they had a special preview coming from someone very close to him, the middle of his five sons, josh romney. romney told the group that, first and foremost, his father wants to inspire confidence that he knows exactly what to do to turn around the economy. he says he will also criticize president obama tonight for undermining the american dreams. he also says his fatr has been very eager for this opportunity. >> this is a big night for him. he's excited about the opportunity to allow the american people to see what he stands for, what he believes, in an unfiltered way. so many other chances people have had to see them is either filtered by the media or negative campaigning, so this is a chance to introduce himself in a way that he controls. >> reporter: interesting to talk to him, and we'll have more from josh romney on "news4 at 6." you may not have been ability to see that, but some of the delegates have special preparations tonight for themselves, in the way they dress. i can't really describe it, so we'll just show it to you. she's front and center, with the michigan delegation, so judy

today i talked to josh romney, the middle son about what we can expect tonight. in just hours his father would give the most important speech of his life, so josh romney dropped by the virginia delegation to give them a preview and make a connection. >> if you elect my dad next november, it will continue to be the shining city on the hill. >> reporter: he said he hadn't read his dad's speech, but knows what he wants his dad to accomplish. >> i think he really wants to allow people to understand he ''s the guy to get the making sure we don't continue in this economic recession. delegates and leaders have high expectations for the man at the top of the ticket t delegate david says he. >> if he connects with people on a personal level tonight, his policy doesn't have to be set tonight. we all know what his's going to do. >> but romney supporters reject the notion that their presidential candidate need to somehow close the likability gap. >> he's a business guy. he's had success in the private and public sector. he needs to lay out his plan, and these are very differ

. >> that was josh romney along with the rest of the romney boys.eaking fondly about their mom with "today" show's matt lauer. she will talk about her candidate husband in human terms. meghan mccain will join us to talk about that. she lived through this as her father was the republican nominee for the president. now, we're going to shift gears and talk about what is going on with hurricane isaac and bring you up to date on the storm as many continue to watch what is going on in the gulf. if we can give you a briefing on what we know about the storm. we have been told it is a slow mover this morning. the update came out at the top of the hour. it still remains at a tropical storm. winds are reaching up to 80 miles per hour. >> i'm going to a motel. 100-mile-an-hour winds. i have been in that before. i don't like it. >> here we go again. wonder if i will lose my home again and have to start over. >> sad for so many people. we want to go to janet shamblian. she joins us in mississippi. >> reporter: 30 minutes ago, it was raining. now we have sun. we k

it is really overwhelming. >> utah delegate. >> that's right. >> josh romney.elegation. we think that's where he is headed in a few moments. >> he lives in salt lake. go to dana. she's on the floor. dana, getting reaction from some ron paul supporters in pennsylvania? >> reporter: that's right. we were discussing earlier there were ron paul delegates here and put the vote in for ron paul but wasn't announced from the floor. i have two from the state of pennsylvania, tom broza. what do you think happened. >> i wanted to see the chairman keep it fair. i just wanted to see the yea and nay on the rolls. i knew it would be close. i wanted to record the numbers and wanted the chair to announce it. he didn't. i am disappointed in that. but that's the way the cards fell. >> what about you? i talked to you earlier, you're not happy. >> i think if the state chairmen from across the nation were willing to announce the votes, chairman of the national convention should have announced them as well out of fairness. >> we should tell the viewers, he knew beforehand his name wo

romney's organizations were largely set up as paz-through entities. so, joshthe facts don't support the textbook theory that you were laying out and fundamentally we need to keep in mind this notion that the greater your gain, the higher your burden. that's 25 2,500 years old. it's the most conservative principle in public finance. paul ryan shouldn't be paying a higher effective tax rate than mitt romney who makes in a week. >> josh, response to you. >> these wrong on both counts. >> ouch. >> the income tax is split between them. economists have done various studies if you talk with experts. a lot of people take the view that it falls prince employ on capitals so there is a fraction that falls on labor but there's a portion of that tax burden born by the investor, by mitt romney's side. >> there's a second part, josh, you're missing. the second part you're missing. that is the tax code in the u.s. allows companies to earn profits in the u.s. and siphon them out of the country to tax havens. that's why corporations are sitting on over $5 trillion of cash in 20

romney's tax reform. so as a result, people want to know what kinds of actual tangible things you could do. and i kind of disagree with josh because i think that mitt romney would have a line of attack against the president who made some big promises about what investments in alternative energy would do. how many jobs that would create. the president really and the administration hasn't come anywhere close to reaching those goals and mitt romney could attack him on that line saying you really haven't done enough in terms of alternative energy and he would have an open door to push on with the president. instead by taking the position he has, he asked the president to take the offensive and play the shining night as he did in colorado today. he gave up that issue. >> and i would say -- josh, i'll let you respond, but there's some history here, of course. which is that, you know, mitt romney, shocker surprise, as governor of massachusetts was quite supportive of a bunch of different mechanisms and remains -- the state of massachusetts remains to this day probably one of the most supportive. josh? >> sure. i would favor the e

. >>> and finally today, the romney boys, tagg, matt, josh, ben and craig came into the convention hallk to me. first, they expressed concern for everyone in the storm watch tonight. but then, we turned to the subject of their dad, their mom and what is, after all, the highs and lows of running for president about to be a dreamed achieved. >> none of us expected to be here, i think this is a big -- it will be a big moment for us to watch our dad go up there and accept the nomination. >> despite all the stuff, the hoopla, he's still dad to us. >> a lot of the nerves worked their way out early in the campaign. now, we're just anxious and excited. >> reporter: this moment, more than six years after their father first began their quest for the presidency. >> i want to introduce my family, my oldest, tagg, father of four. >> reporter: five sons in all, four in business like their dad. one, ben, a doctor. all are married and 15 grandchildren. >> we have a photo here of the family gathering of the romneys. absolutely incredible. you can tell when you guys get together, there's a global khaki s

. >> that's right, i'm joined by josh romney, 37-year-old son of the gop nominee. we were talking a few moments ago before we got started that you've been out on the campaign trail. you've been to events. you've seen this before. but this night is different. why? >> you spend a long time on the campaign trail and you don't think about these moments till they're here. and so for me i haven't really given this moment much thought but now, you know, looking at this stadium filling up, the balloons up there, this is a neat moment for me and for my dad and we're really happy to be here. >> and, bob, if we can point up to the ceiling right now, there are roughly 100 to 120,000 balloons. josh, we did check that number out, it has been confirmed by officials. all of those balloons will drop down on top of us if i understand correctly when mitt romney says "god bless america," that's when those balloons will come down. are you pinching yourself, is this surreal? >> it is, it's hard to really take it in and, you know, i remember being here four years ago and it was much more

seniors and strengthenthe plan r the next generation. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. >> we are back witith josh boak of "the fiscal timeses," and kate dersen brower from bloomberg. let's talk about this campaign. there have been a lot of distractions from the issues. is this a referendum on obama? is this a competing visionsns for a way ahead? whwhat becomes the ctral issue now that paul an has bee married to the republican campaign? >> a couple things. a lot of this is going to be conditioned-based. certainly all of this can be framed along those issues of thee paul rn budget. perhaps just as important as all of this is the question of how you g get voters to the polls. and a lott of this is goining to be an aggressive ground game to drive turnonout. ultimatetely it is the leg workrk that y you are not seeing below the surface about getting people toto the p polls which will decide who wins this. >> i went to a few swing states and the talked to voters and it is a amazing to see the number of people who are unenthusiastic.c. it is really about getting those people enenergized. there is only ab

israel is itching for a fight, and mitt romney only went over there and told them what they wanted to hear. he cannot afford a flight with iran right now. host: josh rogin? guest: sherer. mitt romney's trip to israel was notable for the fact that he promised not to put any space between the u.s.-israeli position. he defended the right of israel to strike iraq unilaterally without american permission or notification. that has serious implications for our national security because it would most likely result in a counter attack that would roll in the region, including hundreds of thousands of u.s. forces in the region. that is the consensus position of the gop foreign policy establishment. mitt romney is doing this also because he is close interests financially with big donors who led the cavies positions. again, it is not clear -- who advocate to these positions. again, it is not clear he would implement those policies. once you are president, you have a responsibility candidates do not have. as president, he would not want to be in a war with iran. it is a downside risk no matter how you look at it, but it makes sense for him to appear like we are

romney. it is about 20 minutes. >> now on your screen is josh rogin.hank you for being back on the "washington journal." we want to talk about foreign policy and a campaign 2012. how could use a form policy is as a campaign issue? guest: the conventional wisdom is for a policy does not decide elections. people rarely go into the voting booth and think to themselves but did mitt romney say about syria right before they pull the lever? it is rare that a candidate will win an election on foreign- policy. it is possible they can lose an election on foreign policy. if you want to be president, you also want to be commander in chief of the armed forces. the principal and the mentor of the farm policy. we call that the commander in chief test. americans want to know that a person in that chair will be able to manage the military, the complex set of relationships that the u.s. has around the world and do all the things on the international stage that represents american national security and economic interests. in the primaries, most republicans handed it had

bloomberg's "businessweek's" josh green speculates that mitt romney likely did not pay any taxes in 2009 suffering investment losses in the financial meltdown. politico asked the romney campaign on july 18th if there was any year in which romney paid zero dollars in taxes. romney press secretary andrea saul then replied, not true. team obama released this ad today. >> was there ever any year when you paid lower than the 13.9%? >> well, i haven't calculated that. i'm happy to go back and look. >> abc news reached out to the campaign today after romney's answer. a spokesperson would only reiterate, mitt romney has paid his taxes in full compliance with u.s. law. >> joining me now is david cay johnst johnstont johnston, pulitzer prize-winning writer for reuters. david, it is not inconceivable to me that he would not know the yes-or-no answer to, is there ever a year you paid no taxes? the returns get presented to him and a couple things get pointed out. if they're really in a big hurry, they point out, here's where you sign and here's how much you owe. when it's zero, the accountants probab

romney. he's their dad. we're joined by his sons, matt, ben, craig, josh and tag. o awful -- all of you. >> good morning. >> steve: has the weather impacted in how has it impact what had is going on here for the romney family? >> for the family? it means we probably won't be taking our kids to the pool total today. but home run that, things are on track. the convention has been postponed by a day. they'll open it with a gavel and close it right after and most people speak monday will be pushed through the rest of the week. things haven't changed a lot. >> steve: as i look at the five boys, i see a little of your dad and your mother in all of you. which one of you has the mitt romney hair? >> we think it's craig for sure. >> steve: maybe not. chris wallace sat down and did a great interview with your mom examine dad up in new hampshire over the weekend and another portion of it after that. you have at your house something called the chore wheel. who would like to explain what the chore wheel is examine -- and how it works. >> basically, the chore wheel has got our fo

romney's tax files. >> that's right. deputy spokesman josh earnest was filling in for jay carney and he jumped on this because the bottom line is both inside the white house and the obama campaign in chicago, they think mitt romney is vulnerable on this issue because they've been hammering him for weeks now, suggesting perhaps he's not being transparent enough, that perhaps he's hiding something about what tax rate he paid or about some sort of offshore accounts. that's why earnest said it's time for him to turn these over. take a listen. >> the principle of transparency that governor romney has been asked by my colleagues in chicago to live up to is not one that is above and beyond what his predecessors have done. >> although earnest went on to say that republican senator john mccain, the nominee in 2008, he suggested he handed out many years of returns going back to his days before. he gave out two years of return which is what romney promised as well. >> the romney camp is trying to push past all this and talk about other issues, right? >>

josh? good morning to you. governor romneylearly seemed ready to answer that question, but not without arguing that, with 23 million americans out of work, quote, the 23 the fascination with the taxes i paid, i find to be very small-minded. but democrats remain firm this morning, after romney revealed his tax rate. the obama campaign saying, prove it. this morning, mitt romney revealing the most yet about the rate he paid on his income taxes, after relentless calls from the obama campaign to release more than the two years of tax returns romney has promised. >> over the past ten years, i never paid less than 13%. i think the most recent year is 13.6% or something like that. >> reporter: romney went back and checked after our sitdown with him two weeks ago. at the time, we asked him about the tax rate he paid and the one completed tax return he has released. was there ever a year you paid lower than the 13.9%. >> i haven't calculated that. i'm happy to go back and look. but my view is, i have paid all the taxes required by law.

. >>> i'm live at the cnn grill with the romney five, as i've dubbed them. joshlk taxation. i know i have been chomping at the bit to get to this. a lot of people say come on, the old man should release more of his tax records. just clear up once and for all how much tax he's paid. >> he's paid his taxes and this is a gimmick by the obama campaign to take the message off the economy and on his taxes. at this end of the day, we have $16 trillion of debt and 23 million americans out of work and obama talks about my dad's personal taxes. these are not things that matter. in the grand scheme of things. they want to use it as a gimmick to hit him over the next few weeks to focus on my dad's taxes. really the big issue is the economy. it's faltering and sputtering along. obama had 3 1/2 years and he hasn't done it. that's the real issue. >> matt, how hard is it to be the son of a man that think you are very, very rich people. how hard is that when you get people attacking him for his success and wealth. >> as tagg pointed out, this is a game of politics. we are prepare

romney's tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters." he signs off with "see new denver." principal deputy white house spokesman josh asked to defend this on going line of attack. >> the fact is governor romney has it in his capacity to put all the dwoez rest before the e -- all the questions to rest before the end of the day. i do think the voters have an expectation about trans paparen that is important. >> here you have the white house talking about tra talking about transparency. they say you won't find a poll out stl that shows americans care more about this than they do about jobs and the overall economy. >> dan, thank you very much. cnn newsroom continues with fred right now. >> good to see you. >> have a great day. >> see you back here bright and early in the morning. >>> much of america heard the name paul ryan for the first time just one week ago today. almost as quickly as people learned his name, they learned about his numbers. that is the ryan budget plan and how it aims to privatise medicare, for example. well now for his first time since he became mitt romney's vice-presidential pick, ryan is inor

romney campaign. >> yeah. and the one, by the way, is josh. that's their one retweet of the obama campaign.not retweeting. they are saying, they are not listening to what people are saying to them. if they were, they would be sending out that same exact message. instead, they are only doing their own messages. >> pugh also did this. michelle obama's father's day message to her husband, viewed more than -- this is it right here. more than 200,000 times in the two weeks analyzed by pugh. what kind of video like this that we're watching here do? >> well, videos like that, they are emotional. they let you get to know the candidate in a different way. we all want to know who these men are and that's whether a video like that does and that's why a video like that gets so many views. >> the amazing thing about social media is this whole idea of one to one. who is taking advantage of this one to one? i can talk to a voter. i can put them in nice, neat segments and reach out to them? >> well, if you go to their websites -- and both candidates do this. everything in all of their social media directs

josh. five years, seven months, and 13 days after mitt romney first began running for president, the candidate has realized he's actually running for president. and that being the president of the united states would actually mean being the president of the united states. at a fund-raiser last night in north carolina, romney said, "i was at a coal mine yesterday. a group of miners, about 2,000 people gathered and one with tears in his eyes. i mean, really emotional. he said, i need you to save my job and help my family. i need you to save my job. and it hit me how big the responsibility is." coinciding with his new comprehension, team romney is embarking on a new strategy. politico writes, "romney spent nearly a year talking about how obama is a nice guy who just doesn't understand how the economy works because he has no private sector experience. but as a campaign grew more intense and the attacks more personal, romney dropped the idea that he has any admiration for obama and in its place is a description of obama as the purveyor of a campaign not worthy of the office." the retooled angry mit

josh brown. our top story. reservations over ryan. hedge fund ledge end john taylor on why mitt romney's pick is bad for your money. speaking out on wall street, washington and, of course, the debt crisis in europe. great to have you back. thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> how does paul ryan hurt mitt romney's chances? >> well, i think that paul ryan makes this a -- makes this is a vote entirely on his tax and spending package. and i think that that's very difficult, because you're going to lose all the old guys. i mean, i'm an old guy, and my friends are saying, gee whiz, i like what i've got. and you can argue that oh, it's not going to change so much. but they're scared and you're going to lose florida. >> because of his stance on medicare. >> yeah. exactly. >> so, what, we can't handle the straight talk is too straight for some? >> right. you do this -- you know, sort of on the sly. you don't do this as a public opinion poll. this is a very, very public poll, and, boy, there's going to be -- a good argument. it's going to be fun to listen to. but they're not going to win. >> because he's going to cost mitt

josh. >>> the connection between the olympics and presidential politics. it is ann romney'sse, you see right there, competed this morning. probably the end of the line for that horse. does that clear the way for mitt romney to make his v.p. pick just a little bit earliy erearl? one of the many tea leaves being read right now, with "your voice, your vote," and abc's jon karl. there's other clues coming out. the speaking slots for the republican convention. >> reporter: yes. the republicans have been announcing so-called headliner speakers for their convention. we've learned of nikki haley, condoleezza rice, mike huckabee, susanna martinez, all people at one time or another, you've seen on the list of presidential candidates. i've been told that anybody announced as a headliner speaker would be named to be vice president. so, you can probably cross all of those names off the list. if you're looking for more tea leaves, watch a big bus tour that mitt romney's about to launch on saturday. you will see potential running mates, again, on there. you're going to see bob mcdonald of

romney. i'm sure you dudes are excited about my running mate, mr. shu from glee. i'm just joshinga great president -- vice president i mean. he will make a great vice president. i, mitt romney will make a great vice president -- president. time to put an end to the obama vice presidency -- obama presidency. time to put a new president in charge, president ryan. romney. ♪ ♪ i'm a super freak super freak the good kind of super freak ♪ you can also check me out on pinterest. i just pinned a new style, men's pleated khakis from -- i feel the need, the need for pleats. now it's time for wtf. well that's funky. ♪ guess who just discovered automatic tuning? me. [ auto tuned voice ] ♪ my name is mitt romney i am running for president of the united states of the future ♪ well that's funky. have you guys seen the new bruno molly loafers? $425, bro. cheap! and now let's take a look at some tweets on the twitter. sign in, username, and password, ann, what is my password? what the hell is captcha? hudurfa z85 rigulab. what kind of devil writing is this? okay. now it's time for romney's rant co

that act right button, you can get a direct connection, 100% of your money goes to mitt romney or to george allen or josh mandel or denny' burg in montana. there are great candidates everywhere, and get involved. >> hi, love your show, listen to your show, i'm going to buy your book. >> thank you. >> and i'm going to read it while i'm supporting my alum, usc trojans. >> oh, i'm sorry to hear that. [laughter] >> several weeks ago monica crowley said there was no love lost between president clinton and president obama. today i think it came out that the democratic convention was going to have president clinton as a prime time speaker. is president clinton, do you think, going to come to the rescue, or try? >> i do think one of the things that i would not rule out is that secretary of state clinton become vice presidential nominee clinton. i do not see how a desperate president obama doesn't do anything he can to win, and it would be a much greater improvement over haven't biden who, if i had my way, we'd give a cable channel 24/7 to -- [laughter] we'd let him talk endlessly. but i do think bill clinton wil

romney sons. i'm now going to try and pass a test i failed a moment ago. ben, craig, tag, josh got it. >> very good. >> can you do it without the earpiece in? >> no one was giving me any information. chaps, we're at a crucial stage of the campaign. your father is within breathing distance of the white house, big pressure. how are you guys coping as his sons with all the negativity that begins to pour down on what is your dad's head? what do you think? >> you don't worry about the negativity. i comes with the territory. you knew it was coming before we got in. you just roll with it and keep moving and try to get your own message out there, which is a positive vision for what my dad believes america can get back to, try to get those 23 million people out of work back to work. he and paul ryan will do everything they can to break through out negative stuff out there and deliver that message to the american people. >> when you see an attack ad like the obama super pac ad that accused your father of being responsible for a woman's death, what do you really feel? >> some of these go

. >>> isaac is threatening to put a damper on mitt romney's big moment at the rnc convention this week in tampa. joshk joining us, live from washington. you wrote a very interesting article today about some of the first-time gop delegates of swing states and interested that they try to have a unified message but it's not working that well. they have big differences. >> that's exactly right. this is the first convention for the republicans since the emergence of the tea party and within that movement what you see, it is a desire to institutionalize a smaller government. whether that be through restricting entitlement programs or a balanced budget amendment to limit tax increases or for that matter a return to the gold standard. >> that's a nod to ron paul, is it not? >> not just a nod to ron paul. newt gingrich committed to the idea of a commission earlier in the campaign and pushed by the american principle project in the primaries so this is -- this is part of a much larger movement that we're seeing within the gop and really the essence of the gold standard thinking about it is limiting the governm