christie, jeb bush, and the romney boys and condoleezza rice for now, from tampa, good night and god bless america. mr. chairman and delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states. >> taking the challenge -- mitt romney plays to disillusioned voters and his own doubters. destruction and ruin in its wake. gulf coast residents dealing with the wet aftermath as isaac

heads north, good morning, i'm zoraida sambolin in new york. >> and i'm john berman, live in tampa this morning. i'm at patch's place, a fine eating establishment, a very popular restaurant here over the course of the morning, this place will fill up with happy and completely fulfilled people. on the subject of fulfillment, perhaps political fulfillment after all the build-up, last night was finally mitt romney's moment. in front of a packed house that was hanging on his every word. romney deuced himself to america, or reintroduced himself. his goal, show people who he is, who he really is. and convince undecided voters, especially those key independents, that it's time to give up on president obama. so how did he do? we're going to be joined by our cnn white house correspondent, brianna keilar, who is with me in tampa at a different location. so brianna, what did you think? >> good morning to you, john from historic plant hall at the

university of tampa. we saw mitt romney attacking president obama. he also defended his business record and it was almost as if he was saying to voters who may have voted for president obama in 2008, it's okay to make a change. >> this president can ask us to be patient, this president can tell us it was someone else's fault. this president can tell us that the next four years he'll get it right. but this president cannot tell us that you're belter off today than when he took office. >> the centerpiece of mitt romney's nomination acceptance speech, an attack on president obama's economic record. >> does the america we want borrow $1 trillion from china? does it fail to find the jobs needed for 23 million people and for half the kids graduating from college? >> romney laid out a five-point plan to create 12 million jobs, become energy independent by

2020 and cut deficits, but he fell short on details. the republican nominee did not shy away from his business experience at bain capital. >> that business we started with ten people has now grown into a great american success story. some of the companies we helped start are names you know and you've heard from tonight. an office company called staples where i'm pleased to see the obama campaign has been shopping. he had almost no experience working in a business. jobs to him are about government. >> for a candidate who has tried to downplay his mormon faith, sometimes even avoiding saying the word "mormon" he pivoted with personal anecdotes. >> we were mormons, and growing up in michigan, that might have seemed unusual or out of place, but i don't remember it that way. >> his poll shows voters think president obama is much more likely to understand their problems, romney declared the

time has come to turn the page. >> president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans. and to heal the planet. my promise is to help you and your family. >> romney recast ronald reagan's classic election-year question -- >> are you better off than you were four years ago? >> telling voters -- >> you know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president, when the best day you've had was the day you voted for him. >> i was right there in the hall, brianna when this was happening and you could tell the delegates were hanging on his

every word. he did have them listening and paying attention. being in the hall i also saw something like i've never seen before, and that was clint eastwood up on stage speaking to an empty chair. explain this to me, if you can. >> i don't know that i can even completely explain this. this was clint eastwood was the surprise guest before marco rub rubio, senator from florida who introduced mitt romney and he was speaking to an empty chair. seeming to indicate that president obama should be sitting in that chair. that's who he was talking to. it made for a somewhat strange and uncomfortable moment. here it is. >> what? what do you want me to tell romney to do that. he can't do that to himself. you're crazy. you're absolutely crazy. you're getting as bad as biden.

>> the romney campaign, john, refused to say that this was a blunder, or maybe a miscalculation. especially because clint eastwood seemed to drone on and on. but certainly a lot of observers thought that this was a blunder and this even got a tweet out from the president's own twitter handle, not from the president himself. it doesn't have that signature on it. but it says, this seat's taken and it's a picture of president obama in chair. it appears to be likely in perhaps the roosevelt room, we're not sure. where it's a picture of him from behind and it says "the president" on the placard of the chair. so they responded with humor and certainly pressing back. >> you know, there is a difference of opinion, brianna, i did hear from a lot of people overnight, including eric ericsson who thought that the clint eastwood moment was effective. so it should be an interesting

discussion. thank you very much, brianna. in a few minutes, more analysis on the big speech. both clint eastwood's and mitt romney's. but before that, back to new york and my friend, zoraida sambolin. >> i know you were there last night and you were watching. did you have one of those moments that you thought was reegly significant or something you're going to be talking about a little bit later. there's a lot of chatter about marco rubio as well. >> my moment was about mitt romney. i've covered mitt romney for a lot of years and i followed him back when he was governor of massachusetts. there was stories and a tone that i've never heard before. he told a story about how his father left a rose for his mother every morning of their lives and the mother knew that the father, george romney passed away because one morning she woke up and there was no rose there. and he also spoke about how he longed to see his five boys fighting in his bedroom every morning. there was some human moments there from mitt romney that you do not usually see from him and

if you were tuning in for the first time to that election, that may have left an impression on you. >> for those who haven't watched, i'm glad you're sharing some of those moments. it's seven minutes past the hour. two bodies have been recovered from a flooded plaquemines parish home, the first known casualties from hurricane isaac in the state of louisiana. hurricane isaac is now a weakening tropical depression moving north. he left entire neighborhoods under water and hundreds of people without power. the two deaths, a man and a woman were found floating in their kitchen in seven feet of water. meteorologist rob marciano is live from new orleans where they're making the difficult transition into recovery mode this morning. what's the latest there, rob? >> well there's still a lot of water around outside of the city. a lot of the city still in the dark over the entire storm zone.

you're talking about 800,000 people without power as of 5:00 last night and lots of damage around the city. but the waters outside the city are going to be slow to recede all around the lake and down around plaquemines parish. i had the opportunity yesterday to fly with the coast guard and also the army corps of engineers, assessing two things, how did the levees and the pump stations and the surge barriers hold up. and what kind of shape is the mississippi river in so that the coast guard can open it back up to river traffic. a huge source of commerce, they've got to get that thing back up and running. after the flight i asked the army corps of engineers colonel how he thought the whole system held up through the storm. >> we're still in the middle of this. you know, if you think about seven years ago today, everybody walked out of their house and saw the sun and the sky and thought everything was over. and then the water started to continue to come up and up. and we saw a little bit of that this morning.

we were cautiously optimistic. but we're still watching. water is still rising, particularly on the west bank as it falls on the east bank and we have to be vigilant. >> the area where there was thousands of people that had to scramble for their lives across the east bank, that water is still pooled. they're trying to decide do they break the levee and drain the water or pump it out. out in mississippi, some of the heaviest rainfall fell on that state and the lake tangipahoa, the dam that holds back the water, that's been weakening. so far, so good there, but a couple of deaths across mississippi, and they have their own struggles. this a multistate, multimillion dollar, multimillion person event, zoraida and we're slow to recover across the gulf coast. >> i want to focus on the two deaths in plaquemines parish. i know the area was under

mandatory evacuation. have they looked house to house there and made sure that everyone else is safe? or should we be concerned that there may be more people that perhaps died because of the storm? >> i don't think they're done with that operation yet. everything is very spread out. some of these houses are very remote. so that continues to, to happen and the waters are still high there. so it's going to be an ongoing procedure. just yesterday we were at the coast guard base and they continue to pull people who were being rescued from their homes, back to the coast guard base. so it's a big area to cover and they're still going through it. >> rob, we know that the storm is continuing to move and dumping a lot of rain, so we're going to check back with you and find out where it's headed. to find out how you can help those devastated by tropical storm isaac, visit our impact your world page, at cnn.com/impact. let's send it back to john

berman, anchoring our coverage of the republican national convention. >> we're back in tampa, at the convention center, the speeches are over, the balloons have fallen, but will the poll numbers rise for mitt romney after his convention performance. more convention analysis live from tampa. [ male announcer ] whether it's kevin's smartphone... mom's smartphone... dad's tablet... or lauren's smartphone... at&t has a plan built to help make families' lives easier. introducing at&t mobile share. one plan lets you share data on up to 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. add a tablet for only $10 per month. the more data you share, the more you save.

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the political dust is still settling in tampa. where hours ago mitt romney tould thousands in a packed arena and millions more at home why he should be president or more specifically why president obama should no longer be. >> this president can ask us to be patient, this president can tell us it was someone else's fault. this president can tell us that the next four years he'll get it right. but this president cannot tell us that you're better off today than when he took office.

>> so with the republican convention now in the history books, the romney campaign will be watching the polls closely to see if they earn that most coveted of prizes in presidential elections, the post-convention bounce. joining me to talk about this is margaret hoover, a cnn contributor and a bush white house appointee. >> first impressions, maggie? >> i thought mission accomplished. that's what mitt romney needed to do. all the talk and all the buzz right before was is he going to be able to outshine the people who came before him. are they going to overshadow him? they didn't at all. he absolutely delivered. he did what he needed to do. he let the american people see who he was. while he was speaking to the people in the convention, who know him. all of these republican voters have been looking at him since 2008 and the primaries leading

up to it. this was his first introduction to independents, to women who might vote for him and whose votes he needed, he delivered. >> it was the best speech he's given. it was a good speech that his delivery made great for him. he's not a great speaker, but it really was a good, good speech and the story about his father and the rose, his mom knew his dad died wasn't there in the morning and the line, there were a number of independents who i came into contact with last night who said the line that stuck out with them, which didn't stick out with me by the way, was wanting the kids still small and on the bed. >> absolutely. you're like, i just want to sleep. >> i've got a 3-year-old, i want to sleep. >> he filled in some of the gaps for people and justified some of the things he's been criticized for in the past and one of the things is bain capital. let's listen to what he called

the bain success story. >> the business we started with ten people has now grown into a great american success story. the centerpiece of the president's entire re-election campaign is attacking success. is it any wonder that someone who attacks success has led the worst economic recovery since the great depression? >> does this innoculate him to the bain attacks? >> i thought that was a very powerful line. i thought it was one of his most powerful lines. this is his argument, are you better off than you were tomorrow and how are you going to help create an economy that's creating more jobs if you're attacking the job makers. >> when you're running a campaign, one of the things you want to try to do is turn the thing that you're perceived as being weak on, into strengths. making the bain statements really helped him that i really am a job creator, i really am a fixer. barack obama has never worked in the private sector. >> we would be doing a disservice if we didn't play a

clip from clint eastwood. because i need to ask you about it. >> what? what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that. he can't do that to himself. you're crazy. you're absolutely crazy. you're getting as bad as biden. >> now, this is one of those moments where half the smart people on twitter were writing, this was a disaster. half the smart people i follow on twitter were saying this is a great moment. what do you guys think. >> i was tweeting with folks in colorado and iowa, totally anecdotally. but they were saying, this is really funny. this is playing well. they were saying, this is hysterical. >> people in fly-over country this has been a brilliantly scripted convention, here is one moment of authenticity of a guy

who is saying to them, a lot of the conversation a lot of people are having, saying i really like the man in the white house, but i'm not sure i want to vote for him again. >> i completely agree with you that it was something different and he made people listen. >> i can't imagine anyone having -- that was something i've never seen before anywhere. >> it was quite interesting. >> guys, you'll be back later. we have a lot more to talk about this morning. >> thanks. you kind of danced around that one. did you like it or not like it. what did you think? >> it made me listen. it's not a matter of liking or not liking. it was so different from anything i had seen. i never knew what would happen next. it doesn't mean it was effective. but i was definitely listening. >> i think they're right, it played different there than it did at home. because i was laughing.

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what do people want to hear? >> markets want to hear there's going to be more stimulus, the economy is going to get a little more juice from the federal reserve to keep it going until a real recovery can take hold. there have been some conservative who is are complaining, we have been putting all of these different methods into the federal reserve and we still have a subpar, subpar growth. but ben bernanke, the fed chief and many others are saying without that the recovery would have been even worse. there's a big jackson hole conference for central bankers. think about groupies for central bankers, reporters and analysts will be waiting to see what the fed stands ready to do. >> and i just teased gadgets and everybody is, the geeks there want to know about the latest and greatest coming out. >> a lot of stuff to talk about, the new kindle fire is unveiling. the last version sold out according to the company, retails for about $199, less

than the ipad, which is $499. and the iphone 5, the word on the street is that maybe that's going to be coming around the end of september, september 21st. could there be an ipad mini? we don't know for sure, but everyone who covers gadgets is talking about it. the new microsoft surface tablet is not a gadget. but windows 8, the new version of the operating system. in six years, there hasn't been a new nintendo wii. and i told but the kindle and the kindle fire. so big fall, big gadget fall we're expecting. so watch the space. >> and if you were looking at the video of the first gadget, i think it was the kindle and a little kid, a really tiny kid. that's on their chris litmas li. let's send it back to john berman, anchoring our corage of the republican national convention. >> we're here in patch's place, a restaurant here in tampa. the convention center is all but

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president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans. my promise is to help you and your family.

promising jobs for your vote. mitt romney takes the fight to president obama on the biggest stage of his life. swamped -- gulf coast residents dealing with the wet aftermath as isaac heads north leaving destruction and sadly death in its wake. welcome back to "early start," it's 30 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin in new york. >> and i'm john berman live at tampa, we're at patch's place, because the republican convention all finished, all said and done, it is over and mitt romney got a little personal last night in what was easily the biggest speech of his political career. he talked about his family, he talked about his mormon faith and his speech pointed to the sharp differences with president obama. saying promise has given way to disappointment and division in just four years. the convention's closing night featured a rising republican star, and a hollywood icon, with a fascinating interview with the president in the person of an empty chair, let's hear about all of this starting with mitt

romney's big speech. cnn white house correspondent, brianna keilar joins me from a different location here in tampa. >> good morning to you from historic plant hall at the university of tampa. mitt romney last night here in tampa really attacking president obama on his economic record. and he was also standing up for his own business experience at the same time that the obama campaign has tried to make a liability of it, zeroing in on workers and companies where jobs were lost. after bain capital took over. romney standing up for his business experience and highlighting president obama's lack of business experience. >> he took office without the basic qualification, that most americans have. and one that was essential to the task at hand. he had almost no experience working in a business. jobs to him are about

government. >> john, this probably struck you as well, but mitt romney talked about his faith. this is someone who frequently avoids saying the word "mormon" even though he is of mormon faith. he said it last night, talked about growing up mormon in michigan, which he said was sort of different. but he also said at the same time, we weren't concerned about that. as kids we were really worried about what we were doing day in, day out. really trying to downplay any concerns that some christians, particularly in his own party, may have about his faith. >> you're right, brianna, it did strike me. because mitt romney is so comfortable talking about his faith in person and has been so careful not to over the years and political forum, so i think you're absolutely right, that was striking. something else that was striking was clint eastwood, who opened up the 10:00 hour of the convention last night with his speech that did not seem like it had been vetted by the romney

campaign and did not seem particularly scripted. >> it was off the cuff, some observers said it may have been a blunder and it was downright strange. i think it's fair to say, he addressed the convention and throughout a lot of it to an empty chair as if it were president obama, here's part of it. >> i know some of the people in your own party who are very disappointed when you didn't close gitmo and i thought, well i think closing gitmo, why close that, we've spent so much money on it. but i thought maybe it's an excuse -- what, do you mean, shut up? okay. just, i thought it was just because somebody had a stupid idea of trying terrorists in downtown new york city, maybe that was it. >> so bottom line, john, this was kind of weird, i think it's fair to say and president

obama's official twitter account, not him personally, because it did have that "b.o." si signature, if it's straight if him. but it said, this seat's taken, in a tweetd and it's a picture of president obama, seeming to be in a cabinet meeting from behind, sitting in a chair that says "the president" on it. while a lot of people thought it was a blunder, some people think maybe that it will pay off and i think that's because obviously as mitt romney is really trying to capitalize on the white male voter, this is something that's going to get a lot of publicity and perhaps maybe clint eastwood will be out on the circuit talking about mitt romney in the days and weeks to come. >> thanks so much, brianna keilar. there are people who do think it may have been effective, margaret hoover and eric ericsson, eetding a big breakfast, they thought the clint eastwood thing worked well. meanwhile, the democratic national convention will get under way next week. the formal program starting on

tuesday in charlotte. former president, jimmy carter and first lady michelle obama speaking on tuesday, carter by remote, mrs. carter on tuesday, president bill clinton speaks on wednesday and then the convention moves outside to the bank of america stadium, the home of the carolina panthers on thursday. where vice president joe biden and president obama's big speech. we will be live in charlotte, north carolina, heading there if tampa. we will be hosting "early start" all next week with frequent visits from the best political team on tv who are eating breakfast right now next to me. meanwhile, we send it back to zoraida in new york. >> i cannot believe you just called them out while they're in the middle of eating breakfast, pay-back is really tough. >> they're hungry, they got to eat. >> thank you very much, john. it is 36 minutes past the hour. a in judge has been assigned to the murder trial of george zimmerman. on wednesday, a florida appeals court granted zimmerman's request for a new judge.

zimmerman's attorneys argued that comments judge kenneth lester made about his client put their client at a new risk. he'll be replaced by judge debra nelson. and los angeles police chief responding to an incident in which two of his officers were caught on camera tackling a handcuffed woman and celebrating it with a fist-bump. 34-year-old registered nurse, michelle jordan was twice tackled to the ground by officers after being pulled over on august 21st for allegedly talking on her cell phone while driving. >> every los angeles police officer regardless of rank, will be held accountable for their actions. i've also mandated that the video of played in all roll calls and at commanding officers an discuss use of force issues throughout the department. chief beck has relieved the

captain of his division of command and the one officer has been assigned to desk duty, and the other sent home. look at this. look at this. that is a great white shark devouring a seal along the coast of cape cod. one of many shark sightings that have forced officials to shut down local beaches. a lot of shark activity in that area, just a few hundred feet from chasm's busy beaches. andy roddick will hang up his racquet. he's the last american to win a grand slam title. he's scheduled to play his second-round match at this year's open, scheduled for tonight. ahead on early start, the horrible, simply horrible discovery in the aftermath of hurricane isaac. a couple killed right inside their home.

we have a live report coming up. moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. mornings are a special time for the two of you...) and now you can make them even more special... with new fancy feast mornings. mornings are delicious protein rich entrées... with garden veggies and egg. each one perfectly designed... to start her day with a little love. new fancy feast mornings gourmet cat food. the best ingredient is love.

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welcome back, it is 41 minutes past the hour. two bodies have been recovered from a home in flooded plaquemines parish, in louisiana, the first known casualties in a state where isaac made landfall. isaac is now a weakening tropical depression. it's slowly moving north. left in its wake, neighborhoods totally under water and hundreds of thousands of people without power those two casualties were a man and a woman found floating in their kitchen. they were in seven feet of water. meteorologist rob marciano is live from new orleans where they're transitioning into recovery mode this morning. at the height of the storm we had almost a million people without power. what's the latest now? >> as of late last night it was still over 800,000 across four states. you mentioned those bodies that

were found down in plaquemines parish, sad stuff for sure and there's still people that are cut off down there. that area that was flooded where the levee overtopped is now filled with water and they're trying to figure out, do they bust through another back levee and drain it out into the gulf of mexico or do they pump it out? either way, a sad and disturbing sight for sure and all the locals are telling me, worse than katrina, worse than they've really ever seen. not just here, mississippi as well. they got a ton of rain over there, they have a couple of fatalities, falling trees, dams around big lakes that are weakening and possibly threatening lives. so this this storm is certainly not over in that regard and on the move to the north. here's the radar shot, pretty much centered right over little rock, arkansas, still a wide swath of precipitation with it. now it's getting into areas that really could use the rain. this is great stuff.

some of the areas are so dry that you know, the ground may not absorb it all, you may see some localized flooding. but generally speaking from arkansas right up through the cornbelt, in through indiana, they're going to get anywhere from five to in some cases seven inches of rain. so that's, that's certainly a beneficial stuff there. a little too little, too late for the corn crop, but other crops may, may take some of that very well. here in new orleans, a lot of debris on the road, it's tough to get around the city for the most part was shut down again yesterday. likely will be slow to recover today. so this is a worst-case scenario. and around lake pontchartrain, there's a number of communities, west of the lake and north of the lake that are also still dealing with floodwaters that have yet to recede and thousands of people still displaced from their homes. >> rob, we appreciate that. when we come back i want to talk a little about how they're

planning on removing the water, i know it's hampering the recovery efforts as well. 44 minutes past the hour. let's send it back to john berman, anchoring our coverage of the republican national convention. and you've moved, you're having breakfast somewhere? >> i ate already, although eric ericsson and margaret hoover are next to me eating. but i had breakfast before the show so i could give the show my full attention we're at patch's place, a local watering hole here in tampa. last night mitt romney launched the final phase of his campaign for the white house with a high-stakes speech at the republican national convention. he accepted his party's nomination with an appeal to disappointed and disaffected americans and he asked them to vote president obama out of office. >> if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he's president obama?

you know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. >> romney said what america needs are jobs. lots of jobs, and that he's the man to make that happen. now governor romney recruited a rising gop star, florida senator, marco rubio to start making the point on achieving the american dream. rubio introduced romney by sharing his personal vision of success, his cuban immigrant parents impressing on him that in america, anything is possible. >> we live in a troubled time, but the story of those who came before us reminds us that america has always been about new beginnings. and mitt romney is running for president because he knows that if we are willing to do for our children, what our parents did for us, life in america can be better than it has ever been.

>> rubio endorsed romney in march, toward the end of the republican primary contest. now another floridian, jeb bush, the brother of the former president george w. bush, also addressed the convention last night. this was interesting, because before launching into a speech about education, he said he had to get something off of his chest. >> mr. president, it is time to stop blaming your predecessor for your failed economic policies. you were dealt a tough hand, you were dealt a tough hand, but your policies have not worked. in the fourth year of your presidency, a real leader would accept responsibility for his actions and you haven't done it. >> the former florida governor, jeb bush, said his brother, george w. bush is a man of integrity, courage and honor and

that george w. bush kept us safe in challenging times. ahead on "early start," more from tampa on the conventions, including the key question -- did mitt romney make inroads with undecided voters? he needs to win them to win the white house. so we're going to check in with a group of undecides that we talked to to see how they felt about the speech. it's hard to see opportunity in today's challenging environment. unless you have the right perspective. bny mellon wealth management has the vision and experience to look beyond the obvious. we'll uncover opportunities, find hidden risk, and make success a reality. bny mellon wealth management has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does!

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welcome to "early start," very fwlad you're with us, mitt romney's greatest challenge last night might have been persuading undecided voters to get behind him. what cnn did is assembled a group of undecided voters last night. as tom foreman tells us, the republican nominee may have come up a bit short. >> it was fascinating to watch the reaction from our 28

undecided voters around here, a group that lean as little bit republican, but there are democrats in the crowd a little bit, too. and mainly independents. and watch in particular, how they responded to the highest point of the night for this group, when mitt romney talked about his dad and mom and how they related to his mom's aspirations. >> when my mom ran for the senate, my dad was there for her every step of the way. i could still see her saying in her beautiful voice -- why should women have any less say than men about the great decisions facing our nation? >> a massive cheer from the crowd and a big reaction from the women here also, when he said about his mom running for senate and dad supporting her. why did that make you feel good? >> it just kind of humanized him that he has parents and he has a warm, loving family that he's come from and he understands

what what we're going through as parents, bringing up our own children. >> even if that makes you feel that way, does it move you closer to wanting to vote for him? >> i'm still undecided. >> even after hearing that, it made a difference, but not a big difference? >> not a big difference. >> one of the things that was interesting in this was the reaction from all of you to the attacks, when the attacks began, interestingly enough, the women here liked them much more than the men did the women are the pink line, the men are the blue. watch how they respond during this attack on the obama record. but tonight i would ask a simple question, if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now, that he's president obama? i know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done

as president, when the best day you've had was the day you voted for him. >> why do you think the men didn't like the attacks as much as women. >> for me, personally, it doesn't do anything for me. it's not informative. so it doesn't indicator to my decision-making at all. >> you don't care about that. let me see, who is a woman here, who generally thought the attacks were effective and a good thing. you had to be here because you're all registering that way. who likes the attacks? a little bit? >> i thought it was a very fair question to ask, are we better off than we were four years ago. >> that's all it came down to, a fair, decent question to ask. >> i think it's fair to take a look at the record, what has obama done in the past four years. he had a right to ask that. >> let me move to the back and ask a couple more questions. did anything happen to change your mind? the overall impact seemed not particularly strong throughout the speech. >> it did not change my opinion at all. i wish there was something that

would have shocked me or persuaded me to vote that way. but i was kind of still even keel. >> ready for it, and other here, what did you think? anything that moved you at all in this? >> i liked everything that was said. but i wish there was a better alternative. he sounds much better than obama, but i still don't give up the hope. >> this is a group that i said from the beginning, that's undecided voters. they all tend a little bit more republican, but mainly they're independents. and when you watch the dials tonight, i'm telling you, there wasn't a tremendous amount of movement. so that's the thing that mitt romney probably most has to worry about. because these are the voters that he has to get all over the country. the undecideds, the independents, they'll decide it. >> really interesting to hear from those undecided voters. mitt romney was the headliner in tampa. but it was a side show by clint eastwood that has a lot of

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mr. chairman, and delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states! >> taking the challenge, mitt romney plays to disillusioned voters and his own doubters. his first speech as the republican presidential nominee. destruction and ruin in its wake, gulf coast residents dealing with the wet aftermath

as isaac now heads north. good morning to you and welcome to "early start," i'm zoraida sambolin here in new york. >> and i'm john berman live in tampa where the republican national convention is over. they're shutting it down this morning. so we're at patch's place, a restaurant here is over. mitt romney last night gave that big speech after years campaigning for the job. mitt romney now begins a two-month sprint for the white house. he accepted the nomination with a speech as much personal as it was political. much of it aimed at undecided and disappointed voters. mitt romney told them the president has failed and he, mitt romney, is the one to restore america's greatness. the stakes were so high for him. but did he did deliver? i'm joined by brianna keilar. >> good morning from historic plant hall. here at the university of tampa,

last night we saw mitt romney attacking president obama's record and trying to dissuade voters, saying you may have voted for president obama four years ago but it's okay if you want to change course. >> this president can ask us to be patient. this president can tell us it was someone else's fault. this president can tell us that the next four years will get it right. but this president cannot tell us that you're better off today than when he took office. >> reporter: the centerpiece of mitt romney's nomination acceptance speech, an attack on president obama's economic record. does the america we want borrow a trillion dollars from china? does it fail to find jobs needed for 23 million people and half kids graduating from college? >> no. >> romney laid out a 12-point

man and become energy independent and fell short on details. the republican nominee did not shy from his business at bain capital. >> that business has grown into a great american success story. some of the companies we helped start are names we know and heard from tonight. an office company called staples where i'm pleased to see the obama campaign has been shopping. he had almost no experience working in a business. jobs to him are about government. >> for a candidate who tried to downplay his morman faith, he pivoted with personal anecdotes. >> we are mormones and growing up in michigan that may have seemed unusual or out of place, i don't remember it that way. my friends cared more about what sports teams we followed. >> reporter: romney declared the

time has come to turn the page. >> president obama promised to become to slow the rise of the ocean oceans. and heal the planet. my promise is to help you and your family. >> romney recast ronald reagan's classic election year question. >> are you better off than four years ago? >> you know there is something wrong with the job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. >> so the target here, clearly the independent, the swing voters who may be disillusioned after four years of president obama and one weapon the romney

campaign chose to use, to reach them, clint eastwood. brianna? >> reporter: obviously in this case they were trying to use clint east wood to attract the white male vote which is very important to mitt romney and president obama struggles with. this was a very interesting speech, i think is the diplom diplomatic way to put it. strange and uncomfortable as eastwood talked to a chair as if it was president obama. >> i know you were against the war in iraq and that's okay but you thought the war in afghanistan was okay, you thought that was something that was worth doing. we didn't check with the russians to see how they did there for the ten years. but it -- we did it. >> reporter: now, john, i thought it was interesting, i was watching the twittersphere

and it was blowing up with people talking about invisible obama. you know who tweeted? president oobama's staff, it wa a picture of him in a chair in a cabinet meeting and said this seat is taken. they pushed back but on a more serious note something that struck any, clint eastwood talked about afghanistan. that is one word mitt romney never mentioned in his remarks. it is definitely a war we'ry electorate and didn't talk about it. >> that was clearly unscripted and very interesting to say the least. thank you very much, brianna keilar. there is a lot of opinion about clint eastwood and the romney speech in general. i'll be joined by margaret hoover and eric ericsson and we'll have more morning after analysis, talking over coffee. you can see her on the

blackberry saying i like being on "early start." it's a great show. >> i'm going to check her twitter account. a deadly discovery in the aftermath of hurricane isaac, two bodies pulled from a flooded plaquemines parish home. first known casualties in the state of louisiana. isaac is a weakening tropical depression and slowly moving north. in his wake he left entire neighborhoods under water and hundreds of thousands of people without power. the two deaths, a man and woman, they were found floating in their kitchen in 7 feet of water. meteorologist rob marciano is live in new orleans where they are making the difficult transition into recovery mode. and that area in plaquemines parish, that was under mandatory evacuation. those bodies that were found, do we know what the recovery efforts in that area? >> reporter: very slow.

they were still pulling people out of there and some people resigned themselves to being cut off from new orleans and other areas until they can figure out how to at least drain or pump that water out because it's still sitting there and there's still in many areas, 5 to 7 feet of water. they haven't gone to all homes and there may be more zbrim discoveries like what we found yesterday. to give you visuals. i went up with the u.s. coast guard, the captain who managed the operation in the mississippi river and the colonel in charge of the army corps of engineers. they wanted to assess the river and levee system and the new system in place across new orleans, how well that held up. the coast guard wants to be able to open up the mississippi river for commerce, for traffic. there's a lot of barges that have broken loose. there's a number of big tankers that have run aground. they have their work cut out for them. i spoke with the colonel after

the flight of the army corps of engineers and asked what was his opinion on how the system held up. >> we're still in the middle of this. if you think about seven years ago today, everybody walked out of their house and saw the sun in the sky and thought everything was over. then the water started to continue to come up and up and up. we saw that this morning. we were cautiously open tis mickty but we're still watching, water is still rising on the west bank and we have to be vigilant. >> reporter: it is so complicated. you get it from all sides, the marsh, the gulf of mexico, lake pontchartrain and points west of flooded because of pontchartrain and slidele and areas to the north flooded out quickly and there were rescues going on there as well, not to mississippi who probably got the most amount of rainfall. a couple of fatalities for falling trees and they are

having issues as far as holding bam dams and levees that may threaten to weaken and release water. all of this water is heading up north. no more rain left down here. still the issues of the leftover water remain. >> we were looking at pictures there and it was a breach of a levee and that was in in order to alleviate all of the water standing still in other areas. >> reporter: they'll do that from time to time, trying to figure out whether they do that down in plaquemins parish, that has yesterday to be determined. you have a lot the water built up around people live. there's no easy solution on how to fix the problem. >> it's terrible to watch. thanks for the update. for those who want to help, devastated by tropical storm isaac, visit our impact our world page. lots of options to help there. james holmes called a university of colorado switch

board just nine minutes before he allegedly open fire. that number can be used to get in contact with faculty during off hours. those revelations coming from his public defender during a hearing. this happened yesterday. holmes' psychiatrist has said she called campus police after the last session about a month before the shooting. and he is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 58 others during a midnight screening of the dark knight rises. jim spellman will have more on this stunning revelation, the latest in the movie theater massacre case in 45 minutes. the pentagon now threatening legal action against the retired navy s.e.a.l. who wrote a book about the raid that killed osama bin laden. the pentagon's top lawyer wrote a letter to the author addressed to mark owen saying that he violated agreements to not divulge military secrets. the author said he and another s.e.a.l. finished off bin laden

and identified him as leader of al qaeda. it was originally due out on september 11th. listen to this cheating scandal unfolding at harvard. university officials say 125 students are being investigated for collaborating on a take-home final exam for an introduction to congress case. those found guilty could be expelled from the ivy league school for a year and face disciplinary action. let's send it back to john berman. good morning. >> good morning, i'm at patches place, a restaurant here in tampa. we're here because back at the convention hall, the speeches ever done and the balloons have fallen and they are sweeping up. but we have big questions, namely, will the poll numbers rise for mitt romney after his convention performance? we'll have expert analysis, all of the answers from tampa coming up. [ female announcer ] ready r a taste of what's hot?

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with me here this morning, margaret hoover, former bush white house appoint ee and editor in chief of red state.com. we've all been talking about how mitt romney for the first time for many of us gave us a window into his life, into who he is beyond just the suit and businessman. >> the number of people who had never heard the rose story before, a number of reporters who have been on the campaign trail for four years never heard that story, that was a powerful moment that he couldn't -- they couldn't expand the story because it was so emotional for him. >> let's listen to it. >> my mom and dad were married for 64 years. and if you wondered what they're

secret was, you could have asked the local florist. because every day dad gave mom a rose, which he put on her bedside table. that's how she found out what happened on the day my father died. she went looking for him because that morning there was no rose. >> i've heard a hundred mitt romney speeches in person, never heard that story. >> the instant tears from people in the crowd at that moment. >> the hit against mitt romney is he's too automatic, malfunctioning on the campaign trail. as he began to tell the story, at first it sounded like a joke about a florist. then he started loosened up and it became very somber and touching. >> why is it important to hear this? >> because we need to know who our president is going to be. there was this whole -- all of the criticism before hand was there was no character

narrative. here we got some. >> we also got some from some people that say that mitt romney was a key figure this their life, they were parents who lost a son. they spoke earlier in the night which is significant but told a really heart wrenching story about what mitt romney meant to them personally. >> how many men do you know would take the time out of their busy lives to visit a terminally ill 14-year-old and help him settle his affair. david also helped us plan his funeral. he wanted to be buried in his boy scout uniform. he wanted mitt to pronounce his eulogy and he was there to honor that request. we will be ever grateful for his love and concern. >> where i was standing in the audience, there were people crying. my question, eric, what does mitt romney do with this now? >> i still think even whether it's the ann romney speech or

these speeches, most of america hasn't heard these. if he can figure a way to package and tell them in advertising -- these were powerful stories. i question the decision about putting clint eastward in that time slot instead of this couple. >> since you mentioned clint, let's listen. >> it's that time and if you kind of stepped aside and mr. romney can kind of take over, you can still use a plane. though maybe a smaller one, not that big gas guzzling when you're going to colleges and talking about student loans and stuff like that. i think you're an ecological man, why would you want to drive that truck around. >> you are both laughing this morning. you seem to think this worked. >> what is the difference between clint eastwood and joe

biden? he didn't get a vice presidential nomination. >> everybody in the hall was sort of looking at each other saying this is kind of weird but funny. at home on tv it looked hysterical. >> it played very well with people in the heartland undecided voters in major swing states. >> did make a key point. every minute we're talking about clint eastwood, we are not talking -- >> the couple should have been there instead of him. >> both of you, we're so happy you're here. thanks for getting up. i appreciate it. zoraida, back to you. >> 19 minutes past the hour. your kids have a stake in the 2012 election. coming up, christine romans with what each candidate claims they will do for education in america. we'll be right back.

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it is 22 minutes past the hour and we are minding your business. education issues are starting to play a part in the race for the white house. christine romans has been looking at what the candidates have been saying and what they claim they will do for education in this country. >> this is the first week where i've seen the education story stick a little bit. it flairs up and goes away. this is something that matters to every american and middle class. if we don't have a good public school education, we can't compete. china and india are turning out something like eight times as many engineers as the u.s. and we're turning out kids that aren't ready for college or career out of high school. jeb bush making a big push at the rnc about education in the country. listen to what he said. >> the sad truth is that a quality of opportunity doesn't exist in many of our schools.

we give some kids a chance but not all. that failure is the great moral and economic issue of our time and it is hurting all of america. >> so school choice, that's the big push from republicans and from mitt romney as well. school choice. they would like people to take federal tax dollars and go wherever they want their kid to get an education. arne duncan, very interesting there, i spoke with him yesterday. they are liess interested in school choice. they have overlap on pay performance for teachers and charter schools but not necessarily ready to put more money in a system that's not working. the education secretary, he wants investments. that's what they call it. they do want to make sure we're still funding education the way we are today. listen. >> we're trying to lead the world in college graduation rates. we used to lead the world a

generation today, today we're 16th, we have to invest. >> so look, we have to invest. that's what the obama administration says. conservatives say what mitt romney says, invest in what? the status quo isn't going to work. take a look. we're the second in spending in education. we spend more than any other country than switzerland, 27th in math, 19th in science, you're not going to continue to put more money into an education system that doesn't work. most would like to see the department of education smaller and mitt romney would like to see it a heck of a lot smaller and give more choice to state and local governments. >> he actually said that last night in his speech, that every child should have a choice and every parent should have a choice. those were buried words, i don't know anybody focused on him buzz it talks about his platform in education as well. >> 90% of kids go to public school. what happens to public schools. >> talk about the voucher systems where you can opt out.

>> there's going to be a lot of chatter about this. >> tomorrow morning, 9:30, i'm going to do ahole segment, two segments on all of this. a lot more on education in the campaign. >> thank you very much. 25 minutes past the hour. let's head over to john berman, anchoring our coverage and having breakfast as he does that. good morning to you. >> good morning, zoraida we're at patch's place because it is cleanup time at the republican national convention and the big question is, did mitt romney nail it? his speech had a little bit of everything. even some things many voters thought they would never see. will the poll show it succeeded? we'll have more from tampa coming up next. r. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand,

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promising jobs for your vote, mitt romney takes a fight to president obama on the biggest stage of his life. >> the wet aftermath as isaac heads north leaving destruction and sadly death in its wake. welcome back to "early start." it is about 30 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin in new york. >> i'm john berman live in tampa where they are cleaning after the republican national convention. mitt romney launched the final phase of his campaign with a high stakes speech at the republican convention. he accepted his party's nomination with a appeal to disappointed and disaffected americans and asked them to vote president obama out of office. if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he's president obama?

you know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president, when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. >> romney says what america needs are jobs, lots of jobs and that he's the man to make it happen. mean while, the democratic national convention will get underway next week with the formal program starting tuesday in charlotte. former president jimmy carter and michele obama will speak on tuesday. on wednesday, it's president clinton's turn and then it moves outside to the bank of america stadium, home of carolina panthers. on thursday night we'll hear from vice president biden and big speech from president obama. we're moving this show from tampa to charlotte. i'll be live all next week. we'll have frequent visits from the best political team on tv. we also have more coming up with tampa this morning. but first back to you in new york. >> it is 31 minutes past the

hour. death amid all of the destruction, two bodies have been recovered from a plaquemines parish home. these are the first casualties caused by hurricane isaac in the state of louisiana. isaac a weakening tropical depression, slowly moving north. it left behind entire communities submerged and hundreds of thousands of people without power, still over 800,000. the two casuals were a man and woman found floating in their kitchen in 7 feet of water. rob marciano is live from new orleans wherener in recovery mode this morning. rob, i wanted to start with two bodies found in plaquemines parish. people wanted to know what the latest was there. why would people not evacuate when there's a mandatory evacuation? but when we talked to people, because they thought they could ride out a category one hurricane, right? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, that's the misconception and it's frustrating because you give those mandatory evacuations

and emergency managers and you want people to heed that warning and a lot don't, i rode through katrina or gustav, but every storm is different, regardless of category. we don't even associate one category with the specific storm surge anymore because it's that specific. and yes, a lot of people didn't evacuate for that reason. i caught up with a number of victims, one or two here and there and had trouble because of immobility because of medical reasons and that may be in my opinion the only real excuse. that's not a good situation either. i mean, for whatever reason, you get a lot of storm hardened sub born people as well. and sadly they got caught as the storm came in, zoraida. >> can we talk about where it is headed now? >> reporter: it's -- thankfully today it's not going to rain any more in new orleans and the water should slowly drain in some spots. in the lake it's piled up on the western part of the lake and

northern part of the lake. there's thousands displaced from their homes there. right now the rainfall itself is across arkansas. we've got flood warnings and watches there actually. but it's going to spread into areas to the north and east that could desperately use the rain. a little too little too late for the corn belt but they'll get 5 to 6 inches of rainfall and there will be spotty areas of flooding because it will come down on areas that can't absorb the areas quickly. one point about mississippi, i know we've been based here and we've been comparing the storm in some cases to mississippi. i was in biloxi when katrina came in. again, they got hammered with this storm, even though it was nowhere near making a direct hit. they got 17 inches of rain in parts of mississippi. they too have had fatalities and also are having their own issues as far as holding back the water from the fresh water -- from the rainfall. a couple of dams inland, they

are having some issues there. they are worried that a dam that holds back a lake there, the percy quinn dam may fail. that hasn't happened yet but they are taking precautions for that. stortry is not own yet, zoraida. >> rob, we thank you for that update. let's head back to tampa where john berman is standing by. the rnc now over so you're hanging out at a diner? >> that's right, they kicked us out of the republican convention headquarters and we're at patch's place. serving us a fantastic breakfast. everyone in the diner talking about the republican national convention. mitt romney's big moment in the spotlight. did it work? we'll ask those questions and get answers coming up live in tampa. you're watching "early start." [ female announcer ] the coffee house. the lines, the cost, the hassle. ♪ express yourself [ female announcer ] why not try coffee-mate? with over 25 delicious flavors for a fraction of the cost of the coffee house.

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last night mitt romney did something many critics said he was not cape anlable of doing, showed emotion. take a listen here. >> now is the moment when we can stand up and say, i'm an american. i make my destiny. we deserve better. my children deserve better. my family deserves better, my country deserves better. >> joining me now is someone who is in the hall along with me watching this speech. a republican senate candidate in the state of california, taking on dianne feinstein. thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me.

>> you were watching last night? >> this was an amazing experience, just seeing the clint eastwood come on and mitt romney, really everything that we were hoping for to get this election kick started. >> what connected most to you in the audience? >> i have to go back a day or two to go to ann romney to tell you what really connected. she did such a good job of making that connection of women to her husband. the last couple of days i've really as we're looking at women and our families and what it is we need, especially in california, i just think that connection is so important and we get away from these other topics and focus on what the families really need. >> you talk about ann romney and women. governor mitt romney tried to address women last night as well. >> my mom and dad were true partners, a life lesson that shaped mee by every day example.

when my mom ran for the senate, my dad was there every step of the way. i could still see her saying in her beautiful voice, why should women have any less say than men about the great decisions facing our nation? >> you can see governor romney getting choked up. >> absolutely. and i thought that made a great connection as well. you know, in california, for so long now our families have been struggling in this economic environment and dianne feinstein been in office nearly half a century is out of touch of what women and families are going through. >> voters say the republican party may be out of touch when it comes to women. certainly in the presidential race. mitt romney runs behind obama with women. why is there that gap? >> we need to have more women in the republican party talking about what it is we're trying to do for families. i was at a non-profit for years

and my son has autism and founded the department at autism speaks. my experience in working on legislative issues, for families, they are looking for help. they are looking for leadership and i think we have to do a better job in the republican party of putting women out there with real life experiences. i'm a real person. >> you are one of these women running for office. they have played a prominent role at this republican convention. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> we'll see you in california. >> absolutely. >> we have a lot more to talk about. we'll look at this event as a whole. will this be a convention bounce? we have ron boun brownstein breaking it down on "early start." but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling.

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soledad o'brien has been in new orleans covering hurricane isaac. she is back. welcome back, phenomenal work. there was a joy to watch you. >> thank you. we're going to continue to break down governor romney's acceptance speech. we're going to talk about what clint eastwood did and the empty chair. did it work or not work? we're going to talk with ann romney, the gop nominee's wife. senator ron johnson is here with us this morning. sitting right behind me right now. the dnc chair debbie wasserman shultz will talk with us and christine o'donnell is talking with us about what she did this week while the rnc was going on and time humor columnist who said i looked like an idiot in my rain gear, joel stein is

back. isaac a tropical depositiressio and we'll talk about the aftermath and flooding there. new details about the colorado movie theater massacre. we are leerning about the suspect and a phone call he made right before he opened fire. all of that and much more ahead on "starting point" in about 13 minutes or so. >> as you get ready for the show, we're going to stay here and talk more about the convention, sweeping up the hall and cleaning up things right now, we're trying to figure out, will there be a convention bought. last night mitt romney made the case for why he should be president and also for the case in his words for why president obama should no longer be president. listen to this. >> i'm running for president to help create a better future, a future where everyone who wants a job can find a job. where no senior fears for the security of their retirement and america where every parent knows their child will get an

education that leads them to a good job and bright horizon. >> democrats will now have their turn in charlotte, north carolina on tuesday. but until then, the romney campaign will be waiting to see if they have that most coveted of political commodities, a convention bought. will they, ron brownstein, will there be a bounce? >> prophecy at 6:00 a.m. there should be some gain but the bounce isn't what it used to be. you think about it, the campaigns are much longer now, there's much more information about the candidates than 20 or 30 years ago. more importantly, the electorate is more polarized or dug in. >> what did he achieve and what did he miss? >> i thought the speech was solid but not soaring. it was most striking for it's tone. during the whole primary process

and again next week on the stump, he presented president obama who is departing from fundamental values. all of that ideology was enormously muted and the tone was more sorrow than anger. it felt as though he was trying to give obama '08 voters permission to vote against him without feeling bad about voting for him the first time. a different tone than they struck on the campaign trail. >> i have a clip here and you can detect that tone you're talking about, more sadness than anger. >> he took office without the basic squall fiction most americans have, and one essential to the task at hand. he had almost no experience working in a business. jobs to him are about government. >> effective? >> i was struck at how far out of the way he went repeatedly to underscore his business experience. this is a central point of

conflict in the campaign. the obama campaign has had enormous success with advertising arguing that romney's business experience makes him more part of the problem than the solution. why you are feeling more economical insecurity. last night was an effort to turn that around. there were a lot of the speakers that did a good job of humanize gs them, some of the people he dealt with in the church. the issue is not likability, it's empathy that he can understand the strains in my life. and i'm not sure they fully filled in that space last night as effectively as they did making him a more likeable kind of person. still don't think that is the fundamental problem. >> that was the opportunity missed? >> i think so. the challenge he faces, people see him now as a man with a plan. that is what he tried above all to suggest, i have a plan to get us to 12 million jobs. they are still questioning whether that plan will benefit them and their family as opposed

to in ab straks of the company or people at the top. even though they did clearly make him more likeable and show he's an admirable person, i think that ability to make the connection with a middle income voter and middle income america was not as effective. have you heard mitt romney call himself a baby boomer before? born in the maiddle. country, trying to root himself in the center of experience while the obama campaign is trying to portray him as 1%. we go to charlotte next week. what is the challenge to respond to this week? >> i found in some ways, the positive stuff about romney was maybe less revealing of what's going to come next in the other messages that have to do with medicare, transferring medicare to health care and welfare message, in essence the romney campaign is responding to the charge that he favors the rich by making the argument that obama is taking money from the middle class -- >> we have a quick sound bite of that. let's listen.

>> his $716 billion cut to medicare to finance obama care will both hurt today's seniors o press innovation and jobs and medicine. >> have they mitigated this liability? >> this is one of the surprising strategic twists, they are going on the offense, the ryan plan is still unpopular among seniors, even the abc/"washington post" post poll, 2-1 among seniors and so is the obama health care plan. if you look at the message on medicare, it dovetails with welfare. it is two-fold, to resubmit that portrait of romney who favors the few at the expense of many. where is president obama going to take us in the second term? he's defended what he's done and made the case romney is not one of you. in terms of what he would do to get the economy growing faster than the previous four years,

other than touting his american jobs act from september of 2011 which is modest, there hasn't been a lot of detail. >> ron brownstein, thanks for being with us. this convention story half over and we'll cover the other half next week in charlotte. >> let's go back to zoraida in new york. movie theater massacre sptd james holmes made a phone call minutes before he allegedly open fire. what his attorney revealed in court coming up. this man is about to be the millionth customer.

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welcome back. james holmes called the university of colorado switch board nine minutes before he allegedly open fire at an aurora

movie theater killing 12 people. it can be used to get ahold of faculty during off hours. those revelations during a packed hearing yesterday. some of the survivors were also present. jim spellman has been on the story from the beginning and joins us from denver. jim, let's focus in on this call that he made just nine minutes before he allegedly open fire. do we know who he was trying to contact? >> we don't know and don't know if he got through to anybody. as you mentioned this is a number at the main switch board at the university of colorado hospital, also the number listed with dr. lynn fenton, a psychiatrist he was seeing as her after hours access number. that call came nine minutes before the shooting. we heard from witnesses in the theater that they saw holmes make a phone call then step out of the door and come back in a few minutes later wearing body armor with guns and beginning shooting. the whole reason why this is important, there's a notebook that holmes allegedly sent to

dr. fenton in the hours before the shooting, the prosecutors want this and the defense says this is privileged communication between a doctor and patient. so we know that he sent this package just hours before the shooting and made this phone call just minutes before the shooting. the defense is saying, that shows that no matter what fenton thought, holmes thought he still had a relationship with her. it is key and goes to creating an insanity defense, was he planning this ahead of time, that's why prosecutors wants the notebook. >> there were other revelations that in 2011 the university of iowa rejected holmes graduate application. what can you tell us about that. >> it was really fascinating. he was applying to the university of iowa the same time as university of colorado. in addition to boiler plate resume type stuff and type of thing you would imagine reading in an essay to try to get into prd program, he had bizarre things, one quote that was interesting, i've always been

fascinated by the complexities of a long lost thought seemingly arising out of nowhere into a stream of awareness and then said do not offer admission under any circumstances to james holmes. >> jim spellman reporting live for us -- you're following this for us and we'll get more information as this continues to progress. we appreciate that. thank you. it is 58 minutes past the hour. that means we've run out of time. i'm zoraida sambolin in new york. >> i'm john berman in tampa, "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. good morning, you're watching "starting point" and we're coming to you live from patch's place, a diner in tampa, florida. our starting point is he's in. listen. >> mr. chairman, and delegates, i accept your nomination