. all right. we asked you at the top of the show what you're doing up at this hour. producer john tower in new york has answers. >> you may have created a monster. we have gabriel, i'm up this morning to see where we can get those chuck todd buttons, lori, i want a chuck todd button. >> see. see what i started. everybody wants a chuck todd button. everybody is getting one. there's one for you man. go nice with your ensemble. the hottest ticket in tam and i'm bringing some up on the set. get ready, chuck todd, "morning joe" starts right now.

>> i want to talk not about what divides us, but what holds us together as an american family. i want to talk to you tonight about that one great thing that unites us, that one great thing that brings us our greatest joy when times are good, and the deepest solace in our dark hours, tonight i want to talk to you about love. >> the greatest lesson my mom taught me, she told me there would be times in your life when you had to choose between being love and being respected. i believe we have become paralyzed by our desire to be loved. tonight, we are going to do what my mother taught me, tonight, we're going to choose respect over love. >> good morning.

it's wednesday. a very early morning, august 29th. we're live in tampa, florida, at howl at the moon, a bar in the shadow of the tampa bay times forum where the republican national convention kicked into gear last night with those first prime time speeches. with us msnbc and "time" magazine senior political analyst mark halperin, national affairs editor for "new york" magazine and msnbc political analyst john heilemann and adviser to the romney campaign. >> advicer? >> you want to call him more adviser, black cloud. >> unbelievable. >> responsible for the hurricane. >> this is -- his riff on my responsibility for everything. >> everything. >> went viral in the romney campaign. it's extremely embarrassing. it wasn't like ten or 15 seconds. it was good three or four months. >> i got to say, willie, before dan senor started working on the campaign, nobody was talking about a hurricane disrupting this convention. >> that's right. you can draw a straight line. the facts are the facts, dan.

>> i appreciate you putting a spotlight on that. >> that's why we're here. dan, we can't wait to talk to you, obviously, you've been working with paul ryan and he's speaking tonight. >> we had speeches last night, mika. >> yes. >> that all america was watching. >> let's get right to them. shall we? republican national convention last night, the event capped off its first full day with two highly anticipated speakers. the candidate's wife ann romney followed by new jersey governor chris christie with the keynote address. ann romney welcomed to a huge ovation before launching into a speech less about politics and more about her husband of 42 years. >> i'm still in love with that boy i met at a high school dance and he still makes me laugh. i read somewhere that mitt and i have a storybook marriage. well, let me tell you something

in the storybooks i read, there never were long, long rainy winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once. and those storybooks never seemed to have a chapter called ms or breast cancer. a storybook marriage, nope, not at all. what mitt romney and i have is a real marriage. >> ann romney also made a strong effort to reach out to women voters. >> sometimes i think that late at night if we were all silent, for just a few moments and listen carefully, we could hear a collective sigh from the moms and dads across america who made it through another day and know that they'll make it through another one tomorrow. but in the end of that day moment, they just aren't sure how. and if you listen carefully, you'll hear the women sigh a little bit more than the men. it's how it is.

isn't it? it's the moms who have always had to work a little harder to make everybody right. it's the moms of this nation, single, married, widowed who really hold this country together. we're the mothers, we're the wives, we're the grandmothers, we're the big sisters, little sisters and we are the daughters. you know it's true, don't you? i love you women! >> after the speech, mitt romney, who was watching back stage, walked out and hugged his wife and waved to the crowd. he saved his words for tomorrow night's acceptance speech. but the romneys did watch a v.i.p. box as keynote speaker chris christie -- >> we'll talk about that in a second. always when pundits start trying to talk about how these speeches impact voters, it's always very

dangerous. inside the hall, lot of people really moved by ann romney. what about outside the hall? >> look, it was a feat of technical amazingness. she had never done anything like that. to go up there and not being particularly nervous, saying she was nervous was kind of charming, be herself, she projected a lot of her actual self in that speech and given as we've talked a lot on the show about, everyone i've ever talked to knows her, loves her. i think a lot of the country will love her and feel comforted by her and her validation of her husband for being the kind of man she needs him to be. >> what were the reviews? >> you know, just reading john pedorts said it was one of the best speeches he'd ever heard. peggy noonan was a little more luke warm about it. in terms of what matters them playing with the voters, it was

definitely a positive because she is a winning personality and she played there. >> here's what peggy noonan writes, the opportunity ann romney missed was to provide first person testimony that is new, that hasn't been spoken, that hasn't been in the books and the magazine articles. she failed to make it new so she failed to make it real. i'm not sure her speech was loss, but i -- it doesn't feel like a gain. >> john, what do you think about the speech? about peggy, who, obviously, knows a thing or two about republican conventions and speeches, what do you think of that review? >> i agree with it entirely and i thought everything mark said was true. her performance skills were off the charts and she looked great and i mean that not demeaning way. just like her aeffect and presentation. >> unbelievable. >> but when i'm not talking on tv i write for a living and, you know, there's a difference between exposition and illustration. and she asserted a lot of things about mitt romney, she told us

he's this, he's this, she did a lot of telling and not a lot of showing. the vividanecdote, the story that makes the assertions about his character come alive, those were almost entirely absent from the speech and i think that's what peggy is talking about and missing for me. i believe everything she says about her husband, but i couldn't see it. and so i do think that was a missed opportunity where she could have made him come to life in a way that was not just merely saying, here are the qualities as a checklist of things that i know you want to hear. >> which, mika, of course, that's what speech writers do so well when they bring george hrjt w. bush to life in the '88 convention or ronald reagan, whenever he spoke to a crowd of more than three people you bring things to life. >> i think she was in a hard position and don't think she was served well. they were trying to do too many things. talk about mitt and they were trying to cater to women.

i would have done one or the other. >> how did chris christie do? >> well, why don't we show you. governor christie first discussed his background before attacking what he called a lack of leadership in the oval office. a lot of people are noticing this, it was 16 minutes into the speech before chris christie mentioned mitt romney by name. >> these are details. >> we need politicians to care more about doing something and less about being something. and believe me, believe me, if we can do this in a blue state like new jersey with a conservative republican governor, washington, d.c. is out of excuses. leadership delivers. leadership counts. leadership matters. and here's the great news i came here tonight to bring you, we have this leader for america, we have a nominee who will tell us

the truth and lead with conviction and now he has a running mate that will do the same, we have governor mitt romney and congressman paul ryan and we need to make them the next president and vice president of the united states. >> look at mitt. wake up, mitt. he's talking about you, baby. come on. >> chris christie talked about the need -- >> he's tired. look at him. >> don't overshadow me. >> what is that, five-hour energy thing. what are the bottles that kill you? >> no. >> dan, did you keep him up all night before watching "caddie shack." you've done it again. you have nothing to say. you did. >> can we just go -- >> go ahead. >> fine. i like this next part. will you listen, please. >> thank you for bringing the next part. >> as opposed to focuses on mitt's -- >> you being such a disaster. >> yeah. >> bittersweet. >> he talked about the need for shared sacrifice and being

honest about addressing entitlements. >> we believe in telling our seniors the truth about our overburdened entitlements. we know seniors not only want these programs to survive, but just as badly want them secured for their grandchildren. our seniors are not selfish. he here's what they believe. they believe seniors will always put themselves ahead of their grandchildren and they prey on their vulnerabilities and scare them with misinformation for the single, cynical purpose of winning the next election. here's their plan, whistle a happy tune while driving us off the fiscal cliff, as long as they are behind the wheel of power when we fall. >> all right. can i read what peggy noonan wrote. >> sure. >> peggy is a party crasher. >> no. she's honest.

shes a honest and we'll talk to dan senor and try to get some honesty out of him. >> try? unbelievable. >> he's good, though. he really throws himself into it and tries to make it sound as real to himself as possible. >> god, why are you being mean to dan? >> he's doing a job. peggy noonan writes -- >> they were a quiscle -- >> they were. >> they seemed pretty happy inside the hall. >> i wasn't in there.

>> they were on fire for ann romney, on fire for chris christie. always a question of how it plays at home across america on the tv set. you know, our good friend howard dean. >> yeah. >> when he explains what happened back in iowa. >> yeah. >> i understand this completely, a direct feed from the mike to the tv and it sounds like you're screaming when in the room it's different and it's how you look at that punch. that is a strong right punch. but you never really know. willie, you're from the mean streets of jersey. >> yes, sir. >> he's getting a lot of heat in some quarters anyway for making the speech too much about himself. talked about his own personal story about what he's achieved in the state of new jersey. what he was doing in my view, and you may feel the same way, dan, using new jersey as case in a larger point of what can be done on the national level. there was some propping up of himself as i had the courage to do this, we need more people like me in government, but the

point he was making was we need this in the white house too. >> the thing is, dan, in defense of what chris christie said, i use him as an example wherever i go, to say if politicians tell the truth, doesn't matter whether they're in new jersey or new mexico or alabama, or oregon, americans respond to that. so i actually cut him some slack because he actually is an example that's more government conservative should follow. >> yesterday, he was -- he was meeting with a few folks on the floor, as he was getting ready to do his walk through. people were asking him about his speech and the evening. he says look, ann romney's going to get up there and she's going to, you know, give a moving, powerful, testimonial for mitt romney. and then i'm going to get up there and do what i do. it was like he did what he does, which is this sort of case for the kind of governments you like in a part of the country that typically doesn't elect people with his political and ideological profile. commute cating it in a way

everybody can understand. he has that regular man's explanation of what a really complicated problems and the way he's gone about them. to your point, look at his polls in new jersey. this is a guy who's managed to actually break through across the political divide. >> john, let's talk about one of the things that was playing against chris christie. youtube. you go on youtube and you see chris christie's greatest hits and somebody in "the washington post" said late last night the next time he delivers one of these speeches, he just needs to line reporters up in front of them and pick them apart. that's the chris christie i know. sort of like the mario cuomo who, you know, you ask him a stupid question, that's a stupid question, i'm not going to answer your stupid question and that's the thing with chris last night who we know and love, i'm talking about mika and i, you know, that edge was off and i wonder if americans who were introduced to him going after

voters in town hall meetings or going after reporters at press conferences, didn't go, wow, the edges are a little too rounded off. >> i think that's true and it didn't -- i think if you didn't know who chris christie was last night, you would not have walked away from that speech and had the kind of strong impression of the chris christie that we know and that we praise often on the show. i watched the thing at home, hotel, on tv because i wanted to see, we talked yesterday about different audiences and one of the things i did, something a republican media strategist told me to do watch part of the speech with the sound off. it was not -- he did not look like a happy warrior. there was a lot of that -- a lot of scowling and a lot of pointing the finger and a lot of -- there was not the speech did not have the ring of a reagan-esque optimism. >> when he's actually going after reporters. >> yes. >> he is a happy warrior. >> yes. >> he's smiling and having fun and i mean chris christie being

chris christie is a pretty incredible thing to behold as a political analyst. >> there was a little bit of a take your medicine, kind of harshness to it i thought at various places. i thought it was -- i don't have that big of problem. you go back to the obama speech in 2004 nobody remembers him talking about john kerry. i don't mind the fact he didn't talk much about romneyp. that wasn't what part of his speech was supposed to be about. i don't think he did what obama did in '04 to have an inspiring vision of governance in america. people will see and remember this. chris christie may be republican nominee some day, but people will not look back on this speech as the reason why. >> exactly. >> you know what, if he did the chris christie all the reporters were waiting for eagerly he might not have that chance. >> not just reporters, mika, but people in the hall. >> look, i mean, there's chris christie in front of reporters on the air in new jersey, and there's chris christie on the national stage putting out his ideas in terms of the visions of

the country and supporting mitt romney and i think he did the right thing. i think he doesn't need to be a cartoon character everywhere he goes. he needs to show different sides of himself and there are many sides to his personality. >> also fascinating, mark, he never mentioned barack obama. that doesn't usually happen in keynote speech. >> not by name but -- i don't know this, i would be interested to know if dan can tell us, my sense is that he may -- they may have worked with him to kind of reign back that governor romney doesn't want this to be a scathing negative personal convention. >> no. i don't think he was given specific guidance in that regard, but i know there was a sense he made the comparison to obama in 2004. 2004 obama, nobody really knew him. everybody knows chris christie and the base of the party knows him. he didn't need last night to introduce himself to the base of the party, to that hall, the way obama did in boston in 2004. so he actually had much more range, he could do things he would not have been able to do if this was his first showing,

first coming out to the hall. >> so, you're getting paul ryan ready. obviously paul has delivered thousands and thousands of speeches so he doesn't need a lot of help at that. but, it is, though, what are your concerns when you've got to fill up a hall with a speech, but you also have to make sure that you're connecting to people watching at home? >> well, first of all, when we met with paul in elizabeth city, north carolina, the day before he was announced, he showed up, we met at this fairfield inn where he was working on the announcement speech. he shows up, these vp picks come in and the speech is basically written for them. he walks in with this yellow legal pad. he had 75% of the speech written out. he wants to do three things. a, he wants to introduce himself. most of the country doesn't know

him. b, he wants to deconstruct the obama record and so doing making the argument, and third he wants to make the case for mitt, the case for mitt is an important part here. he does it well. he does it better than a lot of people who are very close to mitt and one of the reasons he does it well, because he has been living and breathing the case for the free market system and the virtues of the free market system and how much the free market system could make the country and society a better place. he's been studying it, believing it, developing the intellectual case for that for years. when romney, he doesn't see some someone who should be apologizing for his success. he sees someone as a case study of that success story and he's sort of quite excited about making that case. he's been doing it on the stump. you'll see some of that tonight. >> we've talked before, i've talked a lot about how mitt romney sometimes i don't know if he feels it in his bones the way that thatcher did and reagan did and the great conservative leaders did. with paul ryan, you had larry

kudlow here, go back i knew him when he was 23 years old, larry kudlow comes on when he was an intern, an intern, for -- >> jack kemp and power america. >> he was doing larry kudlow show a week ago. for jack, i was like the gatekeeper for kudlow. he had to deal with kudlow phone calls into kemp's office. >> kudlow yesterday was giggling like, you know, a teenage girl with a crush. he loves paul ryan. >> we've talked -- >> i was uncomfortable. >> well, that's -- there's a reason for that. >> we've talked about whether or not sometimes mitt romney feels like he's reading from a conservative script. whether he's not exactly fluent in the tenants of conservative philosophy. paul ryan does not have that problem. i'm sure he'll give a good domestic speech. as a guy that studies foreign policy closely if we'll hear anything at all about the war in afghanistan. we haven't heard much at all. there was some lip service paid. there is still a war going on?

>> paul will talk a little bit about foreign policy tonight, but it's primarily a speech about where we are in the economy, and how we arrived here and where we can go. he does a pretty thorough job in laying out the argument. it is a concrete presentation of the argument and the argument is largely centered around the economy. >> is governor romney going to talk about afghanistan. >> i'm not going to preview governor romney's speech. i'll do it one day at a time. >> parts of alabama, florida, mississippi and louisiana are feeling the force of hurricane isaac as hundreds of thousands are without power along the gulf coast. we're not going to go to a lot of people standing in the rain. we're going to bill karins standing inside. >> he's always sort of standing in his own personal fog. >> it is. it's sort of like his own personal hurricane and bill karins life. >> bill. >> some people would say -- >> how is facebook going? >> well, good morning, guys.

areas in florida, you escaped this storm. here's what we thought could possibly head your way a couple days ago. this is jim canner to from the weather channel. this is downtown new orleans this morning. winds gusting 60 to 70 miles per hour, in and out of intense bands of rain this morning. so far the levees are holding. we have heard some reports of plaquemines parish water to the south and east is topping the levee, getting into homes, they're doing rescues in that area. in new orleans so far so good. the pumps are holding and levees held overnight. an impressive storm for a cat 1 hurricane packing quite a punch, over 400,000 people without power in southeast louisiana and some of the strongest winds from the storm have been right through new orleans. the latest wind gust, 72-mile-per-hour winds, the lakefront at new orleans at the airport where a lot of people have flown through, 68 miles per hour. those are serious wind gusts that would knock power out anywhere in this country and in louisiana you're no exception to

this whatsoever. rainfall totals are starting to add up, almost 8.5 inches in new orleans. those 15 or $14 billion worth of taxpayer upgrades they had are being tested and so far so good. this is going to be a slow jog, guys. this storm is going to take until thursday afternoon or night just to get into arkansas. the state of louisiana taking the brunt of this storm in new orleans this morning is getting hit the hardest. so the storm did pack a punch, did intensify last night and still a category 1, at least for now. back to you guys. >> all right. bill, thank you very much. coming up on "morning joe," former new york governor george pataki. >> george, what did he say on the floor? he's going to be hung over. >> and be nice to him. >> okay. >> he was starting early last night. >> yeah. >> "new york times" columnist tom friedman, up next, the politico playbook with jim vandehei. keep it live here on "morning joe" from tampa.

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that was south carolina. feels like a long time ago.

we're in tampa, florida, now. >> i think i've been going to newt university, last time you committed going to newt university this morning. >> right after the show. >> i have my backpack. >> 10:00, she has her newt backpack. >> and they put me in the front row because they think i'm going to get distracted. >> you are going to go? >> yeah. >> tomorrow you can see a republican assignment. >> a recap of class. >> newt u, pass/fail? i hope it is. >> only way i take part. >> i will tell you what, man, that guy seriously, i've said it once or twice before, he put on a campaign school, all the time, i went there for a week, joe gaylord taught it for him, i'll tell you what, i'm dead serious, that one week, i learned more about politics than i've learned over the next -- >> before ipods or itunes you

know how many candidates got their political education by listening to newt tapes. >> they would send out cassettes to us, and we would put the cassetteses in and listen to that and get to completely age myself, faxes. here's a message for the day. look at it, sometimes you would use that or sometimes you would -- >> how long until we're kicked out of class? >> rush limbaugh or sometimes you do a "wall street journal" deal. but it was a pretty amazing operation that joe gaylord -- >> they educated a generation of extending conservative -- >> it they did. it was exciting. that's what paul grew up in, paul ryan grew up in, willie, you know, because jack kemp and all those guys were at the center of it. jack kemp and newt and bill bennett. they're all together and started it all. it's pretty exciting for me to see a guy from that time emerge tonight on the national stage.

>> that segway into jim vandehei -- >> what makes me sad, he's attached himself to dan. >> paul ryan has. >> which is -- it's all down from here. >> he's going to find hillself -- >> the star was rising and then senor. >> going to find himself on the weather channel in about 15 years. >> jim vandehei is here. >> i'm trying to get this image out of my head, 1996, 15 at the time, walking around, capitol hill and here's joe scarborough, congressman scarborough in short shorts jogging with his sony walkman with those big old head phones listening to newt tapes. >> this is a lie. >> okay. >> my education in politics. >> he was already writing pieces about you. >> he really was. >> 20 years and still going strong. >> for his high school -- >> 20 years and going strong. >> i didn't know he was 15 years old when he lied about me at roll call. >> that's amazing. >> you're allowed to. >> he worked for politico for kids. >> exactly.

>> all right. let's talk about paul ryan. this is a perfect way to get into the conversation. this does feel a little bit like we know it's mitt romney's convention but does feel like the party is becoming paul ryan's here tonight. >> a quick analysis of last night that segways into paul ryan, the first part will make dan senor cringe but the second part will make him smile but he won't be allowed to smile as i say it. >> get a camera on senor. >> by the way, if i were wearing those shoes, i wouldn't talk about anybody else. >> those shoes -- >> oh dan! >> what are those? >> those are aggressive. >> better for your back, around the heel. >> why do they have to have the yellow border at the bottom? >> you don't like them? >> they're a step away from the ones that actually have toes. >> i'm not a tv person. they don't give me a fancy wardrobe budget. i'm a real american. >> yeah. >> whatever. >> yeah. >> so last night -- >> to senor's face and get the

reaction shot. >> the idea for governor christie was to go in and hit a home run and leave people wanting tore more he didn't come close. so many thing he could have done in cadence or memorable line and it wasn't there. so if he is -- his idea to walk away for people wanting him for 2016 it didn't happen. who would be the big winner from that? paul ryan. if mitt romney doesn't win it's a battle for who's the leader of the party and paul ryan has the opportunity to seize that and close the deal because chris christie i think fell way, way short of doing that. fascinating thing that's happening at this convention, regardless of whether republicans win or lose, there's a whole new breed of people coming in that are going to run this party and they're all in their late 30s or 40s. go talk to marco rubio, talk to paul ryan, talk to scott walker in wisconsin. you finally have elected officials who have in their minds what all of those voters had in their hearts in 2010. if i only have an intellectual

infrastructure to put around that spirit of let's make government smaller and more efficient. they're what's dominating the convention behind the scenes. mitt romney all he needs to be is just the capsule, take that and be the businessman, take all that stuff and put it into action. he has no burning conservative philosophy that's been animating him for 20 years. he's moved all over the place. they do. it's ready made. give it to him. >> it's interesting you say that. there is an infrastructure being built here and between paul ryan, delivering a speech tonight to the nation, and ron paul's people, being troublesome and metdalsome, a lot like conservative contingency at other conventions this could be a good bit even if mitt romney loses this could be like 1964, where you have an election that builds an infrastructure that dominates the party for a generation and i think and i

know, dan, you can't give us a look into what he's going to say tonight specifically, but this is what not only republicans but independents have been hungering for over the past 12 years. when you couldn't really tell a big difference in congress between republicans and democrats, because they were both spending our money at a dizzying rate. >> i would say just on that note, and to your point, romney and ryan watching them together down time on the bus, they're two woks. one comes from the business world, the other from congress, they spend most of their time kib bits about entitlement reform and the first 100 days. team into wongdom. i meet with candidates for congress all the time, comes to my office getting going. i can't tell you how many, young republican conservative republicans, late 20s, early 30s, they say, you know, when i get to congress, i want to be

like paul ryan. i hear that all the time. paul ryan has become the role model, young aspiring conservative political activist you want to take the kind of leadership and high-impact role paul ryan was able to do at a very young age. >> eagle scout. >> like john cakasic was to me. i decided to run for congress not when i got tapes and big hair -- >> big hands. >> paul was on the budget committee with kasich and he says he was his mentor. >> the guy that inspired me and i was watching c-span because i was a losing dork, i was watching it at home and see case sick a kasich and say i want to do that. >> not a bad fund-raising, not about big power, ideas and creating a network on trying to change the country? >> in d.c. you have members of

congress who spend all their time building networks with the crowd, paul ryan, his network is the think tank crowd. >> you brought up a great point and we have to go to break. jim has been tough on chris christie and some other people have been tougher on chris christie behind off camera, than they've been on camera. just on e-mails people saying i don't -- did i miss something? i -- i think a lot of people probably liked chris christie an awful lot last night. >> i do too. >> maybe didn't follow him closely. did he hit it out of the park, no? >> but he's human. >> he was human. as you brought up this morning, bill clinton in 1988, delivered a speech that a lot of people thought was disastrous, four years later he was president. >> that was no bill clinton '88. >> no, it wasn't. >> people are expecting always high jing and entertainment from chris christie. he does deliver on that. he also delivers in terms of

what you've seen in new jersey on policy and on record. >> all i'm saying, pull back the curtain further everybody has been buzzing for the last 36 hours, walking around town with an entourage bigger than the president of the united states, and that his advisers leaked a story to the "new york post." >> he hasn't been walking -- he's been walking with his wife. >> everybody on the floor has been talking about and so i think that is a distraction for the campaign, knowing that it isn't going to make a difference if romney wins or loses. >> it's the shoes. >> they look goofy. volume 14. willie, quickly, actually chris christie's biggest problem is, i was expecting a grand slam. you just expect it. whenever chris christie comes up to bat, you expect a grand slam. maybe he hit a strong double. >> to mika's point earlier, what did you expect him to do? bark at people in the front row or pick on people. that's the jersey style speech they wanted. you don't do that a a national

convention. >> overshadow both candidates i don't think so. i don't know. i have a feeling looking back -- >> stand up double. >> stand up double. >> a a stand up double. >> jim vandehei -- >> what entourage are you talking about? >> the entourage that goes with him wherever he goes to tv interviews, we've seen it. >> he has his wife. >> jim vandehei, why do you hate family? i mean seriously? >> i'm a lover. >> just like -- >> she's awesome, by the way. >> anti-family, i'm just going to be a truth teller, that's it. sometimes the truth hurts. >> those shoes look like they hurt. >> these are felt. >> los angeles dodgers spent $100 million on boston red sox, but last night they lost their best player. matt kemp goes face first crashing into the wall. tell you how he's doing next in sports.

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welcome back. a bit of an update for the hometown ray fans last year, they lost their fourth in a row. now we turn over to the national league, the dodgers have added $100 million of payroll, did it

a couple days ago. things not going so great since then. this is the latest piece of bad news, their biggest star, matt kemp, full speed, face first, into the wall at coors field. he lay there for a couple minutes, stayed down, when he did get up, he tried to stay in the game, trainers checked him out, he left one batter later to have precautionary x-rays on his jaw. took a pace into the wall and an mri on his knee. we don't know the status. dodgers lost 8-4, lost their last three, three and a half behind the giants. waiting to hear the status of matt kemp. one of the most impressive displays of teamwork you will see on a baseball diamond. it came from those san francisco giants. >> popped up. it's going to be a tough play for somebody. and sandoval flips it in the air, and crawford caught it.

>> oh, my. pablo sandoval, drops the pop-up, flips it in the air and gets an assist from brandon crawford who makes the diving catch. the giants win 3-2. when we come back here, andrea mitchell joins the table. "morning joe" live from tampa.

i believe that. that picture of andrea and michael steele is adorable. wonder if she knows he was getting massages at the oasis yesterday. >> sam snooen we'll have more on that later.

>> ariana has this amazing thing -- >> it's a spa and you have like lotions -- >> [ inaudible ]. >> she was giving me a tour and we pulled the curtain back and there was sam stein and the next one, michael steele. >> let's toreble. it's horrible. >> i like to think of that picture of like paul mccareny and stevie wonder singing "ebony and ivory". >> moving on. host of "andrea mitchell reports" andrea mitchell. >> i have not been near a spa but -- >> can you imagine all guys in there? okay. so -- >> they don't have to work too hard. >> exactly. >> thank god. >> carrying the theme of last night. >> you did yoga. >> here? >> you know i didn't. >> joe was doing yoga. >> i can't even lean over to get my drink without getting cramps in my leg. >> yeah. >> it was -- it was --

>> here's the image joe and yoga listening to his newt tapes. >> i shouldn't have told anybody. all right. >> it's not true. are you going to ask a question? we don't have a lot of time. >> ann romney, discuss? >> inside -- inside the hall, overwhelming, powerful, women -- some women with tears coming down their face. >> at what point. >> when she talked abiliout youe the women. it was oprah, a clarion call. she talked ability the storybook marriage, their marriage is a real marriage, storybook marriages don't have chapters on ms and breast cancer. >> that was very powerful. >> that was powerful stuff. i agree with peggy noonan and then i watched the speech afterwards on television and framed on tv, it has a different kind of impact. yes, john heilemann, i've been watching you this morning, and

she just -- her performance was fabulous. just the way she handled that stage, that teleprompter, the whole thing, the presentation. i would have liked, as peggy wrote, to hear more stories. give me the anecdotes. tell me about how he responded which we know about from reading and from interviews, we know how her husband stood with her through the diagnosis of ms and did so much to keep them going and give her the spirit to go on. i want to hear the granular details, the personal testimony, not -- don't tell me it is, tell me why. that's where i thought it could have been more powerfully written. there's no detracting from that speech. >> again, though, andrea, all the years that you've been covering politics and i've been involved with politics, it is always amazing how different

things can be. >> yeah. >> inside a hall, inside a convention center, inside a town hall meeting and how it translates through tv. >> think of the gore debate and those sighs and reactions. i watch all debates all television, not in the hall. as much as you want to be in the moment and at the event you have to watch it. david broader told me that. you have to watch it the way people are viewing at home, to analyze, i think dan, now as a political analyst and adviser to the campaign, see the way the american people are seeing it. that's the frame. >> dan, i guess as you prepare paul ryan tonight and talk to him tonight, it's important that paul understands, and i'm saying this, not you obviously, paul has delivered a lot of speeches, he's good, but that paul in any political candidate understands

that the hall doesn't matter as much as what goes across on tv because they're going to love paul ryan in the hall no matter what he does. he can read box scores from baseball games and people will love him. >> when he's -- we've been traveling around the last couple weeks, people say are you exhausted? gets this schedule all the time. the schedule we're keeping insane, some days two and three states in one day, rallieses and interviews and he says one of the biggest surprises about the process, he's been energized by it. he goes to these rallies and people say things to him on that rope line like i'm praying for you. people are enthusiasm and energy for him is intense. that's going to be there tonight. that's there for him. the moment he walks on that stage people want him to succeed. >> right. >> to your point he's got -- and i think he will, lay out the argument, not only introduce himself, talk about mitt romney, the generational divide between the two, but lay out the

argument for the country. >> yeah. >> all right. dan senor, thank you. >> thank you. >> good to be with you. >> good luck. >> see you tomorrow. >> not sure you screwed up anything this morning. you should be proud of yourself. >> you have a backup opportunity tomorrow. >> tomorrow morning. >> you build it in just in case i survive day one, yeah. >> we'll get you tomorrow. >> still ahead on this special edition of "morning joe" -- >> say hi to -- >> did you bring the kids? >> no. >> then you're okay. >> david gregory -- >> was it his responsibility to get them on the plane? "home alone 4." >> unbelievable. >> chuck todd and peter alexander will join us. "morning joe" back in a moment. abigail higgins had...

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i'm not sure if men really understand this, but i don't think there's a woman in america who really expects her life to be easy. ? our own ways we all know better. that's fine. we don't want easy. but the last few years have been harder than they needed to be. it's all the little things that the price at the pump you can't believe, the grocery bills that get bigger, all those things that used to be free, school sports are now one more bill to pay. it's all the little things that pile up to become big things and the big things, good jobs,

chance at college, that home you want to buy, just get harder, everythings that become harder. we're too smart to know there aren't easy answers but we're not dumb enough to accept there aren't better answers. >> it's now time to stand up, let's stand up, everybody stand up. stand up. because there's no time left to waste. if you're willing to stand up with me for america's future i will stand up with you. if you're willing to fight with me for mitt romney, i will fight with you. if you're willing to hear the truth, to hear the truth about the hard road ahead and the rewards for america, that truth will bear, i'm here to begin with you this new era of truth telling tonight. we choose the path that has always defined our nation's history. tonight we finally and firmly answer the call that so many generations have had the courage to answer before us. tonight we stand up for mitt romney as the next president of

the united states and together -- >> smile, mitt. >> okay. >> it is the top of the shower. welcome back to "morning joe." joining us now on set we have nbc news's tom brokaw, political columnist for "time" magazine, joe klein, columnist for "the new york times" thomas friedman, that used to be us, how america fell behind and the world and how we can come back now out in paper back and we have political analyst, host of pbs's "need to know" and columnist for yahoo! news, he jeff greenfield. >> tom brokaw, the reaction shots for mitt romney are revealing about this man. we've been trying to figure him out for a year. earlier this week jim vandehei at politico said this guy is just different. i'm not saying he's strange, but not like any politician even when i'm interviewing him.

he's not trying to connect with me. he's not trying to connect with anybody. it's about data, it's very disconnected and unemotional. but i see him in the hall standing up straight and you know who i think of? i think of bush in '88. any other politician, instead of any politician, they can sit there and smile. mitt is stiff, almost like he's embarrassed. i'm reminded of bush in '88 talking about how his mother would always scold him when he came in the house and talked about himself. wonder if romney is genuinely uncomfortable with people talking about him. >> of all the presidential candidates i've seen especially on an occasion like this, he is, i said on the air the other night, the most inauthentically spontaneous person i've ever seen. >> yeah. >> it just -- there's no spontaneity, he's tightly wound at all times. >> look at him there. they're talking about him. not a smile. there we go. >> on the other hand, joe, this

is how he's gotten to where he is in life. he has a fixed idea of who he is and how he wants to get there. it comes through in his faithfulness to the mormon church. >> right. >> and how he lives his personal life. at bain, they had to do a very detailed analysis of any deal they were looking at. i'm always -- i've been told by people who sat across the table from him, no one arrived better prepared than he did, knowing every last decimal point of the number. that's how he's raised his family as well. it's part of the reason that, plus the combination that he doesn't seem to be to a lot of people in that hall, the tea party members especially, one of them, ideologically. so my guess is that he's constantly thinking let's not do the wrong thing. >> yeah. >> jeff klein, not being critical of himself at all. something to be said about a man not swept up into the emotion of

people praising him. i wonder and i hate to do this because we're always doing this with bush '43, but i just wonder, if looking at the man that he loved and respected the most, having his political career fall apart in one second with one misstatement about being brainwashed, hasn't just shaped and framed him as a public figure since 1994. >> bet you $10,000 you're right. >> yeah, exactly. >> but, you know, to me, i have -- i always go back to the time i interviewed him when he was doing obama care -- romney care, the video mandate in massachusetts. spent a lot of time together. and he was -- i was really impressed by how much he did connect. you know, we were having a kind of -- >> you were talking details. you were talking data. >> how do you deal with a company that doesn't want to

participate, do they have to pay in and that's -- it was all this wonky stuff and he loved every minute and he was right there. i've seen him be a human being. it's kind of painful to watch him perform in public. >> be a politician. >> it's so much unlike the way he was. >> tom friedman, we keep going back to bush '41, here's another way that he could be a lot like bush '41, remember in '87 and '88 everybody was calling -- it's hard to believe this now, calling him a wimp and saying he was every woman's first husband. all of these things about george h.w. bush and i remember reading an op-ed by one of his friends that the george bush that i know and talking about how, you know, they were flying over america in a private plane, the door flies open, everybody reaches -- and he calmly walks over, pulls the door shut. about what he did in world war ii. again, i'm not drawing a

straight line from '41 to mitt romney, but there are a lot of similarities. >> i think on the personality level, that's true. i discovered actually bush '41 on the policy side. i'm a huge admirer, fascinating presidency. and for two reasons in particular, he actually -- i see the headline in the tampa tribune, christie, we will tell hard truths. one day. we are going to solve this medicare problem, by 2040. do you hear me? >> balance a budget. i got one more hard truth for you, on the way, you are going to have to take a tax cut. do you understand that. >> i understand that. >> there's a lot of cut. >> i will soldier through that. >> thank you, mr. friedman. >> while we are at war i will make the sacrifice of -- >> make the defense budget even bigger. >> when the budget required it, he raised taxes. and two, when the climate required it, bush '41, remember,

invented cap and trade to deal with -- >> can i give you three? and when people in his own party were telling him to use the collapse of the soviet union for political purposes, he refused to do it. let me say number four, when everybody was saying, don't reunify germany, bush ignored a lot of people in europe, you talk to german leaders today, they will tell you we are a country because bush had this quiet strength. >> vastly underrated. we will remember that presidency for bringing the cold war to an end without a shot fired. >> and that's the dis tingion, all of the talk about mitt romney as an exemplary business person, we heard last night, i don't think anybody no cynical person is not going to challenge the private mitt romney is a loving father and great husband. that's not who runs for president. the way you judge somebody who runs for president is on the public persona and on the public

persona in contrast to what you are talking about, i have tried to think of a single moment either in '08 or now, where mitt romney has stood up and said to the base on this you are wrong, because my conviction is otherwise, if you don't want to vote for me for that reason fine. so there may be countless acts of private charity and decency and even greatness, but we don't elect the private person to the white house. we elect the public person. i'm still waiting to see that. all of the testimony that ann romney gave last night, and it was endearing, you know. >> it's nice. >> was very nice. i don't think too many people are going to say, oh, now that i realize that mitt romney really loves his wife and was a great father that's what we need in the white house. so far, i don't think in really direct contrast, not just to bush, but clinton going after the base that joe wrote about, about welfare, my first mentor

robert kennedy telling college kids in vietnam i'm not for student deferment, i haven't heard a moment of that. >> tom, is that a fair take, that mitt romney has yet to show himself to be a guy who is willing to tell hard truths like chris christie of new jersey has told his -- >> no. i think that is the case. he strikes me as a man in northern michigan when the ice is thin, tried to get to one side to the other without falling through and taking very careful steps and not taking the big bold steps at the time and at some point my guess is he's going to have to do that to truly connect. it's going to be interesting in the debates. these are two of the debates that i want to see because those are going to be big defining moments it seems to me. whether he emerges as he did with newt gingrich when he turned on him and when he was well informed in a debate, he did well. he got in his face about his

investments, remember. >> right. >> and that's the mitt romney that a lot of people who saw across the table from him remember on deals, that he would -- you know, kind of laser like, be right there. we haven't seen that much. >> mika, it's strange that you talk to people and i can't repeat this enough, it is important, you talk to people who have dealt with mitt romney in business, and they just glow. >> right. >> they can't shut up. >> they don't say much. >> no. liberal democrats will say that guy, what he did at bain was revolutionary, he created jobs, he made a lot of money. we've heard steve rattner come to his defense, life-long democrat, that you talk to anybody, all of my friends that have been with this guy one on one in a hotel room before he goes out to give a speech or something, they're like, there's no there there. he's uncomfortable as a politician. >> can i say one thing, though,

about the difference between bush '41 and i agree with tom and jeff about he is underrated in terms of who he was and the boldness that he showed. we live in a different climate now. you know, whenever you say, whenever you raise an eyebrow, whatever you do, the blog sphere lights up and people make quick judgments in a bold and sometimes very destructive and damaging way. >> so the positive i've heard from people inside the campaign who recently joined it or known him on other levels is that he has an excellent management style, that he knows how to manage people like nobody else. which is fascinating. but in terms of the boldness that people are waiting for, that bold move, we have yet to see it. it may begin with paul ryan's speech. >> these are all endured skills, goes back to what jeff was saying. if i can broaden this out a minute. who's he running against? how often has barack obama gone up against his base on a lot of things? i can think of one time and

that's when he's gone up against the teachers unions on education policy for which he deserves a lot of credit. but during the 2008 campaign, i can't remember, aside from that, a time that barack obama stood up and said to the base, you're wrong. that's why -- >> he went after the moral liberals on whether they -- on -- the base was attacking democrats who didn't want to filibuster -- wanted to filibuster roberts and he chastised them. you're right. >> that was one of the clinton's great strengths. he understood that if he wanted to be a moderate, he had to appeal to moderates. i haven't heard a single thing from mitt romney this year where he chose to appeal to moderates as opposed to his base. >> and joe, the thing at the end of the day, you know, we don't just need speeches and we don't just need rhetoric, we need deals. we need a budget deal. we are only going to get a budget deal if there is a center

left and center right. now if there's a far left and far right. this guy, though, is a deal maker and i will tell you, i'm harshly critical of him as a politician on this show. just about every day. i'm concerned as a small government conservative he's not going to make the hard choices once he's in power and we're going to get like another eight years or four years of what we had with george w. bush. i got to say, when i really strip it back and think about what kind of leader would this guy be and hear what joe says and other people that dealt with him in massachusetts, i think of eisenhower. it was an objective guy who you ask, you ask dwight eisenhower, what did he think he brought to the white house? he said i'm objective, i get the facts and i make deals. but i wonder, like jeff said -- >> the deals he's done, romney, deals in business involving maximizing profits. >> and in massachusetts he and

ted kennedy worked together -- >> but the deals we need now are deals that basically get his own base and obama's got to do the same one, to accept the fact that we need to do three things now. we need to raise taxes, we need to cut spending, and we need to invest in the formula of our success. if you don't do that, you've done nothing. >> first of all, when tom talks about different times of bush '41, talk about eisenhower who ran as a progressive in his acceptance speech that's a different time. i don't think you'll hear the word progressive too much. if you only got to know them he's great in small groups which is the political equivalent of telling somebody who has a blind date she's got a great personality. >> that's not good. >> interesting. >> can we talk history? >> yes, we can. want me to go to 44 years ago yesterday? >> you do that. >> it was 44 years ago yesterday that the nation watched in horror as violence erupted

outside the democratic national convention? chicago. thousands of anti-vietnam war protesters clashed with riot police in grant park becoming ground zero for political and social change during the late 1960s. >> the whole world's watching, tom, of course buchanan, we blame buchanan for this. >> no. >> we think he was masterminding it for nixon. talk about a different time. >> my god. >> this convention is so staged, so calculated like all conventions, you had 6 -- let's talk about '68, but also '72 where democrats went to miami beach and went into the middle of the night, not knowing who their nominee was going to be, what a different time. >> let's just say with '68 for a moment, if we can, jeff was a bobbie kennedy side when he was assassinated in los angeles,

prior to that we had dr. king killed, prior to that lyndon johnson saying he wouldn't run for re-election, gene mccarthy go to the streets of new hampshire, 16,000 people were killed in the vietnam that year. that was the scene night after night on the streess of chicago. george wallace running for president as an out and out bigot saying if you lie down in front of my limousine it will be the last limousine you lie down in front of. think of how much was in play and deeply divided. richard nixon, the political mastermind, figured out how to win in the south and separate the silent majority from what you saw in the streets. there was utter chaos at that time and i remember in august of that year, when the soviet union invaded czechoslovakia, i said on the air, seems like this has been going on a decade and only halfway through. >> all the things tom mentioned

you didn't even talk about ted. so many things happened that year -- >> and riots all over america and france almost collapsing in chaos. i once said about '68 this is the year we're going to have a hard time explaining to our children because it was -- it was when the quote that every speechwriter i know carried with him or her, things fall apart, the center cannot hold, and anarchy is leased upon. seems like ta was the headline. to some extent i almost think people not with these riots look back at the conventions and want something to happen. >> i don't want that to happen again. >> no one does. >> my sympathies back then were in the streets with the protesters, but in truth it took the democratic party 25 years to recover from that convention and from the impressions that convention made on average folks in the middle of the country. it wasn't until bill clinton that was really purged. >> we're at war with

afghanistan, that word won't be mentioned. >> unbelievable. >> longest war. >> thank you very much. >> jeff greenfield, thank you as well. >> willie geist is standing by with what's next. willie? >> you know him here in tampa as the goateed face on the most famous button at the republican national convention. now see him in the flesh. chuck todd joins us in a moment. next from a republican governor of new york, george pataki and mel martinez of florida, next when we return the howl at the moon in tampa. hey. hey eddie.

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24 past the hour here with us now, former republican senator of florida mel martinez joins us. very good to have you on board with us this morning. >> senator, thanks so much for being here. >> my pleasure. good to be with you. >> welcome to florida. >> yes. thank you so much. >> exciting to be here. the hurricane avoided us. that's great. so what do you think of chris christie last night? >> the kickoff. >> i thought he connected with the mid western voter. i thought he connected with everyday working-class americans which is part of what our party needs to do, to show that demographic we can be a party they can be comfortable in. i think christie made them comfortable in our party. >> who's going to connect with the hispanic voter? such a huge gap between what republicans get and what democrats get from hispanic voters. we're a long way from the republican party of jeb bush. >> and that's the guy. he speaks tonight, right? >> yep. >> and he can connect with hispanic voters better than i

could. he is a terrific communicator and has a very good understanding of the hispanic culture and who we are and what we need to hear. he has a great message. >> how much damage was done to the republican brand among hispanic voters during iowa and new hampshire, south carolina, those early primaries. >> yeah. >> where people like rick perry got absolutely invis rated -- eviscerated for saying that kids, kids of illegal immigrants should be able to go to school, born in america? >> i think a lot of damage was done. there's no question about it. less than honest to sugar coat it. a lot of damage and unnecessary in many ways. >> and mitt romney followed the pack. >> primaries are not a great place to make good public policy, not a great place for lofty ideas and that's really what happens in primaries. but let me say that number one, damage by no means irreparable.

there's still an opportunity like there, talking about things other than immigration. immigration is one thing, but florida, hispanics, cuban-americans and puerto ricans, immigration is not the burning issue. the burning issue is jobs, health care, the economy, and you know by the way, i fought hard in the senate for immigration reform. i battled and i'm here to tell you democrats sliced up the issue -- >> i know they -- >> immigration is not the only issue why are his numbers so bad when it comes to the latino vote. how does mitt romney the can tate, i understand the value of jeb bush but he's not running for president, how does mitt romney fix this? >> romney has to reach out personally and he will do more of that. part of what we've seen is romney has been spending five to one in hispanic media so far. we can talk about what happens in our shows and in conversations with the candidate, a lot of it happens on bought tv with, you know,

that joe, florida is a state that moves numbers when you make tv purchases. not only as to hispanics but the florida situation, romney has been badly outspent in spent. you cannot win elections in florida being outspent on tv. when romney goes on the air, or even tops out obama, those numbers will shift in his direction. >> tom friedman, you talked an awful lot and i quoted all the time, about how when we give somebody ph.d. we should staple a green card to the back of it. i have yet to get a good answer from politicians in washington, d.c., from the obama white house, from the republican congress, why do we kick out the best and the brightest from across the world who want to stay here and start jobs in north carolina instead of new delhi? >> 40 to 50% of the fortune 500 companies have been started by first or second generation immigrants. that tells you how important they are to energize in our country. and on the point of jobs and education, you and i have talked

about this, there are four numbers that i would point to. if i were running here at this republican convention this would be the centerpiece of my speech. if you have a four-year college degree your unemployment rate is 4.1%. two years of post-secondary education around 7%, if you just graduated high school, it's around 11%. and if you dropped out of high school, it's 13%. so everyone wants to know what their jobs program. it's simple, if you get at least two to four years of post-secondary education, you are going to have a job. if i were running for president i would be out there saying i'm going to be the education president, i'm going to guarantee as john kennedy said stick with me eight years we'll put a man on the moon, in eight years i will guarantee every american who wants to will have access to post-secondary education. how will you pay for it? waste, fraud and abuse. i don't really care. if we're going to lie ability how we're going to pay for

things, let's get something for it. >> this guy is headed for the senate. >> waste, fraud and abuse. we love that. >> and tell them what we're not going to pay for. >> sell more of the -- >> it seems the conversation nationally about education, centers around how much money we should be spending. we know we spend more money than any civilized country in the history of the planet. it should be more about how we spend the money, what are the smartest things we could be doing. a more nuanced conversation than the one we have. >> we know one thing teachers matter. one of the things i would love to see somebody propose is that i would exempt all public school teachers in america from federal income tax. give them all a raise tomorrow. serve as a stimulus. it would attract the young people. we're missing the fact that our smartest young people don't go into teaching like in korea and singapore and the best educated countries. >> what do we expect from jeb bush tonight? >> he really connects in a terrific way and the issues of education but also on immigration issue.

i hope we will touch on that. he's really beloved in florida and will help the florida issue a lot. >> mel martinez, thank you so much. tom friedman, thank you as well. still ahead, chuck todd and david gregory join the conversation. keep it here on "morning joe," live from the elephant bar in tampa. ♪ why not use all your vacation days this year? get points you can easily redeem for your vacations, with chase sapphire preferred. ♪ [ chirping ] [ chirping ] ♪ [ chirping ] ♪ [ male announcer ] audi a4 drivers have spoken. [ engine revs ] and they ranked the a4 highest in total quality index in its class. [ chirps ] experience the summer of audi event before september 4th

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all right. it's 34 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." live look at the convention center where we'll be hearing from paul ryan tonight. that should be fascinating and jeb bush as well. back here at the howl at the moon bar, the elephant bar, we have mark halperin, andrea mitchell, willie geist, back with us and tom brokaw and in just a moment we'll be simulcasting with the "today" show. peter alexander and then joe will discuss the presidential race with matt lauer, here in tampa, over at the convention forum. so that will happen in just a few seconds. let's go around the table, though, scale of one to ten a little tough, we'll put mark halperin on the spot first, ann romney, chris christie, how did they do, scale of one to two? >> answer in prompt ter. >> quick, quick quick. >> 8, 8, 7.8. >> ann romney, chris christie?

>> ann romney a 9. chris christie -- >> come on now. >> i like tom brokaw. >> you were expecting him to dance dance or something. >> ann romney, esst easily a 9. i think what andrea is looking for, he looked like a politician didn't talk about one. principle and compromise, what's going to be the judgment about our generation. i think that's the test for our time at this time. so i think in the bars in the midwest and across the country, and i like that guy, that's how i think they feel about him. >> the greatest generation two name checks. >> we're moving to new jersey by the way. >> okay. we're going to be simulcasting with the "today" show we'll go now to matt lauer who's standing by at the convention center and he and joe will talk about how the party moves forward, starting tonight. here's matt.

we're not ready yet? >> t.j. was on -- >> i got a great countdown, five, four, three, two, one, here's matt. when he accepts that on thursday the first mormon to be given that honor. peter alexander at the convention as well, more on that side of the story. good morning. >> good morning to you. most people know very little about mitt romney's mormon faith, almost something he never speaks about on the campaign trail, mentions it once by name in the nine months we've traveled with him. that appears to be changing and romney advisers insist that his deep faith and leadership within the church, help indicate several important qualities they say voters will come to embrace. ♪ our shadow >> reporter: one night each week at their home in salt lake city, james wood and his family practice a mormon tradition, strengthening their relationships and faith by taking time for song and prayer.

>> what do most americans least understand about mormonism? >> we're not weird. we're like everyone else raising families trying to make ends meet and be good people. >> reporter: wood is a stake president, a volunteer president presiding over several mormon congregations in his community as mitt romney did years ago in boston. >> he's an honest, hard working, person whose focus is on his family and so we're proud of that. >> reporter: while romney once called mormonism one of the most important treasures of his life he's been largely reticent to discuss it on the campaign trail. last weekend a devoted church goer invited reporters to accompany him to services near his summer home in new hampshire and last month told nbc news his faith has enriched his life. >> i'm very proud of my heritage. without question, i'm a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints i'm proud of that. >> reporter: since its foundings in the 1820s in new york, this has faced questions and scrutiny

about its unique teachings including the ban on alcohol and caffeine, a belief the garden of eden is in missouri and the church's past embrace of polygamy, a practice disaviewed more than a century ago. while mormons consider themselves christians, some church leaders disagree. last october as romney was campaigning ahead of the republican primaries, one influential baptist pastor called romney a good moral person, but not a christian. during those primaries, romney struggled most in southern states. with large blocks of evangelical christian voters. in the 1980s philip barlow was one of romney's counselors, a confident in the boston congregation romney led. he recalls romney's leadership marshalling help for a congregation member whose home was damaged in the storm. >> he looked at us and said i'm no, not doing anything more important than that after this meeting, are you? very hands on, as a bishop.

>> reporter: and i am -- >> reporter: the nation's fastest growing religious group the mormon group spending millions with an ad campaign presenting a diverse base. while mormon officials insist their outreach is unrelated to romney's candidacy, one prominent member says the messaging was orchestrated in his words to stay ahead of the romney curve. as romney battles to become president he's making history as a religious pioneer. and tomorrow on the same day that mitt romney addresses tens of millions of americans his campaign will very publicly be embracing his mormon faith, matt. the invocation will be given by a mormon church member and we'll hear from several members of romney's congregation in boston, members who have experiences with him in the church and help share their stories about his leadership. >> all right. peter alexander here at the convention as well. thanks very much. joe scarborough is the host of "morning joe" on msnbc. he's in tampa as well. joe, good morning.

>> good morning, matt. >> so, the campaign advisors are saying that governor romney insisted about speaking about his faith and his speech tomorrow night. the mormon religion will be front and center in a way we haven't seen in the last several months. this is clearly a strategy shift. why are we seeing it? >> well, i think they understand, mitt romney cannot run away from who he is. he can't run away from his more mannism, the fact he made a lot of money at bain capital, he can't run away from his record in massachusetts and it's good news for governor romney that he wants to talk about who he is. he needs to get a lot more personal in this campaign. and there is no doubt from people that have known him his entire life that mormonism is at the foundation of who he is. his faith. is such a huge part of his life. >> but does it even matter, joe, a recent pew research poll shows that 81% of registered voters who know that mitt romney is a mormon, either don't care about it or are very comfortable with

it. so come election day, will it even be an issue? >> no. it really won't be an issue. i'm from the deep south as you know, i campaigned in the deep south, and there is no doubt that evangelicals saw mormons as their political allies. in fact, i remember growing up in atlanta, george, meridian, mississippi, across the deep south and my parents taught me that, you know, that mormons -- yeah, they don't drink caffeine. we don't understand some of the things they believe but they are good people, hard workers and with all do respect to tell even gellists who say they aren't christians we grew up believing they were christians too. we may not have understood everything about them, but they walk the walk and talk the talk. it will be great for mitt romney, theology aside, to be who he is and get comfortable in his own political skin and be just as comfortable as a politician as he's been as a business man over the past 20,

30 years. >> in the last 30 seconds i have, joe, give me your quick take on the two very different speeches we heard last night, from chris christie and ann romney? >> andrea mitchell pointed out to me that these speeches were supposed to be on different nights, but because of the hurricane, the schedule was comprosed together and because it was compressed together it was a mixed message, ann romney talking about love and then chris christie after it talking about hey, you don't need to be loved, you need to be respected. guys like chris christie and me talk about all the time, perhaps we're trying to make up for the fact that we're not quite as loved, but it's still -- i think it worked. mitt romney got what he needed last night out of ann romney and i think a lot of people inside the hall were absolutely mesmerized. the base was excited. i think it's positive. as far as chris christie goes, as tom brokaw said earlier today, you know, chris christie talked about big ideas, he wasn't berating reporters, he

talked about sacrifice, compromise, making hard choices. that may not have played well on twitter last night. i suspect over the next four years that will do darn well for the republican party whose brand has been tarnished over the past several years and for chris christie himself. >> joe scarborough here in tampa as well, thanks for your time. i appreciate it. >> thanks so much, matt. appreciate it. so -- >> back here at the bar. let's talk about the compression, back at the bar, can we get a drink? >> seriously? >> all right. >> that's right. so talk about what you were saying to me about the compression of the two nights and how you really had mixed messages. >> you know, i think there was that, the mood swing from ann romney representing love and chris christie talking about the sort of tough -- >> not about love. >> not about love at all. >> what's it about? >> when i was sort of going for a grade or score as though we

were ranking olympic gymnastics for chris christie, i feel it was an effective speech and as tom pointed out, got to the whole question of something that is, you know, so dear to the heart of the tea party, supporters and others in the party, and outside the party. some kind of fiscal responsibility. that was his message. i would have liked to see humor. sarah palin four years ago talking about lipstick on a pig and she was tough but did it in a witty, sassy, charming way and chris christie, we know him, you goes know him best of all -- you guys know him best of all, he has that in him. i didn't see that sparkle from chris christie. >> glad you brought up sarah palin, because tom, we were watching on tv last night, and as i watched rick santorum looking a little nervous and sort of shaking his head with every sill labelle he gave and -- sill bell and then saw ann romney speak and then chris christie speak, not quite

hitting the mark people expected, mika and i were saying, you know what, this sarah palin, what she did four years ago, you see tonight how extraordinary that was. >> it was a big moment. she was totally unknown to the rest of the country at the point. there was -- no one knew quite what to expect and she came out and i don't think she'll be offended by me saying this because i spent a lot of time in the american west, i know a lot of women like sarah palin out there and they can stand at the end of the bar with the best of the boys and tell the stories and be funny and engaging and that's who she was. it's when she got beyond that is where she got into trouble about the depth of her understanding and everything. but that was an electrifying moment. i thought last night, by the way, was kind of a classic police technique. the good cop and then tough cop. those two messages that put together -- and i think that people are able to make the transition when they're sitting at home watching, they had one

expectation from ann romney and another expectation from governor christie. one of the things that surprised me a little bit is that governor christie can go into the inner city in newark, with cory booker as a republican governor, and talk to people in ways that serve him well, serve the mayor well, and serve the state of new jersey well. i heard him tell a funny story, the night after he was elected -- morning after he was elected as governor, he called the mayor and said i'm coming to the inner city of newark and he said, they had not in those neighborhoods seen a republican governor before show up the morning after the election and when i said to him, what did they say about you? he said they said oh, god, he's big. but it was a connection that he made and he still has that communication with cory booker. in fact may run against him at some point. but they stay in touch. >> all right, mark. >> one of the things in

listening to the conversation that occurred to me, that links the speeches, mitt romney is never going to be seen as more likable by the public at large but both ann romney and chris christie talked about him as strong, talked about the republican party as strong in dealing with the challenges we face today and that is a contest we win and one thing we like in our presidents, someone who is a strong leader. she said it closing her speech. the theme of chris christie talking about the republican form of governance. >> the line he will not fail went off very well by ann romney last night. thank you so much. >> thank you, tom. >> david gregory and chuck todd will be with us. >> get your buttons out. >> you're watching "morning joe," live from tampa. t dog.

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♪ welcome back to "morning joe," live again this morning in tampa for the republican national convention. really, the big story so far today, we haven't heard paul ryan, jeff bush or other speakers. the big story today, how fast the chuck todd buttons have been going. >> i was wondering, i didn't have any. >> i'm loaded up here. >> you've got all three. andrea, that's important. >> if i didn't have andrea -- >> chuck, we had vats of these this morning. i swear. of course come on. >> am i wrong? >> we had to send out to have more made so we got a whole new vat the state of florida needs. the chuck todd button is red-hot. did you have a hand in the production of these? >> pushing your brand. >> i didn't get any sleep last night. somebody had to make them. wait until you go inside. >> right now we pretend he's making them -- no. >> back at the hotel.

by the way, dodgers last night, matt kemp, the red sox, ex red sox collectively, 0 for 4 and we got a fifth trade, bobby valentine's black cat. >> the curse of the red sox. we'll bring chuck in a second. and mark leap very much when we come leibovich when we come back to tampa at the rnc.

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coming up in just a few minutes, former republican governor of new york, george pataki joins the table. playing some games here, some drinking games at the bar. we'll get his take on the republican national convention last night and what he wants to hear today. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. or vodka. aouncer ]ifavto rega gam

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♪ i want to talk not about what divides us but what holds us together as an american family. i want to talk to you tonight about that one great thing that unites us. that one great thing that brings us our greatest joy when times are good. and the deepest solace in our dark hours. tonight, i want to talk to you about love. >> the greatest lesson that mom ever taught me, though, is this one. she told me there would be times in your life when you have to choose. between being loved and being respected. >> i believe we have become paralyzed, paralyzed by our desire to be loved. tonight, we are going to do what my mother taught me. tonight we're going to choose respect over love.

>> i'm trying to -- >> it is the top of the hour, live look at the convention center from above here in tampa, florida. tonight, paul ryan will address the convention right there. that will be fascinating. welcome back to "morning joe." >> i'm a little confused. >> is that -- they won't let him in. >> let pretty boy in. i'm a little confused. i got my button, right? i got my chuck todd button. and jeff heilmann has his chuck button. >> i do. >> and chuck todd -- >> i got everybody, joe, will, mika, andrea. >> it's like that scene from "office space." >> that's right. you have to have the flair. pieces of flair. where is your flair? >> david, where are your buttons? >> wait a minute. >> i don't have a button. i don't have flair. >> aw, you're handsome. very put together. >> i'll hold out for a belt buckle. >> we have the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory

and host "the daily rundown" chuck todd. we have nbc news, peter alexander, traveling with the campaign for nine months now. >> how is that working for you? >> apparently i wasn't one of the first 15,000 fans to get a button. >> you were almost kicked off the floor last night for contraband. >> yeah, water is not allowed on the rnc floor as i learned last night. >> a guy came up and screamed at peter, no liquids on the floor! >> the hat brigade! >> talking to the romney sons, feeling good. you buys are behind us, got the boot. >> that happens. >> so, you know, back in '68, they're yanking walter cronkite and others off the floor, mike wallace. >> now you have the same reporter's experiences. >> booted off the floor for -- >> your evian. chuck todd, did you get any sleep last night? >> no. and it's clear. we're all a little punchy. >> so let's talk about the

speeches. and let's start with ann romney. understanding that it's sort of treacherous terrain to be too tough. >> i wouldn't be tough at all. what i would criticize is the choreography of the two speeches together. i think when you look at what was odd to me was the bankrupt abruptness of mitt romney, ann romney gives a personal speech, the crowd was into her. >> they loved her. >> sealed with a kiss. it was a nice moment. and then out comes chris christie. it just felt -- the chris christie speech would have -- in isolation was a good speech. i think the ann romney speech in isolation was a good speech. they didn't fit together. >> it was an awkward fit. >> can i just say, i don't have four campaign buttons on my -- >> so really -- >> where is your credibility? >> where is your flair? >> i do think that -- this is

really for people at home. i really don't think there is concern about the choreography. it's just some impressions from the people they see. and look, i mean, i think you can take on content, you can take on whether she was trying too hard to connect to women. i think she came across as a very likeable person. she can say things about mitt romney, even if it's things that we may have known about their love story, about marriage. about the culture of their own church and things he does for other people that nobody else, including himself, can say about him. and i just think that that has a lot of resonance. but it was also very clear, they were trying to speak to suburban women in this campaign. >> but it should have been the last thing people should have flicked off the tv last night should have been after the mitt romney and ann romney kiss. that's my point. >> yeah. >> let it settle in. let the speech settle in. let the an romney spooep -- >> i would make one other point. a very strong democrat texted me after the christie speech and said, you know what, the guy has got pretty broad appeal.

president obama should be happy he's not the nominee. i think he did say some things that also appealed to independent voters that are tough messages that would apply to both parties. and, again, i think if you're at home, if this is about not, you know, even what's happening in the hall, but swing voters, undecided voters at home, i think there are some impressions there that you could take away that would be positive. >> peter on the floor -- i'm sorry, go ahead. >> i had some interesting impressions from the floor walking around with you, looking ahead tonight to hearing from jeb bush, who has been critical of the republican party. you were always getting -- swarmed in congress, people know you from being on television and doing politics. and there was a different reception last night to four years ago in terms of the conversations that were generated on the floor. it seemed like the party or the people that were coming up to you have kind of a self awareness about the way forward. does that make sense? >> they do. but that happens when you're in the wilderness in four years. >> yeah. >> you know, republicans that owned the white house for eight years, i think last night people that we talked to on the floor were -- they weren't -- they're

not thrilled about mitt romney, but they really think that they've got a good chance to turn the page. and i think peter alexander, there's a growing awareness that despite a very rough year for the republican brand, and it has been brutal. look at the poll numbers. that's objective. it's not my opinion, that is objective. a very rough year for the republican brand. they arrive at this convention with a candidate that they're not really excited about. with a really good chance of driving barack obama out of office. >> i think they think this thing is very much in play. i think, frankly, ann romney, whatever we may have as the opinions inside the bubble as it were here in tampa, i think she set the bar high in terms of what her husband has to do on thursday. i think there is a good chance we leave here saying that ann romney, she can really communicate. >> the hall really exploded for ann romney, didn't it? >> they did. the hall certainly did, and we as reporters who traveled with this campaign for the course of much of the last year saw the ann romney we experienced on the road.

she was on the plane with him. when he is with her, he is a different person. and when he came up at first, it seemed like they had a very real moment and then turned and it was like, wow, now we are on. >> right. >> when they are together he is far and away at his best. she brings out a different part of him than we normally get to see and i think that set a high bar for him as we head into his speech thursday. >> well, i'll go back to what i said earlier. i thought her performance skills were incredible. she looked great, sounded great, high-pressure speech. she came across incredibly well. i do think that, you know, there's a difference between exposition and illustration between showing and telling. she told us a lot of things about mitt romney. she didn't show us that much about him. and i think, you know, peggy noonan wrote this morning, there was an opportunity for him to tell anecdotes to show us more, not just to assert things about him. but to illustrate. and i think she -- >> talking about speech writing. >> the content did not help her. >> and i think that that was a missed opportunity. i think that there is still -- there are things that i -- as i

was hearing her talk, what is it -- you know, he's never -- he will not fail. well, why? what are the things that would show me that kind of determination? the things about their love story. i thought there was a little bit of missed opportunity. as i say, i'll chime in with peggy noonan and agree with that. a good speech, though. >> right. >> i agree. i think it was convoluted and they were trying to do too many things. here is ann romney. she explained the satisfaction the romneys get from their charitable work. >> this is important. i want you to hear what i'm going to say. mitt doesn't like to talk about how he has helped others, because he sees it as a privilege. not a political talking point. we are no different than the millions of americans who quietly help their neighbors. their churches and their

communities. they don't do it so that others will think more of them. they do it because there is no greater joy. give and it shall be given unto you. >> well, you know, chuck, i'm thinking about four years ago at the republican convention, seeing ann romney and her sons and grandchildren sitting up, just watching things go by, sitting back and relaxed. really is something when you get inside that bubble four years later, the intense pressure that they're under. and last night, inside that hall, she really stood and delivered for the delegates. >> she did. and i actually thought it was kind of endearing at the beginning. and i talked to a pretty high up romney adviser who said that i was right about this. she seemed nervous but in that endearing way. >> in a great way. >> my god, you know, there are these teleprompters sitting here. >> remember john kennedy jr.? i think it was in '84.

somebody wrote that he had the good sense to be nervous. and it made him so much more likeable that he was -- same thing with ann romney last night. >> and the crowd, you know, was there for her. and then you could just feel her feeding off the crowd. that was another thing about the two speeches last night. the crowd -- there was inside the hall more -- rooting for ann romney to do this right. you almost got the sense that these folks were all political strategists. needs to do well the night we want her to do well, because, boy, we've got to close thempathy gap. it was more of a reactive sort of normal way to react to the christie speech. >> i wonder if some ways -- i was looking for too much. and david gregory, i'll ask it this way. did she appeal to suburban women in that speech? that speech breakthrough and say, gosh, she is like me. >> perhaps not to you. but i think, yeah, i think a lot of suburban women, absolutely. i think who are looking for different things. they're not looking for the

choreography of the political campaign. they're looking, you know, to take the measure of someone they don't know and that's mitt romney. she's not running for office. but spouses often can fill in the blank about the other spouse. or they can say things that he as a candidate can't say. >> what did she fill in about mitt or what did she reveal? >> i think it's just the way she talks about him. you can't get anymore personal than talking about your love affair with your husband for 42 years. that is the most personal part of a man and woman coming together. that's about as scholarshipive as you can get. and people do want some window into that. she said i'm going to talk about love. and we may not want to get too detailed. but everybody -- >> this is a good point. >> but everybody gets that. and i think there is something else. you know, people who have been around mitt romney -- take the costco moment. i love the shirts from costco. it doesn't have the ring of truth. people who know mitt romney say, yeah, that's absolutely true. that's absolutely true. so it may seem, you know, nerdy or something. but it's who he is.

so the reality -- the culture of the mormon church, what they do in terms of the community, investment in his community, the fact that he has been effectively a pastor in the church, those are real things. but they're a little less accessible than certainly other faith communities. so i think all of that together has the potential to reach people who are not, you know -- who are inclined to be open, i guess is what i would say. i think there's a lot of people who have made a judgment, and i don't think that helps at all. but i don't think that was the intended audience. >> so, pete e you've been following mitt romney for nine months and we're obviously looking forward to his speech tomorrow night where he defines himself. it is tomorrow night, right? what is today? >> mitt speak? >> we aren't -- >> day seven of the convention. >> it is day seven. computer is going to get -- security is going to get tighter. >> i can't remember, is the volcano this week or last week? >> can we just do this from behind the bar tomorrow, so we don't have to move? >> just lean up to the bar.

so, peter, as we look forward to this speech tomorrow night and try to figure out whether mitt romney is going to connect to america or not, you've seen over the last nine months, we have commented on this show he had like a shining moment in new hampshire after he won there. but he's been flat and disappointing in a lot of speeches. are you noticing on the campaign trail that his staff members believe, especially since the ry ryan pick, that he is improving,ing abouting a better performer? >> i think watch what happened in the days immediately after the ryan pick, put the two together and the next two days separated them to send to other states and by the next week back together in new hampshire, together with them i object it was in michigan or wisconsin, hard to keep track at this point. they'll be together again friday when they roll out the new plane and take off again. so i think they recognize that he is better with those others. complementing him. it brings something out in him. the pride in his eyes when he looks at paul ryan loosens him up. paul ryan is the same age as tag

romney, his oldest son, who by the way, was more broken up than anybody in the moment when his mom walked out there. there was genuine pride in those guys' eyes. as we talk about these moments, i interviewed the romney, five sons a couple months back for "rock center" and shared conversation with you guys then. even as much as you talk to them, there always is sort of a place where we don't really go past this spot. we're trying to get past a certain place. there has been books written about their dad, stories about their dad and mom. but a lot of the stories have become familiar for the people who have covered them for all this time. obviously, ann romney, i think, as david made the point was speaking to an audience outside those familiar with her. >> they can't stand to be separated and not talk about entitlement reform. >> exactly. >> do you think peter was chosen to cover mitt romney because he looks like one of the romney boys? >> he's perfect. i was thinking -- as i'm looking at him -- >> he's perfect. >> one of the great lines in history, warren zevon,

werewolves of london. i looked at him on the "today" show and said why can't -- why can't i be put together like this guy. >> you can't. >> i'm sloppy. >> doesn't even happen. >> you know why, because we're more like -- >> he's got "it." >> worth that costco conversation the governor was having did resonate true in the alexander household. >> really? >> there's a costco suit. >> um -- >> stutter, stutter -- >> it's a knock off from the olympics. >> let's talk about tonight for a second. paul ryan is speaking tonight, he really could do anything and i think the people inside the convention hall are going to explode. but this guy is a wonk. policy wonk. i introduced him at cpac and just to be blunt, we were surprised how bad he was reading off a teleprompter. he was bad. this is a guy i've admired for a

long time. >> yeah. >> but he loves talking ideas. he loves talking about the minutia of entitlement reform. >> he was good, he just went on too long. >> he's not a born performer, because it's about ideas with him. and i respect him so much for that. >> yeah. >> has he been able to rise to the occasion, frank? >> that's the big question. at bottom, whatever else you want to say about paul ryan, he's a congressman. and with all due respect to congressmen, he's not run for statewide office, let alone national office. this is a way different kind of challenge. and you go back to 2008. what was so impressive and blew everybody here away, and regardless of where you are in terms of party, sarah palin walks out on the biggest stage in the world with all that pressure, red-light performer and does this thing you can't teach it, it's just -- you either can do it or not. we have no idea whether paul ryan has that. >> i think he can. i think he's going to be great. >> and he was fine at his -- when they rolled him out in virginia. he was fine.

but it's a different thing. this is a much more stage thing. he's talking to a much bigger audience than he did that saturday morning. and it's -- the hall is going to love him. but more than any other speech, got to watch this thing. got to watch him on tv. >> mike clears christie, though. put a microphone in chris christie's hand and let him walk across the stage, he's going to light the place on fire. paul ryan, put a microphone in his hand, let him walk across the stage, he's going to give a great speech. >> you don't like that -- >> podium speech. >> it's another thing being chained behind there and i say this as a guy that i love getting the microphone and talking. but on a written speech, i start sweating, it's not -- it's two different skill sets. >> i think this is the biggest non -- this is the biggest who cares speech. and i say this -- let's take the sarah palin speech away. name me one vice presidential nominee speech that has had any impact. no, i'm not kidding. no.

>> i love -- >> that's my point. >> cheney, biden, kemp, edwards. i'm sitting here going through this thing. gore, quayle. i can go through -- >> he's going to do just fine. >> there are -- i believe in the modern-day conventions that -- of the big speeches, the two that matter most are the spouse and the vice presidential. the spouse speech is bigger than the vp speech. >> underlying chuck's point, in '92 dan quayle actually gave a hell of a speech. he did a lot better than anybody else in the convention in '92. and nobody remembers it. because you're exactly right. these vice presidential speeches -- >> they disappear. >> except for sarah palin, which, again, makes her performance four years ago all the more remarkable. >> here's the point i make about sarah palin compared to paul ryan. she was unexpected, she was unknown. so she surprised people and all of a sudden i thought she reflected all of a sudden the

heart of the party, more of the grass roots of the party. paul ryan reflects the head of the party, and what's so interesting is how different the party is now. so our prominent social conservative said the guy to watch is ted cruz from last night. paul ryan will be that. and i talked to some of the bush folks and said, wow, this is a different party. you know, george bush in 2000 campaigning on family values, at the rio grand talking about immigration. those kinds of things are not welcome here. paul ryan is much more into the heart of the -- and the soul of the party today. >> well, john heilemann -- i know i'm going to sound like my mother when i say this. you have spoken twice about looks when it comes to ann romney and how that kind of helped. i think paul ryan has a great face. very sympathetic face. i think his personality will really help him tonight. i do. >> i promise, if he's good looking tonight -- i'll say that tomorrow, too. he looked great. he does. >> that's what she said again at cpac and they loved mik at cpac. >> i was dancing.

>> it was an ugly thing. >> really awkward. i think they were making fun of me. >> you know, i think it was the first time you saw paul give a speech. >> yeah. >> and you said in a positive way, he's got a great face. >> he's got a great face. >> sort of a guy you trust. >> sweet blue eyes and he kind of -- a little bit worn. but he truly -- you feel like you know him. >> a little worn? what does that mean? >> in a good way. for guys, that's good. for me, on the other hand, i should probably just leave right now, i'm a little tired. >> chuck, are you going get some sleep today? >> yeah, you're punchy. >> i can't wait for you tomorrow, man. >> let's roll. >> it's going to be fun. >> you're staying? >> peter, thank you so much. >> hey tag, good luck. >> hold on a second. can i just ask -- why are they going to indiana today in the middle of the convention? >> why wouldn't you? i asked the same -- i think they want to make it a romney day every day. they're going to see his speech in tampa, can get rid of some of the foreign policy statements. i think a lot of people are asking that question. on the evening news tonight,

we're going to be talking about what romney said and ann and everything else. >> all right. david jets mentioned it, we're going to talk about another speaker who made a big splash last night. texas senate, ted cruz from the christian broadcasting network and george pataki. "morning joe" live from tampa is back in a moment. [ "human" by the human league playing ] humans. we mean well, but we're imperfect creatures living in a beautifully imperfect world. it's amazing we've made it this far. maybe it's because when one of us messes up, someone else comes along to help out. that's the thing about humans.

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♪ can we restore the constitution? yes, we can. can we retake the senate? can we repeal obama care? and can we defeat president barack obama? we are seeing a great awakening. a national movement of we the people. brought together by what unites us. a shared love of liberty. and an understanding of the unlimited potential of free man and free women.

>> welcome back to "morning joe," 26 past the hour. that was republican nominee for u.s. senate in texas, ted cruz, speaking last night at the rnc. and here with us now, former republican governor of new york, george pataki. and the chief political correspondent for cbn news, david brody, who is the author of "the tell evancals." >> taking the bar back. >> governor pataki said he's going to come locked and loaded, drinking all night so i was ready. >> tragically, it went so long, it was so screwed up getting back to the hotel, i haven't even had a bloody mary. >> i'll fix that. can we have a bloody mary, please, for the governor. >> security -- >> not on camera. because security is rough. >> well it is on you.

but then you're with the media. i expect that. they haven't given me a hard time at all. >> there is a lockdown down here. >> well, it is a national event with obvious historic problems in the past. so i think it's right that it's appropriate. >> yeah, so what's your take on the convention so far? >> i think it's been tremendous. you were talking about ann romney. and i don't think she could have done better. the word that everybody was using beforehand was likeable. she was not only likeable, she was someone that people could identify with. women in particular. i talked to a lot of the women delegates and they were just really enthralled. and then chris christie -- it wasn't a speech i expected. normally, the keynoter is the red meat guy. he goes out there, takes the head off the opposition. and with chris christie's reputation, i expected that. but what really was, was an intelligent appeal, more to independents. you know, we are the responsible party. you don't have to like us, but we're going to do what's right and what's going to work for you. and i think mitt romney needs those independents. he's got the red meat --

>> and you're talking about -- this is a republican who won new york state. >> three times. >> and chris christie in new jersey. so you know what you're talking about. dave, let's talk about ted cruz. is he the rising star of our tea partiers and evangelicals. >> no doubt about it. and you can lump him in with scott walker and some of these other guys, as well. look, i mean, it was interesting to see what ted cruz did last night. there was some code language in there. the great awakening. we hear about this all the time in those tea party and evangelical circles, i call them the teavangelical circles. he talked about how our rights come from god, not government, all of this. i think it was very interesting how ted cruz was able to navigate those waters and absolutely he's going to be -- i've got to tell you guys, i was on with ted cruz on -- down in dallas with glenn beck. it was actually glenn beck on the couch with glenn beck, ted

cruz, myself and matt can i havy from freedom works, tea party guy. we were all down there, this was about a month ago or so. and he was saying the same thing last night. it was in front of a tea party audience. and i've got to tell you, this is a winning ticket in the future. >> interesting. >> speaking of evangelicals, mika has the communion blood mary. >> it's a good one. >> is it nice and spicy. >> oh, yeah. bottom's up. >> is it clear he's in office? >> if this guy won a ballot, no chance he takes a sip of that sucker. >> it's a virgin mary. >> oh! >> spicy but no alcohol. is that not true, mika. >> david, you brought up scott walker, and that is i think something that i feel like people have missed. that was the -- the nobody -- the mention of his -- mere mention of his name energized inside of that arena like nobody else. he did the roll call for wisconsin. and he said i'm governor scott

walker. and it was -- it was erupted. a spontaneous standing ovation. and in many ways. and i think ted cruz thought he was going to be the big sort of -- the tea party star. i would say last -- i came away -- scott walker is the tea party star. >> i don't think there's any question about it. you can just cue up the presidential run at some point. there's no doubt. look, i think what scott walker also represents is something bigger as it relates to his recall election or the fact that he won his recall election. is that as you saw a lot of tea party groups and evangelical groups on the ground for months, sometimes up to a year, actually, in wisconsin helping this guy out. we interviewed scott walker about three or four months ago before the recall. and i got to tell you, he was talking this teavangelical talk. he is. he may not like the label, who likes a label, but the truth is he represents a mind-set of a teavangelical, conservative

christian breaking bread with the tea party. >> we were talking about it. to me it is so striking how if approximate you saw in president bush, compassionate conservative trying to rest the party away from the gingrich era. and now you see this return to fiscal conservatism, first principles to the tea party. i guess my question is, is there a harshness to it, in the middle of the electorate, that will make it difficult, you know, to win a larger mandate electorally? >> you know, that's a very important question. and i think the answer is no. not at all. i'm considered a more traditional bush type republican. there's not one thing ted cruz said that i don't agree with. and i think when obama and the congress rammed through obama care, it created an enormous ground swell of feeling. not just among the evangelicals or those called on the hard right, but among people like me,

that this government was far too big, far too intrusive. we had to get back to the constitutional principles of this country. and i think there is a unity that -- there's not the tea party faction and the other faction. there is an enormous sense, not just among republicans, but a lot of independents that our government is too big, too intrucive, too out of control. >> but mitt romney doesn't really represent that, right? >> well, i think he does. not in the way that ted cruz does but certainly in a way that appeals to voters. >> so david, what happens when a party is out of power is they become much more pragmatic, whether it's the people on the far left of the democrats or the people on the right for the republicans. i'm wondering how pragmatic pro life groups are this year. how pragmatic some of the evangelical leaders are, we saw that with everybody coming out and criticizing todd akin saying get out of the party, you're hurting the cause. are the pro life groups, are they satisfied with mitt romney?

>> they are satisfied, but they're going to hold him accountable. and they're going to wait to see what's going to come in the future. you know, it's interesting, joe and mika and all of you guys, look, it's kind of a gray area out there. we talk about pro life groups. wh but the pro life groups are also the tea party type groups. in other words, they're all kind of together. here's my point. concerned women for america, a pro life group. you know what, they're working with americans for prosperity and tim phillips group and doing bus tours together. family research council, the pro life group working with colin hanna, all very much a conglomerate. and this is what we talk about, coming together. and i've got to tell you one point you made, david, about mitt romney. it's interesting, because what ted cruz did last night where he talked about how our rights come from god, not government, mitt romney used that exact same line in irwin, pennsylvania and had, i counted t a 17-second stand owing vacation. bigger than obama care, anything else. if he wants to get people off

their feet, that's the winning ticket for romney. >> and bush used to use that line. >> that's exactly right. >> so governor pataki, are you going to finish that? >> i'm going to drink only the part above the alcohol. >> oh. >> he may be running again. >> governor pataki, david brody, thank you very much. >> always great to have you here. >> chuck todd and david gregory, thank you, as well. >> we can't wait to see you tomorrow, chuck. >> let's hope to god -- >> the reaction gets slower. >> all right. our next guest says that this presidential campaign is missing one critical three-letter word. the "new york times" -- oh, no, is it going to be a bad word? mark leibovich joins us to explain. "morning joe" will be right back. (cat purring) mornings are a special time for the two of you...

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we are here in tampa doing "morning joe." but our friend jim cantore in the middle of the storm there is hurricane isaac whips new orleans. he's right there in the french quarter getting blown all over the place. let's go up to new york to talk to bill karins and the latest on the storm. bill, what can you tell us? >> jim cantore out here in new orleans. amazing scene there this morning. they've had 60-mile-an-hour wind gusts for the last 13 hours straight in new orleans.

this storm has stalled out just south of new orleans, and we've got very impressive rainfall totals now, up to almost 10 inches of rain throughout this storm in new orleans. and you still have about 24 hours to go before the rain is completely over with. unbelievable. look at the timing on this storm. it's like walking across the state of louisiana. we're still going to be dealing with the storm as a hurricane as we go throughout the morning hours into the afternoon. finally, weakening to a tropical storm late tonight. but even by tonight, it's still only in central louisiana. it won't be until friday morning the storm gets back up into arkansas. and then we'll get the beneficial rains eventually through areas of arkansas, missouri, illinois and indiana. but all the problems this morning are down along the gulf. it's unbelievable this storm just hasn't weakened yesterday, still has winds of 80 miles per hour and, again, 46 miles away from new orleans. the tropical storm force winds are huge. they go from mobile all the way to lafayette this morning. and the hurricane-force winds are right down by the coast. and you can see on the radar

here, we're continuing to watch these bands. this is just a rough morning. about half the three quarters of the people in southeast louisiana are without power at this hour. so really we're continuing just an unbelievably stubborn, slow-moving storm in louisiana is getting hammered. >> yeah, bill, we're hearing more reports this morning about plaquemines parish, overflow in the levees, people stranded. we'll stay on top of hurricane isaac. up next, when we return to the republican national convention, we'll be joined by mike harewood and leibovich.

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♪ 44 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe," correspondent of cnbc and political writer for the "new york times," john harwood and "new york times mark leibovich whose piece in the magazine is entitled "feel the loathing on the campaign trail." mark writes, in part, what's been completely missing this year has been, for lack of a better word, joy. yes, it's always kind of fun to follow joe biden around and wait to hear what will come out of his mouth neck. and who knows what paul ryan has hidden under his oversized jacket. but principles don't seem to be experiencing much joy, as they go through their market-tested paces. a kind of fauxness permeates everything this year in a way

that hasn't been quite so consuming in the past. the effect has been anecessary they advertising. and it's making game changers and false umbrages. the campaigns appear locked -- >> as opposed to all of his other articles. >> terrified super powers spending blandly. beautifully written. >> the entire article -- >> i like it. >> exactly. >> fantastic. that's a good one. >> that was a good one. >> joy. >> so it is such a joyless campaign, and what i saw last night with a lot of the speeches, just rounded off at the edges, calculated. and i guess -- >> careful. >> but there is no joy. and no joy -- and i'm not -- this isn't a false equivalency? no joy coming from either side. >> oh, either side at all. it is not false equivalency. what i did in this story, which i normally don't do and which political reporters aren't supposed to do, i got pretty personal. and i covered about ten years of these things now, as well as a

lot of other people. but i literally in about the spring was wondering how i was going to get through the next few months. because neither candidate seemed to be having fun. neither campaign seemed to be engaged in anything high-minded. there were no surprises. i felt like everything was a cliche. and this is not one of these gauzy speeches about how our politics has just ascended. we have a short memory on these things. ultimately, my daughters are getting older, i want them to feel good about their leaders. >> how much do you think, joe, the primary field had to do with this, let alone what's going on in washington? think about the primaries four years ago. and how it helped each candidate get better. >> it made them better, though. i've got to say, you've got to look, just like an organization starts at the top, you've got to look at these two candidates. when it comes to politics, they're joyless. barack obama does not enjoy the game of politics.

he doesn't like it at all. mitt romney doesn't understand it at all. bill clinton loved it. he was on the phone at 10:30, 11:00 at night, calling people, trying to figure things out. reagan. we always talk about fdr. the great ones loved the game. both these guys loathe it. >> chris christie, he looked joyful. >> he loves it. >> yeah. >> joyful and delivering kind of a feisty message. >> yeah, but there is a lack of joy in this campaign, isn't there, john? >> no, i think there is. can i just say one thing on the important stuff? willie and i just discovered we were brothers in the bond. >> really? >> vanderbilt-duke. we would do the sec relate handshake, but a., it wouldn't be secret anymore, and b., neither of us can remember it. >> and it includes the passing of heroin from the left to right hand. >> andrea, please. >> i think the point that these two nominees don't love politics -- the nitty-gritty.

and it's also become so p prefabbed. you've got the attack machines and war machines, twitter verse. and it's really crazy. and i love it more than anybody. i think. i just love getting out there. but i think back to the '92 bus tour when bus tours were semi original. and they left madison square garden and they took off. >> and what did -- in 2000. >> and mccain and the first couple weeks with palin, although there were some rocky missteps along the way. but there was that energy and excitement. and the interaction with the crowds. >> and andrea, the key word to all of this that was in your piece is faux. the outrage is faux. the personalization is often faux. >> translation -- it's just stupid. >> mark, you're one of the most media-savvy reporters out there in terms of twitter and all that kind of stuff. how much of this -- >> wow. >> well, it's a compliment.

>> looking at you -- >> he's the vip of the political tweeting to this point. >> i should get some clothes. >> how about much of the quote, low mindedness of this campaign is because of the immediate responses the campaign has put out. somebody said something on "morning joe" at 7:00 in the morning and there is a fight by 9:00 and they have to respond to every little thing and create outrage. >> andrea's word was brilliant. i wish i used it in the story, percussive. and ultimately, everything burns off and burns off very quickly. the outrage. what was last week's outrage? it was the last twitter cycle. it is what is recent memory. >> again, because of a lack of joy, mika, there is such a harsh edge to everything. i'm going to bring up something that, you know, i hope i don't make people in our front office cringe about. chris matthews came on a couple days ago. i didn't love especially what he did. but you know what about chris matthews? he's got joy. >> he's got joy. >> he loves the game. >> loves politics. >> and you know what, when chris

matthews goes off or when i go off, we understand each other, because he knows i love this. >> right. >> i know he loves that. and if he's passionate, he's not passionate because he's looking for the haters to go, chris, you're right. or because there is this fauxness. as you know -- he did a profile. he hates you. but he loves -- but do you understand -- he does hate you. but i don't think -- no, no. rights would not agree with that. but guess what? chris would be joyful to him in the future too. >> i agree with that. >> you know what i mean, though? there's that joy that he's talking about missing? the operatives are better working -- >> something he actually feels. >> right. that love. and we don't get that. we don't get that this year, do we? >> not on the campaign trail. >> all right, john harwood and mark leibovich, thanks. >> it's tampa, they're on special, right? >> what was that -- what do you mean, it's tampa?

what is this? >> you can't get to a clothing store without going through ten layers. >> true. on tomorrow's show, we're going to light up this place with senators john mccain -- on every one of our cards there's a date.

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♪ oh, my gosh. >> hey, welcome back to "morning joe." meek j, what are you doing? >> told me to bring a shot. >> all right. very good. a lot of drinking going -- >> is the show over yet? is the convention over yet?

>> take your shot. >> how many more days do we have? >> she's drinking. let's talk about what we -- my lo lord. what are you doing? >> oh! what is she doing! >> it's going to be a long week. >> holy cow. now we know why poland lost all of their wars in history. the way to suck up to tampa bay. >> i wear this hat in washington. this is not a suck-up to tampa bay. what did i learn today? it's all real. everyone, this is all real. >> and there's no it joy. >> there's plenty of joy. >> i learned he bought that about 20 minutes ago at champs sports. nice try, pal. >> andrea. >> i've got to sober up. marco rubio and eric cantor, 1:00. >> what did you learn? >> haley barbour, best -- said i like sugar, whether it's in bourbon or pie. >> what did you learn, john?

>> ann romney can come through when she needs to, and chris christie thinks his message is more important than mitt romney's. >> okay. and if it's way too early, what what time is it? >> "morning joe," see you back here tomorrow morning at the howl of the moon. >> thank you, guys for coming. appreciate it. ner ] i need to ed to meet the needs of my growing business. but how am i going to fund it? and i have to find a way to manage my cash flow better. [ female announcer ] our wells fargo bankers are here to listen, offer guidance and provide you with options tailored to your business. we've loaned more money to small businesses than any other bank for nine years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it.

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