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tv   MSNBC Live  MSNBC  August 27, 2012 11:00am-12:00pm EDT

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cone of uncertainty stretching from the florida pan handle to the shores of louisiana. the storm has crashed the gop convention. lashed florida with wind and rain, prompted the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights in just the last 24 hours. the state of louisiana and the city of new orleans is preparing for a potential big hit with eerie timing. it's seven years to the week that hurricane katrina slammed on shore and swallowed the big easy. >> do you have a message for the people of new orleans? >> our thoughts are with the people in the storm's path and hope that they're spared any major destruction. >> would you give thoughts to canceling the convention? into got a great convention ahead. >> the national hurricane center issued the latest update on isaac. nbc meteorologist bill karins has the details for us on that. explain what we're seeing about isaac and exactly where is it headed? is it going to be directly to new orleans? >> that's the big story right now, is the storm is heading for new orleans, no storm in the change path with this advisory.
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pinpointing new orleans and the storm track just to the south of there which would pose the biggest risk for storm surge for eastern louisiana, parishes and up in the coastline of mississippi and alabama. the latest of the new update just in. pressure hasn't really dropped. for the storm to get stronger that pressure has to come down. don't get the serious storm until the pressure gets down to the 960, 950 range. we like this. still a tropical storm. that is great news. it's about 400 miles away interest louisiana. didn't have much changes in the wafgs and warning. hurricane warnings from panama city to the new orleans area and along the louisiana coast. here is the new forecast path from the hurricane center. the timing is pretty much unchanged too. the weather will quickly go downhill throughout the daylight hours on tuesday with a landfall possible tuesday afternoon, down in the marshy areas of extreme southern louisiana. this doesn't appear at this time to be a landfall on a beach or something like that. we'll see a lot of reporters blowing around. this will be in the marshy swampy areas south of new
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orleans. the worst of the storm surge is to the right, lake pontchartrain and in bay st. louis, the areas around mississippi gulfport biloxi and mobile, even though you're not in the cone you're going to have a water surge in the bay. six to 12 foot storm surge in the right center of that path. six to 12 feet for only a category 1 hurricane. just shows you the size of the storm is what's going to move all this water, thomas. we have rain bands not only on florida still, the east coast, but off the east florida coast about 390 miles from the center. this is a huge storm, not intensity wise, but a huge storm and why its impacts will be felt for two days in the north central gulf starting tomorrow morning. >> we appreciate it. this is the havoc that hurricane katrina wreekds in new orleans when it came ashore as a category 3 storm seven years ago on wednesday. severe flooding when levees failed leaving 80% of new orleans under water.
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katrina killed more than 1800 people, although the final death toll in new orleans was never determined. officials this time around they say they are getting ready. >> we have issued a state declaration of emergency for the storm. >> it's really important that we as a region stay together and stay focused and now is a time to get what we call in battle rhythm. >> it's always been serious business for those on the gulf coast states like louisiana. gabe gutierrez joins me from new orleans. what are officials doing this time around, especially to make sure that people are fully informed and know the path of the storm? >> good morning, thomas. the mayor here is urging people not to panic, but to be prepared. there are mandatory evacuations under way for several areas including la feet, crown point, and grand isle. many local parishes are giving sand bags to residents to secure their homes. as you mention this comes seven years roughly after hurricane katrina. the costliest hurricane in u.s. history.
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causing $108 billion in damages according to some estimates and killing roughly 1800 people across the region. the big question this time around will be the levees. the army corps of engineers says it is confident that improvements over the past few years, lots of money have been spent on these levees to make sure they are not breached and lake pontchartrain doesn't spill into the city like seven years ago. now, because of the fear of this approaching storm, many oil companies have evacuated their rigs. they started doing that yesterday. a large chunk of gulf oil production will be shut down and because of that and anticipation of that, many people are lining up at gas stations trying to get gas ahead of this storm. right now lot of preparation going under way. not panic, just on high alert as the storm approaches the gulf coast. thomas? >> nbc's gabe gutierrez in new orleans for us. thank you. as isaac tracks west of tampa day one of tess fiveties
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of the republican national convention have been scrapped. the events will be brief but symbolic. reince priebus will gavel the convention into order but immediately recess until tomorrow. there's a live look at the convin convention hall now. the roll call will make mitt romney the official party nominee. the reinvention of their candidate, just one of the main tasks that will drive the narrative of the gop 2012's convention. >> need to do two things this week. one, we need to prosecute the president as far as what he promised to deliver and where we're at. this week is about telling the mitt romney story. the story about a good, decent man that everything he's touched he's been successful on. >> all right. let's talk more about that and joining me from tampa, congressman connie mack, representing florida and a surrogate for mitt romney. i want to get to the new york times headline reading storm rewrites gop's script for convention. as we've been talking about the
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top of the hour, tampa has been spared by isaac is heading towards new orleans. in your estimation, how do you think the storm is going to change the tone of the convention this week? >> well, i think you'll still -- it will be a great convention, you're going to hear a lot about what are plans are for the future but everybody will keep an eye on the storm and hoping that the people now that it's past tampa, whether in the pan handle or other states are taking the necessary precautions to make sure they're safe. >> when we talk about the storms the party has weathered two different storms in the last week, first to the aiken controversy and now the real weather event that is isaac. here what is president obama said about mitt romney in an interview with the associated press. take a listen. >> he has signed up for positions, extreme positions, that are very consistent with the positions that a number of house republicans have taken and whether he actually believes in those or not, i have no doubt
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that he would carry forward some of the things that he's talked about. >> congressman, how does mitt romney react to counter react to the president's message on this, when during the primary there would be a lot of people, the conservative right, that were suspect of mitt romney? >> you know, let me put it to you this way. i think there's a lot of us, a lot of people in the state of florida, who feel that the extreme positions have actually come from the white house. whether it's the affordable care act or obama care, raising taxes on people during this economic environment, looking at the regulations that the president has put on the people of the state of florida or this country, so, you know, it's unfortunate that the president has decided that he's going to run a completely negative campaign instead of talking to the voters about the issues that matter, jobs and the economy. you know, we've seen the united states senate, that hasn't
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passed a budget in almost four years. senator nelson in florida voted to raise taxes 150 times. these are things in the state of florida and around the country are interested in us having a conversation and i think the president ought to honor those people with keeping it about the issues. >> do you think when we talk about as mitt romney comes out with his speech, a lot of people and he himself has admitted he really isn't known well by the american people. do you think his speech is going to be more personal or more about policy? >> i think it will be a combination of things, but i would disagree slightly. i think a lot of people have gotten to know governor romney and they like governor romney. so i don't think -- i hear a lot of people talking about they don't really know him or -- look he's a good man -- >> he talked about it himself, sir, in politico. they says people don't know me. >> i think that the other side has done a good job of painting that picture, but we know who mitt romney is. he's someone who's been successful in business, been
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successful in politics. we know what he did with the olympics. we know what he's done with his family. this is a guy that is success -- he's done well in life, and that is something we ought to honor. >> congressman connie mack, thanks for taking time out for us and enjoy your time at the convention. >> thank you very much. >> absolutely. we want to bring in our monday political power panel, joy ann reid, msnbc contributor and managing editor for the grio, hogan, national communications director for rick santorum's presidential campaign and jimmy williams, writer of jimmy's politics.com. good to have you here. hogan, start with you and talk about isaac. it's not poised to hit tampa but possibly new orleans on the seven-year anniversary of katrina. will mitt romney be able to compete with the attention, the media attention, that may shift to new orleans? >> i'm sure he will be able to, but i mean look, our thoughts and prayers should go to the people of new orleans. they sure don't need another storm, much less a hurricane, so we're praying that thing stays
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just a tropical storm and all the levees hold, of course. that will obviously be news going into the rest of the week. it will be news actually at the democratic convention as well if it does hit new orleans and if it does cause some damage, i'm sure there will be reports coming out of there. this is part of the deal having conventions during hurricane season. we were actually in the path of a hurricane this time, but last time we were in minnesota and we still had problems with a hurricane. we still had to focus on the hurricane. so there are lots of things out there right now that are political and a time and a place for politics and a time and a place to pay attention to the greater needs of most people and that's what we're going to have to do if this hurricane really bashes new orleans. >> a lot of people are getting to know about isaac but what the romney people want the american voter to get to know, joy ann, mitt romney and he sat down for an interview with politico ahead of this week's convention and three times during that interview he said the line, i am what i am. so what does that tell you about the new reinvented romney, that we're going to see in the coming days? of course, when we just spoke to
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the congressman, connie mack of florida, you know, he was saying well i do think, you know, that the american voter does know who mitt romney is. mitt romney himself admits people don't really know me. >> yeah. i mean that's the thing is that mitt romney has had a tough summer. the obama campaign went very hard in terms of defining him as an out-of-touch rich guy, hitting him hard on the taxes which he helped himself not releasing more than a half a year's tax returns. he's come out of the summer with something like a nebulous to negative image. i'm not not sure what that means, whether he's going to brace his 1% hood and not try to be the everyday regular guy and sort of embrace the fact that he is what chris mathews calls a square and maybe try to put forward an image that embraces himself as a rich guy. i don't know if that's going to work. what mitt romney needs to do with this convention is humanize himselfrs put a positive definition of himself out there and what this convention has to be about for him and also he's
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got to try to outshine paul ryan. right now the conversation is much more about his running mate than it is about him. i think that's a problem as well. >> the number two shouldn't be outshining the number one as we've seen in the past in '08. as we talked about here with mitt romney, three things that we've been hearing he needs to talk about, money, mormonism and massachusetts he did sit down with fox news to talk about the overcare to the health system in that state and spoke to it specifically. let's take a listen. >> with regards to women's health care, look, i'm the guy that was able to get health care for all of the women and men in my state. they're just talking about it at the federal level. we did something and did it without cutting medicare and without raising taxes. number one. number two. >> you're saying look at romney care? >> absolutely. i'm very proud of what we did and the fact that we helped women and men and children in our state. >> all right. romney hasn't pushed his background on health care, but they were saying looking at romney care. isn't romney care, isn't that the god father of what we have with obama care and what the
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heritage foundation brought to mitt romney? >> it's the birth father. >> the birth father. >> there's the same dna. literally the guts of, dna of romney care is the same dna as obama care it's called in the health care act. this is a simple thing, every position that mitt romney held as the governor of the commonwealth of massachusetts, albeit a democratic state, he now holds exactly the opposite view today. running for president, for the gop nomination. i understand why he would probably swing to the right during the primaries. here's the problem, his spokesman said it was going to be an etch a sketch moment he's not shaken the etch a sketch up. he's centered squarely on the far right. this is a problem for him. because the country is remarkably divided. we know you have a -- we know the number of people that will vote republican, the number of people that will vote democratic. that 8% simply undivided most of them women ages 30 to 50 want to know exactly what he means when he stands for, he says i am who
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i am, but they don't know what that is. that's his problem. he can't connect with that small sliver going to decide this election. >> is the speech we're going to see from mitt romney, is that his etch a sketch moment and tell the story the one worth getting to know about who this guy is. >> that speech is important. i don't -- it's not the end all, be all because as soon as we get to a debate it's the most important debate of his career. don't want to use too much hyperbole. it's important for him to connect to women and express under this president, unemployment amongst women has risen through the roof and he's got to explain to women they don't vote on just one issue. they vote on the economy, family, and he needs to exbe press who he is, what kind of man he is and to bring this country back that includes all people including women. >> it's high hurdles from here on out until we get to the election. our monday power panel, thanks so much, joy ann reid and hogan.
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romney's big week, megan mccain, the daughter of former presidential candidate john mccain will join me to talk about this crucial convention week and, of course, we're keeping our eyes closely on tropical storm isaac which could become a hurricane upgraded later today. florida likely to be spared but new orleans could take this direct hit. what are you doing to prepare for this storm. tweet us, talk to us as always, join in on the conversation, @thomasaroberts. muplin inst cat ]arntlr
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we make history. >> republican presidential nominee john mccain making his convention speech in 2008 in st. paul, minnesota, that convention just like this one, overshadowed by a storm, hurricane gustav, which also delayed the gop convention by a day. now this year, bad weather or not, mitt romney has to reconnect with voters in a way he's never done before. the big question, can he do it? megan mccain an msnbc contributor and daily beast columnist and daughter of former republican nominee senator john mccain of arizona. your dad talked about the problem of holding a convention during a hurricane and he did that this sunday on "meet the press." take a listen. >> i think it will be very unfortunate not just for the republican party, but a long-standing tradition of three or four days of intense political campaigning so that the republican party and the nominee can make their case. >> here we r the race now in the virtual dead heat by the latest polling. can the gop party, you know, not
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be rained on by isaac here? can you have the aiken firestorm go away, isaac go away and mitt romney really connect and get his message out in this climate? >> oh, yeah of course. i think that's the whole purpose of these convention, not only are you going to have the nominee make his case of why he will be a better candidate and a better president than president obama, but obviously this is the place where the up and comers are going to showcase what they see as the future of the republican party. this is where president obama at the dnc in 2004 originally made his case and became sort of the icon or the beginnings of it he now is. >> with the one thing this convention is about is making sure that the everyday average american voter out there, the independent, knows who mitt romney is and in recent interviews he said people really don't know who i am, but i am what i am. the interesting thing here, you know, he's been having to fight this rich guy battle, that he really hit a triple, wasn't born on third base, and we have part of this interview of ann and
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mitt romney sitting down this weekend talking about his shirts from costco. take a listen. >> we both love costco. i love costco. >> why? >> it's great. are you kidding? have you ever been to it? >> i've been to a costco. >> i love costco. >> goth me one of these three packs of shirts from costco, they're very nice shirts. >> he's wearing them all the time. that shirt looks pretty good. i got it at costco. >> taking a page from the obama playbook? get the first lady shopping at target now we can have ann romney going to pick up three for one shirts at costco? >> yeah. i think that's obviously something that's going to humanize them. but i think because they come from a wealthy family doesn't mean they do things like shop at costco. can't have a first lady that shops at target. this is the type of thing where an average american watching will say they shop at costco, i shop at costco too and humanize them. >> how many americans that shot at costco have a swiss bank account, megan? >> i don't think very many.
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americans will have to decide if that is an issue that will matter for them. for me personally it doesn't. >> nbc news can confirm former republican and governor of florida charlie crist is going to speak at the dnc convention after -- >> so i heard. >> after endorsing president obama this weekend calling him the right leader for our times. now take a listen to this. here's what former governor jeb bush who supports romney says about the party. take a listen. >> our demographics are changing. and we have to change not necessarily our core believes but how we -- the tone of our mess annual and the message and intensity for sure. i don't think that's going to have an impact in this election. there's a gender gap in favor of president obama among women in a dead heat there's going to be a gender gap in favor of men for romney. this is going to be a close election, but long term, conservative principles if they're to be successful and implemented, there has to be a concerted effort to reach out to a much broader audience than
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today. >> charlie crist jumping sides we'll put that aside to talk about is this party big enough when we look at the polling numbers, the african-american communities, 0%, for mitt romney. the stance that mitt romney and the republican party takes on women's issues, really does kind of put an affront up to welcome women. for lgbt issues that's a problem for the republican party. how do they look at the narrative of what the core beliefs are and stand with those, but seem more welcoming to the bigger, larger american audience that we are today? >> listen, i love the republican party and i very much feel at home within it. all of that being said, i agree with jeb bush that there needs to be a bigger tent party and we need to do a much better job of reaching out to women. you don't need to listen to me. statistics speak to themselves. we have a problem going on. i believe after this convention, that the american people will have a better understanding of who mitt romney and paul ryan are and what it can mean for women. i'm not going to sit here and tell you there isn't going to be
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a problem in the voting booth. at the end of the day it will matter about what comes out and votes during this election cycle. >> you know i love you, but as it comes down to being comfortable in the republican party isn't it easy for you to be comfortable in the republican party, well off white and blonde? >> ow. i mean there are lots of reasons why i identify myself as a republican. as you're aware i'm a support of lgbt rights and hasn't been someone that is well liked back. i think times are changing. i think there's a very good opportunity that mitt romney will win because at the end of the day this election is about the economy and about the future of america in this recession. but in the future what i hope for for the republican party is i do hope for a broader tent party which is why when i saw that video of my father i almost tear up watching it because he was someone i could believe in. mitt romney is someone i can believe in. there are people like todd akin i could never believe in. >> you know i love. you answered the tough
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take a look, all eyes on tropical storm isaac. we're watching the developments of this storm churning over the gulf of mexico. expected to gain strength into a full blown hurricane but florida, that was spared, but not completely and now new orleans bracing for the worst. republicans, though, they are gearing up for their convention after a one-day delay because of that storm and democrats they're waiting in the wings to respond. democratic congresswoman kathie caster joins me live next. thco ody s et manc e' be b s et foha
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events on the agenda. chair reince priebus will gavel the convention at 2:00 p.m. and immediately recess. they're expected to unveil a debt clock in the convention hall, a clock reinforcing the party's economic message. tomorrow the romneys and republicans plan to get their convention started in full gear, ann romney among those expected to take to the stage for her speech that carries high stakes for the gop campaign. because of the storm vice president joe biden has canceled all events planned for him in florida. vice president biden was expected to go there to counter act the gop message. joining me is kathy castor the democratic representative for florida's 11th district. first, i want to play something that former florida governor jeb bush said in an interview on "meet the press" this sunday. take a listen. >> i think it's time for him to move on. i mean, he -- look, the guy was dealt a difficult hand, no question about it, but he's had three years. his policies have failed. rather than blame others which i
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know we were taught that was kind of unbecoming over time, you just can't keep doing that. maybe offer fresh new solutions to the problems we face. >> congresswoman, that's the governor basically defending his brother and his record over eight years as president and the fact that our current president seems to lay a lot of blame on the former administration. do democrats need to move on, talk about what president obama can do in the next round? >> well, let me tell you what i'm hearing from my neighbors across the tampa bay area, an area where the recession hit earlier in 2007. we were in a housing crisis. people were losing jobs. they give president obama credit for tackling the issue, trying to create jobs. and serving in the congress over the past few years. i'll tell you it's been this tea party faction that's been very obstructist in trying to create jobs. they've blocked the president's jobs bill. they have not been a good partner on the big infrastructure and transportation bill. i hear from small businesses in
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my community that say, how can you block transportation and infrastructure jobs when we've got to get the economy back on track? >> so when we talk about mitt romney talking about the strategy that he gave to politico, the 30-minute interview saying he's going to make the case that president obama is a nice guy but a failed president, how would you respond to the nice guy narrative, but he didn't do what he said he was going to do as our president? >> in pole ticks sometimes it gets personal but it comes down to the policies and the two divergents for our country. president obama has talked about job creation. i represent a community that is reliant on innovators, large research university that's dependent on investments and education. mitt romney on the other hand, all we really hear is that corporations and special interests will keep tax cuts, millionaires will get additional tax cuts and that's not really selling to people who, for example, want their kids to attend college or maybe there's
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a diagnosis of alzheimer's. your parent or grandparent. so these are two divergent divisions and on the ground in tampa, and throughout the state of florida, the important swing state, i don't think the romney policies of special interests and corporations getting big tax cuts will sell for job creation. >> congressman, reince priebus over the weekend talked about how the republicans plan to prosecute the obama record, even brought that up this morning on "morning joe." a new "washington post" poll is showing that the race is very close, neck and neck, despite weeks of negative advertising that americans have been seeing over $100 million in florida alone has been spent on these adds. why aren't those adds working? >> you know, the state of florida is always very close. look back on all of our previous elections, you don't have to think back too far. it was only a few percentage points, last presidential election, 2000, only a few hundred votes. this is a swing state. people are independent minded
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especially here in the i 4 corridor from tampa to orlando. the romney policies focusing on the special interest tax breaks for millionaires and corporations is not selling here when you talk to people on the ground, teachers, the people in the grocery store, people you talk to in clutch. they're looking for opportunity and president obama is on the side of working people, wants to cut taxes for the middle class, fight for education, investment in technology and innovation. those are our economic drivers in this part of the country and i think president obama eventually will prevail here in this swing state of florida. >> florida congresswoman kathy castor, thank you for your time. we've been telling you this abbreviated schedule is going to be going into effect after 2:00 p.m. today when the gavel is sounded by reince priebus. this week's republican convention will make history, though, on the social media front. it's a different time, right?
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all this week our own richard liu will walk us through that scene and who among the party's up and comers have the potential to make headlines in that medium. this is different than what we saw in '08. >> oh, yeah. >> who do we watch? >> a lot of folks to watch here. good morning to you. first off for you in 2004, social media was a nonissue in that year, but had it been around for that democratic convention that year this probably would have been trending. listen to this. >> the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that america has a place for him too. >> so, who might give a speech like this at the rnc? social media gives us a hint. mayor love of salt lake city, if she wins her race, the first african-american republican woman in congress. social media gives us a sense of what she's thinking playing off her name she tweets it's time for a love bomb, money bomb.
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prepledge a donation for the day of mia's rnc speech. another one to watch here, former congressman artur davis who once backed president obama and now governor romney. his tweet says new article called "setting welfare back on fire" criticizes the president on medicare and social security. a nod perhaps to what he may talk about tomorrow. the keynote speaker, new jersey governor chris christie created a new tumbler account and twitter handle for this occasion. his tweet about tropical storm isaac joking here they brought me down here on sunday in case there's any idiots on the beach to tell them to get the hell off the beach. won't be just speakers making waves or what msnbc contributor mark hall person coined years back, the gang of 500 who have drive the narrative, crashing the party this time is what you might call the gang of 50,000, the estimated number descending on tampa right now, most if not all with twitter friendly cell phones that may be tweeting. google is the rnc's official
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social media platform according to the tampa bay times. live streaming all major speeches with live video hangout sessions for offstage and delegates as well. we'll do that for you, find contented under #msnbc 2012 or facebook.com/msnbc where we'll have behind-the-scenes coverage for you. and at our blog at leanforward.msnbc.com. reports on prime time speeches and from msnbc analysts as well. tomorrow for you, thomas, show you brand new app that we'll be launching. >> richard, thanks so much. we look forward to that. of course keeping us abreast of all things on the rnc, you can make sure to follow us on twitter #msnbc. want to bring you more information on tropical storm isaac. it's churning in the gulf of mexico. and gaining strength. fueled by the warm waters there. it may be headed straight for new orleans. not good news for them. right now hurricane warnings are up along about a 300-mile stretch from destin florida all the way to morgan city, louisiana. the water channel meteorologist eric fisher joins us live from
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fort meyers beach along the western gulf coast of florida. you're really missing the brunt of isaac today. looks like the weather is decent, but windy. >> windy for sure. that's going to stick around. thomas, you're right. the worse case accident near yo not realized in south florida. always got to put the worse out there. when it comes down, a couple days of your life, you prepare, if the worst happens you're ready for it. if it doesn't you breathe a sigh of relief which is what a lot of folks are doing around southwest florida. we had mand foreevacuations -- mandatory evacuations that were lifted last night. the shelters closed up at 11:00 this morning. didn't have to close a lot of the major thoroughways. one thing we will watch for is the surf which is higher than it was yesterday. looks more like the atlantic side of florida than the gulf side. this is going to stay up the next several days. some persistent onshore flow wind means high rip current threat and, of course, the low lying prone areas, there are a lot around florida. doesn't take much surge will
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fill with water at the high tide cycles. isolated tornado threat across florida. a few heavy bands in eastern florida, localized flooding a problem all day. >> the weather channel meteorologist eric fisher in fort meyers, florida. appreciate it. so goes florida so goes possibly this election and no vote more crucial than florida's senior vote. what are florida seniors thinking when it comes to the romney plan? plus some events have been cancelled in tampa because of isaac but not the tribute for the late astronaut neil armstrong. details ahead for you in the poly side bar. always weigh in on the conversation we're having here this morning, tweet m me @thomasaroberts. hey. hey eddie. i brought your stuff. you don't have to do this. yes i do. i want you to keep this. it'd be weird. take care. you too. [ sighs ] so how did it go?
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his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. as goes florida so goes the country. that's what's often said in an election year about the sunshine state which is not only ground zero in terms of u.s. voter demographics but could be the future model of what the country may look like in the next 20
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years. break things down by race a little over 57.5% of florida residents are white. $16.5 -- 16.5% african-american 2.6% are asian american and to give you an idea of the household income, the median under $47,000. 13.8% live below the poverty line. president obama won florida by three percentage points in 2008, even though he lost the 65 and older vote by 8 percentage points. this year, it's one of the big three tossup states likely to hold the keys to the white house and may lie in its high senior citiz citizen population. how will the seniors vote there this fall? john yang live in tampa, florida, with more on this morning. good morning. >> good morning. a lot of focus on senior voters now that paul ryan is on the ticket with his medicare proposals. to find out what seens here think about that and other issues we went to a swing county in this swing state where almost
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one in three residents is aged 65 or older. >> at venice florida's village on the isle voter turnout is not a problem. these residents range in age from 75 to 94. >> do you think there's any chance that any of you just won't vote in november? >> absolutely not. >> they're not sure who they're voting for. he is a retired episcopal priest. >> obama has disappointed me. i voted for him. i don't think he's come through as i hoped he would. >> reporter: jan martin didn't vote for president obama but mitt romney has yet to win her over. >> no one has really pushed my button to say, this is what i truly want to hear. >> reporter: 26% of current registered florida voters are 65 or older. president obama won florida by three percentage points while losing the state's seniors by 8 points. he had a surge of younger voters who polls show are less
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enthusiastic this year. >> if we have a lower turnout among florida's younger voters, it will mean that florida's older voters carry a lot more weight in the election. >> reporter: after the barrage of attacks and counter attacks over medicare, polls show romney's lead among florida seniors virtually unchanged. for 2008, obama supporter garland reedy, it's just sound and furry. >> i think they're rowing in the wind because i don't think that the legislature either side would let them take it away. >> is this all boil down to the economy? is that what this election is all about. >> i'm extremely concerned about the future of our grandchildren, the majority of them can't get jobs even though they're highly educated and what is their future? >> after all, many seniors struggled through the great depression and the shared sacrifices of world war ii, including combat. they see the election of 2012 as every bit as important for their children and grandchildren. >> it's a very critical point in our nation's history.
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we better get it right. >> do you worry we're not going to? >> i worry that we can get it wrong. >> that was john yang reporting for us. joining me is the republican party chairman for the state of florida. good to have you with me. >> good to be with you. >> we'll talk more about the senior vote in a moment. first mitt romney makes his case to the country this week during the abbreviated time schedule allowed because of isaac and i want to show everybody the front page of the tampa bay times, the headline saying i am who i am and all business, can he bank on americans trusting his business sense over likability to be the next president? >> it's going to be a combination. he's got the resume and we have to communicate the resume, success in business, he's a problem solver, manager that gets things done. but also, mitt romney the family man. mitt romney the father and the husband. the person that cares about people. that's going to be part of the narrative this week. >> there's been a lot of concern, though, as this narrative has unfolded about
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paul ryan being on this ticket. it could cost mitt romney with seniors. and florida and the voters there because of what we heard in the reports like what john yang said making sure we get this right and make sure we're paying this forward to our grandchildren and beyond. they're disappointed in the president but not sold on mitt romney. how do you think the florida senior vote is going to go? >> couple things. paul ryan was a bold choice. it says that mitt romney is serious about leadership and fixing sbitsmentes. -- entitlements. we have to tell the truth about obama's record because he's lying about our. if we go with the obama plan as it stand right now, if you're under the age of 50 medicare will be bankrupt when you reach medicare age. >> say, again, sir under the age of 50? >> if you're under the age of 50 right now, leave things as they are under the obama plan, medicare is effectively bankrupt by the time you reach the retirement age. >> but what do we know about mitt romney's plan? he's been extremely vague about outlining what it is.
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we know what the ryan budget calls for. however, the governor has steered away from that, not wanting that to lead on the top of the ticket. he said he's going to come out with his own plan, but that's still undecided exactly what that is and something they want to talk about after the election itself. >> it won't affect folks over the age of 55. there has to be change made to medicare if it's going to exist for people my age, for people under the age of 50. part of that is offering vouchers and other alternatives. so the romney plan will address medicare head on to make sure that we have this thing sustainable into the future. >> florida republican party chairman, lenny curry. thanks for joining me today. we appreciate it. >> always a pleasure. developing now, we turn to the track of tropical storm isaac in the gulf of mexico. as we take a peek, it's packing 65 mile an hour winds but is expected to gain strength and make landfall late tomorrow or wednesday along the gulf coast as a cat 1 hurricane, possibly
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slamming straight into new orleans. stay with msnbc as we bring tu latest. back after this. muay indict cio thco ody muay s et indict cio manc e' be b muay s et indicfohao
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a convention sendoff for paul ryan. time for the poly-sidebar. mitt romney's running mate is back home in wisconsin right now before heading on to tampa tomorrow. he's holding a campaign rally in his own town shortly and joining the hometown crowd, the secret service. congressman ryan is now under full protection. so is ann romney. she was assigned her own secret service detail on friday afternoon. no comment from the secret service but it is typical for the wife of a presidential candidate to receive their own details at the same time as the convention. congressman ron paul won't have a speaking role at the convention but he's still in town and his supporters are all there, too. paul held a six-hour rally yesterday including a 77-minute speech that celebrated his accomplishments, defended his libertarian philosophy and calling for his liberty movement to move forward. the only thing he didn't mention, mitt romney. there's a reason for that one.
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he told the "new york times" quote, i don't fully endorse him for president. republicans are planning a tribute on tuesday to astronaut neil armstrong, first man to walk on the moon. the backdrop of the stage will be decorated with pictures of the late astronaut. nbc news confirms that senator rob portman will deliver armstrong's eulogy at his funeral friday in cincinnati. that will wrap things up for me today. i appreciate your time. see you back here at 2:00 today. i will help out on "news nation." then see you at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. don't go anywhere. "now" with alex wagner comes your way. what's coming up? coming up, governor romney's popeye defense. will his "i am what i am" convince doubtful gop members? we will discuss. plus, the latest on tropical storm isaac and the cone of uncertainty surrounding the republican party. and the states of disgrace. we'll go behind the politics of the push for voter i.d. laws in
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and don't get heartburn in the first place. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. the highly anticipated much discussed republican national convention begins today and will feature speeches, remarks and calls to action for approximately ten minutes. it's monday, august 27th and this is "now." joining me today, msnbc contributor, ari melber of the nation, new york city deputy mayor, howard wolfson, the host of msnbc's "martin bashir" show, martin bashir himself, and jodi kantor of "new york times." the republican party is now one day away from making governor mitt romney its official nominee but does anyone know who mitt romney actually is? according to mike

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