even chris christie took 16 minutes before mentioning romney. david axelrod tweeted during the speech i know he's going to mention mitt somewhere here, isn't he? eric bates, i kind of -- during christie's speech, it went from disbelief to actually feeling bad for the nominee insofar as chris christie really took a long time winding up to get to the pitch. >> he didn't just take a long time winding up. that wasn't what his speech was about. fundamentally. his speech was about him and positioning himself for 2016 or at least positioning himself on the national stage. it was his biggest chance to do that yet and he grabbed it with both hands and wouldn't let go of it. that's what it was all about, his own record -- >> you know, it surprises me still. i think that's what people are saying. each of the speakers last night were sort of mostly concerned with their own sort of personal political fortunes rather than their nominee's but the thing that surprises me is does anybody like not get credit for like actually getting behind the nominee? isn't tha

>> vintage chris christie.up in an italian home, so i sort of love that smashmouth, you know right at 'em kind of stuff. >> does it make it harder for mitt romney in the acceptance speech when you have such a bare knuckles speech. do you think some republicans are thinking should would coulda? >> i think there's a place for bare knuckles, and a place for velvet touch. a president has to have that range that a singer has or an actor has to be able to communicate on a variety of levels. >> chris seems to have one speed. i think governor romney has more than one speed and hopefully we'll see that on display thursday night. >> one more work about ann romney's speech, because the republican women here seemed to be responding to that clarion call from the candidate's wife. >> well, there's nothing better for a candidate than to hear from the person they have spent how many years with. sill always felt this convention, the most important thing it can do is give people a better picture. who mitt romney is, and i think

and chris christie what an idiot. >> bill: i didn't think chris christie delivered the goods.ed meat speech from either side. i like the flavor and color of it, but i thought it was flat. and she was really con sa denning. and i don't think they have a clue as to how out of touch she came across. >> caller: the women in the audience, did they notice that she was not wearing any jewelry at all, trying to dummy herself down? >> caller: i didn't notice that i noticed that nancy reagan red dress how could you not. thanks beverly. stewart in st. petersburg florida good morning, stewart. >> caller: good morning, i find it funny that you criticize ann romney when you never criticize obama when he stammers and stutters -- >> bill: we're talking about the republican convention last night, the speeches by ann romney and chris christie. >> caller: that's the point i'm making, if you are going to criticize her for laughing in her own speech that's nervousness. >> bill: she is on national television, and she is supposed to deliver the goods. i thought she was embarrassing overly eager and

that's the chris christie i know. sort of like the mario cuomo who, you know, you ask him a stupid question, that's a stupid question, i'm not going to answer your stupid question and that's the thing with chris last night who we know and love, i'm talking about mika and i, you know, that edge was off and i wonder if americans who were introduced to him going after voters in town hall meetings or going after reporters at press conferences, didn't go, wow, the edges are a little too rounded off. >> i think that's true and it didn't -- i think if you didn't know who chris christie was last night, you would not have walked away from that speech and had the kind of strong impression of the chris christie that we know and that we praise often on the show. i watched the thing at home, hotel, on tv because i wanted to see, we talked yesterday about different audiences and one of the things i did, something a republican media strategist told me to do watch part of the speech with the sound off. it was not -- he did not look l

obama's policies, you know, last night chris christie talked a lot about chris christie. i think paul ryan is not there the to give his life story. he's there to talk about mitt romney and president obama. i think that's what he's going to do tonight. >> yeah, and i think paul ryan, i actually think that chris christie had a pretty big lift last night. ann romney had a tough job trying to humanize mitt romney. i think the bar for paul ryan is relatively low here. the base loves him. they already know his budget, who he is. they love him. but and for everybody else, all he needs to do is do a decent job drawing that contrast, not talk about rape, which i don't think is probably in the plans and i think he'll deliver a solid performance. >> as chuck todd keeps reminding us, this is not the second most important speech of the week. ann romney did the second most important speech of the week. this is the olympics of politics. everybody is doing their performance aspect. some can do a speech, some people can't. a lot of this stuff cannot be taught, how to emote and project for

look, i'm a journalist, please name governor christie. pick governor christie, please. be wonderful journalism. certainly the most colorful and interesting of the potential picks and he would be great to write about. but i continue to wonder how he would play over the long term of a campaign in the entire country and i think it's -- i think there's a risk there. >> can i ask joe a quick question and then you mika, the demographics where romney is hurting, women, hispanic voters, pluck one of the big midwest states your analysis of chris christie where does he shore up romney? >> have you met chris christie's wife? she's fantastic. >> pawlenty has a great wife. >> first of all, chris christie -- >> i'm not saying he can't do these things. >> she's the perfect counter to ann romney. >> this is a pick that would be more like bill clinton's pick in 1992. >> i would agree. >> where he picked somebody like al gore that doesn't seem to line up naturally, not going to bring in votes that clinton didn't already have, but it sends a bigger message about the ticket overall. what i

let's first talk about governor chris christie. a lot being made about the fact that it sounded more like his own nomination speech than a stump speech for mitt romney. what's your take? >> well, i think that that's a fair comment in the sense that, you know, as people point out, it was a long time before he talked about romney. it's a little unfair in the sense that, you know, the standard we've been holding him to for the last few days is will he do what barack obama did in 2004 and break out as a national figure? you look at barack obama's speech in 2004 speech, which was a great speech, nobody remembers what he said about john kerry. it was a vision. i think the greater problem with the speech is that it didn't have, i thought, the kind of uplifting optimistic tone or substance that you need to have if you're going to do what obama did in 2004. you know, i watched the speech as i know you did from my hotel partly because i'm working on something else, but also because i like sometimes to watch to see what america is seeing. and

chris christie will talk about truth.ked about jeb bush the vulnerability for president obama not leading on entitlement reform and tax reform. that is a big part of campaign. >> absolutely. republican party with admirable men. the -- [ inaudible ] first night is dris christie. quite young energetic to say the least, populist governor of new jersey. paul ryan, very young and impressive reformer from wisconsin. different from either the southerners who we have seen a lot of in 20 years. app is different from the older figures that we've seen a lot of. >> ten seconds. surprise tonight? >> i think santorum is going to be the surprise. i was thinking don't forget santorum in the mix of people battling for the heart of the party future. >> charles? >> christie is going to be hilarious. that will surprise people. >> i don't think so. he is entertaining. >> people who haven't seen him before. >> be ready. panel, thank you as always. that is it for panel. stay tuned for some final thoughts tonight. everyone has goals. take the st

love and chris christie. that's it for us on "the five." back here live tomorrow in tampa from the same spot. tune in, everybody. have a great night. >> bob: yeah! captioned by closed captioning services, inc >> bret: i'm bret baier. this is a fox news alert. we're coming to you from the tampa bay times forum where the republican convention is finally underway. behind with us the trimmings. we have just seen mitt romney voted the republican nominee for president. he is not officially the nominee until he accepts it thursday night. we want to go to the floor right now for virginia. >> unemployment rate in the southeast. 5.9%. state accumulated $1.4 billion in surpluses in the last three years. we are honored, madam chairwoman, to cast three votes for congressman ron paul. 46 votes for great job creator, the next president of the united states, mitt romney. [ applause ] >> virginia, 46, romney. virgin islands. nine votes. >> bret: that was governor bob mcdonald who was under consideration we're told to possibly be a v.p. pick for mitt romney.

christy on stage. romney on stage. chris christie is the keynote speaker. this address will set the theme and the tone of the convention. the keynote speaker is usually chosen because of their national appeal. or because they might be rising stars. do you think that will be the case of chris christie? get off the beach, america. a quick look at the newspapers. here is what the tampa bay times -- the storm still haunts in the sense it's been a story. martha: the front of the "wall street journal" is the quintessential campaign photo. you can see paul ryan in this photo as he kind of -- he's hugging one guy and reaching out to hug the hand of another while trying to make contact with somebody at the same time. bill: that's what we call social multitasking. this storm is nowhere near the size of katrina. don't think that just yet. and the protests you will hear about more today. they are kept way away from the convention area. but they will make their presence known and the police are ready for it. so that's what we have. martha: we'll talk about what we can e

christy made that speech for the people who were watching.eople in the audience wanted him to treat it like a town hall meeting in new jersey. but he hit that perfectly. then of course he did have to to stand up. and at the end he got them to stand up. i think he was absolutely focused on the people watching sitting there saying i'm watching this thing because i heard about him and i'm trying to figure out what this was all about. martha: it played better at home. >> there was. >> negativity about it was delivered in artur davis' speech was powerful. he said in he sense, i was with obama four years ago. for those of you watching, here were our expectations and here is what he has done. he talked about attacking success and boosting the occupiers and so forth. it was -- it didn't come across as mean spirited or vicious. but it came across as a strong contrast. he was one of the two surprises of the evening. >> one thing is people expect too much out of one speech. it's not going to be ann hominy's speech or chris christie's speech. do they bui

then chris christie.yes will be on that speech of course. >> yes, so obviously, cable news is the place to be because most of those broadcast networks aren't going to touch those speeches until 10:00 eastern. quickly for you, as mitt romney and hopefully, his plane will be on time. i don't know if the weather is being affected in tampa right now. if he arrives anytime now, what does he do between now and the big speech on thursday? >> well, the campaign is not giving us details on what he is doing today. what he may be doing, just a guess, meeting with some of the key delegations. he may be meeting with his own campaign officials here and other republican officials and lien, ann romney speaks tonight. so would he want to make a surprise out this at the podium, it's anybody's guess. tomorrow, this is interesting. he's still scheduled to give a speech tomorrow in indianapolis, then thursday night is supposed to be his big night in tampa. >> i'm getting word breaking as we speak that mitt romney has landed.

chris christie has a real tough challenge. to understand he is speaking to the people on the other side of the tv camera. not the people in the base who want the red meat. he has to walk a fine line. the president is likeable. he has to deal with that. talk to the american people. not talk to the people in hall. >> bay, great to talk to you. >> ed rendell, thank you. >>> hotels are nickel and diming you to the tune of nearly $2 billion. cnbc's mandy drury, what is going on? >> there is a new report out about the fees and surcharges there. for things like internet access and fitness centers. most of the time, you just accept it. according to the tisch center in new york university, hotels are estimated to take in $1.95 billion in the costs. that is a jump of 5.4%. they may not go much higher as hotels are running out of new things to charge for. not surprisingly, guests find internet access fees most annoying. this is something we kind of expect for free. you go a coffee shop, and it is free. a hotel that eats that cost may act

the keynote is chris christie. he is responding to the report that he did not run on the romney ticket because he thought they would lose. here is what he had to say on "morning joe." >> obviously, a lot of people will be chattering about the "new york post" article today. that you don't think mitt romney can win. >> completely shoddy reporting. they never talked to me. > >> shoddy reporting. they did not talk to him. several pointed out the reporters behind the article know christie and his camp really well. what do you think about the timing of that? the keynote speaker on front of the post? michael, can you hear me? >> you are coming in now. >> all right. michael, the question is -- can you hear me now? like the verizon guy. >> i'll turn you up. >> can you hear me now? >> going with the flow here. >> chris christie, front page of "the post." saying he is not a front runner because he thought the romney ticket would not win. is that a problem now he is keynote speaker? >> no, i don't. christie will knock it out o

>> well, it's absolutely chris christie's mission.wants to run for president four years from now, after mitt romney loses, and the republican nom nation's wide open. and christie's the best public speaker that the republicans have when he's on his name, when he's not busy insulting someone in the audience. remember, the romney campaign controls word for word the text and the length of this speech tonight. so the romney campaign is looking at christie knowing that he can do more than any other speaker who comes into this arena and they have to deliberately find little ways to tone down his performance so that he won't just overwhelm and make people forget romney's coming later in the week. >> lawrence, when you describe christie, he seems to me to perfectly resemble machiavelli's "prince." first machiavelli advises the prince to undertake a great campaign and chris christie claims to have done so in new jersey. then machiavelli says, you attempt to usurp the king, and that's really what he's doing, isn't he. >> it's just human. both pa

and chris christie gave a speech i thought more about chris christie than about mitt romney.ed a long time before he got around to saying the word "romney." >> michael steele, everybody wants to backseat drive. you? i'll give you a chance to backseat drive these convention organizers was the order of the speeches the correct order? >> no. i think we should have gone out with ann romney. i think that would have been the cap of that evening. chris christie, to get everybody -- the meat they need. but then the smooth wind-up at the end would have been her. i think she laid it out very nicely. i thought, quite frankly, the messages were a little bit conflicting. she comes out and said i want to talk about love and he comes out and says we're not talking about love, we're talking about respect. so it was a dissonance in terms of the flow of the messages. stand-alone, perfect. together, it was a little bit choppy. >> any disagreement over here on that? >> i think they both worked well. i would agree with you that ending with ann romney would have been a great way to finish off the

then we've got -- chris christie will get out there tonight. how big an impact will that have on changing the negative perception that obama and his team have to create? >> i know that ann romney will hit it out of the ballpark, because she's a committed woman, wife to her husband, mother to her kids. she'll tell america the story of mitt romney, what he's done as a successful family man, successful businessman, somebody this country so desperately needs. >> sean: we have a preview of some of the lines that we released. what she says here, she talks about, than, this man will not fail. he will not it down. he will lift up america. >> i mean, that's what it's about, sean. we know this is an election that is a generational election. we know the choices between americans with big dreams, entrepreneurs who want to go and build on their own success. >> sean: you mean, they built it? >> they built it. >> sean: oh. >> the fact we have a choice between that, which we all know is the backbone of america, small business people, or people like the preside

. >> christie wasn't even angry?istie called me a nut the other day i thought he was going to punch me. >> christie is like a big teddy bear out there. >> is christie the one man that bill o'reilly fears? >>. no i don't fear anyone, you know that rosen. it was way back to my childhood. >> don't forget a lot of that is going to change on the campaign trail. they are going to take the ropes off of chris christie. he they are going to let him go out there. what james is saying about portman as well. he is going to be big in ohio. out there for governor romney now until november. marco rubio will be out there. faithful soldier don't really look so much at mitt romney's policy as the person. they are really trying to selling the man here. the reason they have to do that is they are 10, 11 points behind on women. and women need to find some reason to connect with mitt romney and they are not necessarily. they care about the economy. they are not necessarily policy wonks. that's not necessarily connection. >> that's going t

be all about chris christie.e have been through the speech word for word. discover ad remarkable use of personal proceed nouns. mr. chris tee used "i" no less than 47 times. the word "me" on 11 separate occasions. but only used the words mitt romney eight times, five of those in a single paragraph. so how do you feel about mr. christie's performance now n. >> look, i have seen him give much better speeches. i think he got -- i think he got nervous in front of this audience. he got stiffer than he usually is. and they locked him on the teleprompter which every convention does. and christie on teleprompter is not as good as christie just working a stage in new hampshire or as i have seen him many times up there on the stump. just playing it fast and loose. you run the risk of him saying something he regrets. that way. but the performance is always much better if you let christie get off prompter. >> so in a sense he was somewhat shackled. last night ann romney says she loves the women. but today the speakers, if th

chris christie needed mrs. christie like pam is always next to you going honey less angry, smile. secretary of state moved two democrats 27 years service on the board and that and everything to stifle votes here in ohio. >> stephanie: i know. because they might allow too many people to vote and that would be bad. yeah, that's what he needed. we needed mrs. christie under the podium. smile. you look jowly. >> you're scaring everyone! you're literally scaring everyone! you're scaring mrs. romney. she just gave a speech and it sounds like you're threatening her. >> stephanie: we have the new jersey democratic chairman who is the vain of chris christie's existence joining us next on "the stephanie miller show." speaking of jobs in the economy we'll talk to representative henry cuellar from the great state of texas next on "the stephanie miller show." when a carpet is clean and fresh, it's irresistible. experience this in your home with resolve deep clean powder. its moist powder penetrates deep, removing three times more dirt than vacuuming alone while also neutralizing odors at their

as will new jersey's governor, chris christie. whose speech is the second most anticipated of the week aft candidate's own. the big story at 5:30 this morning is tropical storm isaac. it slid past tampa to the west but has its sights on new orleans and the gulf coast. it could make landfall tomorrow, seven years to the day after hurricane katrina did the same. hurricane warnings in place from louisiana to the state line all the way to the state line of florida and alabama. we have complete coverage of the approaching storm. let's start with the weather channel's paul goodloe live in gulfport, mississippi. paul, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, willie. you mentioned katrina. almost seven years to the day and this area here in coastal mississippi, gulfport, really was ground zero for hurricane katrina. we all know the tragedy in new orleans. the storm surge and winds was pounding this area and almost leveled whole blocks in this coastal region. i am standing about 18-feet above sea level. there was 10, 11 feet of water above

>> i hope so. >> what do you think about ann romney or chris christie? christie's got real voice.e's the kind of guy giving the sign to the cab driver, just cut him off. >> i like chris christie. >> i like that it would. >> ann romney is going to be the next first lady of the united states. >> linda johnson from tampa, florida. i'm an independent and i'm disgusted with both parties. why? >> because of all the lying and fighting. >> who's told the biggest lie you've heard? >> oh, gosh. come on. >> probably romney. >> what'd he say? >> well, the work wor welfare is one. >> thank you. >> what are you? >> i'm a ron paul supporter. ron paul! >> you know how many votes we're getting ron paul? come down here. i think you're somebody from the christian era. come here. >> i'm from tampa. i'm definitely for obama. and i'm also thinking that we've got to get a lot of people in florida out there volunteering. >> i think we've got a good mix here. i think ann romney, a lot of people are going to watch and get an idea about her husband, who's been a bit opaque, a bit remote, when he talks about

the christie speech, the reactions were mixed. they love about making this century the second american century. but all the talk about, you know, there needs to be hard truths spoken and hard choices made, that isn't quite what romney and ryan have been doing. they want to talk about the hard truths but also not saying that -- also saying, listen, if you're a seen yore, not going to cut medicare but future seniors and listening to christie, sounded like talking about current seniors losing benefits or maybe raising taxes. what were the hard choices that chris christie was talking about? from paul ryan you'll hear more optimism. >> maybe you felt that christie not on the same page as far as tone as romney and ryan. do you think they'll go further the other way tonight? >> i do. on the first day you didn't hear about what probably are the biggest issues of incomes, economic growth and jobs. you didn't really hear that the first day and i think you will hear about that from paul ryan and certainly mitt romney and less about the hard

attorney chris christie.istie, who declined to be interviewed, is in no mood to play ball. >> chris christie is a strategic thinker. he was always committed to getting bigger and better cases, but it's a simple equation on his part. "i have a huge bank fraud, one of the biggest bank frauds ever in the state of new jersey. why would i get into a deal with this guy? there's no reason to do it." and that is the message that's basically sent back to dwek's lawyer over and over and over again. >> narrator: when dwek's attorney finally sits down with prosecutors, he serves up information about a large-scale money-laundering operation -- orthodox rabbis who had washed cash with dwek during his days at the deal yeshivah. but dwek also has something else to offer, something more enticing to prosecutors -- politicians on the take. christie's ears perk up. >> typically, in new jersey, you think it's a recipe for a bad political move to be arresting a bunch of rabbis. christie was uninterested in it, but he wanted the co

you heard about chris christie's family. then a lot about chris christie's record in new jersey.t to romney. itch-up take a look back you can see the speech as a bigger message. talking about the vision of the republican party. how mitt romney fits into that, but not really how mitt romney is leading the effort. this was more of an acceptance speech as some pundits were calling it. chris christie is not running for president right now. this was more about laying the ground work for later. republicans knew what they were getting into when they picked hem to be the keynote speaker. rob, paula, not exactly shy. this is was not going to be a demure speech from chris christie. >> not the teddy bear like. karen travers. ann saying her speech was about love. christie saying his speech was choosing respect over juxtaposition of themes there last night. we'll be back with >>> where there are politicians there is money. behind that money there are people hoping to influence policy decisions. >> abc's chief investigative reporter, brian ross trying to get some questions answered. >> reporte

there was more about chris christie and what chris christie had done in new jersey. >> let me play a couple little clips, if i can. i want to look at a little more of each of the speeches. let's start with ann romney. here's another moment. >> this is important. i want you to hear what i'm going to say. mitt doesn't like to talk about how he has helped others because he sees it as a privilege, not a political talking point. >> there was a big headline in "the new york times" today, gene, that suggested -- or questioned whether she might have overshadowed her husband. does he in a way, have a tough act to follow? >> well, he does have a tough act to follow. look. this convention, as far as i'm concerned, really is about mitt romney's speech. it is -- it will be his introduction to many americans who haven't really heard him give a speech, who this guy wants to replace the president. they might be thinking about voting a different way. it's his chance to make that first impression on a lot of people. and so the bar is set very high for him, i think, and i'm not sure -- he's not warm an

so they pick on chris christie who is a target. i thought he gave a great speech and accomplished what he had to do. the delegates from the conference loved him. until million figure that looks good for italian americans is a day to celebrate. mayor, thank you very much. very good to see you. america's mayor has taken us through some horrific times at a convention getting ared for big speakers. everyone is getting ready. the band is getting ready. and we're getting ready. >> coming from the floor of the tampa convention there is an argument here that the crucial swing states where republican governors rule, are they improving economic fortunes helping the president? the better it looks in the swing states, the better they look for the commander in chief? there are shocking polls indicating that may not be the case, that voters may be favoring the republican governor making that possible. if that is true, crucial swing states like ohio are telegraphing potential republican wins. and john kasich is with me next. >>neil: welcome back

then a speech from chris christie.l breath of the problems in a campaign criticized for being too cynical and focusing on petty attack ads and nonsense, they are talking about very, very big issues. this is just the start of the convention but it started with two notes they wanted to hit hardest and loudest. problems are serious it and requires a serious man. that is what they were talking about tonight. >> thank you. >> chris christie, governor of new jersey of course, martha mccowan is from new jersey. >> there is a lot of enthusiasm in the crowd for the chris christie speech. i urge us to look at it in two contexts. the first to remember the road chris christie took to this moment tonight to take the stage. unlikely elected governor in the state of new jersey and he pointed that out at the top of it. we have to remind ourselves of how much he was urged to run for this office. prakly cali by many begged to run for office and told he was unpatriotic at one point for not taking on this task. he felt he was not ready. w

chris christie is chris christie. that's what you get. the genuine article. he is colorful, funny.hat we know, some love, some hate. i also think there's going to be an adequate recognition, acknowledgment of what's happening in the gulf. we've got to tell the people in the gulf they are in our thoughts and prayers and that is important and a priority for us as well. >> ann romney. her speech is important because her job is to paint her husband as he is, not how democrats have painted him. what does she have to say to do that? >> i think she's got to tell us about mitt romney, the man. mitt romney, the husband. mitt romney, the father. the son. the mitt romney she loves and she fell in love with. the mitt romney that will be capable of leading, showing empathy. ann romney can relate very easily to people. she is a very likable character. a great asset to mitt romney. today, she sets the stage for the american people to get to know mitt romney better. that is a must for mitt romney. for the american people to feel they know him better. >> it seems that her job is to make him more in

they loved chris christie, who similar sentiment.e got the message to voters that it is ok if they are not warm and fuzzy about mitt .omney reporting live from tampa. >> in the meantime, president will be hitting up the battle grounds. charlotte and, virginia. in other news, and 8-year-old recovering after he was hit and dragged by and ask you the. -- by an suv. the driver tried, but could not avoid him. was wearing a helmet and that saved his life. police hope this video will open some leads in a brutal a man in a market. today, members of the community raise theirr to about this crime and neighborhood. autria godfrey is live with more. >> this neighborhood in washington ranks the district when it a total robbery. releasedice thatillance video showing they believe robbery was the behind the attack, and dozens and out to discuss a disturbing trend. roomeople packed the showing up for their own support for thomas maslin. >> i feel so badly for his wife and little boy. totally unnecessary. the beating and robbery of 29-year-old has sha