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McCain's Pick; Hurricane Katrina Anniversary; Hurricane Gustav; Stephanie Tubbs-Jones Memorial

Aired August 30, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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

LUI: All right. Richard Lui. A good Saturday to you. I'm in for Fredricka Whitfield. Hurricane Gustav is fast becoming a monster. It is now a category 4, that change happened in the last hour and a half. With several days to grow yet stronger before it hits land, this time though, New Orleans is not taking any chances.
Today, Mayor Ray Nagin said it's time to get out and that's exactly what people are doing by car, train, bus, and by plane as civilians leave, troops are moving in. Officials are planning a curfew as well and those who stay behind will be expected to fend for themselves.

Gustav has already raked the Caribbean killing at least 78 people; the leading edge of that storm is hitting western Cuba right now. All right, let's start our team coverage with Jacqui Jeras she is live in the Hurricane Center watching the very latest there. And Jacqui that, upgrade in the last hour and a half to category 4 is like three up grades in about 12, 13 hours.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, we went through a rapid intensification cycle, a lot of that, Richard, has to do with how warm the water temperatures are and the environmental conditions too are just so favorable with light winds to allow this storm to continue to grow. It's made landfall on the Isle of Youth, this is a pretty flat island as well as western Cuba. So even though we're going to see some interaction with land here, we don't think it's enough to knock this thing down at all unfortunately, in fact, we think just the opposite is true, that we're going to likely see more intensification in the next 12 to 24 hours where we could be looking at potentially a category 5 storm before all is said and done.

Here's the updated forecast from the National Hurricane Center showing it moving over Cuba tonight, tomorrow morning, into the Gulf of Mexico. These waters down here that are very warm and also very deep that's part of the key because as a hurricane moves over water, that wind blows it and tends to churn it up so some cooler water can make its way back up to the surface, but this water is very warm and very deep meaning it's just going to continue to get stronger.

The better news is that the water up here is warm but not as deep and warm so we could see a little bit of weakening then from the 5 status. So we'll have to watch but you need to prepare for a major hurricane. Something else to think about when you look at this cone of uncertainty, 48 hours out, our margin of error is still well over 100 mile miles and that's on either side of that middle line there on the cone. So we could see still be looking at maybe even a panhandle storm or possibly over to a Texas storm. But either way you slice it, it's great to see these preparations because this is a large storm. It's more than 300 miles across. So even if we get a Texas landfall, we think the potential with this storm, we're going to be seeing erosion problems and surge problems all through out the northern coast. What does a category 4 mean to you? Well winds of 135 to 155 miles an hour. Storm surge could be as high as 13 to 18 feet. The strength of a storm like this will just level small residences and mobile homes and bring down very large trees as well.

So Richard, this is one storm, that's got a lot of potential destruction with it. It's nice to see that everybody is taking it very seriously.

LUI: You know Jacqui we started off by saying this is a monster. Are we splitting hairs when we talk about the difference between a category 4 and 5 because this looks huge?

JERAS: It is huge. It's greater than 155 to be considered a category 5 storm. The surge will be higher and there will be greater threats. When you focus on the wind, the hurricane force winds really only extend out 30 miles from the center of a storm, so it's a really small area overall that's going to be seeing the worst of Gustav.

LUI: Great information. Jacqui Jeras on top of that for us. She's going to be stopping in the next couple of hours to give us the latest on what is happening with Gustav and more. Thanks, Jacqui.

At this hour, tens of thousands of people are flooding out of New Orleans. CNN's Sean Callebs though is live for us, now he has been there all day for us in a rapidly shrinking New Orleans. Sean, you've seen people leaving all day, you were describing for us three hours ago how they were having some trouble on the processing side, has that changed?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That got worked out really quickly. What happened, this is the drop off site for 30,000 people who otherwise would not have a mode of transportation out of the city, far different from three years ago. There was a computer glitch that slowed things this morning. The city quickly made the decision, look; we'll register these people when they get to their shelter.

Keeping families together, everything is moving smoothly. It is very hot out here but the big, big significant difference from three years ago, all entities within government working together. This has gone very smoothly today, even with the oppressive heat. Someone is very critical to all this, joining us now Mayor Ray Nagin. Thanks for joining us here.

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: Good to be with you.

CALLEBS: Tell me, when you look out here, you can't believe its three years ago to Katrina and you're doing this now. So it is going well. So there is a silver lining.

NAGIN: It is going extremely well. We've had cooperation from the federal, state and local governments, we're more pro-active than we're ever been, we made some adjustments but for the most part this is going very, very well.

CALLEBS: What can you say to people? Now you were at the Democratic National Convention and when you came back here and said it's clear that the thoughts of America are with people here. I'm sure people across the country can't believe its happening.

NAGIN: Well you know, I can't believe its happening. I got back and on the anniversary date which was Friday of Katrina, I had to issue a declaration of emergency three years after Katrina and now we're in full evacuation mode. But I'm just thankful to the American people who have come and helped us throughout this process.

CALLEBS: There's no question, government made a lot of mistakes three years ago.

NAGIN: Yes.

CALLEBS: But I think a lot of people also say the citizens didn't take it seriously enough either. What are we seeing here today?

NAGIN: Well, with any evacuation personal responsibility is a big part of any equation. I can declare mandatory evacuations all day long but until that person really moves, that's when it happens. What we're seeing today is more people are moving and making the decision much earlier to leave and that's a good thing.

CALLEBS: It's still a tentative forecast on Gustav, but you have to act like it's coming here. So you're telling tourists what? This city can be a ghost town very quickly.

NAGIN: I'm telling tourists, my message today and every day, I step up the intensity of what we're doing. Today is about tourists, we had a big decadence festival this weekend, they're still partying, today I'm saying all tourists you need leave right now. Don't wait.

CALLEBS: What's the biggest difference from three years ago to now? There's so many, but to you, someone who rode out the storm last time, watched it all from the top of a hotel here, now you're seeing these young children, the elderly here face to face, what's the biggest difference?

NAGIN: I think it is we have a better plan. We've adjusted from Katrina, there's more preparation, there's more focus from every level of government. And it's just working smoothly because our citizens are much more motivated. They don't have a long lull when the big storm has hit. Three years ago it hit so now they know what they must do.

CALLEBS: We talked to some people about FEMA earlier today; they said why should we believe government? They dropped the ball at every level is this going to change things?

NAGIN: I think this is going to help a lot and it is going to restore confidence in government as far as our planning and execution and once citizens get more comfortable it's going to help every level of government up and down the line.

CALLEBS: Can we hope this is a well rehearsed dress run? Is there any chance of that?

NAGIN: I am hopeful but every model I looked at for the past couple of days say southern Louisiana and New Orleans going to be impacted in some manner it's just a matter of how severe.

CALLEBS: Let's take worst case scenario for just a second. What if the levees give way and the city is flooded again. Can it come back?

NAGIN: That's a big concern for us. But this storm is different. Katrina came from the east; this one is coming from the south. So a different part of the city is going to be stressed the most and that's the west bank of both New Orleans and Jefferson Parish which didn't get hit the last time of so that's where our trouble is going to be this time in my opinion.

CALLEBS: We've been one of your critics here, so look right in the lens and tell me people we're going to do it right, people are going to be safe.

NAGINS: We're going to it right, people are going to be safe. I think this is different nobody has done it before. We've earned some very tough experience and we are putting that experience in action.

CALLEBS: It's good to see you down here with your citizens. Good luck to you.

NAGINS: Thank you for what you are doing.

CALLEBS: Let's hope that this is just a dress rehearsal. The mayor who came back from the Democratic National Convention earlier this week and also the Governor Bobby Jindal is scheduled this Wednesday night to deliver a primetime speech. Could be the most important political speech of his life, however, he has made it clear his place is here. He has told the RNC if this storm hits the coast I won't be there. So a lot at play all over the country and you heard the mayor talk be about, so many people came up to him in Denver and said our hearts are with you, lets hope it doesn't happen again.

LUI: Sean Callebs good conversation there with Mayor Ray Nagin. Thank you for the very latest. I know you're going to stop back with us in about an hour to give us more information, appreciate that.

And now from Sean Callebs there in New Orleans, we are going to go south to Cuba where hurricane Gustav right now is brushing up against an area there of the island country. Going to take a look now at what Morgan Neill has to tell us now. He's in La Coloma, Cuba. Doesn't look like there is too much out there, there is a lot of wind behind you as we can see in these pictures right now, Morgan.

MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right. We've seen the wind pick up here pretty drastically in the last hour or so Richard, this area we're in. La Coloma is on the southern coast of the mainland in Cuba. The storm at the Isle of Youth, which is 100 miles south of the mainland, but what we've seen here, is very dramatic. The winds have picked up, but what we've seen here tells you something about preparation.

This place is a ghost town. We just finished driving through this area around here, the only people we've seen on these streets in any building are those concerned with security, concerned with emergency services. Everyone has been evacuated out of this area. It's remarkable to see. A lot of people have gone to the homes of friends or family in safer areas further away. Some have been putting into state shelters from as early as yesterday afternoon. They've been really keeping a close eye on this storm and they are not taking it lightly at all, Richard.

LUI: Morgan in the United States, we're used to seeing news briefings as well as broadcasts with information about what residents can do based on the information that's out there. How are residents in La Coloma, Cuba and other parts of Cuba notified about the progress of hurricane Gustav and what they need to do?

NEILL: Well, what they get are fairly regular updates on state-run television and the radio telling them where the storm is, where the Cuban meteorologists believe where the storm is heading and what kind of actions they need to be taking.

In addition to that, they also have people all the way down to the neighborhood level that work with the civil defense, they will come in and tell them, OK, it's time to evacuate or OK, we're still just keeping a close eye on this storm but stay alert. As I say, this area we're in right now, remarkable, no one left here, every single person aside from security officials seems to have evacuated this neighborhood, Richard.

LUI: Morgan Neill, live in La Coloma, Cuba, there as hurricane Gustav bears down on that part of the country. Thank you so much.

Now inside the storm trackers have found a new way to see the true force of a hurricane.

And John McCain picks his running mate and pretty much fakes out the pundits and the experts. So who is Governor Sarah Palin anyway?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JERAS: Well, we've been talking about people evacuating the Gulf Coast ahead of hurricane Gustav but not everybody is leaving, some people, believe it or not, are looking forward to heading into the danger zone. You've heard about storm chasers, tracking down tornadoes, well, now we've got hurricane chasers. Mark Sudduth of Hurricanetrack.com is kind of like that with the hurricanes. Mark you've got this great equipment that you're actually planning on bringing to New Orleans to help give us a bird's eye view. Tell us about your equipment and what you have here.

MARK SUDDUTH, HURRICANETRACK.COM: That's exactly right. We hope to put these out coupled with our wind towers that we have to bring reporting and science together. People want it see the images coming out of the hurricane area. We have a fascination with weather, us humans. This allows to us do that in a very safe manner.

This little camera here with this box is the technological equivalent of a virtue storm chaser. We can leave this out in harm's way and let it send back live video that people can watch and we can do so without us being in harm's way.

JERAS: You guys have been doing this for a while. Mike Watkins also on board here with us. Mike, tell us what are some of the great benefits from this? What kind of data do we get back from this?

MARK WATKINS, HURRICANETRACK.COM: We get wind and pressure data from weather towers that we can attach to this, but the most important thing that we provide here is the video that can go in places that we can't. So when the storm, storm surge, we can get video from that. The winds, when they get very high, you can see it from this remote camera and they can view everything that, that information goes back to emergency management officials and also subscribers to the Website who can monitor this as it happens in real time.

JERAS: All right. Well the CNN weather team is working closely with you guys in the upcoming days and we are going to be putting five of these things out, hopefully right where Gustav hits. Tell me what's going on.

SUDDUTH: We're going to head down to New Orleans after we're literally finished with this interview to start planning our strategy. There's a lot involved. We want to extract the science out of this project as best we can while providing real-time images of what's going on so people know what the effects are, but again, this is very safe way to do it we're not down there clowning around and goofing off, it takes a lot of effort, a lot of planning to know where we have to be. To know where we don't want to be.

It's grueling at times. A lot of sleepless nights coming up, but were we done, if this succeeds we can understand better what happens when Gustav makes landfall in the United States all in a manner that use technology to allow us and hopefully reporters too, CNN can maybe pull some people out and still get some live coverage from these tiny cameras, lives can't be replaced but this $2,000 unit certainly can.

JERAS: We're talking about a major hurricane category 3 or 4.

SUDDUTH: Nothing to mess around with.

JERAS: Huge issue here. You guys have battery powered equipment here. This is going to be heading back to the CNN via telephone lines.

SUDDUTH: Exactly. We actually use just a regular sprint air card like your phone. A lot of people have broadband cards; we're using that technology to send the signal out. It's not microwave, so it won't be subject to rain fade like satellite feeds can. We'll share it with CNN. We're working exclusively with CNN on this to provide this to the world so they can see what's going on and we also put on our website at Hurricanetrack.com.

For our premium services subscribe, but the actual wind information and real meteorology we provide on the site absolutely free of charge. Our members that sign up and support our work make that happen just like with public radio so we are very proud to be able to help the scientific community and the media as a whole.

JERAS: We're going to be really looking forward to having access to that data and being able to bring that to our viewers as well. One obvious question, storm surge, one of the huge things you have to deal with in a hurricane, what happens to this when you've got 19 feet of water coming up over it.

SUDDUTH: We took a very hard lesson during hurricane Katrina were we had our first set of three of these out in Gulf Port, Mississippi. We lost all the units during that because everything we attached them to was bulldozed. We've learned a lot during the 05 season. We've had two years of relatively little activity hurricane wise which is good. Since then, we understood better how to place these out, Mike and I and our entire team worked on it, thought about it. Now we're going to be able to elevate these. We have 60 feet of cable; we can attach these to concrete pillars with just duct tape. The simpler the better.

JERAS: Hopefully it stays tight.

SUDDUTH: But these are air tight, too. So it should work.

JERAS: We look forward to working with you in the upcoming days and wish the best of luck and hopefully everybody is staying safe. It lasts for 15 hours so they should have ample time to get out of there.

LUI: Interesting technology there, Jacqui.

Mike and Mark, safe travels to them as well, they're going to be heading down south for a bunch of years, we wish the best of them as they get the information to us.

This was New Orleans three years ago, but what's it like today? Photo journalist Mario Toma talked with me about that.

And it is a first for Republicans, a woman as a VP candidate; we're on the trail with a new ticket.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: The Republican Party, they are getting ready to kick off its national convention in just two day, 45,000 people are expected to be at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. You see it right there, preparations well under way. Monday night, President Bush takes the stage for his final convention speech as head of the GOP. Thursday, Senator John McCain gives his address and accepts the party's presidential nomination.

Well, right now, all the buzz is about McCain's running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Have you heard of her? A surprise pick that's generating a lot of talk. CNN's Dana Bash joins us live from the McCain/Palin rally in Washington, Pennsylvania. I remember you reporting it yesterday, boy, and a lot of buzz around that. DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of buzz. And it was obviously a huge surprise. And I'll give you a little bit of color. I want to show you something. This is the first time that we seen the ticket on a button, on a campaign button. This is the McCain/Palin button that is being sold here at this rally, which is going to start in a couple of hours. We didn't see these yesterday primarily because the campaign was doing such a I guess you could say a good job, but they were trying to so hard to keep a lid on the fact that they made this surprise pick.

I want to show you just quickly what's going on behind me. This is a rally that is manage that you see a lot when you've been watching Barack Obama and some of the Democrats as they've been campaigning covering John McCain recently and for a long time. We just don't see things like this; it's an open air rally that's going to start about three hours from now. It is already filling up.

A lot of people in Washington, Pennsylvania, obviously the big reason for this, the McCain campaign is trying to pull out all the stops to introduce McCain and Palin his brand new surprising running mate to the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH (voice over): John McCain's urgent task is exposing his little known running mate to battleground state voters. Their first campaign stop, some buckeye shopping, but inside, McCain and his wife went one way, Sarah Palin and family went another. A new political pair hoping for the country to accept them as a team.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Yes, I met with him yesterday.

BASH: Even before they really know each other.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Close in age, huh?

BASH: McCain met Palin just six months ago only once until meeting again this week before making her his running mate but moments like this are a big reason McCain picked her.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): That's so cute.

BASH: Images of a young mother trying to do it all. Someone he hopes female voters will relate to. But what about voters who wonder why the man running on experience would pick a small-town Alaskan mayor turned first-term governor. That's what we wanted to know.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): That would be great.

BASH: What do you say to people who say you don't have enough experience?

GOV. SARAH PALIN, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I appreciate the experience I have to get ready for this job. It's been good experience. BASH: Talking points down, she got back on McCain's straight talk express and as they stopped again to get some ice cream and greet more voters, one thing was clear, bringing an unknown running mate around Ohio didn't just bring votes.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There she is right there.

BASH: It also generated intrigue. It's a bold choice that has many in Washington shaking their heads, but at least on day one, turning heads on the trail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now Governor Palin's home state of Alaska is 4,000 miles from where we are right now, where she's going to be appearing with Senator McCain, but why are they here in Washington, Pennsylvania? This is possibly ground zero for the kind of place John McCain really has to win in order to win the state of Pennsylvania, a battleground state, and in order to win in November.

It's the kind of voters here that are trying to, they're hoping that they can bring along with a running mate like Sarah Palin. These are voters that in large part at least, Democrats voted for Hillary Clinton, overwhelmingly, they are blue collar working class voters who tend to switch parties depending on the year and depending on the candidate because they're maybe more socially conservative, I can tell you that we were out talking to some this morning at a shopping mall not too far from here and there are a lot of undecided voters. That's why they're here. Richard.

LUI: Hey, Dana, very well kept secret as you were saying in your piece. As well as when we started. GOP insiders, I'm wondering how they reacted now because they didn't know, you were telling us yesterday, it's been about 24 hours. What are you hearing?

BASH: For the most part, from what talking to people really in and around Washington and around the country, they said, as you said, wow, they couldn't believe it at first, but once they started looking at her record and particularly her record on social issues, they're a little worried because it is a risk but they're overwhelmingly happy about the fact that Senator McCain picked somebody who is conservative on social issues.

I have to tell you this is one of the most surprising things and the reaction that I got yesterday. I have almost never gotten a slew of e- mails, pretty much any e-mails from conservative groups talking about how happy they are about Senator McCain. He's not had the greatest relationship with social conservative groups, they are absolutely ecstatic about this pick and that's one of the reasons why Senator McCain wanted to get her because she is someone who the right -- who has helped elect Republican presidents in the past. They like her.

LUI: Intriguing stuff, how they kept that secret again. Dana Bash, thank you, there in Washington, Pennsylvania with the McCain camp. Appreciate it.

By the way McCain's running mate tells voters why she thinks she's up for the job. Gov. Sarah Palin in her very own words. That's 20 minutes away for you.

You Democrats, Barack Obama and Joe Biden they are hoping to build on the momentum from their party's convention that just ended last week. They're in the middle of a four day tour of key battleground states. Today it's Ohio. Well CNN's Jim Acosta is waiting for an Obama/Biden rally in the town of Dublin. Jim before we get to that, we've been on Gustav for part of the day. Has Barack weighed in on that issue? Because a lot of people are concerned about Gustav?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He has talked about it. He's not going for the cheap shot even to a lot of Democrats have taken note of the fact that hurricane Gustav is bearing down on New Orleans just on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

Barack Obama in a diner Youngstown, Ohio, this morning, essentially said to reporters there who were gathered inside the diner, as he was having breakfast, that he is asking his staff to stay in close contact with FEMA to make sure they're in contact with folks on the ground on the Gulf Coast to make sure that everything is handled the way it should be handled and in a much better fashion than we saw the last time around during Hurricane Katrina. And the only reference to Hurricane Katrina that Barack Obama made in that diner this morning is that he said that he hopes this time around, we learn from that tragedy.

So, Barack Obama, not going for the cheap shot there, he was with Joe Biden at that diner. They're mixing it up with local here, in Ohio, in the Midwest, they were in Pennsylvania yesterday, heading to Michigan after they're in Ohio. And this is territory that Barack Obama has not performed so well in. You'll recall during the primaries, Hillary Clinton trounced Barack Obama, not just in Pennsylvania, but also in Ohio and Michigan. Barack Obama's name was not on the ballot, Hillary Clinton won there. And so Barack Obama has Joe Biden as his shepherd now in these blue collar working class parts of the United States and Obama needs these states, he needs them to stay in the Democratic column, he would like to move Ohio into this column to try and put a clench on the general election in the fall -- Richard.

LUI: Jim, also a key swing voting bloc there are women votesers. That's also an objective here, certainly, isn't it?

ACOSTA: That's right. And there's a New Obama campaign ad that has just been released today, it mentions the fact that John McCain has made his choice. The ad goes something along the lines of John McCain has made his choice and it's really more of the same, it's not the change that we need. A lot of voters, a lot of women voters might disagree with that saying, well, picking a woman governor from Alaska doesn't sound like the usual pick from the running mate litter, as it were.

So, Barack Obama is being cautious at this point. You'll recall yesterday his campaign came out with guns blazing and accused Sarah Palin of having the thinnest foreign policy resume experience that we've seen in presidential history, the Obama campaign has dialed back that rhetoric. They are not talking about her explicitly, instead, focusing their attention on John McCain, trying to make the case as they will later the evening, here in Dublin, Ohio, that he is four more years of George W. Bush.

And Richard, on a side note, we should note that we're just outside of Columbus, Ohio, Ohio state football is happening today. You can understand why this event is happening this evening and not this afternoon. We're just gearing up right now, here in Dublin, Ohio -- Richard.

LUI: Yeah, no doubt. It's going to be a good one. Jim Acosta there, thank you so much, again, with the Obama campaign.

You know, Barack Obama reacts to its rival's running mate choice. Hear what the senator has to say about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in his own words. That's coming up in just 15 minutes, for you.

The tropics, they are heating up and the Gulf Coast is in the scope of Hurricane Gustav. All this on the heels of three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. We'll look back at that storm's devastation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ring these bells in memory of everyone who has passed as it relates to Hurricane Katrina.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: That remembrance ceremony this week on Friday, there in New Orleans.

Well Gustav is forcing New Orleans to scale back some events marking the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall, the city held a symbolic burial service yesterday for storm victims whose bodies were never claimed. Mario Tama is a photojournalist; his images help show the magnitude of the Katrina disaster. Some of them appear this month in the issue of "National Geographic." He joins us on the phone from his assignment in New Orleans.

And Mario, you were there during Hurricane Katrina, two weeks after, you then went back in March of this year, and you're back there today. Thanks for join us, today. Tell us about the sense of deja vu you may be feeling right now?

MARIO TAMA, GETTY PHOTOJOURNALIST: Thanks, Richard. Thanks for having me. It is a sense of deja vu I think, not just for myself, but for everyone in the city. Storm is approaching and people are being told to evacuate and there's certainly a lot of tension in the air, probably a lot more tension than there was three years ago. But the good thing is that people are starting to evacuate and obviously a lot of the lessons... LUI: And people are telling you in line that they feel concerned. You were telling me that earlier.

TAMA: Yeah, yeah, people are concerned and rightly so. They don't know if they're going to come back and not have a house again, as happened to a lot of them the last time. So it is a feeling of deja vu for a lot of people in the city.

LUI: Let's talk about the pictures you've taken. I want to look at one, this is of a cemetery, and you had several that you sent to us. What are you telling in this story?

TAMA: Well, originally, I went down there about two weeks after the storm and the cemetery was flooded and I felt like I was standing in river in the cemetery and it was incredibly eerie and a heart breaking scene. To go back 2-1/2 years later and it see the graves still intact and such a peaceful scene, it was really kind of a beautiful moment that things had recovered in that part of the country.

LUI: That sort of belied what had happened before and what may happen come the next bunch of days. Another picture that we were looking at was one of children, there's a school bus, as well. What was happening in that scene where you're telling that story through your picture?

TAMA: Well, in the original scene from that story, there's a house fire and it was a very tragic (INAUDIBLE) the fire department wasn't able to put out the fires because of the water pressure and now to come back 2-1/2 years later and you see the house is still gone, but life has returned to the street and there's a school that has opened up across (INAUDIBLE) and children are sort of living (INAUDIBLE)...

LUI: You know, Mario, there's also sort of a dichotomy -- Right? There is the French Quarter and then you've got the Lower Ninth. Compare those in pictures for us and what you've seen when you've been snapping shots over the past three years.

TAMA: Yeah, if you were to were walk through the French Quarter and especially through Bourbon Street and see all the parties and hear (AUDIO GAP).

LUI: All right, it appears -- Mario, are you there?

TAMA: Yes.

LUI: OK. Yes we did. And can you make that comparison again? Looks like you dropped out there.

TAMA: Yeah, the French Quarter has completely returned to normal and if you walked down Bourbon Street you would never know a storm hit the city. But if you were to head over to the Lower Ninth Ward, areas where there use to be homes everywhere, now appears to be nothing more than farmland because everything is washed away and just the grass has overgrown. So, it's an incredible difference.

LUI: Mario, thank you so much. Mario Tama, there, a Getty photojournalist whose pictures have been seen in "National Geographic" and has been cataloging, as you can see here on your screen, right now, just the experience that people have had on the ground. So difficult to understand unless you're there and Mario has been taking these great shots for us. Mario Tama, thanks again.

Well you know, three years later and people living along the Gulf Coast are back in the bull's eye for another major hurricane. Gustav is gaining strength and heading toward the Gulf Coast right now. Our Jacqui Jeras in the Hurricane Center now with the latest on that.

Hey, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey there, Richard. Yeah, you know, things don't look good for that city even if it doesn't get a direct hit because we think it could be west of there and they'll still dealing with issues like strong winds, storm surge and also some very heavy rainfall.

Right now, our immediate focus is what's happening over Cuba. We did have landfall here over the Isle of Youth and eye wall of this storm is still on the northeastern coast of this island. This is packing a real punch. We're talking about a 145 miles-per-hour maximum sustained winds, a Category 4 storm just about as bad as it gets.

Now, even though it has been moving over land and will likely move over western Cuba later tonight, early tomorrow, we don't think it's going to do much to slow this thing down. You know, this isn't a mountainous area the way southwestern Cuba is or Jamaica is or Haiti and the Dominican Republic. So, this is certainly a big difference.

There you can see the eye of the storm on our radar, here. And kook at the showers and thundershowers too, here, into the Florida Keys, by the way. A tropical storm warning in effect for the lower keys and isolated tornadoes will be possible as well as wind gusts between 40 and 50 miles-per-hour. And the track of the storm continues on a northwesterly motion. We've got high pressure kind of setting up here across the southeastern U.S. and that is just helping to drive it towards the north and the west. We do think it will stay an intense storm throughout the Gulf of Mexico. This could even get up to a Category 5 before all is said and done, but the waters into the northern Gulf are a little bit -- they're still very warm, but not as deep warm waters, so that could potentially cause a little bit of weaken before it does reach landfall, but we need to be prepared for a major hurricane.

Our best estimate this time will be late on Monday or early on Tuesday for a potential landfall. And keep in mind, 48 hours is still over 100 miles in terms of your track error, so this could still could go either way at this point. Of course, we'll be tracking it very closely here in the CNN Hurricane Headquarters -- Richard.

All right, Jacqui, thank you so much. I know we're going to be stopping by with you in the next half hour or so to get the very latest. Appreciate it.

OK, you might feel the decision to pull workers off these rigs at the gas pump, oil fields in the Gulf account for about quarter of U.S. production. Well, CNN's senior business correspondent, Ali Velshi joins us by phone from Grand Isle, Louisiana, that's about 80 miles south of New Orleans.

And Ali, the town has been battered before. What sort of conversations have you had?

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm actually, Richard, with the volunteer fire chief, right now. We've been driving around because the town is under a mandatory evacuation, right now. But unlike what you might expect from that term "mandatory evacuation" it doesn't seem to be a whole lot of trouble getting people to pack up, secure their home and get going because the bottom line is this town got hit hard by Katrina and folks understand what the seriousness of a storm like this can do.

Now, the main industries of this town are shrimping and the oil industry. The oil field workers have been evacuated from the rigs. (AUDIO GAP) the oil companies don't take risks. And by the way, sometimes this storm is much heavier in the Gulf of Mexico than it is on land. So, they've evacuated those rigs.

And so the folks here understand the seriousness of this. They are preparing for a evacuation. Most people we've talked to have said they're leaving, they might be leaving tomorrow. There's a small minority that are sticking around for various reasons. One of them is a guy who runs the shrimping processing center here where the shrimp boats come in and sell the shrimp to him, Dean Blanchard (sic).

Dean is closing up his shrimping operation, he was doing a little while ago, we caught up with him and he described what was going on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN BANCHARD, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: What's going on, we're taking everything out, we getting everything as high as we can, try to put it deep as we think it can be. You know, we've been through a lot of hurricanes, and we pretty much know what's going to happen. Hopefully, you know, we never know for sure, but we have a good idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: And that's part of the issue. You never know for sure and it's a bright sunny day down here, it's hot. You wouldn't know that you might be 48 hours away from a very big storm, but folks are understanding that there's not much they can do to protect their property if they stay here, so the fire chief is not having much trouble convincing people to leave. The only resistance is from people who have difficulty leaving.

The other thing, Richard, to keep in mind, in many cases are there are folks who don't make at lot of money, so the idea of leaving early and having to spend three or four or five days in a hotel with your family, driving around, that can be very expensive and in some cases it could end up costing you as much as you make in a month, so it's a serious, serious consideration for people who are being asked to leave -- Richard.

LUI: Yeah, it could take almost a day for them to prepare to get out of there, as well, in some parts of the south, there in New Orleans. All right, Ali Velshi, thank you for the very latest, there. And we'll be talking to you throughout the day, here.

You know, a final farewell to a great stateswoman, friends and family remember Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Senator John McCain's campaign calls his running mate a tough executive who's ready to be president. I two short year, Sarah Palin moved from a small town mayor to be the first female governor of Alaska. Now she's making history as the first Female running mate on a Republican presidential ticket. She's viewed as a political reformer.

GOV SARAH PALIN (R), MCCAIN RUNNING MATE: I was just your average hockey mom in Alaska. We're busy raising our kids, we're serving as the team mom and coaching some basketball on the side. I got involved in the PTA and then was elected to the city council. And then elected mayor of my hometown where my agenda was to stop wasteful spending and cut property taxes and put the people first.

(APPLAUSE)

I was then appointed ethics commissioner and chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. And when I found corruption there, I fought it hard and I held the offenders to account. Along with fellow reformers in the great state of Alaska, as governor I've stood up to the old politics as usual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Now, Governor Palin and Senator McCain will grace this stage you see here, next week. It's the sight site of the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The four-day event kicks off on Monday. President Bush is set to speak the fist night, Governor Palin on Wednesday and then Senator John McCain takes the podium to accept the nomination on Thursday night.

We know the new ticket is on the campaign trail today in Pennsylvania, meanwhile, the Democratic ticket, the announcement yesterday was a shocker to many observers. Here's what Barack Obama had to say about the Palin pick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I haven't met her before. She seems like a compelling person, obviously a terrific story, personal story, and, you know, I'm sure that she will help make the case for the Republicans. Unfortunately, the case is more of the same, and so, you know, ultimately, John McCain at the top of the ticket. As I indicated in my speech last night, I think that he wants to take the country in the wrong direction. I'm assuming Governor Palin agrees with him in his policies.

But the fact that she's been nominated I think -- or will soon be nominated I think is one more indicator of this country moving forward, the enafact that you've got a woman as the nominee of one of vice presidential nominee of one of the major parties I think is one more hit against that glass ceiling. And I congratulate her, look forward to a vigorous debate. I'm pleased with my choice for vice president, Joe Biden. I think he's the man who can help me take guide country in a better direction and help working families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Well, Obama was one of the people in Cleveland today paying their respects to the late Stephanie Tubbs-Jones. A memorial was held for the first African-American woman to server Ohio in Congress. Senator Hilary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also came to say goodbye. But, politicians from both side of the aisle are attending this service. Tubbs-Jones died last week from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 58.

The tropics are heating up and folks along the Gulf Coast, they're moving out, right now. We're keeping a close eye on Hurricane Gustav, Category 4.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Hundreds of thousands of people in India are stranded by rising floodwaters, right now. Dozens have died in the flooding described by some as the worst in half a century. The government has warned that it could be months before things get back to normal. Villages along the border with Nepal have been swamped by the rising river water as well. Now, later Friday a rescue boat did capsize and 20 people were swept away, there.

Another deadly quake in the same province of China devastated by a tremor in May. State news agencies are reporting that a powerful earthquake has killed at least 22 people in Sichuan Provence, dozens of aftershocks have shaken the area since May. Heavy rains in the region were making rescue operations difficult.

Already a Category 4 and it's not even in the Gulf of Mexico as of yet? Hurricane Gustav, a deadly storm making its way toward the U.S. mainland. Your next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Take a look at this, this is a taste of Gustav. You don't want to see that.

An i-Reporter caught the storm as it rolled through Jamaica, for us. The storm now headed for the Gulf.