>> good morning to you too, looking forward for the coverage. >> steve: starts in 12 seconds. counsel down for "fox and friends" starts right now. >> gretchen: good morning, everyone. it is monday. i am gretchen carlson live in tampa, florida. rop top storl gaining strength at this hour. how is it conventions is affected. >> steve: governor christie here in tampa and wasted no time to make headlines. >> down here this sunday to make sure if there are idiots down he, wee tell t tmmo gege t t helelll offffheheeaea.. >>teve: whatlsls can w w expectroro christy's prime time address. >> brian: can i finish maybe

or start. behind the scenes pictures of just how we got here. "fox and friends" starts just about now. ♪ >> steve: yeah, live from tampa bay where normally would be nice and sunny, 75 degrees and rain and we are indoor as we say in kansas a frog strangler. welcome, live from the rnc from day one. >> gretchen: start at day zero . tomorrow will be one and we'll have three days of the convention. >> brian: what they are going to do with the headliners and how the speeches will be shorter and there is talk of

extend a day. >> steve: it might go to friday. coming up. all five of the romney boys live from the tampa bay history center where we are sitting now. >> brian: senator marko rubio and karl rove and joe trippit. >> gretchen: tropical storm ripped through the caribbean. isaac could be a hurricane by wednesday. a 300 mile stretch of the gulf coast is on high alert including new orleans. we have steve brown live for us here in tampa and maria molina is track but we start with nicole in pensacola, florida. >> yeah the winds picked up overnight . waves crashing louder. and the beach warning is yellow. it means a medium threat.

we expect two red flags . tropical storm wins on this part of the florida panhandle. we expect hurricane conditions in 36 hours and able to catch up with those living here and they were stocking up on supplies. nonperishable foods. and batteries and gasoline in short supply and some residents having trouble getting tanks filled. a lot of people boarding up their winnows. we are told when hurricane ivan slammed in the coast they rebuild with high impact windows that. is consistent with a category 4 storm which is not happening here. voluntarily evacuation started last night and shelters opened first thing in the morning.

>> steve: now to the projected path for isaac maria has all of the details. looks like it could be cat 2 by the time it makes landfall tomorrow. >> yes, we expect late tomorrow night and early wednesday morning. it looks like isaac will be a cat on we can see fluxionations and intensity. and we need to continue to keep an eye on isaac which is showing signs of organization. sustained wins of 60 miles per hour. not a lot of change but it has grown in size. tropical storm force wins extending 250 miles from the center of the storm system. we are seeing pressure dropping in the center of the storm. isaac is indeed intensifying. we expect it to be a hurricane later today or tomorrow.

tornado watch in parts of southern florida and in affect until 9:00 a.m. . we could see tornadic in fort my ares and you in tampa, you could see isolated tornados as the outer rain bands move over the state of florida. category 1 by early wednesday phorning maximum sustained winds at 90 miles per hour. and we could see it high as 12 feet. >> steve: all right. thank you for the live report. >> brian: the rn c, i am looking over there. rnc ducking the worst of hurricane isaac as it away from tampa. they are calling off all events and make up changes for tuesday, wednesday and thursday . steve brown joins us here in tamp a. could they extend it

to friday or seriously considering that. >> that is not under serious condition but try to imagine all of the hotel rooms and venues that would have to be switched out by the del gates. isaac drifted west and florida missed the worst of what could be a bad situation. it was bad enough for the rnc to cancel the activities. they will gavele in and out today and they will be in session but all of the official events in the venue are cancel there is prompinent cancellations of folks who would have been attending the rnc although it is not starting tomorrow. four gulf state governors which was going to speak. governor rick scott who is too occupied making sure his state

got through the storm. bobby jindal cancelling. governor of louisiana. he said he cannot possibly think of coming to the rnc with isaac on the approach. >> not thinking about the convention or politics. our absolute top priority is the safety of our people. as long as we are in harm's way i will be doing my job right here. >> and the candidates will meet with mike leven today . paul ryan will get a send off from his home town supporters before hed hads down to tampa. >> some speeches may be shortened a bit. back to you folks. >> thank you very much, steve . as we hear the 607 train pull nothing tampa. >> is there a train out here. >> couldn't you hear the train. it is so dark here and we

haven't gotten a lay of the land. >> steve: we are here in the tampa bay history center. 500 feet from where we are, right through the darkness is tampa bay times forum and where the rnc will convene later today for a minute and recess until tomorrow . what they will do. rn c will reveal a gigantic debt clock. we have one in new york city . there you can see is the debt clock in the rnc. reminding people we have a problem here in the country. >> gretchen: i believe when prebuous hits the gavele down it will start. >> brian: republicans are responsible for that, too. a lot of people saying what is it like being behind the scenes >> chris: yeah, fantastic. >> brian: look at where we are

so far. this is where we are keeping isaac where the hurricane is. and the reason why we are not outside. get back here, chris. you are losingation. this is what it is behind. >> steve: you can't see. >> brian: i want you to see the inec quitty of the building. look at steve and ketchin's promiterb. and look at brian's prompter. let's get over here . where you spend time as a camera man . in is the area in which we will interview the romney kid and do all of the panels and what greven demands. i will come to tampa but give me a bar. this is more secrets coming up in the week. and this is the news room. >> steve: very ce.

>> brian: all of the grid and that's where the news gathering is going on >> steve: they have a beautiful buffet set up. break of the lunch and dinner. very nice. >> gretchen: brian one of the things you missed on the way down. you were not on the airport and a ton of other fox news people were on our airport. we had greta and eric bowling and kim werly>> brian: i had no body. >> steve: some of the pictures from yesterday . we took off at 2:30 . greta brought two pizzas on board and eventually we were down to one piece. and charlie rose from the cbs show wound up taking my pizza. >> brian: who had the pizza. >> steve: greta brought it from the airport on to the

airplane. >> gretchen: that is deb. she didn't want them and trying to hand them out. >> steve: we'll have to show you the hoops we have to jump through. that was getting here in tampa to where we get to where we are. five perimeters and chain link fence and lots of guard and extra thousand police. yimpt a lot of german shepherds. >> steve: and show you the things that people have to do and the many credentials to get in the big trouble. >> gretchen: in the meantime we'll do the headlines to you. chris christie said this before hurricane irene. >> i don't know any other astronaut that could have handled himself with such grace and courage. >> gretchen: i am not sure that that was. >> steve: that was not. >> gretchen: he said get off of the beach because he wanted people to be safe. christie joked he was brought

here early to clear florida beaches before tropical storm isaac. >> we'll enjoy florida. weather come and g. they brought me down here significantly i am sure you know. brought me down here on sunday to make sure if there are any idiots on the beach to get them to get the hell off of the beach. [applause] some lines are so good they never go away. and we are going to look forward to having a great time. governor christie will give key note address tomorrow night. and fox news alert out of afghanistan. two american solvediers shot dead with an afghan soldier. they are calling it accidental and said it is a separate case from the rash of insider attacks. 12 americans were killed this

month alone in afghanistan by afghan soldiers. those are the abreviated headlines this morning. >> steve: we are live this morning in tampa for the rnc and kicks off tomorrow and cancellation today due to isaac. more on all of that stuff coming up. >> brian: remember this hilarous geico commercial. >> maybe we should juggle to mammy pampy lane too get self confidence for you, you jack wagon. >> brian: you will not see it anymore. the star was canned for being a conservative. >> gretchen: first convention of the tea party era. what went down with wisconsin lieutenant governor. rebecca was there and herman caand i know -- cain and

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>> gretchen: 16 minutes after the top of the hour. tropical storm may have stopped key note events but didn't stop the tea party. former presidential can date herman cain. and hosting with michele bachmann. great to see you in president. usually it is in satellite. much more homey. >> welcome to tampa. but the storm out there is not making us too welcome. >> gretchen: that's okay. looks like the events will continue and start. you were part of the tea party

rally, what is it all about. >> it was about unit yebringing together grass roots activity and the gop and traditional republican party. and showing solidarity and making sure everyone in the country understands that the tea party and the republican party are so eager to make barack obama a one-term president and making sure we have romney/ryan. >> gretchen: some make hay of the fact that tea party is too extreme for the moderate base of the republican. >> i am party of tea party and i am not extremist. folks who were at the rally last night and showing up to tea parties are not loosely folks who identify with any political party. they are democrats and republicans and independent and libitarians. they are parents and grandparents and make sure

their kid and grand kids have a chance to grab on the american dream. >> gretchen: we just showed the debt clock inside of the convention center. and it will show our nation, the trillion dollar debt we are looking at. is that the main message of the tea party? >> i would say. tea is an acron nim. taxed enough already. fiscal issues and economy arehe main issues that tea party movement is concerned b. we have 23 million merrence out of work and gas lin we started out with obama as president with gas line 1.8 today four dollars a gallon. you can't look at those things and say this presidency hasn't been costly. it is expensive for barack obama to be president for the united states. >> gretchen: i find that is fascinating. high gas prices is double from

what it is four years ago. i am come to the belief of new normal. >> i don't think americans think it is okay. i have a minivan and it is irritating when i fill up. it is about time we have money in our pocket to fill up the gas tanks without worrying . americans need jobs. this president has not resurrected the economy so that americans have job. >> gretchen: talk about your state of wisconsin. so much with the recall vote of yourself and governor scott walker and you came out winning again and congressman paul ryan who is on the ticket with romney. >> i think we should charge for the water. we had so many tremendous successes and owned by all wisconsinites and that is a wonderful thing. in november i think wisconsin will turn red. paul ryan is a home town hero

and people love him. he is a midwestern dad and member of the people's house and it is universally agreed upon in the media, even mitt romney is more excited with paul ryan by his side. he brings an energy and big ideas of being the budget architect and big think are. >> gretchen: the issues which many people hope will be the forefront as we move forward in tampa. thank you rebecca kleefisch for being here. there is a talk of a navy seal tell all to the big screen. then jeb bush is fired up. florida's former governor with a message for the president. we'll be right back.

>> brian: the gunman who killed his former boss outside of the empire state building had no intention of returning home friday morning. police found his envelope with keys left behind for his landlord. so call would american taliban fighter john lynd will try to convince the judge that religious activities not to be with held. >> steve: that guy is a mannequin inside of what looks like a 1920's cigar shop.

we are here inside the tampa history center and that guy is cj robers the ceo. what is the deal with tampa? i did not realize in addition to hosting super bowls and a hurricane this is also known as cigar city. >> cigar manufacturing came here in the 1880s peeked in about the 1929 era right before the depression kicked in and there were 300 cigar factories that manufactured 500 million sugars. >> steve: you told me there is a big map on the back and shows you the gulf of mexico and the plus the caribbean. due to political unrest in the day, cuban cigars were manufactured in tampa >> the cigar manufacturers relocated to key west.

a large fire came in key west and burned down the factoris and there was an opportunity to relocate. city father in tampa put together nice incentatives to draw it here. >> steve: you not only tell the history of tampa but the area as well the reason we are inside and not outside in our tent because of what looked like a hurricane bearing down . luckily it is in the gulf and hopefully it slows down before it hit in the gulf. but you highlight tampa and hurricane. >> we have three on floors of exhibits and we talked about the last big hurricane event to hit in 1921. >> steve: one of the thing fist you come down to florida and my family and i have for many years. everything seems brand new. but in fact there were people living in florida arey i years ago long before columbus and the may flower.

>> people don't think we have not a lot of history. but the reality is farther from the truth. 10,000 years ago there was a culture. and they can find vestiges in the point of pottery and spear points >> chris: it is a beautiful facility and thanks for letting us take over. >> our pleas plur. >> steve: brian kilmeade don't let him spill another coke on the carpet. >> brian: it is not a exhibit, key. that's the key . back to the main seat and we are waiting for you. remember this hilarous geico commercial. >> maybe we should jungle to nam bee pam bee land. >> brian: you will not so that commercial again. a former marine star was canned because of his conservative views.

polls show president and mitt romney in dead heat . they will be here live to tell us who has the edge. who is this and what is this about today. >> happy birthday to alabama guitarist jeff cook. >> brian: he is 63. karl two things wrong today. >> matter to jeff cook. bye guys . it doesn't get any better than endless shrimp at red lobster. with a wide variety, you can mix and match all day. scampi, grilled, the fried -- there's nothing better. [ male announcer ] at last, red lobster's endlesshrimp is back, but only for a limid time, for just $1. try as much as you like, any way you like, like new parmesan crusted srimp or new teriyaki grilled shrimp, all with salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits,

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share everything. only from verizon. get $100 off select motorola 4g lte smartphones like the droid razr. >> steve: an extreme weather alater live from tampa. tropical storm isaac slamming southern florida and slowing down and gaining strength as it heads toward the gulf. phil keating live in florida. >> brian: wow. >> steve: what is it 50 or 60 miles per hour winds there? >> no, it is gone down to 30 or 35 miles per hour wind gusts in monroe county and key west where i am as well but in the background you can see standing water and isolated flooding that plagued certain part of the keys.

high tide just came in a few minutes ago and helping to push the storm surge up. surf remains strong. look at the satellite view of tropical storm isaac, you can see 170 miles southwest of the fort meyers, florida. but the reach is enormous. 350 northeast of that around the i-4 corridor of orlando and tampa getting dumped with rain as everybody in the studio in tampa knowing very well. as far as damage goes, according to the governor and monroe county, it does appear that the damage from isaac in south florida, far less than anticipated and minor damage and once daybreak arrives here teams will get a better idea on the ground.

and far as the flooding issue it is sporatic and emergency directors are urging don't residents in miami-dade and broward to not drive until sunrise just in case of the standing water. for all of the residents quite a relief. >> steve: phil, live in key west where things are slowing down. the storm is heading between the panhandle and new orleans. we'll an update. >> brian: i believe phil slept in that. i saw him an hour ago. the isaac shaking up the republican national convention. >> you came up to new york city to chat with us. >> welcome to tampa. >> gretchen: everything but isaac would be tan fantastic. >> we are floridians and we take care of business. >> steve: you planned in the off case. >> we train for this every day

all year long. we are prepared for it? >> brian: i was shock to find out that florida has not hosted a convention since 68. >> i don't know. maybe the cities were not big enough to sustain it. this is the biggest. >> brian: even the super bowl. >> we hosted four super bowls and this is the biggest thing tampa has done. >> brian: because of security. >> because of 9/11 and moving parts. this is the second most telifiesed event in the world. >> steve: last time in the convention you had anarchist and now you are expecting them and the occupiers, too. >> we are expecting the same people we saw in chicago and at the wpo . we train and we know who they are and what their tactics

are. we'll be ready to deal with them. >> gretchen: i heard you arrests yesterday. >> i made it clear you will not attack the police officers or destroy with downtown. we'll deal with you respectfully but we'll deal. we hired 3000 law enforcement personnel . uniforms are same and they represent different jurisdiction . we have 4000 men and women and plus the national guard. >> brian: i am tired of asking you questions, mr. mayor. do you have answers. >> i do indeed . which baseball franchize has spring training. >> steve: new york yankee. >> gretchen: i supposed to know. >> brian: is this pede round. >> this is a good one. tampa is famous for which of the weather occurences. >> steve: okay. >> hail storms and tornados

and hurricane and lightning. >> steve: lightning. >> tampa bay lightning . last one tampa bay is the actual and official name of the tricity of tampa, st. peterburg and clear water. tampa bay is the actual official name. >> steve: true. >> wrong. there is no tampa bay. fish live in tampa bay. >> steve: trick question. >> brian: now we say tampa st. pete. >> it is the tampa bay region but it is not a city. >> brian: way to go. >> steve: no key to the city. >> brian: thank you, mayor. >> steve: 300 small to

moderate earthquake rocking california in one day. largest registry and magnitude 5.5 just to the east of the san diego. check out the aftermath in one house. luckily the family was all right. the window was blown out and dozens of the other businesses reporting minor damage. and the last major swarm of quakes happened back in 2005 until yesterday. >> brian: the book is not even out yet. but steven speilberg trying to land movie rights about the daring navy seal raid. the director is in talks with the retired navy seal who wrote the book. the author has met with two other movie makers and the

book is expected to be released on september 11th. >> gretchen: former governor jeb bush. has a message for president obama. stop blaming my brother for the country's problems. >> the guy was dealt a difficult hand. but he's had three years and his policiless have fail would and rather than blame others. we were taught that unbecoming over time you can't do that. and fresh new solutions to the problems we face. >> gretchen: jeb bush will be one. major speakers on thursday night. >> steve: do you remember the hilarous geico commercial. >> juggle over to nampy pampy land you jack wagon. >> steve: yeah, you jack wagon. the insurance company canned

the actor because he is a conservive. >> yeah, i got fired because because i was not too kind about speaking about the administration and so the present administration. and so if you are a conservative in this town you better watch out. >> steve: oh, boy, he is a former marine and drill sergeant as well. >> gretchen: brand new pollingidatey shows the presidential election is locked in a dead heat. mitt romney is up one point on president obama 47-46. >> brian: taking a closer look. >> steve: voters say they know enough about president obama than they do with mitt romney. >> brian: so with mitt set to give his nomination speech, can he benefit by reintroduces himself to the american people. here is guys karl rove and joe

trippi. >> i am lightning, devil ray. >> brian: aren't the devil rays like lightning. >> manta rays. >> gretchen: talk about the politicings. >> stop mocking. >> brian: negative campaigning. do you find it joe trippi if you are barack obama? >> i mean, look. there is a lot of four pinock chows and pans on fire run by a bunch the different side and super pacs. but the fact of the matter, you have people who have always made a decision about the incumbent. they know who the president is and they like him or don't like him. they are now looking at the other guy. mitt romney in this case. 30 percent don't have a clear view of him.

that's his big opportunity here in the convention and also why the obama campaign wants to brew with that. >> steve: karl this is a roll out for mitt romney. a large portion haven't seen him behind a negative 30 second ad. >> this is the biggest audience he will have before the debate . a format he controls. people will tune in in order to find out what new about romney that i haven't heard before and in a production, everyone knows it is an artifice. it is a production. and so they look for good production values and want to walk away saying i know more about him. >> gretchen: the ideology of two men running for the united states. so different. will the american public after the convention see the stark diffence? >> here's what i think. you go back to bill clinton

and his convention. he was able to man from hope and video and reintroduce himself and show that, that up the guy. he was completely redefined and able to show the human sign and get out of the political quagmire. that's what mitt romney needs to do here. there is an opportunity to define himself . onth hand we have a quick definition of where they are on medicare stuff. if you can define him and ryan. if the democrats can define him and ryan. this is what the who early definition is about and why the convention this time does matter. >> gretchen: we have to take a quick break. you guys are going to around and answer these questions, the obama administration is what? can we roll the prompter. obama campaign caught in another lie trying to pass off

democrats as republicans. >> and doctor refused to treat a woman because she is too obese and dangerous. we'll tell you about that. >> all five romney sons are sitting down with us and answering your e-mails. start send nothing your questions. which ones tag? we have big drea. one is for a clean, domestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now.

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turning patients away for being olease. she couldn't believe she was turned away because of it. dr. helen carter said she doesn't treat people over 200 pound and claimed it is too dangerous for her staff. okay. >> gretchen: we'll look at the most recent adfrom the president's campaign and see if you can find anything wrong with it. >> i am a registered republican. >> i was raised in a republican family. >> i voted for ronald reagan 8 times. >> i voted as many times as republicans got lected. >> gretchen: so do you know the problem with that ad? turns out two of the women are democrats and previously supported the president. with us can karl rove and joe trippi. first, karl your thoughts on

an ad. >> better not get caught in a big mistake like that. that matters in the presidential campaign. we are not just consumers . we are judges of it. people are looking at it and the recollection that the president played fast and loose at that adwill color the view. >> that's true. both women were republicans and they switched in 2007. it is you want to be active and the interesting thing both campaigns are running for the other supporters saying i switched. romney run ads. i am less exoited about the obama campaign doing the same thing. >> remember why, obama got half as many republicans to vote for him in 2008 as

normally. he got nine percent . typically a democratic presidential candidate is 6. romney senses a larger number of democrats to vote for him because of dissatisfaction with the president's policiless particularly with the working voters. >> brian: what is your rediction. if this is done well and comes off in three days. how many points do you think that governor romney comes out with. with a bounce. the day before paul ryan was pick there is a three and half point bounce. that is average and we are going to have later bounces and smaller bounces because we are later in the process. >> what do you think. five points or 16 points. >> no, no, no. romney will be a point or two. >> romney should get a bounce

and should be two or three points up and right back in the democratic convention. >> gretchen: it is a wash. >> brian: it is not likely to give him a bounce unless he does something different. he will spend time beating occupy romney. shock, karl. >> gretchen: before you go. quickly do people make up their mindsav the convention. >> yes, some people make up their minds. 6-8 percent of the electorate is undecided and 15-20 points and they are persuadable. >> most tends to break against the incumbent and there is a way for romney to break even. >> brian: i hope you are on speaking terms. >> it is you. devil rays and lightning? thinking rays shooting down. >> steve: straight ahead.

live from tampa. medicare front and center since paul ryan was named running maid. who is winning the medicare ad wars and they have that live coming up next. >> gretchen: look who is here in less than 30 minutes. sitting down with the romney boys. they are answering your e-mails. >> two more romneys report to center court. music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to make someone happy.♪ it's so important to make meone happy.♪ ♪make just one someone happy

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which campaign is winning amongst and is it important. polster and fox contractor frank lunch. welcome back. this is big for and you your super bowl. first of all, medicare how important? >> i do watch the super bowl for the game and not just ads. medicare matters because you are winning over the vores. key vores for medicare are not 65 or above. people who paid in the system and want to make sure they get their medicare benefits when it is done. we tested the floating swing voters here in tampa and both of them had a dramatic result. look at the first ad and we'll talk about the results. >> brian: great. >> i am bark obama and a aprived the message. >> you work hard and pay in and your medicare benefits are guaranteed but mitt romney

breaks that promise and insurance companies could just raise rates. insteved a guarantee. seniors pay $6400 more a year. aarp said the plan mitt romney captain -- an end to the promise. >> number one the voice is so low and ominous and seniors and retired know it is a negative and don't pay attention. they didn't show evidence. unless you show the facts that am mitt romney or paul ryan it is not believable. >> brian: and now the mitt romney ad. saying they are the ones to think. >> some think obama care is free health care. romney obama is changing the program

forever. taxing wheelchairs and taxes families. free health care comes at a high price. romney/ryan fan will protect medicare and strengthen it for the next generation . >> brian: you told me watch the green line. >> that's what is the opposition party. it moves your base. does it move people and that one did. 716 billion that's the amount that barack cut from medicare and 23 million. number of unemployed today. those two 99s make the obama campaign shutter and that is what is powerful about mitt romney. >> brian: in my opinion they are dictating the pace until paul ryan and medicare. they are still on their heels

because of this. >> i agree because wednesday and thursday are so essential . american people are reintroduced to mitt romney on thursday and introduced to paul ryan and they have to hit it out of the park. karl rove said six percent undecide that is enough to put romney over the top. >> brian: we will work you hard. >> you have no idea how hard it is to get up this early. >> brian: i know. straight aup. all eyeos tropical storm isaac . we'll have how it is affecting the convention it is pouring outside. i will tell you that. and sitting down with all five romney sons. first we will serve them breakfast. ♪

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>> gretchen: good morning, everyone. it's monday, august 27, 2012. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for sharing part of your day with us today. tropical storm isaac gaining strength at this moment. we'll have the very latest on its path and its impact on the republican national convention live from tampa. >> brian: and the convention hasn't even started yet, but new jersey governor chris christie is already making news here in tampa. >> let me tell you, you don't know what's going to happen when i burst out of that gate about 10:30 tuesday night. >> brian: so can we expect from christy? you'll hear from him straight ahead. >> steve: i'm sure we will. you're not going to see this anywhere else. all five romney brothers are here and they're answering your e-mails. all moments away u. got a question for one of those boys,

e-mail us right now. "fox & friends" starts right now. good morning, guys. >> gretchen: good morning, everyone. welcome to the republican national convention that starts tomorrow, but we're live from tampa. >> steve: todays with the first day, but because of the awful weather, today will be a preequal to tomorrow. >> brian: right. i would go outside, but it's raining. extreme weather alert is coming because tropical storm isaac strengthening as it comes toward the gulf coast. hurricane warnings in effect from louisiana to florida and some evacuations already underway. >> gretchen: nicole collins joins you live. how are things look down there? you are more south than we are. >> yeah. we're actually more north and to

the west right on the florida panhandle there, about an hour east of mobile. the wind really picking up this morning. the temperatures are dropping here. the sun starting to come up. we're hoping you can see better what's going on behind me. the wind whipping the grass there and that weather warning flag, that's at a medium level, indicative of how people here feel. they take this somewhat seriously. they are preparing, but they're not evacuating necessarily just yet. although voluntarily evictions were recommended last night. we also know that shelters will open in three hours. officials certainly preparing as we understand, tropical storm force winds are expected later this evening. hurricane conditions expected here within the next 36 hours. steve, gretchen, brian. >> brian: thank you very much. two minutes after the hour. we have to go to more news regarding the tropical storm, which could turn into a hurricane. >> gretchen: let's go to steve because he has some very special

guests. >> steve: i do indeed. thank you very much. tropical storm isaac, one stopped mitt romney from accepting the republican nomination and delivering what may be the biggest speech yet. it will be the first time he really has a national stage to introduce himself to a wide reaching audience. our next guest already have been introduced to mitt romney. he's their dad. we're joined by his sons, matt, ben, craig, josh and tag. good morning to awful -- all of you. >> good morning. >> steve: has the weather impacted in how has it impact what had is going on here for the romney family? >> for the family? it means we probably won't be taking our kids to the pool total today. but home run that, things are on track. the convention has been postponed by a day. they'll open it with a gavel and close it right after and most people speak monday will be pushed through the rest of the week. things haven't changed a lot. >> steve: as i look at the five

boys, i see a little of your dad and your mother in all of you. which one of you has the mitt romney hair? >> we think it's craig for sure. >> steve: maybe not. chris wallace sat down and did a great interview with your mom examine dad up in new hampshire over the weekend and another portion of it after that. you have at your house something called the chore wheel. who would like to explain what the chore wheel is examine -- and how it works. >> basically, the chore wheel has got our four or five different chores for each day of the week. >> steve: you keep it on the refrigerator? >> somewhere near the kitchen just to keep the house clean when we're up there and during vacation, someone's got to clean up the beach, someone has to dot kitchen area and it rotates. >> steve: so it's the chore. what happens if by the end of the day you have not completed your task, ben? >> you're in trouble. you get it done. everyone does their part.

you get it done. >> with that many people in the house, if you're not cleaning up, it turns into mayhem. >> steve: when you say you get in trouble, what kind of trouble do you really wind up with if you didn't? >> we're not going to talk about that now. laugh will have. >> steve: all right. i have read that you're the only son, tag, who thought in the beginning over the last couple of years your dad should run. the rest of them, not so much on board yet. >> i learned -- josh was giving me grief for that earlier. >> we were not totally convinced this is something he ought to do. we were on the fence and needed some convincing. it's not like we were totally opposed and fighting him on it. we've been through this once before. we know how hard it can be on the family and we had some reservations. >> steve: i can imagine. four years ago issues you were in front of the "fox &rld headqt mobile.

>> playing football with you guys. >> steve: we remember. i don't think i ever did catch that ball. we got a million people watching, literally. they have questions for you. alice from florida writes, are any of the romney boys going into politics after this? what do you think? >> maybe josh. >> highly unlikely. >> steve: really? >> we really love supporting my dad. we're going to make sure people see who he is and what kind of man he is and what kind of father he is. that's really our focus. >> steve: very good. >> i'm comfortable saying never for me. that's clear. >> steve: all right. patricia from wisconsin says, this is going to be with each of you. describe your father using one word. craig? mitt romney, one word? >> it's or es? >> steve: the word it. >> he is qualified. >> steve: matt? >> frugal. >> steve: fruitle.

really. >> cheap. integrity. >> generous. >> steve: very nice. nix somebody tweeted, how do the romney boys keep their famous -- their families out of the public eye? all right. >> my wife is very private. she is worried about exposure for our kids. she does her best to fade into the background. it's not always the fact that she does her best to shun the limelight. >> steve: how much kids do you have? >> six. >> steve: oh, my goodness. >> steve: matt? >> we're trying to get as much press as we can. it's not working. >> it's been pretty easy. >> steve: i got a feeling all of your families will get quite -- the whole world is going to zoom in on you, particularly this week and the next 70 days. ben? >> as josh said, i don't think any of them have been pretty

interested in me. >> steve: craig? >> trying to keep the focus on dad and obviously i think part of the reservation coming into this that you mentioned was that we've seen what happens during a campaign and it's tough to see it happen again, but we're many to do what we can to help them. >> steve: these have been great answers. you want to stick around for another segment? >> absolutely. >> steve: and we're going to ask but your mom. also if you've got a question, e-mail us right now. gretch, over to you. >> gretchen: i'm right here. thanks so much, steve. now to the rest of your headlines. remember when governor chris christie said this before hurricane irene? >> get the hell off the beach and get out. you're done. it's 4:30. you've ma'am mazed your tan. get off the beach. >> gretchen: well, he's fired up for the rnc and joked he was brought there early to help clear florida's beaches before tropical storm isaac.

>> i think we're going to really enjoy the next few days down here in florida. the weather will come and go. they brought me down here specifically, i'm sure you know, down here on sunday to make sure if there are any idiots on the beach, tell them to get the hell off the beach. [ cheers and applause ] some are so good, they never go away. and we're going to look forward to having a great time. >> gretchen: governor christie will give the keynote address tomorrow night. police making a major arrest during protests near the republican national convention. officers busted a man they say was carrying this. an eight-inch machete strapped to his leg. police approached him. he resisted but subdued and taken to the sheriff's office. he will northbound court later

on this morning. fox news alert. overnight, two american soldiers shot dead by an afghan soldier in eastern afghanistan. officials there say the soldier fell on his weapon and accidentally discharged it. they say it is not related to the rash of recent inside air tacks on international forces. 12 americans have been killed this month alone in afghanistan by afghan soldiers. the world paying tribute to the man who spoke these famous words on july 20, 1969. >> one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind. >> gretchen: neil armstrong will be forever remembered by his family, friends and fans as an american hero. former astronaut was in nasa's control room the night armstrong stepped onto the moon surface. >> i don't know any other astronaut that could have handled himself with such grace and courage. he would seem indestructible and

all of a sudden when one of them is gone, at least for me, i found it very difficult to put that in perspective. >> gretchen: neil armstrong was 82 years old. and those are your headlines. coming up on "fox & friends," they just answered your e-mails. but we have much more with the romney brothers coming up. how they handle the intense media coverage and the attacks on their family and their faith. then jeb bush not only fed up, fired up, too. florida's former governor with a harsh message for president obama. he's telling him to move on. right back.

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>> steve: this week the republican national convention is all about the future of the republican party and telling the story of presidential detainee mitt romney. but what about mitt's family? he and his wife have five sons and countless grandchildren as well. i don't think it's countless, but it's a lot. >> 18. >> steve: thank you very much. we're back with their five son, tag, matt, josh, ben and craig romney. all right. i'm sure you saw fox news sunday yesterday so that you could see what chris wallace was shooting tape wise up at your vacation place in new hampshire. it's interesting. we've got a great sound bite talking about the relationship between your mom and dad. listen to this. >> mrs. romney, your son, tag, says that you are the great mitt stabilizer. >> mitt can get intense sometimes and maybe people don't recognize that, that there is flames when he's just -- times when he's my stabilizer, too.

so it works both ways. >> we talk it out. >> steve: she's the great mitt stabilizer. what's that mean? >> i think it's nice for my dad to have my mom because he shares everything with her. they're really close. so when he is able to take some his stress ask tell her about it, she has to carry that burden. i think for him, it's nice to have someone that's with him that can kind of share what he's going through and go through it with him. >> steve: it's got to be tough on your mom, as well as all of you, when people in the media take -- and particularly the other side, takes shots at your dad, doesn't it? >> you kind of let that stuff roll off your back and not worry about it. >> he's happier when she's around. >> the people who say it are the people who know him the least. the people who know him the best, respect him a lot and working for him and trying to help him get elected. you can't really worry about people who don't know you what they say. >> steve: there was a poll that came out a couple of days ago that showed what looks like

media bias, to me at least, when asked the american people, who do you think the media is out to get elected president? 61% said barak obama. 15% said mitt romney. craig what, does that say to you? >> 15%? >> steve: yeah. almost five to one for the other guy. the guy who is not your dad. >> you know, i think one of the great things about this convention is it's unedited. people will see what kind of man my dad is and get to see his speech and really see what drives him as a candidate. >> they need to get out of the tank to brack branch we're sick of it. >> steve: you watch letterman, he's in the tank for barak obama. although, you were on high school show a while back. >> my dad was. >> steve: your dad was. you watch all those comedy central shows, they're in the tank for barak obama. >> you know what? you just can't worry about that stuff. you can't control it, so you

work with what you can control and don't worry about the other things. >> steve: yeah. there have been some shots recently. there was a chicago barak obama surrogate who said inappropriate things about your mormon religion. that is over the line. >> yeah. i didn't hear what he said, so it's hard for me to respond. but, you know, one of the things that we love about my dad is he's a man of faith. he loves his god. he loves his country and his family and this week we're hoping to get that mental out and let -- message out and let people see who he is and i think as people hear that, they'll get to love him like we do that. >> steve: what i was referring to, samuel cook iii, i want to identify the guy who said the inappropriate thing. i'm not going to repeat it on the channel. before you go, is it is there anything he want -- is there anything else you want to tell bus your dad who will get the nomination in a couple of days? >> we're really excited for him. this is a fun experience.

i don't know if any of us ever expected we'd be in this position to be at the convention supporting my dad. we're just thrilled to be here and thrilled to be supporting him. >> steve: it's very nice to meet all of you again, four years after the mitt mobile. craig and ben and josh and matt and tag. i didn't even need the name tag. thank you very much. i'm steve. brian, are you wearing a name tag? >> brian: no, because you know who i am already. and i'm actually standing brave in the elements while you're sitting this in the bar with the romney kids. meanwhile, this is the latest on tropical storm isaac. has it hit tampa? is it gaining strength? we'll examine what a few of the experts who have followed the path and i'm forced to stay outside. we're also going to bring you behind the scenes and take you through with the organizers at the arena where it's formerly a hockey stadium, where all the fun will take play that's hope for the rnc. mine while, it's kind of nice to get out of the air conditioning. i'm going to sit out. it's not that bad. it's tampa. you know? it is summer. and the water is here

>> steve: extreme weather alert. tropical storm isaac currently hitting maximum sustained winds of about 65 miles per hour. that's just ten short of hurricane status as it veers west towards the gulf of mexico away from us here in tampa. right now let's head to maria mow lie in a in the weather center with all the details. maria, the folks along the panhandle up through the new orleans area are wondering when is this thing going to make landfall? they are in the way. >> we are expecting landfall across the new orleans area as we head into late tuesday night and early wednesday morning at the possible category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 90 hip.

a big concern is it's so large that we could be feeling tropical storm conditions as early as late tonight across coastal areas, into northern gulf. so everyone needs to start making preparations now. like you mentioned, maximum sustained winds at 65 miles per hour. it has slowed down, which is bad news because that means the storm will spin a longer amount of time -- spend a longer i'm not of time over the gulf. temperatures in the 80s. that will help isaac continue to intensify. could already be a category 1 hurricane by later today, into tomorrow and again, landfall expected across the new orleans area. areas east of where the center makes landfall needs to be on high alert. you'll be on the onshore full section of the section where storm surge tends to be very bad. we're anticipating a storm surge between new orleans and mobile, alabama as high as 12 feet and a whole lot of rain. locally up to 18 inches possible. back to you. >> steve: all right. thank you very much for the very latest. >> brian: not really windy here. >> steve: calming down. >> brian: humid.

not a great beach day, but not hurricane. >> steve: 75 degrees here in tampa and occasional downpours. >> gretchen: the republican national convention was delayed a day. news radio correspondent todd starnes has an all access tour of the convention floor in the tampa bay times forum. >> brian: hey, todd. >> hey, good morning. i had to tell you, the favorite part of the tour was the air conditioning. it's pretty spectacular over there. look, the republicans have done a tremendous job turning this forum into what is really going to be a palace to showcase mitt romney and what the republicans are up to. so check out our special tour that we took yesterday. organizers of the republican national convention had a difficult assignment. turn a 20,000 seat hockey arena into an intimate family gathering place. >> security here is very tight. as a matter of fact, you can only get in here with credentials. this here prevents me from

getting tased. let's take a look at what's really happening inside this convention hall. for the past six weeks, a team designers has turned this ice house into a party house. >> we want to make is this very intimate setting. the podium back here is -- the design came from the idea of a family room, if you will. >> get a load of those high def speeds. >> the definition is so intense that when they put the flag banner up, you can see the stitching in the flag itself. >> this convention is a who's who in the world of politics. guess whose seat i'm sitting in? i'm from the state of tennessee, the volunteer state. i'm here to tell you that our delegation, well, we got suck back here in the boonies. but it's not all that b. we have nice chairs here and check this out. we even have a telephone that's ringing right now. i better hang up. another cool thing we have is

this handy dandy microphone. they have a house band. so what better opportunity than to maybe do a couple of shout outs. a live house band will provide a sound track that's a little bit country and a little bit rock'n'roll. >> going to be a great week of music. everyone is going to be really focused on what they're doing and making sure the music is complimenting the event. >> even though all the delegates are created equal, some seats are better than others. now, if you are looking for the premium seats, the high dollar seats, you better be a member of the michigan delegation because they have front row seats to all of the action. if you're look for the best seat in the house? it's right behind me. the podium. i'm only five rows back from the main stage. that's not too bad at all. you know, come to think of it, these seats aren't all that bad either. they're a territory, you know. out of all the 50 states and all the territories, guess which delegation got stuck with the

least desirable seats. i can't see anything back here. i sure hope they brought binoculars. steve, your state, your delegation, you need to have a chat with the romney boys about that. maybe they can get you guys moved up to a better spot. >> steve: missouri would wind up with better because they're the show me, so you would have to show me some good seats. kansas is right in the middle of the country. so you would think they would be in the middle. >> gretchen: thank you for doing that because we have not had a cans to get over there yet because we flew in last night. thank you so much. >> thanks, guys. >> steve: good job. >> brian: you know exactly where he is? >> gretchen: right out there. hi, todd. >> steve: notice he's not outside where it's pouring again. we're down in tampa now. coming up next, florida senator marco rubio joins us live and he's giving us a sneak peek at his convention speech. there he is right there.

>> gretchen: he endorsed president bush in 2004, voted for president obama in 2008. where does he stand now? he's on the harmonica and will join us next. that sounds fantastic. >> brian: you're good at that. >> thanks, it's living. i always say it's like life, you blow some and suck where to go for extra help, how to live better with the disease. so many questions, where do you start? alzheimers.gov. the answers start here.

♪ proud to and on our own ♪ proud to be homegrown ♪ a familiar face and a name you know ♪ ♪ can you hear it? ♪ fueling the american spirit ♪ no matter when, no matter where ♪ ♪ marathon will take you there ♪ fueling the american spirit >> steve: extreme weather alert

now. all eyes on tropical storm isaac. the storm headed toward the gulf coast after lashing southern florida and it's expected to get even stronger as the day rolls on. we have team coverage all morning long. steve brown is here in tampa. not far from us. we begin with phil keating who is live in key west, florida, where it looks bad, but phil, you say it was worst overnight. >> absolutely. yesterday as well. but overnight, this was the backside of tropical storm isaac. you can still see some of the localized street flooding that remains throughout the florida keys. the storm surge of one to three feet is still too early to say whether that materialized as a maximum. you can see the wind is still strong down in the florida keys and as far as the state goes, it's going to be yet another day of strong winds and strong rain, particularly if you look at the satellite loop of isaac now. it's southwest of fort myers,

florida. but it reaches 350, 400 miles those outer bands of rain, raking daytona beach, orlando and north of that as well. as far as the damage, now that daylight arrived, damage assessment teams throughout monroe county, miami-dade county and others will get on the ground and get a better idea. but so far it does appear that this was really a good practice run for south florida because minor power outages, minor damage and minor flooding. but flooding, watch and torn watch remain in effect for much of south florida today. >> steve: phil, thank you very much for the live report from the keys. >> brian: by the way, this is his gig, if anyone can handle the hurricanes, he can. >> gretchen: although tampa, the rnc will likely avoid a direct hit, the storm creating convention chaos. that's why steve brown is

standing by to tell us about all the reshuffling going on. what are the changes going to be, steve? >> well, the biggest one everybody knows about, is day one has been wiped clean. essentially they'll gavel in examine gavel out. so essentially at least for television purposes, we are preconvention. but the nominee, mitt romney is thinking about post-election today. we were told by carl cameron that romney will meet with the former utah governor, former hhs secretary. they will be talking transition. what will be taking place and how they might handle it should they be the victors on election night. so that's going on. romney's running mate, paul ryan, he's back home in janesville, wisconsin. there will be a sendoff gathering supporters there greeting him at a brief appearance there a little after noon in eastern coast time, 11:00 o'clock ours in central time. and he will be heading here to

the convention. there is a rather prominent list of folks that ryan and romney will not get a chance to meet because they are on hurricane duty, if you will, or tropical storm duty. four gulf coast governors all decided they were going to pass, given the threat that is isaac. among them, two that are speaking, the governor rick scott here of florida. he's not going to be speak. neither is bobby jindal, who said he really couldn't think about coming to tampa with isaac looming just out there in the gulf. have a listen. >> not thinking about the convention or politics right now. our absolute top priority has to be the safety of our people, as long as we're in harm's way, i need to be right here doing my job and that's what i'm going to be doing. >> many of the state delegations are here. and will be holding breakfast meetings this morning. but generally in the hotel they're staying at, not venturing out, we've got dousing rains and high winds forecast tore this afternoon. back to you. >> gretchen: thank you very much. steve brown for us live outside

of the headquarters that we have here in tampa. now the rest of the headlines for monday. at least 300 earthquakes rocking southern california in one day. the largest registered at a 5.5, just east of san diego. >> my god! >> gosh! >> gretchen: luckily the family was all right. the pictures show a local store's front window completely blown out, though. dozens of other businesses in the area reporting minor damage. no injuries. the last major swarm of quake there is happened in 2005. >> steve: crazy. a dream vacation in puerto rico turns deadly for a new york city woman. she was posing for pictures near a waterfall inside a tropical rain forest when she apparently lost her balance and was swept away into a raging river. her friends say they watched helplessly, but unable to reach

her. that's terrible. >> brian: former florida governor jeb bush has a message for president obama. stop blaming my brother for the country's financial problems! >> i think it's time for him to move on. i mean, look, the guy was dealt a difficult hand. no question about it. but he's had three years. his policies have failed. and rather than blame others, which i know we were taught that that was kind of unbecoming, over time you just can't keep doing that. maybe offer some fresh new solutions to the problems that we face. >> brian: jeb bush will be one of the main speakers thursday night, something a lot of people looking forward to. >> gretchen: this is one to get the crowd going. ♪ ♪ >> gretchen: you know that tune, right? blues traveler front man john

topper performing "run around" last night at ron paul's "we are the future" rally last night. john has brought his harmonica to "fox & friends" and yourself. good to see you, john. >> i haven't slept since that happened. it's 7:30 in the morning. why do you have one of those. >> steve: that's why you're wearing the same clothes. >> i changed my shirt. i wanted to smell good. >> brian: why was it important for you to go to ron paul's event last night? 10,000 people showed up. >> actually the guy was singing with me, ron noise, he's a delegate who is running for state rep there. he got me involved. but i've always been a libertarian. i disagree with ron paul on a couple of things, like foreign policy. i tend to be more main stream about that, and i'm more pro-choice, but a lot of people, i think that was what ron was saying in his speech was it's

kind of -- all you have to do is believe in liberty and then you galvanize everybody. i think the republican party is painted as this unified sort of orwellian organized party and the democrats are always painted as some sort of, you know, populist disorganized group that's very of the people of the but what i saw yesterday was a bunch of people who really wanted to come together, who felt a similar view in some ways, but also wanted to express a different view. i think it was kind of a refreshing thing to see. i see ron making the moral actor that i can get behind -- argument that i can get behind. >> steve: i know you did support george w. bush, but you voted for barak obama. >> oh, yeah. >> steve: what are you doing this time? >> i don't think i can vote for barak this time. >> gretchen: why? why can't you vote for president obama? >> well, the thing is, barak obama is a great guy and i think

that escars mathic and -- charismatic wonderful. i love that he's broken so much ground. obviously being the first person of color to be president was important and when i was a little kid, i was promised i'd get to vote for the first person of color for president. he was a great -- >> brian: where did he let you down? >> i think the problem is that he's a democrat and it's not him that i'm worried about. it's the people standing behind him that tend to want to feel my pain with me and i want to feel my own pain. [ laughter ] >> steve: john, is there something about mitt romney where his plan for creating jobs and stuff like that gives you more hope than barak obama? >> see, now this is again where the man that i'm voting for isn't really the person i'm -- it's their stances. and it's really more of a party philosophy. and the republicans have -- i

have a lot of problems with them as well. but what i can't stand is -- what i need is tort reform. what i need is to do away with the capital gains tax. what i need is pro choice. what i need is, i'd like the legalization of marijuana. >> steve: you're a libertarian all right. >> brian: if i could just share this, mitt romney has come out for the harmonica. >> he has? [ laughter ] he's pro-gun and pro-gay marriage. >> gretchen: you're the quint essential independent voter. >> i think there is a lot of people who feel they can't i'd tie with either party. but when one party is in power too long, it gets messy and that was part of the reason i voted for barak obama, too. is i felt the republicans for the last eight years before that were getting a little too much of what they wanted. i think that it really comes down to just shaking up the glass ball. >> brian: off brand-new cd out.

john popper, thanks so much. >> by the way, i got harmonicas for each you. >> steve: thank you very much. >> gretchen: hopefully you can give lessons. >> you got one last time, but you get another one. here is the thing, if you play them all at the same time -- >> brian: you get to read. >> it sounds like a libertarian song. >> gretchen: great to see you. coming up, he's one of the guys behind the selection of paul ryan as mitt romney's running mate. now he's scrambling to reorganize the entire convention. a senior advisor to mitt romney coming up. >> brian: he was on mitt romney's short list, florida senator marco rubio. that's his picture. this country was built by working people.

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♪ >> gretchen: now your news by the numbers. 53. the percentage of americans who would rather raise taxes and the retirement age rather than cut social security. that's in a new a.p. poll. next, $6.2 million. that's how much political documentary 2016, observe eastbound's america pulled in at the box office this weekend. putting it at number 8, a rare feat for a small film to place so high. 15, that's how old lydia co-is, making her the youngest winner ever in lpga tour history. can graduations. brian? >> brian: wow. tropical storm isaac causing a little bit of chaos for convention planners. how do all the changes affect the man of the hour, governor mitt romney? joining us now is senior strategist for the romney campaign, russ. thank you for coming down. >> morning.

>> brian: before we talk about isaac there, a big story in the "new york post" that the governor of new jersey, governor christie, was offered the v.p. slot and turned it down and they went to paul ryan. what can you tell us on that? >> i just got off the phone with governor christie while we were waiting here and read the story to him. he houston, texas seen it yet. he says, totally not true and brian, he used a little bit stronger language than that. >> brian: so he was upset about it? >> he was, let's put it this way, blunt, about his denial. >> brian: first, let's talk about the structure. the goal of this convention, four days telling everybody about mitt romney from all different angles, now three days. how does it change your approach? >> it really changes it very little. the first day we were going to talk about we can do better, which was laying the predicate of why and how president obama has failed. past four years our economy has been stagnant at best, families are finding it harder to make ends meet, and we were going to talk about those pocketbook issues on the first day and how obama hasn't made it better. we're going to weave that into

the next three days, which is we built it, talking about how mitt romney believes in entrepreneurship. we can change it, what mitt romney will specifically do to change the way things are going in washington. >> brian: you're going to use, i understand, examples of his days at bain. instead of running from bain, you're going to bring up the staples, the hardies, all the child care centers. >> yep. we have the founder of staples is one of our key speakers, the headliner speaker. we have several videos that talk about other people and we have a couple surprise people that will be talk being for bain. >> brian: the president talked to the associated press. this is what he said about his opponent and the guy you're work for, mitt romney. let's listen. >> i can't speak to governor romney's motivations. what i can say is that he has signed up for positions, extreme positions that are very consistent with the positions that a number of house republicans have taken.

and whether he actually believes in those or not, i have no doubt that he would carry forward some of the things that he's talked about. >> brian: he sees a difference between moderate governor of massachusetts and the guy running for president right now. >> to me, this sounds like someone trying to shift the subject to something completely different. president obama has absolutely no plans to what he wants to do for the next term. he can't talk about his record. he can't talk about what he wants to do. all he can talk about is mitt romney. and we believe that the american people want to hear solutions of how it get the economy back. >> brian: so people are saying, drill down on the 59 points that the governor put on his web site. tell us exactly where the tax exemptions. >> the governor put out his plan for the middle class, which includes taxes, more take home pay, more trade, and being a champion of small business.

the most important thing, i think, is this champion of small business. you need a president who is going to go out there every single day and tell business, come on of the let's get going. the water is fine. i'm going to be your partner in making sure that jobs come back to this country. >> brian: as of sometime this weekers you'll get all this money released. how much money, now that you're in the general, and what roughly are you going to focus on? what's going to be different over the next three months? >> i don't think there is going to be too much different. we'll have our general election money available to us when we become the nominee. when we do that, we'll be able to spend as much money as the president has been spending, and what's interesting, brian, is the president spent about $100 million -- >> brian: 120. >> $120 million, most 95% of it, 90% on negative ads. you take a look at the news abc "washington post" poll that came out today, governor romney is leading president obama by one point. to me, that's a bad investment. >> brian: it's going to be interesting because things are certainly going to change 'cause

you're strategy will be in full gear. thanks so much for coming down here today and for the inside scoop on what's happening with this condensed convention. >> thanks a lot. >> brian: coming up straight ahead a guy you're familiar with. florida senator marco rubio, one of the most anticipated speakers at the convention. he's joining us next. he'll introduce governor mitt romney. but first on this day in history, 1988, "one works, thre. she was with the miami sound machine for a little bit. then she dumped them and sang on her own [ female announcer ] so you think your kids are getting enough vegetables? yeah, maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what's your number?

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>> gretchen: he offered to give up his prime time slot to ann romney.

but mitt romney asked him to keep his speaking role. so what can we expect to hear from senator marco rubio's big speech? the florida senator joins us now live from miami. good morning to you, senator. >> good morning. >> gretchen: i know you were originally going to be here right now, but, of course, you have constituents and family down south in the state of florida. how are the conditions there and when will you be coming up here? >> they're getting better. we dodged a bullet big time. so we're hopefully going to be driving up today. the flights have been canceled. so we'll make the drive up four hours in the car with my kids. that should be a lot of fun. 4 1/2 hours. >> gretchen: been there, done that. good luck. >> steve: how is it look for your guy, mr. romney? there is a new "washington post" poll that came out this morning shows romney up by one over barak obama. how do you think things are going? >> i think they're going to get better. what's happening throughout the summer is people are living life. now they're getting back to

school, coming back home from their vacations and they're starting to focus in on the choice before them. over the next two weeks with this convention and the democrats next week, that become more clear. this election is not a choice between a democrat and a republican. we're voting on what kind of country we want to be in, what we think government should be doing in our country and we have two very different views of that. barak obama's view is that the way the economy grows is because the government spends money and creates programs. mitt romney believes that the way the economy grows is when people have the money and the confidence to invest that money to start a new business or grow an existing one. two very different views. americans are going to get to decide and i think that starts becoming clearer this week. >> brian: senator, one of the key things you have to do is not only use your popularity with the tea party, but also let the hispanic community know republicans aren't all that bad. so far it's overwhelmingly for president obama. 68 to 23%. how do you close that gap in 65 days? >> i don't know about all those

polls that are out there. i think that's the same thing is happening in the hispanic community that's happening throughout the country. that is people just aren't focused in yet. but they will be now. i'll tell you what's happening in the hispanic community, it's what's happening across america. people are afraid about the future. they've lost their jobs. they're working twice as hard and making half as much. their kids are graduating college and they can't find the job. but they're stuck with student loans. they have to move back in with their parents. this is real life. i think barak obama is going to be held to account for that. he's going to have to explain to all americans, including americans of hispanic descent, why things have not gotten better despite the fact that he's gotten everything he's asked for. and that's where i think mitt romney's approach is going to be more -- create an appeal to all americans, especially those of hispanic descent. >> gretchen: senator, some of that could be from the messaging that people hear from the media. check out these numbers from a fox news poll. who do most members of the media want to win the election? just regular people said, 61% of the media wants obama to win.

only 15% of the media, according to americans, want romney to win and 17% are unsure. you probably knew this going into this. but do the numbers surprise you at all? >> i think that's perception. at the end of the day, most journalists' side are fair. they may have personal preferences, but try to be katy and try to give both sides, for the most part. clearly there are those who partisan and identify as such and no doubt about that. but the good news is it doesn't matter because americans today have access to more information than ever before. this is not -- we're not where there was no "fox & friends" 30 years ago, 25 years ago. you got your news from three places. now people really have choices and they have fair and balanced coverage, including this network and others. so people are more aware than they've ever been. >> steve: people always say about the president, he wins in likeability. but there have been so many negative ads coming from mr. obama's side, i had a couple

of people tell me in the airport, we don't think he's that likeable anymore. >> yeah. there is a different barak obama. barak obama 2.0 is not the same person who was elected four years ago. four years ago, i know people who never voted for a democrat that voted for him because they loved his story and thought we may not agree him, but he'll elevate memory poll ticks. boy, those days are long gone. thank this is as ugly and nasty as i have seen a campaign in the last six cycles i've seen and watching. >> gretchen: good luck in your speech. we'll watch for you when you come up to tampa. >> steve: good luck in the car with the kids. >> thank you. >> gretchen: he was hesitant. >> brian: the rubio kids pay attention. they let their dad drive. coming up on this show, there is already talk to bring the navy seal from that bin laden raid to the big screen. his whole story in this book could be coming to hollywood. there's a battle to get the rights already.

we'll discuss it. >> gretchen: bill hemmer hanging out at the bar. where is that shot? we're gog have to pull dana away . copd iludes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiva helps corol my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. and it's steroid-free spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell yr doctor if you have kidy problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you ta, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if yr breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing ure. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation.

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>> gretchen: good morning, everyone. it's monday, august 27, 2012. i'm gretchen carlson live in tampa. thanks for sharing your time today. tropical storm isaac gaining strength and headed now for the coast. the very latest on this story and how it's affecting the republican national convention moments away. >> steve: the president signals he's ready to compromise republicans, but only if he's reelected. sounds familiar, right? should you believe him? dane taken over at the bar. brian will drag her out in just a minute. >> brian: remember this hilarious geico commercial?

>> maybe we should chug on over to ma nbc pamby land where maybe we can find self confidence for you! >> brian: you won't see that guy or the commercial again. because the star says he was fired for being conservative? "fox & friends," your home for the 2012 election, starts now. >> steve: what a difference a little storm makes. it's not a very little storm. it's a big one. it's isaac. we've been feeling it here in tampa for a couple of hours this morning that we've been up and they really got it last night. >> brian: the headliners will remain headliners. it's a three-day convention as of now. the governor with mrs. romney,

rehearsing the speech that he's going to come to town to make on thursday. >> steve: because today was supposed to be the first day. we were supposed to call this day one, but we can't. it's a condensed convention. let's call it a condentino. what do you think. >> gretchen: let us know. i called it day zero condenytion. the storm is starting. storm isaac has other plans. the storm already tearing through the florida keys with high winds and taking aim at the gulf coast, from louisiana to the florida panhandle under a hurricane watch now as isaac gets closer to land. we have team coverage. maria molina is tracking isaac's path from our extreme weather center in new york. first we go to nicole collins in pensacola, florida, where evacuations are underway. hi, nicole. >> good morning. yes, we're under a local state of emergency here from officials

in pensacola beach. voluntary evacuations were recommended last night. only one person i've spoken to is taking officials up on that recommends. people here tend to want to ride it out until they're sure that it is going to be a very big storm. the sun is up here. it's really beautiful out. the wind has been picking up throughout the evening. now with it up, we're seeing the waves coming in at a very rapid pace. that is different from yesterday. we are also talking to residents, understanding that they're picking up supplies, they're testing their generators. a lot of stuff has been picked through the stores here, gas is also scarce. officials say they expect tropical storm winds by tonight here in pensacola beach and hurricane conditions within the next day. steve, gretchen and brian. >> gretchen: all right. thanks so much. now let's get to maria molina for where we expect isaac to hit next. >> good morning, everyone. we just got a new update from the national hurricane center at

8:00 a.m., basically saying two things changed with isaac. the pressure continued to drop, which is a sign that it is intensifying, and we're also starting to see an eye wall trying to form in the center of the storm system. isaac is trying to get its act together, still has maximum sustained winds at 65 miles per hour and could be a hurricane by tomorrow. category 1 as it continues to move over very warm speed. speed at 14 miles per hour toward the west northwest. by tuesday 1:00 a.m., could have maximum sustained winds at 80 miles per hour. then it will do something that is very bad. it will start to slow down. what that means for areas along the gulf coast is that you will have so endure tropical storm conditions and hurricane conditions for about 48 hours. that is not good news. we're talk being it for a long period of time of storm surge, especially as the system begins to approach coastal areas from new orleans to mobile, alabama of the we could see a storm surge as high as six to 12 feet, up to locally 18 inches of rain. so a lot of moisture with isaac and we'll keep a close watch on

where the center of it does exactly move. again, because it's so big, we don't want to focus on where the exact center will hit. back to you. >> gretchen: thanks so much. let's do a couple headlines now because we have another fox news alert to tell you about. from eastern afghanistan, overnight two american soldiers shot dead by an afghan soldier. officials there say the soldier fell on his weapon and it accidentally discharged. they say it is not related to the rash of recent insider attacks on international forces. 12 americans, 1 alone have been killed this month in afghanistan by afghan soldiers. remember when new jersey governor chris christie said this before hurricane irene? >> get the hell off the beach and get out. you're don't it's 4:30. you've maximized your tan. get off the beach. >> gretchen: governor christie fired up for the rnc, joking he was brought here early to help clear florida's beaches before tropical storm isaac.

>> i think we're going to really enjoy the next few days down here in florida. the weather will come and go. they brought me down here specifically, i'm sure you know, brought me down here on sunday to make sure if there is any idiots on the beach, tell them get the hell off the beach. [ cheers and applause ] some lines are so good, they never go away. we're going to look forward to having a great time. >> gretchen: governor christie gives the keynote speech tomorrow night. police making a major arrest. officers busted a man carrying this. an eight-inch machete, strapped to his leg. cops approached jason wilson after spotting him with a group of occupy protesters. he resisted arrest, but subdued and taken to the sheriff's office. he'll be in court later this

morning. a big sendoff for congressman paul ryan. ♪ >> gretchen: rally being held later today at his old high school. preparations have been underway for his big sendoff ahead of the republican national convention. >> somebody that came from our high school and we're all kind of shocked like someone so normal can do something so amazing. it's inspirational. >> gretchen: congressman ryan scheduled to speak here on wednesday. and those are your headlines this morning. >> steve: brian kilmeade currently not here in the anchor position. he is scouring the tampa museum center to look for dana perino. where are you? >> brian: she's supposed to be here. let me check the grid. do we see her? oh, i see her. she's talking to fox's own john roberts. how are you doing?

>> we're reliving old times in the white house. >> brian: you'll be up all night. can we borrow dana for a while. >> gretchen: i was checking. >> rick: i was checking your computer if you like black licorice or hate it. >> brian: i know. everyone prepares differently. for me, i like to look at miscellaneous things. what have you prepared emotionally for the segment? >> emotionally? >> brian: what's resonating with you? >> i'm excited for the speakers. i want to talk about some of those. >> all right. i like the news yesterday that president obama says he's going to compromise in a second term. >> brian: i'll pick that up later. sorry. keith knocked that over. dana perino finally found her way in -- that is my seat. >> why do you have a pillow? >> gretchen: i got sandbags under me. >> we need a pillow here. that was fun. are we live?

>> brian: yeah. as far as we know, a million five watched this. >> steve: as you were walking over and brian knocked over the sign, you were talking about the a.p. interview where the president of the united states says, you know, as soon as i'm reelected, i'm going to start compromising. >> yes. reelect me because i'll be a completely different person in a second term. i thought this was a strange thing. though i also realized it's not that newsy. if you remember march 26 of 2012, president obama when he leaned in and he whispered that he'll have more flexibility in a second term. >> gretchen: funny it's right here. >> gretchen: are we to believe that would mean flexibility in compromising with republicans? >> i suppose, although he did not do that with the three biggest things. the stimulus bill, obamacare, and letting simpson bowles go to the wayside.

those are three things i think he could have gotten some republican support on, in particular on obamacare. that was when he had full control of the senate. sew didn't feel like he needed anybody. now i wonder if yesterday he's signaling the democrats might lose the senate. >> steve: sounds like it. >> if the republicans take the senate, maybe then he thinks he'll have to compromise -- i don't know. sounded a little hollow to me. also if you're a strong supporter of his on the left, you're not going to want him to compromise more on the right if you think he hasn't done enough there. if you're an independent leaning right, you think, why should i believe him now that he would compromise any different than a first term? >> brian: i also think it's interesting what the president is doing is sitting out with the a.p. yesterday. they're very good strategists on the other side and they had the romney campaign on their heel throughout most of the summer. now they're saying, mitt romney, i don't know if he believes it, what his policies are extreme. would they be effective painting him as extreme? >> you remember during the republican primary, one of the things that the obama team was doing was trying to paint romney

as the most foreign. not extreme enough. that the republican party would never go for somebody like him 'cause he's too main stream. now they want to say he's too extreme. i don't think it will -- that's the line that they're going to use. i don't think it will stick as much. but governor romney has a very high bar to clear this week. >> steve: does he. >> it's the first time really that some people will be very much paying attention. they want to hear directly from him. i think it will be a great speech burks he's got to hit it just right. >> steve: and say what? >> i think he needs to do a couple of things. which is one, the theme of the convention, we built this. >> steve: you love that. >> here we are together. >> steve: you like that a lot, right? >> we have a lot of different viewpoints under this thing, but we're together, we built this party and campaign. i think then he needs to give a rousing five minutes or so so that the people who have gathered here in tampa can cheer, jump up and down and have a great time. and then it's time to get very serious. and explain from a conceptual

way how he would change and do something different in the next four years that would put america on a better and for some people, on the right track. >> brian: somehow, at the end of this, they've been making -- the obama administration i think has been effective in making his days in business a negative. the offshore accounts, what he's done to workers when his bain capital the evil company bought things. he's got to turn that around and put the nail in the coffin do that. can dee that in one speech? >> not in one speech. but they're fully chipping away. but today in the "washington post," there was a poll that said 72% of people think the economy is the most important thing. it is what they will be voting on. it's not going to be about women. it's not going to be about anything except not just obamacare either, but the state of the economy, who can create jobs and also this federal budget deficit and government spending issue is bigger than most of the conventional wisdom thinks it is. it's on a lot of people's minds and they think it's like lead weights on the economy's ankles

and they want to take those lead weights off so we can have strong job creation going forward. >> steve: all right. dana perino from "the five," we've got photographs that we took of your other five cast members on the plane coming down. you can use them later. >> bob beckel has volunteered to go out in a yellow republican slicker slicker and be doing hurricane coverage. >> brian: that is not true! he will never do that. >> yellow slicker hat. it will be huge. don't miss 5:00 o'clock. >> steve: it will look like the perfect storm starring bob beckel. >> gretchen: thanks. coming up, considered one of the most dangerous cities in the country. why is the entire police department about to get laid off there? >> steve: and then we're talking to local floridians from a local business owner to a mom. are they better off now than they were four years ago? at least one of them got free coffee.

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>> gretchen: welcome back. smaller paychecks, higher gas prices, and crushing levels of unemployment. that's what americans have been living with over the last few years. according to a new report, the average household income fell more in the year since 2009 than during the longest resomething in u.s. history. take a look at this. new fox news poll suggests more families feel their financial situation will improve if mitt romney wins than if president obama is relie detectorred. we've assembled a panel of local tampa residents with various views and we want to ask them, are you better off now than four years ago? we have jan, a real estate agent. she's seated in the middle there. the other female here. charles fletcher, an attorney. then we have acash, a small

business owner and marketing consultant. good morning to all three of you. >> good morning. >> gretchen: jan, let me start with you. you're a real estate agent, a mom. >> a mom. >> gretchen: has your life improved over the last four years or are you one of the ones who think that it has gotten worse? >> i think that it's gotten worse. personally as a family, in terms of our financial situation and just with the cost of gas and the housing crisis, has affected us where we live with the major reductions and the value of our home and also i'm a realtor, that affects me doubly here. >> gretchen: florida has been hit hard, one of the hardest hit. >> for sure, yeah. >> gretchen: charles, i know you are an attorney. you actually are better off now. >> i've had to retool my practice significantly and i continued to work hard and bring in new business and pound the pavement and i'm doing as well or better than i was in 2008, 2009. >> gretchen: when you say

retool, what do you mean? >> previously at this mostly development work. environmental permitting, land use permitting. now i'm doing transportation, construction projects, a whole lot of other types of things that frankly i'm finding better business than back then. maybe not making as much per hour as i was, but overall i think it's been a very improving process for me. we've bottomed out, i think, of the recession. price for homes and real estate have stabilized. we've been pretty flat this year, which is good. we had been in double digit reductions in property values. and so i think we've hit the bottom and we're looking at coming out. that's where we are. >> gretchen: do you agree with charles or jan? >> i'm in the middle in a good way. in 2009 i was working for my family runel business. florida is a big tourism state. in weather no one was shopping because of the economy, we had to retool. so it kind of forced me to

become an entrepreneur and a small business owner. now i'm seeing things kind of picking up a little bit. more young professionals are getting active. they're getting creative in technology. that's why i'm a romney supporter. he knows how to create jobs. >> gretchen: because we're going to break, i wanted to get your sense of who you will be voting for. you say mitt romney. how about? >> i support mitt romney. >> i'll be supporting the president. >> gretchen: on this panel, we have two to one. much mo to discuss when we come back, including this. coming up, serving up a crab sandwich with a smile is how congressman allen west describes the president's -- crap. >> gretchen: crap sandwich? i didn't know if i could say that on tv. >> gretchen: crab sandwich sounds pretty good. but brian will talk to allen west about that. he'll explain it. then remember this hilarious geico commercial? >> maybe we should chug on over to manpy pamby lamb where make

web find self confidence for you! >> gretchen: you won't see one much those again because the star says he was canned because he was a conservative. that's a bunch of -- >> brian: crap r portfolio? with the fidelity stock screener, you can try strategies from independent experts and see wh criteria they use. such as a 5% yield on dividend-paying stocks. then you can customize the strategies and narrow down to exactly those stocks you want to follow. i'm mark allen of fidelity investments. the expert strategies feature is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account.

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>> brian: 23 minutes after the hour. quick headlines. in just about an hour, the so-called american taliban fighter johnny walker lynn, remember him, will try to convince a judge that security concerns should not trump his religious freedom. he's represented by the aclu, claiming he should be allowed to hold group prayer. and the government who killed his former boss outside the empire state building apparently had no intention of returning home after he left friday morning. police found an envelope with his keys left behind for his landlord. evidently he was about to be

evicted. gretch? >> gretchen: thank you, brian. as the political nominating conventions kick off, we've been talking with folks about their financial situations and how things like unemployment and the housing crisis have impacted their lives. we're back with our panel of local tampa residents, jan is a real estate agent and a mom. charles fletcher is an attorney. and acash is a small business owner and marketing consultant. charles, let me start with you on this, with regard to unemployment rates. i want to show you the most recent poll. if you compare the unemployment rate under president obama, from january 2009 it was 7.8%, july of 2012, 8.3%. you said you feel you're better off or the same over that period of time. what about people that you know, your friends, other family members? >> the important thing to remember is when president obama took office we were already in free fall. there was a tremendous crash at that time. you really need to compare maybe six months into his presidency or year to look at how the

recovery and the president's policies have helped us. there have been major stimulus projects in tampa. we've got major connector to help the poor get more goods in and out and those things started to help. they started to show some progress. but in a capitalist society, you can't -- government can't slip a switch. and turn around the economy. >> gretchen: that's a key word. government can't flip a switch. jan, you grace that government should flip any switch to help? >> yes. the policies they put into place and my perspective as a realtor they didn't help and they slowed the market down. people were waiting to see whether they should do a modification, should they take advantage of one of these programs? every time they would make a decision, there would be another program that was rolled out. i think it really slowed down examine built up inventory, which drove the housing prices down and didn't do any real help for anybody that i know. >> gretchen: we had the

unemployment rate. i want to show hot gas prices have changed over time. so since the president has been in office, january 20, 2009, 1.84 for a gallon of gas. august 24, 2012, 3.73. these as of friday, august 24. so acash, how does that affect people and the way in which they spend their money? because everyone needs to drive for the most part. everyone is spending money on transportation. >> it affects us greatly. if i've got clients or prospects, i might not go after them because it's a long drive. those dollars add up. and it comes to personal. kids got to go to school and they have to get picked up. how do we spend our dollars and time on? >> gretchen: i haven't heard the national outcry about the gas prices like we may be heard four years ago. do you agree with that? >> i think people just have come to accept it. i think they feel that -- i

don't think this add m really has any interest in reducing the gas prices and i think that it's one of the things you're not going to be able to change it, so people have grown to accept that the gas prices are going to go up. >> gretchen: the new normal. >> exactly. >> gretchen: jan and charles and acash, tampa residents, or nearby, so great to get your thoughts. thanks so much. we'll enjoy your town. >> thanks. >> gretchen: coming up on "fox & friends," all eyes on isaac. the tropical storm has its sights set on the gulf coast. we're live with the latest on how it's affecting the convention. it's one of the country's most dangerous cities, yet the entire police department is about to get laid offment the drastic measures one town is taking, also coming up. and then the behind the scenes pictures you'll only see here. how we made it from our headquarters in new york to the rnc convention in tampa, behind the scenes look right when we come back.

seems they haven't been 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.

>> gretchen: welcome back. extreme weather alert now. all eyes on isaac. storm headed towards the gulf coast after lashing southern florida and it's expected to get stronger now as the day rolls on. >> brian: we have the whole thing covered. steve brown here in tampa. i can touch him. i did a while ago.

we begin with phil keating who is live in key west, florida. hey, phil, it looks a little better each time we get to you. >> yeah. just maybe a couple of miles per hour less wind each time. that should be the story throughout the day in south fellow mr. and flat fellow keys. for much of the state of florida, today will be a day plagued with high winds, high rain, as well as tropical storm conditions, as well as localized flooding. flood watch in effect for much of the state and it's sporadic in monroe o'clock. not all that bad. new numbers coming in on tropical storm isaac's impact in the country of haiti where it came first before hitting south florida, new reports coming out, 19 people killed. the power out annuals in south florida --ages in south florida jumped substantially.

about 60,000 floridians still without power, roughly 20,000 in each of miami-dade, broward, as well as palm beach county. states of emergency exist around the gulf coast. it will be a long couple of days. back to you. >> gretchen: phil,. >> brian: that was phil keating. we also now have steve brown. correct? >> gretchen: we do. >> brian: steve, you are covering the convention. you're going to talk about what the tropical storm has done. it could turn into a hurricane, to the format. >> it will be briefer. we'll have three days as owe --' posed to four. in addition, we've got a quartet of gulf state governors who will not be attending because they have duties to attend to at home related to the storm, including two ho are speak. the host governor, rick scott. and bobby jindal, also scheduled to speak, he will not be out. let's talk about general

election campaign cash just for a second. a lot of speculation about the scheduling of the roll call vote and early scheduling. it will be tuesday. and whether or not that would immediately release that campaign cash for the romney folks. i talked with the senior advisor, he said no. it won't be officially gaveled in until thursday night before he speaks. when that happens, he says that the campaign, the obama and mitt romney campaign will be even when you talk about campaign cash versus campaign cash. >> we had less money to spend than they did. so there was weeks that we were being outspent by their campaign two to one. and now that won't happen anymore. >> what he says is they have still primary cash to spend for the next couple of days. they want to get that kick in. that will allow more flexibility to be in more states and be more

vocal in more states and this is again talking about campaign coffers versus campaign coffers alone. interesting development or explainer from him on that. normally i toss it back to you, but one of you folks, one of you three is here. it's the other -- actually. >> steve: it's the other steve. >> what brings you outside without a coat? >> steve: thank you very much. speaking of coats, who do i talk to to get this slicker? >> roger ails. he's in charge of wardrobe now. >> steve: thank you very much. that was great. please get out of the shot for a second. let me point out -- look at this. steve, you accidentally, not a coffee guy in the morning. 's diet coke man of the he just spilled his. what you don't see normally when you're seeing steve brown is you don't normally see the ten foot high chain link fence. there are chain link fences all around forming perimeters all

over downtown tampa. right over there is the forum. that's where the official rnc is housed and that's where mitt romney will accept the nomination. in the distance is the mayor y. that's where -- marriott and that's where mitt romney and his folks will be staying while here. there is a beautiful bit of water. take that camera off stick and i'll go back here. a lot of people forget that one of my first jobs in television was i was trial a camera guy at ktsp in topeka, kansas. i'm going to -- that's really heavy. all right. so this is behind the scenes. there is my light guy. nine good light. thank you very much. i'm taking over. you want to hold that? meanwhile, there is the tampa bay history center. that's where we're housed. right there in the foreground,

that is the tent where we were supposed to be this morning, but due to, as you can see, isaac causing all sorts of problems, we're not able to do that. and we were talking about security. that is quite a hair trigger zoom on that. there is some of the security. they don't have a perimeter immediately around it. they have a got of water instead. where is that zoo thing? there we go. live. gretch, brian? i'm done running the camera. >> gretchen: oh, my gosh! i need my motion control band on. >> brian: i need dramaine. >> steve: the zoom he has it set on is really significant. holy cow. >> brian: maybe we should have lettered this. that was fantastic. you had the coast guard talking about security, fantastic. >> gretchen: rehearsal. >> brian: good thing we're not union. we would have been fired. >> gretchen: not allowed to

touch the camera when you are. let's talk about some of the security going on here and what it's cohe things you can and cannot bring into the convention, so we have 3,000 police officer, 59 law enforcement agencies, 1700 national guard troops. then there was the airplane video, brian. >> brian: yeah. i was not allowed to fly on your plane. >> gretchen: you were not, but the teleprompter says gretch sleeping. i did not know anybody had video of that and if we show it right now, i'm going to be a little upset. >> brian: there you go. >> gretchen: at least i didn't nod off completely, like my head down bouncing around. >> brian: look at that. somebody was in first class. >> gretchen: i think i know who filmed that. they're going to be on my bad list now. >> brian: it cooperate be steve because it's very steady. >> gretchen: steve was right across from me. i believe it's a guy e.b. are the initials. >> brian: eric bolling. i can declassify everything. you had greta van susteren,

there she is. >> gretchen: mo not sleeping. >> brian: steve doocy. you have eric bolling there, all hanging out. >> gretchen: we're back to steve's video skills there. >> brian: yes. andrea. how much fun was that flight? >> gretchen: thank god there is somebody else sleeping. andrea and kimberly. oh, my gosh. steve is outside now trying to get back in. >> steve: come on, it was good. a little warm. a little on the humid side. >> brian: you should have predicted that. you're the weather guy. >> gretchen: you know what you can not bring in? folding chairs. oatlike bring that pocket chair. >> brian: i can't bring my pocket chair? >> gretchen: you can't bring the pocket chair. no leatherman, no mace, no aerosol, no whole fruit, and no umbrellas. so you're out of luck. >> brian: steve, did you have that video of the jumper out of the car, what they have to go

through? >> steve: i think we do 'cause as we were talking earlier, there's a security cordoned around. there are three different perimeters you have to go through. we came when it was pouring, so they didn't make us get out of the car. generally what they do is you pull up to the checkpoint and you have to get out of the car. they have the dog run through the car to make sure you don't have stuff you're not supposed to. >> brian: let's not hope you don't have another dog. could be a fight. why job out there, put your jacket out. congressman west deserves that. the book isn't out yet, but steven spielberg already trying to land movies fort tell all book about the daring navy seal raid that killed bin laden. the "new york post" reporting the director in talks with the retired navy seal to buy the book called "no easy day." reports say the author has also met with at least two other film makers. the book is expected to be released on september 11. >> gretchen: it's been called the nation's most dangerous city. but camden, new jersey, cutting its police department because of

budget woes 2 70 officers getting pink slips. they'll be replaced by a police force one by the county. they say it will put more officers on the streets. critics say the new officers will not be prepared to handle the amount of crime. there has been 41 murders there this year alone. putting it on pace to break its record back in 1995. >> brian: and do you remember this hilarious geico commercial? >> maybe we should chug on over to ma'am bee pamby land where maybe we can find some self confidence for you, you chuck wagon! >> brian: it turns out insurance companyies can can an actor. he says it's because he's a conservative. listen. >> i got fired. they fired me because i wasn't too kind about speaking with the add -- about the administration. so the present administration and they said you're a conservative in this town, you

better watch out. >> brian: he's a former marine and he's a drill sergeant. >> gretchen: coming up next on the rundown, here is what colonel allen west thinks about the president's economic plan. >> let's be very honest and let's put this in military terms, if you're feed ago person person -- feed ago person a crap sandwich, it's a crap sandwich. >> gretchen: i thought it was crab. he said something else. he's here to explain that coming up next live. good thing brian is doing have the view. >> brian: that interview is on no erasable board today [ wife ] your dad's really giving him the business... the designated hitter's the best thing to happen to baseball! but it's not the same game! [ wife ] wow, he's really gonna get us a good deal. it's better! no it's not! the pitcher comes up and he's out!

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>> gretchen: quick headlines. political documentary, obama's america had a breakout performance this weekend.

expanding from a limited to nationwide release and coming in at number eight with $6.2 million. and massachusetts doctor is turning patients away for being too fat? one woman saying she knows she's overweight but couldn't believe she was turned away because of it. the doctor, helen carter, says she doesn't treat people over 200 pounds. she claims it is too dangerous for her staff. steve? >> steve: all right. thank you very much. never one to mince words, florida congressman allen west offering up up his assessment of president obama's policies. >> let's be very honest and let's put it in military terms. if you're feed ago person a crap sandwich which w a smile, it's still a crap sandwich. i think that's what you see coming from president obama. he said america just a load of you know what and has not done anything for this country except increase unemployment, increasing food stamp roles and we're heading in the wrong direction. >> steve: all right. joining us now is florida congressman and retired lieutenant colonel allen west.

niece boynton beach, on the other side of florida from us. good morning to you. >> good morning, steve. how are you doing? >> steve: i'm doing fine. strong words regarding an entree item. >> i think they're very appropriate words. the conversation that neil cavuto examine i were having was all about the president's likeability and opposition to mitt romney. and so i kind of getting tired of people talk about likeability. we should be talking about the facts. gretchen just made the case a couple of segments earlier when she talked about with gasoline prices were on inauguration day, 1.84. now they're 3.73. you look at what happened to median family income. from about 2,000 to $4,000 lost. in the black community, you see an 11% decrease in media family income. let's talk about the increase of the debt per person. it's gone from 34,000 to over 51,000. and we know that this week we will hit $16 trillion in debt.

so that's the hope and change that's been served up and i don't see what that's like ability. >> steve: i mentioned earlier that i was in the airport talking to some folks who are concerned about the next election and they say everybody is talking about how the president always is so likeable. with all the negative campaign ads, they don't think that he is that likeable anymore. and i read in the paper that apparently one of the things the gop is going to try to push this week is barak obama, okay, sure, he's likeable, but he has failed as president. >> you're absolutely right. this is about leadership. it's about courage, confidence, character, commitment, and conviction. and it's also not about the tactic which is lynnski did from chicago coming from the president. if you can not run on your record and stand upon objective assessment, then you'll go to the political cheap shot and that's what we see coming out of this administration. once again, i don't see where there is this high likeability rating because i'm look at the

effects that we're seeing as far as the policies having on our country. we haven't even talked about our national security with sequestration, the fact that we're emboldening our enemy, yet confusing our allies. >> steve: that's a good point. if we were basing who the president is on likeability, regis philbin would have been elected many years ago. but that's not what we vote on. >> absolutely. >> steve: also, let's talk about your particular race. a couple weeks ago we talked about the super pac that has been running some inappropriate ads against you. interestingly enough, your opponent's father funding in large part that super pac. now there is a new attack ad from your opponent featuring children. let's take a look. >> you are not a lady. you are the most vial, vile, despicable, member of the communist, communist party. >> get the beep out of the united states!

>> allen west had all these things and worse. bullying examine name calling has no place in the playground or in congress. i'm patrick murphy and i approve this message. >> okay. so it looks like they hired some kids to simply parrot what some adults have said in the past regarding you. how do you feel about that? >> well, first of all, again, that goes back to the fact that when you're inept and incompetent and you can't talk about the issues, you're going to go exploit our children. when you think about the fact that the future of these children and grandchildren they put at risk with $16 trillion in debt, i don't think that my opponent cares about the future of america or cares about the computer for the kids he used horribly in a campaign ad to attack me. so this once again is the gutter type of politics you see emanating from people that can't address the issues to the american populous and talk about viable solutions to turn this country around and get heading in the right direction. >> steve: regarding that

particular -- your response, the campaign opposite you said this, it's remarkable that allen west thinks the things he says as a congressman are so inappropriate that children can't even say them. sir? >> well, once again, why would we want to bring our children into this conversation? i'm an adult. i'm a grown man. i don't think we want to have children going out and getting into the realm of politics like he's saying. but think about this, we're going to a $16 trillion in debt. each one of those children that patrick murphy used in that ad has $51,000 of debt on their head. that's the case we need to be talking about. >> steve: yeah. you're exactly right. congressman allen west, we thank you for joining us in boynton beach. >> thank you. >> steve: straight ahead, we're tracking isaac, the storm has pounded florida. now louisiana is bracing for a hit. we're live on that next. first, that guy who is -- bill hemmer joins us live here at the

museum. >> is that a cuban sandwich? >> not exactly. not a crab sandwich. >> good morning to you. coming up here in moments on "america's newsroom," terrific line - up. charles krauthammer stops by to analysis everything. john sununu is in town, steve hayes has a fascinating look at some of the polling numbers that are coming out when it comes to the economy, debt examine deficit, and medicare. you will be surprised to learn who is leading in all the categories. herman cain is in tampa, down from atlanta, right down interstate 75. martha examine i continue our coverage live on -- i guess it would be day one, we'll call it 1.0 or -- >> steve: the condention. >> we'll see you at the top of the hour, martha and me in tampa

>> gretchen: welcome back. extreme weather alert. we continue to track tropical storm isaac. it's torn through parts of florida. bringing heavy rape and wind, pushing back the start of the republican national convention. >> brian: the headline at crunch says could be bigger than katrina. >> gretchen: that's not good news and it's expected to head straight fort gulf coast where several states are under a hurricane watch as isaac moves closer to land. >> steve: we have got team coverage right now. rob mason is live in lafitte, louisiana. first we go to maria molina tracking isaac's path from our extreme weather center in new york. maria? >> good morning. we do have two updates. basically we're starting to see appear eye wall trying to develop across the center of the storm system which is a sign that isaac is becoming better organized and we're also continuing to see that pressure dropping. right now maximum sustained winds at 65 miles per hour, very

warm water. by late tonight into early tomorrow morning, it could be a category 1 hurricane before making landfall into the new orleans area as we head into late tuesday, early wednesday morning. it will slow down as it approaches land. so this is going to be a long duration event. locally up to 18 inches of rain will be possible out here. a storm surge between six to 12 feet above normal, tide levels between new orleans and also mobile, alabama. we'll be seeing a lot of water here and possible flooding. so just continuing to track isaac here which is a very large storm as well. those tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 240 miles from the center of the storm. >> steve: thanks. >> gretchen: now we go to rob mason, correct me if i didn't get it right. he's in louisiana. >> we're in lafitte, 20 miles south of new orleans, where a mandatory evacuation goes into

effect an hour from now. that has a lot of people scurrying about. there have been long gas lines throughout the new orleans metro area, for about the last 24 hours as people have been watching isaac's slow and steady progress toward the metro area. this area, very familiar with storms. there have been $15 billion worth of levee and flood improvements in the new orleans metro area. here in lafitte, we're outside of that area. there have been absolutely no money spent by the army corps of engineers to improve flood protection here. so in that case, they have what they call tiger dams which are dams that they inflate with water, that they put up in strategic locations around the town of 10,000 people below new orleans. but they get flooding here almost every year now. largely in part because of the coastal erosion that's taken place in south louisiana, which eliminated much of the storm buffer that people here used to enjoy over the decades.

so right now everyone getting ready for the mandatory evacuation order, filling up their gas. there's a call for volunteers to assist with some of the levee protection and right now they're waiting to see what isaac will bring here action guys. >> gretchen: thanks very much for that update out of louisiana >> brian: we'll be back to wrap things up from -- well, the history place, the place where tampa rechronicles their history in just a minute are you okay, babe? i'm fine. ♪ ♪ ♪ with a subaru you can always find a way. announcer: love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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>> steve: one of the nicknames for tampa is the cigar city because the cigar trade used to be very big here. >> gretchen: i just got brian. i told him how much i love smoking cigars. he said you do? i said yeah. >> steve: we'll get you one. >> brian: this guy has not said a word. >> steve: we're going to be back here at the history center tomorrow. mike huckabee will be joining us live. >> gretchen: as well as congresswoman michelle bachmann. >> brian: and the oak ridge boys promise it trim their