also online at fox news flash rnc, it all goes down right there. >> you can tweet us at at martha mccallum or bill hemmer. we will be on the floor tonight for the big republican national convention. bill: you really don't know how this thing is going to play out. but what they say and how folks receive it is probably the big story. martha: we are set to go. "happening now" starts right now. see you tonight. jenna: we have this fox news alert. brand-new information on tropical storm isaac. on the verge of becoming an entirely full on hurricane. one of the things we are watching right now our water

level is great already rising in florida and louisiana. a slow-moving storm taking aim at new orleans. seven years after hurricane katrina came through there. isaac is not expected to be as powerful as katrina. wind, rain, and storm surges pose a major threat to new orleans lovely. isaacs impact will be felt far beyond the big easy. the major flooding expected in four states, including alabama mississippi as well. now bracing for storm surges up to 12 feet for it watches and warnings posted all along the gulf coast great we have our eyes on isaac. we will have a reporter standing by live come all over the gulf region. in the meantime, brand-new stories and breaking news. despite the storm come the show must go on in tampa. the republican national convention kicking off its first

full day of event. including prime time speaking with ann romney and governor chris christie. jon: plus senator john thune joins us now what else is at stake for the republican election. an american teenager charged with attempted murder following him opening fire at his high school during first day of high school. it is all happening now. jon: good morning to you. i am jon scott beats you and i am generally. the rnc getting back on track today. after tropical storm isaac disrupted the schedule in florida, but in the meantime, here is what is on tap for today. delegates formally vote to nominate governor romney for president. in a primetime speech by ann

romney. the keynote address by chris christie. we have already heard a lot of questions about what we're going to hear from chris christie. maybe some jokes, there's going to be something. >> you know it's going to be entertaining. we also have brand-new numbers on the race for the white house. according to the gallup poll, governor romney edges president obama 47 to 46% among registered voters. the gallup poll says in 12 of 15 elections between 1952 in 2008, the candidate leading in the gallup poll for the first convention, has gone on to win the presidency. let's talk about out with karl rove. a former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to george w. bush. also a fox news contributor. the gallup poll says that that looks good for mitt romney but also puts out the caveat that none of those other races were very close as this one was. >> well, four out of five races that were relatively close, one or two points were also won by

the candidate who lead in the poll. but they have good points to a close election. what were the three that didn't end in two of the three, what happened was in 1998 and in 1992, one of the candidates had been extraordinarily good convention. michael dukakis led george h. w. bush, and bush had an arguably one of the best inventions, including an extraordinary speech in which he talked about his background and life as a young man, naval aviator, and an oil patch and so forth. the other one was 1992. george h. w. bush led bill clinton. bill clinton had an extraordinary video called the man from hope. and an incredible speech, which vaulted him to the lead. you know, this is a good indicator for mitt romney. the let's watch him carefully and see who has a better convention over the next two weeks. jon: that is what i was going to

say. what you seem to be pointing to is the importance of this convention. a lot of people say they are inaccurate now. but they are very important for candidates who want to introduce themselves to the american people. reporter: they are an anachronism. they used to matter. literally until as late as 1976, they did not know who the nominee was going to be printed in 1940, the convention to six ballots. in 1948, contestant. 1952, big battles to seek various delegations print one by the forces of dwight eisenhower. now, they are production. a moment when everybody knows it's anachronism. they know that none the less they want to see how the candidates perform, if you will, in this production called the republican convention. jon: speaking of production, i know that they are reversing

amazing race behind you. it sounds like the oak ridge boys. reporter: it is the oak ridge boys. good for picking him up. jon: the gallup poll is interesting. there is a new cbs poll among registered voters that show exactly the opposite. they have president obama leading 46 to 45. now again, within the margin of error. but these polls are going all over the place. jon: >> tour i would look at the whole term of this for the last couple of weeks there is evidence that this has been a good couple of weeks for mitt romney. after the selection of paul ryan, he's improved in the polls. if i had to choose between the gallup poll, the cbs poll on the other polls -- i would pick the gospels. cbs and "the new york times", often pull together, tend to b among the most democratic sample

of all of the polls. but the gallup poll has a big sample. 3500 or thereabouts. pretty durable. pretty tested. i think the indications are that, romney has a modest lead going into the convention. jon: also interesting that these are registered voters and not likely voters. indications are enthusiasm is higher among the republicans. >> all the data points to lots more enthusiasm among republicans, conservatives and people who are not voting for barack obama and among people who are liberal, democrats and voted for barack obama. now, it's a little premature to count on all these polls moving to a likely voters stream, as we call it. the closer we get to the election, the more accurate those likely voter screens are. a lot of pollsters wait until after labor day before they begin to make their move. when they do, typically what happens is that typically the republicans, not always, but typically the republican moves up in the poll.

certainly the greater enthusiasm, moving up in the polls. that is why if things remain as they are today, after labor day i expect mitt romney to widen the lead he had from 1.22 or three or more. jon: i have to ask you a question about this potential storm that was likely to hit the new orleans area. the president can go on and be the console or in chief, the rally are in chief, but he won't be able to do -- is that going to hurt romney's candidacy? >> you know, we will see how it plays out. i don't think it's a good picture for the president to announce that he is signing an emergency declaration for the new orleans area and louisiana and then fly off to iowa to give a political speech. i'm not certain. the president, if you wanted to maximize the impact of this, he needs to be more like a

president and not like a campaigner. jon: karl rove, thank you so much. jenna: i thought you were going to break into song or. jon: john has a great singing voice. jenna: joe negron were just talking a little bit about the storm. here is what looks like. it's getting ready to takings at new orleans. nearly seven years to the day after hurricane katrina devastated the city. this will be the biggest test of the city's new multibillion-dollar flood defense system. while the feds say the levees can handle storms stronger than isaac, folks in new orleans are very concerned, as are the rest of us. jonathan? >> even though the brunt of the storm is still hours away, the strong storm surge from isaac has reversed the flow of the mighty mississippi behind me. i would like to bring in the ceo of the port of new orleans and

gary, tell us what is going on here. the color of the mississippi is changing and it is becoming more greenish. why is that? >> the outer bounds of the storm are beginning to hit and make landfall. it is forcing the reverse search for the water is coming and basically from the gulf of mexico. resulting in a situation where you actually have a condition of package in the river. saltwater and freshwater mixed in with that. that's the effect that you have now. it is the result of a huge storm, much like katrina was in 2005. >> many states along the mississippi have been suffering a drought. water levels have been so low that it has disrupted much of the shipping traffic over the course of the summer. how does this come and play, and what do you anticipate will be the economic impact? to we think it will be a temporary situation. as soon as the hurricane passes and the winds are gone, the

river will reverse itself and we will be back to where we were before. one of the things we will have to do immediately following the onset of the storm is to have soundings done at the mouth of the river to ensure safe passage for navigation or the vessels to come and go. it will be closed for almost 24 hours for now. there will be a huge economic consequence. it is paramount that we get this open again for the sake of the national economy as quickly as possible. reporter: yankees so much, gary, we certainly wish you all the best of luck as we do to new orleans and louisiana speed you up hopefully it is a temporary situation and we will continue to watch and see how it goes. jonathan, thank you. jon: for the latest, let's go live to maria molina in the fox weather center. we thought it might be a hurricane by now, but still a tropical storm status. reporter: good to see you.

hello, everyone. tropical storm isaac still remaining maximum sustained winds at 70 miles per hour. they did have some hurricane hunters go through and they found some winds as strong as 100 miles per hour at a higher level. but it's not of the service. also people across louisiana towards the surface again. still a tropical storm. we did have some hurricane warnings that were replacing tropical storm warnings. i want to bring that information to you. anywhere on the mississippi border eastward. you are no longer under a hurricane warning. back to a tropical storm warning. it is still some of the gulf of mexico where we have some very water. temperatures are well into the 80s and we have drier air earlier this morning on the northern end of the storm system. you can see we are starting to see showers and storms on the northern end, starting to look

like and i is trying to develop at the center of the storm. we are already starting to see the wind picked up an outer rain bands impacting the coast of louisiana. we have images that we can bring you and we can clearly see that the waves are starting to pick up. the gulf of mexico is typically calm. the wind is at these tropical storm wobbles as well. if it becomes a category one hurricane, the big story is the rainfall that we will see because it is moving so slowly. 20 inches of rain and a storm surge as high as 12 feet above normal tide levels. jon: that is a lot of water coming. maria molina, thank you for keeping an eye on it. jenna: we will continue its to watch what's happening in the gulf and in tampa, florida. and families from colorado are speaking out today. they say that there are issues that they we need to address. we will talk more about that as we get that information.

in the meantime, continuing live coverage of the gop convention. one of the questions today is we are hours away from the main event. how has the gop changed over the last four years? we want to know questions you want to hear. send us your thoughts. tweet us at at "happening now" at jenna at fnc.

jon: right now, new information on crime stories we are keeping an eye on. relatives of some of the colorado victims of the shootings are spending to speak publicly today. sources tell our fox affiliate that the families are upset about how donated money is being distributed. a maryland teenager is being charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder after police say that he opened fire inside his high school on the first day of classes. we told you about it during happening now yesterday. the 17-year-old male student is in critical condition.

and defense attorneys in the drew peterson trial hope to attack the credibility of his missing fourth wife. the judge will decide today whether the lawyers can ask if he threatened stacy peterson when he told her that he killed his third wife. jenna: moving into high gear, mitt romney is formally set to accept the nomination. he and his wife ann are preparing for big-time speeches tonight. steve is alive in tampa. what we know about the speeches and what governor christie will say? >> i had a peek at the rundown for today's schedule. mrs. ronnie gets 20 minutes to make her dress. we know she has practiced in the campaign has been very adamant that she got a primetime address. originally she was scheduled to talk on monday night.

but now she will be primetime tonight. chris christie, we were told that he has 21 minutes. it will be introspective a little bit. he will talk about who he was, how he grew up, in context, probably a great move for him. 26% of those polls don't know the man. jenna: governor of new jersey, chris christie, looking at what the room looks like. that's not a live microphone they are standing in front of, we didn't get to hear what they are talking about, did you? >> they did tests throughout the day. but usually it is with other things. it's not to give things away. but they do go through a walk-through with all of the speakers when i can. jenna: i had to ask what is out there. let's talk a little bit about

another governor. scott walker. he is also speaking tonight and we hear that he gave a little bit more way about what is going to talk about. what can you tell us? >> he was a little bit more forthcoming today. at the alabama delegation's breakfast meeting. he was the speaker. you will see him wearing a t-shirt. not his normal attire, but out working on helping to build a home for veterans and he can straighten out that. we caught up with him afterwards and he said he's going to be talking about how government can create an environment for job growth. >> we are going to talk about the experience and the chairs back in june. do you want to go backwards or forwards, he won't have a president that believes the government success is measured by how many people are dependent on the government or one that is just the opposite where people are not dependent.

reporter: this'll be a sticky issue for governor walker. he came into the office letter budget deficit of $3.6 billion and has worked to bring them into a minor sort plus. job growth has not come along with it. over the course of 19 months worth of u.s. labor department work, only 10,000 jobs have been added in the state of wisconsin. the state employment rolls haven't grown and they have in them as well as the state budget or that document the argument hard to be made. jenna: that is really interesting and we will see what happens over the next several years. right now, we only have a finite amount of data. very interesting point. steve, thank you. jon: convention business now in full swing in tampa, florida. as a leading columnist points to reformist governors as the heart of the new republican party, including the guided steve brown just mentioned. scott walker of wisconsin. we will take a look at that issue next. and isaac on the verge of becoming a full-blown hurricane.

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jenna: the republican national convention kicking into high gear today. an interesting column in "the wall street journal" caught our eye. a columnist says today, to understand the republican party coming up to look at the state houses. governors like chris christie and scott walker in wisconsin, and mitch daniels in indiana. pointing to their agendas as vanguard of the far reach of policy reform. the governor and mitt romney and

congressman bryant want to bring to the national arena. we are bringing in kimberley with oneness. the question of identity is what we are really talking about today. identity of the gop as they start this convention. what is the identity and 2012? when you see these governors as key to that identity? >> hello, jenna. conventions are about the party telling the story. they are saying who we are is this and this is what we want to do. you have an extraordinary opportunity to do a lot of things on a state level that governor romney and paul ryan have been talking about doing on the national federal government level. they have been cutting budgets, rationalizing services. looking at entitlement programs. trying to overhaul education. and they have done a very successfully. jenna: steve just gave us a report and we talked about governor walker. one of the things he said is

that the budget looks good. job growth doesn't look quite as good according to the specific that we have. we should mention that governor walker has been involved just a short amount of time. is it it's a little too early to say that these governors are really the beacon for the party overall? >> no, because i do think that you are seeing the way that these reforms are translated on the ground. scott walker is one of the biggest problems of the federal government faces are liabilities of people will pay. medicare and social security. the states have their own versions of this. pension liability costs in health care costs. what scott walker did is in limiting collective bargaining and asking some of his public-sector workers to contribute something to their health care premiums, something to their pensions, what he has done is now saved wisconsin

taxpayers a billion dollars already. he closed with $3.6 billion gap. this is really important to the fiscal sanity. it is an example of work and he has started to translate to the federal government. jenna: these governors are providing almost a role model as to what could happen at the federal level. we will see the dnc august we next week. what do you think is the beacon, if you will, for the democrats? as they look into what their identity is in 2012 and what the next couple of years are going to look like? >> it would be nice if we actually found that out. one of the more remarkable aspects is we haven't heard it. we'd go we go back to when george w. bush was running for reelection. he was out there talking about some of the great big plans that he had for a second term. they didn't all materialize, but he was talking about social security reform, immigration

reform, we haven't really seen it with president barack obama. he has spent most of his time attacking his opponent, mitt romney, saying what he thinks what we should fear about a romney presidency. there are some inklings about what he would do. there is a high possibility that we may come once again, have divided government in washington. one thing that obama has done very well is take over a lot of these regulatory bodies and use them as a stand-in for legislation. you see all the boards like the epa and other agencies. you probably see that expanded in the second obama term. in terms of the legislation, we just don't know. jenna: that's interesting. he it gives us something to talk about an x-ray. obama can take a lot out there already. a lot to talk about today. always nice to have you on the program, kimberly. >> thank you. jon: you heard them talking

about the possibility of divided government in this country after the november election. control of the house and senate at stake and the gop hopes it can win the political trifecta in november. but republicans do take over washington, what challenges without host of the party? we will talk live with senator john koonce joining us. plus, governor mitt romney wins the white house come up what might his first 100 days look like? what was the top priorities be? we will have a fair and balanced debate coming up. and states along the gulf coast bracing for isaac. key pair of factors. steve harrigan is live

jon: a fox news alert on "america's newsroom." and hurricane isaac. the biloxi national airport suspended all incoming and outgoing flights because of the storm. steve harrigan live in biloxi. what other moves have officials made so far? reporter: the gaming commission ordered all these casinos behind me close down. a lot of people being woken up saying that they have to leave their hotel rooms. the mandatory evacuations in low-lying territories like hancock county, people they're being ordered to move out. others being urged to move. the airport was also shut down

another hour or so. 1600 national guard forces dealing with security operations jon: are they better prepared this time than they were for hurricane katrina seven years ago? >> certainly tremendous losses seven years ago. 230 people killed and structures completely wiped out, including some of the sructures behind me. those were casinos knocked down seven years ago. they are being rebuilt much differently and better this time. the state has much better chance of having less damage and loss of life seven years later. jon: alright. it doesn't look quite as powerful of a storm. steve harrigan joining us from biloxi. thank you. >> more than the white house is at stake. controlled the house and senate are also up for grabs. the gop is hoping to win them all. which would represent a remarkable turnaround for republicans who really got in

2006 and 2000. winning the so-called political triple crown would also carry enormous expectation. joining us now is senator johnson's. he will be speaking at the convention as well. >> good morning, it's nice to work with you. jenna: we would like to talk about the party overall. a personal story, if we could. but i understand that a missing free throws with china politics. can you tell us a little bit more about that. >> sure, i think everyone has a coming-of-age moment. for me, i was playing basketball, i was a freshman playing some varsity ball, i made five or six shows. somebody said that i know that you missed one last night. i made it five out of six. he introduced himself as congressman jim avner.

the member of congress in my district. i wasn't involved in politics. my family wasn't political. that was my first introduction to somebody who was involved and i began to follow his career. later on, when he became a united states senator, he offered me an opportunity to work for him. that is kind of how i cut my teeth. i think everybody has some experience that really gets them interested. jenna: the reason why i ask, politics is really like being on the team. the republican national convention, anyone that has played on a team knows that there is internal competition as well. that is something that could fuel what is progress. i want to ask you about gop in general. how do you think the gop has changed over the last four years? >> well, i think we have gotten -- i believe, we have been able

to sharpen our message. getting control of the house and senate was a seminal moment. they put us on a trajectory path but hopefully we will continue on about electing a new president. getting control of the senate. but it really is a team. you have to learn how to function as a team. he not only have your opponents, but you also have building of the team chemistry. i do think that we have become a party that we have big challenges. we have to step forward and solve those. that is why the romney and my ticket is so important in terms of what we face in this country and the leadership that we need to bring to bring some of those solutions at play. i'm excited about our prospects. no guarantee that we are going to win. either the presidency or the senate. but i think that if we can, it would be a great day for the american people. and hopefully we can put a new

vision in place. jenna: one of our viewers is saying both sides have become extremely partisan and the people are suffering. it's no secret that the confidence in our leadership has been questioned regardless of what party our citizens want to. would having the gop in control of all three what is best for the country, or do you think the tension that exists really needs to be worked through in a bipartisan way for what's best for the people? >> i think we have to work through it. we have to do it in the best interest of the people. you have to work with both sides. one side is going to nominate. the other will nominate theirs. in 2000, the people in this country said wait a minute, that is swinging way too far to the left, we want to bring it back in the other direction, which they did. hopefully this election will help clarify it were some of the

american people are. i think that the elected leadership in this country is representative of the people. people across this country are a little bit divided about what they want the government to do. how big they want the government to be. do they think we taxed too little? my party generally believes that washington spends too much of have to rein that in. i think that is the message that will come out of the electorate this fall that we won't washington to get the spending habits curbed. we want to create jobs and grow the economy. we want to quit having these policies come out of washington dc that are making a more difficult way for jobs to be graded. i hope this will be a clarifying election. however it comes out, it's probably going to be fairly close. the margins will be narrow, which means we will have to have both sides working together in what is the best interest of the country. jenna: it looks that way. a very tight race. jon wants to know if you have ever played basketball at the

president? >> i have not and i am still waiting for the invitation. perhaps you guys can facilitate that. jenna: you know what, we will try. we want in on the game if it happens. i played a little point guard in my day, that's the truth. >> it sounds good. we will put a team together, jenna. jenna: thank you, senator. we look forward to talking to you again. jon: if all goes according to the gop plan, governor romney will be moving into the white house in january. already several organizations are speculating about what the first 100 days of the romney agenda might look like if he does win. the new piece by david leonhardt says he predicts that governor romney would shrink taxes and rollback to health care law of president obama. let's talk about it. what are the first 100 days likely to look like? a former campaign manager for

huckabee for president -- chip, as a former campaign manager, you have to consider these kinds of questions. would you expect the first 100 days. what is job one for the romney administration if it comes to pass? >> well, job one is to get elected first. then in the first hundred days coming you can set forth your agenda. you have to fix the economy, balance the budget, think the federal deficit, pics obamacare, take care of medicaid and medicare -- he has 100 days to do that and should be happy. obviously i'm joking a little bit. but those are the some of the big agenda item database. during the first 100 days coming up to figure out some things. can you govern, can you get the system filibuster proof. job one for mitt romney is going to be to repeal obamacare and do that in executive orders and work with the house on that to see if we can get through some of those. jon: just so our viewers know

what they are seeing, this is mitt romney taking his seat on his romney campaign plane. on the way to tampa, florida, where his wife will introduce and tonight in what is billed to be a very important speech. ann romney will introduce her husband to the delegates at the republican national convention. what do you think? one hundred days. what does mitt romney try to do first? >> well, i think that's the big question. he has made a lot of promises. i think the biggest promise he has made is to repeal obamacare. the question would be what is the makeup of the house and senate. is it something that he can do. well, does he have the support to do that. i also think as much as people are saying that now we know what is going to do because he picked paul ryan -- i don't necessarily buy that. mitt romney is the top of the ticket and not really paul ryan. he has a very different history in terms of being governor of massachusetts. i think he is a lot more moderate. it will be interesting to see

whether he pursues a more of a mitt romney type of strategy or if he really just endorses paul ryan and his view of the world. jon: it sounds like you are saying some kind of wholesale change in medicare is not going to be potentially job one. >> like i said, it's hard to say. i don't really know who mitt romney is exactly. he doesn't strike me as the boldest person. the only really bolting that he has done is picked paul ryan. the question is is he going to come in and want to do these things really quickly? or is he going to want to take time and get settled and get a lay of the land and be more methodical? which i think is more his personality and style of. jon: kiersten just said a lot of americans don't know. i guess that's what the convention is all about. >> there's no question. but most of the year we are talking about a republican primary. lately it is obama versus

romney. now we are reintroducing mitt romney. again, talking about the first 100 days. there's a difference between talking about what you want to do and what you can do. the president proposes and the legislature -- we used to joke, he will have to work with whatever the makeup is. working with a lot of democrats to get that done. jon: were the president proposes and the legislature opposes. >> no question. jon: kristen powers, and chip, thank you so much. seven or 10 weeks until we get that decided. jenna: 10 weeks? jon: 10 weeks. ten weeks from today. jenna: a lot can happen. all eyes are on tampa as republicans took up the first full day at the national convention. neil cavuto will join us live. he is down there broadcasting as well. also, new report on u.s. home sales. is there welcome news this time

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detroit, minneapolis, and atlanta posted the biggest one-month gain spread the increases are partly reflecting the impact seasonal buying. jenna: governor romney surrogates will look at him as a man who really understands every day americans and the man who can fix the economy once and for all. this is going to start to happen at the convention as we get a new report that shows consumer confidence unexpectedly fell to the lowest level in nine months. we are still not doing great about this economy. neil toledo joins us from tampa. >> when it comes to the economy come if you think it's about specific policies and laying out the specifics of the policies? or is it about telling the story to the american people that they can believe in and gain confidence about the future of our country and? >> well, i think the challenger.

there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel for housing. it is hard to say what is right. as you might recall, we have elections based on how we feel on the summer. our views are framed from where we were feeling and what we were thinking in july and august. let me explain. we are sort of rearview mirror type voters. we feel that we felt a few months ago. after george bush senior, we know that very well. a lot of americans were feeling that the economy was at a deep recession. even though by election day of that year, it was too little too late for george bush senior. just what the doctor ordered for one bill clinton. that was then and this is now. the argument that the economy -- this housing data that we got today is an aberration. even with the improvement we are

seeing, we are seeing anemic levels. it will be mitt romney's call. because when you look at consumer confidence at factory production and what is happening just in regular retail shops and autos, it is nothing like we thought it would be coming out of what was one of the deepest recessions. if this is the improvement, republicans are going to argue that we can certainly do better and do better than 1.5 to 2%. the devil is whether we as voters, we are inclined to go to extremes, like we did in 1980, barely 10 days before the election with jimmy carter, even gave his speech, he showed he had his act together and it

wasn't a roll of the dice from the challenger. that is really mitt romney's challenge. whether he can present himself as the were the worthy horse to switch to in this environment. not too many americans will quibble with the fact -- not too many will quibble with even with the improvement in housing, it is still a pathetic real estate market and not too many americans will quibble with their jobs now versus three years ago. the question is where we go to the psychological area where we have the appeal to sell that. jenna: talk about the reality, present the reality, but make people more optimistic as a choice. i know we've been talking a lot about it on the show today. thank you. neil cavuto will be hosting live today. he is back again at 8:00 p.m. on

fox business. jon: as the republicans get down to business in tampa, florida, let's take a look at what is going on. there is ann romney. she is live in tampa, florida. she will be addressing the crowd at the podium. they are giving her the look. president obama is not easing up on his campaign schedule. we will tell you about that, too, coming up. >> the world has changed

jenna: here is what is happening right now. jon: it's a big black hole speak to what is happening if someone is standing in front of the camera. ann romney, checking things out. she is coming right before chris christie will be the keynote speaker. checking things out. where is she going to look? where are those people going to look? getting her bearings, if you

will. a big night for ann romney. that being said, the president is also on the move today. doing some campaigning as well. peter burns is live in washington with more on this. peter, where is the president? >> welcome the president is hitting the campaign trail to get airtime during the republican convention. in face time with younger voters. today, the president will hold events with college kids on campuses in iowa and colorado. tomorrow he will travel to virginia for another student event, all three visits to key battleground states, of course. in 2008, candidate obama won 66% of the youth vote. voters 18 to 29. in 2012, with so many college graduates and younger people unemployed or underemployed, the support among them is shakier. a gallup poll in april, does 56% of registered voters ages

18 to 29 say they will definitely vote this fall. that compares to more than 80% for voters over age 30 who tend to be stronger for mitt romney. in the latest fox news poll, is 40% of voters age 18 to 29 said that they plan to vote for the president while 39% said that they plan to vote for governor romney. hence, the president is going back to school and trying to grab some of the political spotlight from the republicans jenna: the game changer this time around. peter, thank you. jon: still keeping an eye on tropical storm isaac which is gaining strength. on the verge of becoming a full-blown hurricane. look at this video from alabama. we have fox coverage from all across that threatened region. that is next

jenna: tropical storm isaac takes direct aim at new orleans bringing along heavy rain, strong winds, dangerous surf, even a threat of tornadoes. it's quite the storm, one we are watching very closely here. glad you are with us, everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: nothing to be trifled. i'm jon scott, this i this is the second hour of "happening now." the storm's path projected to bring the full pwrufpbt its furry directly towards new

orleans. it could be the first hurricane to hit the gulf coast since 2008. folks in florida are dealing with the aftermath of isaac cleaning up fallen trees and drying out some of the local flooding. rick leventhal is in alabama. let's go to janice dean in the fox weather center. >> we got the latest advisory at 11:00. we will wait for an update at 2:00pm. for all intents and purposes this really is a hurricane. i mean 70 miles, 75 miles per hour, there is not much of a difference there . i want to make sure people are really paying attention. just because this doesn't have the name hurricane it's going to have the same affects as one as it makes its way towards the coastline. this is very vulnerable territory here, a lot of these areas at or below sea level. 6 to 12-foot storm surge. inches upon inches of rain. in some cases 20 inches of

rain. it's going to cause problems and test the levees in new orleans. this is a gulf coast storm. the storm is extremely large. 400 miles wide, and if you'd like to take a look at our map here, that is -- if you were to drive from san francisco to los angeles, that's how wide this storm is. so there you have it. we've actually mapped it out for you. that is how big. so this is going to take up a lot of gulf coast real estate, not just a new orleans storm but all along the coast of mississippi, alabama and the florida panhandle. again, it's been trying to get its act together for some time now. because it's so large that is one of the reasons why we haven't seen a tightening of the core here. but flight level winds are well above hurricane thresholds. we just need to see those winds at the surface to become a hurricane. so we do anticipate that is going to happen, but the affects are going to be exactly the same. tornado watch in effect for new

orleans, mobile, down through panama city as the outer brand scrapes across land. the counter clockwise action is going to give us a threat for tornadoes that could cause damage. there is the latest track. i just want to point your attention to the timeline here. so 7:00 tonight really starting to lash the coast, and then into tomorrow morning, even into the next day. we are dealing with a very strong storm that is going to bring surge, that is going to bring strong winds, perhaps hurricane-force winds and heavy, heavy rain for a long duration of time. this is not your average hurricane. usually they kind of scoot inland and then move very quickly up northward. there is your timeline. again, the take home message of this is it's going to be a long-lasting event, bringing inches and inches of rain and very gusty winds and storm surge to a very vulnerable area. that is my concern, jon and jen a. jon: janice dean, thank you.

jenna: right now the gulf coast obviously bracing for significant flooding, rough surf as well. you have four states along the coast from louisiana to florida that could see extreme flooding from isaac. a few folks are left on alabama's dawson island, south of mobile. the state's western-most barrier island in the gulf. it's no stranger to what storms like isaac can do. that's where we find our very own rick leventhal. >> the good news is it stopped raining at least for now. we've seen some bands of heavy torrential downpours here on dawson island. sun shining at the moment. the bad news is we're about two hours past high tide and the water continues to rise. you can even see oil rigs out there on the gulf. those have been evacuated as far as we know, in large part due to the high winds and rough surf and concerns about the workers

out there. they've been evacuated. a lot of the homes have been as well. we've seen a lot of today bro on the island. there is a big board i'm nervous b. i'm standing on a dock, so the water is up two or three feet right here from normal. as you look down this way you can see the entire dock is underwater, and it does continue to rise up on the grass here. they say there could be two or three feet more water here, perhaps more. they are not really sure. most of the boats have been moved off of the marina here, but there are a couple left. we saw a guy securing his jet ski earlier. come back this way showing the jet ski right there tied down. we want to show you video we shot earlier today on the west end of dauphin island. the road is almost completely underwater because of the storm surge and heavy rains pounding this island throughout the night and early this morning. we went over to the other end of the island, it's a little higher and dryer. the end where the ferry is is

also underwater. there is a lot of debris on the roads. very few vehicles. the police are out. the power is also out, by the way. we've just been told this a sailboat took out the power line that runs between here and the mainland and it could be days before they can get a bucket truck up here to fix it because of the winds, it's just not safe. we expect another 48 hours of rough weather ahead, jenna. dauphin island mostly evacuated. there are still residents riding out the storm. right now the sun is shining, but we expect heavy rains ahead. jenna: when do you have to get off the island? >> we are staying. we are going to ride it out right here. i think we should be okay. we have an elevated position. jenna: i have to ask the question. we care about our people out there, rick. thank you for the report. back to you throughout the day. rick on his crew doing a great job out there. the president speaking about isaac a short while ago warning folks on the gulf coast to really listen to local authorities as a huge storm

approaches. take a listen. >> we are dealing with a big storm, and there could be significant fooding, and other damage across a large area. now is not the time to tempt fate. now is not the time to dismiss official warnings. you need to take this seriously. jenna: also the president declaring a limited state of emergency in louisiana late yesterday. that was more than 24 hours before isaac is expected to hit the gulf coast which is expected again tonight. governor jindal, the governor of louisiana takes issue with that. he wants a declaration of a full state of emergency, so a little back and forth between the governor of louisiana and the white house. jon: that's right, jenna. governor jindal of louisiana, yesterday was less than satisfied with the federal response. the "associated press" reporting that governor jindal sent a letter to the obama administration saying that the federal declaration falls short. they were asking for reimbursement for all emergency

protective measure. the federal declaration only provided for direct federal assistance. in new orleans businesses are boarding upwind does and stacking sandbags but there doesn't seem to be much of a sense of alarm there at the moment on the eve of the 7th anniversary of katrina's arrival. there are a few signs this a tropical storm or hurricane is really on the way. some folks exsay they don't expect isaac to be anywhere near what katrina was. but folks along the coast might have a lot more to fear. in st. charms. parish, louisiana people are filling up sandbags to protect their homes. jenna: some louisiana delegates from the new orleans area at the rnc convention wrestling with the decision about whether to stay or return home. they are finding it a challenge to focus on the business at hand while worrying as well about their homes and loved ones hundreds of miles away. >> as a mother, even though you have adult children, there is that conflict, that is why i

felt anxious yesterday. plus i have grandchildren. but you make that decision, and then i prayed about it, and i said, okay, god, i have faith, i'm leave it in your hands. >> we came here for a particular purpose, that is to elect romney as president, and back home we are hoping that everything will blow over and all the family are safe back home. jenna: some have gone home. the head of the louisiana delegation says about 20% of the state's 89 delegates and alternates returned home ahead of isaac. some changes be made but some folks staying the course. jon: political analysts say governor mitt romney's biggest challenge is to try to connect with voters on a personal level as a man they can count onto improve the economy. we have some pictures just into the fox newsroom of the governor on his campaign plane as he was headed for tampa. we also have some pictures of vice presidental candidate paul ryan, just minutes away from arriving in tampa for the

republican convention. now the g.o.p. is looking to ann romney, the governor's wife. they are also hoping that her speech tonight can help voters see governor romney's softer side. bret baier is the anchor of special report and joins us now. you know you have to foal for somebody like ann romney who, you know, didn't marry her husband to make political speeches, and never intended to be, i suppose, a political wife, and now everybody is saying that there is so much riding on her speech tonight, bret. >> it's interesting, jon there is a lot riding on this speech because she, perhaps, better than anybody else is best equipped to tell the story of mitt romney, the human being, mitt romney the father, mitt romney the husband, arguably to affect the like ability of mitt romney more than anybody, including mitt romney. there is a lot riding on this speech. i liked what peggy noonan said

this morning, she said women make men civil and human and ann romney will try to do just that and likely will do just that judging from her role on the campaign trail. a few moments ago she was up on the podium here at the tampa bay times forum and getting alay of the land, making sure that everything was in place, and getting set for where she'll deliver this big speech in prime-time. of course moved once already but they'll get that speech tonight. jon: she's had so many brick bats thrown her way, accused of never having had a job outside of the home. this is a woman who has raised five boys, no easy task and dealt with multiple sclerosis. >> she has a compelling story, her own story. she tells it well on the campaign trail. she identifies with people in small events. i think you'll see her try to paint a picture of mitt romney

that has not been seen. now, how much mitt romney needs to do that is really in question, because while everyone focuses on like ability, really the u.s. economy and where the country is going is on the minds of a lot of people. and while -- and it's funny to quote jon stewart but he said, you know, all the people who say, you know i'd like to have a beer with my president, he says i don't want that, i want a designated driver to avoid the economic highway pileup. you have that factor as well. like ability is just one factor in this election. jon: that is where the president has the advantage, regardless -- here is a poll question that was asked. regardless of who you may support who do you think seems more friendly and likable. according to this washington abc news poll, president obama trounces governor romney 64 to 25%.

is that in part because people know the president? he's essentially in their living rooms every single day. mitt romney hasn't had that kind of national exposure? >> yes, a lot of people know the president. his name recognition is everywhere. it's 100%. and two, the obama campaign has spent a lot of money painting mitt romney a certain way, a lot of negative ads. so for people who don't pay attention to politics, or haven't, that may have been the only way that they really saw mitt romney, was through some of those ads. i think this week is an opportunity, depending on how the storm goes, to really expand upon his personal story. but also the campaign will say he's less concerned about that and more concerned about getting the message across that he can turn this country around. jon: bret baier, the apbg of "special report." we'll mention that ann rom fee will be speaking tonight. i know that you and megyn will have live coverage on both sides of that speech.

thank you. >> sure. jenna: now that he's about to receive the republican nomination for president the tea party is reportedly starting to warm to mitt romney. we are going to talk to some folks that are part of the tea party movement about how they truly feel about their role at the convention and how the republican party has changed since the last presidential election cycle. if you have any questions or comments for them or you want to just shout out, kind of just tell us how you feel about the g.o.p. this year, you can go ahead and tweet us at jenna fnc or at "happening now" and we've already used a couple of your comments on the air tk an today and we'll do so for the next hour. jon: louisiana gets ready for nasty weather. they do not want to see another katrina. governor bobby jindal not mincing words yesterday. >> there are 20 parishes w parishes that have been advised. we strongly encourage people to evacuate. today is the day to move. insulin users test often.

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jenna: fox news alert. we had heard reports that senator arlen spector had been ill or is ill again and we've just confirmed that inch fortunately. you might recall that the senator has already fought hodge kins disease twice in 2005 and 2008, and his office has confirmed that he's battling cancer again. here is what the senator has to say with regards to this issue. he says, quote i'm battling cancer, it's another battle i intend to win. i'm grateful for all the well wishes i've received. i'm looking forward to getting back to work to the comedy stage, to the squash course and the ballpark. that is the statement that the senator has issued. nice sense of humor there despite the topic. former senator arlen specter is ill and is fighting, again, cancer. jon: just in to the fox newsroom a video of a gas explosion at a texas construction site, at

least one worker was injured. flames and smoke from that blast could be seen for miles. police say it happened near a highway in the town of mckinney, north of dallas. a utility worker apparently hit a natural gas line creating a huge explosion. several vehicles, including a truck and a large construction vehicle were engulfed in flames. no reports of any other injuries in that area. we'll continue to monitor that situation. jenna: certainly a lot happening in tampa. when we get new video we want to share that with you. we have the new video of governor mitt romney arriving in tampa. you saw ann, she is already at the convention site getting the lay of the land as she gets ready for her speech tonight. that is governor romney arriving. i assume that is one of their grand kids, not just some little random kid with them. they are traveling with family. jon: whose baseball jersey does he have on. jenna: who is number 2? that's what we have to figure

out. governor romney is in for a big few days here. also i want to mention that paul ryan is also in tampa. you have the vice-presidental nominee to be and the presidential candidate to be. he will be officially the presidential candidate, mitt romney, as of this evening. so quite a trip. they are ready to go. and onwards to the convention site. jon: a lot of questions about the tea party. it does not always see eye to eye with the republican organization. but tea party activists say they are finding a lot to like as the republican convention gets underway. coming up we'll ask some of the tea party leaders about how they feel about governor mitt romney now, as well as the republican platform all together. plus, tracking tropical storm isaac, it has pretty much left tampa alone, now it's barreling towards new orleans. we'll have a live report on preparations in the big easy, memories of katrina still remembered.

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isaac is now officially a hurricane. of it should not come as any surprise to you if you've been watching janice dean and our meteorologists on the fox news channel. it was expected that isaac would grow to hurricane status and it has done so. the latest warnings, the latest output from the national hurricane center indicates that their hurricane hunter planes have flown throughout middle of this storm and isaac has now reached winds above 75 miles an hour. that brings it to hurricane status, and it is expected to perhaps grow stronger. it's over the very warm waters of the gulf, it's a very large storm, and that is preventing, actually the winds from getting stronger still, but it's going to be a large and powerful

storm, going to dump a lot of rain on the gulf coast, and even as a category 1 storm this thing can do potentially a lot of damage as it heads towards new orleans. we'll continue to keep you updated as best we can. for those of you on the gulf coast it's now officially a hurricane. jenna: as jon just mentioned right now hurricane isaac is heading for louisiana, expected to make landfall early tomorrow, overnight is what we're raoelt i watching. hurricane warnings are in effect for east of morgan city, louisiana, to the alabama/florida border. that includes new orleans where the levees are built to handle storms stronger than isaac. with forecasters predicting up to 20 inches of rain and a storm surge pushing up to 12 feet towards the shore folks in the region are appropriately anxious right now. they still remember the devastation caused by hurricane katrina, about 60,000 people were left stranded during that storm, more than half of them by the way were saved by the coast guard. joining us on the phone is

admiral roy nash the commander of the 8th coast guard district in new orleans. admiral nash, what are you most concerned about now? >> well, good morning, and i think our greatest concerns are just to be ready for the landfall of this storm. but we've been doing a lot of preparations over the last several days to position our boats, aircraft and personnel to be ready to respond to whatever is brought, and to wherever the storm comes into the new orleans, louisiana, and to the east or west of that. jenna: admiral i'm getting some of our viewers writing us while we're on the air, hey listen it's a tropical storm, now it's a category 1 hurricane, it isn't that big of a deal. what would you say to some of our viewers who feel that way? >> we take all these storms very, very seriously. we've been in the business of responding to the maritime public for a longtime, and we know how important it is to be

ready to treat mother nature with great respect as she brings a storm your way. preparations are very, very important, and to be ready to respond is what we do. jenna: what is the role of the coast guard leading up to a storm like this? we saw soft video just a few moments ago of you doing rescues, and that is a little bit after the fact. leading up to this. what does your role look like? >> our captains of the ports work with the maritime industries to manage vessel traffic, and certainly some of the vessels have to leave port, the larger vessels leave port in advance of storms. smaller vessels move inland into areas where they can be properly phaor moored and be safe. and we make ourselves ready to respond to the maritime community that may be needing us directly following the storm. jenna: admiral i understand you're in new orleans right now coming to us by the phone. what does it look like when you look out the window there? what does the weather look like

and what are you, yourself preparing for? >> i'm preparing to support our field commander's along the coast. we have a little bit of rain that started leer this morning. i here this morning. it wasn't raining when i got up this morning, it's begun to rain intermittently. we are prepared. a lot of preparations have gone into place and we are working with state and local partners, as well as the maritime public to be ready to respond to this storm. jenna: admiral i turned you into a a little bit of a weather forecaster there. we appreciate you giving us the perspective on the ground and we appreciate the hard work you and the coast guard does on a daily basis. thank you for your time, sir. >> thank you very much. jon: amazing rescues from coast guard men and women. governor mitt romney arriving in tampa for the republican convention. here is a shot of him getting off the campaign plane along with ann romney. as jen a mentioned earlier we believe that's one of the many

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jenna: back to tampa now. governor mitt romney just arriving moments ago. later today republicans will formally nominate him as their candidate for president. in the meantime there are some

reports out there that tea party members are finding more reason to warm to governor romney and the g.o.p. overall this year. we wanted to check that with some reliable sources. matt kivey is about the and ceo of freedom works. sally russo is from the tea party express. matt, i looked at an article that you posted at fox news.com. you made the point that you feel the tea party movement is included in the convention, however you're still a little wary of the establishment. tell our viewers a little bit more about that. >> we are always nervous about politicians, and we are always hoping that they do what they say when they run for political office, and our relationship with any politician is always going to be a bit of a marriage of convenience. but we do think we have a seat at the table. we think that the platform committee listened to tea party activists when they came and represented over 1.2 million votes for our platform and we

have a number of our leaders, like ted cruz, mi aerbgs love that ara love, who are getting on the stage. >> three and a half years of hard work has got even to this point. the republican party has woken up i think in selecting mitt romney, and paul ryan, they seem totally committed to restoring american prosperity and getting the spending under control and dealing with an unsustainable debt. we are delighted with what is going on in tampa. jenna: during the last convention if someone said tea party movement no one would really know what that means. this is a recent political movement. to see what happened over the past two years from 2010 to 2012 is remarkable. sal, on the issues where do you see the most lock step, if you

will between the party and tea party? is it purely on only the economy or do you see other issues where the tea party is influencing more, i hate to use the word mainstream, but that's the word i'm going to use, mainstream thoughts? >> the tea party express, you know, has a very simple message, and that is that we've got to do something about the increasing size, cost and intrusive necessary of the federal government, and the unsustainable debt. and then secondly is we can't get there with austerity alone, we really have to have progrowth policies, and that is certainly something that mitt romney has talked about all along. if we've got to get our growth rate up to 4 and 5%, this 1 to 2% that we are getting out of obama is not acceptable. we won't grow ourselves out of some of these problems. our goal is to keep the pressure on, make sure when these people get elected to public office that they honor the commitment to get america's economy moving again. i feel well we have that

commitment from all these candidates down here in tampa. jenna: we'll see what happens, right, who gets elected and what happens next. as you mentioned, that is a key point here. matt -- >> we are not going anywhere. we'll be here to let everybody know. jenna: you'll be here to see if they are going to be accountab accountable. keith and lorraine some of our viewers were talking to us over twitter about this. they really say that ryan is a game changer for them as part of the tea party and feeling connected to the g.o.p. ticket. how key is ryan in that? >> it really was a signal from the romney camp and the entire republican party that they weren't just going to run against the obama economy and the failures of big government we've seen out of this administration, but they were going to run for something. they've talked about the need to actually balance the budget, to put some ideas on the table. i think that is a step in the right direction. and now every republican candidate has to get comfortable defending the basic principles of limited government and

accountability and putting specifics on the table. that is a huge step in the right direction. paul ryan brought that energy to the ticket. just from a practical, political standpoint, republicans will win when they are comfortable defending ideas, when they can respond to the inevitable attacks from democrats on things like medicare. jenna: quick final thought from you sal. where do you think the g.o.p. still needs to work? >> i'm sorry what was that again? jenna: where do you think the g.o.p. still needs to work. if they look like as matt says, they are taking in the economic issues. where do you think the g.o.p. still needs to listen to the tea party? >> i think the selection is all about the economy, and i think on that fundamental issue everybody is united. we will always have disagreements on social issues, cultural issues, foreign policy, but with the economy in such bad shape i think everybody has the economy and getting spending under control, our debt under control and progrowth policies implemented is the dominant issue. that's why mitt romney and paul

ryan just have a plan on how to deal with that and i think that's what the american people are looking for. jenna: we'll see what happens over the next couple of days as the convention kicks off in just about 90 minutes or so. matt and sal nice to have you with us. thank you so much. >> thanks, jen a. >> thanjenna. >> thanks. jon: isaac is officially a category 1 hurricane, 75-mile an hour winds. it could gain steam as it heads closer to the gulf coast. serious threats is flooding caused by high surf conditions. >> reporter: the winds are intensifying in new orleans. gusts between 25 and 30 miles an hour. at one point we'll get pelted by rain and the sun will go out. what is so fascinating, despite the fact that the storm is still in the gulf of mexico the i've the storm if you take a look over my right hand shoulder this is the mississippi river.

about 90 miles it curves down into the ocean. what you're looking at right now is epl rapbld green ocean water. you ca emerald green ocean water. it's making the mississippi river go in the opposite direction of its natural flow. the storm is having these affects, if you look at the radar you can see howie norm must this monster is going to be after it makes landfall tonight, early tomorrow morning it will start pouring down rain and it will not stop anywhere from 18 to 20 inches of rain which is exactly why people in the low-lying areas. remember that new orleans is below sea level as it is, so people who live outside the security of the levees, people who live in those very low-lying areas were undermanned torrey evacuation. judging by the cars we saw yesterday people were really heading that call for evacuation and leaving. that being said at the same time there are thousands of folks under a voluntary evacuation.

a lot of people tell us perhaps they didn't suffer too much damage during hurricane gustaf in 2008 and they want to ride out the home. it's going to be anywhere from 36 to 72 hours because this part of the united states, the coastal gulf community is not suffering from the severe drought we are seeing in the midwest. these people have had a lot of healthy rain come this year. the earth is already saturated. basically there is n nowhere for this rain to come. once it comes it's going to find a home and there be a lot of flooding around here, jon. jon: elizabeth prann in new orleans. thank you. we will take you to baton rouge. governor bobby jindal is there, he's holding a news briefing right now providing an update on the state's preparations for the storm, this as they get ready to mark seven years since hurricane katrina devastated so much of louisiana and really all of the

gulf coast. governor bobby jindal keeping an eye on things. if he makes news during this briefing we'll bring it to you live. jenna: it is the mother of all battleground states, we are talking about the state of florida. 29 biggie electorial votes. coming up we'll break down the polls and what it will take to win the sunshine state in november.

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help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. jon: as the republicans gather in florida for their convention every state is important in this neck-and-neck race for the white house, but winning florida, that is a very big prize. take a look at the map. you see the democrats have the blue states locked up on the west coast and the northeast, a couple in the middle of the country. red states go republican, so then you'd go to the gold states, florida is perhaps the biggest prize, 29 electorial votes up for grabs in florida. that is more than 10% of the 270

needed to win. in this issue some of the -- i'm sorry, in this election some of the big issues, the economy, obviously, unemployment in florida is high, in terms of the number of foreclosures, one in 352 is in foreclosure. the housing market hit very hard. unemployment rate in florida is higher than the national average, 8.8%. president obama has made four visits to florida, and governor romney has made five. of course he is arriving there for the convention. the national numbers, a new poll of likely voters in florida shows the president at 50%, governor romney at 46. it is well within the margin of error. adam smith -- well, we'll get to that in just a second. adam smith is the political editor for the tampa bay times newspaper and joins us now.

adam, you wrote an article saying, you know, welcoming folks to this state and reminding them how important and how diverse florida is. it's not just a retirement state any more. >> that's right. part of what makes florida the biggest battleground state is that it's really america. you've got people from the south, you've got people from the northeast, from the midwest. urban, rural, suburban. we really are the ultimate microcosm of america. jon: and those delegates gather in tampa, what is it that you think they should know about the state, and what it takes to claim those 29 electorial votes? >> well, for mitt romney if he does not win florida's 29 electorial votes it's virtually impossible for him to win the election. he would have to sweep almost every other battle ground. it's a broad message. you have so many different people here. you get really tough on illegal immigration, and depending on your tone you can turn off hispanic voters, both puerto

rican, cuban-american or others. that could be devastating. at the same time you have seniors who care a lot about social security and boomers and younger generations that want to be sure they have medicare and social security. you are talking to every element of the election threat nationally. jon: i lived there for about 15 years. i was always struck. living in miami it is a completely different universe than it is say even on the west coast of florida or upstate. there are all these little pockets, very, very diverse. >> absolutely, especially miami. miami is almost sort of the northern point of south america and the caribbean these days. jon: miami is sort of the capitol of south america. the size of the state too is absolutely enormous, and there are a lot of television markets there, that's part of the reason it's so expensive for these campaigns to advertise in florida. >> it is, you've got ten different media markets to aerosol eud week of ads. at least $1.2 billion.

just a week of advertising can be a month of advertising in some other battleground states. jon: charlie crist the former governor there, the former senate candidate announce he he's going to be speaking at the democratic national convention. is he going to sway a lot of votes? >> you know, i think the ex-- charlie is a life-long republican and the he can peck station is he jumped out of the party when he was losing the republican primary to marco rubio, the he can expectation is that he's going to run as a democrat eventually for governor next time. i think he has potential to sway independent voters on the sidelines that i think crist will argue that the party has gone too extreme and you'll hear republicans saying the only thing that's changed is charlie always personal ambition. jon: well, again, it gives you a lot to write about as the republicans bring their show to town. adam smith from the "tampa bay times" got the venue named after your newspaper there.

thanks, adam. >> we do. thanks. jenna: what is the one issue romney has a chance of highlighting this week that could, could help him win the white house? our political panel weighs in and debates that just ahead. plus, we are tracking isaac a huge category 1 pushing, hundreds of miles wide. closing in right now on the gulf coast. the latest forecast just ahead. well, i had all the classic symptoms... like the elephant on my chest... he thought he was having a heart attack. she said, "take an aspirin, we need to go to the hospital." i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm very grateful to be alive. aspirin really made a difference.

at the tampa bay convention center governor romney has a big opportunity ahead with much of the spotlight o on the soon to be nominee nor president. he has a chance to set himself apart from president obama on key issues on which has been a

very tight race so far. let's talk about it with pat kadell and adam geller. pat, to you first. people like president obama, but they don't like this economy. how does governor romney criticize the president without coming across as being mean-spirited? >> well, i don't think he's got a problem doing that if he would, first of all what they should have done for months and have filed to do is define governor romney. this is their last real chance to do that. they have waited until the last minute. you know, he doesn't have to attack president obama personally. the president's record has got 60% disapproval on the economy, most people believe it will not get better in his second term. he has that contrast he can draw. his challenge is to present a vision and ideas that he can speak to big problems, that he's doing something more than running for president. he needs to make an urgent --

make a message of urgency about the state of the country and how he thinks he can make it better and at the same time show some empathy for the middle class. right now people overwhelmingly believe he favors the rich and has no interest in the middle class. it's that more than likability that has crippled his campaign to date. he would be well ahead if that weren't the case. jon: that likability, divergence is pretty huge. pat is right the people don't like the direction of the country, the way the president is handling the economy, but they like him personally, right? >> well, you know, they like him personally, but if you really look at his real clear average and you look at some of the recent polling numbers, i won't say he's got rock-star numbers. i think he certainly runs the ritz being and the danger of appearing to be petty and mean, and really based on the blistering attacks over the summer against governor romney it's taken a little bit of the shine off of obama's favorables

for that very reason. here is the bottom line. there are voters who are going to be persuaded purely on the economy and jobs and unemployment and other issues, then there are going to be voters who really do need that emotional connection. pat is right, it doesn't necessarily mean likability, but an emotional connection means is this person authentic? does this person get me? and that is the challenge that romney is facing right now. again, part of the reason is he had a very devisive primary, he's been on the receiving end of a lot of attacks, so the convention is so important because, as we've talked about endlessly, and heard about endlessly, here is a chance now for the romney campaign to really introduce him on these kind of image terms. likability, empathy, all of the emotional connections that pat mentioned. jon: adam we've mentioned that you've done work for governor chris christie for new jersey. he's speaking tonight. what is his role? what do you think he needs to

accomplish? >> governor christie's role is to be governor christie. a lot of people look at governor christie and they see the success and they say, gee if i could only be more like them. the answer is no. you need to be more like you. the reason governor christie is successful is because he is what he is, and what he does is, i've got toll you that there are people who will go up to him and say, you know, governor, i didn't vote for you, and i probably won't next time but i really respect you, and i always know where you're coming from, and i just want to thank you for that. and, you know, there is something to that. ronald reagan had the same thing, even bill clinton, a likable guy. you may not have agreed with him on a lot of things, he was a guy you'd have a beer with for sure. there is an authenticity factor. jon: go ahead, pat. >> let me say first of all governor christie tonight -- apparently they've already put out press releases, they are going to discuss the success stories of bain, something the that the romney campaign has failed to do for five months. they've let themselves be a

punching bag. i cannot inch tpa size how much they have forced the pressure of this moment. governor christie is trying to do what the romney campaign should have been doing for the last four months after they had the nomination locked up. what people are looking for is effectiveness in a president, somebody who can move us forward. if romney can show what governor christie has, being authentic and caring enough about people then he can come out of this convention, he has the potential to break this election open, because the president's favorability for all the talk about him being popular the president's favorability is not that greater above his job rating unlike ropblgd reagan, which could be 20, 30 points, i've seen and more. the president is on the knife edge on this stuff of being a candidate of change, and i'm going to change washington and running the single-most negative campaign any incumbent president has personally waged in the

history of the office. jon: pat caddell and adam geller you've given us interesting things to watch for as the coon srepbgs rollas the convention rolls along. thank you both. jenna: hurricane isaac approaching new orleans. brand-new information from the national hurricane center ahead. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy.

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