george stephanopoulos standing by. first, let's get to our abc senior political correspondent, jon karl, with the romney campaign in norfolk, virginia. jon, good morning to you. i understand you're coming to us on the phone because of the fast-moving developments. they're moving through the venue? >> reporter: that's right. i'm here outside the "uss wisconsin." i can see the massive ship right before me. we're waiting to go through secret service security. we will see this morning mitt romney announce his running mate. and i just spoke to one of his top campaign officials, who confirms to me that, indeed, it is paul ryan. i have to tell you, david, this is a bold choice. this is a big choice. it is also a risky choice. mitt romney has decided to go with somebody who, on one hand, is just 42 years old. has spent his professional career in congress, all of it. first, as a staffer. and now, as a member of congress, and a budget chairman. but he's also somebody who has become a hero to conservatives because more than any o

george stephanopoulos standing by. first, our senior political correspondent, jon karl, with the romney campaign in norfolk. jon, you and i were putting the clues together all through the night. secrecy involved in the picks. this morning, you're in front of the "uss wisconsin." >> reporter: no doubt. it's going to happen right behind us. that's the "uss wisconsin." paul ryan from wisconsin. the ultimate cheesehead, he might himself say. this is a big pick. this is a bold pick. it is a risky pick. paul ryan, more than any republican in congress, more than any prominent republican in the entire country, has put the question of getting the country's fiscal situation, its budget crisis, its economic crisis, front and center. he has the most specific plan. he has the most detailed plan. it is the ryan budget. it is something he has been pushing for several years. and until very recently, most republicans weren't even onboard, because of the thing bianna mentioned. the fact he would change medicare. he said to get the budge

it took us half an hour or before realized it was george stephanopoulos. george stephanopoulos have gotten on the subway and worked his way down toward the world trade center and then walked down near ground zero and had struck up some sort of a quaint ship with a young woman, and talking her into letting him use her computer. so he was down there desperately trying to report in what he was saying and what he was doing but it took us a half hour or more to realize it was george stephanopoulos. i also experienced fairly early on some of the pressures from the white house. because it was, of course was a terrible time for everyone. we did know really what was going on. we all felt under attack. also felt vulnerable. and the white house took a fairly aggressive stance early on with our reporting to the object particularly to peter jennings that first day because peter among the coverage i thought entirely appropriately talked about the fact we hadn't seen the president. he gave the first set of brief remarks down in florida and said he was headed back to wash

the team is out enforce around the country on the candidates, the choices and george stephanopoulos is standing by with the bottom line on the next move. but david muir will start us off right now on the presidential race in florida. david. >> reporter: diane, this brand new republican ticket is off and running. mitt romney speaking here in miami just a short time ago. it did not take him long to send paul ryan out to another battleground. that this was a real game-changer. mitt romney in what many believe is the must-win state of florida tonight. celebrating his new pick. >> i am delighted to have picked my running mate, paul ryan, a great leader. >> reporter: but where was paul ryan? the same place the president was headed, iowa. >> hey, nice to meet you. >> yeah. >> reporter: a senior adviser on the romney campaign telling me today paul ryan is a good match for the president. >> i heard that president obama starting his tour today and i heard he wasn't going to come to iowa state fair. but it was not long before ryan was interrupted. this protester almost immediately bringing up pau

i know you heard jon karl and george stephanopoulos earlier. is this now much bigger than the state of wisconsin? do you agree with them? >> yeah. this has national implications. we need to be careful. the top of the ticket does dominate the race. that will be true here. by picking paul ryan, mitt romney has put himself, irr irrevibly attached him to the ryan budget. it's proposing big changes on medicare and medicaid, at the same time it is extending tax cuts for the affluent. and doing those two things together, as we saw in 1996, can go not well together. that's going to elevate the issue, which everybody has said, the obama campaign is anxious to engage. >> so much of it is based on entitlement programs now. do you think that fiscal policy, the big core of this issue going forward, the platform for the romney and ryan ticket, is that going to be enough momentum to win over more of the national vote? >> it's interesting. i think the biggest applause for ryan was on the broad ideological statement. but the sliver of voters are nonideological.

we'll get to george stephanopoulos in just a moment. jon karl, the details that you pieced together about how this was such a well-kept secret are incredible. >> reporter: it looked like mission impossible. with paul ryan onboard the romney campaign now blooefgs that this is a whole news race. >> the next president of the united states! >> the next president of the united states -- >> the next president of the united states -- mitt romney. >> reporter: with a running mate, a burst of energy. >> november 6th, we take our country back. >> campaigning across virginia, romney touted his big ideas. >> we're going to talk about issues and a vision for america and not drag down in the dirt like you're seeing from the obama campaign. >> the message this is team with serious ideas for serious times. >> we won't duck the tough issues. we will lead. >> reporter: not just ideas. like almost all of vp candidates ryan took right to the role of attack dog. >> under president obama, unemployment has gone up. household incomes have gone down and for the

back to rebuild only to get the oil spill in 2010, back then, he voiced his frustration to george stephanopoulos. >> shut it down, shut it down. >> reporter: most of their neighbors have headed to higher ground but the vegases are determined to stay. >> if it was katrina, i'd be the first one out, but this one here, i'll be back to work. >> reporter: isaac has already cut a path of destruction through the caribbean. this time-lapsed animation shows the storm spinning and churning over the past week in its path to the u.s. in haiti, at least 19 deaths have been attributed to the storm, flooding and mud slides there now the main concern. there seems to be little worry when isaac rolled ashore on sunday in the florida keys. >> why are you guys out here? >> reporter: like most around here, theyade it a reason to celebrate. but if the starbucks in new orleans today, where they have a permanent reminder of the flooding seven years ago, they don't laugh at these things anymore. >> the whole feel in the city is a little different when you have something like katrina happen. >> yeah, we used to have hurr

let's check in with george stephanopoulos, co-host of "good morning america." and host of "this week." longest te esest title in telev. there's a story, lead story in the "new york times" today says, quotes some democrats being worried that the obama campaign spent so much money early on, they're in this desperate scramble now to catch up with team romney. is it real? >> it is real. it's a real gamble. they made a firm decision to spend early and a lot. $400 million already. they have spent. what they're doing is investing in social media and building up their ground game. they're convinced that this election is going to be determined by getting out your most enthusiastic voters at the end. that's what they invested in. but, going into these final three months, they're going to have less money left for mitt romney to spend on television. >> that's why the president is turning his birthday into a fund-raiser. >>> while the polls are tight nationally, we're seeing this interesting new poll from key battleground states that shows mr. obama with a pretty big lead,

george stephanopoulos has the morning off. after mitt romney's selection of paul ryan as his running mate last weekend there was a brief moment where it looked like this tone of this tough campaign might be elevated with a complete focus on critical issues such as fixing the nation's finance, that lasted about a day or two. let's begin right now joining us is stephanie cutter and kevin madden. thank you so much for joining us. >> kevin, let me start with you, the race didn't let up this weekend. here's president obama in battle ground state new hampshire. >> his new running mate congressman ryan, he put forward -- he put forward a plan that would let governor romney pay less than 1% in taxes each year. now, and here's the kicker. he expects you to pick up the tab. >> now, kevin, i know that governor romney doesn't support reducing his 13.5 percent% tax rate to less than 1%. on the face, that statement is correct. eliminating all capital gains taxes which would mean less than a 1% tax rate for governor romney, right? >> no. gov

(laughter) now, on sunday george stephanopoulos put the question to v.p.ourth runner-up and g.o.p. pinata tim pawlenty. >> this ticket is now lacking in national security, experience, no vulnerabilities there? >> governor romney has traveled extensively internationally and understands these issues very well. my goodness, he spent his entire career in global business arrangements, transactions, traveling and understanding different countries, cultures, geography and the like. >> stephen: that's right. america's enemies have nothing on this seasoned business traveler. (laughter) mitt romney may not have served in the military but he is a card-carrying member of the admiral's club. (laughter) when iran destabilizes the middle east by threatening to nuke izmit will step in and demand to speak to the concierge! (laughter) maybe get some more pillows or fresh towels. and these arab world uprisings? let me tell you folks, mitt knows all about uprisings. when coach passengers try to force their way into first t first class bathroom it's chaos. (applause) this... t

robin roberts, george stephanopoulos. sam champion, lara spencer and josh elliott.nks. >> let's go eat. >>> coming up, roger clemens, says he has something to prove. hey, i love your cereal there -- it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way, right? lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one. 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. >>> roger clemens, walking out with the yankees this 2003. one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history. clemens acquitted of lying to congress of using performance enhancing drugs. and now, at the age of 50, returning to the game pitching to the houston minor league team. and roger klemmens in a prime time exclusive. roger, how are you? >> how you doing, piers? good here. >> i'm 4

turning to george stephanopoulos. george, what are you hearing?> to pick up on what he said, there's a lot of talk about clint eastwood being the surprise. mitt romney has to be the surprise tonight. he has to come out tonight and show people, as jon was saying, a side of himself that they haven't seen before, but that he doesn't want to let them in on. he's got to write something into that speech that is hard for him to say, to go out and do it anyway, tell the hard truth about himself. >> so it will be surprising enough that they think he went far? >> so he can capture the imagination of the public. >> we'll be right here with the entire abc news political team. at the moment governor mitt romney takes the stage at 10:00 p.m. eastern time. sure want you with us tonight. >> and still ahead right here on "world news," our friend, robin roberts, saying goodbye just for now. the surprising thing she says will happen on the road ahead to her transplant. you know why i sell tools? tools are uncomplicated. nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch ho

george stephanopoulos, thank you. >>> george has a big show this morning. a face-off between demcratic national committee chair, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. and republican national committee reines priebus. that's coming up on this "this week." >>> time now for another look at the weather. we go back to ginger. >>> one of my favorite chicago events is lollapalooza. you get almost 100,000 people enjoying, well, not the weather but bands. then this happened, very scary scene. they evacuated all of the people in time before the storms rolled through. they got a lot of rain that they needed in chicago. that type of energy and storm action is going to move east today. along that cold front, places like buffalo, new york, charleston there, memphis, all included in this severe weather threat. i'm going to leave you with some cooler weather. that's the big picture. let's get a check now a litt >> por >> portland, oregon, yesterday, record high 102. wait until you see the numbers coming up in the pacific northwest. >> even higher than that? oh, wow. >> j

on sunday, george stephanopoulos put the question to vp fourth runner up and gop pi nata tim pawlentyhis ticket is lacking in experience. >> governor romney traveled extensively and understands these issues well. he spent his career in global transactions and understanding different cultures and geography and the right. >> that's right. america's enemies have nothing on this seasoned business traveler. mitt romney may not have served in the military, but he is a card-carrying member of the admiral's club. when iran detablizes the mideast by threatening to nuke israel, newt will demand to speak to the concierge. bringing in more pillows and fresh towels. these arab world up risings, let me tell you, mitt knows about up risings. when they try to force their way into the first class bathroom, it is chaos. >> you pull the curtain and you can't use the first class bathroom. your texts and e-mails are next. [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at reliev

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diane sawyer and george stephanopoulos will anchor our coverage. it kicks off at 10:00 p.m. eastern time. >>> back to isaac, millions of people are keeping a close eye on the storm. so we turn to accuweather for the latest. >> jim dickey joins us with the late latest. >> isaac looks to strengthen, moving into favorable conditions, warm water, 86 to 90 degrees, the water temperature. it will bring rain the remainder of the day. strong gusts, as well. the storm will continue the strengthen, like lly becoming a category 2. >>> as isaac barrels ahead, people in haiti are struggling to clean up. at least two children were among the eight people killed across the poverty-stricken nation. mo than 14,000 haitians have been forced from their homes. >>> in japan, the flooding rains of a typhoon have hit the island of okinawa. many offices and schools werer closed because of blackouts. about 25,000 troops are stationed on that island. >>> two american troops were killed in afghanistan this morning, victims of so-called insider attacks. the troops got out after a road side bom was disco

i mean, look, the list of reporters, you know, george stephanopoulos, andrea mitchell, on and on forevert it began in the miami herald within hours of ryan being selected the headline was, ryan could be a drag on romney in florida, that's all you need to know how the mainstream media thinks we can put news stories out there, and get away with it. >> and then there's this guy, tour a, he likes to go by one name. tory on nbc, expert on race there, apparently and co-host of the cycle and accuses mitt romney of race bait, using a word at the top of the show, not going to repeat it here. how does he get away with that? >> i don't know. and the thing that always bothers me about these things is that his examples of how mitt romney is allegedly this terribly racist person who is trying to-- i'm not going to use the word, but portray black people in a certain way, are kind of standard campaign attacks. there's nothing in them that does not happen in every campaign and yet, suddenly, when mitt romney's doing it to an african-american, it's racist. >> well, there's a redefinition of the word, of c

and george stephanopoulos asked the chairs of both parties about it on "this week". >> as far as harry reid is concerned, listen, you might want to go down that road. i'm going to respond to a dirty liar who hasn't filed a sing the page of tax returns himself, complains about people with moneyny but lives in the ritz-carlton here down the street. if that is on the agenda, i'm not going to go there. this is a made-up issue. >> you said you are not going to respond but you call him a dirty liar. you think he is a dirty liar? >> i just said it. >> was it dirty? here is how the democrats responded. >> is it opponent for the demic leader of the senate to make a charge like that with no more evidence than an ano, ma'am mouse source? >> i don't know who harry'd's source is -- -- >> that's the point. >> i know that mitt romney can clear it up in ten seconds. but releasing the 23 years of tax returns that he gave to john mccain when he was vetted for vice president. or 12 years of tarks returns. >> george with the tough questions for both sides this morning. i want to bring in rick klein tonigh

. >> abc's george stephanopoulos has a look back at a truly amazing career. >> reporter: from "the sting'sme, to this romantic theme from "ice castles." ♪ nobody does it half as good as you ♪ >> reporter: to the pop classic from james bond, "the spy who loved me," marvin hamlisch created the score of our lives. he was a man of superlatives. just 7 years old when he went to juilliard. one of only a handful of composers who won a grammy, a tony and a an oscar. he did that seven times. two by barbra streisand. ♪ you made bebeautiful in the end ♪ >> reporter: he was famous for his collaborations with everyone from streisand to liza mill nelly. and even abc news. hamlisch wrote the first theme for a show called "good morning america" ♪ one, singular sensation >> reporter: but it was his iconic score for "a chorus line," that won him the pulitzer prize and secured a place in the heart of america's song book. >> i love theater. i love it. love it. there's something magical about being in the theater. and there's something more magical about hearing applause. it's just wonderful. i can't possibly

. >> reporter: george stephanopoulos is a broadcast news behemoth. st night's show he was show. >> thank you, george -- [ ringing ] >> reporter: he was a cell phone sinner. >> the person you are speaking to should have your full attention. so, no cell phones. >> reporter: don't worry george we've all been there. even this man of god -- >> oh, my goodness, i scold people for that all the time. >> reporter: and a fancy ringtones will compound your pain. you, our viewers sent us you worst. tammy greenough's phone went off in church. ♪ baby baby baby tracie clarke's went off at her cousin's funeral. the lady beside her yelled, "praise the lord!" >> and there's another guy i'm sorry who i'm not going to name was in a bathroom stall when his phone rang. [ ringing ] >> his ringtone was "dust in the wind." >> reporter: okay, if your cell phone does ring you can play cute. play cute like darren criss from glee. >> you can roll with like giuliani. >> this is my wife calling. hello dear. >> just turn it off and keep focused. by doing all of this you're just draw