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CNN Sunday Morning

Florida Keys Bracing for Isaac; RNC Cancels Monday Events; Remembering Neil Armstrong

Aired August 26, 2012 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

KAYE: Tropical storm Isaac picking up steam. Now Florida is bracing for a hurricane. We'll take you there live.

And politics are no match for Mother Nature. As Isaac moves north, the Republican convention is under threat, with some events already canceled.

NEIL ARMSTRONG, ASTRONAUT: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

KAYE: Mankind loses a legend. The life, the career, the inspiration of Neil Armstrong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye, and it is 8:00 on the East Coast and 5:00 a.m. out West. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us.

We begin this morning with tropical storm Isaac. It has already killed at least two people in Haiti where the streets are rivers. Now, the storm is barreling toward Florida, just in time for the Republican National Convention in Tampa. It is throwing a wrench into the RNC's carefully planned schedule. Monday's big opening events are on hold and more on that in a moment.

Isaac could strengthen into a hurricane as it crosses the Florida Keys possibly as soon as tonight. Heavy rains are expected all through today.

We are covering Isaac at all angles. Bonnie Schneider is at the CNN weather center, CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser in Tampa.

And let's with begin now with CNN's Jim Spellman who is in the Florida Keys.

Jim, the Keys could get Florida's first brush with Isaac. What are you seeing there? JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The winds have definitely picked up this morning, Randi. No rain yet. Yesterday, we saw some squalls, but steadily over to the last three hours or so, we felt the wind's pick up.

What they're really anticipating though is not so much a wind event, here, but a rain event here. They are almost positive they're going to get some sort of flooding, which can happen here just with a regular thunderstorm. From what we will see from Isaac, I think that's going to be their main fear.

The main thing they want to have done as far as preparations is to get people out of the way of the storm as it comes in later today, Randi.

KAYE: Yes, Floridians certainly have been through this before. The Key West is also a big tourist destination. What about vacationers? Are they getting out? Do they know how to get out?

SPELLMAN: Yes, the main thing they wanted to do is get those vacationers out of here, and the locals and the residents are a little more experienced. They didn't really encourage those people to leave, but to stay inside. But to get the tourist out, first, they added flights yesterday. We saw planes taking off all day yesterday.

But that's done. They are done now. The only way to get back now is to drive 120 miles back on a two-lane road. Also, this is a cruise ships dock, Randi. Usually, you have those enormous cruise ships here. No cruise ships should be docking until Isaac has made his way out.

So, that's been their main plan and it seems to have worked. Hotels here only at about 20 percent occupancy, the mayor told us here, usually on a busy weekend, late summer weekend, they'd be packed.

KAYE: And do the hotels make any hurricane preps?

SPELLMAN: Yes. Well, some of the newer and big hotels are built to withstand just this sort of thing. Some of the older and historic hotels have been moving their guests into the newer hotels, working amongst themselves to make sure that anybody who is here and in a hotel has the best chance to make it through safe and sound through one of the more modern, very well constructed hotels.

KAYE: And Governor Rick Scott, we know, has declared a state of emergency. What exactly does that mean and what does it involve there?

SPELLMAN: Sure. Well, it puts their whole emergency management command system into place and it allows them to work with other states who say they need, for instance, the Georgia National Guard or something to help, they can do that. And it allows them to go to the federal government and ask for help from agencies like FEMA, or to ask money and loans, that sort of thing, should there'd be more damage. Par for the course, for something like this. And I think also, it's intended to send the message that not only is the government ready, but you, resident, should be ready as well.

KAYE: Jim Spellman for us in Key West -- Jim, thank you very much, Jim.

And meteorologist Bonnie Schneider joins me now from the CNN severe weather center.

So, Bonnie, tell me, where Jim is in Key West -- is that right in Isaac's track?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think so. And not only that, but the storm is getting closer to Key West. And it's possible that the Florida Keys could get a direct strike from Isaac or certainly impacted by hurricane force winds. The latest position statement has Isaac's 135 miles east/southeast of Key West -- so getting much, much closer.

How close? Well, let's take a look. You can see the storm is still somewhat disorganized but the winds are 65 miles per hour. This is a very strong tropical storm and probably a hurricane within the next 24 hours.

I want to show you the track of the storm as we push it into motion, and you can see the cone of uncertainty covers all of the Florida Keys, especially Key West. And it's possible we could see the landfall along the Florida Keys. Now, it's possible the storm might skirt it to the south, but it's likely that the keys will be impacted with hurricane-force winds within the next 24 hours. That's why they are under a hurricane warning.

And as we put this map into motion, notice the storm across the Gulf of Mexico, making likely a second landfall somewhere in the vicinity of Tuesday night, early Wednesday morning along the Gulf Coast. And not only that, but as the storm passes over the warmer waters of the gulf, intensity grows to category 2 strength.

So, we really have to make those hurricane preps if you haven't already along the Gulf Coast, and certainly for Florida as the impact is more imminent. That's why we have the hurricane warnings along much of south Florida. And then the watches have extended now all of the way across southern Louisiana for the southwest Louisiana parishes, down to Mississippi, the coastline, and well into Florida.

In terms of the rain bands, we're already getting impacted by Isaac, heavy rain and some lightning popping up north of Miami. The bulk of the heavy rain, those spiral bands, will be coming in over the next 12 hours and we're likely to see once again a possibly first landfall as early as later today.

I want to show you the forecast rain total so you know what to expect and it is very, very heavy, depending on how long Isaac will linger in the Gulf of Mexico will determine how much we see the heavy training effect of the rain. But it is expansive, possibly up to 10 inches or more in parts of south Florida.

And then we'll be watching the track to see if the storm does indeed move westward over the next few days. We could this turn into a huge rainmaker not just for Florida, but certainly for Alabama and Mississippi and even possibly Georgia as the storm comes inland I'd say over the middle to end of next week -- Randi.

KAYE: And this is typical, though, right, for it to wobble a little bit and not know where it's going to strike?

KAYE: That's right. And remember, it's a large-sized storm. So that's why tropical force winds will be felt along the Florida coasts, both sides of the peninsula, as this storm advances -- even though it's likely to pass into the Gulf of Mexico, skirting Florida. Again, we are expecting the impact particularly in the Florida Keys within the next 12 hours.

KAYE: All right. Bonnie Schneider, thank you very much for that.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

KAYE: As we told you, the Republican National Convention is being impacted by the tropical storm Isaac. CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser is joining me now from Tampa.

Paul, good morning. So, bring us up to date on some of the changes with the storm heading your way.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, Randi.

It seems like we're going to take a four-day convention and for now, at least, squeeze it into three days. The Republican Party officials, as well as the convention officials, have been in constant contact with federal, state and the local authorities as they see the storm approaching.

And what is the plan right now is there will be a call to order on Monday. The convention will be called to order and then immediately, they'll be adjourned. So, Monday's session basically goes away.

And the Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus says, though, that the work will be done. Here's what he talked about last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: The Republican national convention will take place and we know that we will officially nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan and the other party has other business that it has to address.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: You know, we'll hear more from party officials a little later today about the schedule changes, but Priebus and Florida Governor Rick Scott should be on "STATE OF THE UNION" coming up next hour with Candy Crowley. So we may hear more.

But, Randi, here's what will probably change. This is what's going to get pushed back. Monday night's speakers were going to be Governor Nikki Haley, the Republican of South Carolina, as well as former Governors Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Jeb Bush right here in Florida. Those speeches obviously will be pushed back to later in the week.

Ann Romney, Mitt Romney's wife, was supposed to speak on Monday, too, but her speech has been pushed back to Tuesday.

The other big thing that was going to happen Monday was Mitt Romney's name was going to be formally announced, put into nomination, the roll call is going to start again. That will also be pushed back.

Four years ago, the same thing happened, hurricane Gustav approaching the Gulf Coast and the first day of the Republican convention in St. Paul was basically curtailed with a four-day convention going down the three -- Randi.

KAYE: So, we've seen all before.

What about Vice President Joe Biden, he was supposed to be in the area for his own campaign events tomorrow, right?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, he was supposed to be here in Tampa bracketing the Republican convention and then Tuesday, he was supposed in Orlando and St. Augustine. Of course, Florida is a very important battleground state, the Obama administration saying yesterday that those campaign events as well have been cancelled because of Isaac -- Randi.

KAYE: Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much for the update from there.

And be sure to stay with CNN for complete coverage of the Republican National Convention.

Later today, we have a special look at Mitt Romney followed by a preview of the convention and be sure to stay with CNN all week for the convention, itself.

A last political note now -- remember former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. He's the one who famously disappeared a few years ago and then it was revealed he was in Argentina with his mistress? Well, here he is now, and that's the former mistress who is now his fiancee apparently. He's just announced their engagement. Sanford and his wife are divorced two years ago.

A new bar is set for the carnage in Syria. We'll tell you about the grim record set this weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: An explosion rocks an oil refinery in northwestern Venezuela. Thirty nine people dead including a 10-year-old boy. President Hugo Chavez has declared three days of mourning following yesterday's blast. More than 80 people were injured.

In China, a bus crash has left 40 people dead. State media reports a tanker carrying methanol collided with a double-decker passenger bus. Three people were injured a on the only ones to survive that crash.

And a typhoon has its sights set on Japan. Typhoon Bolaven is closing in on Okinawa, bringing intense rain and winds of up to 134 miles per hour. Storm surges are expected to be a major issue, as about 400,000 people live in low-lying areas on the southern Japanese island.

Now, to put the size of the storm in perspective, its cloud field is 20 times the length of the island.

A grim milestone in Syrian's civil war. The opposition reports 440 people were killed yesterday, the highest single day death toll since the civil war there began. More than 200 bodies were found in Daraya alone. This video purportedly shows an explosion following regime shelling there. CNN cannot independently confirm its authenticity.

Last week, the big news out of Syria was the supposed defection of the country's vice president, but not so fast.

CNN's Jim Clancy joins me now from Beirut, Lebanon.

Jim, what is the latest on the V.P.'s whereabouts?

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, Farouq al-Sharaa who was the face of the Assad family regime has been seen now and there is videotape has surfaced today of him meeting with a high-level member of the parliament of Iran who heads up a foreign affairs committee. Farouq al-Sharaa is seen listening intently as the Iranian speaks, but he never looks at the camera.

The 75-year-old or 74-year-old Sharaa had been a stalwart in the regime. There were reports that family members had been killed in Daraa, now that's a different location that Daraya, which is the suburb of Damascus, but in Daraa, it was reported that he had a falling out with Bashar al Assad and placed under house arrest. And then it was believed that he might have left the country altogether.

But that is apparently not the case. But it is also not clear what is exactly the situation is in the regime. He did not make an appearance at Eid ceremonies as many people would have expected him to do. It has never been confirmed that he is under house arrest, but that is what many outsides still believe today -- Randi.

KAYE: And, Jim, this defection would have been a big victory, right, for the opposition? CLANCY: Not necessarily. Look, and I was talking to some high- level politicians here in Lebanon yesterday, trying to get a sense of all of this. Who would be significant coming out of Syria would be somebody who could replace Bashar al Assad, somebody who could lead that country, reunite it after all of the violence and the bloodshed it has seen.

Those figures have not been coming out. That's what they say would be significant, but of course, it would be a blow to the regime that yet another person, especially a man as close to Bashar al Assad's father, Hafez al Assad, to have him step away and repudiate the regime would certainly be a blow to them.

Back to you, Randi.

KAYE: Jim Clancy, thank you.

The party platform that is going to be voted on at the Republican National Convention has gotten a lot of attention. I'll ask one of the authors about the most controversial plank, abortion.

Plus, I'll take to Gene Cernan, the last man on the moon, about the legacy of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon who died yesterday at age 82.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Nineteen minutes past the hour.

As we have been telling you, the schedule for the Republican National Convention this week is in flux. It's because of the expected arrival of tropical storm Isaac. We'll learn more about the new schedule later on today. It means, though, that there will be a little less time to get the message out to the delegates and to the American people. That message is all about Mitt Romney and his plans for America.

One of the people selected to deliver the message is Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and he is joining us now.

Sam, good morning to you. Thank you for joining us this morning.

SAM OLENS, GEORGIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Good morning.

KAYE: You are there in Tampa, already. Are you prepared for this storm if it hits there?

OLENS: Well, I'm originally from Miami, so this does not make me nervous.

KAYE: All right. Well, that is good to hear.

Well, let's get to why you are there and that is important now. Can you give us a preview of what you will be talking about on Wednesday? Is your speech actually still scheduled for Wednesday? OLENS: To the best of my knowledge, it's myself and the Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, and we'll be discussing the role of attorneys general during the Obama administration and the actions we needed to take to protect our states.

KAYE: Now, you were one of the 110 or so party faithful who actually helped write the RNC's platform that got a whole lot of attention this week. We've heard a lot about the language --

OLENS: Well, it did and I'm not sure why. The part of that is most different is frankly relating to the economy and not the social issues.

KAYE: Well, but the language on abortion did get a lot of attention and you say that the language on exceptions isn't as strict as some may think and I'm talking about the exceptions in the area of abortion. So explain that.

OLENS: Well, I mean, candidly, it's pretty much the exact same language as 2004 and 2008. It has no reference to particular exceptions at all. And this wouldn't be an issue but for Congressman Akin. The language is pretty much word-for-word for what we have had the last eight years.

KAYE: The language may not have changed, but the fact that it does not have any word on exceptions -- let me just read it here because I have a draft of the platform. "Faithful to the self-evident truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life and cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment protections apply to unborn children."

That sounds to me like there really aren't any exceptions. The right to life cannot be infringed.

OLENS: Look. In the actual front of the full platform committee, it was expressly stated that the issues concerning exceptions should frankly be handled by Congress. You know, it sort of interesting to me that everyone is talking about this exclusively due to Congressman Akin, but I mean, for instance, from my perspective, the vice president's comments of "Y'all are going to be chained" doesn't seem to get the same amount of press and candidly, that's far more offensive.

KAYE: Well, Akin certainly put a spotlighted on it, but now, we have the language and we're looking at the language. So, why weren't the exceptions explicitly laid out there?

OLENS: Because the platform is supposed to be a broad blueprint. We are not trying to replace the actions of Congress. And when you look at the whole platform overall, it's full of broad statements, we're not trying to usurp the role of the legislative body.

So, you know, once again, it's the same language as '04. The same as 2008 and these are issues that frankly needs to be passed by Congress if Congress would actually pass any meaningful legislation on any issue to include passage of a budget.

KAYE: What is the point of a platform or plank if it's not more specific?

OLENS: Well, look, it is not specific in any area. You know, this is the role of the platforms, the platform is a broad blue print for the American public on where each political party stands.

So, for instance, unlike all of the press for me, which is a non- issue, we have specific language on needing to audit the Fed, we have specific language on stopping the spending to lower our deficit. You know, the deficit is almost $16 trillion.

Now, I tend to think that the American people are much more concerned about 42 months of excessive unemployment over 8 percent and a national debt close to $16 trillion. In the scheme of things, I think the press is frankly paying attention to a minor issue while our country is going underwater.

KAYE: Well, we do pay a fair amount as well, plenty of attention to the debt as well. We did a segment on the fiscal cliff as well this morning. But this is in the news, so we wanted to ask you about it.

But I wanted to ask you about it, but I wanted to ask you about how the platforms came to be. I mean, what issue was the most contentious for the platform committee?

OLENS: You know, candidly, I don't think that there was an issue that was most contentious. It's actually very proud process in democracy. You had over 3,000 e-mails sent in requesting changes.

From the first time I saw a draft of the platform to when we went to Tampa week ago, there were significant changes and improvements. And during the process of the 112 members of the platform committee, once again, there were several hundred proposed amendments -- many of them passed.

So I think the big thing about the platform is that candidly how democratic it is, how folks from throughout the country and the territories have an option to write down changes and get a full vote. There isn't any proposed amendment that doesn't get hearing. No one is prescreening or saying that is too controversial. Everything got a vote.

And yes, there were a couple of issues that didn't get a second for a motion, but everything had its time, its opportunity and I was frankly very impressed by the fact that no one was shut out and everyone had the opportunity to seek to have input with the platform.

KAYE: Sam Olens, we appreciate your time this morning. I know it was difficult for you there with security getting to us this morning. So we certainly appreciate your efforts and your time. Thank you. OLENS: Thank you very much. Have a great day.

KAYE: You, too.

Saying good-bye to Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. I'll talk with Gene Cernan, the last man on the moon, about Armstrong's legacy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL ARMSTRONG, ASTRONAUT: It's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: I'm sure you've heard those famous words before, the date, July 20th, 1969. The mission, Apollo 11. Forty-three years ago, Neil Armstrong blasted off into space and became one of the most famous man in the world when he set foot on the moon.

Armstrong passed away yesterdays from complications from heart bypass surgery. And today, the world mourns his death.

We're joined this morning by former astronaut, Gene Cernan. He's on the television with us from Houston.

Gene, good morning.

He is one of -- actually, one of only 12 men to walk on the moon, and the last one to do it in 1972. We know Armstrong, Gene, from the historic videos that we often seen. But can you tell us what he is like?

GENE CERNAN, FORMER ASTRONAUT (via telephone): Well, you know, vintage. There is nobody like vintage Neil Armstrong. He was truly a special human being and certainly an American hero, but a friend of the country and a friend of future generations.

You know, he has been accused of being recluse and modest, but he, quite frankly, was, you know, after the flight, he was overpowered with people and press and one thing or another.

But Neil had a special character and quality. He could walk into a room of people of any age and, and just inspire them. We went to Afghanistan. We went to Iraq together. And to see the eyes light up on the young servicemen and servicewomen just because he took the time to be there was a real joy for me personally.

KAYE: I'm sure. We have some video of you on the moon singing and dancing. Let's listen to it for a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was strolling on the moon one day, in the merry, merry month of --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: December.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, May. When there's much to my surprise, I pair of rovish eyes --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: I love that video, Gene. Tell me, what it was like to be up there?

CERNAN: Well, it's -- first of all, this is -- you know, today, this week is not about me. It's not about where we are going to space. It's really about what Neil Armstrong has done and committed to and his country. But any of us who have been up there, it is almost like a dream.

And let me go back to Neil's feelings about that. We were the tip of the arrow, and Neil would often and always give credit to somebody else. It was about 400,000 or 500,000 Americans who made his first steps and those of us who followed even possible.

And -- and one of the things that I think he certainly enjoyed doing under, you know, in his own manner and his own way was sharing those thoughts and sharing those feelings with other people.

And in turn inspiring them to do things that they didn't think could be done. You know, if we go back to JFK's time when he challenged us to go to the moon, I -- most people thought way back then this was the terrible '60s and the country was strapped with campus unrest and the civil strife the beginning of a very of unpopular war. He challenged us do what most people thought to be impossible and thought couldn't be done.

Neil, Neil is the epitome, the outgrowth, he -- he is -- he is the focal point of that, it turned out fate was very kind to this country and to Americans that it was Neil Armstrong who is the one who made those first steps on the moon. Nobody else could have handled it, I don't believe with -- with greater dignity than Neil has handled it.

And so he is the epitome of that challenge. He is the epitome of doing something that most think is impossible and that's where his inspiration to future generations come.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: That was beautifully said, Gene. Thank you so much for calling in this morning, Gene Cernan, we appreciate that.

CERNAN: Thank you. A pleasure being with you this morning.

Let's talk about Isaac, Florida is now under a state of emergency as tropical storm Isaac becomes more of a threat. We'll take you live to the Florida Keys and we'll show you where it is at and where we think its heading.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. I'm Randi Kaye. Bottom of the hour now; here are some of the stories that we're watching this hour.

Tropical storm Isaac is getting stronger as it steams toward Florida. It's targeting the Florida Keys and when Isaac hits, it could be a hurricane. Florida is under a state of emergency and the Republican National Convention's opening day events in low-lying Tampa, well, they're not happening.

Let's go to CNN's Jim Spellman. He's in Key West, Florida, this morning. Jim, are you getting any strong winds there yet? I'm curious how bad it's getting there already?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The winds have picked up for sure. We haven't seen any rain yet it's nowhere near tropical storm force winds but we have felt a steady increase and I'm starting to really notice how fast the clouds are moving. It definitely seems like everything is starting to build up here as the day goes on. But they anticipate later this afternoon Randi is really when they are going to start feeling it here Key West.

KAYE: What are folks there most worried about I mean, is it the winds or is it flooding maybe?

SPELLMAN: Yes, not so much the winds for -- for -- for a couple of reasons. One, minimal Cat 1 hurricane is what they're anticipating 75 to 80 mile an hour winds perhaps and so many of the building especially the resort places, like the hotels are just built to withstand that. The really main thing is a storm surge possibly and the inland flooding that they can get here after a normal thunderstorm. That was the one of the main reasons they really wanted to clear out visitors out of this town. When you have streets flooded with water, the last thing you want are a lot of people unfamiliar with the area out trying to you know, be lookie-lose and see what's going on.

KAYE: Yes.

SPELLMAN: That's the main reason they want to get everybody out, anticipating that kind of inland flooding phenomenon.

KAYE: For anyone who's been to the Keys they certainly know it's one of the most laid back places around. I mean, are people taking this seriously even?

SPELLMAN: You know, I -- I -- I wish I could say in a way that they were taking it more seriously, they've been through a lot of that. But people definitely have this casual attitude, they said, oh I've been through Wilma and things like that and they -- and they feel confident of it. I have been you know through a handful of hurricanes and I take them very seriously. They have definitely that Keys' attitude of just about everybody we spoke to who's going to stay and ride it out is planning on throwing or attending a hurricane party here. You know people they like to party here and they're not going to let Isaac get in the way of that. KAYE: Yes. There is one way out, though, that beautiful seven- mile bridge. Are people going to be able to get out in terms of evacuating?

SPELLMAN: Well, the first thing they want to do is to do all of that yesterday. So they had extra airplanes flying and people out here that flew they were trying to encourage anybody to drive out, because not only that it's a narrow bridge, that would be dangerous in a storm, but one accident or something can block the only way in and out all the way in the mainland Florida it's about 120 miles from here in Key West into mainland Florida.

So that's a 120-mile stretch if one thing goes wrong along that stretch it can impact not only people trying to get out but potentially emergency vehicles and stuff coming in. They really wanted to keep that road clear.

Now that we've gotten to today, the day they anticipate Isaac arriving, they want anyone who is still here is to stay indoors and stay off the street and keep themselves safe and keep the road open if any kind of emergency responders need to be out doing their work -- Randi.

KAYE: All right, well I hope you stay safe as well, Jim Spellman, in the Florida Keys for us. Jim thank you.

And let's get the very latest now on the forecast for Isaac, Bonnie Schneider is following that for us. So is it changing track at all Bonnie?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's changed track a little bit more westward, but one thing it's doing right now Randi that we can tell you just a moment ago a new tornado watch was issued. Remember, often we see tornadoes as a byproduct of a storm coming on shore with the friction and the strong thunderstorms that those outer bands can produce.

Look at the tornado watch it's covering a good portion of south Florida this goes into 5:00 today and it doesn't certainly includes the Florida Keys. The rain bands are already starting to move on the shore and these are just the outer rain bands so it's only going to get worse as we go through the afternoon.

I want to take a look at it on the satellite perspective and give you the position. It's now the center of circulation is 135 miles east southeast of Key West.

Let's take a look at the track with the winds now at 65 miles per hour, the gusts are strong as hurricane force. This is a very intense tropical storm, almost at hurricane strength which will occur by today or tonight.

So as the storm will likely make its first landfall possibly somewhere along the Florida Keys a second landfall is in the forecast possibly as early as Tuesday night into Wednesday and before that happens Randi we could see further intensification and it could become a Category 2 storm.

So right now the threat is growing for a larger portion of the southeast to be impacted by Isaac.

KAYE: All right, Bonnie Schneider, thank you for the update there.

The most common meaning of the name Isaac is he will laugh, but I can tell you no one in Tampa, Florida is laughing this morning after the Republican National Convention gets pushed back a day. We're going there live for an update with Candy Crowley. And you are looking there at live pictures from both inside and outside the convention hall as they get ready for whenever this convention gets under way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: And take a look there, these are live pictures from Tampa, Florida, that we're bringing you this morning. That is outside of the convention center where the Republican convention is going to take place eventually this week. And there is a look inside. They are getting ready, even though the convention is going to be pushed back at least for a day, at least the events will be. It will convene on Monday, but then will recess immediately.

Thanks to tropical storm Isaac, the grand old party's convention is really starting out to be a mess as we were just telling you. Let's bring in "STATE OF THE UNION" host, Candy Crowley; she is in Tampa at the site of the RNC event.

Candy good morning. So I guess the conventions is going to be cut short by a day and kind of consolidated now what into three days. So is anybody going to be cut from the event?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": So far there is no -- I can assure you that none of the big names they wanted to have out there sort of thee rising stars. One of those folks who is already a star in his own right Jeb Bush who was supposed to speak on Monday, they will find a place for these folks. I think Nikki Haley are very -- an up and coming governor, certainly, they will find a place for her.

This is where they put folks on to kind of show them off. They'll find a place. Sometimes there is a lot of milling around at conventions and you know, you squeeze up the time. They will find the time to put them on, so we don't know of any big cancellations.

KAYE: Yes. And you're going to hear actually from the governor there this morning along with Reince Priebus, right?

CROWLEY: Right. So we will find out, like, we know Monday, they just really were worried about the weather and not so much in the convention hall, but for the conventioneers. I mean just getting them from point A to point B in very inclement weather at best. That is what concerned them was the safety. Not just of those coming to the convention, but folks in Tampa. They think by Tuesday, they are in the clear at least according to the weather forecast won't won't be so hard to get around at any rate even though there may still be high winds and some of those outer bands of the storm.

So they are looking to start Tuesday afternoon and we just want to make sure -- actually, the question that you asked, what are you going to do with the business that doesn't get done, because the important piece of business that actually was going to happen on Monday was the delegates voting and actually making it official that they want Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to be their nominees. So at some point we will find out when they're going do that now.

KAYE: Yes. Romney, we know certainly has been working hard to get the message out. Will this affect that, do you think?

CROWLEY: I don't think so. There are key points in the convention and certainly the keynote speech, because Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor is doing it this time around and they like that.

But what, what the Mitt Romney people want out of this convention is a different look at Mitt Romney not through the lenses of the Democratic Party, not through the lens of the media, but through the lens of the folks on the platform behind me talking about him.

Who do they want to do that? Certainly Ann Romney and they will find a good spot for her. They want to show off Paul Ryan the number two. Certainly that will be in prime time and, of course, the most important speech really for Mitt Romney is that Thursday night acceptance speech, because that just sets the dynamic for the fall. That's where he can start that momentum that they really need coming out of the summer.

So it is kind of rough. They're still -- let's face it -- they're still in pretty much a dead heat in the polls, so that's not bad, but the fact is, there are just a lot of things that show up in those polls when you look at them primarily sort of personality things. People don't think he cares about the middle-class. People don't think he cares about people like them. They don't think he cares about women, et cetera, et cetera.

So those are things they want to start correcting and start correcting quickly. And this is where they wanted to do it. So the speeches that they think most convey that from the people who know him best and from the number two ticket, those will all get major prime time coverage. And that's what they want. So he will come out of here I think fairly happy.

KAYE: All right. Candy, thank you very much, and nice to chat with you this morning. And of course, keep it here for "STATE OF THE UNION" --

CROWLEY: Thanks.

KAYE: -- with Candy Crowley live from the convention in Tampa, coming up in just about 13 minutes from now.

Most people have a moment in life they wish they could do over and the Democratic and the Republican national conventions are no exceptions. Get ready for some of the most memorable moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back, getting close to the top of the hour.

Turning to some political humor now -- one party's embarrassing moment can become the other party's opportunity to highlight it. Both the Republicans and Democrats will be holding their conventions over the next two weeks, so we are walking down memory lane for some of the more memorable convention moments.

Here is my conversation with comedian Dean Obeidallah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Comedian Dean Obeidallah joining us now. Dean, good morning to you. Let's start with the --

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: Good morning Randi.

KAYE: Let's start with this awkward pose. Richard Nixon may take the gold for an awkward moment during the Republican National Convention, 1972. Remind us of it.

OBEIDALLAH: Well, I mean -- and that was the time when Sammy Davis had said, you know, I'm happy you are the President and I want you to be the President in the future. Well, he was the president. Those are awkward moments I think that define a candidate in the way, it's sort of this off the cuff remark and how they respond to it gives you a little insight into who the candidate really because they are guarded. We always have a calculated image of them. And there are the kinds of things that give us a little bit of fun, so to speak.

You know, Richard Nixon trying to be cool there with Sammy Davis, Jr., painful (inaudible)

KAYE: Trying being the keyword.

OBEIDALLAH: Yes, very, very painful.

KAYE: All right. So we all know there are so many speeches during the convention. You've got short ones, the long ones, the bad ones, the great ones and the really, really long ones. Remember how the audience cheered after Bill Clinton's long speech at his party's convention in 1988.

Let's watch this.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Don't you ever forget it. Michael Dukakis will never, never, never forget it. In closing --

KAYE: And that is so great. Remember as soon as he said "in closing" you could hear the crowd erupt.

OBEIDALLAH: That was a Bronx cheer. You know, as a comedian, if I go for my last joke and the audience starts cheering, my set has not gone well. And you know, what's remarkable is most people think Bill Clinton is a good speaker, and he is. That speech went for an hour and it was supposed to go for 20 minutes. It droned and droned on.

Well, Barack Obama gave a speech in 2004, the keynote in 16 minutes and is viewed as one of the best keynotes of the modern day. So shorter is better in these kind of speeches.

KAYE: Ok. Let's talk about the lip lock that maybe lasted a little bit too long. Al Gore's kiss with Tipper in 2000 and what do you make of that one?

OBEIDALLAH: Oh, that went too long. That's like the Bill Clinton speech. This was painful. Look, his grabbing her. It reminds me of like the cartoon "Pepe LePew" who's grabbing the female cat. She's trying to escape on some level.

But you know what; too long displays of public affection are just like too long speeches. They become awkward and uncomfortable to watch. And I think it was going to be a part of, frankly, I mean it is like watching your parents kiss and no one really likes to see that. I'll be honest with you.

KAYE: Yes. They had the long one and then they went back in for another little one.

All right. Then there are, of course, those moments when the jokes failed to make people laugh. Remember the Bush twins and how can we forget that. Here is a reminder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She thinks that sex in the city is something that married people do but never talk about.

They are not laughing.

KAYE: They said something like they are not laughing at us. They are not laughing. I mean it was painful, right Dean?

DEAN OBEIDALLAH: You know, dying is easy, comedy is hard is the adage. And it's true. And I'll be honest. I have told many jokes to audiences where they don't laugh and it's painful for you at times. Sometimes you get a thicker skin, but they were doing a joke about their grandmother and saying sex in the city. We don't hear the words grandmother and sex in any sentence at any time. I mean it's just going to gross people out.

They did a few good jokes in their defense. But let's be honest, if you're not a professional comedian and someone says hey, you want to tell jokes in front of 25 million people, you'd probably say no.

KAYE: Yes. Grandma was not laughing and neither was anybody else. OBEIDALLAH: No, it was uncomfortable and awkward. You almost want to watch Tipper and Al kiss after that.

KAYE: Oh no.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Our thanks to Dean Obeidallah.

And be sure to stay with CNN for complete coverage of the Republican National Convention.

Later today we have a special look at Mitt Romney, followed by a preview of the convention. And be sure to stay with CNN all week for the convention itself.

We are keeping an eye on tropical storm Isaac and the threat to Florida and GOP convention in Tampa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is here with one last look at the storm's path, Isaac.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right, Randi.

And you know the storm right now is 135 miles east/southeast of Key West, Florida. And the movement is to the west/northwest at about 20 miles per hour. This is a strong tropical storm at 65 miles per hour, and the track takes it right to the Gulf of Mexico, and first, we are watching for a possible landfall in the Florida Keys.

Eventually, the storm will work its way towards the Gulf and possibly gain strength and make a second landfall toward the Gulf Coast -- Randi.

KAYE: Thank you very much, Bonnie.

And thank you for watching today. You can always continue the conversation with me on Twitter @randikayecnn. "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley starts right now.

Enjoy your Sunday.