right but this president cannot tell us you're better off today than when he took office. ( applause ) america's been patient. americans have supported this president in good faith. but today the time has come to turn the page. today the time has come for us to put the disappointments of the last four years behind us, to put aside the divisiveness and the recriminations, to forget about what might have been and to look ahead to what can be. now is a time to restore the promise of america. ( applause ) many americans have given up on this president, but they haven't ever thought about giving up. not on themselves. not on each other, and not on

america. what is needed in our country today is not complicated or profound. it doesn't take a special government commission to tell us what america needs. what america needs is jobs, lots of jobs. ( cheers and applause ) in the richest country in the history of the world, this obama economy has crushed the middle class. family income has fallen by $4,000, but health insurance premiums have higher. food prices are higher. utility bills are higher. and gasoline prices, they've doubled. today, more americans wake up in poverty than ever before. nearly one out of six americans is living in poverty. look around you. these aren't strangers. these are our brothers and sisters, our fellow americans. his policies have not helped create jobs. they've depressed them.

and this i can tell you about-- where president obama would take america. his plan to raise taxes on small business won't add jobs. it would eliminate them. ( applause ) his assault on coal and gas and oil will send energy and manufacturing jobs to china. his trillion dollar cuts to our military will eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs and also put our security at greater risk. ( booing ) his $716 billion cut to medicare to finance obamacare will both hurt today's seniors and depress innovation and jobs in medicine. ( booing ) and his trillion dollar deficits, they slow our economy, restrain employment, and cause wages to stall. to the majority of americans who

now believe that the future will not be better than the past, i can gawsht you this-- if barack obama is re-elected, you will be right. ( applause ) i'm running for president to help create a better future, a future where everyone who wants a job can find a job. where no senior feels-- fears for the security of their retirement, and america where every parent knows their child will get an education that leads them to a good job and a bright horizon. unlike the president i have a plan to create 12 million new jobs. ( cheers and applause ) paul ryan and i have five steps.

first, by 20ed 20, north america will be energy independent by taking full advantage of our oil, or coal, our gas, our nuclear and ourable ren second, we'll give our fellow citizens the skills they need it it it it for the jobs of today and the years of tomorrow. when it comes to the school your child will attend, every parent should have a choice, and every child should have a chance. ( cheers and applause ) third, we'll make trade work for america by forging new trade agreements, and when nations cheat in trade, there will be unmistakable consequences.

( applause ) and, fourth, to assure every entrepreneur and every job creator that their investments in america will not vanish as have those in greece, we will cut the deficit and put america on track to a balanced budget. ( cheers and applause ) and, fifth, we will champion small businesses, america's engine of job growth. that means reducing taxes on business, not raising them. it meansicism liifying and modernizing the regulations that hurt small business the most. and it means that we must rein in the skyrocketing cost of health care by repealing and replacing obamacare. ( cheers and applause )

today, women are more likely than men to start a business. they need a president who respects and understands what they do. and let me make this very clear-- unlike president obama, i will not raise taxes on the middle class of america. ( applause ) as president, i'll protect the sanctity of life. i'll honor the institution of marriage. ( cheers and applause ) and i will guarantee america's first liberty, the freedom of religion.

( applause ) president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans. ( laughter ). and to heel the planet. my promise is to help you and your family. ( cheers and applause )

i will begin my presidency with a jobs tour. president obama began his presidency with an apology tour. america, he said, had dictated to other nations. no, mr. president, america has freed other nations from dictators ( cheers and applause ) >> u.s.a.! u.s.a.! u.s.a.! >> every american-- >> u.s.a.! u.s.a.! u.s.a.! u.s.a.! >> every american was relieved the day president obama gave the

order and seal team 6 took out osama bin laden. ( applause ) on another front, every american is less secure today because he has failed to slow iran's nuclear threat. in his first tv interview as president he said we should talk to iran. we're still talking, and iran's centrifuges are still spinning. president obama has thrown allies like israel under the bus, even as he has relaxed sanctions on castro's cuba. he abandoned our friends in poland by walking away from our missile defense commitments. ( booing ) but he's eager to give russia's president putin the flexibility he desires after the election. ( booing ) more my administration, our friends will see more loyalty, and mr. putin will see a little less flexibility and more backbone ( cheers and applause )

we will honor america's democratic ideals because a free world is a more peaceful world. this is the bipartisan foreign policy legacy of truman and reagan, and under my presidency we will return to it once again. ( applause ) you might have asked yourself if these last years are really the america we want. >> no! >> the america that was won for us by the greatest generation. does the america we want borrow a trillion dollars from china? >> no!

>> does it fail to find the jobs that are needed for 23 million people and for half the kids graduating from college? >> no! >> are those schools lagging behind the rest of the developed world? >> no! >> and does america we want succumb to resentment and division among americans? >> no! >> the america we all know has been a story of the many becoming one. united to preserve liberty. uniting to build the greatest economy in the world. uniting to save the world from unspeakable darkness. everywhere i go in america, there are monuments that list those who have given their lives for america. there's no mention of their race, their party affiliation, or what they did for a living. ( cheers and applause )

they lived and died under a single flag fighting for a single purpose. they pledged allegiance to the united states of america. that america, that united america can unleash an economy that will put americans back to work, that will once again lead the world with innovation and productivity, and that will restore every father's and mother's confidence that their children's future is brighter even than the past. that america, that uunited america will preserve a military that's so strong, no nation would ever dare to test it. ( cheers and applause ) that america, that america, that united america, will uphold the constellation of rights endowed by our creator and codified in our constitution

( cheers and applause ) that united america will care for the poor and the sick, will honor and respect the elderly, and will give a helping hand to those in need. that america is the best within each of us. that america we want for our children. if i'm elected president of these united states, i will work with all my energy an soul to restore that america, to lift our eyes to a better future. that future is our destiny. that future 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 dislifer it. let us begin that future for america tonight! thank you so very much. may god bless you. may god bless the american people. and may god bless the united states of america. ( cheers and applause )

>> pelley: former massachusetts governor mitt romney accepting the nomination of his party as a candidate for president of the united states. in that speech, romney was reaching for the common touch. many have questioned whether such a wealthy man understands middle class america, but in the speech, romney talked about people facing $50 fill-ups at the gas pump. cutting out movie nights in order to make ends meet. and people who lose $22-an-hour job and take two jobs at $9. there's paul ryan, his running mate. the congressman from wisconsin. bob schieffer, as we continue to watch this convention with their ticket on the stage, what did mitt romney accomplish tonight? >> reporter: well, i think this is probably the best speech that i have heard mitt romney

deliver. i think we found out a lot more about him from a personal side. i think that was very important. i thought it was well delivered. i think his criticisms were clearly expressed. and i think he gave us a little more of a game plan as to where he wants to take the country. but, again, i go back to this thing, putting clint eastwood on before this speech and this speech is going to make the front page of the "new york times," and the "washington post." but the talk shows, all the morning shows, he's going to be competing for attention with clint eastwood. and i just think that's not a very good political strategy. >> pelley: the candidates' wives have walked out on the stage, and here come their children. mitt romney has five. married sons, and 18 grandchildren.

norah o'donnell, you're down there among the festivities, right next to the podium. how do you think mitt romney did tonight? ( no audio ) >> pelley: well, we don't have norah's microphone at the moment, so we will switch back to the party on the stage at the republican national convention. we were told that mitt romney would talk about his religion in the speech, but he mentioned mormonnism exactly once by my count in which he talked about growing up in michigan as a mormon, and essentially, that no one cared about that. people cared about what sports teams his family was rooting for, more than they cared about their religious affiliations. i think we have norah o'donnell back with her microphone now. norah? >> reporter: hey there, scott, that's right.

sorry about that. you know, these delegates in this hall, they rose to their feet. they loved this speech. the speech built over time into a crescendo and if the speech lacked a cohencive narrative, he touchedded on a lot in the speech. they thought it was mitt romney's big moment when tens of millions of americans will be watching. however, the speech ran late, in part because of clint eastwood, so many people arguably went to bed at 11:00 so he may have missed the opportunity to reach some of those moms who had to get up early. but he was trying to hit many different areas. some of the biggest applause came when mitt romney said he wanted to create 12 million new jobs and talked about his five-point plan to do that. this crowd liked that especially. >> pelley: jan crawford has been covering the romney campaign through the primaries to this pivotal moment. and she is down on the convention floor as well. jan. >> reporter: well, scott, this was a different mitt romney

tonight and a different speech than what we've seen him give on the campaign trail and in a sense his ability to connect with the people. on the campaign trail he talks in a clinical way at a time. tonight we heard mitt romney say you deserve that. we deserve that. we deserve better. that is going to be a theme that you're going to see in this campaign going forward. a lot of talk, also, about how we need to believe in america, that america can-- if we're together, if we're united, if we're the united states of america. he's heading out tomorrow on the campaign trail, his plane says in big, bold letters, scott, "believe in america." >> pelley: thank you, jan. our cbs news poll this week shows that governor romney and president obama are essentially tied in their quest for the white house. with 68 days left before election day. more than a century ago, a future republican president left tampa to begin an uphill battle. his name was teddy roosevelt.

and he was headed for cuba and that historic charge up san juan hill. well, tonight, mitt romney will leave tampa no less determined to make history in a battle for the white house. next week, the democrats convene in charlotte, and we will be there. for now, with bob schieffer and our entire campaign 2012 team, i'm scott pelley. good night.

. mitt romney just diminished talking, but 9news is just getting starting with coverage unlike any other statements in town. i have a room full of democrats

here. we'll find out if any minds were changed. this is 9news now. but first we have some breaking news tonight. five prince george's county firefighters have been injured battling a fire. flames broke out in the 3300-block of huntley square drive. that's in temple hills late tonight. our own ken molestina just arrived on the scene. ken. >> reporter: anita, still a very active scene out here. as you mentioned, this happened along the 3300-block of huntley squared. we're talking about the huntley square condominiums. the first alarm went off after firefighters responded here. a second alarm then went out. we were told the fire broke out in a garden-style apartment. everyone who was inside was rescued. but, again, we're talking about four firefighters now that were sent to the burn unit with minor burns, minor injuries. we're being told another one suffering from exhaustion. that fire is out over here right now, but, again, still a very active scene. there are a lot of firefighters still here trying to clean up

what is left. and really trying to determine what exactly happened here. but at this point it seems like all those injured are expected to be okay. we'll keep an eye on this for you. >> okay. isaac had weakened. it's gotten weaker into a tropical depression. >> it's still dropping a whole lot of rain although it is finally slowing making its way north. >> finally. i'm going to show you what it could mean for us. but first let's get to the latest on the flood waters that continue to rise and the fragile dams struggling to hold back water. drew levinson joins us from louisiana. >> reporter: the brunt of isaac has passed, but the damage is far from over. rising waters forced more evacuations with people and animals hurrying to get out. joshua jones is one of the hundreds that were rescued. they're headed to shelters. >> we had to like climb on top of the houses until the boats got there to get us. >> reporter: evacuees already were exhausted and hungry. some of them didn't want to be

there. >> they forced us. they dragged me out. >> reporter: not everyone left their flood ed homes. for those that decided to stay, this is going to be another long night without electricity. hundreds of thousands of customers are without power across the state. few gas stations are open. and the ones that are have long lines. some people stocked up filling extra containers. a mandatory evacuation order was issued at a river that has swelled its banks. >> i think it's crazy. we moved here after katrina. we thought everything would be fine. >> reporter: crews are pumping water out of the lake to take pressure off the dam. >> we have some pumps here in place. they're not moving a lot of water. >> reporter: isaac is expected to move slowly north, bringing heavy rain into the midwest by the weekend. drew levinson, cbs news, reserve louisiana. >> yes, the problem with some of the folks in southern mississippi and southern louisiana, the rain that falls to the north of them will actually drain back down to the south. let me show you the radar.

pretty impressive bands under what is left of isaac, especially through central mississippi again. a big line of storms going through jackson, and we see most of the activity pushing out of louisiana into arkansas. good news there. bad news for the folks in arkansas. the track looks like this. it's going to go off to the north and get through missouri by the time we get into saturday and then turn off to the east. and really by the time we get into sunday and monday, it's going to be in the midwest bringing some much needed rain to places like illinois and indiana and ohio. we'll come back and talk about just how close it's going to get to us. even though it's out in the midwest, it still might bring us showers and thunderstorms over the weekend. we'll let you know. >> stuff we need to know. it is official. mitt romney accepted the presidential nomination tonight and he launched his campaign with an address for undecided that he would take the country in a better direction than president obama. gary nurenberg is here with the excerpts. >> reporter: gary, it was a night dedicated to romney's

personal and business history, an agenda designed to accentuate the positives in his career in politics and business. romney himself made an appeal to an american that polls show is disenchanted with economic progress. ♪ give me so loving >> reporter: he got plenty of that. applause by people that had never heard him speak before. >> i accept your nomination for president of the united states. >> reporter: out of a sense of obligation. >> i wish president obama had succeeded because i want america to succeed. >> reporter: but he hasn't and repeated the scene. >> now is the moment where we can stand up and say i'm an american. we make my destiny. we deserve better. my children deserve better. my country deserves better. >> reporter: he describes himself as a baby boomer from a loving family and quoted his mom to help with one of his 2008 election problems.

>> why should women have any less say than men. >> reporter: and addressing the country. >> to the majority of americans that believe the future will not be better than the past, i can guarantee you this, if barack obama is reelected, you'll be right. >> don't let anyone tell you that america's best days is behind you. >> reporter: it capped a video by ronald reagan which was followed by ads. >> he should be ashamed for putting politics before people. >> reporter: george w. bush's brother. >> mr. president, it is time to stop blaming your predecessor for your failed economic policy. >> reporter: florida senator mark orubeo. >>e problem is that he's a bad president. >> reporter: clint eastwood. >> when somebody does not do the job, we have to let them go. >> reporter: romney friends tried to humanize him with testimony to his good deeds. >> he shoveled snow and raked

leaves for the elderly. >> reporter: helped a dying boy write his will. >> we were able to give his skateboard, model rockets and fishing gear to his best friend. >> reporter: a business associate. >> if someone needed help, mitt was there. >> reporter: the founder of staples. >> he helped make it come alive. >> reporter: romney's job now is to make it come alive for his party and convince undecided he can do a better job of leading the country and take it in a better direction than barack obama. fact factors are talking about the address. the question is whether those qiblz with the facts -- quibbles with the facts will take purchase with the american electric. thank you. romney state campaign bob early joins me and a senior advisor to tim kaine's senate bid. gentlemen, mitt romney talking about the american dream and how obama has failed, the president has failed that dream, especially with economic recovery.

he made a lot of points. did he tell us what he would do differently? >> certainly he did. but the theme of the convention was a denominator of this is broken and a partial numerator of this is how we'll fix it. but you have to set the denominator as well. and a lot of the speeches, chris christie's speech and this to some extent did that but do we see what he would do as president? >> i think he gave us a clear vision of what he's going to do. the vision that he gave us was that he's going to go back in the policies that got us into this mess in the first place, and that's where i think there was a huge disconnect tonight. >> what about the likability factor that has dogged him in the campaign with talking about his family, his childhood. did he connect with voters in a very real and intimate way? >> i thought ann romney's speech probably went more down that road. it was -- it went over very well. and she is very warm and she is a very strong person on the campaign trail. so this was fine. but quite frankly i think after

this we'll hear less of that. after the democratic convention, i think you'll agree, we'll hear less of that. everybody thinks president obama is charismatic and a good family guy. for both of them it's true. they're family people. they're solid men. the debates are really going to be relevant in this campaign. >> and what about this? >> that's when the toughness begins. >> but there were people that were just like we don't like this guy. did he break through? >> i don't know if he did. i agree ann romney did a great job. the video, his ad makers did a great job with the video tonight. but i don't know that he has yet answered the fundamental question that a lot of people in the country still have which is who are you. >> and i don't think he's as comfortable talking about that as he is on his policy issues. what about all of the discussion on women. he not only mentioned his mother as a strong role model and a politician, ann raising the five boys while he's traveling, he really emphasized the strong women in the republican party today. is he going to sway some female

voters? >> both parties have gender problems. the republicans have had a gender gap. it's not mitt romney's issue. the democrats have a male gender gap. and people tend to focus less on that. but clearly one of the major themes of the campaign, of this convention, i should say, was trying to attack and close the gender gap. but, like i said, the less important question here is all about me. it's all about my kids ability to get a job. that was certainly a theme of this convention. >> i think just from a purely strategic and tactical point of view, women in the suburbs and the battle ground states are going to decide the election. and this is where mitt romney and the republican party has a huge problem. they can talk about it as much as they want and talk about his mother as a role model as much as he wants, but when his party is adopting a platform that is -- contains a lot of policies really antagonistic to a lot of women, that's where he's going to continue to have a problem.

>> you both mentioned ann romney's speech, is that the highlight as far as what people will take away from this convention? >> she was fairly unknown, i think it's fair to say, to most of the american public. and i have been with her. i know her. i'm a little prejudiced here. she's very warm. she's a very strong person. she's a dynamic persona in the campaign. i think she is going to be out there an awful lot in the general election. >> i think the wrong romney is running. >> okay. gentlemen. thank you for that. we have much to look forward to ahead. [ laughing ] >> now, still ahead, we put a group of democrats in a group together to watch mitt romney's speech. their reaction to what the presidential candidate has to say is still ahead. new tonight at 11:00, frustration is brewing. parents are upset that the school district is cans elling bus service at 12 stops. before ken molestina was sent out to the breaking news story at the fire, he talked to the parents. now, the news about cancellation of those bus routes, not sitting so well with them less than a

week before classes start. >> i'm looking. >> reporter: these school kids and their mothers are trying to get used to a new routine this year. walking to school. >> arlington county dropped a bomb on us just two weeks ago. >> reporter: sandy moore has taken issue with arlington public schools decision to get rid of 12 bus stops across their district. one of the bus stops was only a block away from they are house. now her daughter and other kids are left looking for a new way to get to school which is about a mile away. >> it's not that they can't walk this distance. we live in modern times with busy roads and there are some situations that you don't want a young girl walking home alone in. >> reporter: moore isn't alone in her concern. >> i just think it's absurd to expect children as young as five, six, seven years old to walk a mile -- nearly a mile to school. >> reporter: and the parents say this is the scariest part about their children's walk to school. 18th street and glee road.

it's constantly packed with traffic. arlington public school superintendent dr. patrick murphy says the change is due to a realignment of resources which he described as a rapidly growing school district. >> we're increasing from 800 to 850 students a year. so we have to begin to make adjustments. >> reporter: but that explanation isn't sitting well with parents who want their kids bussed back. >> it's frustrating. upsetting. confusing. >> reporter: despite a petition with hundreds of signatures on it, they have no plans to reverse their decision. in arlington, ken molestina, 9news now. also new tonight at 11:00, the pentagon considering legal action against a former navy seal who has written a book about the bin laden raid. it causes a bit of controversy. in it he describes in detail the raid that kills bin laden. a lawyer for the pentagon says he violated an agreement he signed back in 2007 not to divulge any military secrets. the book hits the stands on september 4th. by the way, scott sat down

with owen, and you can see the full interview september 9th, a week from sunday. another chapter begins in the george huguely murder case. today they sentenced the former student to 23 years in state fridays on for the murder of his -- prison for the murder of his girlfriend yeardley love. but they appealed sentence and conviction. >> we fundamentally believe in the jury system and in our courts that we fundamentally disagree that the conviction in this case for second degree murder was at all appropriate and we basically disagree with the sentence that was imposed today. >> just before the judge pronounced that sentence, george huguely turned to yeardley love's family says "i'm so sorry for your loss. i hope you're able to find peace". they said we find no joy