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Tropical Storm Isaac is Heading to Gulf of Mexico; A Hurricane Warning was Released in New Orleans

Aired August 26, 2012 - 17:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Louisiana's governor just declared a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Isaac heads toward the gulf coast. Governor Bobby Jindal also calling on low-lying areas to voluntary evacuate. Isaac is moving past the Florida Key's and it is leaving behind a little bit of flooding so far. The U.S. Hurricane Center says Isaac is now tracking west and is due to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast as a hurricane.

So Isaac is not the only dangerous storm out there right now. A powerful typhoon is actually heading toward the Korean Peninsula. It made landfall over the Japanese Island of Okinawa earlier today. The storm is expected to bring up to 12 inches of rain; last night wind gusts reached 132 miles per hour. Hundreds of people are without power there.

And the Syrian regime has released what it says is new video proving the country's vice president has not defected. The tape reportedly shows Farouk Al-Sharaa meeting with a top Iranian official this weekend. Rebels had claimed Al-Sharaa fled the regime about a week ago.

Meanwhile, regime troops are shelling a Daraya, a Damascus suburb. And more than 200 bodies have been found there. All has been the deadliest month since the Syrian uprising began 17 months ago.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

A bracing for tropical storm Isaac. Take a look at Miami Beach, already being hit with wind and rain on the west coast. In Tampa, people are sandbagging, trying to put up some kind of protection against the storm to come. And here's the satellite view of this huge storm heading into the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico, along the gulf coast. New Orleans may now be in its sights.

Isaac will be a hurricane when it reaches the gulf coast, possibly a category three. Chad Myers is going to join us with more on that. A short time ago, Louisiana's governor declared a state of emergency and he is asking people who live in the low-lying areas to voluntary evacuate.

So before Louisiana, there is still south Florida in play right now. And other parts of Florida along the west coast that are keeping a close watch. So, we have correspondents spread across the state following Isaac as it moves in.

So let's go to the Florida Keys which seems maybe it has dodged the bullet. That's where we find CNN's John Zarrella.

So John, you got a break from Isaac in terms of being relatively calm right now. But no one's really gone out to really assess completely. We just know there is standing water in some areas, right?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about it.

You know, when you talk about the Keys, you're talking about 100 miles of just a chain of islands all connected by a series of causeways, series of bridges, small spits of land and certainly over years when you've had hurricanes approaching from either direction, whether it was from the west or the east towards the Florida Keys you get over wash. You do get a lot of debris that washes up. You get some flooding in the low-lying areas. This storm approaching certainly on the Atlantic side. They had more wind and rain and a lot of tidal surge that came up as the storm approached.

Far less than what we saw here in this protected area, more on the gulf side. You can see just how protected we are. You can see the trees barely blowing over there now. But You know, Fredricka, earlier today when we first got here, we did see on Duval street, which is the main drag up and down here, the main tourist area, there were still a few people out, some putting up shutters, some still sandbagging just in case. And we saw a few tourists that were still out. In fact, we saw a group from Marseilles, France who found themselves one souvenir store that was still open.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: You know what a hurricane is?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ZARRELLA: Right. You're not worried, scared?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is that?

ZARRELLA: Worried. Scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: French people don't know that.

ZARRELLA: French people don't know that. You're making a joke with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a joke, it's a joke.

ZARRELLA: You're not worried, not scared?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. We make shopping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Yes, you know, they had never experienced a hurricane before. And fortunately for them, they didn't experience one this time either. But again, here, you can take a look up here, that you can see the clouds still kind of moving around, Fredricka. And some of those storm clouds rolling around, but quite a different scene now even here on this side of the island, than we experienced just a few hours ago when it was really gusty. A lot of rain coming down, squally weather as those rain bands moved through.

And now the issue will be as you mentioned at the beginning, time for people to go out and assess, was there much damage, was -- were there any power lines, power losses? We just don't know at this point. But I can tell you here where we are, we have not experienced any kind of a power loss -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: That's good. And of course we'll have to give them time to assess any potential damage there in the Keys.

Thanks so much, John Zarrella, appreciate that.

ZARRELLA: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's check in with Chad Myers in the severe weather center. You have a 5:00 update from the national hurricane center. What is being said?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I have a 5:02 update.

WHITFIELD: OK.

MYERS: Slightly delayed but that's OK because they have a lot to say including now.

Hurricane warning for New Orleans. That's the big story for the 5:00 advisory. They upgraded the hurricane watch to a hurricane warning, all the way from Morgan City, Louisiana eastward over to the Florida panhandle.

So, here's what's happening now if you're up into most of populated Florida, not the Keys, you will see more of the bands come onshore. As you do, you'll get a 30, 40, 50 mile-per-hour gust. They also may get a tornado warning. Some of these storms are spinning and they are very high, 50,000 feet high. That is pretty high for hurricane.

But anyway, as it they spins here near Key West, eventually, John and other our crew down there will pick up some more wind and also some more driving rain. As more convection develops south of you and rotates into Key West here.

The problem is, talk about an eye wall, there's part of an eye wall there. There's no eye wall on the east side of this storm or on the southeast side. So therefore, there's no wind and that's where John is right now, him no wind. And so, that's why you're seeing that. And that's great news because if the wind be coming in here now, that's when you get the forward motion plus the wind speed. So, it would be a 60 or 70 mile-per-hour wind. It may turn into an 80 mile- per-hour gust. That's not happening yet. There will be more convection for the Keys throughout the night.

So, let's get to it. Let's keep moving ahead here because this is the next big story. It is still only a category two, though every computer model I'm looking at now could make this a cat three. I heard you say that, Fred, and I'm going to go along with that because I really like that forecast. You have to understand that this could be a major hurricane because we have many hours in a very warm gulf of Mexico right through here and the center anywhere from mobile now, that's New Orleans, and then less likely to Panama City, less likely all the way over to about Beaumont, Port Arthur.

So, the center of the cone, the most likely path, although hurricane hunters are finding the storm not getting really stronger, not getting any deeper, not getting the lower pressure. I think, as this storm gets its act together it will be much more intense. It had a very hard time across Haiti, the DR, Cuba, it a hard time with those islands, those big tall islands. Well, the Keys aren't tall, like 15 feet. They say they're not affecting it. The Everglades not affecting it. The wind here across all of Florida, going to be offshore. So, we're not going to get surge here. So, no real problems with Fort Myers with surge. Although you could get more up here in the Everglades as the winds span this way for a while.

As the storm pulls away, the chance for this to turn around and get the surge this way, that storm will be too far away to surge into Tampa at this point. That's good news for the people that are there in Tampa and all the loved ones at home worrying about them in Wisconsin and Michigan and places that never see a hurricane, ever - Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Keep us posted on that, Chad, appreciate it.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: All right. Southwest Florida, they are starting to feel some of what John Zarrella described there.

Brian Todd is actually in Naples on the west side.

Brian, what are emergency officials saying there?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredericka, what they're saying is what concerns them the most is this turns into a complete rain event here, is that they are worried mostly about kind of a sudden change in the angle of this storm. If it veers from the west, changes angles and comes in here more quickly, if it changes in intensity fairly quickly, which it could do, that's what worries them. Because in the coming hours, overnight, what you see here, the tides will come in. The tides here is going to high tide starting at 3:00 a.m. That also may be when they have the highest storm surge. And with that and rain, a lot of this water will have no place to go but in these inland areas right here.

They've also got inland waterways just behind this area here so the churn could also wash water up from that direction. We talked to Dan summers, the director of emergency services here in Collier County. He had a very good point about what people tend to underestimate. What is the biggest mistake, I asked him, what is the biggest mistake people make in these situations? (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN SUMMERS, DIRECTOR, EMERGENCY SERVICES, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA: Well, there's a lot of frustration maybe with potential for saying it's just a category one. Well you know, we had significant damage from tropical storm Debby and depending on how long the storm stays here, even if it is a tropical storm and doesn't go to hurricane strength we can still have damages. So, we don't want to it be lured into a false sense of security just because it is a category one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So, that's what people have to watch out for. You know, this is not a wind event right now. It's a rain event. And it's pretty intense rain. The rain is going to keep coming in the coming hours. These are outer bands of the storm. Tornadoes are also a possibility though. But as you can see the palm trees down the coast, rain, not a huge factor -- excuse me, won not a huge factor. But when it is, Fredricka, we have a tool to help you measure it here. This is a wind meter. You got to hold it up here. Got to take a little reading, about 5.9, six miles an hour. All right, when you lower it, it gets lower. So obviously, not a wind event. But, when it does become a wind event we'll be able to tell you some of the more accurate and up- to-date readings on the wind. We're a full-service reporting team, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Take cover when you have to.

Brian Todd, appreciate that in Naples.

So, even if you are not in the path of Isaac, you could be feeling its impact. You may be paying more for gas. We will show you how the storm seek threaten oil raise in the Gulf and we will take you live to Tampa where Republican officials are considering yet another change to the convention schedule.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're keeping a close watch on tropical storm Isaac. You can see right there, these pictures are from Miami Beach, courtesy of our Miami affiliate WSVN, earlier in the day when there were lots of squalls of wind and rain hitting the beaches there. And then, we also will show you pictures of folks who have come out to kind of enjoy the rough seas and the winds and seeing how picturesque even in the face of a tropical storm or hurricane the beauty of Mother Nature. Right there looking rather empty on that beach. But these are pictures from earlier from our affiliate WSVN.

Meantime, we understand that tropical storm Isaac really is kind of brushing over the tip of south Florida as you see on this radar image right here. The concentration will be along the west coast of Florida within hours as it makes its way into the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico.

And you're looking at Tampa, kind of highlighted there on the map of Florida. Because that is a place that's concerned about what potentially Isaac could be bringing. So, the big hitch for the Republican national convention taking place there in Tampa is, of course, this storm and already organizers have made some adjustments. They've decided to delay the start of the convention in Tampa by one day. Instead of starting on Monday, now it will start on Tuesday. But that's when Isaac just might be pounding Tampa with the heavy rains and tropical force winds. Forecasters are saying it could dump upwards of inches of rain in that area. You could see people are already starting to sandbag there, preparing for Isaac's arrival.

Joining me live right now in Tampa, CNN political director Mark Preston. It is dry right now. But we're also hearing as they are making the adjustments or made the adjustments to start the convention one day late, now they're considering actually extending it by one day?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, there's no question right now, all the plans are very much in flex. And we should know more from convention organizers, Fredricka, within the next 30 minutes or so. But our own Paul Steinhauser is reporting that in fact, there is some discussion under consideration anyway to extend the convention by one day. That will allow Republicans officials to have another night to try to showcase Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to the nation.

Now, of course, there would be some problems that would go along with this. You have a lot of people who have travel plans on Friday. They would have to change their plans to fly out on Saturday. So, everything is very much in flux. But that is still under consideration, at least that's what we're hearing right now - Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: OK. And earlier, when organizers said they were going to delay it by one day, they felt pretty confidently that they would be able to get in all of the speakers in that condensed three-day as opposed to four days. Might that be the issue in considering this extended day that maybe it's not so easy after all to, I guess, trim speeches and get it all in?

PRESTON: Yes. And that is true. There's a lot of speeches you won't even see on television that take place during the day, that take place not during the primetime hours. Those folks, several of those folks will likely to get cut.

But for the Romney campaign, who do they want to highlight? They want to highlight Ann Romney. She's supposed to speak Tuesday night. They want to highlight Chris Christie because he can give a fiery speech. They want to highlight Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida.

Because of this being, condensed down to three days, they have to make up that time and make sure that they can get everybody in.

Let's not forget, Paul Ryan is going to accept the nomination on Wednesday night. There's the big speech from Mitt Romney on Thursday night where he will address the nation and tell them why he should be the next president of the United States. But there is a little bit of a problem potentially if this storm does gain some momentum as it's in the gulf. And it goes right into Mississippi or perhaps even in New Orleans, they've got to reconsider, if they can hold the convention on a night where there perhaps is a lot of destruction along the gulf coast - Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Mark Preston in Tampa. Keep us posted. Thank you.

In time honoring an American pioneer. The Republican national committee is planning a video tribute to astronaut Neil Armstrong. He died yesterday at the age of 82. Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. He is remembered for his iconic words during that walk, "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

And be sure to stay with CNN for complete coverage of Republican national convention later on today. We'll actually have a special in- depth look at Mitt Romney, "Romney revealed" airing at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, followed by a preview of the convention itself. And our political team is in place for complete coverage all week long.

As tropical storm Isaac moves west, that puts oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico in its path. We'll look at how that could affect gas prices across the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, in the southeast portion of the country, the concern is tropical storm Isaac. Now, let's move out to big concerns out west in California. Some reported seismic activity.

Chad Myers, give us the details on this.

MYERS: Yes. People in southern California feeling a little shaking of the ground here. This is an area that had a much, much bigger quake just a few months ago. So, I understand that these are 5.3, 5.2, maybe even a couple 5.4s. There is Mexicali, Mexico, the U.S. Mexican border. Here's L.A. riverside, salt and sea here. Well on down.

But if you are in southern California here, L.A., Riverside, maybe towards San Diego, feeling the earth shake, the earth is shaking all the way out here by the salt and sea and a 5.3 is not all that much to get worried about out here.

We will continue to watch it because even though there's been a couple 5.3s, 5.4s, there's been so many of them, literally, 10 to 20 earthquakes in the past hour or so. You can sometimes call these or can sometimes call this a foreshock, and sometimes not an aftershock. These could lead up to something much bigger. That doesn't happen often, maybe one out of 100. We will have a foreshock. But if it is shaking, it could continue to shake and there could be a bigger shake on the way. Right now, we don't know that that's happened. Usually, after it settles down for an hour and there's no month shaking, then the chance that this is a foreshock to a bigger quake pretty much goes away.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. All right, Chad, let us know if there's more to come.

MYERS: You got it.

WHITFIELD: All right, meantime. Let's go back to big concern in the southeast. We are talking tropical storm Isaac, which could become hurricane Isaac. The governor of Louisiana is now declaring a state of emergency and that state is bracing for a hurricane. We heard Chad says earlier, it could become category three straight even the map there is showing potentially two.

The latest information from the hurricane center is saying that it could be potentially a hurricane category three. We're keeping a close watch on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Just in the last hour we're heard from Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal. He is declaring a state of emergency as Isaac threatens to turn toward that state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBY JINDAL (R), GOVERNOR, LOUISIANA: I would recommend to our people, let's hope and pray for best even as we prepare for the worst. Obviously now is the time to make sure you have an evacuation plan, you'd know where you would go. I'm personally strongly recommending folks in low-lying areas outside the levees, below the intra-coastal in those 15 parishes to go ahead and start the voluntary evacuation today. There may be, depending on the information we get, there may be mandatory evacuations, especially in some of those areas tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Governor Jindal was planning on going to the Republican convention in Tampa. But now, of course, he's changed his plans because of this threatening storm.

Right now it's a tropical storm but it could be and most forecasters say it will be a hurricane, especially by the time it where to reach the city of New Orleans, for example. And that could happen on Wednesday.

And on Wednesday, coincidentally, it will be seven years since hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans and killed more than 1,800 people. You can imagine the threat of a hurricane on that anniversary is the last thing survivors who are still living there want to hear. But it is something they are worrying about as tropical storm Isaac gained strength.

I want to bring in retired lieutenant general Russel Honore. You may remember, nobody can forget, that he commanded the military response to hurricane Katrina back in 2005. And He's an expert on surviving and preparing for disasters of this magnitude. General Honore, great to see you.

Unfortunately it's always under circumstances like this. But give me an idea, what starts to go through your mined in terms of preparation, what you are hoping for in New Orleans or other coastal city this time around especially as we are reminded that we approach the seven-year anniversary of hurricane Katrina.

RUSSEL HONORE, (RETIRED) LIEUTENANT GENERAL, U.S. ARMY: You know, Fred, this is an interesting week in history. We just celebrated the 20th year anniversary, if I may use that word, hurricane Andrew that hit Florida. And just four years ago, this same week, during the Republican convention, we were hit in the gulf coast by hurricane Gustav.

So, the fact that Isaac is approaching the gulf coast and leaning toward New Orleans, it's giving the governor and National Guard in north command along with FEMA, this team that we put together, the opportunity to lean forward and do what we call those defensive tasks, first by informing the people and evacuating them from low-lying areas.

I think the danger we have today is that people have become conditioned and somewhat complacent that a category two storm is nothing to worry about. This could become a dangerous storm and could create conditions that we saw during Katrina.

So, the leaning forward and the government has done a great job of getting ready. The problem now is how do we keep the people informed?

WHITFIELD: And even though the hurricane center is predicting potentially this storm which could become a hurricane, could reach category two potential, our own Chad Myers is in his tracking of it, says they could potentially be a category three. So, that's very serious.

But give me an idea, General Honore, while we heard from Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal today say, he is trying to encourage voluntary evacuations right now. Is there a feeling in your view that people are indeed complacent or when they even hear volunteer evacuations, given through what they have been through historically in that part of the country, that they are starting to pack up, they are starting to make plans about relocating further inland?

HONORE: Absolutely, Fred. You know, there's a lot of ground when you look at the Louisiana coastline, thousands of miles when you measure it with all the inlets. Much of that is occupied by people who live along the coast, live and work there to include the oil workers that work offshore. This is a significant activity to get those areas evacuated. But politically, they are those below the industrial canal. There's no production there. And it is very easy for them to fly.

They also include any animals along the gulf coast. You know, during Katrina, we lost over 5,000 farm animals that were kept along the Marsh areas in down in Camera Parish. So, this early warning is timely. It also gives everyone who needs extra time to move. And nursing homes that are in low-lying areas and hospitals can adjust their bed load and shift operations.

A lot has been learned and much can be said about this pregame show, what I call it, and getting people ready. But folks need to listen and listen to their county and parish officials from Florida all the way over to the Louisiana coastline.

WHITFIELD: And general, where is your confidence level as it pertains to levees? You know levees? That was the big problem, the breaching of the levees during hurricane Katrina.

HONORE: Well, we have done a lot to reinforce those levees. The core engineers have installed gates along the entrance canals into the city of New Orleans that should prevent a repeat of Katrina where the water came in through the canals that go out of the city and pump the water into Lake Pontchartrain. They now have gates. I went on the tour of that last year. That infrastructure is in place, hopefully it will be strong enough, anything that ike may bring to us, it will keep that water out of the city.

WHITFIELD: Retired lieutenant general Russel Honore, thanks so much for your time. We always appreciate your insight and expertise. Thanks for being available. Appreciate it.

All right. You just heard the gulf coast has its eye on Isaac. It is moving west and getting stronger.

Up next we check in with meteorologist Chad Myers for a look at what's happening with the storm right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Tropical storm Isaac brushing over the southern tip of Florida, kind of leaving the Florida Keys. But right now, you're looking at the east coast of south Florida, right off the Miami Beach there, courtesy of our affiliate WSVN out of Miami.

You can see the surf is still kicking up pretty good there, lots of high winds. But right now, the focus willing on the west coast of Florida and beyond along the gulf coast as tropical storm Isaac makes its way into the Gulf of Mexico and before reaching hurricane strength potentially.

Our Chad Myers, with us now, on flight cancellations that have resulted in south Florida, namely in Miami-Dade, right?

MYERS: That's right. I just got an e-mail. So, 294 arrivals and 261 departures out of Miami did not make it today. Did not arrive or did not leave. Finally planes in the air, but 19. It should be more like 119 in the air.

So, yes, people are trying to get out, American, American eagle, especially the smaller planes didn't try to fly in 40, 50, 60 mile per hour winds. So, that's probably some good news. So, things are moving, just not as fast as you might like. Here we go. Tropical storm Isaac, it is not as impressive I guess as people were looking for. But it is still very close at 70 mile per hour wind at the naval air station there, Boca Chica, at 74 makes a hurricane. So, that was almost exactly from the forecast was. And that was right on Monday there.

So, what else is next? What else do we have to look forward to? Maybe higher gas prices at the gas pump. Because wow that this storm is not forecast to make the big turn up toward Pensacola or (INAUDIBLE), now forecast to make its way toward every one of those dots, oil rig out there. They are evacuating some of the oil rigs. And that does basically shut down production. Can't get the big ships out there to get the oil off and you have to get men and women off these things with helicopters. And all of a sudden, you know, 3.79 turns into whatever. I filled up today. So, there you go.

WHITFIELD: I guess most people should if then, if they can already.

MYERS: Forecast is for category two. But you know, as I said, I think if this storm really gets its act together and becomes the storm with an eye, it has no problem. It would have no problem in this warm water in the Gulf of Mexico getting to that cat three that you mentioned.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.

All right. Thanks so much, Chad.

MYERS: You are welcome.

WHITFIELD: Keep us posted on that. As that storm makes its way into the Gulf of Mexico, Fort Myers is bracing for whatever Isaac may bring. The mayor will be talking to us about preparations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: People along the west coast of Florida are getting ready for Isaac. Strong wind and rain are pounding several areas near the coast, including Fort Myers. The city is under voluntary evacuation orders right now.

Mayor Randall Henderson is on the phone with us from Fort Myers.

So Mister Mayor, what are your greatest concerns right now?

RANDALL HENDERSON, MAYOR, FORT MYERS (via phone): Well Fredericka, we are certainly laser focused on Isaac, my attention started getting serious along about Thursday. I had a conversation with Governor Scott who called to say that FEMA was activated and ready to serve our citizens.

And last night I gathered with city manager Billy Mitchell and Grant Alley, our lawyer, to sign the declaration stating we're in a state of emergency. So, we are in full activation and our citizens are taking due care to make sure that they're going to be safe. And we are concerned about it. We learned through hurricane Charlie that the slightest movement from hurricanes, even as little as three or four degrees, can make catastrophic difference. So, we are braced and prepared.

WHITFIELD: How difficult is it going to be to get people moving there?

HENDERSON: We are under -- as I said, under full emergency management procedures. We have activated our shelters for our handicapped folks who will need assistance and, therefore, they are staffed with food and personnel to assist --

WHITFIELD: I'm sorry to interrupt --

HENDERSON: We're taking this very serious as we've learned from past experience and as General Honore just shared, this is serious business.

WHITFIELD: But I wonder, mayor, I guess what I'm asking are you finding traditionally people do adhere to the orders there in Fort Myers or are people generally more willing to take risks and ride out the storm as opposed to go to the shelters that are set up, et cetera?

HENDERSON: I'm going to tell you, we have citizens who choose -- who choose either way. We have citizens who are comfortable riding it out. There are homes that have been hardened in ways that for example, shattered and other measures. And then, we have a host of citizens who are ready to take full advantage of shelters. I couldn't cite the number and how it's split but we have them both ways.

WHITFIELD: OK. You have a pretty significant elderly population. You are talking about a lot of people who are handicapped, in wheel chairs, accommodations have to be made at the shelters for them. So, you really do have to take special precautions, special measures, particularly for the most vulnerable of your population.

HENDERSON: You bet. My interest is that making sure that those who choose to have the services of our city that we are prepared to deal with them. And I am confident that we are prepared for those who make that choice.

WHITFIELD: Fort Myers' Mayor, Randall Henderson, thanks so much. Keep us posted and all the best.

HENDERSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Some parts of Florida are already feeling fury of tropical storm Isaac. And social media users are keeping each other inform on how bad they believe the storm is in their area.

Nick Valencia with me now. Give us an idea of what they're saying.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can imagine, Fred, a lot of videos are pouring into our iReport team and our user-generated content team. This is the CNN national desk, really the tip of the spear of the news gathering information. These editors are pouring over the latest video that comes in, talking to affiliates, talking to officials and bring us some great video.

And speaking of that great video, we have video fresh in from Pompano Beach. This is south Florida when the heart of hit areas that showing swelling waves outside the condo of Scott Segal. And he says, all morning, there has been consistent rain. This is probably very appetizing for some of the surfers out there but concerning for a lot of other residents though, not worry for some of the more veteran residence of Florida. Scott Segal telling us he's a 20-year resident of Florida. He has been through many hurricanes before including Wilma and Floyd. So, he is saying he is not too concern. He does have his hurricane shutters up. But, this is just a small example of some of the great video that's been coming in, probably one of the most dramatic clips of video we got yesterday, this aboard the "freedom of the seas" cruise line. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What an idiot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Now, that cruise ship is in the Florida straits between Cuba and Florida. It received, Fred, excess winds of 65 mile per hours there. The video shot by cruise ship passengers inside that ship not willing to take the risk like that one passenger as you saw out on deck there.

But again, these are just some of the few clips we have of the many that have poured in here to our iReport team. Remember, if you're caught in the eye of the storm, be careful. But we do want to see your videos. You can upload them to iReport.cn i-report.CNN.com where our producer Joreen (ph), Imam (ph), will be waiting for those videos. But this is just a small taste of what we got, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Valencia, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

VALENCIA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. On the eve of the national Republican national convention, Mitt Romney and Ann Romney reflecting on a painful chapter of their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Michigan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The latest on tropical c storm Isaac. Isaac is churning past the Florida Keys, leaving some flooding that its wake. In Louisiana, the governor has declared a state of emergency ahead of Isaac's arrival. The U.S. hurricane center says Isaac will hit the gulf coast as a hurricane.

Our Chad Myers is predicting possibly as a category three storm. Louisiana's governor is asking people living in low-lying areas of the coast to voluntary evacuate now. Now, New Orleans is now under a hurricane warning.

On to politics, Mitt Romney's political and business career will be featured this week at the Republican national convention. But there is one pivotal chapter of his personal life that still stirs up powerful emotions within the Romney family.

Here now is CNN's Gloria Borger.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Fred, after Mitt Romney lost the Senate race in 1994, he went back to business and to the private world. But a few years later, he and Ann Romney got some unsettling health news that would really rock their family.

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BORGER (voice-over): It was just before thanksgiving 1998.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She began to see numbness on her right side. It began spreading, larger and larger. She was having more difficulty getting up stairs, we went to the neurologist.

BORGER: Romney's life was about to take an unexpected and unhappy turn.

MITT ROMNEY: We went into his office, and he performed an examination and it was very clear that she was flunking the examination. She couldn't stand on her right foot without falling over and so forth and he stepped out. And she began to cry, and I welled up tears, as well, and we hugged each other. And she said, you know, something's terribly wrong.

BORGER: At age 49, Ann Romney was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and incurable disease that can shut down the central nervous system.

ANN ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S WIFE: You don't know how much is it going to chew me up and spit me out? Where is it going to end? How sick am I going to get. Is this progressive? Am I going to be in a wheelchair? And it's a very, very frightening place to be.

MITT ROMNEY: And I know Ann was really distraught and distressed with the diagnosis, particularly as time went on, because she was really ill for quite a while.

ANN ROMNEY: I really just was having a very, very hard time and was very depressed. And had kind of given up a little bit.

TAGG ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S SON: It was a tough moment for both of them. You know, it was interesting to see the way he treated her as they went through that, very caring, very loving, very frustrating for him not to be able to step in and fix it. And -- but it was -- you know, they drew even closer.

ANN ROMNEY: Even when I was as sick as that, he would curl up in the bed with me.

BORGER: Take a minute.

ANN ROMNEY: So you just knew that that's where he was. It was, like, he was going to do anything he could to just say I'm here, you're OK, just stay right there and we'll be OK.

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BORGER: In a sign of Ann Romney's importance to the campaign, they moved her convention speech to Tuesday night when they are sure the broadcast networks will be watching. The campaign understands that Ann Romney is perhaps her husband east best character witness and they want all voters, especially women, to hear her - Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Gloria Borger, thanks so much for bringing that to us. Be sure to stay with CNN for complete coverage of the Republican national convention.

Then later today, we do have a special in-depth look at Mitt Romney, Romney Reveal." Much more of what Gloria Borger brought us there. That's airing at 8:00 Eastern time, followed by preview of the convention itself.

And our political team is in place for complete coverage all week long.

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WHITFIELD: All right, the latest on tropical storm Isaac.

It is turning past the Florida Keys hitting part of southern Florida right now, primarily on the west side. The storm is already leaving some flooding in its wake. At the Miami-Dade airport, 555 flights have been canceled because of Isaac. That's a huge number.

In Louisiana, the governor has declared a state of emergency. The U.S. hurricane center says Isaac will hit the gulf coast as a hurricane now that it's making its ways into the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico.

New Orleans is already under a hurricane warning.

Our Chad Myers is predicting that this storm, which would be a hurricane, could reach category three strength. Louisiana's governor is asking people living in the low-lying areas of the coast to voluntary evacuate and start that right now, voluntarily.

So it's been nearly seven years since hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the gulf coast and flooded New Orleans. Grammy winning musician, Aaron Neville, is from the Crescent City. He and his family evacuated to Memphis before Katrina hit. Fellow New Orleanian and CNN producer Jessica Dunn sat down with Neville to talk about the months after the storm and how the city has since recovered.

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AARON NEVILLE, MUSICIAN: I was kind of bitter. I was, like, I don't know, I felt violated, you know? Because I never went back to that house where I lived with my first wife, Joelle, and it was like I didn't want to go back and, you know, because we had been getting away from hurricanes for a few years, you know. If I'm on the road, I tell them get out of town, you know, and they go for three days, take three days worth of clothes and come back. And so they met me in Memphis and we thought three days and go back. We're watching the TV and saw the water come.

And so, you know, never went back to that house. And we started doing these benefits with the Red Cross and Larry king. And I would do some from Louisiana 1927. I didn't know it, but they'd have pictures of people floating in the water and all that behind me. I'm glad, because I probably couldn't have got through the song.

Happened down here is the wind that changed clouds rolled in from the north and it started to rain.

JESSICA DUNN, CNN PRODUCER: I imagine music's in everything you do, every day.

NEVILLE: No doubt.

DUNN: So describe for me those six months or a year after Katrina. Were you writing? Were you thinking about music?

NEVILLE: Right after that, that's all you could think about. You know, you thought you can write about. There wasn't no happy, you know, because it would made it up with. New Orleans musicians were like the hard core, you know. They could take anything, and they couldn't take this. We'd meet up in Europe somewhere and everybody the same looking at, wow, man, our city, you know? Isn't coming back.

I mean, it's coming back now, but it took a long time. And the thing that hurt most was, like, looking at the TV and nobody was -- you know, cameras always cover everything, but the cavalry didn't come. And they called New Orleans the city that cared, they forgot to care. Overall, the people are resilient. You know, they're strong.

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WHITFIELD: Aaron Neville makes his way back to New Orleans from time to time. He does continue to perform. In fact, he's got a new album coming out later on this year.

All right, Aaron Neville helping to remember seven years ago.

So seven years ago this coming Wednesday will be the anniversary of hurricane Katrina. And on Wednesday, potentially, Don, you, being a Louisiana guy, too, potentially this storm, which will become a hurricane by all measures, could be hitting that New Orleans area again. So it's an amazing coincidence.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is unbelievable. And it's a two or a three. They said it could come in at a three. It's exactly like Katrina. And if you look at, they've been looking at the models. They're very similar. Don't want to scare anyone, but the models are very similar. I'm not a meteorologist, but just looking at it, you go, oh, my goodness, wow. I just hope the people there are ready this time and as ready as you can be and preparing, at least.

WHITFIELD: Yes. We heard from the governor earlier today saying there need to be voluntary evacuations right now in 15 parishes. So hopefully people are paying attention to that and we'll see how it all unfolds, if you're going to take it away with much more of the "NEWSROOM" straight ahead. I know Chad Myers will be joining you with the latest updates as well.

Good to see you.

LEMON: And you know, you too. Better safe than sorry, right?

WHITFIELD: That's right.

LEMON: All right. Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Have a good one.