's just listen to what the congressman from wisconsin actually said last night, because i want you to fact check this for us. take a look. >> $716 billion funneled out of medicare by president obama. [ audience boos ] an obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed, all to pay for a new entitlement we didn't even ask for. >> is that true? $716 billion that he's saying obama cut from medicare? >> well, it's a bit misleading, brooke. and the details are important here. there's a couple of points. first of all, what they're referring to specifically is this idea that, look, we need to control spending when it comes to medicare. so they're going to -- they want to cap just how much medicare can spend in any given year over the next ten years. and when they sort of figure

out, look, what the caps are and what medicare typically grows by, the difference is where they get this $716 billion. so they haven't taken any money out of it yet, but they say, look, in the future, it could be $700 billion less than they would have otherwise spent for it. also, the implication, i think, is a little bit misleading, brooke, in that the implication is that people are going to lose benefits. and if you look at the plan, which i have done, and you and i have talked about it a few times, there's no evidence that seniors are going to lose any of their benefits around obama care as well. so, you know, both the obama plan, as well as the ryan plan, do want to control costs. it's just a little bit different in terms of where the money comes from and exactly how it's executed, brooke. >> so, then explain to me, sanjay, exactly where the bulk of the medicare money, where it's coming from, where that $700 plus billion will be used. >> right, first of all, again, there's nothing that's been taken out yet. you're sort of projecting forward. you say, look, we need to cut

costs on medicare, so where are some of the sort of proposed areas? one is, you know, the private insurance companies. right now medicare does pay private insurance companies under a plan known as medicare advantage. and those plans tend to be more expensive. you're going to see some of those rolled back. also, the amount of money paid to hospitals will also start to decrease. and this was part of an agreement with hospitals and the white house. they said, look, if you're going to add more people to have health care insurance, hospitals agreed as a result to low er their costs. those are a couple of the big areas. again, it's this notion, every year they're going to look and say, how much is it costing to keep medicare going? what's the cap? and if there's a difference there, a delta so to speak, they're going to figure out where those cuts need to happen. it's going to be done on a year-by-year basis. >> what would medicare look like if mitt romney's elected? >> well, it's a little bit unclear, because, you know, exactly how much of the ryan plan or the ryan plan that he

did with senator wyden that mitt romney is going to adopt is still a little bit unclear. but i think what you can say is it's going to look more private. the best way of sort of simplifying it is that seniors, after ten years from now, will also be offered a voucher. they could stay with medicare or they could use a voucher, which would be around $8,000, they propose, to buy insurance on the private market. so that, you know, the whole notion there is that if you introduce competition, if you introduce some private sector options, you could lower costs that way. you know, with both these plans, whether it's the obama care plan or this wyden plan, there's very little evidence to say what would happen, if they would work, if they would lower costs, because it's brand-new. but it's different philosophies. wants to do more private sector competition and one wants to lower costs to providers, such as insurance companies and hospitals. >> okay, sanjay, thank you. >> thanks, brooke.

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now to the latest here on isaac, which is wreaking havoc along the gulf coast. here's some fresh video of a man returning to his flooded louisiana home, just to rescue his animals. [ cats meowing ] >> what is that, some cats and a parakeet? robert sanders waded through water for blocks to reach his home. this has plaquemines parish. we're told he has at least three dogs and six cats, but several hundred people thankful to be rescued from the floods themselves. hundreds of thousands thankful that isaac didn't take more from them. >> we're extremely lucky, compared to the people down

south, we're very, very lucky. i mean, this is nothing. this is nothing. >> louisiana's governor, bobby jindal says officials are moving forward with plans to breach a levee, to reduce water in plaquemines parish. >> the idea is to allow that water to flow out of that area, and now that the winds have shifted, they're also planning to have pumps on site to help de-water that area as well. >> now, a new crisis, new fears have developed. we're talking about this dam along the louisiana/mississippi border. it's called the lake tangipahoa dam. thousands along the mississippi side ordered to evacuate within this smaller radius. here's cnn's david mattingly for us in mississippi. david? >> reporter: this is a dam on the tangipahoa river. it creates a 700-acre lake inside mississippi state. that dam has been damaged by all

the water that's fallen from this tropical storm or hurricane. so they're working right now with a sandbagging operation to shore that dam up. at the same time, they have some other operations going to possibly relieve some of the pressure behind it. but this dam in mississippi, should it fail, would affect people downstream, most of them living in louisiana, downriver, down the tangipahoa river. so that the parish president in louisiana has issued a mandatory evacuation order for people living a mile on either side of that river, as a precaution. the governor's office is backing him up on that, telling people they should pay attention to this, because they don't know what's going to happen with the dam. in fact, we heard from louisiana's governor about this just a short time ago. listen. >> there are concerns, at percy quinn, about a dam over in mississippi, that if this dam were to break, it would take about 90 minutes for that water to get to kentwood. we have been in contact with our mississippi counterparts, including the department of transportation over there.

they are planning a planned breach of that dam, to avoid, to prevent the dam from breaking. this morning, they were concerned that the breaking was imminent. >> that operation planning to relieve some of the pressure that is on that dam right now, so that the repair operations can continue, and hopefully that dam will not fail, but people in two states right now, are very worried about it. >> david mattingly, thank you, there for us in mississippi. i know a lot of you have been reaching out, wondering how you can help. you can, just go to our impact your world website, that is cnn.com/impact. any moment now, we are getting word that tonight's mystery republican speaker will be doing a walk-through at the forum here in tampa. you will see mr. clint eastwood in a matter of moments. stay here. at usaa, we believe honor is not exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath.

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it is mitt romney's big, big night. some time after 10:00 eastern, the former massachusetts governor will be stepping up to the podium next door to me here at the "tampa bay times" forum

and he will accept his party's nomination. in fact, guys, are those live pictures on the left-hand side? taylor hicks, he's preparing. again, we're waiting for clint eastwood, that mystery guest to pop up. as soon as that happens, we'll bring it to you live. but, again, mitt romney speaking tonight. we're awaiting actually his arrival as well to check out the stage, fix the height of the podium, check out the microphones, the hall. we're going to see him very shortly as well. but here with me now, senior romney adviser, bay buchanan. and it's nice to have you on. >> thank you very much. >> nice to meet you. >> good to meet you. >> let's just first start with -- give me something, give me some details of the speech tonight. one nugget. what will he be talking about? >> i think what you're going to see is -- ann romney started, but i think you'll get to see a little bit more about who he is. not only is he an amazingly competent and courageous leader, as he's proven time again, but you'll see a good and decent man up there prepared to take charge of this country and turn it around. that's what i'm hoping, not that

you get to see a little bit about who he is, americans can kind of start to understand the character of the man, but then also to -- that he will tell you, from his heart, what his vision for america really is. >> now, bay, we say good and decent, but i know you've seen the poll numbers, these numbers when it come to honesty. let me just read this. this is the "usa today" gallup poll. president obama sitting at 48% for americans saying trustworthy and honest, and your boss at 36%. what can he say specifically tonight to help to perhaps close that gap when it comes to an appearance? >> well, there's two parts. first of all, as you didn't mention, barack obama wasn at 6. he is down 10 to 12 points, because of the campaign he's running is so ugly and nasty. >> but these are our poll numbers we have today. >> as of today, but he was much higher before, on popularity and likability. it's the kind of campaign he's running. but you have to understand, when

the american people didn't really know mitt romney, you have $100 million being spent against him this summer, to try to tear his person down. to try to make him look like somebody you would never want to vote for. so you can't expect his popularity numbers to go up during that period. but i think americans are tuning in for themselves tonight, unfiltered. they'll see a guy up there, for this whole convention, the sense that you get. these are great leaders we're offering. our party's about the future. and mitt romney is a truly decent and good man. you cannot take that away from him. he has earned that reputation, and i think you'll see it tonight. and he deeply cares about this country and has a plan to make it a better place for all americans. >> and tonight's the night, he'll have tens of millions of people watching to make that pitch and show us perhaps a part of himself that many americans have not seen. there has been well-documented flip-flopping with regard to mitt romney. and i'm just curious, to what do we attribute this gap? this lack of honesty? this perception from the country. >> as i said before, we have not had a chance to get mitt romney before the country.

in a primary, it's contentious, people are against one another. and he can't as an individual -- >> but he's had speaking engagements, he's been interviewed. >> but the good news is, he truly is that person. he truly is a remarkably wonderful man. you saw ann talk about him, a wonderful father, a wonderful husband, family man, man that cares about his community, and has really given back to this country and to those around him. but the key here is, you can focus on those numbers all you want, but when it comes to november, people are going to vote about the issues dearest to him. and americans suffered enormously under president barack obama. and they're going to recognize, we can't -- things are not getting any better. the key issues, our economy, jobs, debt, obama cary. this is what america cares about. and the republican party, the republican ticket has the answer, has the solution, that will turn america around, so that america can work again. >> here's where i'm curious. being you're a female, conservative, you're part of this tight inner circle that is mitt romney, have you ever found yourself sort of arguing to be part of this speech?

to be -- your role. who you are, who you represent, to be part of the speech tonight. >> oh, without question, it's going to be. he knows that. this is his opportunity. and he has never failed to come up and meet that mark. i mean, whether it being debating -- >> how does he do it, though? because he hasn't done it yet. >> i'll tell you how he does it. when was the last time he had an opportunity to directly speak to the american people from his heart, for a period of time, when they could listen without it being filtered by the media. it hasn't happened until now. this is the beginning of the general election. we have a remarkable candidate and an amazing ticket, one that offers so much for this ticket. and i think when americans tune in, they're going to say, wait a minute, this is a man that not only has the answers and the courage to make certain he addresses those serious problems and solve our problems, but he is truly a good and decent, wonderful man. a man that we would be proud to have as our president. >> tens of millions will be watching. >> absolutely. >> they will be watching. >> we hope so. >> bay, thank you. we appreciate it.

nice to meet you. >> thank you. the so-called tell-all book about the raid that killed osama bin laden last month is getting all kinds of attention. i know you've heard some of the back and forth about this the book. so will the controversy surrounding this book, it's entitled "no easy day" -- of course it will, but the question is how will it rewrite history books and how does it contradict the account from the white house? we make a simple thing.

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we are still a week away here from the release of a new book that gives an insider's view of the raid that left osama bin laden dead. the book is called "no easy day," and it's written by a retired member of s.e.a.l. team 6. media outlets got an advanced

copy today. the author, who the pentagon now says can be revealed, his name is matt bissonnette, in this book, this is this man's version of how obama was killed. very much differs from how this critical mission was reported by the white house, in one major way. and here it is. take a look at this animation with me, bin laden, the raid as previously explained, it shows those navy s.e.a.l.s entering the bedroom where they found osama bin laden. you see them shooting him. bissonnette, though, explains that one of his s.e.a.l. team members shot him as soon as he poked his head around the door of the bedroom, not when they opened the door. and earlier i talked to bob baer about the differences in the accounts and if it really matters. >> what you have to understand is, when the s.e.a.l.s do a takedown like this, they are moving at such a high speed is that anybody that acts in the least suspiciously is shot and killed.

it's their modus operandi, they never change it. you have to see one of these things, when they run through a house, three steps at a time, shooting, throwing flash bang grenades. once they hit that door, you're more or less dead, unless you're on the ground, surrendering. >> so then are you saying that the difference in accounts really don't seem that significant? >> well, it's the white house hyping an event. they had to make it look like that bin laden was resisting. it's a typical political spin you get out of any white house, and you know, the political aides of the president want to make the president look as best as he can through this. and the truth is really the first casualty in a raid like this. but i think the point is that the white house did approve it. it was a courageous decision. the s.e.a.l.s did a wonderful job. and we've got a s.e.a.l. coming out and talking about it. it happens -- as i understand from the s.e.a.l.s, this guy was a very, very good operator, one of the best. he's a hero in the rest of it,

but the s.e.a.l.s do not like talking in public about their operations. they like to be quiet heroes. it's just a fact. so, as i understand it, from the s.e.a.l.s, they're unhappy that this guy went to print. >> bob baer, thank you. the book is already number one on amazon, even though we mentioned it, it won't be released until next tuesday. next tuesday. now that we know the mystery speaker no longer a mystery, it is clint eastwood, mr. dirty harry himself. he will be the speaker tonight right before senator marco rubio here in florida, and then of course, the man of the night, mitt romney. and it kind of got us thinking, what other celebrities do republicans have in their corner? we have a look at that here as we're looking at some of these live pictures on the convention floor, in the forum. we are, again, watching and waiting for clint eastwood. also, mitt romney. both should be swinging through this forum any moment now. be right back. there are a lot of warning lights

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more than a few showbiz heavyweights, they are lining up behind republican mitt romney to witness clint eastwood, the star of "dirty hairy" movies, director of big hollywood films like "million dollar baby" is the mystery guest speaking tonight at the rnc. but you know what, eastwood is not alone here. here with this is kareen wynter. >> away from the glare of the red carpet, some hollywood celebrities are harboring are shocking political secret. they're not all card-carrying liberals. >> there's a lot of hollywood people that support republicans. >> reporter: in fact, democratic strategist mitchell schwartz says there's an impressive list of famous movers and shakers backing presumptive republican presidential nominee mitt romney. clint eastwood recently endorsed him. >> i think the country needs a boost somewhere. >> reporter: romney got a post from comedian jeff foxworthy, who kbcampaigned for him back i the primary season. >> jeff foxworthy is going to make all the difference in the world. >> reporter: megaproducer jerry

bruckheimer attended a private fund-raiser for romney back in may. and actor dean cain prefers the republican contender. >> i firmly support mitt romney. >> reporter: romney's republican support may support some as ironic, given attack ads like this one from a gop super pac, calling obama a celebrity president, who's tight with the in crowd. his story by steven ross says romney has made several under the radar stops to stuff his campaign chest. opensecrets.org says he's collected more than $17 million statewide and rubbing shoulders with the entertainment industry elite. >> he is coming to hollywood, and there is conservative money. it has always been here, it has always gone into republican campaigns. >> reporter: but quietly. in hollywood, few celebrities seem willing to go public with their republican beliefs, and some that have said they've paid a price for it. >> i mean, i am a -- i'm a declared, out of the closet,

republican in hollywood. >> haaa! >> reporter: kelsey grammer recently told jay leno he thinks it's possible he didn't get an emmy anonymous this year for his work on "boss" because of his being a republican. >> do you have -- >> i do have five emmys. >> and how long? >> just after that last one, i became one. >> reporter: some won't hide their con tempt for the president. oscar winner jon voight is outspoken. >> obama is not a democrat. he is a radical socialist. >> and producer jerold molen, whose credits include "schindler's list" and "jurassic park" is behind the new documentary, "2016:obama's america." >> obama has a dream that the sins of colonialism be set right. >> reporter: dan scherer notes. >> there are pockets of republican support throughout the entertainment industry. they tend to be very, very

strong willed in their opinion, even to the point where they're willing to risk some professional backlash in order to stand up for what they believe in. >> reporter: so while hollywood's republicans may appear few in numbers, they're proving a true blue town still has vehicles of red. kareen wynter, cnn, hollywood. >> back here in tampa, has the republican convention winds down, of course, after tonight, the big night, mitt romney speaking, the democrats revving up for their convention next week in charlotte. so what can we expect? dnc chairwoman, debbie wasserman schultz, she weighs in next. and yummy good. real fruit pieces. 12 grams of whole grains and a creamy yogurt flavored coating. quaker yogurt granola bars. treat yourself good. turn to senokot-s tablets. senokot-s has a natural vegetable laxative ingredient plus the comfort of a stool softener for gentle, overnight relief

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the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco. i don't know if you caught this. i want to take you back to last evening. gop's mike huckabee, governor huckabee having a little fun, perhaps we'll use that word, a little fun at the expense of a certain prominent democrat who happens to be sitting over my shoulder. >> the only hitch in an otherwise perfect week was the awful noise coming from the hotel room next door to mine. turns out it was just debbie wasserman schultz practicing her speech for the democratic national convention in charlotte next week. bless her heart. >> here with me now, the aforementioned debbie wasserman schultz. do i hear some laughs ahead of the democratic national

committee, also a member of congress here in florida. when you heard that, and you were telling me, you were listening last night. >> i didn't hear his comments. i was told about them later. >> were you surprised? >> um, you know, it's not surprising, coming from someone like mike huckabee, who obviously is unfamiliar with the voice of a strong woman. and so, you know, it's to be expected from a guy who actually, when many were condemning todd akin's outrageous, unacceptable comments about something called "legitimate rape," and women's inability, supposedly, to become pregnant from it, mike huckabee, showing how dramatically out of touch and unreal he is when it comes to the health care of women, actually embraced todd akin, did a fund-raising pitch for him through e-mail, and rallied the troops on a conference call for him. so, really, consider the source. >> considering the source, if he were sitting in that empty chair next to you, what would your retort be.

>> i would ignore him, because he's irrelevant. >> moving on. you're here in tampa, rnc. you're here in the sea of republicans. >> in my home state. >> your home state. what have you observe eobserved? what have you seen? >> um, i've seen more -- more embrace of the extremist policies that we've seen from republicans during this campaign, from mitt romney, from paul ryan, from the republicans that i served with in congress, who think that we should -- who romanticize the failed policies of the past, and who actually worship at the altar of tax cuts for the wealthiest, most fortunate americans. and who think that we should make the middle class pay for those budget-busting tax breaks. those things that crashed our economy and got us into the worst economic crisis in the first place. so, a full embrace here of those policies, which is just another example of how out of touch they are. >> there is nothing romantic about the economy right now. you look at the latest polls,

and mitt romney is actually out-polling the president. does that make you nervous? >> well, we're focused on the next 68 days. we've stood up the most significant, largest grassroots presidential campaign in history, and if you look at the battleground state polling, which is really where the rubber meets the road, president obama is ahead of mitt romney in almost every battleground state. that's because barack obama's policies have made sure that the middle class and working families have a president in the white house that is going to bat for them every single day. that thinks we should continue to invest in education and that everybody should have a fair shot and get a fair shake and, you know, if you work hard and play by the rules, that you can have an opportunity to be successful. unlike mitt romney, who has made sure that we have policies and proposed policies to help millionaires and billionaires and people who already are doing really well. >> let's talk congress, quickly here. congress, your job, dnc chairwoman, i imagine part of your job is making sure you regain the majority in the house that was taken from you in 2010. what is it about your party and your party's record that you want -- that you think the

american people are ready to latch on to, to take the ball and run with it. why? >> there's a reason this republican congress has the lowest approval rating in history, since congress has had ratings. it's the do-nothingest of the do-nothing congresses. they've been focused on -- >> there are democrats in congress as well, and we're talking congress overall in those numbers. >> well, not that have any control over the agenda in the house of representatives. >> correct. correct. >> so we're fighting for the middle class and working families while the republicans have made it very clear they're not interested in working with president obama to get things turned around or create jobs. they're interested in one job, barack obama's job. and we've been pushing and supporting the president, backing him up on focusing on getting our economy moving again, so we can move forward. and republicans want to make sure that we can focus, especially our tax policy, on people who are already doing really well and make sure they can do even better. >> quick, quick question. looking ahead to the dnc, 20 seconds, are you calling it bank of america stadium or panther stadium? >> it's the bank of america

stadium, panther stadium, they're interchangeable. but we're excited that president obama will accept the nomination in a very different way than mitt romney will, in an open to the public, community affair, in front of tens of thousands who we've invited to participate in what will be a very inclusive, participatory convention. >> hopefully without the rain. >> hopefully. >> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, thank you very much. coming up, we'll get you up to date on the desperate situation in syria. just today we've learned of 100 more deaths. the victims including women and young children. and the u.s. stepping in and training these rebels. consider this: when the unexpected happens, there's one brand of battery more emergency workers trust in their maglites: duracell. one reason: duralock power preserve. it locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. guaranteed. so, whether it's 10 years' of life's sunny days... or... the occasional stormy one... trust goes a long way.

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on the show, we are committed to covering the absolute absolute atrocities under way in syria. 18 months of this violence, today even more bloodshed. at least 94 people were killed, nine of them children. right now world powers are meeting at the united nations to discuss humanitarian aid to these rebels and i want to go straight to mohammed janjoon and he is next door to syria and the story is the same. tell me about the fighter jet that the rebels say they shot down. >> reporter: brooke, this happened in the province in the north of syria and we were told by syrian army members and opposition that earlier in the day that rebel fighters were

able to shoot down what they are claiming as the syrian regime fighter plane that was flying in the skies and attacking parts of that town. there is video that proves that this fighter jet was shot down. you can also see a fighter pilot who ejected from the plane coming down as well and there's another amateur video we can't verify or authenticate it and it reports to show the fighter jet as well. the rebels are saying that this was in retaliation of the attacks today by the regime and there were retaliation for the attacks on the rebels and idlib province in which many regime planes were destroyed by revbel. >> tell me about the u.s. role here and training the opposition, how to run the government. i guess they're already steps ahead how to run a government

free of assad? what's happening here. >> essentially what the opposition is asking for is they want to make sure that any post-assad government that any services can be provided to the syrian people that the municipal governments can be set up to provide utilities to balance budget, to create budgets. u.s. state department spokesperson victoria newland says that's what the opposition is asking for. they're asking how to create budgets and how it make sure there are utilities for the people of syria so they can get the services from institutions of the state that they've been lacking for so long with the violence that's been going in syria for 18 months. brooke? >> mohammed jamjoon in lebanon. thank you very much. now to this, not a whole lot of talk on the campaign trail about the war in afghanistan and our vets. now a war veteran tells me what he wants to hear from what he hopes mitt romney to be the next president. clint eastwood and mitt romney are getting ready to take the

stage. these are live pictures there on the floor of the convention. we are watching and waiting for those two gentlemen. stay with me. ♪

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welcome back to tampa. we're giving you an inside look, a little peek, if you will. this is the floor, the convention floor and just to the left, that's the steps up to the stage where we've been seeing these speakers the last couple of nights. here's what we're watching and

waiting for. two people, one being mitt romney. so what these people do is they want to be able to get comfortable at the podium. they want to stand up there and that is precisely what he is about to do minutes from now, we are told. we know that his motorcade has left his hotel and they're en route to this convention floor to sort of check out the podium, check out the height and get the feel for the stage. we also now have confirmed that clint eastwood, yes, clint eastwood, will also be that mystery speaker tonight. we've heard that clint eastwood will be swinging by the floor of the convention, as well. we have crews over there and the second we see either of those gentlemen we'll take you there live. i am at the cnn grill just steps from that forum and joining me now another outside observer here at the 2012 republican convention, and he is iraq war veteran, tom tarantino for the

veterans of iraq. in terms of afghanistan, and we talked about this before and i talked to the folks in the pentagon and there's been a remarkable dearth of conversation when it comes to afghanistan specifically in this campaign. do you agree with me on that first? >> yes. we have not talked about the wars in any way, shape or form. >> we will talk about the war right now. >> from what i understand both mitt romney and president obama see the troop drawdown by the end of 2014 and they're on the sammy page there, but do you see a remarkable difference between the two when it comes to this war on substance? >> well, no because not right now because we haven't heard anything substantive from them. >> that's the problem? >> we don't know. there may not be any daylight between them and they might be miles apart, but because they haven't talked about the war and military issues and they haven't talked about what we'll do when veterans come home we don't know. all we have is their individual records as the president and governor, both of which are

quite good, but we don't know what vision they have for the future for veterans in this country. >> it is so important as you talk about the veterans coming home and i'm on twitter. i get tweets from veterans all of the time. they talk about brooke, i can't find a job. i can't find a job and we played sound from mitt romney speaking at a convention for veterans in indianapolis and he was slamming the president and both have done the same, slamming the president saying he would provide this booming economy, but then how does he do that? how does he do that? how do either of these men do that? >> this is the central problem. iava is here and we'll be in charlotte because we want the issues our members care about to be talked about these campaigns. we're being looking at defending the g.i. bill from fraud and abuse and making sure veterans can come home and find job, stemming the tied of suicide that veterans are facing. building a 21st century va and improving care for women veterans. these are things that if talked about the veterans out in this country will pay attention and they'll give them their vote. 300,000 veterans in virginia and

florida alone, 60,000 in ohio and if you speak to the issues that you care about. you're in touch with the folks coming back. bravely serving our country and coming back to a reality check. what's the biggest concern among them? >> right now, making sure that the american people and that congress is paying attention. the fact that the two men who are applying for the job for being president of the united states are not bricking these issues to the forefront scares us because i think we can all agree that the budget battle isn't getting easier. it will get a lot more bloody and contentious over the next year and these things like veterans' health care and g.i. bill that take care of men and women when they come home from war that frankly, no one wants to cut politically will start looking cuttable if we can't protect them and if a third of the g.i. bill goes for a for-profit school industry that largely doesn't graduate students and it spends that money on marketing, recruiting and not on education. >> i look forward to having a conversation with you from charlotte and we'll post a game he