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Mitt Romney Makes His Case; Discrepancy in How Bin Laden Died; Eastwood Makes GOP's Day; Author May Lose Royalties; Romney Opens Up on Personal Life; Isaac Leaves Neighborhood Underwater; Romney/Ryan "Farewell Rally" in Florida; Football Moves Forward; Isaac Moves North, Remains a Threat; Roddick Retiring

Aired August 31, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Soledad. Thank you.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, are you better off? The question of the night. As Mitt Romney and the Republicans vie for the holy grail of voters, the independents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: America has been patient. Americans have supported this president in good faith. But today the time has come to turn the page.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This morning, a fact check of Romney's claims to create 12 million jobs.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR/DIRECTOR: What do you want me to tell Romney? I can't tell him to do that. He can't do that to himself. You're crazy. You're absolutely crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Clint and the empty chair. The off-the-script speech that has everyone buzzing this morning.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano in New Orleans where the rain has stopped, but in many parts of the state, the floodwaters have yet to recede. A live report coming up.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jason Carroll in New York, it's the eve of Penn State's season opener. I sat down with some of the players to talk about what pressure they feel as the school tries to rebuild itself in the wake of the sex abuse scandal.

I'll have that story coming up. COSTELLO: And Roddick's retirement. Andy Roddick, the best American men's tennis player this past decade announcing he's stepping down after the U.S. Open.

NEWSROOM starts right now.

Good morning. Happy Friday to you. I'm Carol Costello. We begin with the good, the bad, and the bizarre. Of the Republican National Convention. On the party's biggest night in four years, Mitt Romney accepts the nomination and delivers the most important speech of his lifetime. But a Hollywood icon goes off-script and steals the show. Clint Eastwood raises eyebrows and sets the Internet ablaze when he talks to an empty chair representing invisible Obama.

You'll want to hear some of those lines. More on that in just a couple of minutes. But first, let's focus on Mitt Romney and his primetime opportunity to win your vote. Romney says he'll revitalize the nation and economy held hostage by a failed presidency. Before we listen, a heads up. We're going to take a break from the short excerpts of sound you're used to hearing on television and run longer chunks of what Mr. Romney had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: How many days have you woken up feeling that something really special was happening in America? Many of you felt that way on election day four years ago. Hope and change had a powerful appeal. But tonight I'd ask a simple question. If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he's President Obama?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: You know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him.

I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

But his promises gave way to disappointments and division. This isn't something we have to accept. Now is the moment when we can do something, and with your help, we will do something.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Now is the moment when we can stand up and say, I'm an American. I make my destiny. We deserve better. My children deserve better. My family deserves better. My country deserves better. Many Americans have given up on this president, but they haven't ever thought about giving up.

Not on themselves. Not on each other. And not on America. What is needed in our country today is not complicated or profound. It doesn't take a special government commission to tell us what America needs.

What America needs is jobs, lots of jobs.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So let's focus on job one. Did Romney ignite the passion his campaign so desperately needs?

Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash is at the RNC on this morning-after.

So, Dana, did the Romney speech, the "Daily Beast" rated it neh. Our analyst Ari Fleischer rated it good enough.

What are you hearing?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Somewhere along -- something closer to Ari Fleischer saying good enough. Look, what did Mitt Romney need to do? I think this is true. You talk to any campaign strategist, Democrat or Republican, working on the campaign of a challenger, trying to unseat the incumbent. What you have to do not only is make people mad about the incumbent, you have to make people comfortable with you. And that was his number one goal.

And when it comes to his personality, he tried to show it a lot more. When it comes to the comfort level that people have with him as a father, as a grandfather, as a guy who is just one generation away from having nothing, and a guy who knows how to start a business and keep at it, in that sense, he seemed to be pretty successful.

COSTELLO: We understand that Mitt Romney is going to hit the campaign trail. But before he does that, he's gong to fly on to New Orleans to check -- to thank the rescue workers there. So right away, he is trying to appear presidential. Good move?

BASH: Yes. I mean, he'll try to appear -- appear presidential, rather. But it's not just that. It's also that he wants to continue what he started last night, Carol. The whole idea that he feels your pain, so to speak. That there is -- he does have empathy, which has been the one -- ben one of his biggest problems. Take a listen to kind of the moment of the night when it comes to this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: These were tough days on Ann particularly. She was heroic through it all. Five boys with our families a long way away. I had to travel a lot for my job then. And I'd call and try to offer support. But every mom knows that doesn't help get the homework done or get the kids out the door to school.

And I knew that her job as a mom was harder than mine, and I knew without question that her job as a mom was a lot more important than mine. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

My mom and dad were true partners. A life lesson that shaped me by everyday example. When my mom ran for the Senate, my dad was there for her every step of the way. I can still see her saying, in her beautiful voice, why should women have any less say than men about the great decisions facing our nation?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So you saw Mitt Romney teared up there, Carol. That is definitely something that nobody has seen before. And his campaign is really hoping that helps him with a major, major depth as he has with voters, and that is the empathy factor, connecting, making people think that he understands their lives and he is somebody that's not that different from them, Carol.

COSTELLO: Dana Bash reporting live from Tampa this morning.

Clint Eastwood, he was the mystery surprise guest last night at the RNC convention and what a surprise he was. Eastwood gave an unforgettable speech in four ways than one. He spends of his time on stage debating an imaginary President Obama who was represented by an empty chair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EASTWOOD: So I've got -- I've got Mr. Obama sitting here. And he's -- I just was going to ask him a couple of questions. I mean, what do you say to people? Do you just -- you know, I know people --

(LAUGHTER)

People are wondering -- you don't -- you don't have -- OK. I wondered about, you know, when the -- what? What do you want me to tell Romney? I can't tell him to do that. He can't do that to himself. You're crazy. You're absolutely crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So the Internet is abuzz as you might expect. Take a look at some reaction from around the Web. "TIME" magazine called Eastwood, quote, "a rambling old dude. A fistful of incoherence, says Yahoo, and Salon.com said Romney was upstaged by a chair.

Wow. Michelle Turner joins us from Los Angeles.

It just made me kind of sad actually.

NISCHELLE TURNER, HLN'S SHOWBIZ TONIGHT CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, you just had to take a breath there. And I think I had to do that too when I was watching this, Carol. Because, you know, Clint Eastwood has had so many great performances throughout his career in the movies. He's earned a handful of Academy Awards. But that performance last night at the Republican National Convention, frankly, has a lot of people wondering, you know, what the heck was going on. Listen to a little bit more of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EASTWOOD: You want to make my day.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

All right. I'll start it. You finish it. Go ahead --

CROWD: Make my day,

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

EASTWOOD: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER: You know, that's how the speech ended. And that was probably the clearest point that he made during the whole speech. It was pretty awkward and downright confusing speech at times. Now as you can imagine, this set the twitterverse on fire. My timeline was ablaze last night. I want to show you a couple of them. Let's begin with Star Jones. The talk show host tweeted last night, "I can't believe I just watched Clint Eastwood turn into somebody's drunk uncle Harry on the stage of the GOP rnc. He humiliated himself.

"Saturday Night Live's" Seth Myers, the star of "Saturday Night Live," also got a kick out of it. He tweeted, that was so awesome. Biden has got to go shirtless for DNC to top it. And finally, film critic Roger Ebert, he's a fan of Clint Eastwood, but he was not a fan of his speech last night posting, Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic. He didn't need to do this to himself. It's unworthy of him.

Now this is just a taste of what was out there, Carol. Even President Obama got in on it last night. A picture of the president sitting in a presidential chair was posted on his official account with a caption that says, "This seat is taken."

And, Carol, you know, somebody's already created a Twitter page for that empty chair that Eastwood was talking to last night. You knew it was happening. It's called "Invisible Obama." And as of about five minutes ago, it had 40,000 followers already. And one of the first tweets read, quote, "I'm behind Mitt. No, seriously, I'm right behind him."

So yes, people are having fun with it. But I'm with you, I just felt bad for Clint Eastwood last night.

COSTELLO: And it made you wonder, again, why Republicans and Democrats drag out these celebrities to talk politics when, you know, what do voters really care what celebrities think anyway?

TURNER: You know, exactly. And the Romney campaign did say, well, he went off-script. He was adlibbing.

COSTELLO: No.

TURNER: And I think most of us said, yes, we kind of figured that.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Yes. Nischelle Turner, thank you so much.

Now that Republicans have wrapped things up, Democrats are ramping up for their convention next week. This is a live picture from Charlotte, North Carolina, where just minutes ago unveiled the DNC podium. A prayer service scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and the First Lady Michelle Obama will speak at the DNC convention which begins Tuesday in charlotte.

Even though a former Navy SEAL's tell-all book about the bin Laden raid is already an Amazon bestseller, he may never see a dime in profit. The Pentagon says Matt Bissonnette, aka Mark Owen, violated military secrecy agreements. He could face legal action. And he and his publisher may have to forfeit royalties.

CNN's Barbara Starr explains why the Pentagon is so upset with the book, "No Easy Day".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Appearing in this CBS "60 Minutes" excerpt in disguise and under his fake name, Mark Owen, this is actually Matt Bissonnette, the former Navy SEAL who wrote the book "No Easy Day. A first-hand account of being on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

MATT BISSONNETTE, FORMER NAVY SEAL: My worry from the beginning is, you know, it's a political season. This book is not political whatsoever. It doesn't bad mouth either party.

STARR: Is there classified information in the book? Maybe. Military officials tell CNN photos like this one of advanced night vision goggles that SEALs use worry them.

Bissonnette's account of the secret mission has new details. He says as the team went up the stairs of the compound, bin Laden poked his head out. Bissonnette heard other SEALs fired two shots. Bin Laden then disappeared back into the room. By the time Bissonnette got inside, bin Laden was on the floor. Not standing up, as was first reported. Bissonnette and another SEAL then fired into bin Laden's chest to ensure he was dead.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: People's recollections of these events are not perfect.

STARR: The White House still addressing skeptics. JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: As more debriefings happened, the briefings of the special operators involved in the mission as well as others, some of the initial information turned out to be incomplete. We acknowledged that at the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now.

So Barbara, what other repercussions could this guy face?

STARR: Well, you know, that's what we don't know at this point. The Pentagon, as you pointed out, Carol, sent Bissonnette a letter late last night saying, you're in trouble, you have violated the secrecy, the nondisclosure agreements that you signed when you joined the SEALs and when you left. He left in April of this year. He signed agreements saying he would keep his secrets forever.

That's a clear violation. He didn't put the book through security clearance review. What do they do now? They could potentially seize his royalties, his earnings from the book, but he also said already that he's going to donate some of the proceeds to charity, to Wounded Warriors. This is the dilemma are you going to take money away from Wounded WARRIORS. This is the dilemma you're hearing all over the Pentagon today.

What do you do? Are you really going to go after a guy who put a bullet in Osama bin Laden, but he did violate the agreements that he did sign?

COSTELLO: It's tough. Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon for us this morning.

We are just getting word of an earthquake in the Philippines. As you know, CNN has correspondents throughout the world. We'll have much more information for you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: As promised, we have some more information about that earthquake off the island -- in the Pacific Ocean, I should say, off of Philippine island, the string of islands there. A 7.9 magnitude quake. No details yet on damage. But we do know a tsunami warning has been put into effect. Of course, if we learn of any damage, any deaths, and, of course, if that tsunami turns out to be the real thing, of course we'll pass it along to you.

At 18 minutes past the hour. Let's check our other top stories. Protesters from the women's rights group Code Pink interrupted Mitt Romney's speech last night, but the RNC crowd drowned them out.

Security quickly escorted three people out. You saw that. It's not clear how those protesters got credentials to get into the convention.

An outburst in the courtroom during the trial of three former soldiers near Savannah, Georgia. The father of a teenaged girl the men are accused of killing lunged towards one of the suspects. The men are accused of being part of an anarchist militia that plotted to kill President Obama. Prosecutors say they killed the teenaged girl and her boyfriend, also a soldier, to silence them.

Several people were shot dead in a grocery store in Old Bridge, New Jersey. Our affiliate is reporting at least three people were killed, including the gunman. We're told employees were stocking shelves early this morning when the gunman opened fire.

Today, Robin Roberts is grieving the loss of her 88-year-old mother. She passed away last night. Roberts as you know has co- hosted ABC's "Good Morning America" is and is leaving the show for an extended medical leave and treatment. Roberts announced in June she has a rare blood disorder.

The tropical depression that was once hurricane Isaac is forecast to move from Arkansas into Missouri. Forecasters warn Isaac's remnants are still dangerous and could cause flash floods and tornadoes. Hundreds of thousands of people are still without power this morning.

And plucked from the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If water got so high I guess I had been -- as long as my nose was out, I'm OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And that's a good thing. Survivors who were caught by rising floodwaters and their dramatic stories, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Twenty-three minutes past the hour.

It was called the biggest speech of Mitt Romney's political career, but did his address to the Republican National Convention resonate beyond the base to voters, especially those who are still undecided? Romney's remarks were certainly long on family and criticism of the current administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How many days have you woken up feeling that something really special was happening in America? Many of you felt that way on Election Day four years ago. Hope and change had a powerful appeal.

But tonight, I'd ask a simple question. If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he's President Obama?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

You know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So we learned more about Mitt the man, but what his plans for the country?

Joining me now are Democratic strategist Maria Cardona and Republican strategist Ana Navarro. Welcome to you both.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you. Good morning.

COSTELLO: OK, I'm just going to get it out of the way. So we don't have to talk about it anymore.

Clint Eastwood. A mistake, Maria?

CARDONA: I think so. I think it was a huge -- what I would call a speed bump to the momentum of Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney's coronation speech. I think it was a big mistake. That's all we're talking about this morning. At least it was your first question.

COSTELLO: I know. But I wanted to get it out of the way. Because you're right, that's all anyone is talking about, Ana.

CARDONA: Yes.

NAVARRO: Carol, I think it was just the bad and the ugly. We completely missed the good part. And this morning has been so long and it's so early, and last night was such a long night, I was seriously just considering not showing up and having Maria speak to an empty space this morning.

But, you know, I thought I'd show up for you.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Thank goodness. Then you would have like tweeted me a picture of you sitting in a chair somewhere.

Anyway, let's get down to serious business now.

Ana, Governor Romney did show emotion. He teared up when he talked about his parents. Is he real now to voters?

NAVARRO: Well, you know, it really is a good start. It was quite amazing. I was amazed to see Mitt Romney emote.

And I think the reason it was so amazing is because it's really the first time we see him show such human emotion, show some, you know, ability to cry, to get sad, to get nostalgic, to get joyous. So I think he went a long way.

Look, Carol, was this the best political speech I've ever heard? No. Was this the best speech I've ever heard from Mitt Romney? Absolutely. And that's the measure he had to, you know, go against.

COSTELLO: Maria, Governor Romney tried a new tactic. Instead of slamming the president, he acknowledged that Mr. Obama is a likeable guy, but that it's OK to divorce him. Is that smart?

CARDONA: Well, I think that it is perhaps one of the only paths that Republicans have, especially in a race where they need to try to convince those independent voters who are actually willing to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt, who actually like him a lot more than Mitt Romney, and actually trust him a lot more than Mitt Romney, they are trying to give them permission to actually think about considering Mitt Romney, considering a change.

But here's where I think they failed. They failed to really give us any details on what they would do. They failed to really fill in those gaps. It was continued criticism. It was continued focus on the things that they think were failures from the Obama administration. And they gave a real opening for Democrats next week to fill in those details on what we all know would be the failures of a Romney administration.

COSTELLO: Ana, I want to ask you that. Because I have talked to many Republican voters who want Mitt Romney to present a plan for how he would fix the economy. He said last night he was going to create 12 million jobs. He didn't exactly say how he would do that. But he did mention regulations and he did mention tax cuts.

NAVARRO: He mentioned tax cuts, regulations, trade. But, listen, a convention speech is a speech to present a big vision, to go big and to go bold. It's not for details. Details -- I agree he needs to flesh out those plans and present some details.

Last night was not the night for that. Last night was a night for Mitt Romney to talk about his personal history, to show some human emotion, to talk about his big goals, to attack Obama some. To lay out a path and say, yes, I'm not going to compete with Barack Obama on likability. But he's likeable but he hasn't achieved the goals that he set out for himself.

So now in these coming days, I hope that he does color in between the lines. I hope that he does give us the detail. But last night was a night to go big, and that's what he did. And I think it worked well for Mitt Romney.

COSTELLO: Ana Navarro, and Maria Cardona, thank you so much for showing up and sitting in the chairs. We appreciate it.

(LAUGHTER)

NAVARRO: Well, standing up would be even worse.

COSTELLO: I know.

Mitt Romney taking his pitch for the president directly to you. But is everything he told you last night true? We'll put his acceptance speech to the test.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Thirty-one minutes past the hour.

Good morning. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for joining us on this Friday. I'm Carol Costello.

Stories we're watching right now in THE NEWSROOM:

Stocks expected to open higher ahead of a speech today by Ben Bernanke. Investors are hoping for clues about possible new stimulus measures in his comments. Ringing the bell today, Thomas Thornton, the CEO of Regional Management Corporation.

The Obama administration has given Shell permission to begin drilling preparations off the coast of Alaska, a move that could open the door to offshore oil production in the region. Environmental groups criticizing the decision saying any drilling in the Arctic is too dangerous. The government says Shell's application to drill into reservoirs is still under review.

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan back on the road today, reaching out to voters in two swing states and accepting the GOP nomination for president last night, Romney evoked themes from the Reagan presidency while attacking what he called President Obama's failed policies.

Governor Romney and Paul Ryan's first stop today actually is Lakeland, Florida. We'll have live coverage of the candidates' remarks beginning in the next hour. And I should mention the candidates will be on their way from Florida to Louisiana to thank the rescue workers there.

Talking about Louisiana and the flooding there, two bodies have been recovered now from a flooded parish home in Plaquemines parish. They are the first known casualties of Hurricane Isaac in the state of Louisiana. Isaac is now a tropical depression, but it's still left many towns underwater.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is in New Orleans this morning. And from what I want, many places that usually don't flood in the New Orleans area flooded this time.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And that's been the case not only south of town, but north of town as well, and west of town towards the Lake Pontchartrain area. We had areas that have seen their worst flooding in a lifetime.

South of town across Plaquemines parish, we've been talking about that and all the rescues happening there. They've got a levee that was overtopped during the storm. Over 1,000 people were in trouble at that point. They are just trying to figure out do they now cut through the levee to drain the water, because it's still flooded and difficult to get around. The floodwaters have not receded yet.

And across the state in Mississippi, they are dealing with a similar issue. They have got a lake up there, which is filled up, and the dam that holds that lake may fail.

So they are trying to figure out what to do with that as well. It is down two feet from yesterday. They may make a slight breach to relieve some of the pressure but they haven't made that call yet.

Yesterday I got up with the U.S. Coast Guard to assess the situation from the air. But before we took off, and we were waiting at the air base, our chopper actually got the burden to make a rescue effort. And we talked with a couple who were rescued from the floodwaters yesterday and brought back with the Coast Guard. Here is their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO (voice-over): Coast Guard choppers continued the work of rescuing victims of hurricane Isaac.

JOE BEKERIS, ISAAC VICTIM: We were directed by the sheriff's department to evacuate, but we couldn't get too far down the road before we got swamped.

MARCIANO: Joe and Melanie Bekeris were caught by the storm surge in Plaquemines Parish.

BEKERIS: The water was rising inside the vehicle. Dogs getting anxious. Needless to say, we were too. We had called 911. They said stay with the vehicle. We're trying to do that.

But then the water kept coming over, kept coming over and then started cracking the front windshield. And so we felt that the best thing to do was try to get out.

MARCIANO: Melanie's declining health made it difficult to evacuate before the storm and even more treacherous during the storm.

BEKERIS: I had her wheelchair in the bed of the truck, and so we were able to crawl through the back window. I broke it out and set her up on the wheelchair, getting her elevated. And the water kept coming, kept coming, until it swept us both into the water. It was estimated 10 to 12 feet deep.

MARCIANO: Joe is retired marine colonel, a strong swimmer, helping his disabled wife stay afloat.

BEKERIS: She said I'm not going to make it, I'm not going to make it. And I said yes, you are. We're going to make it.

MARCIANO: He could now see dry land.

BEKERIS: We were only a couple 300 yards from the levee. We could see the cattle walking on it.

MARCIANO: They managed to get to reeds and other debris, something to latch onto.

BEKERIS: She was already shivering and obviously getting close to hypothermia. So I tried to stabilize her best I could on a telephone pole. And put another piece of wood underneath her head to keep her elevated. And I actually climbed over the reeds to get to the levee.

MARCIANO: Having to leave his wife to run and get help was not easy.

BEKERIS: That was my biggest decision I ever had in my life to leave her.

MARCIANO: She was still there when he returned.

BEKERIS: Considering her health and her mobility, I'm pretty proud of her and her ability to withstand the severity that we went through.

MARCIANO (on camera): What are you most thankful for right now?

BEKERIS: That we're here talking to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: He is thankful to be alive, for sure. What a harrowing tale to tell. I can't even imagine what that must have been like. If he had to do it all over again, he would make the effort to get he and his wife out, to evacuate ahead of time.

You know, that's often a question, Carol. During mandatory evacuations, and there are some people that have some mobility issues that make it, you know, that much more difficult to evacuate. And when you make that decision, this is the kind of thing that can happen. Unbelievable stuff there.

Still flooded down there. They are trying to get rid of that water in some shape or form, but still some people are cut off down in Plaquemines parish.

COSTELLO: Thank goodness he was a strong swimmer. What an amazing story.

Rob Marciano, thanks so much.

Last night, Mitt Romney came out with some big plans in his nomination speech, but he didn't release that many specifics, that many details. Two of the key promises he made, though, making the United States energy independent by 2020, and creating 12 million jobs in his first term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: And let me make this very clear: Unlike President Obama, I will not raise taxes on the middle class of America.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He was talking about creating a lot of jobs. Think about it this way. To create 12 million jobs in four years, that's 250,000 jobs a month for 48 straight months.

Now, the last time we created that many jobs in a month was back in February. And since 2010, there have been only four months where we added more than 250,000 jobs.

Now, two other of Romney's statements caught our attention.

Angie Holan is from PolitiFact.com and "The Tampa Bay Times".

Welcome.

ANGIE HOLAN, POLITIFACT.COM: Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. Last night, Governor Romney told delegates that President Obama started off his administration by saying I'm sorry. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: President Obama began his presidency with an apology tour. America, he said, had dictated to other nations.

No, Mr. President, America has freed other nations from dictators.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Is that true, Angie?

HOLAN: We rated this one pants on fire. It's our worst rating. Now, this is not the first time that Mitt Romney has said this. He has a book called "No Apology."

We've gone through Obama's speeches in his first year. We found a lot of diplomatic language. But there was also a lot of pride in American ideals, and not the words "I'm sorry" or "I apologize." Experts in apologies told us those words are key. We didn't find them. Pants on fire.

COSTELLO: OK. So Romney also brought up the growing controversy over Iran's nuclear threat. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLOIP)

ROMNEY: On another front, every American is less secure today because he has failed to slow Iran's nuclear threat. In his first TV interview as president, he said we should talk to Iran. We're still talking. And Iran's centrifuges are still spinning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK, true or false?

HOLAN: We looked at whether Obama said he would talk to Iran. We rated this true. Just more measured language.

When we went back to one of Obama's first interviews in the White House, he said that diplomacy was very important to him, and he wanted to pursue the talking option. So we rated this true.

COSTELLO: Angie Holan from PolitiFact, thank you for joining us.

The Democrats, of course, get their turn in the spotlight --

HOLAN: Thanks for having us.

COSTELLO: Oh, thank you.

The Democrats get their turn in the spotlight and we'll be fact checking them too. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, along with First Lady Michelle Obama, just some of the speakers on tap at the party's national convention. That's begins on Tuesday, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

College football season is finally here, and for the players at Penn State university it may not be a moment too soon. They can now focus on football. Next, we'll hear what some of the players are saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Forty-four minutes past the hour.

Happening right now -- this is Lakeland, Florida, just outside of Tampa. And you're looking at the new Republican presidential campaign plane. No time to relax after the Republican National Convention. Mitt Romney heading to Louisiana first to survey the damage from hurricane Isaac.

Jim Acosta is in Lakeland. Tell us more, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. As you can tell behind me, Mitt Romney does have a new campaign plane. And as of last night, they are now spending general election money because he accepted the Republican nomination officially.

As you said, that's right -- the campaign did announce earlier this morning that he is making an impromptu trip to Louisiana to tour some of the storm damage there. He's going to be meeting up with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to do that. And because of that, Carol, they'll be snipping a Virginia trip out of their schedule today. Paul Ryan will be going there on his own.

But we will see both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan out here in just a few moments, Carol.

COSTELLO: Ok. So two things. First of all, tell us the mood after the RNC. And tell us if there's any backlash to Clint Eastwood.

ACOSTA: Well, they're feeling very good after last night. They feel like -- obviously you're going to hear this from the campaign -- but they feel like that Mitt Romney did very well last night. The thing that they wanted to communicate and I think that this was a very big part of the speech, was that there is a reason, they say, for voters who voted for Barack Obama to now switch over to Mitt Romney.

That line that he gave last night about how, you know, maybe the best feeling that you had is when you voted for Barack Obama. That's a theme that I think we're going to hear Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan carrying out in the next several days.

Now as for Clint Eastwood, yes, you're right. A lot of people are sort of shaking their heads and saying, what was that all about last night? You could say that Clint Eastwood certainly had a sudden impact, if I may use one of his movie titles there, but the campaign is putting out a statement this morning, a little bit of pushback on some of the criticism for Eastwood.

They are saying, yes, this was improv, but putting out this statement. "Judging an American icon like Clint Eastwood through a typical political lens doesn't work. His ad-libbing was a break from all the political speeches and the crowd enjoyed it. He rightly pointed out that 23 million Americans are out of work or underemployed and that's a national disgrace and it's time for a change."

It's interesting Carol, actually Clint Eastwood sort of had factual error in that -- in those comments last night. He referred to 23 million unemployed people and we now know that well, we've know now for a while that that is not accurate -- Carol.

COSTELLO: No it's more around 12 million, right -- which is still a lot of people unemployed.

ACOSTA: That's right.

COSTELLO: Ok.

ACOSTA: That's right, you add the underemployed in there you get to 23 million. And that's a number that the campaign has used a lot. But Clint Eastwood got it wrong last night. Not an actor who usually flubs his lines, but he flubbed that one last night -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well you're right. The crowd did enjoy him and it's kind of nice that the Republicans didn't throw him under the bus. Jim Acosta.

ACOSTA: Yes. And the -- and the Romney family did not care for it. I have to say I was standing right next to the Romney family last night, and it did not look on their faces that they really liked what he had to say last night.

Just sort of an observation from my vantage point last night -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I can understand that too.

Jim Acosta reporting live from Lakeland, Florida this morning.

A fall tradition starts again tomorrow on the campus of Penn State University. Football is back. But this is a season like no other. Of course, it's all because of all the changes put into place following that child sex abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky.

Jason Carroll sat down with some of the Penn State players who are getting ready for a new season.

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JORDAN HILL, PENN STATE DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: This whole situation has been a life lesson, starting back in November. You have to go through struggles to, you know, to have a successful life.

MICHAEL ZORDICH, PENN STATE RUNNING BACK: You can place blame. You can say things were fair or unfair. You can do all of that. But at the end of the day, it is what it is, and this is the situation that we're in.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What are your thoughts on those who decided to leave the team, transfer out?

MATT MCGLOIN, PENN STATE QUARTERBACK: It's definitely tough because you definitely build relationships with those guys. You know, you have worked out with them for the past couple of years and you've hung out with them. You've gone out with them. You had a great, great times with them and you build great relations with them.

MICHAEL MAUTI, PENN STATE LINEBACKER: We lived with some of those guys. We're great friends with those guys. At the end of the day, you know doing what's best for you as an individual, as a man, that's -- that's what you've got to do.

CARROLL: Did any of you consider maybe I will switch, maybe I will transfer?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a younger guy, I mean, it runs through your head. But these, these guys right here, I'm not leaving these guys. These guys are my brothers. And we went through a lot together.

CARROLL: Joe Paterno, a man larger-than-life in some respects. Your thoughts? Do you miss him? What are your thoughts on Joe Paterno?

MCGLOIN: To have a guy like that in your life, you know, and to be, you know, the kind of man that he was, and I'm just happy that I was around him for the four years. And he'll be greatly missed.

ZORDICH: You know, as crazy as everything was that happened, and as much respect as we have for him, we have to understand that we're with -- we're with Coach O'Brien right now, and that's the guy who is helping us get through all of this.

MCGLOIN: September 1st is becoming, you know, so much more about football. It's you know, we're playing, you know, obviously for -- for ourselves and our coaches, but now we're playing for the alumni, we're playing for the fans, we're playing for the past, present and future of the Penn State football program. And we have the opportunity to make history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Jason Carroll is joining me now live. Ok. So the school has banned the song "Sweet Caroline". You can't sing that anymore because of the Jerry Sandusky trial and that one particular line in the song, which I'm sure you know.

CARROLL: Right.

COSTELLO: Joe Paterno's statue is gone. And even if those Penn State players have the best season ever, they can't go to a bowl game. What are these players saying about all of that?

CARROLL: Well, a lot of things. I mean, you mentioned so many of the problems now facing Penn State. The NCAA sanctions obviously crippled the program, $60 million in fines, a four-year-ban on postseason play. So these are some of the things that the team is looking at.

Nine players, Carol, as a result of the NCAA sanctions decided to transfer to other schools. When I asked the players about that they said, yes, that definitely hurts. But they really feel as though the team is stronger now and closer now than it was before.

And you really get the sense from the players that they feel like they're playing for something more than just football. They feel like they're playing for a way to sort of reset things at Penn State and create a new chapter hopefully in the future of the team.

COSTELLO: Jason Carroll reporting live for us this morning, thanks so much.

Hurricane Isaac might not be a hurricane any longer but it's still causing quite a bit of damage in Louisiana, in Mississippi and it's moving on and it may cause flooding as far as Missouri.

We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: Take a look at that, that's the view from a helicopter over the state of Louisiana. As you can see Hurricane Isaac now a tropical depression did quite a number on the folks in Louisiana and in Mississippi and now Isaac is moving on.

Let's get to Bonnie Schneider to find out how much rain it could dump on states like Missouri. BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately Carol a lot of rain and in a short amount of time. Let's take a look at what this storm has already done. It may be a tropical depression but this storm was once a hurricane.

And you can see by looking at these rainfall totals 20 inches of rain in New Orleans. That water is still on the ground as you saw from the pictures. Plenty of rain through Mississippi and remember the storm over the weekend. We were talking about an impact on Florida. And that's exactly what happened, 16 inches of rain in Vero Beach.

So incredible amounts of rainfall totals with this storm. But now some of the heaviest rain is sweeping across Arkansas. I was just reading some new data in that not only are we looking at drenching rain -- 2, 3 inches per hour, but we're also looking at the force of wind, almost a tropical storm force strength meaning some of these gusts are coming in at 39 miles per hour though most of the sustained winds are at 25 miles per hour. We're also getting lightning strikes with this storm.

So even though it's a depression, keep in mind that there is a dangerous flood threat across much of the region especially in the heartland where we're expecting a lot of rain. And Carol, I just want to show you quickly this is the drought map. And in red of course means that the severity -- severity of the drought so you think it's beneficial but when you have so much rain coming in, so fast, it causes flooding.

COSTELLO: It sure does. We'll keep an eye on things as I'm sure you will for us. Thank you, Bonnie Schneider.

American tennis fans will be loud and proud at the U.S. Open tonight. Andy Roddick takes the court in what could be his last match ever. We'll talk about Roddick's legacy and the young players who could follow in his footsteps.

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A bombshell at the U.S. Open and it wasn't on the court. Andy Roddick dropped it in the media room late yesterday. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY RODDICK, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: I've decided that this is going to be my last tournament. I just feel like it's time. I don't know that I'm healthy enough or committed enough to go another year. I've always wanted to in a perfect world finish at this event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Our friend LZ Granderson is covering the OPEN for ESPN. Hi, LZ.

LZ GRANDERSON, SENIOR WRITER, ESPN: Hey good morning, Carol. How are you?

COSTELLO: I'm good. I'm excited to talk sports with you. So when you heard this did you just go, "Wow"?

GRANDERSON: I was watching the Sloan Stevens match and I got a text that says you need to get to Andy Roddick's press conference now. Everyone at the conference was in a scramble. We knew like maybe a couple minutes before he made the announcement. It was really crazy out there.

COSTELLO: So put Roddick's career in perspective. We're not exactly bleeding star great U.S. men's tennis players.

GRANDERSON: Andy Roddick is the last American man to win a grand slam tournament in 2003, with the U.S. Open. You're right, we've been somewhat starved in terms of grand slams. But Andy has been an incredible ambassador for the sport. He's been in the top ten for nine consecutive years.

Davis Cup captain. He really helped corral the young guys so even though he's retiring, we're going be in pretty good shape for years to come.

COSTELLO: That is a good thing. I hope he wins.

LZ Granderson. Thank you so much.

GRANDERSON: Absolutely. Thank you.

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts after a quick break.

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