and the sad thing is, with sequester, thousands will be laid off. >> steve: that's right. there are so many men and women in the area around tampa who serve the country and for your service, thank you. >> gretchen: have a fantastic day. see you tomorrow. >> brian: and see you on radio if you have to run from the tv. bill: good morning from tampa, florida. it was history last night here as we get ready for the main event later tonight. but this is the story of the hour. paul rhino fissionly accepting his party's nomination for vice president. at times clearly emotional. speak being his father, his mother, his love of country and his plans to lift up future

generations. but make no mistake. he is not afraid to go directly after president obama. >> ladies and gentlemen, these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the white house! what is missing is leadership in the white house! [cheers and applause] >> when i was waiting tables, washing dishes or mowing lawns for money, i never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. i was on my own path, my own journey, an american journey where i could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself. that's what we do in this country. that's the american dream. that's freedom and i'll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.

we have had very different careers. mine mainly in public service, his mostly in the private sector. he helped start businesses and turned around failing ones. by the way, being successful in business, that's a good thing! [cheers and applause] bill: now we move to the final day we are in tampa. the republican national convention. good morning to you wherever you are at home. what a night to be on the floor last night. condolezza rice within susanna martinez of new mexico. and the headliner paul ryan. how are you doing? martha: i'm martha mccallum. we have enough coffee to power us through this morning. attention turns to the top of the ticket tonight. we'll see governor mitt romney. he will take the stage. he has to have been taking all of this through the course of

this week. but this time it will be up to him. bill: first it was paul ryan's chance to introduce himself to the nation and steal the show with a serious speech that passed the test of those in the arena in tampa. john roberts leads our coverage. >> reporter: this was everything a vice presidential nominating speech was supposed to be. it was hard hitting and it had tender moment when he was talking about his mom betty. he went through it like a -- >> our opponents can consider themselves on notice. in this election on this issue, the usual posturing on the left isn't going to work. mitt romney and i know the difference between protecting a program and raiding it. ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate, we want this

debate, we'll win this debate. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: so much criticism has been leveled at paul ryan for his plans to reform medicare but they believe this is a debate they can win on. bill: it was an audience that was held in rapture from the moment he walked out on that stage until the very end. what did you gauge based on the delegates and their action. >> reporter: he was nothing short of a rock star. there were 60 applause breaks. that was one less than president obama's first state of the iewn address. ryan decried the state of the union. >> college graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms staring up at fading obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: paul ryan also tapped into what has been the

central theme of this convention. small business owners and entrepreneurs deserve credit for all their success. >> after all that work and in a bad economy it sure doesn't help to hear from their president that government gets the credit. what they deserve to hear is the truth. yes, you did build that! >> reporter: after the speech dick durbin said i don't like paul ryan. but i think it's safe to say there are a lot of people in this country who have a different opinion. martha: a lot of action on the floor. also firing up that crowd. the former presidential candidate and winner of the 2008 iowa caucuses, governor mike huckabee. >> for four years we have given a chance to a man with very limited experience in governing. no experience in business whatsoever.

and since taking office, mostly interested in campaigning, blaming and aiming excuses at his predecessor, the republicans, and people in business. for the past four years, we tried the one that the press thought was perfect, and that hasn't worked out all that well for us. [cheers and applause] >> that's why tonight i tell you we can do better. bill: governor huckabee from last night. this morning he's right over my right hand shoulder. he will talk to us live in a matter of minutes. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell also talking, saying it's time to turn the page on the obama presidency. >> we believe mitt romney is the man for this moment. that's the hopeful message coming from tampa this week after four long years help is on the way.

bill: senator mcconnell saying the president is content to manage america's decline. martha: the lineup for the final night of the convention. former speaker of the house and presidential candidate newt gingrich will be up there tonight. he led the field at one point in this contentious primary race. but tonight we expect everybody will put those feelings aside. next we'll hear from former florida governor jeb bush. brother to president george w. bush and son to george hw bush. outreach to hispanic voters has been one of his major pushes. also doing that is florida senator and one time short lister for the vp pick, marco rubio. the young popular senator will give a key role. he will introduce the man of the

hour, republican presidential nominee mitt romney which will no doubt be the most important speech of his political life. he has waited a long time to get to this moment and it comes just hours from now. bill: he has been saying how much he's looking forward to that. we can't forget about the mystery speaker. the rnc reserving a last-minute high-profile speaking role. will he have a football in his hand or a shotgun? or maybe neither. we'll get to that. the mystery guest. martha: a lot of people will be excited to see him if it is who we think it is. it was a fascinating evening. we are looking at the way everybody is reacting to this this morning. how beautiful is the ryan family. no matter what your politics, they were close to me on the floor there. this is what it looks like. nice family picture. the big headline is on the

attack. paul ryan seemed very comfortable up there for a young politician who said he never expected to find himself at this stage of his life as a v.p. nominee. bill: 42. martha: he had a lot of composure. took his time. took a sip much water when he needed it. bill: the kid were great, saluting the crowd. the aftereffects of isaac. crime is down during the rnc. martha: that's a shock. there is national guard on every single corner, police everywhere. you can't go anywhere. hard to commit a crime when you can't get there. bill: jam packed show the next two hours. michele bachmann stops by.

america's mayor rudy giuliani is in the house. do not miss a minute. martha: we'll be right back in tampa with "america's newsroom." let many get to this first. this fox news alert on a brand-new jobs report. the number of americans filing for unemployment benefits held steady last week. scene alley adjust -- scene alleseasonallyadjusted. 374,000. let's go to new york with stuart varney. good morning, stuart. this is pretty much in the zone we have seen. >> reporter: but it's not good news. this economy with 68 day to the election is bumping along in low gear. it's not in reverse but we are barely moving and there is not much likelihood of improvement before the election or the end of the year. that number 374,000 is very high

with three years out of a recession. confident reported at a november low. and most people, many people in america are now paying $4 a gallon for gasoline. martha, when you summit all up the jobs news, the confidence news, the gas news, this economy remains very weak. no serious improvement is likely. it's been this way for four years. martha: the republicans have had a debt clock ticking away on the convention floor and you look at the numbers you are talking about. it's a difficult backdrop for the democrats as we head to charlotte over the course of next week. >> reporter: you are going to hit $16 trillion by the even or the middle of next week around the time the democrats are wrapping up their convention. we have never been there before and it probably happens next week. martha: stuart, thank you so much. bill: it's an ominous clock to

watch that thing. just since the convention started it's a stagger number to see amount of debt we accumulated just since we have been here. mike huckabee is live here next right before condolezza rice. he was talking and then the former secretary of state was greeted by wild tampa. >> my fellow americans, we do not have a choice. we cannot be reluctant to lead, and you cannot lead from behind. [applause] *. bill: oh coming up the story that brought the room to their feet and likely a few tears to their eyes. martha: vp nominee paul ryan addressed the number one issue on voters' minds, the economy. theeconomy. >> we don't have that much time. but if we are serious and smart,

and we lead, we can do this. the present administration has made its choices. and mitt romney and i have made ours. before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation's economic problems. [cheers and applause] [ 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? >> it's true i have fallen from the high perch of politics and now i wall oh in the mud of the media. but i still know as a country we can do better. with mitt romney and paul ryan we will do better. [cheers and applause] bill: former governor of

arkansas mike huckabee taking a shot at us a little bit. the man himself is here with us in the tampa lounge. are you comfortable with that? >> totally. bill: wallow in the mud of the media in what's up with that? they loved the line. but you had another critical line. i want to be clear about something that's been said. people wonder whether guys like me, an evangelical would only support a fellow evangelical. why did you put that in your speech? >> there has been a narrative that evangelicals won't support mitt romney because he's a mormon. it's an insult to me as an american. i'm not going to vote for or against somebody because of their religion. maybe you stroll through someplace and find somebody who will say that.

but it's not representative of the mainstream of evangelicals or any other faith groupt i'm aware of. bill: i was down in front watching you speak and i was watching the teleprompter at the same time. you are pretty good at it. you were there to talk about social issues, about faith in america when you delivered this line. have a listen here. >> the attack on my catholic brothers and sisters is an attack on me. the democrats have brought back that old dance, the limbo to see how low they can go in attempting to limit the way we practice our faith. this isn't about contraceptives and catholics but about conscience and the creator. let me say to you tonight, i care far less as to where mitt romney takes his family to

church than i do about where he takes this country. pluthis -- this country. [cheers and applause] bill: that was the line about church. you wrote that. with meaning. >> it's a statement of great passion. i'm not look at mitt romney's faith and religion. but i respect the fact that he practices it with authenticity. the reason i wanted to include the line about the extraordinary charitable giving of mitt romney is because that does resonate and speak to people who are part of the faith community. if you say you love god but you give him nothing, you don't really love him. if you generously give to the poor and those who hurt, it says your faith has transformed your value system and what you have in mitt romney is a person who takes his faith quite seriously and there is a tangible evidence of that. bill: you were a one-time rival.

you said it's quite simple how we can be united, we have barack obama to thank and the place went nuts. >> sometimes people will say you guys were rival. of course, we were. it's like two quarterbacks going after each other. but if you are in the super bowl you want your team to win. if you want your guy to get there you would rather be the quarterback on the bench. bill: your appeal to evangelicals and born-again christians across america, you have a lot of pull. now you have a chance to promote mitt romney. and tonight romney has a chance to promote himself. how does he get it done, governor? >> the room will be electric. this is a speech he gives not so much to the people in that hall. he does haven't to convince

them. he has to convince the people on television. this is a television speech. connecting with them on a personal level. what i think people are looking for, do i know this guy, do i care? i think they want to know, can you get from the driver's seat, take the steering wheel and get us somewhere where we want to be. here's why i ought to be president because here's what i'm going to do when i'm elected. bill: catch you saturday and sunday? >> i hope so. bill: as of now you are in good hands. back over to martha now. martha: good to have him in the media muck with us. paul ryan rocks the republican convention last night, hitting medicare hard. why he says we need this debate now. he does not want to shy away from it. plus no teleprompter needed for this lady. former secretary of state

condolezza rice got a huge response with her look into her childhood. >> the world knows when a nation loses control of its finances, it eventually loses control of its destiny. that is not the america that has inspired people to follow our lead. [applause] i'm only in my 60's...

i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80%

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>> so much work has gone into this moment at the tampa bay times form. 30,000 hours of labor getting the carpet, the chairs ready. it has taken a year and a half of planning and putting it all together. let's take a look at the set. it's a traditional look they put together. it has 13l.e.d. screens that will show the message of the republican party. you will see movies on those screens. they will pull it together for the delegates on the floor and to send that message home. governor mitt romney who has particular thoughts on these things because he oversaw the olympics and the opening ceremonies. he shot down six plans for this stage before deciding on the one that you see up here that he will take the podium on on that big night. and of course at the very end, look at the ceiling, all of those balloons will be released

and ready to go on the big night. and down will come the balloons tonight. on top of our heads. bill hemmer and the heads of everybody else. i couldn't help but think about that mitt romney wanted his moment to happen four years ago. he thought his moment against barack obama would come the first time around. four years of his life he put into making that moment happen between. it finally has arrived. he will go head-to-head against president obama. tonight he has to tell his own story. bill: you think about walking out onto the stage for the first time. you know it's indelible in his mind already. he likes his speech. when you like your speech and you like your message you look forward with anticipation to deliver it. one person we saw last night who loved the message that she was there to deliver was condolezza

rice. without prompter talking about her childhood and talking about the parents that made her believe she was capable of anything. watch here. >> on a personal note. a little girl grows up in jim crow birmingham, the segregated city of the south where her parents can't take her to a movie theater or restaurant. but they have her absolutely convinced even if she can't have a hamburger at the woolworth's counter she can be president of the united states if she wants to be and she becomes the secretary of state. [cheers and applause] bill: it brought the house down. there are four levels inside the forum across the way. every single person in that house got on their feet when they heard that line. pitch perfect, no teleprompter. simple notes in front of her. i'm told the speech she

delivered in a similar way the past three or four months, but last night she nailed it. martha: she is a person of such personal strength and she rarely talks about herself in terms of being an african-american or a woman. she is simply a successful person who stands buff. when she put it in those terms and you think about how young she is and how recent that was in our country's history. it was a very powerful moment. not through handouts, but through personal strength and family support she told her family story. bill: the tone was serious and straightforward. what you find inside that arena is when you capture those delegates in the beginning you have them and you hold it. rice did and ryan did it. martha: it's not easy to do. when you do get everybody's attention you know you are doing a good job. all right. so coming up, governor mitt

romney has heard as we just said what everybody else has said about him through the course of this week. but tonight he will step in front of that podium and tell his own story. he has his work cut out for him to connect with the american people perhaps in a way he hasn't before. it was a stage rudy giuliani was on four years ago. >> we the people, the citizens of the united states get to decide our next president. not the left wing media, not hollywood celebrities. not anyone else, but the poem of america! [cheers and applause] bill: come on in, mayor. don't worry about it. these work, right? no.

mom! look what i found in the shed! no! no! no! ♪ were you guys just making out in here? what? no! really, cold cuts from a package? yes. [ male announcer ] it nice to finally say "yes." new oscar mayer selects. it's yes food.

martha: welcome back to tampa. tonight marks the main event in the republican national convention. governor mitt romney will formally accept his party's

nomination for president. he will also have to really carve out his vision for the american people and why he believes they should elect him in november. my next guest knows a thing or two about running for president and about leadership and about all those good things. he ran against governor mitt romney. rudy giuliani was a candidate for mayor in. tell us what you think has to accomplish this evening. >> i think what he has to do and what he will do is explain his vision for how we move this economy forward. an economy that's been stalled. an economy that's been overburdened by failed policies. he will talk about how we have to reinvest in people. reinvest in the private sector. reinvest in entrepreneurship and free enterprise and stop this movement towards massive government control get together

point of taking some of our liberties and freedom away. as everyone says, this is an opportunity for the person to introduce himself a bit more than people have gotten to know him. give us a sort of sense of his personality. he's a regular decent guy. an has been demonized in a ridiculous way. martha: you guys had your moments, too. you questioned whether he had an ideological core. have you changed your opinion of him as a man and a person? >> i developed more of a view of him. i have gotten to know him better. i have gotten to know hip out of the context of being fierce rivals for the same position where you sometimes you develop different views of each other and you attack each other in ways you wouldn't do if you just sat down and had a cup of coffee together. what i see is a man who has

great love for this country. great love for his family. a man who has been tremendously successful. the attacks are been so darn unfair. to attack a man for being successful in business is outrageous. the president of the united states attacking mitt romney because mitt romney was successful at bain, making money for other people, creating jobs for people. this is what you want your children to do. you want them to be successful the way mitt romney was successful. i have gotten angry about the way he has been demonized and attacked. martha: one of the things you are so well known for is leadership and being bold and taking action. i think one of the things we learned about mitt romney over the course of the last few months is he's task oriented. he's a worker, he rolls up his sleeves and gets the job done. we listened to ann romney saying

"he will not fail." is he bold, is he a bold leader? >> what's the first and most important decision a presidential candidate makes? selection of a vice president. it looks great today after paul ryan's magnificent speech. but that was a very, very gutsy choice. there were a lot of safer ways to go. mitt romney is risk averse. he said we are going to have the debate that paul ryan said let's have it starting now about medicare. the whole idea was you couldn't talk about medicare or social security. you couldn't talk about entitlements. meanwhile they will all disappear in 15 years if somebody doesn't have the guts to do something about it. paul ryan has been on the forefront. i think has been there, but paul ryan was the first buy out front. he takes paul ryan and makes that debate part of his election. he could have won just against obama, maybe he could have won.

he decided we are going to have a substantive debate and this election will mean something. i think that was even enormously bold decision. martha: it did shake up the dynamic of this whole experience having paul ryan in the mix. i wonder, we have been told political stories over the years. vice presidential pick doesn't matter that much. has that model changed in the last two weeks? >> it depend on who you pick. do you make a bold courageous pick or do you make a mistake? how does the person perform? it depends. sometimes vice presidents make a big difference, sometimes they don't. in this particular case it will make a ideological, philosophical difference. we can have a debate about an issue everybody has been keeping in the closet and won't talk about. the time is really ticking away

where that's going to become an enormous problem. i have been speaking about to a group of college students. i asked them. how many of you think you are going to collect your medicare and social security. four kids put their hands up. they don't inspect to collect it. this president stands by and is fiddling while rome is burning. ryan wants to save it so not just his mother will collect medicare. like i will because i'm over 55. martha: no, you are not. >> i hate to admit it but i am. as follows up on that in this speech, it will be -- what these people want to know more about what they do, and they want to hear this jeff riding big picture. the way to solve the problem this economy is to go north way of investing in people. not this massive government that

the president has give up us and the massive ghost has promised us in the next four years. 20,000 more i.r.s. agents to figure out who's paying the mandate. this is what america needs is 20,000 more i.r.s. agents? martha: mr. mayor, we'll see you tonight. we'll all be watching. bill: paul ryan says he welcomes the debate with democrats on the topic of medicare. >> so our opponents can consider themselves on notice. in this election on this issue the usual posturing on the left isn't going to work. mitt romney and i know the difference between protecting a program and raiding it. ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate, we want this debate, we'll win this debate! [cheers and applause] bill: andrea tantaros along with

bob beblg, cohosts of "the five." they are joined at the hip. i'm glad to have you back. bill: this is the first of two marathons. we have another one next week in charlotte. this is what we call "the three." democrats are already pushing back hard. who wins this battle. >> if you look at the fox news polling from last week mitt romney is leading seniors by 8 points. i believe this issue of medicare and the cuts obama made in the obama-care bill that total $716 billion. they made this an issue, the romney-ryan ticket. they did this when they added ryan to the ticket. i didn't think democrats would get called out on this but because of paul ryan they are. seniors know this issue and they realize obama-care has already gutted their medicare.

bill: the optics last night with fascinating with his mother a resident of florida sitting out there, charming moment. bob, you say you are going to argue facts to win the argument. give it a shot. >> why does every state we are in, we are in the great state. every state is great when you are in it. the fact is ryan gave an excellent speech. i expected him to give an excellent speech. you can't not give an excellent speech at these things. but ryan sits there and talks about medicare. and the $716 billion. it's the same cuts he made. romney says i don't agree with that. now ryan says web's the boss. nonetheless we'll tie it to him. when i listen to ryan say last night and president obama didn't enlist on his own commission who

had a serious debt cutting. ryan was on the commission and voted against it. but it's fun. this is what you do. bill: before you get to your next answer. listen to how he went on to explain it last night. >> we'll honor it. a romney-ryan administration will protect and strengthen medicare for my mom's generation, my generation and for my kids and your yours. [cheers and applause] >> romney and ryan are the only ones with a plan to preserve medicare. they are the on two that say we are going to take those $716 billion in cuts and put them back into the medicare trust fund. that's what they are going to do. it's just not true that ryan

wants to gut. >> of all the people on television, you make more sense than most republicans. bill: i think that was a backhanded compliment. though. >> medicare has always been in the end it is a dangerous place for them to tread. which the time we are done with it -- we have had a great history of scaring the hell out of old people. my mother used to call me and say my social security is gone. i used to say go vote democrat on tuesday all have it back wednesday. bill: i have got to run, but there is a lot to talk about in 7 hours. andrea, you take care of him. >> we have got to warm up.

bill: we'll see you guys at 4:00. bill: there is more to come. martha: there is more to come. we are going to talk about the economy and talk to one of paul ryan's close friends and colleagues. kevin mccarthy will join us moments from now. >> * ann romney sitting down in her first interview since her big speech next. >> racing five boys, it wasn't easy. it really wasn't easy.

martha: we are back live from tampa. last night one of the funny moment came from ohio senator rob portman who was up for the vp job. here's what he had to say. >> my name is rob portman and they say i was on governor romney's short list of vnal candidates. apparently it wasn't short enough. martha: many political watchers believed it would be rob portman. people swoirp and down he would be the guy. not paul ryan who has become mitt romney's running-mate. a nice light moment from rob portman. >> my dad used to say to me, son, you have a choice.

you can be part of the problem or you can be part of the solution. the present administration has made its choices, and mitt romney and i have made ours. before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation's economic problems. [cheers and applause] bill: that problem is a huge challenge. we are getting new numbers on the jobs front. 374,000 americans in the last 7 days filed for unemployment claims. that shows an economy just treading water. california congressman kevin mccarthy here with us in tampa today. >> it continues to show the failed leadership of the presidency. the economy is not moving. it continues to linger and just lying there. we need to grow the economy. bill: there was a big number

paul ryan talked about. 12 million jobs in four years. that's a big hurdle. how do you do that? >> there is a lot of different things you do. but first and foremost you focus on economics. the democrats had control of everything. you focus on a new entitlement. the idea of a stimulus, bigger government, you didn't do it. from attack policy to the regulation to the uncertainty. i think november after listening last night will be the mark of the great american comeback if we make that decision. bill: you were very close to paul ryan. how did he do last night? >> he hit a home run. i think that was a transitional speech. it has changed the debate not about politics but about policy. he had the courage to talk about whawhat ails us. he doesn't do it by attacking the other side. he doing it by his brain power

and says here is the idea. you will see this is a shift in the change of the republican party. a party that's not afraid to take their conservative values and apply them to a problem to find a solution. this guy is about solving problems. and he's not ashamed. bill: have you seen him since last night? >> i didn't see him since last night. but he called me today. he got the job along the campaign trail. he's getting more excited. bill: that's what he says, he says the campaign energizes him. it doesn't drain him. >> you look at him and see the excitement. and he brings out the excitement in romney, too. he adds synergy. bill: we'll see them all on stage after mitt romney's speech. thanks for coming by. martha. martha: somebody else brought down the house. a new face with some and powerful words she had for the white house.

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martha: we want to get you up to speed on what's going on with isaac. deadly severe flooding. it lost shirk strength but the pain in the beautiful is far from over at this point. it literally crawled across the region it was a slow mover. another nearly 20 inches of rain may be on the way. meteorologist janice dean live in the fox extreme weather center. what's happening now with all

this? >> reporter: it's going to take days or weeks to know the scope of the storm's damage. but already we are getting video in. we have reports of flooding emergencies north and east of new orleans. we have a flood emergency where water is coming into homes and people are having to be rescued. it's going to be days and weeks to assess the damage. but again some of these pictures coming in are just awful. let's take a look at some of the rainfall totals. these are unofficial rainfall totals. close to 20 inches. this is in the area of new orleans. royal palm beach. that's in florida. we haven't touched upon the fact that this blood flooding rainfall. this storm will be with us for the weekend and next week. it's not moving very quickly at all. some people can run faster than 7 miles an hour. and that's what this storm is going at right now. tornado watch in effect for parts of louisiana and

mississippi, and we have tornado warnings. we have had many tornado warning so far in the last couple hours across portions of mississippi. and several of them right now just south of meridian. tornado warnings and watches of course we are going to be watching that throughout the day today as some of these outer bands scrape across land and that counter-clockwise motion giving us rotation. current wind gusts, still getting wind gusts over 40-50 miles an hour and flood advisories remain. 2-6 isolated amount of 10 inches. some areas could get close to 30 inches of rainfall. back to you. martha: they will be dealing with this for quite some time. thank you very much. bill: you will see some of the best known american olympians in the arena tonight. from the salt lake city games 10

years ago. >> after all that work and in a bad economy, it sure doesn't help to hear from their president that government gets the credit. what they deserve to hear is the truth, yes, you did build that! [cheers and applause] are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

martha: that is the tampa bay times forum, folks, and that is where it will all happen tonight. governor romney will accept his party's nomination. it has been a long road for him to this moment and it happens this evening at the republican national convention. welcome, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning yet again as we roll onto a second day here in tampa. it's our final day here and we pick up coverage on sunday in charlotte, south carolina. safe to say paul ryan had them at hello yesterday, don't you think. martha: absolutely. you were talking about the tears in the eyes of the women in the front row of the wisconsin delegation. bill: all the conventions i've covered i didn't see anything like that before. he moved them, he had them right where he wanted them last evening, here. martha: it was a schoo solid

performance up there last night. the big message they are trying to get across and what they are talking about is they believe it's time for president obama to go. watch. >> sorry, mr. president, but you're out of time, and we're out of money. [cheers and applause] >> barack obama has failed us. but look, it's understandable. a lot of people fail at their first job. when you say they didn't build it you insult each and every american and whoever got up at the crack of dawn. you insult any american who ever put on overalls and a suit. >> after all that work and in a bad economy it doesn't help to hear from their president that government gets the credit. what they deserve to hear is the truth, yes, you did build that! [cheers and applause] martha: some of what was out

there last night and finishing up with paul ryan in that, steve brown joins us now live in tampa. steve, ryan didn't seem to pull a single punch in that speech last night. >> that is his job on the presidential vice presidental ticket. if you're the vp guy or gal your job is to be the attack dog or agitator in chief. he took to that role hr-s night playinlast night before a very friendly crowd of delegates. he took shots at the obama administration and in one instance taking a shot at what he called missing leadership of the obama administration. >> and the story that barack obama does tell, forever shifting blame to the last administration is getting old. the man assumed office almost four years ago. isn't it about time he assumed

responsibility? [cheers and applause] >> this is something of a new poll for paul ryan. he has been in the debate before about a bunch of different things, about medicare and budgets. but it's a completely role for him in this general election campaign, martha. martha: everything in the past is in the past now, and tonight really belongs to mitt romney. what do we know about how he is preparing for tonight, steve? >> you do know he has practiced. a pool report came out on sunday when he was in new hampshire at the residence there, that he was practicing at a virtual replica, same teleprompter, same distance on the teleprompter working on the speech. we are told by the campaign he's a bit of a tinker. he's been reading past teaches, he tweaks it. stewart stevens is helping him who also helped with ann romney

speech is lending a hand with this one. apparently stewart stevens is the speech guy or one of the staoefp guys with the romne speech guys with the romney campaign. martha: when you walk into that room and feel the energy of the crowd that is when it all kicks in. steve, thank you so much. steve brown in tampa. bill: now we move to the main event in florida. governor romney gears up for his big speech later tonight. you'll see it here on the fox news channel in prime-time. campaign says he wrote this speech, estimated 40 minutes in length, that's about twice as long as any speech he's delivered to date during this turpbt campaign. the governor was an english major did you know in college. martha: didn't know that. bill: undergrad. he's known to take extensive notes in journals and tinker with speeches until the very last minute. travels with an ipad and takes notes as he goes. martha: tim pawlenty ran a brief

primary challenge to mitt romney and is also said to have been on the short list that rob portman said wasn't quite short enough for him, that was pretty funny. when tim pawlenty addressed the convention last night he took direct aim at president obama. >> after four years of this president we need mitt romne now more than ever. [cheers and applause] >> i'm proud to be supporting him for president of the united state, and i know you are too. and with any luck in a few months barack obama will at last get some experience in the private sector. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. good night. [cheers and applause] martha: he definitely got a few laughs from the crowd last night. he went onto call president obama the tattoo president, explaining like a big tattoo it seemed cool when you were

young. bill: yes, he did. he's known for his sense of humor in minnesota. we have complete coverage of all the speeches later tonight, including the governor's. martha and i will be on the floor later tonight in prime-time. bret and megyn are in the sky box. fox news channel your election headquarters. one more thing about paul ryan's speech, i was right in the front row down there, at 11:01 eastern time the broadcast networks have that 10:00 to 11:00 window, he checked his watch to make sure that he was on time to go get out in time, went a couple more minutes to wrap it up. situational awareness i think is what they call it in the military. martha: he did not seem rattled at all. he seemed very comfortable. we will take a look ahead at tonight. bill: six minutes past the hour, back to the fox news weather story, reports of possible tornadoes across the central gulf coast. this is tropical storm

crawling inland. here is the latest loop, the storm is slowly moving over louisiana, drenching that area with some 30 inches of rain in some areas, that is just dreadful, causing deadly flooding in parts of louisiana and mississippi where dozens of people had to be evacuated or rescued because of isaac. >> this is ridiculous. we've lost everything, everything. >> it's like katrina all over again. water up to people's roofs. >> people got used to the water not coming, now it really came. >> it caused water to back flow in areas that have never had experience with a lot of flooding. bill: now comes the aftermath and sometimes this is the hardest part of this entire storm. phil keating is streaming live in gulfport, mississippi where there is a huge cleanup about to get underway there. phil, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, bill, you're exactly right. now that the rain, the outer bands finally seem to be letting this area of coastal mississippi get out of the house and get on

the site you can see not only the damage left behind, this was either straight line wind or a tornado that swept through here off the ocean yesterday. it was a two-story house under construction. now it's just a pile of lumber. and now the rescues and response will probably happen less frequently than yesterday. now it's going to be more of a damage assessment. let's talk about the flooding. coastal mississippi, as well as of course parts of louisiana, anywhere from 17 to 30 inches of rain, and finally, well that rain is starting to let up, but it's caused so much flooding. the two biggest threats today remain the threats of possible hurricanes, as well as the flooding, and street flooding that continue to playin plaque the area. for all the residents and emergency responders this has been simply isaac a relentless headache. >> the flooding has just been terrible.

you know, the storm surge and then the torrential rain and the storm would just not leave us, it stayed on top of us for hours and hours and hours, more than anyone even expected. >> reporter: major problem has been the storm surge, which was just as relentless for 48 hours. finally the winds have died down leaving the storm surge at bay and it's starting to recede. that means all of the rivers in mississippi, alabama, louisiana, can finally start draining because all of that flooding and water simply could not get out to the gulf. finally things are going to start to get back a little bit better here, but still clearly a lot of damage and mess to cleanup. bill: and storms like that do not just park themselves onshore and this one did. it is so unpredictable. terrific work to you and our team today down on the gulf coast. more on isaac throughout the day here. some of these scenes are devastating. these folks have lost everything

in parts down there. martha: so heartbreaking. they have dealt with so much over the years and this one againment back in tampa on the political front pledging to get the economy back on track. congress wopbcongresswomen michelle bachmann will be here. bill: kopbdz connecticut r- condoleezzaa rice stk-d asked one question. where does the world stand.

bill: condoleezzaa rice last night in prime-time talking and taking to the stage about foreign policy last night, giving a very personal look into her childhood growing up in the american south. here is how she talked about that. >> my mom was a teacher. i respect the profession. we need great teachers, not poor ones and not mediocre ones. we have to have high standards for our kids, because self-esteem comes from achievement not from lacks standards and falls praise. [cheers and applause] >> and we need to give parents greater choice, particularly, particularly poor parents whose kids, very often minorities, are trapped in failing neighborhood schools. this is the civil rights issue of our day.

[cheers and applause] bill: there was early speculation that rice may join romney's ticket. she says she has no 0 interest in elective politics or a role in the administration for a moment. we'll talk with a foreign policy adviser who is guiding the romney team about what america needs to do to be a leader in the world which was a major theme for condoleezzaa rice last night. martha: last night paul ryan who just a few short weeks ago did not think he would even be standing on that stage at all really wove his argument for change in the white house throughout his speech and then he brought it home this way. >> we will lead. we will not spend the next four years blaming others, we will take responsibility. we will not try to replace our founding principles, we will reapply our founding principles. [cheers and applause] >> the work ahead will be hard.

these times demand the best of all of us, all of us, but we can do this. we can do this. together, we can do this. we can get this country working again. we can get this economy tkpwroelgrowing again. we can make the safety net safe again. we can do this. whatever your political party, let's come together for the sake of our country. join mitt romney and me, let's give this effort everything we have. let's see this thing all the way through, let's get this done! thank you and god bless you all. martha: that was the final moments of his big speech last night. we can do this and let's get this done. you can see the refrain of that coming back throughout the course of this. joining us is republican congresswoman michelle bachmann of minnesota, former 2012 presidential candidate herself. good to sigh congresswoman. >> good to see you good morning. martha: what did you think.

>> i was so excited. i was seated with my minnesota tell tkpwaeugs on th delegation. i was clapping. we were cheering. this was giving action to barack obama's four years earlier on hope and change. that's what he just said. we can do this. we can get this done together, it doesn't matter what our political background is, republican, democrat, we can do this. so what he was saying to the american people is, this is hope because we're bringing change, we're actually going to do this job and get it done together, no matter our political affiliation. it was the greatest message and it was the fulfillment of hope, change and unity. martha: there was reluctance from the tea party when it came to mitt romney as the nominee. how much does that change with paul ryan in the dynamic now. what kind of enthusiasm are you seeing out of all this. >> i'm seeing a great amount of enthusiasm a enthusiasm.

i know paul ryan i worked shoulder to shoulder to him. government is taxed already, we shouldn't spend more money than we take in and abide by the constitution. that is mitt romney's message. that is paul ryan's message. that is in the republican party platform. we've succeeded wildly. we can get behind the ticket and see our principles go forward. i ran on a signature issue which is the full scale repeal of the president's healthcare plan. mitt romney has fully embraced that repeal mets average and he has told me, fac face-to-face, michelle i will repeal the president's healthcare plan, that will truly bring about energized growth for businesses. it's the number one reason why businesses aren't hiring. when businesses know we have two men in the white house that get businesses and get growth the signal is sent, business people will make investments and start hiring. it's the signals that business people follow.

when you have two people committed to action like you heard in this comment people know they can take that money that's been sitting on the sidelines and we'll see jobs develop within six months. martha: we saw how much momentum of the tea party helped in 2010. it will be interesting to see how much they can impact the general election as well as the presidential level. i want to show you and get your thoughts on just one other moment that got a lot of attention right now from paul ryan. let's play that one. >> college graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms staring up at fading obama posters, and wondering when they can move out and get going with life. [cheers and applause] martha: when you think of that in a speech you want to create a visual image for people. can't you just picture this 23-year-old or whatever he said in his childhood bedroom in his parents home, as he put it staring up at a faded obama poster. that with us a very strong visual.

>> no kidding. as a mom of college graduates and of kids in college i think parents across america said, yes, as well as the college graduates, they are saying, yeah i want a job. that was a brilliant line. it was my favorite line of the entire night because you see those hope and change posters out there and then you see them faded and peeling off the wall, because the sad reality is that half of the kids that graduate from college don't have jobs, and that's also part of the true hope and change message, that visual. i think it shows a great sense of humor and confidence. that's what i saw last night, a lot of inspired, joyful confidence. we are going to see that for the next 58 days. that is what the american people want. we are that kind of people, joyful, confident people, and they want to see candidates that also have that message. i'm really excite bed this convention and very excited about tonight's message with mitt romney, as a former competitor with mitt romney, he will deliver. i have no doubt in the world. i have seen mitt romney grow, i

think we all have, he's very good on his feet and he will deliver tonight for the american people. it's going to be a strong, powerful message. martha: michelle bachmann, always good to see you congresswoman. congratulations on sending your last children onto college. >> that's my job. martha: 40 children have gone gone through your house. >> that's true. bill: you know they never really leave. >> mine do. mine do. we change the locks. martha: she is going to change the locks. bill: good luck. some of the biggest names in the republican party making the case for a romney white house. if he wins what would his administration look like? a closer look at that, only moments away. >> a year ago president obama told your national convention that, quote, we cannot, we must not, we will not balance the budget on the back of our veterans, end of quote. i thought i finally agreed with him on something. but now he's on the verge of breaking that promise.

the obama administration is set to cut defense spending by nearly a trillion dollars. my administration will not. (bell rings) hi. good morning. big news. we're spreading the word about new honey bunches of oats fruit blends and their unique taste combinations. like peach/raspberry... and banana/blueberry. we're telling everyone. with one flavor in the granola bunch and one on the flake. try some. mmm! two flavors. in harmony. yummy. four nutritious grains and two big fruit flavors to make your day bunches better.

martha: the vice-presidental nominee got a little bitty motion tphal at one point in his speech last night when he was accepting his party's nomination. some of the crowd's laudess applause last night was saved for one special person in the crowd and that was paul ryan's mom who he called his role model. >> my mom started a small business, and i've seen what it takes. mom was 50 when my dad died. she got on a bus every weekday for years and rode 40 miles each

morning know madison. she earned a new degree and learned new skills to start her small business. it wasn't just a new livelihood, it was a n and it transformed my mom from a widow in grief to a small business woman whose happiness wasn't just in the past, whose work gave her hope, it made our family proud, and to this day my mom is my role model. [cheers and applause] martha: what do you think of paul ryan's story and losing his dad and finding his dad when he had a heart attack when he was only 16 years old, a traumatic moment for him and what a courageous story it was. a very personal story and he conveyed it in a calm way. bill: you referred to the wisconsin delegation last hour. i've never attended an election

in four cycles now where there are tears rolling down the faces of delegates in the audience. that's what you found especially among women who were there last night. truly a touching moment. i don't know how he got through that. when you think about 18,000 people in front of him and 35 million people watching at home to talk that personal about the relationship you have with the woman who has made all the difference -- martha: and not loos lose it. i would not be able to hold it together. he did. he breathed through the whole thing and did quite well. bill: we are hours away from paul ryan giving his big speech. shannon bream takes a look at what the white house might look like when governor romney wins in november. >> good morning. when you ask mitt romney who he would like to see in his administration, who he trusts on getting advice on international

issues he talked about condoleezzaa rice. the delegates were wowed about what she had to say last night. this is what he had to say about domestic issues, heading up the federal reserves or other issues. >> my view has been that i a would want to select someone who was a new person to that chairman's position, someone who shared my economic views, that i thought was sympathetic to the needs of our nation, and i want to make sure that the federal reserve focuses on maintaining the monetary stability that leads to a strong dollar, and confidence that america is not going to go down the road that other nations have gone down to their peril. >> as for strong domestic leaders he cited folks like meg whitman and deborah lee. bill: how could that play out? >> we put that question to josh

bolton, here is what he told us. >> some of the best cabinet officers that i worked with in the bush administration were former ceo's or former business people. you know, the president himself is an mba who has spent most of his career in one kind of business or another. he ran a baseball franchise. >> josh bold ton said it was a little tricky because people who are effective ceo's are used to calling the shots, giving the orders and carrying things out. it's tricky and tougher for them to know as a cabinet member they are taking orders from the president. they have been some of the most effective people in various administrations. bill: we'll look for that message later tonight's. thank you, shannon. a beautiful day in your former hometown. >> it is. martha: governor romney's vp pick did take a moment and got a lot of attention where he pointed out a small area where he and his potential new boss

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there could be some modifications to that. don't expect a complete overhaul. the vivid hd screens have really lit up the inside of the arena throughout the week here. so then, former secretary of state condoleezzaa rice was on that stage last night focusing on america's position today on the world stage. >> we can only know that there is no choice because one of two kheupbgs wil things will happen if we don't lead. either, no one will lead and there will be chaos, or someone will if fill the vacuum who does not share our values. my fellow americans, we do not have a choice, we cannot be reluctant to lead, and you cannot lead from behind. [cheers and applause] bill: i want to bring in dan see more, romney campaign adviser to talk about that speech last night. >> good to be with you. bill: where does america stand,

she repeated that over and over. the mission last night, without prompter, only notes in front of her, was quite impressive. i think if the audience at home did not realize it, or if the folks in the arena did not realize it this is something that she feels deeply in her message because she had it known by heart, by memory. >> it was fascinating to watch. she took her personal story, her personal narrative, which is one of sort of, only in america, her story, and applied it to the story of america, america's exceptionalism, america's role in the world. it's something she knows well and she is comfortable talking about. could are somsome news prompters, some do not. you can tell when a speaker owns the speech. she owned that speech. paul ryan owned his speech. governor christie owned his speech. these are all people who immersed themselves in the drafting of those speeches owe

when they were up there it was electric. bill: she took on big topics, energy in america, growing up in the south. the issue of china, a rising super power in the world. where is he going with the message about you cannot leave from behind? >> she basically was arguing which is one of the centerpiecess of governor romney's world few of foreign policy that if you look at the last 50 or 60 years of american foreign policy history it has a few principles. america stands by its allies. it supports dissidents and supporters around the world that are fighting around the world. they will defend our homeland and standby our friends. and for the first time in a longtime the current administration, the obama administration is an out liar, it's outside of that by partisan consensus that has saod by its allies, had a serious military defense budget to support our own security and standby our

friends around the world and it's very disconcerting in the romney-ryan administration would be a return to that tradition. bill: i'm sure mitt romney will touch on that tonight. we will see. it was striking to me as a spectator and reporter to be standing on the floor last night and get the sense of the amount of respect that condoleezzaa rice had from all those people gathered there 4 when she walked out on stage. then she referred to a moment in her childhood that i think a lot of people hang onto. i want to listen to that right now. roll this. >> and on a personal note, a little girl grows up in berm ming ham, the segregated city of the south where her parents can't take her to a movie theater or to a restaurant, but they have her absolutely convinced that even if she can't have a hamburger at the wool worth's lunch counter, she can be president of the united states if she wanted to be, and she becomes secretary of state.

[cheers and applause] bill: there was no one left sitting after she delivered that line. >> it was powerful and consistent with the theme she echoed throughout the evening, which is america is a place that is not about where you come from, it's about where you're going. we are an aspirational nation. that's what she was talking about. i think you'll hear a lot of that tonight from governor romney too. bill: on that point we have never been jealous much other's success. dan, thank you. we'll catch up with you down the road. thank you. martha: how about when paul ryan pointed out the biggest difference between himself and the governor, let's watch. >> we are a full generation apart, governor romney and i, and in some ways we're different. there are the songs on his ipod which i've heard on the campaign bus -- [laughter] >> -- and i've heard it on many hotel elevators.

[laughter] >> he actually urged me to play some of these songs at campaign rallies, i said, look, i hope it's not a deal breaker, mitt, but my place list it starts with ac-dc and ends with zepplin. [laughter] martha: that was kind of cute. that was funny. i thought it was a funny line. it also goes to the point of whether or not paul ryan can bring in younger voters, whether or not eastbound kind of fire them up and i think that he was trying to do in that moment. bill: when he was introduce aide couple weeks ago, he says he's 42 years old, been in congress for 14 years but he's 42. last night perhaps answered that question that many people fill in, are you ready for this job, can you handle this job. whether you listen to ac-dc or led zepplin. big guests expected tonight. eleven american olympians coming out in support of mitt romney.

he has spear headed the olympic games ten years ago. tonight we will see mike aruzioni, the captain of the miracle on ice team in lake placid. his ties to governor romney go back to the two games. dan jansen a gold medal speed skater from the 1994 games. we expect to see him as well. ann romney has talked about the salt lake games for months now and doesn't believe this it's been high lated the way she would like to see it highlighted because she believes it is a true american story, as red, white and blue as you can get. we'll see how much of that we get later tonight. martha: another big night last night from new mexico's governor. she delivered one of the convention's most memorable moments. susana martinez talking about her journey from being a democrat to joining the g.o.p. what does the republican party need to do to win women voters? we will owe talk about that.

bill: ann romney opening up about her challenges, challenges in life and as a mother of five. >> how hard was it to raise a family of five boys? honestly. >> it wasn't easy. it wasn't easy. >> it's a choice about who we are. >> we want a president that operates at business speed not government speed. >> we will not let you bankrupt i this great nation. >> our president is not being true to our values. >> we can not be reluctant to lead and you cannot lead from behind. >> helps on the name, and helps name is mitt romney [speaking in spanish ] >> there is one candidate in this election that will protect that dream. >> after four years of getting the runaway, america needs a

turn around, and the man to do that is governor mitt romney. we can do this. we can get this economy working again. we can get this economy growing again. let's get this done! [cheers and applause] >> retried trethey tried to bring color to mitt romney. >> it was a very powerful speech. >> the crowd here cheering the vice presidental candidate on.

bill: ann romney in her first television interview since that convention speech on tuesday night said it was so emotional all five of her sons had tears in their eyes andrand kids, 18 of them nearly tackled her afterwards. she talked about that with shannon bream. >> how fun is it to raise five boys, honestly. >> it wasn't easy. it really wasn't easy. i felt like the loan ranger most of the time. unfortunately their father participated in the satisfactory nashannigans and instigated most of it. it was like he was my other child. for me i was always trying to calm it down a little bit, quiet

it down a little bit and he'd come in and it would just go crazy again. >> it sounds like preparation for being on the campaign trail a little bit. >> the chaos. i think for me having had this great blessing of raising all boys taught me to be resilient and flexible. it also taught me to really appreciate where those boys were coming from, and to learn to share your feelings and to really put things on the table. i was not -- i have changed. they have changed me in a good way. bill: we'll see her back on stage in about 12 hours from now with her husband, ann romney says that if she were to become the first lady she will continue to follow her passions and they are many. helping disadvantaged children, along with research on breast cancer which we battled, over game, multiple sclerosis which she still lives with today. 15 minutes before the hour, martha. martha: that was one of the more

memorable moments from last night. we watched new mexico governor susana martinez take the stage and she brought the house down with this particular part of her speech. >> we talk about issues, necessity never used the words republican, democrat, conserve tougher or liberal. we talked about many issues, like welfare, is it a way of life or hand up? talked about size of government. how much should it tax families and small businesses? and when we left that lunch we got in the car, i looked over at chuck and said, i'll be dammed, we're republicans. [cheers and applause] martha: funny moment from last night. susana martinez, the governor of new mexico. there has been a lot of talk throughout this whole convention about the gender gap, you've heard about the war on women, so the g.o.p. is trying to close

that gender gap through the course of these proceedings here. i'm joined by monica crowley. syndicated radio host and fox news contributor. and pat caudell, a fox news contributor and served under jimmy carter. i think if we put down the three goals of this convention, nominate mitt romney and paul ryan, close the gender gap and outreach to probably the hispanic audience, the swing voters, how are they doing on the gender gap issue do you think. >> i think they did very well last night. i think that their entire message so far has been really pretty good. i think governor christie gave an amazing speech in which for the voters out there and the voters they are trying to reach talked about a republican party which wasn't mean and flinty, which i'm afraid is the albatross around the neck. last night you saw the speeches, not only of ryan, but the women particularly, condoleezzaa

rice's fantastic speech and then martinez. i personally thought romney should have picked one of the women to run for vice president, even after last night these are even high quality. but it's a more open approach. it's looking to the future, they are trying to get to big issues. that part of their agenda they need to do has really been worked on and i think effectively. martha: money monica, what do you think? how are they doing with woman this week. >> first of all, i'll be dammed, it sounds like pat might be a republican. >> wish on, honey, wish on. >> i am. i'm trying to persuade you, pat. when you look at ann romney, condoleezzaa rice, nikki haley, s urbs sana martinez all of them had star turns. no single speech is going to reverse the single pattern that single women tend to vote for the democratic party. what all these women did this week through presence and words is make it safe for those single

women to take another look at the republican party and the message. the message this week has been that there are no particular women's issues, and in fact the real women's issues are the issues of jobless necessary, and anemic economic growth and crushing debt that has been amazed by this administration, and that applies not just to women but also to men as well, to every american. so i think they really tailored their message to say, look, we are coming a this about limited government, economic freedom and fiscal responsibility, we are doing it through strength and heart and warmth. that's what these women carried forward and i think it really attract aide lot of women to say, wait a minute, let me take a look at the republican brand once again. martha: that is the issue, pat to me. when you look at the way democrats are reaching out to women it appears they are say, don't worry we aren't going to take anything away, we will protect the benefits you get, we'll look out for you. republicans from what we've seen in the past few nights are saying, you don't need a

handout, what you need is a hand up so to speak in terms of empowering women and business and the economy. >> that's why i said a republican party that looks more future oriented, that talks about your children and whether they are going to have a future is equally important than the one about whether you're going to get the benefits and keep them. what monica just said is true, the republican brand has been so damaged with women, and not just on women's issues but a sense of lack of assess built. what i think that you saw ann romney doing, i said christie, ryan and i think last night, particularly with condoleezzaa rice and with governor martinez is they are making republicans more accessible. they are a party about the future, they are trying to be a party about the future, and not just the party of no. that's what they need to get away from. that's what women are concerned about. condoleezzaa rice last night when she talked about the education is a civil rights issue of our time, whether your child was born in the right zip code or not, whether you have a future, that is a powerful

issue, and if they get on that kind of issue it's something that is going to be effective. martha: we'll see how the numbers go. about 51-41 in one of the recent polls in terms of the gender gap. >> they cut that in half and this election will be over. martha: significanting. thank you so much. bill: we are watching now, we are watching the forum here in tampa, pep rations underway for governor mitt romney's big speech tonight. how the national debt can play a factor in that campaign. homes underwater, thousands without power. live on the ground for the day off in new orleans. >> a lot of people people weren't prepared.

bill: theser the many vivid monitors that you'll see in the background for the republican convention, and from this area here many of the speakers, including paul ryan and mitt romney will emerge, and when they come out they will take the stage, and this will be their view, the main podium with the microphone, the teleprompter out there at 12:00 in front of you. from left to right delegates from all over the country will be gathered here on the floor of the times forum in tampa. for the first time ever off to my right shoulder inside the hall is the u.s. national debt clock. at some point in the next two weeks that debt clock will go over $16 trillion for the first time in american history. that will be a major theme and topic throughout the convention, and throughout the week. more on that in a moment. but for now enjoy the view. and that's what you see from the floor, and that's what you see from up above. that is a debt clock that is

separate from what you just saw from the moment the convention started how much money we have spent in america today. they are changing the floor by the way right now slightly. they made some modifications in 1996 for john mccain where they brought him out further into the audience. we do not know if that will be the case in calm tampa they'll make modifications. we'll see if it's noticeable on tv. martha: isaac dealing a powerful blow to parts of the gulf coast. near a million people are without power and some of them are trapped in their homes right now, and that is the effort that is underway. john a than that serrie is live in new orleans with the latest on all of this. hey, john a than that. >> reporter: hi, martha. one of the biggest problems is that power because the storm system is moving so slowly that there are heavy winds and it's hard for the power crews to get in to fix the utility lines. we just got an update that now the numbers are up to 900,000

homes and businesses, about half of the customers without power. but as the storm system moves on crews will try to go in and fix the situation. now we're showing you some video from some of the communities around lake pontchartrain. mannemandeville. we are getting reports from the city of slidell of flooding in the old town area. flooding in the bayous is preventing them from removing water and pumping it quickly. back to you. bill: the main event is eleven hours away. mitt romney's big night and a tv audience that could top 40 million americans. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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