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Mitt Romney's Big Night; Make Or Break Moment For Romney; Dam in Mississippi May Fail; Author of "No Easy Day" Revealed; Taylor Hicks To Open For Romney; Mitt Romney's Mormon Faith; Mitt Romney's Speech Tonight; West Nile Cases Up 40 Percent In A Week; GOP Battles For Young Voters; Paul Ryan's Youth Appeal; Tracking Tropical Storm Isaac; Medicare Money Fact Check; More Bloodshed In Syria

Aired August 30, 2012 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Suzanne Malveaux.

Good to be with you. Good to be with you all week here from Tampa, Florida. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Welcome back to the CNN Grill.

As you know, this is really the nerve center, if you will, of the political world right now. And it is also the final day here, day four, technically, really the third day of the Republican National Convention, third poll day. And tonight is the night. Tonight is the night. All the handshaking, all the campaign ads, all those stump speeches culminating in the speech of Mitt Romney's political career. The former Massachusetts governor will take the stage to accept his party's nomination for president of the United States. This will be his biggest opportunity yet to sell himself and his vision for America's future.

Also speaking inside the forum, steps from me here inside the convention tonight, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Also the brother of President George W. Bush, son of President George H.W. Bush, former Florida governor, Jeb Bush. And smack dab there in the center of your screen, one of the rising stars, certainly, of the Republican Party, hailing from the state I'm sitting in right now, Florida, you have Senator Marco Rubio. He is a high-profile slot, speaking just ahead of Mitt Romney.

And if I may add, a bit of convention intrigue. This is what a lot of buzz among journalists and some delegates this morning is about. The mystery guest whose name is being kept under tight, tight wraps at this hour. Said mystery guest is listed on tonight's schedule as, quote/unquote "to be announced" and is also in a high-profile position, right before Senator Marco Rubio. And you know, rumors -- and let me say that again, these are rumors, but they are flying, that it is Hollywood heavyweight, "Dirty Harry" star, director, former mayor of Carmel, California, Clint Eastwood. But as I said, convention insiders, they are playing this one tight. We just know it's a mystery someone.

Dana Bash, who's on the floor of the convention center, standing in the Massachusetts section, which I know, having been on the floor, it's smack dab right up front. Huge cheers from Massachusetts and Wisconsin, obviously, the last couple of nights.

Hey, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there. That's right.

I want to actually give our viewers a little look at the layout here for -- especially for the state of Massachusetts. This is it. This is where delegates from the state where Mitt Romney was governor will be sitting. Check this out. They have prime real estate, right in the front row.

Now, our viewers obviously know, Massachusetts is a blue state. People here, I've been talking to them over the past several nights, they are just stunned that they get to sit so close. This has never happened before. And they reminded me that if you look at the history, a Republican nominee has not come from Massachusetts since Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s. So it has literally been generations since they've had this opportunity. And they, of course, are going to be watching and listening to what their nominee says, just like everybody else.

You know, it is almost cliche, Brooke, to say how important this kind of speech is for any party's nominee, but particularly for Mitt Romney, since even Republicans admit, the Obama campaign has done such a good job throughout the entire summer of spending so much money defining him -- for him and defining him in a way that the Republicans do not like, and it has hurt him when it comes to his favorability ratings. He really has to try to change that tonight in a big way. And that is what everybody is going to be watching and listening for here.

BALDWIN: In addition to, of course, the man of the evening, Mitt Romney, we mentioned a couple of other big speakers, including Jeb Bush. What do we think the former governor will say?

BASH: Really interesting because he is the former governor of the state where you and I both are. But he is not somebody who always makes the party establishment, and even the party base, happy. He, for example, thinks that the party should be much more -- embrace much more the idea of immigration. He is somebody who thinks that maybe the party, at various times, has gone too far to the right.

But he is also somebody who has a very strong tie to the Latino community, to the Hispanic community, in this country. He speaks Spanish. His wife is Latina. So combined with him and, of course, Marco Rubio, who is the 41-year-old Cuban-American who's going to introduce Mitt Romney, it is also an attempt tonight to try to reach out to that sector of the population, incredibly important, growing, and a sector that Republicans are doing worse with as the years go on, not better.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Dana Bash, we'll look forward -- and it's stunning to me -- Dan, go ahead and throw the big wide shot up of the forum -- because it's stunning to me, having been inside, it feels so much smaller, so much more intimate. You see this big picture on TV, it's packed with people, thousands and thousands of people, but I tell you, it is much, much smaller, much more intimate when you're walking down on the floor where Dana is right now.

Now, we have heard from Ann Romney, we have heard from Congressman Paul Ryan, and many others tell us who Mitt Romney is and they're, of course, bringing on the pitch. The pitch being why -- why he should be president. But now the time has come for Mitt Romney to tell us himself. Some say it's do or die for him tonight. I take a look at how true that statement can be, especially when you're a candidate who has to deliver a killer speech.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN (voice-over): It's a microphone moment unlike any other in politics, the presidential convention speech.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: To the old, big-spending, do- nothing, me-first, country second crowd, change is coming.

BALDWIN: A moment that could either catapult former Governor Mitt Romney to next president Mitt Romney, or not.

PROF. COSTAS PANAGOPOULOS, POLITICAL SCIENCE, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: There's always the possibility that something very dramatic and very exciting might happen at a convention. And that could hit the reset button on the conversation that's been happening over the past few months.

BALDWIN: As far back as Barry Goldwater, party nominees have gotten a post-convention popularity bump. Sixty-six percent of voters told CNN pollsters that the candidates' convention speech matters.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Family, work, neighborhood, peace, and freedom.

BALDWIN: But according to Pew Research Center, just three of the last 12 wannabe presidents have improved their image after those conventions. Obama and both Bushs --

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Read my lips. No new taxes.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm running with a compassionate, conservative philosophy.

BALDWIN: That same Pew study shows Romney's challenge, his unfavorability rating is 52 to 37 percent.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I should also tell my story. I'm also unemployed.

Corporations are people, my friend.

I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. BALDWIN: He stepped up to the Tampa podium knowing words count.

ROMNEY: I like being able to fire people that provide services to me.

BALDWIN: His latest choice of words could determine whether the voters get to hire or fire him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Remember, you can watch it all unfolding live right here tonight. CNN's primetime coverage continues at 7:00 Eastern with Wolf Blitzer, setting the stage for all of tonight's speakers. And then during the 10:00 hour this evening, Mitt Romney, as we mentioned, formally accepting his party's nomination for president. And then a little later, stay up with us, at midnight, Piers Morgan, he'll be putting a wrap on the 2012 Republican National Convention. All tonight. All, of course, here on CNN.

Much more here, though. Developing now, politically and nonpolitically, including what happened inside that Osama bin Laden compound last May. The night that he died. A new book is stirring controversy, saying some White House accounts of the raid are totally wrong.

Plus, folks living along one Louisiana river are being told to get out. Why? Because a dam may fail, flooding homes just like this one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have been talking so much about Isaac this week. First a hurricane, now a tropical storm. It has weakened. But the urgency today, just as intense, as more people are forced to evacuate. Right now, Isaac is just creeping through Louisiana, expecting to finally blow through the state at some point tonight. But just think about that for a moment. It hasn't left yet. The people there have been through 40 plus hours of what many are calling this once-in-a- lifetime rains, winds, rising water. Several hundred people are thankful they were rescued at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It came up slow and it started rising real, real high. And it came up so high, and it was getting higher.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything's under water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there water in your house now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, everything. We lost everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a real nightmare. I never in my entire life could ever imagine being caught in something like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Thousands of others thankful Isaac didn't take more from them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're extremely lucky. Compared to the people down south, we're very, very lucky. I mean, this is -- this is nothing. This is nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The governor estimates by the time Isaac does finally leave this state -- look at that water. By the time it finally leaves, three out of four people in Louisiana will have been impacted by this storm. And you can tell the flooding has been so intense, so brutal, it has dislodged caskets. This is Plaquemines Parish, here. This is Braithwaite. One spot in Plaquemines Parish hit particularly hard. This is just Louisiana. The Red Cross says Isaac forced 4,700 into shelters in seven states. More than 940,000 are without power in four states. And one man died after a tree fell on his truck in Mississippi.

Now, a new crisis. A dam at the Louisiana/Mississippi border, this is the Lake Tangipahoa dam. Thousands on the Louisiana side have been ordered to evacuate. Here is CNN's David Mattingly for us in Mississippi.

David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a dam on the Tangipahoa River. It creates a 700 acre lake inside the state of Mississippi at a state park. That dam has been damaged by all the water that's fallen from this tropical storm hurricane. So they are working right now with the sandbagging operation to shore that dam up.

At the same time, they have some other operations going to possibly relieve some of the pressure behind it. But this dam in Mississippi, should it fail, would affect people downstream, most of them living in Louisiana, downriver, down the Tangipahoa River. So the parish president in Louisiana has issued a mandatory evacuation order for people living a mile on either side of that river as a precaution. The governor's office is backing him up on that, telling people they should pay attention to this because they don't know what's going to happen with the dam. In fact, we heard from Louisiana's governor about this just a short time ago. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: There are concerns at Percy Quin about a dam over in Mississippi. That if this dam were to break, it would take about 90 minutes for that water to get to Kentwood. We have been in contact with our Mississippi counterparts, including the Department of Transportation over there. They are planning a planned breach of that dam to avoid -- to prevent a dam -- the dam from breaking. This morning they were concerned that the breaking was imminent. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: David Mattingly for us reporting, talking about the Tangipahoa dam. And I want to bring in Chad Myers, who I know has been looking at this so, so closely.

And, Chad, my question would be, is there a timeline at all? I mean if this thing is going to break, do we know went that might happen?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The water -- this is an earthen dam, which means they piled up a bunch of dirt and planted grass and hope that it held. Well, we've seen a little bit of sliding on the one side, on the downhill side. I've seen pictures of the slide where the dirt has just become mud and just started to move. It's almost like liquefaction of someone just sliding down the hill. And so, therefore, damaging the dam itself.

Percy Quin Park. There is the little spillway that should be dumping the water over, and it always does, except now that there's just tremendous amounts of water coming down. Way too much water coming down. And it will eventually dump into Lake Pontchartrain.

So let's take you -- this is less than a one-square-mile lake. There's water here. A lot of water. But this isn't like some tsunami, like in -- you know, like the tsunami in Japan that's going to flood all the way down to Louisiana. There will be, if it fails, it hasn't yet, and they're working on it to stop that. If there's water coming down the dam, if it does fail quickly, water will go back about a quarter mile one way or the other.

Go ahead and fly all the way down, Sean, show you where it's going from here. It comes down here, all the way then to Osyka back over here. That's where the dam is on that side. The water, the river coming through here. This is Kentwood. They're concerned a little bit that some of these eastern homes here in Kentwood could be concerned, could be a little bit wet. And then down toward Robert and Amite. Here's the river itself. A lot of the river bottom is, in fact, farmland. There's Robert where people -- we know people are evacuating here already. They are packing up and moving. And then the water goes all the way down to the Lake Pontchartrain area right there. There's Lake Pontchartrain. And it shouldn't affect anybody after that.

It is still raining. This is part of the problem. It is still raining and even raining on that dam. Water is still going into the dam, north of there, running downhill and then eventually even into the Gulf of Mexico.

There's the storm right now, to the east of Shreveport. Going to turn on up toward Springfield, into St. Louis. Do not be concerned about this. You may get wind gusts of 25 miles per hour in St. Louis. Maybe even toward Columbus, Ohio. More of a rain event than a wind event once it's that far inland.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Well, the second something changes with regard to that dam, let us know.

MYERS: Absolutely. Sure.

BALDWIN: Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: And if you are sitting there at home, you're wondering how you can help these folks just absolutely devastated by this storm, Isaac, go to our website, go to Impact Your World. Go to cnn.com/impact and you can help.

Coming up, this former Navy SEAL breaks a code and writes this book about the mission that killed Osama bin Laden. But here's the thing. His story contradicts White House reports. We're going to take an in depth look, talk to a former CIA operative who's been talking to SEALs and they are angry about this book.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We are finally getting a good look at the retired Navy SEAL, part of that SEAL Team 6 team who now wrote a book about the Osama bin Laden raid. And there has been so much buzz about this book. It's called "No Easy Day." It has already jumped to the number one spot on Amazon. And it doesn't even get released until next week. The author, who says the Pentagon now says can be revealed, he is Matt Bissonnette. He is talking to CBS, to "60 Minutes," Scott Pelley. And in that interview, he addresses the issue of his book being released during the Democratic National Convention, because his book reportedly differs from the White House's version of that raid. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT BISSONNETTE, AKA "MARK OWEN", FORMER SEAL: This book is not political whatsoever. Doesn't -- doesn't bad mouth either party. And we specifically chose September 11th to keep it out of the politics. You know, if these crazies on either side of the aisle want to make it political, shame on them. This is a book about September 11th and it needs to rest on September 11th, not be brought into the political arena, because this has nothing to do with politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Not political whatsoever, he says. CNN contributor and former CIA operative, Bob Baer, joining me live from Irvine, California.

And, Bob, I know you've seen, as we all have, some of the excerpts from this particular book. And the major, major difference, which I want to highlight, is the fact that, you know, that White House account said, all right, that the SEALs walked in, that bin Laden was there, he was armed, they shot him. In this guy's book, they says OBL was kind of peeking around a door corner and they took him out. That's a huge difference. My question to you is, will we ever know if he provided this immediate, immediate threat that the White House claimed? ROBERT BAER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I don't think he provided an immediate threat, according to this book. He didn't have a weapon in his hand. But you have to understand, when the SEALs do a takedown like this, they are moving at such a high speed that anybody that acts in the least suspiciously is shot and killed. It's their modus operandi. They never change it. You'd have to see one of these things, when they -- when they run through a house, three steps at a time, shooting, throwing flash bang grenades. Once they hit that door, you're more or less dead unless you're on the ground surrendering.

BALDWIN: So then are you saying that the difference in accounts really don't seem that significant?

BAER: Well, it's the White House hyping an event. They had to make it look like bin Laden was resisting. It's a typical political spin you'd get out of any White House. And, you know, the political aide to the president want to make the president look as best as he can through this. And the truth is really the first casualty in a raid like this.

But I think the point is that the White House did approve it. It was a courageous decision. The SEALs did a wonderful job. And we've got a SEAL coming out and talking about it. It happens -- as I understand from the SEALs, this guy was a very, very good operator. One of the best. He's a hero in the rest of it.

But the SEALs do not like talking in public about their operations. They like to be quiet heroes. It's just a fact. So as I understand it from the SEALs, they're unhappy that this guy went to print. And it clearly was not approved by the Pentagon or anybody else in the SEALs. On the other hand, I believe it's an accurate account.

BALDWIN: But then, if they're frustrated that he did speak, do they even know why he did this in the first place? He said it's not political, even though this thing is coming out during the DNC, during the Democratic National Convention. Why did he do it?

BAER: He doesn't have -- I understand, doesn't have a political bone in his body. He doesn't have that sophistication to come after anybody, whether Republicans or Democrats or the president. He wanted to get his story out. It is a dramatic story. He was a hero in this. And once you retire from the SEALs, there's this resistance. But what I think is going to happen, and this is speculation, I add, is the Pentagon is going to come after him, either for leaking secrets or breaking his contract, the code of silence.

BALDWIN: So you think -- could he be prosecuted?

BAER: Oh, absolutely. If -- you know, I haven't seen the full text of this book, but if there are secrets in there, especially CIA secrets, the CIA will refer it to the Department of Justice. And the Department of Justice has a possibility of a criminal prosecution. But the fact that he didn't submit the book, in advance, they can sue him in a civil trial for breach of contract.

BALDWIN: Bob, let me play just one more clip. This is when they're talking about those mock drills that led up to the raid. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BISSONNETTE: This is nothing new to us. The part that was new was all the VIPs sitting there watching. You know, one of the things that I liked after the fact was I remember Admiral Mullen coming by and talking to each one of us, and then Admiral Olsen as well. And I thought that was cool that, you know, they walked by, shook each of our hands and said, hey, are you guys ready? Can you guys pull this off? And I'm pretty sure to a man we all said, yes, absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Bob, final question. How do you think his book will change our history books?

BAER: Well, I think this is the most significant part of our war in Afghanistan. In a sense, President Bush said, we're going to go after this guy, dead or alive, and it took a second president to carry those orders out. And I think it's going to be an egress for us in Afghanistan, which is going to happen probably earlier than 2014. It was truly a great commando raid. There's no question about it. It's -- and I'll be fascinated to read the book. And I will read it.

BALDWIN: It is stunning just to finally have one of these faces revealed. We talked about SEAL Team 6 for so, so long.

Bob Baer, thank you.

BAER: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right. Everyone is talking about what Mitt Romney should talk about tonight. But John McCain, Arizona senator, he's got some surprising advice. He talked to Piers Morgan. We're going to play that for you.

Plus, are Republicans going to surprise everyone with a mystery speaker this evening? Apparently they are, according to the Romney camp. Who it is, we don't know. And my favorite political power couple places bets. Look at them already arguing over politics, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just a couple steps from where I'm sitting here in the CNN Grill is the forum, the nucleus of the RNC, if you will. Plenty of delegates, politicians and a couple stars. Musical stars.

Dana Bash is -- I hear you have one of the "American Idol" stars standing next to you, Taylor Hicks, who I think -- I thought was sort of caught up in the Obama enthusiasm a couple of years ago. Has he changed his mind?

DANA BASH: We will ask him that. You know, you never know who you're going to run into. We were literally just walking by him on the floor here and ran into Taylor Hicks.

TAYLOR HICKS: Good morning.

BASH: Thank you for joining us.

HICKS: Thank you for having me.

BASH: Now, obviously, you're not just hanging out here. You have a very important role tonight. What are you going to do?

HICKS: I'll be performing, "Taking It To The Streets." I think it's appropriate, that song, obviously covering it on "American Idol," and it being such a big hit. It's just important that we carry the momentum from the election and how the momentum of voting, I think it's important to carry it into this election too.

BASH: Are you a Romney supporter?

HICKS: I'm an American supporter. I got the call a couple of weeks ago, and you know, I was just thrilled to be a part of the political history. I do think the Romney/Ryan the ticket is a great ticket and I'm excited to perform.

BASH: Who did you vote for in the last election?

HICKS: I'm not going to tell you that.

BASH: No, all right?

HICKS: No. I'll play some more Monica for you.

BASH: There you go. But I actually have a question because I think about this all the time. As the winner of "American Idol," that gets -- the viewership, particularly when you won back in 2006, was so astronomical. The number of Americans who voted on "American Idol," I mean, how many voted for you, do you know?

HICKS: It's 64 million.

BASH: I mean, if they could get Americans to put that kind of energy into voting for president or any elected office, it would be fabulous.

HICKS: And that's the reason why I really stand on the voting process. Because being a part of a voting process, from an entertainment standpoint, also -- this political process is super important. And I believe that we should get out the vote and we should be a part of that, as much as we can because that's what makes democracy tick.

BASH: OK. Thank you so much.

HICKS: See you tonight.

BASH: OK, thanks, Taylor. There you go. He's not telling us where he's standing, but he is telling us what he's singing, "Taking It To The Streets." We've heard him do that before.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You tried, Dana Bash. You try with them all. We appreciate it for us there on the floor of the RNC.

And you know, the man who was the Republican Party's nominee for president four years ago actually sat down, just this morning, right where I'm sitting here in the grill, sat down with Piers Morgan.

I'm talking about Senator John McCain. So Piers talked with McCain and his wife, Cindy McCain about really everything, from the Republican Party's platform to whether MITT ROMNEY should address his Mormon faith head-on when he accepts the nomination tonight.

Here's just part of their interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY MCCAIN, WIFE OF JOHN MCCAIN: It's about strong values, strong American values, which we all share. It's about two men and their wives, of course, that could possibly be the top tier of this government.

Bing not only strong in with they believe and strong in their faith, but believing in what's best for the country and moving forward. Not putting their personal interests first.

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think, also, that, there is questions about the Mormon faith, as you know. And I think that Ann talking about it and I am convinced that Mitt will talk about it.

And to tell people that his faith is part of his life, and that's what's made him the person he is today. Because, you know, the Mormon faith has come under significant scrutiny and attack from time to time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Our favorite couple is here to chew on all of this, John Avlon, a CNN contributor, and senior political columnist for "Newsweek" at "Daily Beast," and his other half and perhaps his better half, the political contributor here at CNN, Margaret Hoover welcome. You guys seem so far away today.

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: We'll bridge that distance.

BALDWIN: You always have good intel on what we should expect in terms of the upcoming speech. So Mitt Romney, what should we expect? And do you agree with Senator McCain, that he should address Mormonism?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think, not only should he address, but I think he's going to. And we know they're framing the entire evening, because they have a married couple who were bishops in the same church that Romney was a bishop of lead the invocation of the evening.

So if anything tells you how they're setting the time, how they're frame it, they're going to address it and they're going to answer the questions.

And I think Mitt Romney will also address his life of service and how the Mormon Church helped frame the context of this has inspired him towards a life of service, even if he's uncomfortable talking about part of it.

And I think he'll acknowledge that so that people can see that vulnerability. That's why we haven't learned more about it.

BALDWIN: So yes to addressing it. You're writing a column about this.

AVLON: I have a column about it today on the "Daily Beast" called "Mitt's Missing Character Narrative." One of the things he really needs to do in the speech is set out a character narrative.

Think about it, this is something we expect from presidential candidates, whether it's John F. Kennedy or John McCain suffering through those years as a Vietnam kid or even George W. Bush, overcoming the temptations of alcohol and finding faith.

These are character narratives that help people feel that this person has made a hero's journey, that makes them more empathetic, and that wisdom they will bring to their decisions in the oval office.

BALDWIN: What does he have? He can't say being a missionary in France was --

AVLON: No, but I do think and what I write in the piece is that car accident he experienced as a young man, where he was given up for dead, initially, while on a Mormon mission in France is a logical candidate for that.

It's about the risk of intimacy. He needs to talk about a moment in life where he was challenged, where he overcame that challenge and it's coincided with his faith.

Here's a person with personal exemplary character and his character has been shaped by his faith. So I do think he needs to take that risk of intimacy and people will reward that.

BALDWIN: Being on the floor last night, hearing Paul Ryan especially that line about, you know, people growing up in their 20s with their faded President Obama poster, living in a childhood bedrooms, I mean obvious slam.

Everyone just went gangbusters over that line inside the forum and there were some headlines out this morning saying it's a possibility with these speeches that Ryan outshines Romney. Do you think that's possible and is that necessarily a bad thing?

HOOVER: Look, I think it's apples and oranges, right? Mitt Romney is the nominee. Paul Ryan is sort of accentuating, highlighting. He's very different.

Look, he was very clear. Even in their musical tastes, Mitt Romney listens to me that sound like elevator music and I go from ac/dc to zeppelin.

I mean, and that's the point. I mean, he's sort of highlighting that he's different. He's a contrast and together they are the comeback team. They complement each other, not compete with each other.

AVLON: Right, that's fair. Look, it was a very generational speech Paul Ryan gave --

BALDWIN: He mentioned generation eight times.

AVLON: That's right and so this is not subtle.

BALDWIN: Not subtle.

AVLON: The words he's choosing carefully. Look, he is the first member of generation "X" to be on a presidential ticket. And there were a lot of generational cues throughout his speech, talking about music is one of them.

But that faded poster line, which was so resonated in the hall. It was a way of updating the celebrity ad that the McCain ad put forward last year. That was the emotional chord and the visual cue -- and it worked. It worked.

BALDWIN: Just hearing in my ear, my executive producer telling me that, in fact, we have now confirmed, thank you, John King, that Clint Eastwood is, in fact, the mystery speaker.

HOOVER: How about it!

AVLON: Good choice.

BALDWIN: Live we're hearing now, Dirty Harry himself will be taking to the podium and speaking, I believe it will go then, Clint Eastwood, Marco Rubio, and Mitt Romney. Quick reaction?

AVLON: That is dream for the Romney campaign. You don't get any better, especially for independent voters, than Dirty Harry, than Mr. Unforgiving Clint Eastwood. This is a great visual. It adds a quintessentially American voice, celebrity star power. That just kicked it up another notch tonight.

HOOVER: And Clint Eastwood did an ad during the Super Bowl, on the Chrysler ad. He appeals to independents and appeals to mainstream American Republicans. Always have trouble with celebrity. Now we've got it this time.

BALDWIN: All right, Margaret Hoover, John Avalon, guys, thank you. How about that? Clint Eastwood so make sure you watch CNN tonight for all the speakers.

Coming up, health officials, they are already saying this could be the worst year ever for the West Nile virus. Will the flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi make it all worse?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he's going to join us next with what you need to know to stay safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: West Nile virus infections, they are very much skyrocketing. The Center for Disease Control says human infections from this virus rose 40 percent since last week.

That is almost 500 new cases. More than 70 percent of the West Nile cases are found in these six states. You have Louisiana and Mississippi in particular here. Isaac, as you know, has caused some severe flooding in those states, and standing water may not recede for days.

I want to bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Just talking about this, Sanjay, you would think that the flooding in these states, the extreme flooding, would increase the possibility that one could be affected by West Nile.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, you would think that, Brooke, because of all the extra water, but we know a lot about just how these mosquitoes and the breeding grounds of these mosquitoes behave.

And what you find, and this may be a little bit counterintuitive, is that that those floodwaters tend to actually really disrupt the existing breeding grounds of these mosquitoes. Those mosquitoes have been causing so much trouble.

So the breeding grounds get disrupted, the mosquitoes are still there, and eventually they could re-establish breeding grounds, but what they find is that typically, it's a bit of a wash.

There's really hardly any change in terms of the overall number of cases with the floods versus not with the floods. I will tell you, Brooke, you know, we went back and looked at what happened after Hurricane Katrina.

For example, in this same part of the world, with regard to West Nile virus, and the same part of the country. And what they found, there was a slight uptick in cases, but when they really tried to figure out why, it was because there were more people just outside.

Their homes had been damaged, they were outside rebuilding, and as a result of being outside more, they were getting bit more, and that caused the uptick. But overall, I think you're not going to see much of an impact here, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Well, that is some good news here. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Some good news here. Some silver ling, despite these horrific, horrific storms.

Now to this back here in Tampa, Republicans are recruiting the young votes, college-aged voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Congressman Paul Ryan's youthful appeal being put to the test.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Mitt Romney's VP pick, Paul Ryan, is a young guy, he's 42. Although some say he looks more like 32. And just as Barack Obama energized the youth vote back in 2008, Republicans could well be hoping Ryan's youthfulness will help them this time around.

Ryan, as I mentioned, he's 42, a true jen-xer, and as he walked out last night, look at that crowd to give that acceptance speech in Tampa, the energy truly was palpable. And for anyone counting, which we were, of course, Congressman Ryan used the word "generation" in that speech eight times. Roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: I accept the calling of my generation. In this generation -- a generation apart -- from my mom's generation, for my generation -- the founding generation secured those rights for us. And in every generation since --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to bring in Alex Schriver. And your title is a bit long. So it is national chairman of the College Republican National Committee.

ALEX SCHRIVER, CHAIRMAN, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: That's right.

BALDWIN: Welcome. Nice to meet you.

SCHRIVER: Good to be here.

BALDWIN: Let's just begin, obviously, part of your job is energizing the young, the college-aged kids to vote for this ticket. How is that working out for you this year?

SCHRIVER: Well, I tell you, Paul Ryan made my job a lot easier last night. Young people are fired up, they're engaged, a lot like we saw in 2008, just for different side of the aisle.

BALDWIN: Do you think it's the same enthusiasm? SCHRIVER: Absolutely. I think young people -- young people see the importance of politics. They see how it affects their day to day lives. And they got caught up with hope and change in 2008.

And a lot of them feel disenchanted. And what Paul right brought opportunity. He brought optimism to those disenchanted young people saying we can do better. Our generation deserves better.

That's what this campaign is about. That's what this ticket is about. That's what young people are voting for this November.

BALDWIN: I'm with you, Alex. I was in the convention last night and felt the energy as well. Here's my but for you, let me cite a poll.

The CNN/ORC poll asked voters between the age of 18 and 34 who they support for president, 73 percent said Obama. The poll was taken just days before Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan would be on the ticket.

Do you think, and I think you already are going to say yes, given his speech last night, do you think that Paul Ryan made the sell to young voters much easier?

SCHRIVER: Sure, absolutely. There was a poll taken just the day after Paul Ryan was selected among the same demographic, and it showed Governor Romney with 41 percent of young people voting for him.

And obviously, we lost this group, 66/32 in 2008, but by staying on the issues that young people care about, jobs and the economy, the number one issue to 74 percent of young people.

Talking about student loan debt, talking about getting out of your parents' basement, you'll see more and more people abandon President Obama and go to Romney/Ryan.

BALDWIN: I want to play a little bit more, from the speech last night where he was teasing Mitt Romney a bit about the music choice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: We're a full generation apart, Governor Romney and I. And in some ways, we're different. There are the songs on his iPod, which I've heard on the campaign bus and I've heard it on many hotel elevators. I said, look, I hope it's not a deal breaker, Mitt, but my play list, it starts with AC/DC and it ends with Zeppelin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Obviously, that got a big laugh last night. AC/DC, Zeppelin, "The Rage Against The Machine," Tom Morelo says, you know, -- he's obviously not a huge fan of the Paul Ryan-Mitt Romney ticket.

But for someone sitting here, let's say, Alex, who's truly an Obama voter, whose poster is not faded, what's your lead line in the pitch? SCHRIVER: I'd say are you better off than you were four years ago? The fact is no group of voters have been affected by this policy like young people. The burden of $16 trillion of national debt is on our back.

A failing Obama care bill is on our back. A $1 trillion in student loan debt is on our back and we have to pay that. And we need to start having a realistic conversation with young people about the promises our government makes to them.

And it really is a generational opportunity. Paul Ryan's acceptance last night, I accept the calling of my generation. What a powerful line to young people. I am one of you.

Paul Ryan, 42 years old, closer in age to me than he is to Joe Biden, I think young people see that, appreciate that, and respect it.

BALDWIN: The question is, do they see it in Mitt Romney and we'll see it. We'll see it in his speech.

SCHRIVER: Tonight.

BALDWIN: Alex, thank you s much. Nice to meet you.

Coming up here, we're going to talk more about Tropical Storm Isaac. More than a million people without power and thousands face this massive, massive cleanup job.

CNN's Chad Myers says inland flooding is now, just as it was yesterday, still a tremendous, tremendous concern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: At the top of the hour, the National Weather Service did release this update on Tropical Storm Isaac. Now they're saying it is moving through Louisiana, it is moving through Mississippi at just 9 miles per hour.

Right now, there is a mandatory evacuation in this area of the Lake Tangipahoa Dam because of fears it could fail that could affect some 50,000 to 60,000 people.

The storm killed one man in Mississippi when a tree fell on his truck. More than 4,700 people in seven states had to stay in shelters last night, and more than 900,000 people are without power in four states.

Chad Myers, let's begin here with you. Tell me when this storm is going to finally get out of there.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, when does it finally run out of moisture, I guess, because it's still kind of tapping a little bit of the tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

So as it moves away, Brooke. Obviously, when it gets to the central part of Arkansas, there's just not going to be any more energy that it can grab from the gulf.

It's going to get up here and cross St. Louis, and probably over Cincinnati, and over towards West Virginia. It could go a little bit farther south, it could go farther north, there's still a cone here.

But the issue is that it's dying out now. It's losing its energy, lose its power. It will just be a rainmaker. But we are still now seeing new pictures coming in from our affiliates in Louisiana.

Still showing people that were flooded out that we didn't even know about yet, like Lafitte and other places down south in Plaquemines Parish on the west bank that got a lot of water.

We knew about the east bank, but pictures are finally coming in with the amount of people that are without power. We're not getting pictures as fast as we would like.

There's a lot more of this to come, I believe. We'll see more devastation than we've seen so far. There are a lot more people that are affected than maybe what you're seeing. There's a lot more than 4,000 that need new places to sleep tonight, I'm afraid.

BALDWIN: All right, Chad, thank you. We'll check back.

There has been a lot of talk about Medicare and the money paying for Obamacare. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: They needed hundreds of billions more so they just took it all away from Medicare, $716 billion funnelled out of Medicare by President Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We are going to talk a little bit more about this with Dr. Gupta. He will rejoin us at the top of the hour to fact check this claim.

Also later, both parties reaching out to our nation's military vets, our heroes, returning from the war and you know what they want? Jobs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It has been 18 months of just absolute slaughter in Syria. And there was even more bloodshed today. At least 94 people were killed, 9 of them children.

Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army says it shot down this fighter yet. You see it there flying along, shot it down. It belonged to President Bashar Al-Assad's military today. Now, CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of this video. Also today, Egypt's new president urged world powers to support the rebels. This came at a summit in Iran, one of the few nations that still supports Syria.

Their relationship goes back many, many decades. President Mohamed Morsy slamming the Syrian government. Morsy of Egypt here in a room full of Syrian delegates. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT MOHAMED MORSY, EGYPT (through translator): Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that has lost his legitimacy is an ethical duty and a political and strategic necessity. We all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That led Syrian delegates to walk out in protest.