breaking news this hour, everyone. tropical storm isaac gaining strength and barreling toward the florida keys and new orleans now may be in its path. any moment now, florida governor rick scott will be updating the situation with the latest mandatory evacuations and storm preparations. we'll bring it to you live once it gets under way. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." tropical storm isaac is lashing south florida. new orleans, as we mentioned, now included in the hurricane watch. isaac is moving toward the west-northwest. winds are up to 65 miles per hour with higher gusts. isaac is expected to strengthen into a category two hurricane. we have the full forecast ahead for you. meantime in cuba, the storm spawned 13 foot waves that crashed over the sea walls. cuban tv said 50 builders were destroyed and they warn there is more damage to come. the storm has killed at least seven people in haiti.

three are missing in the dominican republic. back here in the dwroous, thousands in florida are without power right now. meanwhile, residents are preparing for the worst and finding stores sold out of storm supplies. the national hurricane center released a brand new advisory just a short time ago, and bill karins is here with the latest. bill, this seems to be getting progressively worse giving the timing. >> we knew the storm would hit somewhere, we just never knew who was going to get hit and what intensity. florida sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of the water between the atlantic and gulf. they were the first target, but isaac has made it in between florida and cuba. this is an inconvenience day. a minor event by florida standards as far as dealing with tropical systems, that winds are not high enough to knock out widespread power. the wind gusts in the 30s to low 40-mile-per-hour range, and the governor of florida is about to speak, alex. >> he's just introducing some folks. let's thake that live. we need you.

we'll be right back. here is governor skautd. >> everybody involved has been doing all week. we just finished our 11:15 briefing including federal, state, and local rnc. 10:30, we had a briefing with the utilities around the state. they're very -- they're focused on making sure they have moved forward resources that they need and they have done that, they have been deployed. we're experiencing minor outages in the southern part of the state. as you know, the tropical storm is starting to hit the keys right now. the latest is still moving a little bit west as it comes up the coast. but the keys are clearly going to get hit with tropical storm force winds. and very heavy winds. the panhandle will be -- still looks like it will have landfall somewhere in the panhandle. issue in the panhandle is especially because of tropical storm debby, we are -- the land

is still -- we're still saturated, so we have a big concern there about flooding. in the tampa, the biggest issue right now is the concern is going to be wind. but around the state, we have rain, we have wind, we have storm surge. and then we have the risk of tornadoes. i personally have canceled -- you know i canceled my activities for today and tomorrow and i have done it for tuesday. one thing locally in the tampa area is if you're someone staying close to the beach, stay close to the beach. don't start venturing into the tampa side because you don't know what's going to happen as far as your ability to get home. we've also asked locals to minimize travel. but we are going to have -- i'm very hopeful that the rnc will have a great convention. now, for everybody interstate, whether -- if you're a resident you probably know these things, three days of food, three days

of water, have your medicines, fill up your car. be careful if there's standing water. don't go into it. if you see power lines, call somebody, don't deal with it yourself. be very, very cautious. as now with regard to the conviction, we made sure that the delegates that are coming have niefinformation about how act around here because some have never been around a hurricane. as you have seen the storm has been moving a little west, so we're not only worried about what is going to happen to florida, but now we may need to help other states, including one state that has dealt with hurricanes, we know how to do this. if it goes further west, whether it's alabama, louisiana, mississippi, florida will be ready to be helpful. at this point, any of us can take questions. i don't know if anyone wants to add anything. >> what have you been told about

the convention because of rescheduli rescheduling? >> all i know is that they move forward monday. you would have to talk to the convention. [ inaudible question ] >> well, what we try to do at the state and all of us is try to make sure the convention and anybody having activities around the convection have all of the information. they can make an informed decision about the events. but while we're on monday, while we're getting the high winds here in the tampa/st. pete area, the people staying along the beach, we think it's beneficial for them if they stay over there because the risk of the bridges closing and things like that, roads closing, flooding, and things like that. >> what about tuesday's activities? >> what we have done is make sure they have all of the

information so they can make an informed decision. it's their decision. >> do you have any plans --? >> i'll make my plans for tomorrow, later today or first thing in the morning what i'm going to do. today, my plan is only today to be in tampa. >> can you talk about the distraction to the tv will have on louisiana and the storm -- [ inaudible ] >> look, the convention was a big opportunity for the state to show what a great state, place it is to live, work, and play. what they are going to find out this week is we know how to deal with hurricanes. we're prepared. this is a state that knows how to deal with those things. on top of that, we're the best hospitality state around. we have 87 million tourists a year. we know how to have large events

and we're going to do a great job. >> so there you hear, everyone. the governor of florida, and he makes a good point, that florida is all about tourism, and it appears at this point that florida is dodging the worst of it, though the keys are getting lashed. >> they're getting lashed. everyone had to cancel their plans. people had to stay where they are today, but their lives won't be impacted for the most part after this. and that includes the tampa area, too. tomorrow, they'll have squally type weather in tampa. it won't be all that bad. tomorrow, the storm will be moving over the open waters of the gulf with just a few rain bands near the gulf. the white line is the center of the storm, and you notice the thunderstorms start to increase around the center. it's trying to get stronger. it doesn't look like it will be a hurricane by the time it gets to key west. that should happen late tonight or tomorrow morning. winds are at 65 miles per hour. it has to go a little stronger to become a hurricane. let me get to the forecast and what the concern is today, new orleans is labeled on the map right there.

that's always the concern in the northcentral gulf along with our friends in biloxi and gulf port and mobile and panama city. the storm has taken a more westward trend. the intensity to this point until tuesday morning only supposed to be a category 1 hurricane. so don't write that in stone as just a category 1. after that, we're going to take the storm in the landfall late tuesday night, early, early wednesday morning, and the hurricane thinks it could be a category 2 hurricane at landfall. they're pin pointing the mississippi coast. the yellow area now includes the south central portions of louisiana coast, new orleans is kind of in the middle of that cone. along with gulfport, biloxi, mobi mobile. and now panama city is out of the cone and pensacola is on the edge. when storms make landfall, the right side is the worse storm

surge. to the right is where you don't want to be. the backside of the storm usually isn't that bad. that's kind of the pinpointing of it. the thing that still concerns me is these little squiggly lines, these are our computer models telling us where they think the storm will head. only one bends into north florida. all the other ones really close to new orleans. the worst track scenario for new orleans, for any type of storm, regardless of intensity is just to the south of town. that doesn't allow lake pontchartrain to drain the water into the gulf. that would pile the water up in the lake and then we deal with a storm surge in the lake near new orleans but we don't need to go through that. but it's a possibility and they're probably thinking what to do with evacuations right now. >> it's all about being prepared for it. thank you very much, bill karins. parts of southwest florida are under mandatory evacuation orders. let's go to ton strong. he's in one of those places. let's talk about the conditions there where you are and what's going on with the residents. >> hi, alex.

the wind is really whipped up right now. as you can see, this is pretty much an empty beach, just us and some seagulls. they're under a mandatory evacuation order as we're arr e arriving here. a lot of tourists were emptying out of the hotels because of the tropical storm effects are going to be felt, probably in the next five hours or so. we're expected to get some of the outer bands of rain in about five hours, and that's going to be the major concern. we're expecting 4 to 8 inches of rain when it's all said and done by monday, as you can see a lot of the sand is whipping up right now. and also concerned about the storm surge. they're expecting 4 to 7 feet of water in some of the low-lying areas coming up. so all around here, up and down the coast of southwest florida, sand bags, plywood are the big supplies. and spent a lot of yesterday as they were trying to track the storm, and it started to look like it was going to track a little bit east, obviously, that

got many people concerned. there were some hurricane warnings in place in points south of here, now, as it starts tracking west, they're going to start watching this, obviously, more carefully. because the storm is going to be on the west, they're going to be watching it. but right now, they're not as concerned as much with the wind, but there's also very high concerns about storm surge later this evening. >> we're glad to get the visual and the report from you. thank you so much. of course, you all heard a bit from mother nature wreaking a little bit of havoc on the odd yeah. let's go to maria who is live for us in key west. that's a place that has a little more going on. what's it like there now? >> oh, i have to tell you, it's pretty nasty. for the last 48 hours or so, a steady wind, anywhere 20 to 25 miles per hour. decidedly upping the ante in the last few hours to tropical storm force. where i am right now on the west side of key west, right that way is isaac. and as you can see, we're

getting pretty incredible gusts here right now. interestingly enough, the last tropical storm to directly impact key west was in 2008. that was tropical storm fay with 55-mile-per-hour winds, but in 1999, it was hurricane irene, that version of irene that came over key west with winds about 75 to 80 miles per hour. as we often say as meteorologists forecasting the storms, don't just pay attention to the center line. it may be right over key west for isaac for us in the next couple hours. but during that storm, about 30 miles up towards big pine key, those winds gusted over 100 miles per hour. so we're expecting the conditions to continue to worsen here in key west. you can see behind me, the water is rushing, no boats out. seeing a couple tourists, i don't know how they're walking and riding bikes past us in the last hour. but hopefully the tourists are going to stay inside as government officials are urging everybody to hang tight if they haven't left for shelters already. >> that's a big thick about the

keys because you have the two-lane highway there. so people haven't already gotten out of the keys, they need to stay put. that is a message that needs to be sent, right? >> oh, absolutely. and as of this morning about 9:00 a.m., we got word that the area shelters had about 125 people in them. so people are definitely taking it seriously. >> we're going to let you get to safety because you're getting blown around there. thank you very much. maria larosa in key west for us as we get a live look. it's pretty but not something you want to see in your own backyard. let's go to tampa. tropical storm isaac is delaying the start of the republican national convention with high winds and heavy rains in the forecast. the party chiefs did not take any chances, so they postponed the first day of events. and joining me now, tampa mayerbock bob buckhorn. i'm sure your heard your state's gsker talking about the fact it appears tampa is going to dodge the worst part of this storm.

what's the status as far as you know? do you have that information and concur with that? >> alex, absolutely i do. as a matter of fact, the governor was about three miles away from where i am right now. it appears as though the track is moving to the west. tomorrow, we're going to get heavy winds, intense rains. i don't anticipate there will be a tidal surge or coastal flooding in the tampa area. there are low-lying areas that are normally prone to flooding anyway, and particularly with the ground saturated that would occur, but that would occur in a heavy storm anyway. the convention proceedings although they're canceled tomorrow, which i think was the right decision given the wind and moving the delegations over some of the bridges is going to be full steam ahead on tuesday, and the weather tuesday, wednesday, and thursday ought to be fine. >> i'm curious, when you look at being mayor of a city like this and you have so many thousands more in the city for the republican national convention, how much does it complicate

things for you in terms of emergency management? >> we prepare for this every day year round. it's one of the things we live with being residents of the tropics, and we're ready for it. obviously, adding 50,000 more people to the mix, adding 15,000 members of the media to the mix, complicates it a little bit, but the basic fundamentals and the execution of the plan remain the same. we drill for this, prepare for this, we're ready for this. we will execute if need be, but in this particular circumstance, evacuation is not a factor at all. it's just an inconvenience. >> have you heard anything about second guessing now the cancellation and maybe the rnc saying, look, it may not be as bad as we think. let's try to smooth things out and get things back under way on monday? >> not that i have heard, alex. i think they made the decision with the best information they had available. i think they did it for the right reasons. the safety of those delegates and the delegations was paramount in their consideration. that was the right course, and

they should be commended for it. i don't know they're going to reconsider that based on the weather track or not. irrespective of what they try to do, we're in full rnc mode right now while at the same time juggling some storm preparation. i will have a lot more gray hair after the end of this week, but it's all good, alex. a great convention. >> you'll have another day to prepare and get ready and settled in for that, but you look great with it, tampa mayor bob buckhorn, thank you for your time. best of luck. >> another update on the path of isaac is expected soon. we'll hear if it's going to strengthen. but first, a fresh and unexpected endorsement for president obama from a big name in florida. what kind of impact will that have on the republican national convention. this is "weekends with alex witt." stay with us. hello? the words are going this way-there's no way. oh, the lights came on.

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to front page politics and tropical storm isaac impacting the republican national convention before it even starts. all events scheduled for opening day tomorrow have been delayed with the convention reconvening on tuesday. delegates began arriving today, though. in a new interview, mitt romney attacking the way p po has run his campaign. >> his whole campaign has been about dividing the american people. it's between the haves and have nots, the people of one location verse e versus another. this is one street versus another street. that's the kind of divisiveness that america has recognized and one of the reasons that his campaign despite spending massively more than our campaign, his campaign hasn't gained the traction he would have expected. >> president obama is trying to discredit his republican rival in a new interview with the associated press. >> i can't speak to governor

romney's motivations. what i can say is that he has signed up for positions, extreme positions, that are very consistent with the positions a number of house republicans have taken. and whether he actually believes in those or not, i have no doubt that he would carry forward some of the things that he's talked about. >> former republican governor of florida charlie crist now turned independent is throwing his support behind president obama. he explained his decision in the tampa bay times, quote, president obama has a strong record of doing what is best for america and florida, and he built it by spending more time worrying utwhat his decisions would mean for the people than for his political fortunes. that's what makes him the right leader for our times and that's why i'm proud to stand with him today. >> joining me now for more, national journal correspondent beth reinhardt, and political writer for the "new york times,"

john harwood. good to see you both. thanks for joining me. >> morning, alex. >> beth, i'll begin with you. you write about the storm delaying the convention plans. how big of a loss is this for the gop? are the leaders concerned the hurricane will overshadow the convention or are they feeling buoyed by the recent weather reports? i i think we won't know how much it will overshadow the convention until we see what kind of storm and damage we're talking about, but it's certainly an unwelcome distraction and unwelcome challenge for the romney campaign which has struggled, sort of, to stay on message the last couple weeks and build up to the convention as they would have liked. >> john, let's talk about charlie crist, his op-ed from which i read a part earlier endorsing president obama. obviously time to steal some headlines from the gop. what impact might that have especially in florida, a key battleground? >> first of all, i want you to know you're getting home grown

perspective this morning. beth used to work for the miami herald. i used to work for the tampa bay times. we call it the st. petersburg times then, but it's still a great newspaper. charlie crist's endorsement doesn't matter much at all. he left the republican party to run as an independent when he was about to get beat in a republican primary two years ago. i think people have absorbed the idea he's not really on that team anymore. in fact, one of the things used against him in that senate race was the idea that he stood with president obama on economic stimulus and supported the stimulus program. that doesn't mean he was right or wrong. it just means people recognize that charlie crist and the republican party have gone their separate ways. >> given the fact you are these home growners, as john was describing you, your reaction to the op-ed piece. do you think this is going to be somewhat lost on the average floridian voter or might this have some clout?

>> it's really not that surprising. there's been speculation for months that that governor crist might run for governor in a couple years as a democrat. this endorsement seems to be him paving the way for that. and i agree with john. >> do you think this is synced up with the obama campaign? do you think they worked together to get the timing. >> if he plans to run as a democrat, this seems like a lujical step you would take before that. but i was going to say also is that you know, the governor doesn't have the juice he had in 2008, his endorsement of john mccain was widely seen as helping mccain win the primary. and now, you know, the governor has been really battered. his image has been very battered, he doesn't have the same kind of impact. >> okay. john, we'll switch gears a bit. both the obama and romney camps put out new medicare ads today. when that's the topic dejure,

doesn't conventional wis democrat suggest that's a win for the president? >> yes, and it's likely to be a win for the president in the end. but what republicans are trying to do is raise the price of that victory. people know that two things are true. one, medicare does have to be cut in the future because it's going to bankrupt the federal budget. republicans would cut it more than democrats. now, they say they could do that and still protect seniors just the way democrats say, we'd cut defense but we wouldn't make americans less safe. this is an issue where people understand that democrats created medicare, and republicans are trying to neutralize it and make it less of a club that democrats can use. uphill fight for republicans to do that, though. it's sort of like the ads on welfare that the romney campaign is running. there is more factual basis for the republicans' ads on medicare than on welfare, but the welfare ads are more believable because people are predisposed to believe that democrats are more in favor of welfare than

republicans. >> can the romney camp now with paul ryan in tow convince the voters that entitlement reform like changing medicare is critical for survival or is that still the third rail of politics? are voters ready to hear about necessary change? >> you know, in principle, i think the polls tell us that voters understand there has to be entitlement reform to get the deficit under control. but then if you ask the folks, what about changes, you know, if you're eligible for medicare, how would you feel about change? you know, people of medicare age are very much against any kind of change. they like medicare the way it is. and they're very anxious about any kind of changes that might hurt their benefits. >> okay, well, i want to thank you both for making it to cameras there. i know the weather hasn't been great. good to see you both. have good weeks. thanks. >> we'll have more on the top story, tropical storm isaac is getting stronger, and now a hurricane watch has been extended along the louisiana coast and it will include new

orleans as we give you a live look at key west. more on the storm when "weekends with alex witt" returns. ♪

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convection around what would be the center of the storm. that should be the highest wind gust reported so far with the storm. the radar, the green is the light rain, yellow and oranges are heavier rain. that band has my attention. that white line there, that is the actual center of the storm, getting close to key west. when that bright red color goes through, that will probably gust near 70 miles per hour as it goes through the keys. looks like it's going to go over the top of the reporters in key west. i want to see the pictures about a half hour from right now. as far as the rest of the forecast goes, hurricane watches are out for now. new orleans, we mentioned, this map shows where the current warnings are. this storm is so huge we have warnings still in tampa even though they're not going to see the direct impact of the storm. we'll go to hurricane warnings on the coastline of alabama, mississippi, and louisiana later this evening or possibly as early as 5:00 this evening. why are we concerned about the storm? the storm is going to be pulling away from land.

over the last 48 hours, haiti and the island of cuba have minimized the chance for the storm to get larger and stronger. notice the water temperatures. mid 80s across the central gulf. favorable conditions for strengthens, but the caveat is it's a big storm. it takes big storms longer to crank up than it does a small storm. that's why the hurricane center is saying category 2. my rule of thumb is assume one category worse. i tell my friends prepare for a category 3. if it's worse than that, we'll be happy. as far as the computer models, this is one of them, and why we're fearful of the new orleans area. many models have this close to new orleans as we go through tuesday afternoon to tuesday night. one of the runs that came in is speeding up the timing of this, possibly the impact felt as early as noon on tuesday in new orleans. so if all my advice to people in biloxi, gulf port, coastal areas around mobile and louisiana, you have the rest of today and tomorrow to prepare because by

tuesday, the weather will be getting worse. >> really sage advice to prepare for one category worse. that makes good sense. >> intensity forecasts are not good. they have a lot of room for improvement. >> thank you for that. right now, thousands of floridians are without power as power crews stand by waiting to help. florida power and light is reporting 3,400 outages in miami-dade county, 1,500 in broward county, and nearly 2,000 in palm beach county. we'll show you pictures of the damage done by isaac in cuba. we'll get a report from mike seidel when we return as we give you a look at ft. myers, florida, where we had a report earlier and you heard problems with the audio. the winds are picking up. that's hot it looks like now. we'll see you in a bit. dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september.

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convention is not stopping republicans'eft to reintroduce candidate romney while president obama is defending his economic policy and doubling down on medicare. joining me now, democratic strategist jimmy williams and former rnc chairman and analyst michael steele. gentlemen, hello to you both. >> good morning. >> hello. >> i'll begin with you, michael. you know i have to ask, florida at the end of august. what were you guys thinking? >> beautiful place to hold a convention. what do you think? this is -- there was a lot of thought that went into this. i know a lot of folks are sitting back and second guessing and pointing fingers, but two years ago when we started this process, it was narrowed down to three cities. the site selection committee along with the 168 members of the full baody voted unanimousl to come to tampa. the current chairman who was then my senior adviser and general counsel was a huge advocate to come to tampa. we took into consideration the

storms and all of that. look, the rnc has a plan. they're coordinating the plan with the mayor's office and the local officials here. they'll execute the plan for this contingency and they'll move on. >> you might have just looked at ft. walters beach, i believe it is, and walton beach on the other side. that's nice. we have people sitting there looking at it with their umbrellas, the sun shining. it would have been perfect. >> if i could have predicted the path of the storm two years ago, that there would be a storm two years ago, trust me, i would go to that side of florida. but you know, the fact of the matter is in '08, the convention first day was disrupted. in fact, suspended because of bad weather somewhere else in the country. so you know, you don't know how these things will ultimately work themselves out. tampa is a great place for the convention. they're ready for us and we're looking forward to a great week. >> you just have to roll with it is what you have to do.

>> you know. >> jeb bush was on "meet the press" earlier and he was asked about the todd akin fiasco. let's take a listen to that. here it is. >> it's not going to change the economic climate of our country. we're not going to create jobs by having a discussion about this. i think republicans really need to be disciplined to stay focused on sustained economic growth as our objective. here's how we're going to do and how the president has failed. >> how imperative is it to the president's re-election to stay focused on social issues like abortion? >> i think the president in his re-elect can do both. i think they can talk about the economy, how we went from unemployment that was a high in his first quarter of 10.1 bers to now 8.3%, how many months of economic growth. you heard the talking points, but it's all true. you can talk about the stock market was 8,000 points. today, it's 13,000. barack obama gets bad credit.

he doesn't good good credit for the good things that happen. he can also talk about the real problem about the war on women. he can talk about how gay marriage or anti-equality is part of the republican plank. he can talk about now exceptions for abortion when it comes to the republican plank. all of these things can be talked about at the same time, and they should be talked about because it's not just the economy. when i walk into a voting booth, i pull that curtain, i vote as a gay man. i vote about my economy as a gay man. my civil rights as a gay man. a woman does exactly the same thing about her civil rights. this is not a one-issue country and it shouldn't be a one-issue election. >> good perspective. speaking of the florida governors. charlie crist who was a republican announced his support for president obama in today's "tampa bay times." how big a hit is this the week of the convention and the "tampa bay times" it seems so calculated? >> it is, and before i answer, i

want to say, jimmy, tell the president i can relate to that good credit versus bad credit stuff. >> yes, michael, youexactly rig. >> more to the point, alex, yeah, i mean, charlie crist has always been charlie crist. he's his own guy. he's sort of an independent player out there. he's expressing his views. there's no secret that, you know, he found something in this administration that as governor was beneficial to his state at the time. and you know, look, that's how he feels. he's just one voice out there of ma many. who are for or against the president. i'm not going to sit here and second guess him or judge him on that. that's his choice. we have -- in 2010, we had republicans who supported, for example, former chairman supported harry reid for his election. so that's how that works. you know, and people, you know,

vote their interests as jimmy was talking about. and i think charlie crist sees a related interest here. >> how about this, jimmy. i want to talk about the "new york times" blog. it has a new piece regarding the gap between likely voters and registered voter in the presidential poll. president obama has an early lead for registered voters, but it's much tighter for likely voters. they say a seven-point gap in the polls is well above average. >> that's exactly right. there's a huge differential. i don't take a poll credibly if it says registered voters. i take polls more credible if they're likely. what is your base going to do? the number is much more narrow. also, there's a number in the polls, though, that is not getting a heck of a lot of attention, which is the likability issue. romney is just not strong there. and he's got to get better. this convention could go a long way in helping him with that. obama, no matter what he does, the country likes the guy for the most part.

that's a 20-point differential. the question becomes, will the dnc, the obama campaign who i spoke with this morning, called chicago and told me what are you doing, block by block, they're concerned, not concerned, they are focused like a laser beam on ohio, verge verge, airginia, and they know every person who is registered to vote and has the potential to vote and they will have them at the polls on november 6th. >> michael, you mentioned yeah when we talked about the likability factor for mitt romney being a problem. how much does thursday night matter. i mean, is this the speech of his life? he's got to give the speech of his life to change that around, to make people more comfortable in liking the guy. >> well, not to be too dramatic about it, alex. hell yeah, this is a big one. i think that -- >> that's not too dramatic. >> after five years of running for this office, you have left

an impression. and i think largely it is not necessarily one that, you know, in this economy, would catapult him into the white house. so thursday night is big. this is romney's opportunity to take all -- strip it all away, ryan, the base, all of that. he's got to have a conversation with the people with quite frankly, the people jimmy talked about at the beginning of the segment, women, gays, african-americans, hispanics, america that lets them see who he really is. take away all the noise and the special conversation talking points and all that stuff. focus on america like a laser beam. and really tell us your story and put our future in the context of what your administration will do. >> likability factor and also a clarification of what he personally stands for. look at what the economist puts out. here's part of what they wrote today. a businessman without a credible plan to fix a problem stops being a credible businessman so does a businessman who tells you

one thing at breakfast and the opposite at supper indeed all this underlines the main doubt, nobody knows who this strange man really is. how do you respond to that? >> well, i think you respond by taking that business experience and putting it in the context of real life. talk to the mom out there who has been unemployed with two kids for 18 months who has been struggling in this economy. talk to the family living out of their car. these are real life instances. i just had this conversation with a family struggling in this regard. talk to that person and tell me how do i get out of my car back to my home. how do i get back to my home because of policies that took us off the track. what policies are you going to create to put us back on the track. he has to connect it in a real sense. just because you're a businessman doesn't mean you're disconnected or you're automatically obtuse to pain and suffering in this country. because if you came up the hard way and you had to build that

business, you know what that's all about. relate that story in real terms. >> quickly to you, final word, jimmy. >> michael makes a good point, which is he does need to focus on his business experience. here's the problem with governor romney. when romney was the governor of the commonwealth of massachusetts, literally, every single issue he ever took a position on, he today currently right now has exactly the opposite view that he held when he was governor of massachusetts. i understand that he was a republican governor of a remarkably blue state, but he's now about to become perhaps the president of a remarkably purple nation. and if that's the case, he has to have authenticity. he has to have a core. he cannot lack credibility and right now, the country, let me take that, about 8% of the country looks at him and says i'm not so sure about that guy. and by the way, a lot of people say the same thing about barack obama. this is going to be a remarkably tight race. it's going to be tighter than 2004 with bush v. kerry which

was decided in ohio by less than 50,000 votes. >> thanks. thanks so much guys. >> back to the latest watches and warnings from tropical storm isaac plus a live report from the weather channel on the damage left behind in cuba. ♪

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it's now passed us to our north. it's behind us, about 100 miles or so to the keys. it looks dark over there. a lot of heavy rain through the florida keys, through the florida straits. we had some here, but the worst of the weather has moved on out. this is very warm water, water temperatures, 87, 88 degrees. that's why we're forecasting for other reasons, too, and intensifying isaac becoming a hurricane today or tonight. wave heights out here, 6 toate feet, and we had a lot of beach erosion. let's take you to the eastern side of cuba where now in the recovery phase in guantanamo. also the other provinces and the santiago area. they're recovering from what they dealt with. let's go and take a look at the wave action. this is a sea wall area where people like to gather. they have those across a lot of latin american countries, especially down here in the caribbean. they have one in havana. the waves crashing over the sea wall and into homes, at least 24

homes were damaged and three were destroyed. now, as we come down the beach here, you can see the fact that we have had some debris. we have tiki huts that have been ripped from their moorings and they're thrown down the beach here. also, i'm standing on where the beach is. down here. a huge drop-off, alex. we lost about six or more feet of sand. and remember, this sand was pumped in under the sand is the coral reef. they pumped the sand when they belt the resort. so they're going to have to do some replenishment. they pump some sand in back in 2009. as far as getting in and out of cuba for the cuban americans, all those flights between havana and miami have been suspended for today. all the eastern airports, the p provincial airports did that yesterday. high totals, that's why we had flooded streets in the eastern provinces in the guantanamo area. 9.52 inches in just six hours. so a lot of rain there. things are easing up here.

we're still going to have rain here, gusting winds, but cuba has come through this fairly well. no reports of any fatalities, no deaths, and no injuries. >> still doesn't look good, which speaks to the enormity of the storm. thanks so much. stay safe. we'll have more on the threat tropical storm isaac poses to florida and the gulf coast after a break. [ male announcer ] this is rudy. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain.

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56 past the hour. we're following two big stories as we approach the top of the hour. giving you oo live look at the convention for the rnc. it has delayed some events for the first day because of the threat of tropical storm isaac. we'll discuss if that will hurt mitt romney's big moment. and the storm itself not expected to threaten new orleans. we'llkarins. not expected to effect tampa, but it may effect new orleans. that's the western side of key west, florida, where they're

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it's still a tropical storm, but growing stronger. in just a matter of hours, the fury of isaac could turn into a hurricane. good day to all of you and welcome to "weekends with alex witt." it's one lo1:00 on the east coa. that storm is over warm waters, lashing the florida keys and parts of cuba. much of florida is under a tornado watch until this evening, but there's also concern further north. new orleans is now under a hurricane watch. high winds knocked out power to thousands in south florida. extra power crews arrived from out of staid ahead of the storm. they're now busy responding to all of the outages and the airlines have canceled 654 flights today alone. the airports in miami and ft.

lauderdale are the most effected. the keys airport is completely shut down right now. let's get to the latest forecast for you and what is happening outside. bill karins is here with all of that. >> we're about to watch isaac crossing key west. the worst of the weather with this storm in the united states is about to be felt. so far up to this point, by florida's standards, this has been an inconvenient storm. a lot of people's plans, flights, you couldn't travel. you had to stay at home during the day today. winds gusting 30 to 40 miles per hour. that's not a big deal by florida standards. as we go throughout the next hour, if we're going to get damaging winds, it's going to occur here shortly. you can see how large the storm is. heavyokeechobee, but the center is this white line approaching key west and that band of red moving between marathon and key west will produce the strongest winds we have seen yet in key west. i expect them to gust to 50 to 60 miles per hour in the next half hour. so after that, conditions will begin to improve in many areas of the keys and south florida as

we go throughout the night. that's the story down there. right now, very close to key west, florida. still a tropical storm. what's going to happen next? we have 48 nervous hours to see how strong isaac can get as it approaches the northern gulf states. we still have a window from port author to beaumont, i'm including them now, all the way back to pensacola in the target zone possibly with significant impacts for isaac. an inconvenience for south florida. it has a possibility to do destruction in the north central gulf. they can't take the rain like florida does. hurricane center said possible category 2 storm between new orleans and mobile, impacting areas around biloxi and gulfport. the cone of uncertainty does not include areas around panama city anymore. it goes from pensacola, mobile bay, and down along the central louisiana coastline. i think the path may be shifted

slightly to the west, but probably not a lot for the 5:00 update coming later. here's what all of the computer models are saying. they have seemed to very much be pin pointing the state of louisiana with the strong side of the storm being into mississippi and southern alabama. the yellow line, alex, that actually is one of our more dependable computers. our european computer model. that update will be coming in shortly. if that switches to the west like the other ones did, expect the hurricane sacenter to have that hurricane going straight for new orleans later. >> thanks for the help. >> right now, parts of lee county, florida, on the southwest coast, they're under mandatory evacuation orders. the storm will soon skirt southwest florida, including ft. myers beach. that's where ton trong is standing by for us. we saw you about an hour ago. took a couple live pictures in your absence. lots of gray, looks stormy. what's it like now? >> well, when you talk about being an inconvenience here, the storm of inconvenience, take a

look over to my left here. you still see people hanging around here. even though this is under a mandatory evacuation order. ft. myers beach was one of the areas under an evicuation order. people as they watch the storm tracking further west, they understand they're probably going to dodge the perennial bullet here. and the largest effects, the major effects of the tropical storm are going to be further off the coastline here. there are, as you mentioned earlier, tornado watches in place throughout the evening. they're still expecting a good amount of wind activity in about five hours or so. we should start feeling the outer bands of the storm, and there's still a big concern about storm surge. they're expecting 4 to 7 feet. you can also hear the change in posture, almost, from the governor a little while ago in kind of seeing that this is not going to be a major event for florida. take a listen. >> we're fully staffed, law

enforcement for the state. the national guard is ready to add more individuals if we need to. so we're ready to do that. once we know -- once we see where the track is going to be up north, if we need to provide resources to another state, then we'll have the resources to do that. >> so a lot of the concern yesterday, obviously, the governor was concernedabout w e what the impact was going to be for florida. as you can see the westward track going further west, the governor is also sensing that maybe florida is out of this major impact zone at this point. obviously, they'll be keeping an eye on it as we will also. but for now, they're expecting just some probably less major impacts if you want to call it here. this is still under a mandatory evacuation order. as bill mentioned, this is more a storm of inconvenience for a lot of folks, especially for the otells and resorts here. >> better than what it could have been. thank you very murch. let's take you right now to key west, florida. that's where they're getting a

lashing from isaac. not yet at hurricane strength, but we have many residents who waited until the last minute to evacuate. maria larosa is live there for us. so how many folks are still there, maria? what do you think? >> you know, the conditions have gotten worse. really in the last hour. turn this way and the rain has now officially gone horizontal. we're watching on the radar this incredible band just about ready to come on through. fully expecting the wind gusts to correspond to that and really pick up. you can see behind me there, how the ocean is really stirred up right now and that mist of all of the ocean spray kind of obscuring the view. the winds have gone from 20 to 25 miles per hour this morning, clearly tropical storm strength now and gusts easily over that at this point. the center of isaac now probably about 60 to 70 miles per homil south and we're experiencing one

of several bands that will be coming through over the next few hours. residents here, i still have a few people walking behind me, riding their bikes. not sure how they're doing it, but obviously, government officials are urging everyone who has stayed put to not just stay put, but literally don't leave your house. stay off the roadways. obviously, conditions are getting worse. back to you. >> maria, quickly before i let you go, how much water is coming over that break behind you? there must be a seawall around that patio. are you getting a lot of water from the surge or is it just rain water there? >> right now, it's just rainwater. we haven't had that much rain just yet, compared to a lot of other spots. but that wall that you see behind me is pretty high. and even with this tropical system, the surge that we're expecting is about 1 to 3 feet. i know they have seen a lot higher surge, so i don't think at this point where we are right now, we're going to see any kind of surge impact us. i haven't even seen any waves

crashing over this wall yet. >> thank you very much for the live report there. well, let's go from weather to front page politics. and while tropical storm isaac is delaying the republican national convention, it's not slowing down either party. mitt romney and president obama squaring off in interviews. >> i'm really concerned about america and i think this president is weakening america in very fundamental ways and a lot of people are suffering for it now, and over the coming decades, the decisions he's making will make a lot more people suffer. i look at this as a responsibility and a privilege. it's an honor to be the nominee of my party. but this is about an opportunity to get america on track again. >> if you're a voter and you believe that the biggest problem we have is that the president has put too many regulations in place to keep our air clean and our water clean, if you believe that the way to reduce the

deficit is to gut our investments in education and transportation and cut taxes for wealthy individuals, then you should feel confident that governor romney is going to follow through on those commitments. i just don't think they'll work. >> also new, the obama and rom gnaw camps unleashing new attack ads focusing on medicare. >> seniors could pay $6,400 more a year. aarp said the plan mitt romney supports undermines medicare. mitt romney, an end to the medicare promise. >> as president, president obama cut $700 billion from medicare to pay for obama care. what would candidate obama say about his medicare cuts? it ain't right. k >> no, mr. president, it ain't right. >> a surprise endorsement for the president. charlie crist, now an independent, announced his support of president obama in today's tampa bay times. in the piece, the former governor criticized the current republican party saying, quote,

an element of their party has pitched so far to the extreme right on the issues important to women, immigrants, seniors, and students, they have proven incapable of governing for the people. joining me now for more, major garrett. welcome, good to see you. >> great to be with you. thank you for having me. >> so are you surprised by the charlie crist endorsement? is it clearly orchestrated with respect to the timing and the location, the placement in that paper in tampa? >> well, i'm not surprised about it at all. maybe the timing and putting it right here in the convention and jux juxtaposing charlie crist with the other republicans here who disagree with him, is his idea of elevating himself and sort of putting something in their mind about what he believes has happened to the republican party. let's be honest, charlie crist is not a domineering figure in politics. his time has come and gone. he's been replaced by rick scott and he's been overshadowed by

marco rubio and also by jeb bush. jeb bush was on "meet the press" today, not charlie crist. he doesn't carry the throw weight in florida that he once did, and his endorsement of obama the president doesn't strike me as all that surprising, and it's consistent with where he's been since he was given the heave-ho by the republican party. >> by who do you think charlie crist may have been courted? romney camp, obama camp, or he's sort of his own independent, trying to figure out where he's going. >> i don't think the romney camp wasted any time trying to woo or have communication with charlie crist, and the obama campaign knows he's a supporter. i don't think they can view him as pivotal. so i think charlie crist is an operator who had providence. anyone like a governor of a state like florida has

providence, but it's diminishes. >> how much are republicans concerned that isaac will overshadow all of the stories the next week? it may turn out to lead the nightly news casts instead of mitt romney. >> look, i think there's a two-part story here. i arrived in tampa yesterday, and the conversation quite understandably is is the storm going to hit tampa and affect the convention? it did, they announced monday would be canceled. but i think there's a second part to the story. look at the storm track data, heading to new orleans, possibly tuesday, wednesday, what are the optics for republicans then? four years ago in minneapolis, they canceled a day of the convention because they didn't want to do anything that was celebratory or overtly political while new orleans was in the path of what was then hurricane gustav. what if that is happening tuesday night or wednesday? a huge balloon drop while new orleans may be lashed by a category 2 hurricane? there's a second series of decisions republicans here in

tampa are going to make about the auptdices and tone the convention may have as the hurricane bears down on another part of the coastline, not tampa, but possibly new orleans. they're so focused on today's issue, but i think come tuesday and wednesday, there's going to be a different set of considerations they're going to have to make and look at. >> you don't mention thursday and that's because we have from the gop perspective, mitt romney's speech there. do you think that will go forward as planned? is he capable of transcending his image with this speech, his image that appears as someone who is rather stiff, uncomfortable in crowds. do you think this is the biggest speech in his life? >> there's one speech, the biggest speech that is considered the biggest. that's a hope that by thursday we can erase because it's so obviously true, it doesn't bear repeating or mentioning. it's a huge speech.

the obama campaign understands what mitt romney wants to do and try to reintroduce himself and humanize him, if that is a word that is applicable in american national politics. make himself more accessible, more believable, and someone the majority of voters want to follow into this election and for the next four years. the obama campaign doesn't believe he can do that. whatever short term bounce he gets out of tampa will be forgotten in charlotte when the democrats have their convention. the romney campaign has a completely different point of view. they do believe this speech can fundamentally change the country's view of mitt romney and put him in a place that he's never been before, one that is lasting and resonant and can change the dynamics of the race. obviously, the romney campaign knows that's a very high barter meet. they think they can meet it and if they do, they'll be putting themselves in a position to win the race. the obama campaign believes whatever happens here in tampa

will not have a half life longer than a week and the race will go back to the underlying fundamentals. >> among those mendmentals, medicare, which has new ads from both camps today. does not conventional wisdom suggest it's a win for the president? >> the obama campaign rather believers it is. they believe the longer the conversation goes about medicare, that's their turf. they told me when we're talking about medicare, that's our turf. the interesting strateging sdgz the romney campaign has made about medicare is not to talk about it in the context of paul ryan's programs to do the fee for service program, into something that is a voucher which gives recipients more power to find their insurance, find their doctors and have more maybe control over their future health care. for them, medicare has become a proxy for their grievances against the president's existing health care law, which they sense and i believe their focus groups tell them is unpopular

and the longer they press than up popularity on the medicare debate, they can take some of that turf away. >> and note to myself, my friend major hopes i never utter the words biggest speech of his life again. i have been slapped, never saying it again. >> it was a friendly slap. >> it works. it's fine. anyway, ahead, we'll be asking a leading republican senator kay bailey hutchison on how hurricane isaac could be a damper on tampa. but first, isaac is approaching the florida keys bringing heavy rains and damaging gusts and a few tornadoes as we give you a live look. you can see the winds for yourself on the situation in south florida. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." stay with us. those ideas that start with us rolling up our sleeves... ...and end with a new favorite room in the house. and when we can save even more on those kinds of projects... ...with advice to make them even better...

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we're closely monitoring the path of tropical storm isaac right now. that system is moving over the florida keys and now the other gulf states are in danger. new orleans in fact now under a hurricane watch. let's check in on the conditions in the keys. we have hank tester. he's been driving around key west. he's there live for us. hank, i'm getting from bill karins that the heaviest squalls thus far are hitting key west. you're seeing thateri, right? >> if you can take a look out there right now, this is what is known as the garrison bite, and these are sail boats that have been tied off, and we're getting some wind and rain whipping in here. we're going to get you on the road here just as soon as we have an opportunity to pull out safely. and we're going to go into the garrison area. the cameraman has been doingi

yeoman's work all day long. it's a mighty small island, so we really don't have to dough too far to get your pictures. you can see the visibility is a little difficult, and we are going to go over here, hang on a second here, going through -- make sure -- this is the garrison bite. we're going to come up here, which is to an area which is very famous in key west. this is house boat row. we're going to sneak in here and take a look and see how things are going. this is where a lot of people are staying right now. let me get through the security gate here. and we're going to look down the area here. here are some house boats. and they're shuttered up. they're not bouncing around too badly. this is a real good sign, we can take a look here further. everyone is bunkered in. we need to tell you that people in the keys have been urged to stay inside. there's been no evacuations whatsoever. that was based on the fact that

this folks didn't figure there was going to be a hurricane coming their way. i guess at the end of the day, they were absolutely correct. so you can see out there, and what i want to point out to you as i move here further, we're going to get out and look straight into what is known as the gulf side of the keys. and this is that wind and rain that's coming in, circulating off the center of all this. and it's whipping across here from the northeast to the southwest, which is -- if you want to put a picture to your satellite images, there it is, right out there, as this storm sweeps around. so we're going to cruise through here, and by the way, we have been doing this all day, so we can talk forever. i think i'm going to apply for a job as a tour operator. we're going to bring you to the charter boat area and it's going to show you a picture of what the storms do as far as devastating the business, at least for this weekend.

the big hope is this all gets out of here and it all gets cleaned up in time for the big labor day holiday because the main industry here, of course, is tourism. so you can see here, this is the charter fishing boat row. no business here, and that's the latest from key west where we have wind, we have rain, and we have -- >> hank tester, awesome reporting. great stuff to see in real time, what is happening out there. thank you so much to you and your crew for bringing it to us live. appreciate that. let's take a live picture from the tampa bay times forum, home of the republican national convention. we'll talk to kay bailey hutchison and how republicans can win over women in the battle for the white house.

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plans, the campaign surrogates crowding the airwaves on the sunday talk shows. and joining me now, senator kay bailey hutchison who we welcome to the broadcast. good day to you, republican from texas. thank you for your time. >> thank you, alex. >> we'll get to medicare in a second. your party has been accused of perpetrating a war on women. todd akin's comments only played into that. as the senior most republican female senator, do you understand how the comments can be used against the party with respect to women? >> i understand how it is being used against us, yes. but i think it's been very clear that the party has repudiated the comments that were made last week, and we're trying very hard to reach out to women on the issues we believe that they care about, which are jobs and the economy and the obama record. we're looking at an enormous debt. we're looking at obama care, sort of dismantling health care

as we know it, and women are very concerned and that's what we want to talk about. >> is there any part of the party that has a war on women? those to the extreme right or elsewhere within the party? >> well, i think individuals have to speak for themselves, but i think the mainstream of our party is certainly welcoming to women. we have had women's participation. we had women governors, senators, and congressmen. we have reached out to get women candidates involved and interested. i don't think there is either party better at promoting women. i think what we should be talking about are the issues of this election that people will make their decisions on. and i think people want to know how is this election going to affect me? >> and senator -- >> i don't think people think we're going in the right direction. >> do you think we'll hear something from governor romney that will change that? i would like to remind you of the numbers from the latest nbc

news poll, ma'am, which finds that president obama leads mitt romney 51% to 41% for women voters. why is that? >> well, i think that we maybe have not had the message that has resonated as well as we could. and i think that we are going to try to correct that in every possible way. i certainly think that mitt romney has a great record as a family man, an upstanding family man that has helped his wife raise five boys. i think he does relate to the problems that families face, raising children in this country, and so i think that he will make that case more and more as people are focused on the elections. i think we get a bad rap in the polls, yes, but i don't think it's true. you know, the issues that i want to talk about are the ones that will make life better. we have done things for the

women's health issues. on a bipartisan basis. i have certainly been active in fair treatment for rape victims and making sure that we have mammograms in our health care plans before the age of 40, if a woman's history indicates that. these are things that i fought for and republican women are fighting for just as democratic women are. so i think we need to get down to the nuts and bolts of this election and the choices that we have. >> and how much weight do you think rests on ann romney's shoulders when she delivers her speech on tuesday night in terms of securing the women vote? >> well, i think she's a wonderful role model. that she has overcome multiple sclerosis and has been such a wonderful family mother and raised these boys, even with these health issues. i think people do relate to her. they relate to the problems she's faced and the grace that she has used in facing those

problems. i think people are going to love ann romney. >> both president obama and mitt romney have new ads out, and they're focused on medicare. was this a fight that the republicans wanted to have? or is there an element in the party that now regrets the paul ryan pick for vice president? >> not at all. i think the message that paul ryan gives and that mitt romney gave by selecting him is we're going to take on the tough issues. entitlements, alex, will be 60% of our spending, even in the next year. by 2013, you can't balance a budget if you don't deal with entitlements. we can save social security with very minor changes if we have the guts to do it right now. and that's what paul ryan and mitt romney are saying we're going to do. we're going to save social security. we're going to save medicare for those who need it. we're not going to affect anyone

who is 55 years of age or older, but we have to fix the system so it's there for the young people that are in their 40s and 50s today. >> we have mother nature colliding with florida right now. how much do you worry about this taking the focus off the celebratory nature of the convention and the fact that mitt romney himself has said in interviews, i'm going to reintroduce myself via this convention to the american people. if he's not leading the nightly news casts because of problems in the gulf coast, how much of a problem is that? >> well, alex, there's nothing we can do about it. so talking about it or worrying about it or saying, oh, my gosh, we're not getting a fair deal, is not in the cards. i think the people in tampa have done a wonderful job of trying to prepare the city. there are thousands of volunteers, and i think we're going to have a great convention. now, we are going to have a lot

of sympathy if that hurricane is coming on and people are being hurt or evacuated. we will deal with that. just like we did four years ago. i'm one who lost a speaking slot four years ago because of gustav. but gosh, you know, that's the way things happen. and i think we had a great convention, and i think we will this time because people will understand, hey, we're dealing with what we're dealt, and we're going to go forward, and i don't think that the convention itself is going to be dispositive in the campaign. i think it is going to be in the fall when mitt romney is going to talk about change and getting this country back on the right track. >> i'll tell you, leave it to a well respected woman to say you can't cry over spilled milk. >> we have been there, haven't we? >> we have indeed. thank you very much. in just a moment, we'll bring back bill karins with the latest tracking models on tropical storm isaac. stay with us here. [ kate ] many women may not be properly absorbing

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36 past the hour with a look at key west, florida. you're getting a look at that being provided to us by wtvj as they have been driving around the community and seeing the wet streets and lots of winds. the good news, they look eed at some house boats and they didn't look to being rocked too much by the waves. let's go to bill karins who is going to bring us up to date on the forecast and what is happening in florida. >> today's impact is minor considering what we have been through in the past in south florida. you bgo back through wilma and even katrina before it hit louisiana, did a pretty good number on south florida. this is a minor impact, about to cross over key west. still has a little ways to goy, but we have gotten heavy rain and gusty winds. one thing i don't want to forget about is how large a storm it is. it's not that intense, but it's a huge storm. we have these bands of rain with 30 to 40-mile-per-hour winds

that are coming onshore and heading to central florida. you see melbourne getting their first areas of light rain. it will rain hard throughout the night in tampa and you will see winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour. it's not a complete miss for tampa although you're not going to see hurricane force winds. we have tropical storm warnings that go up tampa, up the west coast. well away from the center of the storm, you see some effects of it. again, a large sized storm. it has been throughout its life. the question is how intense will it get. the current forecast once again does keep it a category 1 hurricane, late tonight, all through the day tomorrow. notice how it slowly ramps up, 80, 85, 90. conditions favorable for intensification. then tuesday, landfall along louisiana, mississippi, alabama, we haven't ruled out our friends around pensacola, either, but the trend has been west over the last couple days. then it should rain itself out

with big flooding concerns as it moves slowly through mississippi and alabama. there's the tight forecast cone. the official forecast has landfall at 105 miles per hour. that's a strong category 2. at 111 miles per hour, it goes up to a major category 3 hurricane, which is definitely a possibility. we have not ruled that out. just to let you know what your tax money is paying for, we get all of this data from the hurricane center, the research planes going into the storm, people on the planes from the air force flying through, telling us how intense it is, where it's going to hit after that, these are the hurricane hunters and flying like this through the center of the storm as we go through the life of the storm now. and it's a pretty amazing job that they're flying into the middle. and no matter how intense it gets, they'll be in there. >> they're amazing. they have all these shows on the weather channel. oh, my gosh, such daring guys. we thank them for their work. thank you as well, bill karins where. isaac is not the only party

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so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. just one day before the official start of the republican convention, rnc chairman reince priebus laid out the party's goals for the convention. >> it's incomant upon us to do two things. we have to prosecute the president whether he fulfilled the mission he laid out in '08, and he didn't. and thekd is telling the story of a man who is decent, honorable, gave away his father's inheritance, starting something from nothing, raised five good boys, and he was very successful. >> joining me from florida is debbie wasserman schultz, chair of the dnc. always good to see you. thank you for joining me.

>> you, too, alex. thanks so much. >> before we get to politics. i want to hear the latest from your district with respect to tropical storm isaac. what do you know on that front? >> well, my constituents in south florida and i'm heading towards them now, we're driving down 75 and made a quick pit stop here to spend some time, a few minutes with you, alex, but my constituents are battening down the hatches. i had a chance on friday to do a press conference with the director of the national hurricane center, dr. rick knabb, and our ceo of the red cross in florida, to just remind folks in south florida as we know we're several days out from the storm, to make sure they have their hurricane supply check lists, that they get their batteries and their water and all of the things they're going to need. we really need to make sure that people don't do these things at the last minute and they get ready because the -- we know that fema really wants to make sure that folks have at least a 72-hour supply of the things

they need in the after' math of the storm because there are going oo be people who emergency management officials are going to have to take care of, and we don't want them spread so thin they're going to have to take care of people who could have gotten ready and taken care of themselves. so i'm going home to be with my family and my constituents and ride out the storm. >> i know a lot of people have been hitting the grocery stores and supply stores and finding things sold out. let's get to politics with you. let's take a look at a recent poll. it finds 37% of people say the economy and jobs are the most important issue, while only 7% say medicare is the most important. now, the same poll finds 54% of the people say the president does not understand how to fix the economy. the president has really focused in on medicare in the past several weeks. is it not true that the democrats are trying to change the discussion to anything at all but the economy? those are the accusations. >> well, alex, you know, first

of all, i think the republicans did the right thing in postponing the start of their convention in order to make sure they keep their guests and the visitors to florida and our residents safe. when it comes to the politics, we're going to have some time to talk about that, but you know, in this state, obviously, medicare is incredibly important. for seniors across the country, making sure that we don't turn medicare into a voucher system that we don't increase costs for seniors by, you know, almost $6,400 annually, that we make sure we don't shred that health care safety net, that's important. in terms of the economic daily life of senior citizens in this country. seniors have to make sure they don't choose between medicine and meals. the economics that seniors face is important because health care is such a significant component of their daily lives. jobs and the economy, absolutely, is the number one priority. why president obama has been

focused so much like a laser on fighting for the middle class and working families. and you know, when the republicans do end up getting their convention going, you know, mitt romney is going to try to have a big etch-a-sketch moment here. they have been using terms like redo, restart. there's a reason for that because he made it clear he wants to take us back to the failed policies of the past. he wants to increase taxes on the middle class to pay for budget busting tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. that's certainly not how we're going to fix the economy. we need to continue the 29 straight months of job growth in the private sector president obama has been able to move us forward with and continue to move forward. >> another word to use in there, reintroduce, which mitt romney has said about what he's going to do over this period. with regard to much of the race so far, it's been a lot of trading barbs between the two campaigns and debating the candidates' records. can we expect any major new policy proposals from the president.

similar, say, to his gay marriage and immigration announcements, the week after this? >> well, we're going to continue to talk about the importance of fighting for the middle class and working families. and the fact that we want to make sure that in america, if you work hard and play by the rules, then you'll have an opportunity to be successful and live the american dream. we want to make sure that everybody in america has that chance. not -- whoops. not the approach that mitt romney and paul ryan want to take, which is to essentially say, you know what, let's make sure we give more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires and the trickle down economics that we know didn't work before, and that actually almost crashed our economy, and we have to focus on a balanced approach, and work together. unfortunately, the republicans have only been focused on one job, barack obama's. and we're focused on continuing to get the economy turned around and make sure that the small business owners who benefitted from the 18 different tax breaks president obama has pushed

through, that the middle class and working families have a president in the white house who is in there swinging for them. >> okay, well, debbie wasserman schultz, chair of the dnc and more importantly, mom and congressman heading to your own district. safe travels. >> everybody stay safe. thanks. up next, everyone, the big three. a speed bump! [ wife ] a beached whale! lawn clippings! a mattress. a sausage link. mermaid. honey!? driftwood. come on, you gotta help us out here a little. [ male announcer ] febreze eliminates odors and leaves carpets fresh. ♪ wegaca th user w, ult

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it is time now for an abbreviated big three. party crasher, big night, and this weekend's must reads. let's bring in the big three panel. former national communications director for the santorum campaign. and keith boykin. i'm glad you are here. i only wish we had a couple of segments. you know, what are you going to do with isaac? let's get first to the party crasher element. rmc being delay ad day because

of the prorm. will the storm steal the headlines from mitt romney this week? >> no. i think he's well on pace to have the kind of convention he needs. he will have the big speech thursday and his wife also will speak. paul ryan will also speak. right now they are trying to pack four days into three days and there are conversations about whether or not tuesday is going to be abbreviated or canceled altogether. i think ultimately he is going to get the kind of convention he needs. problem, i think, for him will be on the back end because you go into the dnc convention after that. >> okay. another party crasher is the issue of medicare. gop wanting to focus on the economy. both sides releasing these new medicare ads today. do you think that's automatically a losing proposition for mitt romney because the debate should be all about the economy right now? >> i don't think so. i mean, medicare's obviously linked to the economy. that's one of the reasons where -- in the trouble we are in to this point. i think mitt romney has done a good job articulating that. and at this point. and heading forward, though, i think this issue is obviously very difficult to understand

from a lot of different angles. it has -- nuanced and technical and -- just one of those issues. just big. a lot of people don't grasp everything that goes on in medicare. so i think one of the issues paul ryan has been good at articulating, as has mitt romney, at this point, is keep it simple. say we are not going to touch medicare if you are 55 or older and conversely, barack obama is taking $716 billion out of medicare right now to start obama care. and it is is a simple message and more to it than that. to begin to have this conversation about medicare, draw people in, to get people on the republican side on this issue, making it a simple case is key. >> i don't know if can you see the box here. you have keith shaking his head. >> it is just not true. $716 billion, same $716 billion paul ryan wants to use for savings and comes from the providers and not from if the seniors. mitt romney's point raise it is cost for current seniors and aarp acknowledges this.

the idea somehow they are going to win on the medicare issue is laughable and the american people know that's not true. the american people also know that mitt romney is not on their side. the poll after poll shows mitt romney is less likable and less interested in the concerns of the middle class than barack obama is. >> okay. i want to ask all three of you and i will let you begin first, keith. this could be interesting. what does mitt romney have to say thursday night on his big night to bring it home? coming from you. >> yeah. it is tough. i think he has the to do two things. communicate something to make himself more likable as a person. and two, do something to communicate a policy vision. i think those are both difficult issues because the -- from the personality point of view, people even in this party don't like him and don't trust him. from policysition he has a tough road. >> do people not like him in his own party? i mean, i haven't necessarily heard that. >> no, no.

that's just not true. i mean, mitt romney's obviously running for the office for a long time. i think that -- he -- everybody knows him at this point. we all like his business background. we all like what -- direction he wants to take this country in. conversely, i mean, look, even on mitt romney's worst day he's ten times better than barack obama. we know that. everyone is going to koumt and vote for him and try to support a new direction in this country. direction of romney raerp wants to take. >> listen, i have very little time. i want to get to must reads. what did you find we all need to read? >> front page story in "the washington post" all about mitt's evolution from being a loser in 2008 to being a winner in 2012. coming out of the republican national convention and being nominee. of course, he will give his big speech thursday. >> keith? >> the economist is a great piece on mitt romney. this is a conservative right-wing publication and saying mitt romney has no core, no soul month, principles. the people that should be supporting him. >> okay. hogan, what have you got?

>> tampa pa times, everything about isaac and important heading into louisiana. >> want to thank you all. appreciate your time. that's all i can say. we are so out of time here, everyone. stay with us. updates on isaac for you. and every day since, we've worked hard to keep it. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy -- and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. we've shared what we've learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. i want you to know, there's another commitment bp takes just as seriously: our commitment to america. bp supports nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs in communities across the country. we hired three thousand people just last year. bp invests more in america than in any other country. in fact, over the last five years, no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp.

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