residents of the gulf coast to listen too your local officials. >> in tampa, a last-ditch effort to redefine the undefinable. >> people don't like you more. >> some people in your party don't like you. >> people don't really know him and see him as stiff. >> mitt romney is getting a bad rap about likeability. >> the real work is up to mr. romney and mr. christie. >> three packs of shirts the other day from costco and they're very nice shirts. >> you can't lead by being aloof, you can't lead by being programmed. >> great, play the [ bleep ] clip. >> i'm not sure what i said, but i stand by what i said, whatever it was. ♪ how you like me now how you like me now how you like me now ♪ >> we have a packed show for you today so let's get going. isaac is now a hurricane heading

toward the gulf coast and new orleans with winds 75 miles per hour and we'll bring you much more on the storm just ahead. but we begin with mitt romney about to reach a major milestone in his five-year quest with a state by state roll call in just over an hour to begin the formal process of nominating him as the republican presidential candidate. romney and his running mate, paul ryan, arrived in tampa just a few hours ago gearing up for the first big night of the storm-delayed gop convention. with marquee speeches by mitt's wife as well as new jersey governor chris christie, who was a little coy when asked about what he's planning on one television network this morning. >> i'm not going to tell you too much about what we're going to do tonight. but you know that i'll be talking about the new jersey experience and what that means for the country, what it can mean in promise for the country. >> oh, the new jersey experience. let's take a closer look at,

that shall we? nobel laureate paul krugman of princeton, new jersey, writes this in his "new york times" column today. "christie has told reporters that he won't use the term jersey comeback in his keynote address, and it's not hard to see why. the comeback, such as it was, has hit the skids. indeed, the latest figures show his state with the fourth highest unemployment rate in the nation. i'm sure he won't mention that either. after all, today's convention theme is, "we did build it." i'm assuming they'd rather that did not include new jersey's 9.8% unemployment rate, fourth highest in the nation. we did build it surely doesn't mean republicans' ample help contributing to the national debt, ticking away on their epic digital clock hanging above the convention. those unfunded wars and tax cuts and such. they surely don't mean they helped build that, no.

they're talking about their favorite entrepreneurial spirit. those men and women who built a business and did not rely on education or roads or any of that nonsense, no. they certainly didn't get any government welfare handouts, a theme that will be hit by another speaker this evening,est while presidential candidate rick santorum. >> i don't want to make people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money, i want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money. >> it's not about giving blah people someone else's money, you remember that. i'm sure it has nothing to do with the particular man in the white house they're opposing, you know. i wonder what the president's been up to today. >> those who oppose change, those who benefit from the status quo, they've always been on cynicism, they've always been on complacency. but throughout america's history they have lost that bet and they're going to lose this time

too. >> wow, just that. i'm joined by my esteemed nbc colleague, lawrence o'donnell, host of "the last word," who joins us from tampa. i see a number of ten-gallon hats and i'm wondering why you didn't decide to drop your sartorial elegance and buy one from costco to feel more at home. >> that's the texas delegation you're seeing over there. they're having a lot of fun. the ban decided to start playing "for your show. i don't know if it was a conspiracy follow your show started up, then the music went wild. >> now, given chris christie is more pugnacious than romney and his wife ann far more sympathetic, is it fair to say

that these two may well steal romney's thunder as they deliver speeches this evening? and do you think that's partly chris christie's intention? >> well, it's absolutely chris christie's mission. he wants to run for president four years from now, after mitt romney loses, and the republican nom nation's wide open. and christie's the best public speaker that the republicans have when he's on his name, when he's not busy insulting someone in the audience. remember, the romney campaign controls word for word the text and the length of this speech tonight. so the romney campaign is looking at christie knowing that he can do more than any other speaker who comes into this arena and they have to deliberately find little ways to tone down his performance so that he won't just overwhelm and make people forget romney's coming later in the week. >> lawrence, when you describe

christie, he seems to me to perfectly resemble machiavelli's "prince." first machiavelli advises the prince to undertake a great campaign and chris christie claims to have done so in new jersey. then machiavelli says, you attempt to usurp the king, and that's really what he's doing, isn't he. >> it's just human. both parties do this. the truth of it is that people who are in the position to be able to get the nomination of a party actually don't ever want their candidate to win. they want the seat to be -- they want the presidency to be open four years later so they can win. now, they go through all the motions but it's not unique to christie to be sitting there hoping that his guy loses. both parties have this dynamic in them every presidential election. >> lawrence, you really believe that's what christie will be thinking? >> of course he will. his career depends on romney losing. christie's not the only one whose political career in the

republican party depends on romney losing. and this is not unique to republicans. let me stress. it is very common for democrats to find themselves in the same position. there's always three or four people in each party whose opportunity depends on their party losing the presidency that year. >> right. now, i'm not sure if you were actually inside to witness the, quote, introduction of color this afternoon. we saw a multi-colored haths, multi-colored flags, carried by a parade of white men. i'm sure no one asked for their birth certificates. i guess that was quite symbolic, is that right? >> this party loves pageantry and they actually love imported pageantry. they would actually love to have some of that stuff that the royals do in london. this is something that actually started with richard nixon. he took pageantry very seriously and republicans ever since have

taken that very seriously. it's absurd. it's ridiculous. it's not the kind of thing you see at democratic conventions. >> thank you for eviscerating the british monarchy there, lawrence. >> martin, you could not get -- i am the strongest enemy of the british monarch that you have ever had on television, so we will leave that aside and proceed to domestic issues here. >> indeed we shall, thank you, lawrence. now, chris christie was actually second-guessing romney's birtherism comment this morning. take a listen to mr. christie. >> i think if you get a chance to talk to governor romney i think he'd tell you he wishes he could take that one back. >> do you think mitt romney really wishes he could take that one back? because he hasn't done so, has he? >> everyone's guessing when they look at this. i've looked at it a number of times. it actually does feel deliberate to me. i will admit that it's a guess. but it felt deliberate. and the most important thing

that happened was the audience did not laugh. it was not received as a joke. martin, the audience cheered. next time you play that tape, notice there's no laughter. the audience cheers it. they think it's a serious and important point that romney just made about his birth certificate and, by inference, the president's birth certificate. >> if i might move on one of the other speakers tonight, rick santorum, who you'll remember from the campaign, offered a number of comments, including that he didn't think the reception was a good idea. tonight he'll be focusing on welfare reform and the romney camp is defending their bogus erroneous welfare attacks on the president with a romney poster today saying, quoting the poster, we're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers. i guess that's a moment of honesty, isn't it? >> that's absolutely true. and they of course want their campaign to be dictated by their

pollster. find out what people want to hear, then say that. the welfare thing is a lie. i'm not sure there are people actually working in the romney campaign who know that. i'm not aware of anyone working in the romney campaign who knows one sentence of welfare policy, not one. and so the fact that republican governors asked for this waiver means nothing to them. they are here to manipulate the truth. they are here to demagogue welfare. that is a republican party tradition. they have been doing it for a very long time. nixon forward. the southern strategy they called it of demagoguing welfare. it's all code language. their audience knows who they're talking about when they talking about welfare. >> lawrence o'donnell in the lion's den and as robust as ever. >> fun place to be. martin, it is a fun place to be. these people are all friendly to me, i'm having a great time walking around the hall. very, very nice people here.

>> wonderful, lawrence thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. >> thank you. >> lawrence will be part of the special primetime convention coverage tonight on msnbc starting at 5:00 p.m. so keep it here. next, come on, can one speech really close the gender gap? and romney takes center stage. stay with us. they call me papa. >> this is romney? >> for a blessed while we were ike and mamie. >> it's a joke. it's like a joke. you do this every morning? it's the only way to get fresh coffee. not in my house! this new flavor lock pack from maxwell house helps seal in freshness. wow! that is fresh! am i still yelling? [ male announcer ] maxwell house flavor lock. always good to the last drop.

the day start the with her talking about some difficult moments in her personal life. but tonight mrs. ann romney will speak to the nation about her husband. and if republicans and many pundits are to be believed then there's a good deal right in what she says. because everyone knows that mitt romney has a big problem with women voters. and he knows that left unchecked this problem could spell certain doom for him come november 6th. and that's why so many republicans are so desperate for ann romney to save the day. but is it really possible that one speech will be enough to close the gender gap? and can mrs. romney make so many women forget why they've never trusted her nor the gop? sorry, her husband -- in the first place? let's ask msnbc contributor joy reid and crystal ball here in new york. thank you both. joy, all the things that republicans and pundits have led us to believe, ann romney's

speech could do, is it fair to expect mrs. romney to shoulder such a heavy burden? >> you know, martin, i think that's an interesting question. ann romney's speech was actually prioritized by the romney campaign. they wanted to make sure that she was able to speak during the sort of maximum television coverage because it's so important for them that she come out and try to human it's her husband. i think some of those expectations were put on let's say michelle obama in '08. but for ann romney, she's really got to do several things that are a tremendous burden. she's got to reverse this image that the romneys are sort of aristocratic and entitled, some of which she's contributed herself with her own comments. she's got to fill in a huge blank with her husband, mitt romney, who people by the polls at least don't really seem to know. she'll have to fill in those personal details. i think it is a huge burden to put on her but it's because her husband hasn't done it. >> crystal, how can a 20-minute speech resolve a 20-point gender differential, leave alone the

fact that not even one-third of voters appear to like her husband? >> right. it's not just the gender gap that they're expecting her to close, they want her to work on the likeability gap, which as you know is massive. it really isn't an unfair burden. it really isn't a fair burden. and i don't think it's possible. you can't just have someone in the family saying, i promise, he's likeable, he's warm, he's a good guy. you have to as the candidate be able to portray that yourself. you can't have someone in the family just fetelling the story >> that's been happening over the last 24 hours. we've seen the five sons paraded across something like five networks. now his wife is giving this speech today. that's their strategy, isn't it? get the family out. >> i think it is. on the other hand, you also have mitt romney making a lot of comments like, i am what i am. basically saying, i'm not even going to try to sell myself as a compelling person who can connect with people, i'm going to rely on my family members to do it. i just don't think that is an effective strategy. he's got to be vulnerable

himself. it's not enough for his wife to be warm and to connect with the audience, he has to be warm and connect with the american people. >> right. joy, when mrs. romney comes to the podium tonight there's going to be an enormous elephant in the room. by that i don't mean the party mascot. let's take a listen. >> this is language that was stock language used for lots of different bills, bills i didn't author. that language was removed to be very clear and i agree with that. rape is rape, period, end of story. >> i wasn't going to mention chris christie, though you thought i was. the very idea of forcible rape as merely, i'm referring to the words of mr. ryan, stock language, it makes an impression on people. i think perhaps especially with women voters. is mrs. romney a strong enough figure to make them forget that impression, forget about todd akin and everything else? >> that's one of the issues. usually when you have somebody, an endorser of a constituency you want to claim, normally it's not a member of the family,

number two, they themselves represent that constituency. so that joe biden represented the everyman, the working class white voter. as a stand-in he was the right guy to be the endorser for barack obama in 2008. ann romney, on the other hand, because she herself is pro-life too, it's a little bit difficult because the constituency that he needs to reach, the people he needs to soften his many major with, because paul ryan is there, because paul ryan has taken extreme positions on the abortion issue, you would need someone who is simpatico with women who that issue and can speak to it in an eloquent but real way. i don't think ann romney has shown she's that person, and i don't know if she agrees with akin or not. i think it will resonate with women here in the room because they themselves are pro-life, they themselves are republicans. outside of that, i'm not so sure. >> i'm sorry to interrupt you, there appears to be some kind of disturbance on the floor. we're not certain of what's causing it. it appears to be something in

relation to the credentialing committee. we'll continue. as you can hear in the background. i wanted to ask about some of the optics we've seen, this effort to reimagine mr. romney, buttermilk pancakes and peanut butter. >> costco. >> and of course costco. let's take a listen. >> also got me one of these three-packs of shirts from costco. and they're very nice shirts. >> the kirkland shirts, he's wearing them all the time. that shirt looks pretty good, i got it at costco. >> they have personal assets of almost $300 million. did that seem artificial, to be suggesting they go to costco? not that there's anything wrong with costco. >> i was there over the weekend myself. i think whether it's true or not, it seems so forced. they're trying so hard to relate to the american people. look, i wear costco shirts too! i make pancakes! this is normal family stuff! to me it seems very forced. i would say mitt romney is at

his best when ann is by his side. he seems more comfortable. you can tell that he really deeply loves her, which is one of the most human things that you get from him. >> nobody's disputed that. >> absolutely. but at the same time, they're trying too hard. he doesn't have a way of connecting with the american people without directly saying, i'm likeable, i connect with people, i was the president of my fraternity. he can't go beyond that and make a real connection with people. >> joy, i had a phone call with somebody who left a message saying, you should point out those shirts are actually made in china. i've not been able to confirm that. but are you persuaded by the fact that he wears and buys shirts from costco? does that do anything for you? >> i think krystal is absolutely right. the problem is they seem to have pulled out a script and said, what is the normal american family like? they're starting to read from it, rather than talking about their authentic experience. nobody really expects someone who is very close to a

billionaire to shop at costco. they should talking about their real lives, their real experience. people don't have a problem with the romneys being wealthy. but when you come across as fraudulent, it's condescending to suggest being a normal american and playacting a normal american means coming up with tropes like shopping at costco. i don't think it's authentic because i don't think it's real. maybe they do, but you know what, they're rich enough to own costco so it's difficult to make it work. >> joy reid and the costco-shopping krystal ball, thank you so much. much more from tampa when we come back. >> he's not releasing tax returns. at some point we've got to take the man at his word, he's not going to do it. >> it's an issue that's hurt romney because it's fed people who already have an instinct, a suspicion about him. he's a rich guy, must be hiding something. i've also been mist fight by romney's response. ♪ you may say to yourself, my god what have i done ♪

instead of giving up, mehdi got her mba and took what she learned to rebuild the company. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. [ male announcer ] this is rudy. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪

and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. y wi t ou'lesi use

llyoe .e ce try the #1 gastroenterologist recommended probiotic. align. align naturally helps maintain digestive balance. ♪ ooh, baby, can i do for you today? ♪ try align today.

hurricane isaac is just hours away from making landfall. rafael, where is the storm now, what can we expect, where is it? >> martin, we are expecting the situation to go downhill hour by hour, becoming more dangerous along the gulf coast as hurricane isaac closes in on new orleans. right now winds are at 75 miles per hour. it's a category 1 storm. and it's moving towards the northwest very slowly around 10 miles per hour. as we take a look at the satellite picture we've seen isaac pick up in intensity and organization throughout the afternoon. we now have a more symmetrical storm closing in on the gulf, seeing some of the heaviest rain

bands moving inland. we have about eight hours to go until landfall. we are expecting isaac to maintain that category 1 hurricane strength as it approaches new orleans. this is a slow moving so the problem is the rain will dump in copious amounts, up to 20 inches of rainfall. the rain is going to last into tomorrow, into thursday in fact, as this storm slowly meanders through the gulf. hour by hour things will deteriorate for folks in new orleans and all the way along the gulf. >> meteorologist rafael, thanks so much. we will continue to monitor hurricane isaac as it makes its way to the gulf coast. stay with us, the day's top lines are coming up. [ dad ] i'm usually checking up on my kids. but last year my daughter was checking up on me. i wasn't eating well. she's a dietitian and she suggested i try boost complete nutritional drink to help get the nutrition i was missing. now i drink it every day, and i love the great taste. [ female announcer ] boost has 26

essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to help keep bones strong and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. your favorite patient is here! [ dad ] i choose great taste. i choose boost.

is now in our new starbucks refreshers™ -- a breakthrough in natural energy. made with real fruit, starbucks refreshers™ are delicious low calorie drinks you can feel good about. ♪ rethink how you re-energize. ♪ get a boost of natural energy with a new starbucks refreshers™, in three ways. natural energy from green coffee extract, only from starbucks. sound the gavel or perhaps better, sound the gong. here are today's "top lines." are you not entertained?

>> now it is my great pleasure to introduce -- >> i'm afraid we're going to have to go. we had a little package there but we appear to have lost our sound. we're going to start looking at live shots from the republican national convention that we've been covering during this hour. no, we're not going to do that. i've been told we'll go back to our tape. here are today's "top lines." >> the 2012 republican national convention -- >> is there going to be a line tomorrow that we're all going to be talking about? >> it's none of your business. >> i hope a few. >> more inform than entertain. my style can be entertaining at times. >> when you've got a bully in the room, seidel up next to him or punch him in the face. >> he's not releasing more of his tax returns. take the man at his word. >> i've been mystified by romney's response. >> if he had to do it over again he wouldn't make the joke. >> no one's ever asked to see my

birth certificate. >> there's times you wish you could take it back. >> total sausage festival, ha ha. >> can you bring me a glass of water? >> here you go, senor mitt. >> thank you, suri. >> barack obama, you're fired. is trump going to try to you'll stage mitt romney? >> coming from you, i'm surprised you ask the question. >> the segment is called ann and mitt romney "lies." >> i was doing the wash last night. we both love costco. >> you will see that my speech is heartfelt. i've instead of spoken from a teleprompter either. i don't like it. >> she also got me a three-pack of shirts from costco. they're very nice shirts. >> these people who still have that addiction to the hopy, that hopey changey stuff. >> does it bother you that according to the polls people

don't like you more? >> remember that popeye like, i am what i am and that's all that i am? >> some people in your port don't like you. >> we're a big party. >> you are looking now live at shots from the republican national convention. republicans are getting some procedural business out of the way. much to the chagrin of delegates supporting ron paul as they prepare for tonight's big speeches. while we wait let's get to our panel in tampa. at the gop convention we have politico's ken veg goal. in new york, msnbc political analyst richard wolffe, nbc contributor susan delpesio. thank you for joining us. if i can get to you first, ken, we were in the last segment hearing lots of rowdiness behind. i wasn't sure what was going on, i was being told it had something to do with ron paul. can you enlighten us? >> generally, martin, any time there's a disruption at the republican national convention,

you can usually assume ron paul supporters are behind it. this is a very highly core grow graphed affair. >> why is that? do they drink more than anyone else? >> no, they're upset. they feel they're being shut out by the establishment. in this case they were demanding a point of order, they were trying to oppose change in the rules that would basically make it more difficult for insurgent candidates like representative paul, in future primaries, to amass delegate rars they were shouting "point of order, point of order." they were ignored. that sort of riled them up further. >> i thought ron paul had assured us all there wasn't going to be any kind of this behavior. >> this libertarians are a free-thinking lot and they pride themselves on that. i was joking as i tried to come into the convention today, there's almost harder to get through the masses of ron paul supporters screaming at delegates and supporters than it was to get through security. they're making their process known. >> coming back to what we saw in "top lines," we had karl rove himself, the great guru of the

republican party, casting aspersions on the way mitt romney has handled the issue of his tax returns. why does this issue persist, not just with the majority of the population, 63% according to a cnn poll, but also within the republican party? >> because there isn't a strategist, political strategist of either party, with a brain, and karl rove does have a brain in spite of reports, who thinks they've handled the tax return issue well. now, even if you just set aside the question of how many years should you release, they are now going to release the most recent tax return a month out from the election. makes no sense at all. even though he's got complex affairs and he's got this extension to his timeline, you're throwing out the tax return story in a way that will dominate coverage for a week you can't afford to lose a week and be off-message, off-topic. it makes no sense. >> your advice for that specifically this. >> get it out early. >> beginning of the process, beginning of the campaign this. >> karl's message was, they should have thrown it back, to

the obama folks, you method it was okay for john mccain to release two years, that was enough for you. that doesn't hold any water. because at that point, it was a totally different context. everyone knew where john mccain was coming from. >> it was also a deep contrast to mitt's father. >> right. you've got a personal contrast. this is someone who said, my business record is who i am, versus someone who had been in the senate for decades. you're looking at a much more known quantity versus unknown quantity. that's why it has traction. that's why you want to deal with it early. >> susan, agree? >> to an extent. the democrats keep saying he's not such an unknown quantity since 2008. i will go back to 2008. they knew they were going to have to show the tax returns or at least it would come up. that's where the republicans are most frustrated was, how did it get to this? >> the other problem many republicans must have, surely, is that mitt romney demanded dozens of tax returns from paul ryan. so why is that okay?

but mitt romney, as far as the american population's concerned, offers no more than a year and a year to come? >> this is what he's decided to do and i think he can get away with it at this point. i agree they should have released the second year probably earlier this month and let it be a quiet story because they only want to talk about the economy. but the fact is, when they do it, every week we're going to have a very important number come out, whether it's the job numbers, that will add an automatic reset, if they're good then president obama will have the benefit. if they're bad it's going to work to mitt romney's advantage. i think they feel they can weather the storm. but these kind of conversations are troublesome because we're not talking about the economy. >> and karl rove isn't persuaded. the "new york times'" david brooks has a spoof what was he says is the media story line of mitt romney's early years. "romney was sent to a private school where he was saddened to find there are people in america who summer where they winter." and later that his sea get

service name is mannequin. if elected he promises to bring all americans together and make them feel inferior. how close does brooks' parody get to people's actual doubts and suspicions about mitt romney, ken? >> i mean, certainly liberals are trying to put him in that frame and i think they've had some success. we see prominent figures in the republican party from karl rove to haley barbour saying mitt romney has not done a good job, his campaign has not done a good job offsetting these stereotypes being applied to him. you heard haley barbour saying many americans know he's a wealthy pluto adequate married to a known equestrian. some of the top minds expressing those concerns, i think they are legitimate, they are things the romney campaign has to worry about, however they're limited here. they're going to try to reroll out the candidate as every presidential campaign does at their convention. but they haven't shown an ability to personalize him.

some of that probably comes back to him. it's a real challenge for hem and for his campaign. >> susan, a rich pluto adequate married to an equestrian? >> not the best description you want to be known as. they've had time. they did not change in the last eight years. so they probably could have done that. but you know what, i think they took a gamble saying, this is who this guy is, businessman, straightforward, he's not going to be mr. fun guy that you want to have a beer with but you want him to handle your books. i think that's the way they're trying to go. >> even if handling the books reveals that actually he sticks money in switzerland, luxembourg, the cayman islands? >> right now, mitt romney's campaign is in fact doing a very good job in explaining to the public that he is the best to handle the public. the economy going forward. every poll, he leads. that's what they're going to lead with and that's what they're going to continue to lead with. >> richard? >> well, look. you never want to be a parody. ask al gore if that's a great

platform for you running in the home straight. it's harder to overcome the sense of humor aspect than the hate. if people are angry at you you can parry it somewhat. the parody part of it is hard to overcome. on the economy, yes, he scores better than president obama. but if you look, if you dig into numbers, do you think the economy's going to get better under romney? he only has a slight advantage over president obama on that crucial question. there's not confidence in either man when it comes to the economy. >> i'm so sorry, richard wolffe, susan, ken vogel, thank you very much. coming up on "hardball," chris matthews is live in tampa along with charlie crist and marcia black man just ahead at 5:00. more on the paul ryan factor. first, a speaker who will soon take the rnc stage. you remember him. >> this is someone who doesn't have a core. >> he is the worst republican in the country to put up against

barack obama. uniquely unqualified. uniquely disqualified. uniquely unqualified. running a business is not the same as being president of the united states. we can't be out there nominating someone who gives away the most important issues that conservatives care about in this election when it comes to the economy. this country was built by working people.

the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure, construction, production. we need it now more than ever. chevron's putting more than $8 billion dollars back in the u.s. economy this year. in pipes, cement, steel, jobs, energy. we need to get the wheels turning. i'm proud of that. making real things... for real. ...that make a real difference. ♪ vice presidential candidate paul ryan arrived in tampa today with anticipation building for his big reach tonight. a poll finds more americans interested in hearing ryan's speech than mitt romney's thursday. maybe they want to see which ryan shows up. the one who co-sponsored a forcible rape bill with todd akin or the one who keeps running away from his own budget plan.

matt miller is a contributor and columnist for "the washington post." perry, that poll found 52% of voters are interested or more interested in the gop platform than romney's speech. whenever paul ryan is pressed about his positions on the platform, this is what he says. >> let's remember, i'm joining the romney/ryan ticket. and the president makes policy. >> is he forgetting the fact that he's literally a heartbeat away from the presidency if mitt romney wins? >> not only that, he's been a huge author of everything the republicans are talking about. the budget plan, the medicare changes. the medicare changes are paul ryan's idea. the notion he's sort of along for the ride is of course off. i mean, paul ryan in some ways is driving the agenda more than mitt romney is. >> right. matt, the fdic today released a positive banking report for the second quarter citing a rise in their income, lending, and fewer problem banks. can we assume, however, that ryan will completely ignore all

of this and continue to claim that the country is in a trough? >> i think ryan's going to continue to adopt the attack dog position that he's kind of slipped into comfortably. remember, paul ryan is functioning as mitt romney's beard with conservatives. conservatives are still very distrustful of him. they view mitt as the manchurian candidate who's been the massachusetts moderate sent in to destroy conservatism from within. paul ryan is the real source of their reassurance. the more that he plays the traditional vp attack dog while also providing the conservative credentials to the ticket that excite the batse, he's doing wht they want. >> romney adviser eric fernstrom for what he's qualified to be vice president. >> he not only makes wisconsin achievable for mitt romney, pure politics, everything about him speaks to his middle class

values. he went to public university. he had to be a leader in his family at a young age when his dad passed away. he's a catholic, catholics are an important swing vote. >> he went on to cite ryan's knowledge of the federal budget, the fact that he's a good guy. should that give americans comfort, that here looking at a potential vice president? >> i'm not sure it is. ryan is one of the candidates sounding like joe biden. i'm a catholic, event are i'm a hunter, i'm a good guy. he's known as a nerd policy wonk. they picked paul ryan, they don't want to talk about paul, they want to talk about a nice guy, a catholic, odd conundrum. >> is paul ryan trying to be joe biden in disguise? >> he's trying that a little bit. the biggest piece that won't fly in what he says is i'm sure he'll be arguing barack obama is leading us down the path to socialism.

when under barack obama, the stock market has doubled. you've got corporate profits at record highs. you've got the president doing a health care plan modeled on a republican design. you've got all the benefits of the recovery so far going to the top 1%. if this is what capitalists, how they fare under a socialist, you think they'd be cheering him. ryan won't be able to sell that message. >> matt miller and perry, thank you so much for joining us. an interesting twist to an event earlier this month. remember when mitt romney went to coal country in ohio a couple of weeks ago, surrounded by miners, meant to show coal country stands with mitt. turns out many of the mine's workers are saying they were forced to give up a day of pay to attend the event and feared being fired if they didn't. mine officials deny this, sort of. "our managers communicated to our workforce that the attendance at the romney event was mandatory, but no one was forced to attend." okay. mine owner robert murray went

further. "my people have their own minds, they have their own desires, nobody was ordered to attend." murray made the remark in tampa today. his company's pac has given $10,000 to the romney campaign. stay with us. while some fiber ads use super models, metamucil uses super hardworking psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model, but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol. humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes, we trip ourselves up, but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you as you go through your life with personalized policies

and discounts when you need them most. just call... and speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married, move into a new house... [crash!] or add a car to your policy. don't forget to ask about saving up to 10% when you combine your auto and home insurance with liberty mutual. security, coverage, and savings. all the things humans need to make our beautifully imperfect world a little less imperfect. call... and lock in your rate for 12 months. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? it's the only way to get fresh coffee. not in my house! this new flavor lock pack from maxwell house helps seal in freshness. wow! that is fresh! am i still yelling? [ male announcer ] maxwell house flavor lock. always good to the last drop.

in a departure from political tradition, president obama is on the campaign trail in iowa while republicans hold their convention in cam pa. kristen welker is traveling with the president and joins us from colorado state university in ft. collins where the president will speak. is the president hoping to steal perhaps a little thunder from the republicans with these campaign stops? or does he sense a dip in enthusiasm on the part of young voters whom he needs to support him in november?

>> good afternoon, martin. i think that both are true. to your first point, if you look at the polls, they show a deadlocked race nationwide. and also in some of these key battleground states like colorado, like iowa, like virginia, where president obama will campaign tomorrow. so obama campaign officials say they're not going to let one day of this week go to waste. but on your second point, in terms of enthusiasm among young voters, if you look at the polls they do show the possibility of an enthusiasm gap. in fact, according to our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, president obama is leading romney among voters under the age of 35 by about 11 points. but they are less enthusiastic than older voters and less enthusiastic than they were back in 2008. so president obama is here not only rallying these young voters, but his campaign officials are also trying to register young voters to vote. in fact, one obama campaign official tells me that in 2008,

50% of the new registerees they signed up in key battleground states they signed up after labor day, so they're hoping to replicate that. young voters were key to president obama's victory in 2012 and the obama campaign knows they need to replicate that in order to hold to to the white house. >> kristen welker, thank you so much. we'll be right back to clear the air. ♪ spread a little love today ♪ ♪ spread a little love my way ♪ ♪ spread a little something to remember ♪ [ female announcer ] fresh milk and real cream makes philadelphia and the moment a little richer.

makes philadelphia and the moment a thing that helps you wbuy other things.hing. but plenty of companies do that. so we make something else. we help make life a little easier, more convenient, more rewarding, more entertaining. year after year. it's the reason why we don't have customers. we have members. american express. welcome in.

like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. it's time now to "clear the air." while this broadcast has tried to analyze every aspect of mitt romney's campaign from his multiple positions to his missteps and muddles, it's also now time to give him proper credit for being a brutally cold and calculating politician. because if we're to accept that mr. romney does not harbor any racial hatred, then this is the only way to understand the nasty term that his campaign has taken

in recent weeks. mr. romney himself has made it clear that to win the election, he doesn't really need to win over everyone. >> i don't agree with all the people who support me. i guess they don't all agree with everything i believe in. but i need to get 50.1% or more. >> the trouble is mr. romney is doing very badly among large blocs of voters. polling shows he achieves 0% among african-americans. he concedes a 35-point gap with the president when it comes to latino voters. a 10-point deficit with women. he can't even wince one-third of voters he cares about average people. these numbers help explain the depth of racial polarization we're seeing in the romney campaign. the deceitful welfare ads that tap into racial stereotypes. even the so-called off the cuff joke which didn't elicit laughter, only praise and adulation. >> no one's ever asked to see my birth certificate.

they know that this is the place that we were born and raised. >> mr. romney knows that he has to win at least 61% of white voters. and they must constitute at least 74% of the vote. if he can do that, then he can just about win the white house. and that's why his campaign has chosen to swim in the same sewage of donald trump. that's why his campaign has allowed the liberal use of code words. and don't take my word for it. listen to what fox news contributor juan williams has written on the subject. the language of gop racial politics is heavy on euphemisms that allow the speaker to deny any responsibility for the racial content of his message. the code words in this game are, entitlement society. as used by mitt romney. and poor work ethic. and food stamp president, as used by newt gingrich. even more