the latest poll out of north carolina now shows the north carolina race to be tied 46-46. here's the other number you need to know about north carolina right now. it is that one. 30,000. that's the number of voters who are on the north carolina voting rolls that a self-appointed, supposedly nonpartisan tea party outfit has announced should be stripped from the rolls. 30,000 people need to be dropped off the north carolina voting rolls because the tea party group determined the 30,000 voters are all dead people. and the group is, therefore, challenging those voter registrations now in north carolina with the election less than 50 days away. couple of weeks ago this group calling itself the voter integrity project in north carolina delivered a list of almost 30,000 names to that state's board of elections. the group's leader said that 90% of the names on the list should be taken off the rolls for sure and handed those names to the election officials. they got tons of dramatic great press when they did that. here's one local tv station in north carolina reporting because this

republicans acted in north carolina ahead of dnc. they write the president and the democrats are converging in charlotte for the three-2k5i convention but the republicans aren't ceding the spotlight. paul ryan scheduled a campaign stop in east carolina university in greenville. in the convention, the gop is going to run the rapid response operation in china with ryan's priebus heading a group that includes marco rubio. we'll watch as much of the activity we can during the week while the democrats start meeting on tuesday. seattle up next, stuart, independent, good morning. >> i would say i'm a disenfranchised republican who voted for obama. as i see it, there's something seriously wrong when the minority leader to the senate on day one announcers to the nation he's not going to work with this president. also, when you have the speaker of the house who doesn't ever defend the president when something is said with a racial ting says nothing about it. when you look at what's been legislated since the democrats, since the republicans took

is so bullish at winning north carolina?attleground states, nine in the toss-up category, why are republicans so confident in inwering north carolina even if they don't beat the president? >> i think they looked at the 2010 number, but i think we will see a much larger voter turnout because people saw what happened in 2010. that's why we've got a lot of the, the offices already opened up. a lot of canvassing going on, phone calls telling people how important it is to vote. voter turnout is the key. >> how damaging was the scandal inside the north carolina democratic party, this issue, sexual harassment and, how much did that hurt your organizing efforts here? >> that's beside the point. i think people are -- not focused on that. we are able to look ahead and move on. nobody's talking about that. >> the party is settled or is this a case where the campaign is doing it on the other side of the -- yeah. i think north carolina, the democrats are looking at getting out vote in 2012, because that's what's going to make the differe

that and more from north carolina. john: from the university of north carolina at chapel hill, a john stossel. >> not just the and on campus but it is threatened somewhere by somebody in authority. steve works for a medical equipment company but on the side you tried to block about nutrition? >> you given vice and what happened? >> was told by the state i should stop giving nutritional advice. john: they even printed with the red lines. this is why because you give the advice and may not without a license. >> wide why have to tell people to be to meats and vegetables and tell all diabetics to reduce carbohydrates? john: so you contacted the institute for justice. paul sherman you are a lawyer? >> we litigate across the country one area is the first amendment. we were excited because this raises the most important and answer questions when happens when they regulate occupation complex with free-speech? john: more and more all the time. >> it would have cost him thousands of dollars and taken years of his life for dietit

it is a struggle in north carolina. this is a state after all that passed an amendment to its state constitution against gay rights so you have a conservative state, you have 9.6% unemployment in north carolina. what's the strategy? >> well, the president, obviously the presidential race is about the long run. in this case, we are coming right out of the republican convention where there's a little bump for romney. the race is still a statistical tie but it's important for us to have a good week and i think we will. the people of charlotte have laid out the welcoming mat to us and we have an atmosphere where democrats can come together, show the unity behind president obama and joe biden to re-elect them and elect a congress to go with it. >> the republicans starting with ann romney and that was the role of a spouse, traditional role, but they had some very exciting younger speakers. they had susana martinez, the governor. tell me about the strategy to counteract their strategy of trying to appeal to women by putting a

a coention here in north carolina.are a party with a huge tept and we welcome everybody that you will see on the floor beginning tomorrow. if you walk the streets in charlotte today for the carolinafest, you've seen that over and over again with people of all races, all nationalities coming here to celebrate the feeling and the southern hospitality that's been extended to them. >> woodruff: as we said, kareem crayton, one of the things you specialize in is looking at voting rights. we know from what's been happening in the last several months of this year republicans across the country in particular moving to move on... restricting voter access. they talk about trying to limit fraud and eliminate fraud. the view from the democratic party is different. but my question is, if you take all that together, how much does that affect the democratic party's ability to do what it needs to do in the south? >> it is a serious assault on the work that democrats do to win. democrats, in order to be successful -- and in many places

and north carolina. >> they can in 20 states. [laughter] coming up can the university's solve the world's problems? no. i think it is a scam. my next guest says i am wrong. john: welcome back to the university of north carolina. college should be a marketplace of ideas but the author of the book of and gin seven ovation. >> they are good at the intersection of execution and innovation. good at taking innovation and by bringing them onto campus way can increase the impact at universities. >> who cares? >> there is not many any more. the crown jewels of $300 billion of assets of major research universities the most talented intellectual people are here and the public in general it expects more and crown jewels, that is why i say college is a scam. if you look at what taxpayers are paying it is going down very fast. >> not fast enough. >> who will take the place? >> i was a ceo quarter to quarter mentality don't allow the research to create true innovation. what have we got? >> have you ever been on the internet? >> much of the micr

and north carolina. >> they can in 20 states.ming up can the university's solve the world's problems? no. i think it is a scam. my next guest says i am my next guest says i am wrong. want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it! now we need a little bit more... a little bit more vanilla? this is great! [ male announcer ] at humana, we believe there's never been a better time to share your passions... because the results... are you having fun doing this? yeah. that's a very nice cake! [ male announcer ] well, you can't beat them. [ giggles ] ohh! you got something huh? whoa... [ male announcer ] humana understands the value of spending time together that's a lot of work getting that one in! let's go see the birdies. [ male announcer ] one on one, sharing what you know. let's do it grandpa. that's why humana agents will sit down with you, to listen and understand what's important to you. it's how we help you choose the right humana medicare plan for you. because when your medicare is taken care of, you can spend more time

that's almost a point and a half higher than the national average and it puts north carolina's unemployment tied for south carolina for 47th in the country. only california, nebraska and rhode island hosting worst unemployment numbers. let's huddle up around the water cooler where the web is calling on democrats to offer up their own celebrity speaker at this week's convention as an answer to clint eastwood's strange appearance at the rnc. the name being pushed. betty white. could betty white be the democrats clint eastwood, change.org has asked the "hot in cleveland" actress to be a speaker at the dnc. it said clint eastwood's speech game a bad name to older americans everywhere. if you want to see a real old hollywood icon get a political introduction right. the petition has 5,000 signatures and 20,000 likes on facebook. it wouldn't be the first time the two teemed up. the president wished the actress a happy 90th birthday and she told the a.p. she very much favors obama. a facebook campaign brought betty white to host "snl" in 2010. >>> president obama is calling on the harold and kumar

walter delta of north carolina. >> greetings and welcome to the great state of north carolina. a state that when the blue in 2008 and a state that will go blue again in 2012. this election is a choice between two directions, forward and back. that is the choice before this country and the state where i am proud to be our party oppose a nominee for governor. my father, who served in our states and it taught me that the right policies can left lives. he died when i was eighth, but he believed as i believe that we must fight for the middle-class. that education creates opportunity. those are my values and those are the values of president obama, too. if you share these values, go online and get involved. the vote for walter dalton and our president. together, we will move this country forward. thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome congressman butterfield of north carolina. >> we all know the road to recovery has not been easy. republicans have thrown out of every conceivable road block. this fall, we need to send the message. stop playing games with our future. when w

democrats in north carolina will kick off their 2012 convention in earnest. and this year the obama campaign says their voters are getting more excited in the build p up the president's speech thursday night rkt in which they are expecting 65,000 people to attend live. day one of the convention, a big night for the party. debb eber b eber debbie wassermz will gavel it in. 7:00, delegates will see a video message from former president jimmy carter. after 10:00, we'll hear from key note speaker and rising democratic star 37-year-old san antonio mayor hualien castro, the first latino to ever deliver that address. and then all eyes on the first lady. michelle obama will deliver what's expected to be a strong defense of her husband. the first lady sexpected to be character witness describing the tough decisions the president has had to make. >> he failed peopilled people w this hundred running for president, make grandiose statements and promises which are just not true. >> meanwhile the president's other chief defender vice president joe biden is jumping right in

now only in north carolina among all these polls, only in north carolina does mitt romney come out on top in the "real clear politics" average. 46.5%. about a point and a third better than the president's 45.3. let's talk about it now with david drucker. he is associate politics editor at "roll call". the folks at gallup were taking a look at the post, unqost, post-convention bounce for mitt romney and not finding any. does that matter? do you agree with their assessment? >> well, gallup is professional. they do a good job. i will not argue with gallup. you always want a bounce coming out of the convention if you get it. the reason we call it a bounce because it usually comes back down-to-earth a little bit. to look at mitt romney's convention we have to ask did he accomplish the goals he set out to accomplish? did he get done what he needed to get done. from the perspective of making sure people know more about who he is as a person to combat the obama administration's, i should say the obama's campaign's narrative of him as an evil businessman who wants to take all of your money and

, north carolina. >> good morning and welcome to charlotte, north carolina. home of the 2012 democratic national convention. >> martha: this week the democrats kick off their big bash, america's newsroom, live from charlotte, starts, right now. now. ♪ captioning by, closed captioning services, inc. >> 10:00 in charlotte and president obama and mitt romney chasing each other in key battleground states and governor romney holding rallies in cincinnati and florida, yesterday, where he wants to capitalize on the momentum after his party's convention in tampa. we have moved up the road, haven't we? good morning, everybody, welcome to charlotte, north carolina. this will be our home for the next week, i'm bill hemmer, how are you doing, martha. >> martha: good, we are getting settled in, i'm martha mccallum. good morning, everybody, governor romney speaking to big crowds and tapped the president as a failed coach of a struggling team. here's how he said that: >> the president's answer to times like this is -

it's not north carolina, but it's south carolina. and welcome back to the program, both of you.tart with you on that, dick. don't you love politicians? it's like they don't care that there's videotape and that we have the tape from 24 hours earlier. are you better off than four years ago? no. twenty-four hours later, of course we are. i think we know happened in the interim, do we not? >> i think it's the silly season. megyn, it's important to understand, i think what all of them said is accurate, and that is that the country is better off now than it was four years ago. we're moving in the right direction. i think it's clear that the situation that barack obama inherited, 800,000 jobs a month lost, we've had positive job growth for the last 26 months. you know, this is the way i put it when republicans try about this. it's like i was hit by a drunk driver, we'll call him the republican party. both my legs are broken. the sur that's treating -- surgeon that's treating me, barack obama, is making tremendous strides in treating me, and the driver's chiding him for not fixing it. b

weeks from tomorrow is the actual election, and we will hear from republicans all week long in north carolina. marco rubio, and the governor of south carolina, and the governor of oklahoma, all will be dispatched to keep up the noise of overshadowing and undercutting or sharing the spotlight that democrats hope to get the majority of this week. >>shepard: with congressman ryan doing the heavy lifting what is the governor doing this week? >>carl: well, today, he was doing boating on the lake, taking labor labor day "down" with his family. this is a quiet day, but the real work starts tomorrow when they move to vermont. anything but a battleground, they are democratic. the form lt. governor of massachusetts, who was the governor's number two when he ran the state, he will act as the obama stand in, doing debate preparation on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. this is coordinated by the woman who ran the vice presidential search for mitt romney and he is protective of the governor's time so do not expect a lot of appearances the next three days. it is time for serious book learning and for rehea

now in the state of north carolina, it's 9.6%.art of the romney campaign strategy in north carolina, tapping into voter dissatisfaction with the economic recovery, re-energizing the conservative base and winning a majority of independents, like chuck. so, you hold president obama responsible for that? >> yes, i do hold him responsible. i don't feel like i would have lost my career and so many others would be struggling if they would have made different decisions and if our country was in a better state. >> reporter: president clinton will speak directly to independent voters like chuck when he addresses the convention here on wednesday. byron pitts, cbs news, charlotte. >>> and coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," a preview of the democratic convention. we'll hear from one of the speakers, massachusetts senate candidate elizabeth warren. we'll also get reaction from vice presidential candidate paul ryan. >>> plus, is organic food really better for you? we'll talk about it later on "cbs this morning." for now, tha

north carolina has not fit that region easily.s the one state where you have 12 years of at least so far, uninterrupted democratic control of the governor seat. you're not going to find another state where that's true. there is of course in this state, at least until 2010, democratic control of the state legislature. not something you can say in a bunch of other states. there is a very significant presence of racial coalition building here. we talk about barack obama putting a coalition together. that's been true in north carolina for some time for folks both black and white who compete certainly on the democratic side. case in point, in the current state legislature, there are i think about seven african-americans in the state senate, none of them represent the african-american state constituency. however, it's important because that is a trend that is likely to be changed and it is likely to be changed because of party competition. so that's going to be an important question that comes up during the course of the year. two other

waw in the state of north carolina it's 9.6%. . by how difficult these few years have been for you. i can tell that still gets to been >> yes, it's very hard to talk about because it's... i really haven't shared it with a lot of people because it's embarrassing. i never thought i would be in this situation as an american. ouldeporter: a key part of the amney campaign strategy in north carolina, tapping into voter dissatisfaction with the dinomic recovery, reenergizing the conservative base and onomicg a majority of independents like chuck. so you hold president obama responsible? >> yes, i do hold him t obamaible. i don't feel like i would have lost my career and so many others would be struggling, if they would have made different decisions and if my country was in a better state. >> reporter: president clinton sill speak directly to independent voters like chuck when he address it is convention here on wednesday. byron pitts, cbs news, charlotte. >> axelrod: well, it was no day at the beach. why many cape cod swimmers stayed on s

a pile moisture across north carolina and south carolina including uptown where you are right now. expected to start to shift to the east as we get into thursday. however, some of the lingering moisture will be trapped at surface. i will show you an inhouse computer model we have, on thursday afternoon at 2:00, the area where you are is marked, and you can see potential for shower activity. later in the afternoon, the chances diminish and by 6:00, we are looking at 30 percent or 20 percent chance of coverage of showers or thunderstorms across our area. it is really not going to be a big issue. of course, today we are looking at big thunderstorms. by the time 8:00 or 9:00 rolls around a lot of the folk going through the check point at the stadium, i do believe it is only 20 percent chance of storms, the best way of the entire democratic national convention could be as president obama is finishing the speech to the nation. >>shepard: that is not good news. it does not need to rain. it sounds like they are landing aircraft this this thick -- thing in my ear. sometimes air traffic cont

i love north carolina.llenge for democrats and that is, it is after all a right to work state. a state not very friendly to unions. and the president is going to end up speaking at the bank of america center, which sort of, you know, reveals all of those anxieties about 1%. how do you manage that story line this week? >> you know, if we -- if we picked locations for conventions based on whether everyone agrees with the laws of a particular state, we would never have a convention. what we wanted to do with north carolina is put the state on a platform where people could see and take a look at it but it also means that those who have different views about ways we should go in this state have an opportunity to make that message right here in north carolina. >> mayor fox, i wanted to show you this quote from karl rove back in 2011, in talking about the strategy used against president obama. in "wall street journal" piece, why obama is likely to lose in 2012. even a small drop in the share of black voters would

the president one north carolina -- won north carolina in 2008. that was the first time since jimmy carter. there is a lot with his work to support veterans, his work to support women, his work to support bringing manufacturing to american shores of the work to put infrastructure investment back into north carolina, and the city like charlotte, which is the fastest-growing metro region in the country, so i think the people of north carolina understood the president had their back and at the end of the day would have his back. there is also the campaign used to mobilize the south. i mentioned the program, which was an effort to get people to volunteer for the campaign. in exchange, you had the opportunity to watch the nomination. that has been successful. when we open the convention and said to sign up if you wanted to come, that has been overwhelming, and i think that is an idea of the energy on the ground in north carolina. when you come into the south, everyone in the south is part of a convention like this, so there is also a ripple effect of b

we spoke at the north carolina state fair.e with us. thereby guaranteeing that he had a sitting target. he was one of two incumbent democrats in the south to came at. all of the others had enough sense to hide. they knew that at this point the party was dead in the water. the other person who came out to see us was jimmy carter, who came out of the front door of the capitol and greeted us. i thought, what is this idiot doing? he cannot be serious. all right. 72, a lot of us are looking around and saying that the only way the democrats can win is to find a southerner. of course, a lot of us thought we had found one. that was a dry stream, as you remember. i nominated him after he was dead at the democratic convention. i was glad i did and happy we had the chance to do it. he led the way to jimmy carter. jimmy been no full had come out knowing -- he stood with the party in an impossible place. jimmy actually carries much of the south. if you take out the third party he would have carried out more states he lost in that particula

>> from charlotte, north carolina, this is "democracy now!" breaking with convention -- war, peace, and the presidency. we are broadcasting from the democratic nafta convention. >> if a young preacher could lift us to the mountaintop with his courageous dream and proud american can be who they are and boldly stand at the altar with who they love, then surely, surely, we can give everyone in this country a fair chance at that great american dream. michelle obama on the opening of the democratic national convention. we will air excerpts of her speech as well as fair pay advocate lilly ledbetter and san antonio mayor julian castro. then no paper, no fear. 10 undocumented activists are arrested for blocking a street just outside the time warner cable arena. >> fighting for our rights, our rights to work, our rights to be with our families. >> that it is party time. at&t, duke energy and time warner, coca-cola and bank of america. we will look at the corporate sponsorship parties here in charlotte with the sunlight foundation. all of that and more

[laughter] [laughter] >> we're hear at north carolina i can honestly say it's one of the country -- south carolina. i see why james taylor spent so much time here. more from the dnc city [bleep] to be at the convention center magical on the scene and john oliver downtown which for some reason he showed up now which i think we can all agree -- excuse me. [laughter] >> jessica. you have been asked into the hall of fame. is that why the democrats chose charlotte gives them a nod to the white male voter. hey we're thinking about you too, is that symbolism, is that fair to say. >> no, not really. do you know what, i don't think so. i think it's more that nascar is a metaphor for the democrat party, okay. just riding around and around in circles covered with the logos of companies that own them. and you know they're thinking of them says, we're getting somewhere, right. we're beewe've been in this care hours. never quite realizing everyone else is here waiting for them to flame out in a giant wreck. [laughter] [applause] it's not -- >> no. >> all right. you're at the convention center. >> that'

>> yes. >> absolutely i think we can win north carolina. we have won it four years ago, and it's going to be a close race, but i think part of our challenge here in north carolina and at the convention is to mobilize and motivate our base and get them to turn out. if we do that, you'll have the same result from four years ago. >> sorry for the grand canyon-style interview, but it was great to have you on. we hope to have you back. it was in north carolina in a president obama won this narrow victory over john mccain four years ago, the first time the state had backed a democrat since jimmy carter in 1976, but by january 2010, the state's jobless rate had peaked. it remains at 9.6% today. in november of 2010, those economic troubles helped republicans seize control of the state legislature for the first time in 140 years. so what must the dumbs and president do accomplish this week? joining me from charlotte is professor melissa heaarris-perr. what the future is going to look like, so casting this vision for the next four years, here's what

the university of north carolina at charlotte political science professor will discuss the north carolina boat. -- the north carolina vote. >> even back then, barack obama was the guy who picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, i could actually see the pavement going by in a hole on the passenger side door [laughter] he was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he found in a dumpster. [laughter] and who's on a pair of decent shoes was a half a size too small. host: the front page of "the charlotte observer" - and "the chicago shop -- and of the chicago sun-times." we want to hear from you on the role of the first lady in campaigns. we have also set aside our fourth line this morning if you happen to be a democratic national convention delegates. we would love to hear from you and your experiences. you can contact us electronically as well. on the front page of "the richmond times dispatch" -- and "the boston globe" -- "the chicago tribune" -- "hartford currant" --- here is "the oran county register" --- "the l.a. times" -- here is" a washington times" we