at the top of the show, we ask you awwhat you're doing up this time. >> i'm up, because my empty chair keeps connecticut got up y heard my chairs in the kitchen having a conversation about clint. felix writes just got home, out talking to barstool president obama. >> it was a strange speech watching it on television but look at clint eastwood talking to that chair, played huge in the hall. we'll see what the gang in tampa has to say about it when "morning joe" starts right now. if i'm elected president of the united states, i will work with all my energy and soul to restore that america, to lift our eyes to a better future. that future is our destiny, that feature is out there, it is

waiting for us. our children deserve it. our nation depends on it. the peace and freedom of the world require it. and with your help, we will deliver it. let us begin that future for america tonight. >> good morning. it is friday, august 31st. we officially have a republican nominee for president. here again in tampa, florida, this morning after mitt romney accepted his party's nomination. welcome to "morning joe," everyone. with us on set, we have msnbc and "time" magazine senior political analyst mark halperin, we've got political editor and white house correspondent for "the huffington post" sam stein, msnbc political analyst and former chairman of the republican national committee michael steele, and the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. welcome to you all. >> i was worried because you were coming in here late talking

to an empty chair. >> oh, boy. >> yeah. that gag has been done already. >> what happened? >> i don't know. here are the headlines. >> we'll get there. >> here are the headlines. "the tampa bay times" mitt's promise, family man pledges to renew america, "the washington post," romney seizes the moment. i've got to tell you, mika, i am still transfixed on that bright shiny object, that was clint eastwood's speech. >> that and other speeches that just weren't enough mitt but ultimately how did mitt romney do? >> i thought he did well enough. i think the national reviews headline really encapsulates it for all the republican leaders i've been togging to and conservative leaders, like mitt gets it done. gets the job done. nothing fantastic. but -- >> i liked the personal stories from people that he's met along the way in his life. i thought that was incredible.

>> i wanted to ask you, mark halperin, you have a little information on the clint eastwood speech, i was thinking through the beginning of the clint eastwood speech, what a great job this team had done putting this organization together and putting the convention together. you know, i was wiping tears, the two personal anecdotes that at least i saw on tv about just what a great man he is. and i was thinking you know, they are, they're humanizing him. i'm sure that was your reaction as well. i like this man so much. and then it sort of spun off where you had the clint eastwood speech and marco rubio introducing himself to america at 10:35 p.m. for such a tightly structured campaign, what a strange way to introduce mitt romney.

that film, let's talk about the film. >> yeah. >> so moving. i love this guy. it was set up with a personal anecdotes, set up with a film, and my god, they're making the sell. and then it went a little off. he started talking to chairs. >> they put together a three-day convention as well done as it was, you have to give them more credit because they had to truncate it because of the storm and i thought the sequencing last night with the exception of eastwood was incredibly well done. film was great, some of the testimonials from people who knew governor romney. the strongest part of his speech when he talked about what happened with his relationship with his family, parents and with his sons. the eastwood thing was the exception. but it was a big exceptionp. it pushed governor's romney's speech later, broke the momentum from the film to senator rubio. clint eastwood endorsed romney somewhat out of blue in idaho.

at that event people said he gave a great talk and their assumption was he would come in and give the same talk. they didn't work with him the way they would with most speakers in part because he's a celebrity and they thought they had a good deal. come in and replicate in sun valley why the country should change from barack obama. >> didn't someone ask why he was bringing a chair with him. come on. >> i think everyone has missed, eastwood performance is very closely based on a morey amsterdam performance "in dinner theater," night at the improv. >> people missed that. >> if you know the original text, the homage to the morey amsterdam theater night at the improv you get it completely. >> exactly. >> without that reference, it's a little bit hard for most people. >> and a little -- let's talk more about the setup and then talk about the speech.

david gregory, clint eastwood went on too long. i was, again, i love marco rubio's story and he's a great speaker, but i sat there going, who? who is -- who let this train go so wildly off track that i'm up on my feet after the film and after these remarkable anecdotes and then i have to sit through clint eastwood and marco rubio introducing themselves to america at 10:35. >> i'm not one that -- i think we're in the bubble and we criticize the choreography that's how i normally feel about it. this is the exception. here we are at six after the hour talking about the distraction. that is not what mitt romney wanted. they were careful about orchestrating this convention to be a pitch to women, to be a pitch to hispanics, deal with liabilities. they had members of the mormon church very movingly talking about romney's religionosty more

than his theology. the film that yuz mentioned. i just thought this really got -- and you know, even someone of eastwood's stature, even though he may be talking to people, real anti-obama folks out there, i don't know that's the pitch on a night when mitt romney is trying to reach undecided voters. it seems discorded. >> and also seemed, when you're introducing mitt romney to people that aren't really connected to politics, if i'm crying at these personal stories about how mitt romney touched people's lives i know people in middle america who are not as cynical are crying about it. remarkable stories. if i sat there and watched the film and said oh, my lord, this is an amazing man. i know other people are saying this is an amazing man too. and then to go from that, where i'm thinking, they are selling this to middle america. not only have clint eastwood rambling but to say, highly off

colored jokes about -- that a lot of people would cringe in middle america about. highly offensive. and tying that to the president of the united states is exactly opposite of what you want to do to make your pitch to independent and swing voters. it was discorded and we are not following a bright sunny object. this was a terrible mistake, terrible staging for what i thought otherwise was a pretty brilliantly run three-day truncated convention. >> the sweet couple who were nervous and speaking from the heart. >> and the woman who lost a daughter -- >> oh, my. who you could clearly see felt her speech more thannybody who spoke at the convention and practiced it again and again and again, she was speaking from the heart. >> and by the way, when she said, that america would be a better country with mitt romney as president you knew she

believed it and you believed it. >> it was good. >> it really was. >> let's look at the speech, quickly, a lot of you have seen some of this last night. we're going to have a quick look at the reaction to mitt romney's speech and go through it. the washington examiner, said the speech wasn't magic adding that speeches don't need to be magic for romney to be elected. eric ericsson, tweeted excellent speech, best i've heard from him. candy crowley called it solid and business like. castellano said it was good enough. james carville said it was delivered competently. >> okay. >> david gergen, said it was extremely quiet but chris wallace said the romney speech was workman like and he got the job done. brit human said it was a good solid speech but not a great one. and msnbc's lawrence o'donnell said, quote, this crowd

absolutely feels they have someone who can win this election. and the front page of the national review as i said, i think puts it best, romney gets it done. he put his side in a position to beat president obama. >> before mitt romney launched into a critique of the president's record he tried to connect with women voters on a personal level. talking about the parents who shaped his values. >> my mom and dad were true partners, a life lesson that shaped me by everyday example. when my mom ran for the senate my dad was there for him every step of the way. i can still see her saying in her beautiful voice, why should women have any less say than men about the great decisions facing our nation. don't you wish she could have been here at this convention? and heard leaders like be governor mary fallon, governor nikki haley, senator kelly

ayotte and secretary of state condoleezza rice. >> you know, michael steele, i talked about being moved by the stories about mitt romney, but several times in the speech where mitt romney started tearing up when he told that story about the rose. >> the rose. >> that was powerful? a great moment for mitt romney. started tearing up. and i thought, well, nobody can call him a robot right now. he felt it. >> he did feel it. that was something i was looking for, to see how much of himself he would put into his speech and expose to us. how vulnerable will he make himself to the american people so they can see that side of him. the rose story for me was that moment, where it just all came together, because that was growing up, that was the man, that was the future president. and he saw what his father did and he saw how he and his mother -- his mother and father reacted and lived together, loved together and brought about a sent mentality, yes, but gave

you a sense of the kind of threads that run through this man. everything he just said was so important to that part of the story. i think people in that moment, that reaction clip you saw with the woman, that was right after the rose story. >> yeah. >> she was clearly moved to the point of just oh, my god, i didn't know. and then to have it kind of slide after that. or before that. you know, you kind of -- he had to build it up, i thought, build back up to that piece. it was tough. >> and the presidential story is about how his father gave his mother a rose every day and she knew he was gone when the rose wasn't there. that gets you. it's a side america needs to see, the kind of compassion he will bring to his presidency. you see the roof roots of it a a sense of it. i wanted to get a little more on that, i guess, but the rose story kind of got me. he had me at the rose. >> oh, my gosh. all right. the republican nominee then set

his focus on the central point of his campaign, the nation's struggling economy. he told americans who once believed in hope and change, that it was okay to choose a new path forward. >> how many days have you woken up feeling that something really special was happening in america. many of you felt that way on election day four years ago. hope and change had a powerful appeal. tonight, i would ask a simple question, if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he's president obama? you know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans. and to heal the planet. my promise is to help you and your family. >> there was some great -- great

line, sam stein. one of the great lines we just heard it which was about stopping the rising of the oceans but i'm going to help you. which was great. >> the theme of the night too. >> set up a great contrast. but there were also some pretty well-delivered lines in this speech. >> yeah. i thought the whole speech -- i thought the whole night was the microcosm of the romney campaign at large you have this well produced show, going well, romney sort of working through it, he's not exactly the most thrilling candidate. marco rubio was a much more eloquent speaker and then one gaffe or misstep that distracts. it was like the campaign for him so far. he had great lines. i thought that line was a decent one. i theepds have a few faults with the idea you should dismiss global warming. by and large i think the crowd liked it. they wanted to see him come out and give a strong defense of individuals and with capitalism. he did it. it was like a solid single. i it wasn't a home run. >> again keeps him in the game,

david gregory. i'm going to tell you last night after the speech, i was reminded of the first convention i went to. people comparing the john kerry and is this the corridor reagan election or the carter/ford election. i left last night, got hit with a strong sense of deja vu from san diego, 1996, a republican party that loathed bill clinton that would have nominated my dog, and got excited about that, and you had in bob dole not only a decent man but honorable man, a man who was an american hero that everybody loved, but you just sat there in the hall saying, come on. we want to win. come on. and they left happy, but not blown away. >> i do think there's a difference with where the country is. what dole represented is the idea of taking a step back.

i don't think the electorate ever likes to do. i don't know know that that's romney's issue here. a lot of nostalgia, american innovation around the idea of the space program, but here there is an economic reality here he can say -- the reason i like the line not so much it was snashg ki about global warming but you can take it from that, but that you had a grand promise, my promise is simply to help you and your family. much more workmanlike, the repair man. something else, romney said, it's important i think for politicians to play within themselves, romney said i am what i am. mitt romney somebody that speaks tend early about his wife, mom and dad, about his children. if you turn the sound down, what you see? saw him standing next to a youthful running mate, someone who is the future of the party, and a lot of kids and a lot of grandkids. somebody who is devoted to family, devoted to his church.

those were the personal portraits he wanted to put out there. there was this vision. the vision of you're disappointed, i can do better. i think that is the thrust of the campaign. >> rich lowry said halfway through the speech said it was an incredibly nonideological speech and these lines that we're talking about were nonideological. there was one line that rung the bell for me and conservatives, free marketears across america, came later on, when he talked about in america, we celebrate success. and that really was a moment, really only moment, that he connected ideologically with the crowd. >> paul ryan did the ideological speech. three fundamentals to the romney campaign, manifested in the text of the speech. they want the election about the economy. no mention of afghanistan, iraq, or the war on terror. that's one piece that they hope to do with the whole night, including his speech.

second is, they need to keep governor romney from being disqualified. if he's seen as an acceptable alternative, not hated and a lot of what the speech was. i think he made progress there with the people. the other big issue which hasn't gotten as much attention what is the selection event, getting a number of people who voted for barack obama last time to vote for mitt romney this time. he made lines about you liked him the day he got elected but haven't liked him since, that was your best day with him, those people don't want ideology, they want a president who can create more jobs and that's what that was about. all this other stuff is interesting to talk about in terms of theatrics but those are their priorities saw the speech manifested all of that. >> let's say right now, for middle-class americans, swing voters that voted for barack obama, that may be inclined to vote for mitt romney, none of those people turned off their tv set when clint eastwood was doing that bizarre act and none

will be swayed in the least against mitt romney for that. they stuck -- i just -- i just -- >> just us. amused. >> well -- >> seriously, do you think people care that clint eastwood talked to a chair? >> i actually think it probably held more people who were going to bed saying oh, my god. >> what will happen next? >> what is going on there. i -- i don't -- >> wasn't the problem he had these great themes developing, the biographical, the bain stuff, crescendo into mitt romney hitting the stage and then clint eastwood goes there. >> i think so. i mean, but i do think, though, again, the take away for a lot of people, those personal stories again, i saw -- i wasn't the only one. i saw grown men throughout the arena crying. >> look, mitt romney's speech wasn't a barn burner or whatever, but the overall message when you watched it last night, i think, made a difference. i think they might have closed that gap with the sympathy

factor, and a sense of charity that he has and the personal connection to people that he keeps private that they let out very carefully with people speaking for him about their own personal experiences. that helps with that 1%/99% thing and it does it in a real way. instead of mitt romney going to a bar and having a fake beer with a bunch of people and trying to connect, they talk about who he really is and how he really does and what he did in his own way. >> who he was 25 years ago. >> i was moved by those stories. >> and who he was -- 25 years ago, who he was a year ago, when this woman lost her 26-year-old daughter and they stopped everything to comfort an old friend. >> but then we're going to have to go to a break, alex? what are you telling me? i wanted to show the foreign policy. we'll get to that coming up. also senior adviser to the obama campaign david axelrod, wisconsin governor scott walker, tom brokaw, new york jets and romney supporter woody johnson.

mike allen here with the top stories in the politico playbook. first, let's go to bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning to you, mika, and everyone else. of course the other story grabbing the headlines yesterday with the pictures out of louisiana with the flooding, the evacuation, the power outages and everything else. thankfully all the power crews today, this is the first real day they're going to have a good chance of doing cleanup. the radar is clear. we'll see showers here and there but today the cleanup in earnest begins and the water should start retreating that piled up on the shorelines of mississippi through louisiana. as far as the nasty weather today it's going to be up in areas of arkansas and missouri. a rainy miserable day, but you need this. this is where the heart of the drought is. we're going to have beneficial rains from here on out as we watch isaac slowly moving across the country. your tropics, still active. a hurricane, and tropical storm lesley, happy to say none of these storms are heading close

to the u.s. we'll be storm free through the first week of september. today a hot day, wonder if this is the last hot summer day including the northeast. temperatures in the low 90s today. four your getaway friday we're watching hot conditions around chicago. the rainy weather will arrive in kansas city and st. louis throughout the day. could have airport delays throughout your forecast. a quick look at the weekend isaac's rains will stick around chicago, illinois and louisiana, and many areas will remain dry. isaac flooding as it develops this morning. you're watching "morning joe," live from tampa.

[ "human" by the human league playing ] humans. we mean well, but we're imperfect creatures living in a beautifully imperfect world. it's amazing we've made it this far. maybe it's because when one of us messes up, someone else comes along to help out. that's the thing about humans. when things are at their worst, we're at our best. see how at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy?

nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping's easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated. no. come on. how about... a handshake. alright. priority mail flat rate boxes. starting at just $5.15. only from the postal service.

>> i've got mr. obama sitting here and he is -- i just was

going to ask him a couple questions, but -- mr. president, how do you handle promises that you made when you were running for election and how do you handle it? i mean what do you say to people, a few -- just -- you know, i know people -- people are wondering, you don't -- okay. i thought maybe it s an excu excuse. oh. what do you mean, shut up? what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that. can't do that to himself. your absolutely crazy. you're getting as bad as biden.

>> 26 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." wow. with us now, the chief white house correspondent for politico, mike allen, who's here with the morning playbook. i don't even know where to begin. >> you know, i think where we begin -- >> that was hard to watch. >> how is president obama going to answer that at his convention and our own pete green suggested that they give burt reynolds a couple drinks and send him out before with a chair. >> my god. strange. >> all right. mike allen is here with politico and mike allen's top take aways from the convention last night. >> for mitt, people feel better about mitt. the idea of him not being disqualified, accessible, sort of a sunday schoolteacher like. but here's the problem with his speech. both of the campaigns are very focused on what gets picked up after the speech runs. what's on "morning joe," what's

on "the daily show," what makes a morning radio show because your undecided voters, those are the ones it's going to reach. there was no moment in this speech. what's going to be picked up is clint eastwood. >> yeah. which is really not going to hurt him in the long run. it's just sort of more of the -- >> it's a distraction. >> what in the world happened? did mitt romney close the deal with undecided voters or anything? any pivotal moment in the speech? >> he got off on a good start to make the case but he's running out of time. if something doesn't change, president obama wins. there was no game change in this speech. next week we're going to see in charlotte, women women women from the podium. you can see in the speech the sort of awkward turn in that clip you showed to talking about all the women who have been there. see how much it's on their minds. >> we were talking about marco rubio who delivered a great speech, but whether it was marco rubio or chris christie or whom ever it was up there, you got to

sense these were auditions for 2016, that it was almost like, oh, no. showing up at somebody's wedding and going -- dancing down the aisle before the bride walks next. i'm next. marry me. >> i got the bouquet. >> not marco's fault. the people who set it up fault. americans are turning on their tv sets and they're watching marco at 10:35 p.m. introducing america to -- >> marco. >> marco. >> for 15 minutes, which was a sign that it was more about marco than it was about mitt romney. i think you guys will agree, a lot of the buzz was who's next. 2016 being wide open. a number of candidates done really well, paul ryan at the head of the list, but we see marco rubio, governor scott walker of wisconsin in there. >> also, whose party is it? i think is the question. because there can be such focus about the future stars and look ahead to 2016 if romney doesn't win here and think about okay,

who has the most prominent position. i mean, i still think it's what we've been talking about, can he stay in the game? there's the four critical hours, three debates, i think he'll debate well. there are other, you know, outside forces that can happen and he's, you know, very tight in this race. he's right there. >> right. >> he's right there. i think he probably took some strides towards shoring up some of this. again, thee matically, appealing to women, appealing to hispanics, but you can sense what they're going to do in charlotte, build on the gender gap, gap with latino voters. we know this obama campaign is very targeted, kind of like bush '04, very targeted on the key voting groups who could make this -- put this thing away. >> michael steele, comparing and contrasting conventions 1996, a lot like this convention. >> yeah. >> bob dole the nominee but it really wasn't bob dole's party.

1980 when ronald reagan stroeds into detroit you knew it was ronald reagan's party and everybody else stay out of the way. 20 years later, george w. bush, karl rove, those people walked into the arena, i guarantee nobody was thinking, hey, how do i position myself four years from now because they would have had their heads taken off. it was george w. bush's party. there was none of that here. it was everybody positioning themselves for 2016. >> that was one of my frustrations throughout the week. i think david and mike hit it on the head, you have this sense of just dancing around the edges. people aren't concentrated on 2012. they're looking to 2016. there's an inherent assumption that romney is going to lose and that's not what you want to walk away from this convention with. people talking about marco rubio in 2016 or chris christie in 2016. you want to talk about mitt romney in 2012, in two months. so that for me was sort of a fracture in this thing.

>> and again -- >> i love the buy griographbiog great but can we put it off on the man that's the nominee. >> how many people in 2000, in philadelphia, when george w. bush and karl rove were putting together their convention, were talking about who was going to be the nominee in 2004? >> not a lot. >> can you count anybody? >> no one i remember. >> i can't name one person. >> look, he's in this race. the polls are tight. the president under 50%. the party is warming to him. there was an intensity in the hall last night that didn't exist in the first two nights. he's still meeting people. he's not like a bush or a mccain who's been around for several decades meeting people in the party. he's still a stranger to a lot of the party regulars and the country but he's in this because of the economy and they have a plan. i don't think there's a chance mitt romney will be blown out in this race. >> no. >> there's a chance he could win big. more likely this will be a close race and he's in it as david

said the debates are important for him and remember, starting today, they get their general election money. they've had help from super pacs but for the first time mitt romney and his advisors says what can we spend tens of millions of dollars on television ads and that's not nothing in a close race. >> too bad some of the key people can't act and behave like he's going to win. the story about chris christie, knocked down on the front page of whatever, saying that he didn't think mitt romney could win. but i think what happened with marco rubio last night, was actually far more telling. it's like really marco rubio saying i don't think he can win, can we talk about me? >> except for the fact in defense of marco, and this is what's all the more confounding, this was a really staged convention. >> right. >> like everybody had to give their speeches to team romney. before they were allowed to speak. i think someone team romney wanted marco to go up and introduce himself that way.

so anything you saw last night was approved by team romney. so, you can't blame marco rubio. >> it with yas a little buying off. he was bitter about not being the keynoter. >> that says something too. >> right. >> the lack of specifics is something that david axelrod is already talking about and i think may have been one of the big mistakes. they did not and michael talked to this, did not lay out an agenda. critique of the president and basds economy, but we've talked about this so many times. one of the two sides will put together a specific agenda and they really took a pass on that. >> and david axelrod is going to be here, but before he starts making that critique, i would love to hear what barack obama is going to do differently over the next four years to turn america around. he has yet to give us that answer. >> what's the road map to get it done. >> right. >> we've had two cycles of let's change washington, people don't think anything is going to

change. mitt romney didn't say here's how specifically i'm going to get it done, fighting like minded people on these particular issues. that was lacking. >> that's important, mika, because again, this white house thinks they get re-elected they're going to be legitimized. they're still working with a republican house and maybe a republican senate. so that -- he -- president obama needs to make that sell too, that i can govern, i can get things done, even with people who don't believe just like me. >> all right. mike allen, thank you very much. >> mike, thank you. >> all right. >> david gregory as well. "meet the press" on sunday. >> rahm emanuel, brokaw, friedman, doris kearns goodwin, newt gingrich on a special round table. we'll start teeing up charlotte and what's the response going to be. >> sounds like a great group. still ahead we'll talk to governor scott walker, also the former governor of massachusetts, bill weld will be here, political analyst charlie cook and chuck todd.

up next a look at the morning papers. you're watching "morning joe," live from tampa. we make a simple thing.

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

by the way we're talking

about -- look at the convention being torn down. >> they're cleaning up. it's over. party's over. >> i think this would have been a great time for clint eastwood to deliver his speech. >> he could have talked to all those empty shares. >> still be wandering around. >> he could be wandering around. we were talking about how this thing should have been set up last night. because there was -- there was greatness -- >> you nailed it. >> mark halperin, there was greatness last night in the convention in the lead up to mitt romney, wasn't there? greatness. >> easy to second guess and we talked before about why they gave eastwood free rein to do what he wanted. if they had taken the couple and woman whose testimony was so powerful, and they had led that and the video that all of us afwreds and liberals were tweeting about it, such a strong video, those had been the leadup to governor romney's speech as opposed to marco rubio and the dinner theater improv, i mean the mood in the room would have been incredible and governor

romney's performance would have drawn from that. >> imagine the personal stories, the video tape, fade to black and then mitt romney walks out. hello. >> talking to the campaign, in the old days whatever they put on the podium got covered. several cycles past the networks said we're not showing a propaganda video. i think in this case they could have taken the risk. it's so on point to what everyone is talking about humanizing mitt romney. >> answered all of those. >> and that hour would have been, if the performances had stayed they were, about the most powerful hour of the convention they would have seen. >> would have been incredible. the couple that came on and then the woman that came on talking about the children they had lost and how mitt romney got them through the worst of times burying, you know -- >> showing up with thanksgiving dinner with his kids. >> as you said, it was unambiguously genuine. >> i was the most cynical person in the room that came out thinking what's going on here, and within moments i thought to

myself, wait, these are really nice, these are real people. wait a minute. this is an incredible story. and i was completely taken. >> yeah. >> and moved by -- and that woman who lost her daughter was more -- had more conviction than anyone else that took the stage. >> she had more conviction that anyone else that has spoken about mitt romney in the entire political year. it was -- she sold me. >> yeah. >> but going back to philadelphia again -- >> and then lost it. >> going back to philadelphia again, they ran the movie on george w. bush, and as that movie faded to black, the lights came up, and you saw the shadow of a man standing in front of this big screen and it was bush and it was every bit as inspiring for people in philadelphia and people watching at home as the entrance of a rock star. just because of the staging, the way it was set up, and that's

what should have happened. >> watered it down with marco rubio and clint eastwood. >> when he stands there in that situation and his first words are i accept your nomination for president of the united states. >> huge. >> here. you got it. that's the power of that moment. >> the chatter from strategists outside the campaign can they take that video which is ten minutes and get it before a wider audience. you can't buy ten minutes of time. that's not the way television works. can't be cut down into 30 or a minute. that's a challenge. how to take that video which is so well produced and make it a -- get it to a wider audience. >> mika, at 6:43 in the morning on the east coast, a lot of people at home, conservatives that i saw last night, some of them and hard core republicans, they want to pretend that clint eastwood didn't exist. they did exist and matter. but the thing that we -- i think the thing that we've all agreed on, there was great moments

here. >> there were. >> beautiful moments for mitt romney. and he did fill the void in certain parts of his story that people needed to hear, and again, you know, we all expected, it's like chris christie, expect to be entertained and amused and blown away. i'm not sure everybody was looking for that. i think they wanted something more and got it. >> one thing that -- i agree, the biographical void was filled with new stories we never heard before. i think he's got a ways to go with filling in the detailed aspects of the story. >> and what he plans to do to fix the economy. >> another difference between him and george w. bush he had the compassion and conservative stuff, mitt romney hasn't given that underlying theme. >> it would be nice. >> next week, "way too early" and "morning joe" will be broadcasting live from the democratic national convention. see us at the black finn salon. we'll go to another bar. >> i'm going to wear a football helmet for protection.

>> beginning tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. up next, market carlson joins us for the must-read opinion pages. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks.

one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. looking for a better place to put your cash? here's one you may not have thought of -- fidelity. now you don't have to go to a bank to get the things you want from a bank, like no-fee atms, all over the world. free checkwriting and mobile deposits. now depositing a check is as easy as taking a picture. free online bill payments. a highly acclaimed credit card with 2% cash back into your fidelity account. open a fidelity cash management account today and discover another reason serious investors are choosing fidelity.

like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. a few years ago during a speech, i noticed the bartender behind the portable bar in the back of the ballroom and i remembered my father who worked for many years as a banquet bartender, he was grateful for the work he had, but that's not the life he wanted for us. you see, he stood behind the bar in the back of the room all

those years, so one day i could stand behind a podium in the front of a room. >> all right. >> all right. marco rubio. can i say that he was a little me, me, me, last night? no, i guess not. joining us now, columnist for bloomberg news, margaret carlson. let's read from "the new york times," humanize this, says timothy egan.

>> i wonder if mr. egan wrote this about barack obama's hope and change speech four years ago in denver colorado, that had all the substance of selling soda to america, hope and change. what did you think, margaret? >> you know, i don't think the people in the hall or at home wanted, you know, specifics. >> right. >> it's a moment to, you know, stir people and, you know, at least in the hall he definitely did that. what i think is the huge loss from last night was that video was almost as good, maybe as good as the man from hope, and it was lost. there was not that moment when he's on the stage -- >> wasn't framed well. >> yeah. >> we were talking about -- >> opportunity. >> we were contrasting 2000 where george w. bush had a great video, it goes down, the lights

come up, there he is in the middle of the stage, the staging. >> like patton. >> regardless of what you thought about george w. bush, that was a magical moment in american politics. last night, a magical moment, several magical moments, which -- >> yeah. >> the people talking about mitt as good as it gets and then clint eastwood and marco rubio telling marco rubio's story. >> those stories were so touching i was moved tearful about it and then it dissipated and it's something democrats would do, would be to turn over their program to a fading hollywood star. >> yeah. >> and letting just go at it. it's a democratic thing to do, not a republican thing to do, in a hugely controlled convention. >> well, i think actually, also, given the video and the way we think we could have reproduced the whole thing, the question to timothy egan asks, he could have

answered, he could have at least made reference to the fact that we are in really grave times in this country and moving forward, i'm your guy. >> right. >> it would have -- he could have addressed some of the specifics of how we want to move forward without, you know, making it too wonky. >> i think like he didn't have to get into the policies on effective tax rates but he could have -- the predominant theme of the speech was we can make it better, restore america, which leads into the question how do you do it? that was left out then. people to make that sell, he probably will at some point have to put meat on the bone. >> margaret, if you go back and look at ronald reagan's speech, just read the text from 1980, it was extraordinarily ideological. and yet he was able to sell himself as a person, also sell his ideas, but if you have to choose between the two in these, you sell the person, you sell the man, you sell the woman. >> we've all been complaining for months.

>> right. >> okay. we don't know the man. >> who is he. i know the man better. i was really, again, maybe i'm just punch drunk, but i found the rose very compelling. i loved the rose. and, you know, he, you know, romney came across more to me last night as a person than i've ever seen him before. that's accomplished. mission accomplished there. does he -- you know, he doesn't have that good a plan. does he want to start, you know, checking off the things. tax cuts, joe, i know you think tax cuts comprise an economic plan, but other than that, you know, the 59 point plan we heard about during the primaries that's lost in, you know, the mist of history. >> i want to go to your point when the moment is the moment able to capture you and hold you, that's what last night was about. it was not about policy, not about specifics. no convention is to joe's point. it's the idea of building the image of the man going to go

forward for the next six weeks to dissect on policy but have the underpinning of who he is. >> a lot of work was done on that. >> lot of work. >> still ahead, live from tampa, we'll ask david axelrod for his take on romney's speech. >> i'm sure he was moved by the rose as well. >> also wisconsin governor scott walker joins us here on the set. keep it right here on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] the perfect photo... [ man ] nice! [ male announcer ] isn't always the one you plan to take. whoa, check it out. hey baby goat... no that's not yours... [ hikers whispering ] ...that's not yours. [ goat bleats ] na, na, na -- no! [ male announcer ] now you can take a photo right from video, so you'll never miss the perfect shot. [ hikers laughing, commenting ] at&t introduces the htc one x. now $99.99. rethink possible. ♪ [ chirping ] [ chirping ]

♪ [ chirping ] ♪ [ male announcer ] audi a4 drivers have spoken. [ engine revs ] and they ranked the a4 highest in total quality index in its class. [ chirps ] experience the summer of audi event before september 4th and get exceptional values on the audi you've always wanted. for a golf getaway. double miles you can actually use... but mr. single miles can't join his friends because he's getting hit with blackouts. shame on you. now he's stuck in a miniature nightmare. oh, thank you. but, with the capital one venture card... you can fly any airline, any flight, any time. double miles you can actually use. what's in your wallet? alec jr? it was a gift.

is now in our new starbucks refreshers™ -- a breakthrough in natural energy. made with real fruit, starbucks refreshers™ are delicious low calorie drinks you can feel good about. ♪ rethink how you re-energize. ♪ get a boost of natural energy with a new starbucks refreshers™, in three ways. natural energy from green coffee extract, only from starbucks.

welcome back to "morning joe." we're just getting ready for the top of the hour. first we'll talk about what's coming up. you want me to do what? that's just rude. are you serious? you stop that. while you're at it, please stop interrupting me. i'm tired of it. i am -- i'm done with it. coming up, eugene robinson and jeff greenfield and tom brokaw and al hunt. we're back in a moment with much more "morning joe." there are a lot of warning lights

and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers

for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com.

introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text. tap into a single pool of shareable data and add up to 10 different devices, including smartphones and tablets. the first plan of its kind. share everything. only from verizon. get $100 off select motorola 4g lte smartphones like the droid razr.

my mom and dad were married for 64 years and if you wondered what their secret was, you could have asked the local florist. because every day, dad gave mom a rose which he put on her bedside table. that's how she found out what happened on the day my father died, she went looking for him because that morning, there was no rose. >> it is the top of the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." joining us on set we have nbc news's tom brokaw, author of

"the time of our lives a conversation about america" soon to be released in paperback and executive editor at bloomberg news, al hunt joins us, pulitzer-prize winning columnist and associate editor of the "washington post" and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson and political analyst and host of pbs's "need to ow" and yahoo! columnist jeff greenfield. >> tom brokaw, what were your takeaways last night? big thought? >> my big thought is that those of us sitting here and in this -- in this community, are not going to be the judge of that. it's being -- they're chewing it over this morning in america, breakfast tables, later coffee, where bankers or working class gather in southeastern ohio or wisconsin which the republicans think are in play. that's where it really counts. when he said this week i am who i am, i think we saw that last night. he's not a man who in his

oratory takes it to the stratosphere, but he has a very compelling personal argument and i thought that his most effective line is, was when he said the president wants to roll over the oceans i want to help your family. why he didn't come back to them more was surprising to me, or another way of saying, are you better off? if he had repeated that several times in different contexts, is your child better off because of the college that they've accumulated with no jobs, are you better off in your family because you've got grandma living in the back room now because you can't afford to give her the kind of care outside of the home you need, are you better off, and gone through a number of the litmus tests i think for this economy, but on the other hand, those introductions by the mormon families were compelling. >> so strong. >> and telling about who he is and there was a reticence about

him, about not kind of sharing that, which is quite striking to me. david brooks said, not having those mormon families as part of the campaign much earlier was campaign malpractice. you know. if they had them. >> i'm not so sure because i think there's an elegance to that sense of privacy, not being so show offy about what you do for people and to have it revealed like this, i will tell you i was moved. at first when those people came on stage, i thought what's going on here. is this going to be -- and then i just stopped and shut up and i listened and i was very moved by their stories. >> and don't forget -- >> what more don't we know. >> those people, i think, are going to show up on television screens from labor day to election day. if you remember 2004, the most effective ad of that campaign, was ashley's story, about a girl who lost a relative in 9/11 and the president comforted her, just think, everything on his mind, that was a very powerful ad.

i think those testimonies last night, which had to move everybody. how could you not, whatever your politics. i don't think you've heard the last of them. wasn't necessarily put them out now. >> the other thing i think is you're correct on that, we know from the campaign, that what they were doing was trying to get through the summer when they were getting hammered constantly and making a lot of very senior republicans very uneasy because they were not responding back, but now, the gun has gone off for the race and we're going to see a lot more of that thing. >> al hunt, what were your impressions? >> i share some of the views that tom and jeff expressed. i thought those were moving. i thought the speech itself was competent, not much more than that. i think he achieved a bit of the desire to personalize his story, but i don't think it really was as compelling as some of his strategies ahead of time indicated it was going to be. but that's mitt romney. he's not ronald reagan.

he's not going to rise to that occasion. >> what those stories told us, they were real and eugene, in the age of the internet and tweeting and politicians saving babies from burning buildings, they did something different here. which they had two stories of families that had lost their children ultimately, nothing could be done for them, but in their moment of sorrow, they were there for them, the romneys were there for them. mitt romney was a human being who did simple acts to show his compassion and, you know, i think there was something there that could really penetrate for those that don't know something about him. >> i thought it was powerful too. you don't think of mitt romney as comforter in chief. you thought of him as the guy who said, i like being able to fire people. i thought this was a powerful counter-point to that. it did show another side of him. i thought in the speech, the personal moments, the rose,

every day, that was beautiful. it was beautiful. there was an image he painted in the next sentence of waking up in the morning with the five boys and waking up to a pile of kids in, you know, asleep in the bedroom, and i thought that was a lovely image. the rest of the speech, the policy side such as it was -- >> it was not for us. >> and attack side, i thought it added up to a solid b. >> so jeff, we -- mika and i have known the romneys and been around the romneys over the past four or five years. we've always said he's a great man, he's a great father, he's a great husband, he's got five great boys and any of us who have kids know, that doesn't happen by accident. >> that's hard to do. >> the turtle doesn't get on top of the fence post by accident.

and you saw that last night. and he is -- i feel very comfortable in saying from what i've known of him, he's a great man. he's an example i would like to follow. an example i would like my boys to follow. >> right. >> and yet, i can say this in the same breath and maybe this makes him an even greater man, he's a terrible politician. >> he is. >> he is stiff and he is awkward and he doesn't play the game. even the other night when everybody was talking about him and he was sitting there, he was so pained that people were talking about him. >> here's the question that tom got at, not just about the speech, but the more general pop proposition. this is an -- exemplary private person. franklin was a terrible father. do those qualities we've heard here translate into a public official who can do something? while i was waiting to go on i

saw an ad from an obama super pac, small businesswoman from massachusetts talking about how she felt duped by romney's performance of massachusetts. that was 6:30 in the morning east coast time. they're going to say i think in effect, all those nice things about mitt romney may be true but when it comes to making your life better take a look at the record and you'll see a difference. >> interesting. >> the other piece there was a checklist quality aut the speech last night. i do like women, i appointed a lot to my administration, i've been around them all of my life. >> and by the way, my mom, she is a woman too. >> she is a woman. >> and latinos/hispanics, what a wonderful week we've had, all the governors at the top, and marco rubio gave a great performance i thought, but then just below that, you know, there's a whole other kind of impression about what this party represents in terms of gender and what it represents for ethnic minorities and others as well. >> there was an interesting

philosophical tension in the speech too because that line about how, you know, i want to help you and your family, it's kind of in counterpoint to i want to get the government off your back. so i want to help you, i want to leave you alone, essentially. that's a tension that's obviously there philosophically in the republican party. but i thought maybe that was the reason he didn't build on that theme, on that well-delivered line he didn't build on. >> especially when your audience of swing voters who may want more government -- >> plus the people in the hall. if he keeps going on and on and on about how he as president is going to help you do this and that, that wouldn't have gone over quite as well in the hall i think. >> what was striking to me, a couple things. one the entire week, no speaker got up without talking about their immigrant roots and yet this is the party that has a lot of difficulty with that issue, particularly in the southwest

and it is kind of radioactive for others who may have different points of view to wade into that in the context of this party. the other part is about government projects. mitt romney last night talked about the man on the moon. there was no bigger government project in the '50s and early '60s than nasa and it also spun out a lot of small businesses and a lot of technology that we're still realizing today. that was an enormous public investment that benefited the private sector substantially. >> from eisenhower's investment in science after sputnik, to john kennedy saying we're going to be on the moon by the end of the decade, kennedy's moon shot speech which joe biden pointed out to me, he said read that speech. there is nothing about a man walking on the moon. it is all about the advantages of investing in science and technology. i think you're exactly right. al, are we picking apart the pageantry of this convention too

much when we talk about clint eastwood and when we put a big question mark over marco rubio introduced himself to america after 10:30 at night? >> sure we are, joe. what people care about as far as november 6th is mitt romney last night. there have been good, there have been bad speeches before, that haven't had any consequences, nonpresidential acceptance speeches. bill clinton gave one of the worst speeches ever given. >> terrible. >> 8,000 minutes long. >> it wasn't a career record for him. too often we seize on obama's fable keynote speech in 2004 and say that's the key. i don't know what will happen in this election, but i don't think chris christie is eliminated because he gave a pedestrian keynote speech this year. what mattered is romney conveyed last night and as i said earlier i thought it was competent. one question raised earlier, i don't think that mitt romney -- i think his test is not one of

likability. he's not going to change his persona. people aren't going to say he's fun, wouldn't you love to have -- cup of coffee with him or tea rather than a beer. what it is people have to think that he really did understand them, understan their struggles and problems. not just that he can come up with a five-point program. he made a little progress last night but i still don't think he's there on that. that's that 5%, 7% of the electorate that one of these guys has to appeal to. they're not there with obama either. >> but we have to say, that we have witnessed a historic event. history of conventions, going back to i guess 1831 and the jacksons never had a speaker at the podium suggest to the president of the united states as twice suggested anatomically impossible act. that will go down in history. do i think it's going to change the election, no. but i have to say, i hate this, if only the other side had done this.

but i have to tell you if a hollywood movie star went to the democratic convention and made that kind of thing -- >> oh, my god. >> drudge and fox news would be going ballistic. >> well, i think -- >> one of the delegates were unhappy. i was back at the hotel and they were stunned and one of them kind of outraged in the elevator saying what was that all about? why would we do that at our party particularly. >> it does raise questions about the judgment of the top romney people. >> yeah. between that and marco rubio. >> yeah. >>' ven before he got up, i'm a great eastwood fan, but even before he got up, why are they doing this? >> they don't need it. >> it was worse than one could have imagined. so why? >> it really was. i think you are right there. usually the examples i bring up are examples of how if a republican had said when joe biden said it -- or republican said and usually that works out well. the media usually will jump on it. in this case jeff you're right. if an aging hollywood star had stood up and said something so

disrespectful of a republican president. >> yeah. >> so disrespectful, and then had -- made two crude jokes because he lost his way and had no idea how to fill the time, yes, we all and include me in it as well, would be going crazy this morning about how disrespectful. if this had happened in san francisco, in 1984, oh, my lord. >> just put whoopi goldberg -- >> we would have gone crazy. but i want to follow up, you know, mitt romney i mean his sell and the reason why i believe he would be a good president is because he's a manager. a data guy. he doesn't leave things to chance and here, we had the most important moment of his political life, somebody on that campaign team allowing clint eastwood to go out and do an improv with an empty chair, say

disrespectful things about the president of the united states, and again, that's not mitt romney's fault but that is his team's fault. >> that is very insulting. >> it does go to the top. >> they had to give him a chair. somebody -- ari fleisher said he went off script. no, he didn't. you put the chair next to him. >> somebody's complicit in this. >> yeah. >> i hate to say this, somebody needs to be fired. >> sound like obama, you didn't put that chair there, somebody had to do that for you. >> yeah. >> exactly. >> it was absolutely disrespectful. >> so disrespectful. >> strategically thinking, it totally botched everything they were trying to do in some ways because if you had those personal stories. >> which reached swing voters. >> mitt romney's speech, you would have had an incredible message. >> hit it out of the park. >> showing the human side of the date ta guy. instead those two events clint eastwood and marco rubio talking about marco rubio muttled myth

mitt's message. >> i think rubio was pretty effective. >> i do too. >> really? >> i thought he was very good too. >> perfectly fine. >> the base of the party and compelling agrument and extremely well delivered. >> and addressing mika, just a terrible problem for him, the immigration bashing mitt romney did is coming back to haunt him. i had breakfast with a number who is a soldier and said we're going to close the gap some, thinks that gap is there, does not think that romney has any chance to getting anywhere close on the latino vote to what his brother god. >> okay. they felt they had to do that? >> i think -- but i think rubio was effective. it was interesting. it was well -- >> he could have truncated the family story which we've heard before, as i said, he could have truncated that -- if you listen to the beginning of the speech, it was about mitt romney. i mean he -- >> put it this way --

>> lavishly praised mitt romney. >> i wanted to know more about mitt romney. i was on a roll, listening thinking this is really working and then i was completely distracted by very strange and often disrespectful moments. >> i do agree that, you know, video, fade to black, romney. that's the proper sequence. rubio before that maybe and eastwood -- >> i'm in trouble -- >> we can read all these tea leaves all we want here. micro manage what happened and what didn't happen. it's big impressions that are left the next day and they're going to play out. i mean this doesn't have the half life of 24 hours. people will be talking about this today and tomorrow and over the weekend and kind of sorting it out and chicago it over chewing it over. voters take their time. a lot still have not made up their minds. as i said the other day what counts is what the independent voter in iowa or nevada or colorado turns to his wife or she turns to her husband and says, i think we can live with

that guy or he didn't do it for me. that's where it counts. >> and final word, to jeff greenfield before we go to break, and jeff, it's not as if they can't take, as al said, what worked at this convention and use it moving forward, that people are not going to be focusing on this convention so much as how they use these personal stories. >> yeah. in fact, i realize this age, if you're live blogging as i was for yahoo! or tweeting in the middle i actually stopped and said, this is wrong. i mean, you know, oh that line worked great. i give that line a 6.5. nope. it's the next days and weeks. >> yeah. >> jeff greenfield, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> when is your -- >> watching for your columns on yahoo!? >> ebook is coming out september 18th, it will be called "when gore beat bush". >> before he leaves i know he has a commercial break, he's got to tell the story about, you know, all the poverty that everyone invoked. >> it reminded me of a monte

python sketch where five guys are in the club comparing their childhoods and one says when i was a child i worked for one pound a week and the other one says i had to pay a pound a week and the third one says when i was a kid i lived in a box and the other one says you had a box? that's kind of what, you know -- you know, mike murphy tweeted wanted to hear one guy say my grandfather was a wealthy landowner we owned slaves or something, just once. >> didn't happen. >> tom brokaw, al hunt, eugene robinson, thank you. coming up next wisconsin governor scott walker joins us live in tampa on the special edition of "morning joe."

[ "human" by the human league playing ] humans. we mean well, but we're imperfect creatures living in a beautifully imperfect world. it's amazing we've made it this far. maybe it's because when one of us messes up, someone else comes along to help out. that's the thing about humans. when things are at their worst, we're at our best. see how at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? to meet the needs of my growing business. but how am i going to fund it? and i have to find a way to manage my cash flow better. [ female announcer ] our wells fargo bankers are here to listen, offer guidance and provide you with options tailored to your business. we've loaned more money to small businesses than any other bank for nine years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help.

wells fargo. together we'll go far. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪

my mom and dad were true partners. a life lesson that shaped me by everyday example. when my mom ran for the senate my dad was there for her every step of the way. i could still see her saying in her beautiful voice, why should women have any less say than men about the great decisions facing our nation? don't you wish she could have been here at this convention and heard leaders like governor mary fallon, governor nikki haley, governor susana martinez, senator kelly ayotte and secretary of state condoleezza ri rice. >> this is the emotional part of him that i know so well. this is the side of him that is in the deepest part of his soul. i think that he -- my son craig spoke earlier in the evening and he choked up as well and later craig came home and said i

honestly felt like mitt's father, his grandfather, was standing next to him that night. i'm sure for mitt he was thinking about his dad and mom and i'm sure the emotion overtook him a little bit there. >> it's 26 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." here with us now the republican governor of wisconsin, governor scott walker joining the conversation this morning. good to have you. >> good to see you. we were talking about and it's fascinating for me, i think the best speech of the week from behind the podium and prime time from a political figure came from condi rice. spoke without a teleprompter. with notes from her heart. the most moving moment was last night, when, you know, americans that weren't involved in the political process came up and spoke their heart. you were up with the romneys and

you said, everybody inside the romney box were crying. >> my wife and i were sitting next to ann romney and after they were done i had to go down and do an interview on the floor and i said you're killing me, i have to wipe my eyes. so moving and understated. i agree they shouldn't have come out until now. that's who mitt romney is. he's not a bragger, he's a doer and fixer. we'll talk about that. but i was about the age of that scout when he was a kid, to hear about him helping him write out that will, so he could be buried in his uniform, so he could give his personal belongings to his best friends and that mitt romney was there, i thought anyone who doubted whether this guy was -- you hear some of his opponents he's a robot, he's just a private person who does amazing things and we saw some last night. i wish frankly i would have rather seen that than clint

eastwood. >> didn't need him. >> you were talking about when clint eastwood was out there, you thought what's going on here. >> my wife and i -- and i'm a fan of clint eastwood in terms of movies. i w i was expecting when he did the voiceover in the ad, it's time to bring america back, we're tough we can do that. overall in the convention that one moment i cringed about i would have rather seen those two families. the rest was amazing. susana martinez the other night oh, my gosh. i loved that. my god, republicans. >> i'm a republican. >> the stories we want to hear. by and large we did. that moment i would have preferred to see the families in prime time. you can tell they weren't rehearsed or pushed out there. these were people -- even ann romney when they came out kind of -- she was taken back. she knew they were coming. just to see them talk about being retired firefighters and see the mother come up after he

set it up there. weighed heavy on the heart. >> you could feel it on many levels. number one, they weren't rehearsed or people used to being in the public eye and they were nervous and, you know, one of us, meaning the viewers watching at home. >> a lot of us to hear the things, about how mitt romney didn't take an inheritance, gave it away. i loved the other night, ann romney was an exceptionally good speech. i laughed. i think a lot of people think about the romneys before this week didn't imagine them starting out in a basement apartment and i love the visual of eating dinner on the folding out ironing table. those are things that are real that most people i think can relate to. goes to the point last night where mitt romney said you're right, tom, said i'm not going to fix, you know, rising oceans, i'm going to worry about you and helping you and your family. >> can you set it up, george romney came a little bit before my time, i was alive but never saw george romney. i saw clips and he was -- >> fiery.

>> the dna his public dna was different than his sons. he was a robust guy, throw his arm around you, i actually happened to be with him the day kennedy was assassinated. he was in the midwest, midwestern governors conference and i was working in omaha at that time and it was a big deal for us to have all the midwestern governors. we rushed down there, and he was kind of the de facto head of the group, came out, gave a moving statement on behalf of all the governors. my cameraman, we were all emotionally royaled this is like at 2:30 in the afternoon central time, my cameraman put down his camera and looked at him and said i just feel so sad, governor, and governor romney went over and put his arm around him and he said, son, we're all so sad and we're going to have to get through this together. gave him a big squeeze and kind of walked him back to his car. it with an astonishing moment. whenever i saw him in those days that's who he was. for one thing he was a car salesman. he was not a guy that did an analysis of a deal and went in

and struck it. he was selling american motors and that came with the territory. he was a very robust guy who came up in a different way than his son and that's not unusual, by the way, to have that kind of a contrast going on. >> sure. >> al? >> i actually covered in a little bit later, i'm much younger than tom -- >> right. never even -- >> you can tell by the color of his hair. >> yeah. >> '68 new hampshire primary, i was actually a kid reporter in boston, snuck up there because i was fascinated by politics and spent three or four days traveling with governor romney. he could relate to people. he was very good at that. he went to a factory, he worked the gate well, he understood it. he didn't have the discipline that his son has, however. he would make mistakes. the famous brain washing mistake was one. they really are quite different. and there's an interesting -- you know, psychological babel, i suppose, but the relationship between father and son, which for all their differences by all

accounts was a very, very healthy one. >> often, a child is a response to the parent. >> the part you can see something in the party. i mean i'm much younger than al. >> right. >> exactly. >> and no white hair. >> and you're much younger than i am too. >> thank you. i won that prize. >> that bush senior, bush jr., romney, that's how the party is moved, which is from this, you know, from the moderate republican, you know, who is not going to run on i'm taking away money from planned parenthood, their wives were on the board of planned parenthood to this, you know, new kind of republican which is very conservative and not at all like the moderate rockefeller republican party. >> that said, though, geographically, i've been saying this all week, scott, it's pretty amazing that from 1988 when our party became sort of lee atwater's party, karl rove's

party, newt gingrich's party, and i was in the middle of it, joe scarborough's party, we were a party that was anchored in the deep south and i remember saying, god, we have got to get out of the sun belt. we are going to get killed. look who spoke this week. we had you from wisconsin, paul ryan from wisconsin, mitt romney from massachusetts, ann from massachusetts. you had chris christie, who's almost plus 20 in new jersey. i think the only person from the deep south to speak was from birmingham, alabama, condi rice. it is amazing how this party that has been trapped in the sun belt, for 25 years, we broke out of it in a big way. >> some diversity has emerged. >> right. >> you see across the map geographically, you see it in other ways too. brian sandval, nikki haley, we call it the big 10, michigan,

wisconsin, iowa, ohio. although the one thing i take issue with with the george romney story, is as much as he may have appealed with that rose story to a lot of female voters, there are a lot of husbands going, how do we top that? >> that's no good. >> i'm in trouble now. once a week. >> twice a day, i don't know. >> a rose a year. >> exactly. >> lot of making up to do. >> that's when the roses normally come. >> so let's talk really quickly about george romney, it sounds like george romney, he could march into your state and do as well in your state and republican primary as you did. he sounded like he was a real guy. mitt romney, you know, when somebody asked me how mitt romney is going to do in pennsylvania i go he's going to lose. how is he going to do in wisconsin. don't see how he wins wisconsin. he's not a guy like you. >> he is a data guy, not like george romney. there is a disconnect. how does mitt romney appeal to blue collar catholic voters that

pushed you over the finish line in the recount. >> and i said this the other night, to win in my state, win in iowa, michigan, they can't just stand for republican, it has to stand for reformer. if he's the guy that can fix -- he's not going to be an eloquent or ra tore like the president. the president is a gifted and elegant yor ra tore. he's a fix-it guy. i'm going to reform your life, i can fix things, get things moving again that could work. many ways in our state, like others in the midwest you have to be there. it's presence. come back to group bay, come back to milwaukee. certainly when you put paul ryan in the ticket, it's not just my state but other states in the midwest. a sense like hey, he thinks like we do in the midwest, a common sense, no nonsense. don't have to get in people's face. just get things done. >> when he goes to green bay does he have to put on a cheese head. >> and now it's lambeau field, not lambert field. >> definitely. >> that's a tough one.

>> i thought that alone may have lost him the election in packer nation all across america. >> governor scott walker thank you very much. >> thanks. >> come back soon. speaking republicans from the north, why don't we have another one on the show. we'll talk to former massachusetts governor weld on the gop's northern strategy. also with us the chairman of the mississippi republican party, joe nosef joins us next. keep it here on "morning joe." all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint

and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today.

welcome back to "morning joe." we'll have more from the republican national convention in tampa in a second. want to give everyone a update on the latest with isaac. we were worried yesterday this dam could coclasp, they were ordering evacuations. looks like the structural integrity did hold and the dam did not see a full outclasp. water levels are beginning to recede finally after three days of pushing water into louisiana and mississippi, isaac has weakened enough and moved far enough to the north that the water levels are going down. all of the people as far as restoration of power and rescues, that should all be fully operational today and should be no problems from the weather in areas of southern mississippi and louisiana.

it's about time, they need it. estimation of this could be easily a billion dollar weather disaster. as far as what we're dealing with this morning, watching the rain from isaac. heavy rain bands in arkansas, louisiana. we're getting beneficial rains in missouri through the ozark, some of the hardest hit drought areas of the country. from here out isaac will bring benefits. two other storms. the peak of the hurricane season. hurricane kirk and tropical storm lesley, both will turn out and do the big hook never approaching any land area. looks like we get a break from our tropical worries. a warm summer-like day from chicago to the east coast. many areas will see dry weather out west all weekend long and as far as the rain from isaac on saturday over areas of missouri and illinois and on sunday finally raining itself out over kentucky and indiana. but what a storm it's been for only a category 1. very impressive. as i mentioned more analysis

live from tampa, have a wonderful holiday weekend. welcome aboard! [ chuckles ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now you'll know when to stop. [ honk! ] the all-new nissan altima with easy fill tire alert. [ honk! ] it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ t dog.nnovation that excites.

every bite goes above and beyond the call of deliciousness. that's a big 10-4 kosher. with no fillers, by-products, artificial flavors or colors. hebrew national. the better-than-a-hot dog- hot dog.

but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com.

i've got mr. obama sitting here and he's -- i just was going to ask him a couple questions, but -- mr. president, how do you -- how do you handle -- how do you handle promises that you've made when you were running for election

and how do you handle it? what do you say to people? do you just -- you know, i know people -- people were wondering -- you don't. you don't. okay. i thought maybe it was an excuse -- oh. what do you mean shut up? what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him that, to do that. can't do that to himself. you're absolutely crazy. you're getting as bad as biden. >> with us now, the former republican governor of massachusetts, and the man who wrote clint eastwood's speec last night, william weld. >> thank you. >> the chairman of the mississippi republican party,

joe nosef. >> governor, what a speech. by -- >> clint eastwood. >> yeah. i didn't get the empty chair, but i thought it was a go ahead night for our -- good night for our side. >> how about mitt romney? >> you forget how good he is. i think ann romney set him up perfectly after her speech the other night and her command of the stage, commanding silence, using silence as a weapon almost. all he really had to do was be genuine, be himself and he was. you know, i think he's so good that people forget how good he is. >> he's a good man. is he a good leader, a good public official? he doesn't seem comfortable in that role. >> he's tremendously comfortable in that role. he grasps responsibility. when there was a disaster in the big dig in the mass turnpike he grabbed it and said i want authority over this and he took it and cleaned the thing up like with the olympics.

never more comfortable than when making decisions. i would describe him as a born executive with a ton of discipline. that may strike some people as formality but you want a commander in chief that has a gear loose. i don't think so. >> we hear he played pretty well as governor in hyannis. how does he play in hattiesburg? there is a cultural disconnect between mitt romney and southern republicans, isn't there, joe? >> well, i may be a little bit more conservative than he is, but what struck me about last night and the last two weeks is the difference between now and six months ago. the last time i had an opportunity to be on a couple of the shows the discussion was the circular firing squad of the primary and how split everybody was. in our state we had a three-way tie. people were genuinely split. over the last two weeks with the addition of paul ryan, i think dr. rice's speech, paul ryan's speech and then last night, people are genuinely unified and in a way that quite honestly a lot of us didn't think was possible several months ago.

>> what's your impression? i'm sorry. go ahead. >> we talked about this earlier. my impression was that he gave a strong speech. i thought it lacked kind of the big themes, two or three big ideas that you wanted to take away from it. >> to tie everything together. >> it was not -- there was more pros than poetry and the line you [ inaudible ]. i think we could have used a little more of that last night. it's striking to me, hard to find these moments or those lines that got -- you know, the one phrase that sums up what mitt romney wants to do for america. we have the new frontier. i never figured out what bill clinton meant by a covenant with liberty. but there was not that phrase. there were opportunities in the speech for him to make a kind of chorus out of, are you better off, or i'm going to help you

and your family. those were two lines that were very effective, but they were kind of in the sea of a lot of other stuff. if he had just worked at consolidating those themes it might have worked better. as we've been saying all morning long, it's not what we think. n is what is going out there in the country and what they think. >> but it is not whatever poor producing of our minds the event and the tape should have trumped marco rubio and clint eastwood, and it seems that the fact that mitt romney has not changed that much, joe, because the primary process was not great for him and it did not make him like hillary clinton or president obama more nimble or ready or on the edge of the seat ready with the right sort of sense of how to fight. you get the sense that the party, too, is sort of not understanding its better qualities, and they had a incredibly good response to todd akin within the past couple of

weeks and good things were happening, but you did not see them last night bringing it all to the table. >> and al is exactly right, but what al said before is the, you don't win these elections and the conventions, but after the convention, and you look at what worked and what didn't work. and face it, there were people in romneyland who didn't get it. who thought that clint eastwood at the end would be better than people telling human stories about the romney, but they get it this morning with margaret carlson saying we were crying and people in the hall were crying, and al, they will have a lot of money moving forward to promote the stories, and you guys wrote about it. >> joe, money is going to be huge. we had a bloomberg business week reporter who yesterday was invited by a fat cat friend of hers to go to a breakfast meeting. >> what is a fat cat friend of hers look like? >> it is someone who makes a lot of money and i don't remember the gentleman's name and guess what, it was karl rove's

briefing for the others. and so she sat down and proceeded to take notes for the next hour and a half.was fascine said, we have to get rid of akin, and if he ends up murdered don't look for my whereabouts. there were other issues that were incidental and haley barbour said it is like raising money for cancer research or a charity hospital, and you have to go out there. jeb bush will raise $10 million matching funds in the state of florida for the bill nelson campaign and nothing illegal about any of it and this is crossroads, karl rove's group, and we are working with the koch b

broer thrs and the money is going to be huge. >> and mitt romney stayed away from the mormonism and he's gone there now, but let's talk about massachusetts. what is the best selling point of mitt romney's record for massachusetts? >> he's the guy for the job creation. massachusetts had spending fatig fatigue and taxation fatigue when scott brown was elected senator there and they have it. the rank and file. all of the issues here are side issues compared to the fundamental economic issue which is do you want two or four more years of the kind of malaise that you have had. this year, i do find it reminiscent of 1980. and, you know, the president has said that we need more state and local government jobs and if you have a job, you didn't create that and mitt romney believes that there is no such thing as government money, but taxpayer money. and fundamental divide and the country is set up to have that be the divisive issue. >> and i think that he also

rai raised the space program last night and earlier when he won in mi michigan he said this this president doesn't understand that we built the boulder dam and highway system and those were government projects that created jobs along the country, so there is that disconnect as well? >> no, i'm a big nasa fan. >> and the other thing, joe, sheila at this meeting, they were interested in obama, because they said don't paint him as a left wing socialist, and people don't buy it, and it turns off the group of persuadables, but he is a guy who had a shot, but he was not up to it. he was not up to it. >> and joe, the final thoughts, and again, in massachusetts and mississippi, jobs or really job one among these other things that we are obsessing over or distractions? >> people who believe in obama have to believe that their taxes are too low, and the government is too small and that we can't do any better than we are doing right now, and i would say not

as a talking point, but as a person, and when governor barbour ran in 2003, he said we can do better, and we did. >> thank you both for being on the show this morning. coming up, we have senior adviser to the campaign, david axelrod joining us. and keep it here, live from tampa.

tom brokaw and al hunt, thank you both so much for being here. there is the cover of tom brokaw's book "the time of our lives." and look at that one, al. wouldn't ronald reagan be proud. >> yes, and joining us is ch charlie cook on the set here in tampa when we come right back.

music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to make someone happy.♪ it's so important to make someone happy.♪ ♪make just one someone happy ♪and you will be happy too. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all.

we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪ i don't have to use gas. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. drive around town all the time doing errands and never ever have to fill up gas in the city. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. the last time i went to the gas station must have been about three months ago. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. ♪

mornings are a special time for the two of you...) and now you can make them even more special... with new fancy feast mornings. mornings are delicious protein rich entrées... with garden veggies and egg. each one perfectly designed... to start her day with a little love. new fancy feast mornings gourmet cat food. the best ingredient is love.

how many days have you woken up feeling that something really special was happening in america? many of you felt that way on election day four years ago and hope and change had a powerful appeal, but tonight, i ask a simple question, if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he is president obama? you know there is something wrong with the job he has done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. >> president obama began to promise to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. my promise is to help you and your family.

welcome back to "morning joe" michael steele and sam stein are still with us and joining us now is nbc news chief political correspondent chuck todd and also the editor -- what did he mean by that? >> he did well and you could argue that he h left some things on the table with the speech, but overall if the goal of the convention was simply to make mitt romney to be more human and three-dimensional figure and more likable guy, that they ak kcome plished and they accomplished it in spades. >> and even the "national review" the banner headline was

something along the lines of they got the job done, and good enough. good enough. >> and they said it was an a-speech for mitt is what a very close friend of his said. i said, do you realize what you are saying and they said, yes, that is what i am saying, because that is not who he is. and now, there is something about the campaign that always seems that they mess up the little things. they just mess up the little things and you sit there and you swear it is a little thing, but by the way this morning, ann romney very diplomatically sending a message saying that the eastwood thing was a mistake, but she said it would have been nice to have the video in the 10:00 hour, and she wished more people had seen tha that. >> but the stories were we are markable and ann romney is right and mitt romney was let down, charlie cook, by people at the top of the of the campaign who thought that for some reason that middle america would connect more with an aging

hollywood star who told off colored jokes than people in middle america who talked about how mitt romney comforted them when they were dying. >> well, in the old days when the networks would give you three hours of coverage, the 8:00 hour and the 9:00 hour, and those were good for the videos and the small speeches and those things and you had to either be in the hall or watching on c-span to see them, but it was a terrific set-up, and it all worked very well other than the eastwood thing and i'm an eastwood fan, too, but that is not going well. i think they had a good enough night, but the question is about the tangible the tangibles and cares about people like me, and do you trust him and those sorts of things. when you look in the polling on september 10 or 12 or 15, what are the numbers going to look like? and that will tell us whether this is a success or not. >> chuck, as political director of nbc news. >> by the way, you were giving me an interesting look that i

get the sense that you are like, they left something on the table. >> yeah. >> that is what it feels like. >> they sure did. i mean, they -- and i saw ann romney give that look during mitt romney's speech even when her husband was up on the stage, she was thinking, what i would be thinking if my spouse had given five years of his life to this, i would say to myself, what member of the staff kept mitt's story and that film and the parts that had us all crying in the box out of the 10:00 hour, and instead, made this about clint eastwood. >> she should be a poker player. just so you know. >> she is angry and she should have been angry. >> and the networks have carried every one of these candidate videos going back to the '84 conventions and i know our network did and one other network and i assume the third broadcast network did, but proactively went to the right, hey, you put the video and by

the way, we will carry the whole thing. i mean, that is just what we do. so, it wasn't as if they weren't sure whether we would. >> somebody screwed it up. >> his own campaign undermined him, because they felt they needed clint eastwood. seriously? when they had those beautiful stories? by the way they just showed humanity. >> and the clint eastwood thing is like, look, the person said to me, and the person said to e me, i'm just giving you the defense, and the person said to me, well, the obama campaign is trying to make you hate everything about mitt romney, and clint eastwood shows you that, okay, so you didn't like everything that he is going to do, but clint eastwood, you like, and clint eastwood likes mitt romney. >> and it is difficult to like him, because he didn't indicate he liked him very much. he was even abusive in the liking of mitt romney. >> it was embarrassing. >> and what is a normally testosterone filled party and they had a night of estrogen and then they did a clint eastwood

injection that missed it all up. >> and they did not let him be what he is, which is a private, elegant, and giving and charitable and generous sympathetic man. they took it away and put it on the table and then went like this, let's get clint eastwood here. >> that is what came through in the speech. >> great. some people missed it. >> and people are not taking that away from mitt romney today. >> and let's go to this and this is ann romney talking about everything that happened including clint eastwood. take a look. >> we appreciated clint's support and he is a unique guy and he did a unique thing last night. >> but you seem to be surprised by the romney, i mean by clint eastwood's performance as a camera took a cut away of you. >> i didn't know it was coming, and again, i can tell you that we are grateful for everyone's support and especially grateful for what a great night it was. >> well, you are right. she is --

>> well, charlie, don't play poker with her. >> how about that laugh. but, you know, it is just so we can explain the people how, why are you obsessing about clint eastwood. we need to explain. why the 10:00 hour was so important. >> please do. >> because that's when the networks pick it up, and it goes to a lot of americans that usually would be watching "american idol" or "csi." >> raw numbers we go from about 10 million overall of people watching to somewhere between 25 million and 45 million and i'm being very rough, but it more than doubles the amount of people watching at 10:00. >> and so that is when they put on clint eastwood? >> yes. >> oh, my god. >> and this is, michael, the mitt romney people committed malpractice because those stories that made big people cry. >> and the biggest cynic right

here crying. >> and that film that was amazing and instead, we have clint eastwood rambling and telling crude jokes to an empty chair. >> and to chuck's point you only have an hour and not the three hours that he referred to before where you can do all of that -- >> i wish we did. i wish we did. by the way. >> and you don't. >> so you have to script that hour. >> and you have one hour. >> yes, exactly. >> you have one hour and you better make it count and you know, is this stewart stevens and who is responsible for this? >> well, that is one of the nagging questions internally and some vetting and you will get the detail and it will come out, but again, that is is a distraction down the road, but i want to ask you, chuck, because one of the distractions quite frankly this narrative week is everyone talking about themselves and not mitt romney, and the campaign signing off on this in the speeches that had, you know, the first 20 minutes

in some cases, and mitt romney's name is not mentioned about the individual who is speaking as opposed to coming on the stage and laying down the lead on this man and why they are standing there fighting and supporting him. have you gotten any background on that? >> well, look, the specific one was chris christie is the shining example. somebody said, if you overedit c christie, and then you miss him. >> i thought he did a good job. >> in isolation, it is a good speech, but what everyone is acknowledging did it work that night with ann and was that the right way to pair the two speeches, but they are right on this, and the romney camp and you don't want to is water down and that is the way, you don't want to take a wway the personality, and you don't think so, joe, you would have taken away his personality if you overscripted him. >> he can't be overscripted and i will say it again and everybody disagrees with me, they should have controlled last

night in the 10:00, and instead of marco rubio telling his story, and he should have said, my parents are from cuba -- >> it is a good story. >> and mitt romney's father and then talk about mitt romney's father. >> all right. >> he got there, but you saw the people on the floor wiping away the tears. >> and you say he got there. he got there sometime into the speech. in that hour. >> well, rubio started off with mitt romney, and the first part of rubio's speech was, i thought, a very good tribute to mitt romney. i thought he was doing his job. he perhaps went overlong about his personal story toward the end, but it is a compelling story, and he is a very good speaker. >> well, let me say quickly, though, that the problem is not marco's story, because it is incredible, but it is where it fel fell. >> yes, you are right. >> i kept going back to 2000, and the amazing story making

george w. bush a more likable g guy, and the movie fading to black and the lights coming up and george w. bush being there, and i wanted that after this mov movie, and instead i got eastwood and then i get rubio's story and i kept saying, you guy guys -- >> the video was lost in that. it lost the momentum. >> and it seems to me that the question, joe, you said that everyone in marco's speech were wiping away tears from the personal stories of the real people and wiping away tears for the people and mitt romney and you want more and you want him to be your neighbor and your friend and you want him to counsel you and that is what you got from those things and it was lost ultimately and my question for you, joe, and maybe charlie as well, isn't that a sign that the campaign is just off or they don't believe in him? they feel they need more? >> i will tell you this, when i did campaign announcements in september, the year before my election, i made sure that what

i did, and i was like a 29-year-old kid figured it out that what i did in september of 1993 could run the last three days of the campaign in 1994. you have to plan it out. if any of us are running a presidential campaign and we know, charlie, one hour, and one hour only to reach independent swing voters on broadcast networks, i will guarantee you that everyone on the stage would say that at 10:00 if clint eastwood is still talking, we cut his mike and take him off. the botched one hour that you have on broadcast television is unforgivable. >> when criticism of the campaign is legitimate because they are tactical and metric-driven and less of a broader strategic sense of what needs to happen, and focus in on the intangibles and that is a legitimate criticism and you saw it last night. >> chuck, too harsh on team romney? >> i do think they get the big 9

90% of this right which is on the messaging that this convention needed to be about getting to know mitt romney, and that the messaging against the president, that the best way to go after him is the disappointment line which is i thought also very strong in mitt romney's favor. but what i am saying that they do get -- >> and you get "gone in the wind" right for the first 90% of the film and then at the end you have rhett butler on the back of the porch playing banjo. no! i mean, you are getting 90% right and then blowing the end does not work. >> if this is a tied election then 10% does matter. >> well, you wonder to yourself, florida is a complicated place to get right. >> right. >> if they are missing out on details in how they do the little things together, and think back to ford field and there are little and again, none of them are ever campaign giant blunders, but little things. >> i am beginning to think that

it is a bit that you have one hour joe, and a segment of the population that is maybe losing hope, and listen to me, and hold on. and who do you want to see clint eastwood doing something absolutely disgusting in the name of the president or those people telling their stories? what is going to -- >> well, you had that cringe that you would have if you had an uncle that you love, and -- >> it is either that or -- >> nobody wants that. >> and charlie thought that it is either that, it is either that or tammy fay bakker on nig "flightli "nightline" and you don't know whi which. >> it is like that uncle at the wedding and everybody is clutching the napkin, where is this going. who is going to tell him. >> who is going to tell clint eastwood what to say. >> well, you can't talk at the convention, and no thank you, we don't need you. how about that. and by the way, it is halftime

in america, and it didn't work for me. maybe you all were taken. >> and you know, the thing is that though -- >> it didn't work for me. it was stupid. >> as we get a break and i'm sorry we have to go to break, but this is a priceless clip. everybody, let's watch ann romney and can we get this again. let's watch ann romney -- >> watch her eyes. >> very tactfully say -- >> it is delicious. >> clint eastwood, you came to my thanksgiving dinner and when we were about to serve the tur cue, you threw up all over the table. i did not have you make my day. >> clint eastwood is a unique guy and he did a unique thing last night. >> you seem to be surprised by romney i mean clint eastwood's performance as the camera took a cut away of you. >> i didn't know it was coming. again, i can tell you that we are gratiful for everyone's

support, and especially grateful for what a great night it was last night. >> i didn't know that was coming. >> oh, that is polite. >> that means, you are dead. >> charlie cook, thank you very much. and chuck todd. >> and chuck is still enjoying that, aren't you. >> boy, and by the way, when a spouse is mad, and when they go p public like that, we all know what that means. >> there is going to be -- >> when mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. >> people are fleeting right now. >> i have one word for you, guys, at the romney campaign who put together, duck! >> don't eat the today's welsh cooki cookies. >> and pancakes are good usually, but not today. >> and the supporter may be best known as the tim tebow who brought him to new york? >> oh, the jets' owner woody johnson straight ahead.

>> and we have senior advise over the obama re-election campaign and he is the man who wrote clint eastwood's speech, david axelrod joins us on "morning joe." yeah, he can smile if he wants to, david. 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? ooo no. the hotel lost our reservation. nonsense! you book at travelocity, your reservation's guaranteed. well, i did not book with travelocity, okay?!? [ female announcer ] get the travelocity guarantee any way you book, including our new app. you'll never roam alone. any way you book, including our new app. it's time to live wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system... from beautyrest. it's you, fully charged. t dog. every bite goes above and beyond the call of deliciousness. that's a big 10-4 kosher. with no fillers, by-products, artificial flavors or colors. hebrew national.

the better-than-a-hot dog- hot dog. to meet the needs of my growing business. but how am i going to fund it? and i have to find a way to manage my cash flow better. [ female announcer ] our wells fargo bankers are here to listen, offer guidance and provide you with options tailored to your business. we've loaned more money to small businesses than any other bank for nine years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far.

wish president obama had succeeded, because i want america to succeed.

but his promises gave way to disappointments and division. this isn't something that we have to accept. now is the moment when we can do something, and with your help, we will do something. every president since the great depression who came before the american people asking for a second term could look back at the last four years and say with satisfaction, you are better off than you were four years ago except jimmy carter and except this president. >> 24 past the hour and joining us now from chicago, senior adviser to president obama's re-election campaign, david axelr axelrod. david, good morning and glad to have you on the show. he is smiling now, joe. >> of course, he is smiling and

it does not hurt to smile. and clint eastwood -- >> happy to be with you. >> yeah, we are just happy to have you here. are you having burt reynolds to introduce the president in charlotte next week. how do you one-up that? >> i'm not going to -- and listen, i love clint eastwood and he is a great film maker and one of the greats of our time, and i'm sure in retrospect they would have rather run the film than the filmmaker, and that is their business and we will handle ours a different way. >> what is your take on the convention, and let's start with mitt romney's speech last night. >> well, you know, i think that what people were tuning in hoping to hear were practical solutions to the challenges that we face, and you know, what they got were some snarky lines about the president, and some gauzey reminisces of the past and some

buzzwords for the base. but what they didn't get were real practical solutions, and what they didn't get were his actual proposals and he didn't talk about the $5 trillion tax cut skewed to the wealthy and he didn't talk about voucherizing the medicare program or cutting education and student loans, and he didn't talk about what he actu actually would do. the other thing is that i heard governor weld, and the first time we have heard about the massachusetts record in the last 24 hours was on your show. here's a man who was governor of massachusetts and he didn't have a word to say about it, and when you look at his record there, you can see why. so. >> all right. >> okay. you can talk about that -- >> i cannot hear you. >> david, with can fix the audio -- >> there is just a delay. >> all right. so i'll try to be clear. you are saying that the speech last night lacked practical solutions and proposals, so the question is, will president

obama offer practical solutions and proposals moving forward and will he answer to the criticism as to why americans, many of them are not better off today than they were four years ago? >> well, mika, he is certainly is and will. i think that all over the this count country, people understand that we have come through a difficult time. the crisis that we had that began in 2007 and 2008, and the great recession was tremendously difficult for people, and we have a long-term challenge to get the middle-class going, and the middle-class have been taking it in the neck for much longer period of time. how do we rebuild the economy in a way that we have a thriving middle-class and people work hard and feel that they can get ahead again. that is what the american people are focused on. you didn't hear that are the governor romney last night. and the truth is that his plans don't really speak to that

concern. >> we have chuck todd with us. chu chuck? >> david, what is the goal of your convention? what is the story of president obama that you are trying to tell that will be clear after we hear his acceptance speech? >> well, my personal goal is that you guys won't be sitting around on friday dissecting quite the way you are now, because that would be a bad reflection on our production. but the big goal for us is to do exactly what i said. look, the american people, chuck, have a big choice here. we can take a path forward and focus on the things that we need to do to rebuild the middle class and rebuild our e kconomyn a way that is durable and sustainable or we can go back to what we were doing in the last decade, we can have another $5 trillion tax cut skewed to the wealthy that explodes the deficits and raises burdens on the middle-class, and we can go deregulate wall street and allow them to write their own rules again. it is a very, very clear choice,

and we want to bring that choice into focus here. we don't have to reintroduce the president or, you know, we need to talk about the problems facing the country, and the challenges and how we move forward together. >> david, mark halperin, hello. >> never ask anybody how they are doing with a 47-second delay. >> mark halperin is here and he has a question for you. go. >> as the ace political journalist that you are, can you name one or two things that happened in the convention or the program this week that will help mitt romney's chances of being elected? >> well, i agree with you guys that i thought that the film was nice and i am sure they regret that more people didn't see it. you know, beyond that, i think that a lot of what was happening there was aimed at the base of the party and a lot of it had

nothing to do with mitt romney. it felt like open mike night for 2016 candidates and not a convention that seemed to be promoting mitt romney in 2012. but you know, we will see. obviously, what happens in the next few weeks will reflect part of what people saw here and maybe they received it differently than i perceive they did. but i don't -- i think they did a lot of work whipping each other up, and you know, hitting the tea party base and the social conservative base and presenting their future talent. i don't think they did much to advance the cause of mitt romney. >> sam stein. >> david, i wanted to ask you how you are doing, but that is taken off of the table as a question, so the second one, there is a pretty sweeping charge from mitt romney last night which is basically that the high water mark for obama supporters came on the night of inauguration, but after that, it was all downhill and how do you respond to that specific charge?

>> well, i don't know. i think that you should go talk to the autoworkers who are working today. they were excited the night that we kept the american auto industry from collapsing. talk to the millions and millions of people who are getting preventive care today and who are not thrown off of the health care because of lifetime caps or people or children with pre-existing conditions who have coverage today, and i think that they would say that was pretty exciting for them, and talk to some of the troops who came home from iraq and ask them whether it was an exciting day when that war in iraq ended as the president promise d he would do. talk to all of the americans who were gratified when we finally brought osama bin laden to justice. those were good nights and then what he should do is the guy who for whom inauguration night was interesting to me was paul ryan the vice presidential nominee, because while the rest of us were celebrating the inauguration, he was meeting with 15 republicans talking about how they could bring down

the presidency in the midst of a national economic emergency. so, that is what i would say. >> all right. michael steele. >> quick question for you sh, a how much of the convention will be consumed by george bush? the looking backwards or are you planning to really focus on laying out what an obama second term will look like and how much better off the american people will be given the last four years? >> michael, i don't think that we'll focus on george bush anymore than your convention focused on george bush, but what we are concerned about is where we are going as a country and the reason that the bush ed administration comes up is because the proposals that governor romney and paul ryan are proposing are so derivative of what we saw in the last decade. another budget-busting tax cut to explode the deficits and raise burdens on the middle-class. deregulation of wall street. these are the exact things that

got us into the mess in the first place, so, you know, we don't want to relitigate history and we don't want to relive it either, but that is the context in which the past will be discussed and of course, congressman ryan has a special link to it, because he voted for all of the policies. and mitt romney supported them. in 2008 campaign he ran all over to the country talking about how good those policies were. so, you know, it is a concern moving forward whether we want to not learn the lessons of the last decade and whether we repeat them. so in that sense, it will come up, but, look, this isn't about george bush, but it is about the future. >> so, david, next week, we are going to be at the black fin saloon in charlotte, would you like to come over for a shot of vodka or coffee? >> i want to say how are you, and not wait 47 seconds to find out. >> thank you. thank you. >> very good, david axelrod.

we will leave it there. >> we are sorry about the delay and appreciate your being on. >> and less of a delay. >> it is true. >> i swear that this the chicago delay is always worse than the west bank. david axelrod in chicago. >> what is that? it is embarrassing. >> and mark halperin saying, how are you? >> he is taking 1 million photos here, and really. >> have you spread the gospel of the panoramic toto app that i shared with you. >> i have sold many apps. >> it is called dmd. >> it is called dmd and download the app, because it is amazing panoramic, and it is unbelievable. >> guys, we are still on tv. and starting tuesday, we will be in charlotte, north carolina,

for the dnc and if you are in the area stop by as well to the black fin saloon to say hello. and still ahead, one of mitt romney's top fund-raiserers new york jets' owner woody johnson here. and next we will check in with bill karins as isaac leaves much of the gulf coast underwater. leave it right here for "morning joe." managing my diabetes is part of my life,

between taking insulin and testing my blood sugar... is this part of your life? freestyle lite test strips? why, are they any... beep! wow, that hardly needs any blood! yeah... and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. so easy. freestyle lite needs just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. really? yep, which is great for people who use insulin and test a lot. max and i are gonna run out and get them right now. or you can call or click today and get strips and a meter free. test easy. how do you know which ones to follow? the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past. i'm howard spielberg of fidelity investments.

the equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea. hethey don't need one,gh wes, clay and demarcus tried on the new depend real fit briefs for charity to prove how great the fit is even while playing pro football. the best protection now looks, fits and feels just like underwear. get a free sample and try one on for yourself. like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air.

. >> welcome back to "morning joe" and quick update on isaac and all of the effects that are being felt in the deep south and of course, louisiana and mississippi the hardest hit and 60 hours ago we saw landfall, yesterday the pictures were incredible with the rainfall and the storm surge were incredible. this is ma comb, mississippi where there was a partial dam collapse and they were afraid the whole thing would give way and affecting millions of people, and over in slidell, many people were rescued from their homes, but unfortunately, we have heard of two further deaths in louisiana which makes four total from isaac's aftermath. the latest today, the hundreds of thousands of people without

power should start getting it back on and finally the weather is cooperating and nicer and drier down there and the rain in isaac is up in the areas that need the rain, arkansas and missouri and heading for indiana and illinois over the weekend and that is the future path. so it is going to rain some people's labor day weekend out there in the ohio valley, but a lot of us need the rain out there. and today is hot day in the eastern seaboard and you have to wonder if it is the last hot day in the summer. and many of of the areas in the west remain dry, but through the weekend the west will remain dry and when isaac is gone, we will talk about the drought once again and the horrible fires burning in the west. coming up next here on "morning joe" the new york jets are hopefully playoff bound, and their owner woody johnson is coming up.

43 past the hour, and -- sgh he does not think we are fair today. >> and he is complaining really. >> he gave me a tongue lashing. >> and he told me he didn't agree with me. >> and told me third string quarterback behind sanchez and tebow and how did that make me feel. they can't complete a pass. >> joining us is the owner of the new york jets woody johnson. >> you are a true believer for some time and how did he do last

night this is. >> phenomenal and he did what they wanted him to do which is to explain to the american people, better to give the american people more of an idea who mitt romney is and what he stands for and that was all day yesterday, including the video, which was not on national tv. >> that was great. wasn't it? re really moving. >> i wish that everybody would have seen it, and now that they are talking about it so much, we will get it out. but the people talking about mitt and including ann, i think that it will give the american people a much better idea of who they are getting and why they will vote for mitt romney. >> and the only thing we are saying here is that one hour last night where he had the platform to speak to the american people and you saw clint eastwood insulting the president, and marco rubio talking about marco rubio and then mitt romney following on the theme that we would have seen on the theme of personal stories, so it seemed disjointed or poorly planned. >> i kind of disag grree with t.

i think that you can always second guess and go back, and you know, when you are in football and third and one and you decide to pass and maybe you should have run, but the overall impact of what romney tried to get across is that we have 23 million people unemployed and we have a big package of entitlements coming in with obama care. and we have the dismantling of medicare as we know it with $750 million takeaway. billion dollar take away. billion dollar take away. and he is basically contrasting what obama promised four years ago and what he has actually delivered which is very lite and what he would do to remedy that situation. and that is what came through. >> and the most important question, mark, and then ask woody a question, giants or jets? >> me personally? >> yes. >> jets. thank you. unless the owners of the regency hotel are here, and then the

giants. >> a man of conviction. >> a man of conviction. >> we have him running for office. >> well, i'm from washington, so it is the redskins. >> well, a couple of weeks ago, speaker boehner said that america is not going to fall in love with mitt romney and that is not what this is about. after this week, has america fallen in love with mitt romney? >> i do. particularly ann romney more so, but yeah, i don't think that he was incorrect about that, because i think that people are in love with what romney represents and he can remedy a lot of what is wrong with the country, and hopefully the people got the sense that he's done this his whole life. and he's got the heart to do it, and he is a compassionate person. and he cares about people. and he cares about the country and loves to be an american and the promise of america and he can fix this. >> new england patriot fan sam stein is here. >> no, i'm a new york giant fan.

>> sorry, that is worse. >> maybe we should not be on the same panel. >> well, do you have a question? >> two questions. one, why couldn't you convince tim tebow the do the speech instead of clint eastwood -- >> it might have worked. >> and now that you are in election mode, there are fewer restrictions of what the romney campaign with do for money and how does that change the fund-raising ap rat us tus and how to spend the money. >> well, my job is raising and not spending, but when you get to this part of the election cycle, post convention, and the fund-raising becomes much easier, because the enormity of the opportunity, and the enormity of the task is that much more evident, so it should be a little bit that we won't see mitt romney very much, because he will be out talking to the american people. >> and so fewer fundraisers now? >> i think that he'll have -- no, not fewer, but they won't have romney in them. you will see more surrogates

right now. >> because he has to get out there. michael? >> well, overall sense of where things stand going forward, the balloons have fallen and the big speeches have been given, and how do you feel going into this next six-week stretch knowing that the obama team is up next, and it is their turn with the ball, and they are going to try to run it down the field to keep the football analogy going, but -- >> right. >> how do you see the romney team blocking and tackling along the way next week, sort of framing their convention and then from that point forward? >> i think that, you know, to keep the football analogy, you do have to stay focused on what you are doing, and i think that if we stay focused on the jobs, jobs, jobs and the economy and how well we are going to do for the middle-class and how we are going to bring the country back to a country where the next generation will have all of the opportunity that we had at my age and i'm exactly romney's age, so we will have that

opportunity going forward and optimistic and confident country, and confidence is the missing ingredient in the job creation, because money is on sidelines and when it pours in, you will see amazing job growth. >> woody johnson, thank you. >> thank you, mika and joe. >> great to see you, woody. >> more "morning joe" and live in a moment from tampa.

you seem to be surprised by the romney, i mean, by clint eastwood's performance, as the camera took a cutaway of you. >> i didn't know it was coming. again, i can tell you that we are grateful for everyone's support, and especially grateful for what a great night it was. >> all right. very grateful and poker face. sam stein, what did you learn? >> well, this man got a lot of great sup or the here -- support for a great city.

>> and michael steele, you did it right, a great city in tampa. >> and thanks, tampa, and not only great strategically, but it is a great, great city. >> my thanks to everybody in town and you worked us through the storm and kept focused and everybody had a good time. >> and mark halperin? >> well, i like the breakfast of cham champions here. >> and mika? >> well, the personal stories from the real people that made my day. >> there you go. i think that i learned a lot more about mitt romney personally that didn't know about. >> and yes. >> and if they can figure out a way to take the highlights of last night and spread that across the next couple of months so more americans learn about the real mitt roey, i think that it is going to be a fascinating election. >> i also enjoyed talking to an empty chair. >> yes. >> well, if you would like, i could stay home with my family next week and you can talk to an empty chair next week. >> all right. wrap it up. >> it is way too early and it is

"morning joe" and we are rushing to the airport to go to charlotte. >> after the break, chuck todd will pick up the coverage. >> and you have chair for chuck todd? >> yes, we have them everywhere. >> we love you and we love t tampa. thank you. 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?

on every one of our carda reminder...ate. that before this date, we have to exceed expectations. we have to find new ways to help make life easier, more convenient and more rewarding. it's the reason why we don't have costumers.