report. he thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing. >> but do rye wranryan's facts ? we have a reality check coming up. and tonight it's mitt romney's big moment. what will he say about himself and how he would lead nation? plus a political star is born. condoleezza rice with her american story. >> on a personal note, a little girl grows up in jim crow birmingham. the segregated city of the south where her parents can't take her to a movie theater or to a restaurant, but they have her absolutely convinced that even if she can't have a hamburger at the lunch counter, she could be president of the united states if she wanted to be and she becomes the secretary of state. >> so would she consider a future run for the white house? i asked her. >> i'm a foreign policy person, and have a chance to serve my

country -- that was enough. i'll go back to being a faculty member. >> but look who is not watching the republicans bashing president obama. >> i, as the wife of the guy they're running against, i tend not to watch it, but i think it's important for everyone to watch these conventions. >> and on the gulf coast, isaac drenches low-lying parishes around new orleans. at least 3,000 people have now been rescued from fast-rising floodwaters. more than 1 million are still without power. good day, i'm andrea mitchell live at the republican national convention in tampa where carpenters spent the night literally expanding the stage for mitt romney's big acceptance speech. tonight's speech follows two big-time performances from condoleezza rice and paul ryan last night. the vice presidential nominee is catching some heat today from the fact checkers. joining me now, chris cillizza, msnbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com.

eugene robinson, "washington post" columnist and msnbc political analyst. and "washington post" columnist michael gerson, former bush speechwrit speechwriter. first to you, chris, let's talk about the fact checking. the obama campaign making very much first of all the fact that that general motors plant was shut down on george bush's watch. they are pointing the -- ryan people are pointing out he didn't say shut down. >> right. >> he said locked up. which means it has not been fully restarted because they say the obama recovery, the sluggish recovery, has not led to enough orders for that plant to be back online. >> and then there was the simpson/bowles that president obama should have supported the debt commission when paul ryan was on the -- voted against -- >> it was the key vote who sabotaged it according to critics. >> what'sdrandrea, i feel like we're at this point where we're slicing the onion so thinly to say, it's not false,

but it's not true either. i don't think paul ryan lied last night. though plenty of people on my twitter account have told me that i'm not addressing the reality. i think he didn't provide context. now, in truth, not providing context is nothing new in american politics. this was not paul ryan expounding on every policy he's ever given. this was paul ryan speaking to an incredibly partisan crowd about his vision, mitt romney's vision and honestly most of the time about what was wrong with barack obama's vision. the question is, what -- what's the standard that we need to hold them to? you can't interrupt paul ryan's speech and say, well, technically the gm plant, locked up versus closed -- >> is there a larger political truth? >> i don't know the answer to that question to be totally frank. >> let me ask michael gerson. you wrote president bush's, both of his acceptance speeches and his inaugural addresses. >> right. >> as a speechwriter, as a poet,

as a writer, there's a larger political truth and that was conveyed how last night? and then eugene, we'll get to the fact checkers in which -- and what really conveys to people. >> well, you know, i think there is -- by the way, i think there's some misunderstands of what the vice president's role is. it's not to explain and defend his own record on all these issues. talk about the candidate's view, what the that is currently. i think he's done a particularly good job last night. you know, he's done -- he's bringing heat against obama. and he's taking heat instead of romney. that's exactly what a vice presidential candidate is suppo supposed to do. people are talking about his record. they're not talking about romney. so i think that's an achievem t achievement. he did what he's supposed to do. >> is it fair to mischaracterize his record or give a false impression? >> i don't think he viewed it that way. he's talking about romney's current views, you know, when it comes to medicare spending, for example, he's now signed on to

the romney plan, not the ryan plan. that's the way he views it. he's no longer the candidate, himself. he's the supporting player. >> now, eugene, i think that the general impression, certainly mine in the hall and people outside the hall, is that this was a star turn. this was a successful debut performance in terms of energy, youth, generational appeal. and the fact that he managed to appeal, i think, both to the independents who are concerned about deficit cutting, tea party supporters, as well as the larger group of young people who are not enthusiastic perhaps about either candidate. and are worried about their lives and about their futures. >> i was in the hall when he gave the speech. i thought it was a great performance, i thought it was very good. i mean, he started kind of slow, but that's fine. he built to a climax and at the end he had that crowd with him

in a really impressive way. but let's be honest. he misled people. i mean, he deliberately left people with the wrong impression and the wrong understanding of what happened to the plant, what happened to simpson/bowles, and -- >> i think those are the two most -- >> also the medicare issue. >> because the medicare debate which he really joined, that's a debate that has already been started. that had been launched, they've been debating that in dueling commercials. what was really different was for him to come out and take that tact on simpson/bowles and talk about the stimulus in way he did when he in fact wrote constituent letters. >> i would agree, i don't think you can kind of etch a sketch his record entirely. i realize, of course, his positions are now romney's positions. romney is the presidential candidate, and it is not paul ryan's place to impose his views to the extent that they're

different. however, he does have a record, and people have a right to look at that. >> now, looking forward to tonight, he did advance the issue of the man, mitt romney, and his faith. let's watch. >> mitt and i also go to different churches, but in any church, the best kind of preaching is done by example. and i've been watching that example. the man who will accept your nomination tomorrow is prayerful and faithful and honorable. >> chris cillizza, this is the first step toward filling in a lot of gaps. we're going to see more tonight. >> now, i -- it was a long speech, last night, 36, 37 minutes, but i think that 10 or 15 seconds you showed was the best part of it in my opinion, in terms of doing something mitt romney, himself, and the

republican party more broadly has struggled to do which is to say, yes, implicit in that, mitt romney is mormon, 2%, to 3 po% the american public is mormon. he shares a common belief, a common value system. the other line paul ryan had which is terrific, he said, mitt romney is a good businessman, but mitt romney is also a good man. i thought -- that's kind of -- in some ways, i thought, why doesn't mitt romney -- he's not going to say i'm a good businessman and i'm a good man. why doesn't romney get at that sentiment in some way? because his family in kind of the values that drive it, that seems to be the thing that's missing in the mitt romney story. >> i also thought it was important that mike huckabee carried that message last night particularly for the people in the audience. he's the evangelical making this case that it doesn't matter. he made a similar case. >> on the medicare, i think the really powerful moment was, my mom is my hero, speaking of his mother and his grandmother to make his points about medicare. we're going to have to leave it there for now. we're looking forward to the romney speech. and we're going to -- i hope we convene and talk about that as

well. thank you so much. michael gerson, eugene and chris cillizza. see you later. meanwhile, isaac is weakening as it spins northwest over louisiana but it is still producing gusty winds, flooding rains and isolated tornadoes. there are massive power outages along the gulf. nearly half of louisiana is without power. incredibly, at this hour, officials will watching the percy quinn dam in southern mississippi which they say is in imminent danger of failing. even if it fails, it's not expected to swell the river. meantime in slidell, louisiana, real trouble. residents are trying to flee after extensive flooding there. nbc's gabe gutierrez is in slidell, louisiana. gabe, the scenes behind you are extraordinary. tell us the latest and how things are holding up. >> reporter: andrea, it's been a tough morning for many residents here. parts of slidell are still under water. national guard and local officials are trying to rescue trapped people from their homes. take a look behind me. this is one of the neighborhoods that has been flooded.

you can see there are plenty of cars there and there's a vehicle in the distance looking for some of those residents that have been trapped. rescue crews pulled about 45 people from their homes here overnight. this mornings about another 40 from the old towne area near. 100 people pulled from their homes overnight. the police chief tells us they're hoping to reach another 20 or so. here in slidell, some places have seen up to four feet of floodwaters. we should be clear this flood was not due to any sort of levee breach. this was just a situation where the waters came in strongly overnight and overloaded the pump system here. an evacuation shelter has been set up. officials, again, trying to reach 20 or so people that may be trapped in their homes. nothing, not as extreme as we saw in plaquemines parish yesterday where a whole neighborhood was completely under water. but definitely here in slidell it's been a very rough morning and there's no word on when these waters could recede. andrea? >> thanks so much, gabe

gutierrez. up next right here, tim pawlenty straight from his standup routine at the podium. but first, the birth of compassionate conservatism. remember this? >> it is to put conservative values and conserve ti ideas into the thick of the fight for justice and opportunity. this is what i mean by compassionate conservatism. [ male announcer ] this is rudy. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches. [ female announcer ] and try aleve it's time to live...

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humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? once a presidential candidate, then a finalist for vice president, former minnesota governor tim pawlenty was on stage last night delivering some tough lines for the campaign. >> barack obama's failed us, but

look, it's understandable. a lot of people fail at their first job. >> and tim pawlenty joins me now. governor, welcome. well, you had some tough lines against president obama. what about the other -- the rest of the program last night? tim ryan, his big debut. >> paul ryan. >> paul ryan. you're tim pawlenty. we've been up all night. >> he hit it out of the park. it was a really good speech. it was authentic, it was real. he also had a message that substantive and inspiring for inside the hall and broader audience. >> there's been a lot of fact checking and we understand that there's poetic license, let's say, in these speeches, but the fact is that while it is not shut down -- the shut down or the lockup of that plant, the general motors plant, happened under george bush's watch.

is it fair to suggest that president obama is responsible for that? >> you know, the broader point i think is how's the economy doing under president obama and did he keep his promises? so the economy obviously is doing poorly with the unemployment rates that we have, with the lack of business formations we have and so many americans suffering. so obviously president obama inherited a challenging situation, but he's made that situation and the possible recovery much worse and much slower by his misguided policies. i think that's the point. and one particular plant, by the way, president obama did say, and when he went to that plant or nearby and visited that he wanted to keep that plant open and it would be open and it's not open. >> let's play a little bit of more of the sound from the speech last night. a couple of the points that paul ryan was making. >> right there at that plant, candidate obama said, i believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here for another 100 years. that's what he said in 2008. well, as it turned out, that

plant didn't last another year. the stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst. what did taxpayers get out of the obama stimulus? more debt. he created a new bipartisan debt commission. they came back with an urgent report. he thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing. >> now, that debt commission, many say, would have succeeded if paul ryaryan, the most credi deficit cutter on that mission from the republican house side had weighed in on it and had supported it. >> well, i don't think he agreed with the conclusion. it's understandable he didn't weigh in and support it. here you had the president, himself, empanel and commission the group and then the ink wasn't even dry on their report and he disavowed their work and stiff armed them and hasn't really embraced them since. >> disavowed and stiff armed is not really what happened and

also he empanelled them because 17 republicans in the senate ran away from the commission that would have been in place that would have been mandatory, not advisory. so he went one step further. he had this advisory commission. said that they were sort of good steps in the right direction. he could have gone a lot farther. i've been one of those saying he should have gone a lot farther. but if paul ryan had stepped up to what -- >> oh, andrea -- >> tom coburn and other republicans have done. >> president of the united states, leader of the free world, commander in chief and the chief executive of our country's government, you have to take the responsibility for the outcome in the process. when you're the governor, for example, that's why i think having governors in this discussion are really importants you don't stand up before the country and say, my commission didn't work or the republicans are too difficult. paul ryan should have done x, y, z. he's the president of the united states. you lead, you inspire, you get results. if you can't do it, get out of the way and let somebody else do it. nobody cares about the process of the commission. the question is, did barack

obama fulfill his promise and get this country moving in the right direction? the answer is obviously no. he hasn't led. he doesn't even have a proposal to reform entitlements to speak of. and so leaders lead and they're responsible for casting a vision and delivering results. he hasn't done it. that's the bottom line. >> going forward, in this campaign, you've got basically a tied race. nine or ten battleground states. a ton of money by both sides being, you know, thrown at it. will there be a real debate over these issues? or is this just going to be, on the to be the nastiest campaign in anyone's memory? >> it's certainly going to be hotly contested and i suppose continued points back and forth on that score. in terms of the debate and the substance, look, for example, at the substance paul ryan has brought to the ticket in inviting the country and the obama administration to say, hey, we're willing and able to touch the third rail. we're willing to talk about specific proposals to reform

entitlements. and a grave political challenge or risk. actually the country is saying we respect the fact you're willing to be bold and specific, but there's the president? you can't hardly find him even touching much less specifically addressing some of the most pressing financial issues of the country right now. our debt, our deficit, the entitlement's role in that. where is he? paul ryan and mitt romney said, we'll put a marker down, stand behind it, debate it. said, president, where are you? you know what, he can't find hem. >> he's talking about beer and other stuff. you can't find his entitlele proposal to speak of. where's the specific proposal to reform social security, specific proposal to reform medicare and medicaid? answer, hard to find. >> tim pawlenty. out campaigning for mitt romney. it's going to be a very tough 70 days, 71 days. >> it will, but it's an important election. a good debate. we will. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. up next, obama campaign striking back at paul ryan.

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have been raised about that gm plant. what are the other problems you had with the speech, the paul ryan speech? >> well, you know, andrea, there's no delicate way to put this, but he lied. he blatantly lied and brazenly. number, a number of different things have been fact checked by members of the media, independent fact checkers. >> the auto bailout, they point out he didn't use the word shut down in the speech. >> you know what the intention was. you know what the message they were sending. and paul ryan voted for the auto bailout then he opposed it. we see the benefits of what the president did. he took bold action when it was politically unpopular. now the auto industry is thriving. one in eight jobs in ohio is connected to the auto industry. he was accusing the president, a plant that shut down under the bush administration. that message was not lost on anybody in that arena or anybody watching it on tv. >> to tim pawlenty's point in the previous segment, i among others have pointed out that

paul ryan did not support the simpson/bowles conclusion. >> right. >> that said, tim pawlenty was just pointing out, the president of the united states is the leader and if he had fully embraced it, outcome might have been different. >> well, a couple different things on that. first, let's talk about the president. the president commissioned the simpson/bowles commission and put out a set of propoproposals. the president put out a set of proposals that reflects what simpson/bowles has been trying to achieve. the plan has been out there for a year. let's talk about paul ryan. paul ryan sat on that commission. he didn't show up on day of the last vote. he phoned it in and voted no. then now he says he's got a deficit reduction plan. it has no reflection of the simpson/bowles commission or the balance we need to reduce the deficit. his is based on complete phony numbers. me says he's going to reduce the deficit but a $4.5 trillion tax cut but he won't tell us how

he's going to pay for it. those are the facts. the president didn't walk away from deficit reduction. he put his own ideas on the table that reflect simpson/bowles which is why bowles supports the president and actually says the romney/ryan plan won't achieve -- >> bowles has been quoted as telling a north carolina audience, i think, very high praise for paul ryan, for his brain, for his ability, his grasp of the facts. facts are stubborn things. >> yes. >> but there's also mood music and there's political theater. you saw last night, susanna martinez, a rising star. you saw kocondoleezza rice givi a powerful speech then the emotion, the strength, the vi r vigor, the generational appeal of paul ryan. what do you face going up against all of this next week in north carolina? how to you counter it? >> well, you're right, facts are powerful things. we didn't hear many of them last night. and one thing that we didn't hear is one idea, one tangible

idea of how to move the country forward. paul ryan was picked as mitt romney's running mate because of his intellectual leadership. he was an intellectual leader of the republican party. you couldn't prove that by anybody last night watching that speech. not one good wrd idea to move this -- >> it's a political event. you still have to counterpunch. what can you produce in charlotte -- >> we've got -- we're not looking to trump what we saw here. we have our own convention that we'll produce next week. it will tell a story about where this country has been, where it's going to go under the president's leadership, how we're going to strengthen the middle class. it won't be just talking to the people in the arena. it will be talking to americans all over the country. that's a big difference from what we saw here last night. last night was appealing to a base, the tea party base. it wasn't about bringing all americans in. certainly not middle class americans. because nothing was put on the table about how we're going to strengthen the middle class or expand opportunity. >> stephanie cutter, see you in charlotte. >> thanks, andrea.

>> thank you very much. finding the real mitt romney. up next, we'll get a preview of what to watch for tonight with our floor correspondents. first, chicago, 1996. meet the man from hope. >> i end tonight where it all began for me. i still believe in a place called hope. god bless you, and god bless america. [ female announcer ] did you know the average person smiles more than 50 times a day? so brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. ♪ listerine® whitening... power to your mouth. but last year my daughter was checking up on me. i wasn't eating well.

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take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news. tonight is the main event here in tampa. with a preview of what to expect, we're joined by our best team in politics, nbc's peter alexander, kelly o'donnell and luke russert. peter, first to you. expectations. you've been covering the romney campaign since the beginning. just what does the governor plan, what is going to be in the speech? >> reporter: andrea, we wrapped up a conversation with a romney senior adviser, said the speech is locked in, almost no tinkering expected tonight before 10:00 p.m.

to give you a sense what's happening on the floor, see the extended romney and ann davie romney's family taking pictures to pose on the podiupodium. he's trying to reduce this empathy gap. if you walk with me through here, excuse me, sir, as we pass this way. a new addition to the stage. that's where he'll be speaking at the podium you can see. it's moved forward, closer to the audience, closer to the camera to help create a better connection with the audience here tonight. in addition to that, what's been important to note is over the course of the next several hours we will hear family and friends focus on issues he had largely not spoken about during the campaign. his mormonism. and also he will try to counter criticisms about his time at bain capital. andrea? >> peter, thanks so much. kelly, this is a big night for marco rubio, a rising star. we talked to him on the program yesterday. he, of course, was not chosen to be vice president but he has a big, big future and is another

example of the diversity of speakers they have in this republican party. >> reporter: absolutely. we're coming to you from the capital of florida, on the floor, and that is the section that has been so excited to see marco rubio, truly a favorite son of this convention, and he has been really trying to plan his rise in national politics by being a bit more measured. they know how popular he is. they know how big a voice he is among conservatives. i'm told by senior advisers that tonight he will talk about things that mitt romney has some difficulty saying himself. the different chapters in his life. being that voice to introduce him officially tonight but also to brag on him a bit in a way mitt romney can't do, himself, wouldn't be comfortable doing, himself. rubio is spending part of this day meeting with foreign ambassadors here in tampa because he's also very focused on foreign policy. he'll also be making his own introduction in the country in a way people haven't seen him before and some of his own themes will be present in andrea? >> kelly, thanks.

luke, the buzz about paul ryan speech and any bets from any of the three of you as to who this mystery guest is tonight? >> reporter: well, andrea, i'm here in the wisconsin delegation which was thoroughly behind paul ryan last night, not unexpectedly. it's interesting after criticism from republicans that chris christie was not able to garner enthusiasm through the crowd, paul ryan surely did that. i was with a few delegates last night, and they said he was a tactful attack dog. one woman even said watching paul ryan was like seeing my son succeed. there was energy in the crowd last night. gop operatives hope to parlay that tonight with governor romney, someone who has been criticized in the past for not being able to fire up a room. you're going to hear him. last thing, andrea, a guess of who the mystery gentleman or woman would be, i'm going to go with clint eastwood, i'll put it right out there. although i think tim tebow would be the one to really shock everybody. andrea? >> i've been told it's definitely a man which would

rule out nancy reagan, although, there could be a nancy reagan video as part of the reagan tribute tonight. any other bets, quickly, from peter and kelly? >> reporter: andrea, someone instantly recognizable. if you check the boxes for political office holders, they've all been here. the olympians are on the floor right now. many of them wearing their medals. they already have a part. i think the movie star drama could be it. >> and clint eastwood, of course, peter, you were there when he endorsed governor romney. >> reporter: yeah, we can say a lot of campaign staffers saying clint eastwood was the biggest highlight of the campaign so far. that's a good bet if he walks out here later today. i heard the name kristi yamaguchi thrown around. if it's a man, that rules her out. suffice to say, the people are excited to hear governor romney speech. anything that comes before that, we should say, it would be just icing on the cake. >> reporter: andrea, the balloon drop tonight. remember, you have to be in the right spot for the balloon drop tonight. >> i will be so far away from that balloon drop.

>> reporter: the good, the bad and the ugly, andrea, right here. >> thank you very much. peter, kelly and luke. see you later on the floor. joining me now, nbc news political analyst and former pennsylvania governor ed rendell. from philadelphia. right here at my side, malik, finance chair for john mccain 2008 campaign. and michael steele, msnbc analyst and former republican chairman. governor rendell, first to you. what did you see last night that worries you about what the democrats are about to face? >> well, paul ryan's a very engaging campaigner. he's young, he's attractive. he's everybody's favorite son or son-in-law. so he's a good messenger. the problem is his message last night was full of hypocrisy and lies, as stephanie cutter pointed out. his message on the economic stimulus. he said it was the largest spending bill ever in the history of kthe country. he didn't tell people $350 million of it were tax cuts which the republicans called for. he didn't say on medicare, the

thing he attacked president obama for, reducing medicare costs by $718 billion, he endorsed and put in his first budget and all those cuts come not from beneficiaries but from providers. lower reimbursements for hospitals and private insurance company. he didn't tell the truth about the auto plant that closed in wisconsin. so when you peeled back the onion from that attractive outer core, you're finding someone who just can't tell the truth because the truth hurts. >> fred malik, was a star born, though, not only in fred -- in paul ryan, fred, but let's take a look at susanna martinez and a little bit of her speech. >> my dad worked to grow the business. my mom did the books at night and at 18 i guarded the parking lot at the catholic church bingos. now my dad made sure i could take care of myself. i carried a smith and

wesson .357 magnum. >> well, she hit all the points. >> she sure did. look, this convention is about a lot of things but one of the things it's about is it's about youth, it's about women, and it's about hispanics. >> that tells you where your three problems are. >> coincidentally, andrea. >> thank withdryou for that. who can't deny susana is a dramatic new face on the scene? i met here in 2009 when he was running fifth to the governor. she won the primary. she won the governorship. she's a rising star. nationally. i'm really proud. i'm really proud the party of lincoln has the first latino governor in the history of the united states of america and the only two hispanic governors, three hispanic governors, luis in puerto rico, in the united states of america. i think that's a great testimony to us. >> and the fact that you have to

get past 30% if you're going to have any shot of winning this very, very tight race. you have to improve mitt romney's record with hispanics. a primary campaign where the party went very far to the right on the immigration issues. michael? >> i agree with you on that point. i think the party has put itself in a position with hispanics, a little distance there, where the connection is not being made. i think someone like susana who gave a tremendous speech, i enjoyed working with her and campaigning for her in 2009, as fred noted, as national chairman. and one of the things that i think that she and governor sandivol among others including marco rubio can bring to the table is a fuller expression of the party of lincoln which really is at its core a party of assimilation pitwhich means we d to create a newer narrative with these faces and voices leading that way. and i think last night, as we saw with condoleezza rice, a

door was open with susana to do that. >> i was on the floor in philadelphia in 2000 when colin powell was booed at a republican convention when he talked about affirmative action. but ed rendell, last night you saw condoleezza rice, that was a very powerful political debut for an accomplished foreign policy expert and speaker. what to you think of condoleezza rice as a potential, let's say, gubernatorial candidate in california if not presidential candidate, herself? >> if she wants to be governor of california, she'll be a tremendously powerful candidate. no question about it. she gave a good speech. what was interesting about her speech, it was fairly nonpartisan. she didn't rip and shred and tear. she tried to build up. and there's not enough of that, not only in this convention, but in american politics today. >> quickly, i wanted to also look at the battleground states. we're in a situation where we have a tie race and there's complete agreement on what the battlegrounds are. let's just throw up a map right here. there are ten states that everyone is focusing on.

north carolina, iowa, florida, colorado, virginia, nevada, ohio, wisconsin, new hampshire. throw in maybe pennsylvania and michigan. the republicans think that they've got shots at, but ed rendell would probably say not pennsylvania. michael steele -- ed, let me not speak for you. what do you say about pennsylvania? >> the book isn't closed on pennsylvania. i think democrats have a solid lead, but that could move. so i think democrats cannot relax in pennsylvania. >> and paul ryan could be a problem in pennsylvania because of seniors, but if he goes on offense on medicare, as he did last night, talking, bringing up his grandmother. >> he tripped up on the facts, so easily tripped up on the facts. >> fred? >> you know and so does everybody else know that we have the facts on our side on medicare. we -- you know that we have the best arguments. that's why all the obama campaign can talk about is throwing mud at us. >> fred, you're a fair guy, fred. didn't paul ryan keep the same

$718 billion of cost reductions in the ryan budget? president obama -- no, that matters. that matters. that's his integrity. did he do it or not? fred, did he do it or not? tell the people watching us. >> mitt romney is not advocating -- >> no, no, tell the people -- tell the people -- >> i don't know. >> you don't know that? >> i'd have to look at the record. >> fill him in, andrea. fill him in. fill him in. >> the first ryan budget did have that, the second ryan budget did not. now, of course, he has adopted his standard bearers position. >> if i could, i think you just made the point, i think, that's really clear. the democrats are arguing old points. >> old points? we're arguing hypocrisy, michael. >> the first ryan budget, the budget that he worked out with congressman wyden, senator wyden, is a digfferent piece. >> you talk about the budget. the only thing we really know about the budget is obama has never had a vote, a positive vote on the budget.

the only thing we know about obama bringing people together is in three successful budgets he submitted it was defeated 99-nothing. >> that's the debate. we have to leave it there. the counter is the republic caps have blocked lot of these votes. in fact, all of these votes. to be continued. fred malek, michael steele, ed rendell. thank you very much, all. up next, tom brokaw talking about condoleezza rice's political future and conventions past and future. crashes ] [ male announcer ] if you think all batteries are the same... consider this: when the unexpected happens, there's one brand of battery more emergency workers trust in their maglites: duracell. one reason: duralock power preserve. it locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. guaranteed. so, whether it's 10 years' of life's sunny days... or... the occasional stormy one... trust goes a long way. duracell with duralock. trusted everywhere.

i move senator barack obama of illinois be selected by this convention by acclimation as nominee of the democratic party for president of the united states. >> hillary clinton four years ago officially nominating barack obama at the democratic convention. an example of how former rivals can come together and eventually serve on the same team as they

now do. joining me here, speaking of our team, nbc news special correspondent tom brokaw. tom, that is a perfect example, i think, of the way, you know, in politics, past rivalries can easily be overcome. >> in fact, that moment and the appearance by hillary clinton and michelle obama on the first night of the convention sent tremors of fear through the republican party four years ago. then john mccain dialed up sarah palin, saying we have to have a woman on the ticket. they could see the party congealed after what had been a long and divisive fight between now secretary of state clinton and then-senator obama, but they were so determined to get the white house back that they were able to come together. tonight the test will be whether this is true love or match.com. that's how i'm looking at it. i think the burden is going to be on governor romney to

persuade this hall which has been if not entirely wildly enthusiastic about him, now willing to accept him as their nominee because he seems willing to raise the principles that are prevalent in the hall. it's a high wire act, but that's the test of being a candidate. >> one of the things we have not heard much about throughout the convention with one exception is foreign policy and two long, long wars. our longest wars. condoleezza rice, her featured role last night. this is what she had to say, and she didn't focus that much on foreign policy, but this was one of her comments about that. >> i know, too, that there is a wariness. i know that it feels as if we have carried these burdens long enough. but we can only know that there is no choice because one of two things will happen if we don't

lead. either no one will lead and there will be chaos, or someone will fill the vacuum who does not share our values. my fellow americans, we do not have a choice. we cannot be reluctant to lead and you cannot lead from behind. >> i asked her aboutcannot. >> i asked her about that arrived r are is it fair to could say. much of -- the it is really a, victory to two. >> you know her in california, know washington, shes is not

interestedle in. >> and is this then when she went in the white house, she is now at stanford, she is very,s very happy, she -- put hearse had in the public arena, a huge fan of pro football, but his condoleeza rice is a woman who

knows where she wants to go and does of it in an orderly fashion, i think they didn't talk more about the burden, there is continuing chaos in that part of the world, she is not wrong in terms of saying how we're going to lead, but now they're going to say we're agent to be prepared for the consequences. >> tom brokaw, thank you as always, next, the political stories making headlines, that is next. oved! [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. t dog.llips' lady ] live the regular life.

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chris, it is the speech, and who the surprise guest is. it is a man, i'm told. >> >> right it is the speech and

its aftermath, not just what mitt romney says tonight. it is what is received tomorrow and outside, this is a big, big moment for mitt mney, don't under estimate it. >> got a lot to live up to. that does it for this edition, thomas roberts has a look next. >> hi, andrea, do you have any guesses on who the mystery guest will be? >> i think it is clint eastwood. >> all right, that is a. >> one. >> all right, just hours away from what many are calling the most important speech of mitt romney's life. how will mitt romney introduce himself to voters? will he talk about his mormon faith. >> he says romney has made a dramatic about face to talk about his religion. plus, from the gulf coast, crews have rescued more than 100 people trapped in their homes. that fit almost anywhere so you can take them everywhere.

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