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Storm Alters GOP Convention Plans; At Least 3 Dead in Haiti; Neil Armstrong Dead At 82; Lance Armstrong Responds; Isaac to Hit the Keys

Aired August 25, 2012 - 19:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Don Lemon. You're in THE CNN NEWSROOM. I want to get you up to speed on the day's top stories.

Within the just past few minutes, Republican Party leaders have decided to open their convention as planned on Monday but they have decided to push back all of the major events and speeches until Tuesday. By then, they're hoping that the storm will have passed. Our political director Mark Preston is going to join me from Tampa with a bit more in just moments. So, stay tuned.

With one small step for man, Neil Armstrong cemented himself in history as the first man to walk on the moon. America's most celebrated space pioneer died today, 2 1/2 weeks after he had major heart surgery. Neil Armstrong was 82 years old.

Tropical storm Isaac setting its sights on the west coast of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. It's maintaining 60-mile-per-hour winds as it skirts the coast of Cuba. The storm killed two people in Haiti overnight, ripping through tent camps and leaving most of the island without power. We'll get the latest live on the storm in just a few minutes here on CNN.

All nine people wounded in that Manhattan shootout yesterday were hit as a result of police gunfire. That is according to police commissioner Ray Kelly. Police officers fired 16 rounds at Jeffrey Johnson after he killed a former league on the sidewalk. None of the bystander's wounds is life threatening.

In north western Venezuela, the death toll from a fire of one of the world's biggest refineries has risen to 26. Officials say a gas leak caused a blast. Nearby homes suffered damage, along with the refinery. More than 80 people were hospitalized. President Hugo Chavez has called for three days of mourning.

The Republican National Convention hasn't even started but tropical storm Isaac is already making an impact. We're hearing that two delegates from Louisiana and Alabama are choosing to stay at home rather than go to the Tampa event. So, when is Isaac going to get here to the U.S.?

Let's go now to our meteorologist Rob Marciano tracking the system for us.

What's new, Rob? ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Don, it's just off the coast of Cuba now, and it's picked up a little bit speed, really hitting Haiti, continues to hit Haiti hard with rainfall as it is doing Cuba as well. Winds are 60 miles an hour, northwest movement at 21 miles per hour.

You see how large the circulation. And part of it, or it's throwing up some moisture into the Florida Keys and south Florida already. Aside from that, hurricane warnings have been posted from Ft. Myers to just south of Ft. Myers, to the Key West and south of Miami, Key Largo through the Keys and tropical storm warnings east side and tropical storm watches now include Ft. Myers north to Tampa for the anticipation of seeing action there as far as tropical storm force winds.

Here's some of the rain ahead of it going into Miami. They've had a rough day in Miami for sure.

And here's the official forecast from the National Hurricane Center. Tropical storm force winds now, gaining strength to a category 1 storm before or after it gets through the Keys. Timing of that is tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night, into Monday morning, and then gets into the eastern Gulf of Mexico, waters are pretty warm there, atmospheric conditions are favorable for it to strengthen and it could very well become a category 2 storm or even higher than that before it makes landfall.

Landfall target is somewhere along the northern Gulf coast, probably in the Florida panhandle, but it will be very close to the west coast of Florida and storms like these can easily make a right turn like Charlie did back in 2004. And so, we're weary of that certainly and the potential of that happening. We've got to keep everybody on guard.

Here is how the conditions are going to time out. Miami, you're looking at Sunday night -- tomorrow night, tropical storm force winds on the east side of the Florida Peninsula as well. Key West, tropical storm force winds Sunday morning and hurricane force winds potentially tomorrow afternoon. And Ft. Myers and Tampa, you'll likely experience some tropical storm force winds late Sunday, into Monday morning and through Tuesday.

And that, Don, is the main reason that they have that recession at the convention, because it's going to be strong and at times dangerous winds through the Tampa Bay Area.

LEMON: All right. We'll get another update from our Rob Marciano, this hour, later on. Thank you, Rob.

In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, now, there's new fears that Isaac's heavy rains may cause a river to overflow its banks.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is in the capital city where the storm ripped through early this morning.

Gary, many residents are still living in tents two years after the devastating earthquake. How did they make out?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was very difficult night, morning and afternoon, Don. After 20 hours, the rain has stopped. We know of at least three people killed here in the nation of Haiti. And the search continues for the possibility of more victims, a very remote country. So they'll be looking for a long time.

And you're right, in the tent cities, people who moved in to these tent cities 2 1/2 years ago because of the earthquake of January 2010, most of them did not want to evacuate, didn't want to leave their tents. They were afraid this wasn't much of a storm and they came back. That was all their possessions in the tents, so most people stuck it out and it was very difficult evening.

We spent yesterday in a nearby tent city near the presidential palace here in Port-au-Prince, the capital, about 10 minutes away. About 8,000 people live in the tent city. Very few left.

Fortunately, it appears at this point, there were no fatalities. No one hurt, although they were still searching tent by tent. But there were extensive damage. Scores of tents have destroyed and many families have lost all their possessions except what's on their back. They told us it was a scary evening.

And indeed at 2:00 in the morning, the peak of the storm here in Haiti, a government bus pulled in and dozens of men, women and children got aboard and decided to evacuate while the storm was going on. A lot of the people we talked to today at the camp said they wished they did evacuate because it was so scary.

And a lot of people right now are going through something just incredible. They've lost two homes. One during the earthquake and one during this tropical storm and they don't know what they're going to do now, because where do you go after you move into a tent city? Where is the next place to evacuate to? They're trying to figure that out right now -- Don.

LEMON: Last thing they need. Gary Tuchman, thank you very much.

Further south, rain flooded the streets of Jacmel, Haiti, leaving residents looking for higher ground. At least two people are dead in Haiti, as many as 15 others -- at least three I should say, as many as 15 others of the city's residents took refuge in a school shelter. We're going to take you back there to Haiti, Jacmel, in 30 minutes.

Many Cubans feel like they dodged a bullet with Isaac, which is now skirting the northern coast of the island. Havana experienced big waves and heavy winds. People pulled boats out of the water and drove cars to higher ground. But so far, no reports of major damage.

East of Havana, Isaac made landfall in a town of Baracoa, where several hundred people had to evacuate and are in shelters right now. But again, no reports of serious problems.

Now to our breaking news stories. The best laid plans of the Republican Party convention organizers have been knocked off course slightly not by politics but by the threat of potentially dangerous weather. In the last half hour or so, Republicans announced the convention will begin Monday as planned but then go into recess because of tropical storm Isaac.

Our political director Mark Preston has been tracking the story. As a matter of fact, you broke it right here on our air.

Mark, is the storm just too much of a threat? What's going on?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, Don, that's exactly what you and I were talking about just a few hours ago. They've decided to cancel the first day and delay the convention by one day because of the heavy winds and the water that we expect to come in here as an outcast of the storm as it passes through the Gulf.

What does this mean? It means that this convention now will only be three days, much like what we saw back in 2008 when John McCain had to shorten his convention because of another hurricane that came up into the Gulf Coast.

Don, this is big news here as we have 50,000 people who are coming in to Tampa, making their way right now to see Mitt Romney become formally the Republican presidential nominee -- Don.

LEMON: I'm wondering, did organizers hear from worried delegates or just make this call on their own?

PRESTON: Well, what happened, Don, is for the past several days, there have been several conference calls every few hours with the governor's office, with state and local officials, with federal officials and convention organizers, trying to figure out what is the best thing to do?

A lot has to go into these hurricane preparations. Here in Florida, of course, they know how to handle it very well.

The fact, is you have 50,000 more people coming into this one area and that played a big part. Folks might not be able to make it in on time. Folks who are coming in on planes, perhaps late on Sunday, early on Monday probably would not be able to land because that's when the hurricane is supposed just to west of us.

So, Don, I think the convention officials decided they needed to make the call now in order to make sure everyone's travel plans could be finalized. But what they're not talking about, Don, and you and I talked about it again earlier today, they're not talking about any evacuations.

This is not going to be a direct hit, at least we're told right now on Tampa. We expect heavy winds. We expect a lot of rain. Convention goers won't be inside the forum. They'll be inside their hotel rooms.

LEMON: So, it's all in abundance of caution. It looks like people are having a good time still with the weather. They're waving right behind you, Mark Preston. Right behind in a live shot. Thank you very much. Stay tuned.

PRESTON: They say hello to you.

LEMON: Yes. Stay tuned. Mark will have the latest.

Tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern, CNN will present a profile on soon-to- be presidential nominee Mitt Romney, "Romney Revealed: Family, Faith and the Road to Power." Right here, tomorrow night, 8:00 Eastern.

Isaac now bearing down on the United States and the islands of Key West now in its path. We'll take you there, later this hour -- to see if residents and tourists are prepared.

But, first, he was the first man to ever walk on the moon. Astronaut Neil Armstrong has died. We look back at the mission Armstrong commanded that was one for the history books.

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LEMON: The first man to set foot on the surface of the moon died today. Neil Armstrong, he underwent heart bypass surgery earlier this month and his family says he died after suffering complications from that operation. Neil Armstrong was 82 years old.

To John Zarrella, he's in Miami this evening.

And, John, there's no way to overstate how important Neil Armstrong was and the "Apollo 11," that mission was to American space exploration. Tell us how this news hit the NASA family today.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, they're taking it very hard. I think it came unexpectedly to many within the family, and probably even to many of those he knew was the closest with, members of the Apollo family, because just within that last month, coming out of that, people that I spoke with who knew Neil said he came through it pretty well and he was in good shape. So, suddenly, to have this setback that ultimately takes his life, the complications, is very likely taking many of those people by surprise.

You know, in fact, I talked with Bob Crippen, who was the first shuttle pilot, the very first STS-1 pilot. Crippen told me, he says, quote, "We've lost a great American. It is a sad day for the country and the world." And that expression, of course, shared throughout the NASA family.

And everyone knows that Neil Armstrong was a very, very shy person. He shied away from the spotlight, on big events. He would come out for the anniversaries of the Apollo 11 mission. I saw him two years ago at the 40th anniversary of Apollo 14.

And, of course, everybody wanted to touch him. Everybody wanted a picture with him. He was very, very gracious. And you knew that he was comfortable within that setting, because his other fellow crew mates were there. But in the public, he rarely was out in public. One of the last times he was in public was in 2009 for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, and here's some sound from that event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARMSTRONG: Would humans have explored the moon without the work of Robert Goddard, the existence of the Cold War or the IGY? Perhaps. But certainly never on the schedule as it actually occurred. History is a sequence of random events and unpredictable choices. Which is why the future is so difficult to foresee. But you can try. Thank you all for helping us celebrate the space flight anniversary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: You know, particularly in the space program, they always used that expression, standing on the shoulders of giants. And Neil Armstrong, clearly one of those giants.

I think his family put it best in the statement that they released today about his passing, basically saying very succinctly, he was a reluctant hero -- Don.

LEMON: Certainly was. John, thank you very much.

ZARRELLA: Sure.

LEMON: The most famous words we ever heard from Neil Armstrong, let's hear them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A couple things you might not know about Neil Armstrong. He was born 82 years ago in western Ohio, and talked about being born to fly. Armstrong was at the controls of the airplane before he had a driver's license. After the historic Apollo missions, professor Neil Armstrong went home and taught engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He also received the congressional space medal of honor.

There's new information about that deadly shooting outside the Empire State Building. The nine people wounded were all hurt by bullets fired by the NYPD.

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LEMON: You don't have to be in front of a television to watch CNN. You can do what I do. You can stay connected. You can do it on your cell phone or you can do it from your computer at work. Just go to CNN.com/TV.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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LEMON: Brand new details today about the horrific shooting on a crowded sidewalk in midtown Manhattan yesterday. One man shot another to death outside the Empire State building while dozens watched. Police responded and killed the shooter. Several people were hurt, nine in all. And that's the part of this investigation we're talking about right now.

CNN's Jason Carroll is in New York. What do you have, Jason?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police surveillance video captures the shooting in front of the Empire State Building. Fifty-eight-year-old Jeffrey Johnson suddenly appears to pull a gun when confronted by two police officers -- police fire. Johnson goes down.

Amateur video shows a different angle. Johnson is still moving after being shot. He dies as short time later. Nine by standers are hurt during the shooting, all by police bullets, including Robert Asika, a tour guide.

ROBERT ASIKA, SHOOTING VICTIM: When I turned around, I seen a guy reach in his suit and pulled out a gun and I guess he shot at the police officer and the police officer shot him and one of them shot me in the arm and I fell.

CARROLL: None of the bystander's injuries were life threatening. Police fired 16 rounds but were quick to explain why so many innocent people have been hurt.

COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: There were flower pots and other objects around, so when the officers did fire, the bullets fragmented and that's what caused the wounds of the bystanders.

CARROLL: Police say the shooting happened moments after Johnson shot and killed a former co-worker, 41-one-year-old Steven Ercolino. Johnson was a women's accessories designer at Hazan Imports. He was laid off a year ago, but had a long standing grudge against Ercolino over sales of his designs.

Witnesses say Johnson used his .45 caliber pistol to shot Ercolino in the head, then kept firing at him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard pow, pow, so we're thinking it's construction guys. So we think some metal or wood falling, it was really loud. Then we heard more like four more shots, pow, pow, pow. We're like, OK, that's gunshots.

So we all scoot over and we look and we see a guy in a gray suit just walking away.

CARROLL: Johnson's neighbors say he lived alone at this apartment building on New York's Upper East Side, with his cat. One had recently died. GISELA CASELLA, JEFFREY JOHNSON'S NEIGHBOR: I'm in shock. I can't believe this. He was the nicest guy. I think he snapped or something. I don't know.

CARROLL (on camera): Today, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly giving us a little bit more information about specifically how those nine bystanders were injured by police. Three apparently were struck by police bullets. Six were hit by fragments -- Don.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Jason, thank you very much. Let's talk more about this.

Lou Palumbo, long-time New York area police officer, we're going to speak to him about what happened here and how could so many indent bystanders get struck by stray bullets if the right protocol was followed in this investigation.

Lou Palumbo will join us in just moments. He's at the Empire State Building.

In the meantime, we want to talk more about Isaac, and it is bearing down now on the islands of Key West. And it has it right in its path. And you see people are boarding up and they are getting ready there. We're going to take you live later this hour to see if the residents and the tourists are prepared for this.

But, first, remember the Upstate New York bus monitor who was bullied by students? Sixty-eight -year-old Karen Klein is making her mark by donating $100,000 to the Klein Anti-Bullying Foundation, which she founded. The money will be used to fund various organizations and charities that focus on anti-bullying causes.

We're back in a moment.

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LEMON: All right. As I said just before the break, I'm going to bring in Lou Palumbo, long-time New York City area police officer. Lou is down now at the Empire State Building.

Thank you, Lou, for joining us.

These two NYPD officers fired 16 rounds at this man on a crowded Manhattan sidewalk. First of all, tell us about this response, 16 rounds. Was that excessive or was that procedural?

LOU PALUMBO, RETIRED NASSAU CO., NY POLICE OFFICER: Well, you know, it's difficult to critique a shooting that you weren't involved in. But quite honestly, especially when you're involved with an active shooter, it's quite easy to discharge 16 rounds.

What we found out was they fired their weapons combined 16 rounds. Seven bullet strikes to the individual who they terminated, and unfortunately, we're dealing with a collateral damage situation that the public isn't quite ready to understand. It's part of the engagement.

You know, the engagement with an active shooter was 100 percent on the mark, Don, and it's actually in policy.

LEMON: OK.

PALUMBO: So it's a difficult situation. We've been very fortunate.

LEMON: All right. So according to the police commissioner, all nine people who were shot were hit by NYPD officers.

So, I want you to take us inside the heads or the minds of a police officer as this is happening, and I want you to do it and I'm going to give you this quote first, one witness said, "When I turned around, I saw a guy reaching in his suit and he pulled out a gun. I guess he shot at the police officer, and the police officer shot him and one of them shot me in the arm and I fell."

So if you're a police officer, you see the guy in the suit with a gun. How do you shoot the guy who may be next to him or close to him, as well?

PALUMBO: How do you do that? That's called distress when you engage. I mean, this is unfortunately, I hate to say it's a byproduct of what was going to be a gun battle. Don, none of those additional nine people that were shot were shot intentionally. The public has to understand the amount of stress that's involved when you engage someone with a firearm. That's all part of this.

You know, what we're coming to learn is that law enforcement exists in a subculture that the general public, who is very well-insulated by us doesn't quite understand. So they're a little on the learning curve right now. Trust me when I tell you -- those two young police officers are dealing with the fact that they terminated the life of a human being that they needed to terminate. They're also dealing with the fact that they injured innocently nine bystanders that they had not intended on hurting. So, there's a psychological attachment to this thing.

LEMON: And listen, the mayor and the police commissioner came out right away. There's no hiding, as far as I know or anybody else can tell about what happened.

They said initially, the mayor said some of the bystanders may -- people who are shot may have been shot by police officers. And then, of course, Ray Kelly coming out today and doing the media rounds telling people up front, this is what happened. So they're not trying to hide the situation or cover anything up.

And, Lou, before I get to my next question, there's some disturbing video that we're showing -- I'm sorry, I should have given you the viewers some warning before we put that on the air. So a fair warning, it may run again during this segment. And I apologize for running it without a warning.

So, Lou, back to you, is there police training for firing into a crowd of people and what is the correct thing to do, what these officers did?

PALUMBO: What they did, unfortunately, was the correct thing to do. They engaged an active shooter and they realized that they were threatened with deadly physical force, as well as other innocent bystanders and they followed what the law prescribes. You may use deadly physical force when your life is in imminent danger or the life of another person is and you have no other option.

And interestingly enough, police officers are not required to retreat in scenarios like this, where the general public would be. Don, we could speak to this topic almost ad infinitum. It's all an educational process right now for the public, and the fact that the mayor's office and the police commissioner have been so transparent -

LEMON: Right

PALUMBO: - in addressing the collateral damage issue is something to their credit. Because we don't want the public to think anything went on here that didn't and unfortunately, the situation speaks for itself. If you view this YouTube or any of the surveillance videos on this shooting, it was quite spontaneous. These police officers were alerted to him by a construction worker. They were attempting to approach him.

At that time, he was walking down the street along the curb, prepared to go about his business, which is why he was dressed in a suit and tie, hoping that he would just go into obscurity with the rest of us would. The police officers knew who he was when they confronted him and he drew his weapon.

LEMON: He was hoping -

PALUMBO: You just have to look at the tape.

LEMON: Yes and he was hoping that police wouldn't even notice him and he would get away with it. Lou Palumbo, thank you very much. And Lou, we should say we're not second guessing or (INAUDIBLE) quarterbacking in order for the questions to be answered, they have to be asked. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

PALUMBO: I agree, Don. Thank you, sir.

LEMON: Half past the hour now. We want to get a look at the headlines. The looming threat of tropical storm Isaac has caused Republicans to rearrange their convention plans. It will begin Monday as scheduled but immediately go into recess until Tuesday afternoon. The party will be left with a three-day convention. But by Tuesday, they believe the storm would have passed. 50,000 people are expected to attend that convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Those historic words from legendary astronaut, Neil Armstrong, when he set foot on the surface of the moon. The year was 1969. The mission was "Apollo 11." Neil Armstrong died today from complications following heart surgery. He was 82.

Tropical storm Isaac maintaining its track and speed, according to the National Hurricane Center, prompting hurricane warnings to be issued for the Florida keys.

Jim Spellman is live in Key West. Would normally be a nice, warm, sunny assignment, but not right now. They are preparing for the worst there. Are they ready?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think they're getting there, Don. Take a look, this is Duvall Street. Now, like you said, normally on a Saturday night, 7:30, this place would be hopping. One of the last weekends of the summer. Tonight, very few people are out. They haven't made this officially an evacuation but they have encouraged visitors to leave. They had extra planes running all day. The last plane has just taken off, closing the airport down now. All that's left is a two-lane road coming and going to get out. There's especially concern about people who live on trailers and people who live on their boats down here in their keys. Some of those people don't even just live here, but they're visiting here. I spoke with a man (INAUDIBLE) who rode his boat down here to spend some time with friends from the panhandle Florida. Now he's stuck. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN FAIRCLOTH, TOURIST: We came down Thursday for one of our friend's 50th birthday party and just having a good time. We knew the storm was coming, and tropical storm and all of a sudden it's Hurricane Isaac. But we have a plan. We have a rental car if we need it. But I think we're going to ride it out with you guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SPELLMAN: So Brian, like you mentioned, he has a rental car ready. In the morning, if he feels like it's really getting bad, he's going to take off and he'll just deal with his boat later. Definitely, people are making plans but a lot of people still have their hearts set on partying throughout the storm. Don.

LEMON: So they're not - they haven't left yet?

SPELLMAN: No, not yet.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Jim Spellman.

SPELLMAN: All right, Don.

LEMON: Well you can follow the very latest on Isaac on our Web site, cnn.com/impact. And there you will find photos, satellite images and information on how you can help storm victims recover from Isaac.

For the first time since news that he made lose his seven Tour de France titles, Lance Armstrong talked with reporters about the doping allegation and he's upbeat.

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LEMON: For the first time, Lance Armstrong is responding to the move by the United States Anti-Doping Agency to strip him of his seven wins at the Tour de France.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE ARMSTRONG, SEVEN-TIME TOUR DE FRANCE CHAMPION: I'm just more at ease now than I have been in 10 years. Listen, guys, I don't have anything to worry about. I'm focused on the future. I've got five great kids. I got a great lady in my life. I've got a wonderful foundation that is completely unaffected by any noise out there and we're going to continue to do our job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Armstrong is choosing to not fight, not to fight the charges that he used performance enhancing drugs and the head of the doping agency says Armstrong's inaction speaks volumes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN FAHEY, PRESIDENT, WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY: He's (INAUDIBLE) to rebut the charges, very serious charges. He has effectively admitted that they have substance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And we're now going to Dave Shields, seen here in the Tour de France with Armstrong back in 2003. Shields is now a cycling analyst. Thank you for joining us. He's in Salt Lake City tonight. Were you surprised by this when it came out the other night?

DAVE SHIELDS, CYCLING ANALYST: No, because unfortunately for Lance, the evidence has just become too overwhelming. There's too much stuff.

LEMON: Yes. And what do you mean by that, it's become overwhelming? Too much stuff? Do you believe that there was doping involved, that he did dope?

SHIELDS: Yes, I have to say that what was said on the clip earlier, that a lack of defense is essentially an admission of guilt. At this point, there are numerous witnesses, numerous other previous teammates, numerous other people who have seen things and there's also some tests out there that have suspect results. So I think the time has come that Lance decided it's better to walk away from the fight than to lose the fight in a big public way.

LEMON: OK. So you mentioned all this stuff, and how do you know? Do you have any evidence of that yourself? Have you seen any of the information? Have you ever seen him doping?

SHIELDS: Oh, no, absolutely not. I don't have any direct evidence myself. I have written a couple of books. I wrote a book about the Tour de France and as a result I got a lot of inside opportunities to talk to cyclists, and found myself writing another book that dealt with drugs and why a cyclist would choose to use drugs in the Tour de France. That book was called "The Tour," and it actually got a lot of interest, but it was, you know, it was a Santa Claus isn't real type of a moment where people, you know, they don't want to hear it. And it's too bad because the reason that a cyclist or any athlete is faced with this decision is really lack of enforcement by the authorities. When you have -- when you dedicate your entire life to being at the very top, and there is a method out there that can increase your performance by one percent, two percent, three percent, you know, some small amount like that, you literally, you got a moral decision. You either have to take it or you've got to decide you're going to be irrelevant. That's it.

LEMON: I want to ask you this, Dave. As I have been reporting on this story, people are wondering who is the title going to go to? Who is the title going to go to? Because in their estimation, I'm not pointing any one out here. This is just a hypothetical, I don't know who is number two, three or four in any of the races, they said how do you know who it goes to? Because the number two guy, the number three guy, the number four guy, they were doping, as well. So why should they get the wins? Everybody is doing it. He's just the one - he did it better than everybody else and now he's the one getting caught at this particular moment.

SHIELDS: What you're saying is very true. There is - in all of the titles that Lance won, there's only one cyclist that is mostly uninvolved in doping allegations. And it really comes down to the big problem is that lack of enforcement essentially forced all of these guys to do these kinds of things. And the UCI, which is the governing body of cycling, is more to blame for the situation than anybody else. They really forced the guys.

LEMON: So listen, you said that what I said was true. Did you ever dope yourself?

SHIELDS: I think there's a misunderstanding. I was not a Tour de France cyclist.

LEMON: You weren't.

SHIELDS: I was there at the Tour de France to write a book, but I was a - an athlete that raced but I didn't race at a pro level. I worked very closely with numerous athletes and I've had an opportunity to talk with a lot of different athletes about exactly the pressures they've gone through and a lot of the different - how the world worked. But I wasn't sitting there in a room with having to face the decision of do I inject this or not?

LEMON: Because we see you there in a race on the cycle. So thank you, Dave Shields. We appreciate you joining us. Thanks a lot.

SHIELDS: Thank you very much.

LEMON: All right. Despite the latest blow to his career, Armstrong's cause is living up to its name and it's going strong. Today there was a lot of support for Live Strong, Lance Armstrong's foundation for cancer survivors. The foundation held a fund-raising bike ride in Columbia, Maryland and many fans were standing behind him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's the most tested athlete ever, and he's never tested positive.

JIM GLEASON, CYCLIST: Here's the cool thing. Yesterday, the money went up like times 25 when the news came out for Live Strong. So obviously everybody that loves Lance and the whole cause said you know, we need to step up. So no, I think it's actually going to work in the favor of raising money.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does that tell you?

GLEASON: Well, it tells me Lance is the man and the cause is worth doing. That's why I'm here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Almost as well known as the Live Strong name is the yellow wrist bands that symbolize the foundation and cancer survivors. Since 2004, 80 million have been distributed. Live Strong has raised nearly $500 million since its inception in 1997. That's according to its Web site and 81 cents of every dollar raised goes to its programs for cancer survivors.

For a long time, Penn State football was about Joe Paterno and his team. Now after the most painful chapter in the school's history, Penn State begins building a new identity.

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LEMON: Breaking news now from Syria. And new evidence of a horrific atrocity. Activists say more than 200 bodies were found in the suburb of the capital of Damascus. The circumstances of their deaths unclear at this point. Video that we are unable to show you yet appears to show dozens of corpses piled up in the basement of a mosque. More than 200 bodies found in the suburbs of the capital of Damascus in Syria. We'll update you. We'll keep an eye on this breaking news.

Meantime, Penn State's football team built its legacy over decades. It was shredded in just months. Now players look for a new beginning in a state college after a sordid chapter in the school's history.

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STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: Parents, when a teacher comes to you and says that they think your child has ADD or ADHD, you must ask questions. For instance, ask questions about the child's behavior. What exactly is he or she doing that makes you feel this way? And make sure that they explain it to you in full. Ask questions about the strategies that are being used in the classroom. What are you doing when he does this or when she does that? How do you respond? How does it relate to the rest of the class? Help me to understand the age appropriateness of this behavior, is it consistent with what five, six, seven, eight-year-old boy or girl do?

Then consult your pediatrician. Your pediatrician is only going to have the information that we, as the educators gave. So you really have to be on top of this as a parent. You can't just allow what we say in the classroom and what an educated guess from a pediatrician says to determine what is going to happen with your child.

ADD and ADHD often come not just a label but with medication and not every child responds really well to that.

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LEMON: For some people, Penn State football's reputation will always be tarnished. It's difficult for them to separate the team from the sexual abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. One week from today Penn State football begins building a new legacy and CNN's Jason Carroll spoke to players about that burden.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, when I sat down with the players, no questions were off limits, and they talked about a number of things. They talked about how the scandal has affected them personally. The pressure leading into next Saturday's game and they also talked about their thoughts on their former coach, Joe Paterno.

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JORDAN HILL, PENN STATE DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: This whole situation has been a life lesson, starting back in November. You know, 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.

CARROLL (on camera): 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 developed a relationships with those guys. You know, you've worked out with them for the past couple of years, you've hung out with them, you've gone out with them and you had great times with them and you built great relationships with them

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

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a younger guy, it goes through your head, but 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 and you know, to be, you know, the kind of man that he was, and I'm just happy that I was around for the four years and you know, he will be greatly missed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 Coach O'Brien right now and that's the guy who's helping us get through all of this?

MCGLOIN: September 1st is becoming so much more about football. You know, we're playing, obviously 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 you know, starting September 1st, we have the opportunity to make history.

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CARROLL: And Don since the NCAA issued its sanctions last month, nine Penn State players have decided to transfer to other schools and I asked the players that I spoke to how that affected them, how that affected the team. They said it definitely hurt, but their focus right now is to focus on the young men who are on this team, a team which they say is closer and stronger since the scandal broke. Don.

LEMON: All right. Jason, thank you very much.

The National Hurricane Center updating the movement and strength of tropical storm Isaac, in a matter of moments. The newest information three minutes away.

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LEMON: National Hurricane Center just updated it's forecast for tropical storm Isaac. Our meteorologist Rob Marciano has it. What do they say?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I have a full new forecast at 11:00 tonight. What they said about the APM is not a whole lot. It's just moved in the direction that they have been tracking it. Northwestly moving at 20 miles an hour, 60-mile-an-hour winds, so still the same strength and they haven't changed much in the way of the watches and warnings with this thing. It's about 375 miles away right now from Key West. There are some showers that have been rolling into south Florida, including Key West all day long. Not really associated with the storm itself. But beginning tomorrow morning, you're going to start feeling it, not only in the Keys but in Florida, in south Florida as well. Hurricane warnings posted from just south of Naples to Key West and just south of Miami, to Key West as well, tropical warnings up for the east side of Florida including Miami up through Port (INAUDIBLE) and some tropical storm watches now also up for the west side including Tampa. Here's the forecast track, which again will be updated at 11:00 tonight.

By tomorrow morning, we start to feel the effects here in the keys. By tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow night, it crosses the keys or South Florida, potentially as a category 1, gets into the Gulf of Mexico. We anticipate some strengthening, potentially as high as a category two storm, or even higher than that before it makes landfall likely, somewhere along the northern gulf coast anywhere from the big (INAUDIBLE) just north of Cedar Key to maybe all the way to New Orleans. So keep everyone who lives in those areas certainly need to keep an eye on the storm to take action to maybe evacuate if you have.

LEMON: Yes and it's been a while since we had a cat 2 or 3, right, Rob?

MARCIANO: Yes, well, the last major storm we have was back in 2005. So the last cat-2 was Ike. So it has been a while.

LEMON: All right. Rob Marciano, I'll be here with you at 11:00 p.m. for that update. Thank you, sir.

I'm Don Lemon, at the CNN World headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. "CNN PRESENTS" begins right now.