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Tracking Tropical Storm Isaac; Preparations Continue for Isaac; ; Hurricane Warnings for New Orleans; Republican Convention Changes; How GOP is Handling Storm That's Stealing Spotlight

Aired August 26, 2012 - 18:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sand's actually a lot worse than what I thought it was going to be. I was just expecting some rain. It's a lot of wind.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It's a lot of wind. That is a fair observation if you look at this by the people in the Florida Keys right now, particularly Key West. That's the bull's-eye right now. Tropical Storm Isaac, rainmaker. Yes, hurricane, not yet. I want you to look at these people. They're on Miami Beach right now. No emergency there. Just high winds and a challenging day on the beach.

And there's plenty to worry about in the Gulf Coast of Florida, though. Tropical Storm Isaac chugging its way north and west of the path projected just a few days ago. Want to bring in our meteorologist now, CNN's Chad Myers in the Severe Weather Center.

OK, exactly, Chad, where is this storm officially expected, when and where to make landfall?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It probably made landfall just a few minutes ago right near Ft. Jefferson, which is the Dry Tortugas, which is one of the islands in the Key West chain, but there's not a bridge there so you have to take a boat.

But so Key West is right there. That's the end. And then I believe way out in the Dry Tortugas, actually not that far from where Mel Fisher found the Atocha, was going to be moving right over the top of that, right into the Gulf of Mexico here. And that water right here is hot. That's all I can say about it. Very, very warm.

We are still seeing quite a few rain bands coming onshore here across parts of south Florida. And any one of those bands can rotate and you may hear the tornado sirens at any time tonight. So get ready for that. May want to sleep in an interior hallway if you don't like that whatsoever.

I know you guys were just talking about the irony of Katrina.

LEMON: Yes.

MYERS: Let me show you something that might even make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. LEMON: Really.

MYERS: Yes. Here we go. Here's where we are right now. Here's where we were at 11 o'clock -- 11 o'clock on this night seven years ago. And this is what happened to Katrina as it turned and had run right up into New Orleans.

Let me show you how this works . Let me show you. This is the track from August 26th, 11:00 pm, 2005. Here's where we are, right there. That's where our storm is. That's where Katrina was at 11:00.

LEMON: That's the comparison I was talking to Fred about.

MYERS: And this is the turn it made.

LEMON: That you guys sent out in the Weather Center, Chad. It -- that is frightening.

MYERS: It is -- it's, you know, when I saw it I went, wow, we have to put on that on TV. I don't care that it doesn't look that great -- National Weather Service graphic -- I don't care. It's just -- it's frightening seeing where this storm is, what the date was, which means the water's probably close to the same temperature, maybe a little cooler this time.

Yes, we have a lot to think about. And when you say yes, it can go to Louisiana, that's a long trip compared to just a short trip to Florida, this easily could be a bigger storm than is projected. You need to take this seriously.

LEMON: Chad, stick with me for a minute because we're waiting for the governor of Florida, Rick Scott, to hold a news conference at any minute now. We're going to have the very latest response to this hurricane. And so bring that to you when it happens.

But, Chad, what does that mean to you when you look at -- can you bring that back up? What does that say to you as a meteorologist, as an experienced meteorologist?

MYERS: What part?

LEMON: The part comparing to Hurricane Katrina. What do you say to the people down in the Gulf Coast when you look at that?

MYERS: The only slight difference that we have with this one is that obviously there was a major hurricane right through here, is that when this storm, when Katrina moved through here, this was what's called the loop current. That's the warmest water in the Gulf of Mexico, and Katrina exploded on its northward track into Louisiana.

This storm that we're doing here, the forecast is something more like this, so we're not in this warmest water, which is here, slightly cooler, but you have to understand how big Katrina got. You know, if we even get two-thirds of the size of Katrina, then we're in trouble.

The problem with the storm is it's never really had an eye, it's never got its act together with an eye wall all the way around. If and when that happens, this storm will turn into a V-8 engine rather than the sputtering storm it is now.

When -- and the sooner that happens the bigger the storm will be. It hasn't happened for two days. We're in good shape. This hits the Gulf Coast as a TS, that's it. But I don't think that's going to happen. I think this engine gets going, I think the eye wall gets going and we get a major hurricane, or at least close.

LEMON: Yes. Now it's a tropical storm still, not a hurricane. Where was Katrina at this point?

MYERS: Katrina was already -- I believe Katrina was already a hurricane. I can tell you right there, because it will say the number on here, where we are. It was already a category 2 right there at 11 o'clock seven years ago.

LEMON: Stand by, Chad. I'm getting some instruction from the producer. I think -- let's look at Rick Scott as he's speaking now.

Can we hear him?

RICK SCOTT, GOVERNOR OF Florida: (Inaudible) rain potential. The Panhandle --

LEMON (voice-over): Rick Scott in Tampa, the governor of Florida, holding a press conference. Let's listen in.

SCOTT: The Panhandle is already saturated so 18 inches of rain is a significant problem, especially in Escambia County. The expectation right now is we'll have tropical storm force winds for 40 hours in Escambia County. So as you know earlier we had -- earlier this -- a couple months ago we had a lot of flooding in Escambia County, in the Pensacola area, and so we have that risk again.

The mayor talked a little bit more about Tampa, but 2 to 4 inches of rain, tropical storm force winds, so we still have some issues. But one positive is this storm is going faster, so anything that's happening, it will happen faster.

Now, all along the coast of Florida we're worried about storm surge, wind, rain and tornadoes. So everybody needs to continue to be cautious, three days of water, three days of food, have a full tank of gas. Have your medicine. If you're in the Tampa area, if you're on the beach, stay on the beach side. You don't need to come into Tampa. You don't know --

LEMON: All right, so Chad, he's telling people there what to do. And obviously, he has been talking about what's happening at the convention as well. And we should say, Chad, that Florida is a state of emergency right now. We know that New Orleans is under a hurricane warning, Mississippi as well. I'm not sure about Alabama. I'll have to get the latest information on Alabama.

MYERS: All the way across.

LEMON: All the way across, all of them, yes.

MYERS: Yes.

LEMON: All right, Chad.

MYERS: Talking about Escambia County, that's the -- kind of the -- that's far Western Panhandle, because that's still in the cone here. As it moves away, the storm gets to move away, conditions get better. For the west coast of Florida, Don, the winds are offshore. There's not really too much of a threat of a surge here on the west coast of Florida.

We will get big waves, though, on the East Coast and you could see some coastal erosion here all night long, these winds are going to be 30, 40 miles per hour, every time a thunderstorm rolls over you.

LEMON: But it's still moving and it's still gaining and we will be watching. Chad Myers, stick around. Thank you. We'll need you.

You heard the governor there talking about Florida. Isaac has really rattled the Republican National Convention after announcing the suspension of Monday's session. Party leaders are now thinking about extending the convention into Friday. They just don't know what the storm is going to do.

So they're leaving their options open at this point. Once the convention officially starts on Monday, it will immediately recess until Tuesday because of that storm.

We want to get a live shot of the Florida Keys right now, go live there, CNN's John Zarrella, he has been covering the story.

So, John, talk to me. Any flooding? Any major damage? Anybody hurt? What do you know?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, just within the last hour, Don, I did have an opportunity to talk to the folks at the Emergency Management Center in Marathon -- that's the Monroe County Emergency Management officials. And they told me that this is what they have. They had some sporadic power outages up and down the Keys, but all of those have been restored.

So at that point an hour ago, no reports of any power outages. They did have some reports of some minor overwash in a couple of places along the Keys, but they expected that a lot of that would recede. They are telling people to, you know, stay indoors, ride this thing out the rest of the night because you could still get some squalls moving across as the storm pulls away from us.

In fact, you can look back out here in the distance, and you can see it's kind of a squall line rotating around there in the distance as well, trying to work its way over to where we are. But it's still quite a ways away.

But for the most part, throughout the latter half of the afternoon and into the evening, Don, this has been the way it has been down here on the side of the island that we're on.

Now, on the Atlantic side of the island, a little bit more action they had today, but again officials saying they did have some minor street flooding in Key West, but that was it.

And you can see that they are very, very pleased, at least so far, from their initial assessments at what they are finding out there.

But, again, telling people stay indoors, don't go out. It's just still you're not safe if you go out and you end up in one of these squalls that still can be coming through here during the course of the evening and the overnight hours. Don?

LEMON: All right. Right. OK. Stand by, John Zarrella. We'll get back to you in just a moment, as well.

On the western coast of Florida, storm surge and beach erosion biggest concerns there. CNN's Brian Todd is in Naples, Florida, for us.

Brian, how much rain are they expecting there? How much have you seen?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've seen quite a lot, Don. It's tapered off right now, but we got a lot of it earlier. And we're going to take you down to the beach here. You can see some of the rain bands maybe circulating to the south of us a little bit. Rain has kind of come and gone. We've had some very intense squalls of rain here.

We're also worried about this situation. A little bit of storm surge combined with high tide. High tide coming in the next few hours, probably starting just after midnight Eastern time continuing until maybe 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 am. But possible storm surge combined with high tide is what has officials in Collier County a little bit worried about possible flooding.

They have also got some inland waterways just behind us over here which all may prompt some storm surge from the other side. So that's one thing that they're watching out for, Don.

Rainfall is key here. This has been really a rain event more than a wind event. This place they say could get up to 10 inches of rainfall in the coming hours. The ground here is already saturated. So that's going to be a big problem here, Don, as we look to the hours ahead here and overnight.

LEMON: Here's what we know about Naples. It's a retirement community, a lot of older people there. Is that a cause of concern?

TODD: Yes. It really is, Don. You know, the director of emergency services here just told me a short time ago they are concerned about that, but they do have a good read on where all the elderly people live. He talked about, quote, "electrically dependent elderly people," people on dialysis machines and other things like that that need to be monitored a little bit more closely. They're going to keep a close eye on them, but they are very concerned about that. You talked to John about power outages down there. No significant power outages here yet, but that's a concern, especially for the elderly.

LEMON: All right. Brian Todd, we'll get back to you as well.

All of our reporters are standing by for us.

Flying into the eye of the storm, hurricane hunters have just wrapped up a flight through the center of Isaac and have new information on how the storm is growing and where it might be headed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've seen this guy. He came over to me with a fish. He's telling me that Isaac was spitting out fish onto the shore here.

LEMON (voice-over): With sand in their faces, rain in their eyes and wind in their hair, crews are covering the storm all along the Gulf Coast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The area along the Gulf Coast now under a hurricane warning, it includes New Orleans. And just this afternoon, the governor of Louisiana declared a state of emergency in advance of the storm.

If Isaac arrives on Wednesday as now predicted, that means it would come ashore on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Still too early to say when and where exactly Isaac might hit land.

And while Isaac is expected to get stronger, it's not expected to pack the power of Katrina. Not expected at this point.

Using the phrase "hurricane warning" and "New Orleans" in the same sentence obviously gets people's attention and really quickly. Let's bring in Jerry Sneed now. He's got some very important information for us and a very important job. He is the deputy mayor for public safety and homeland security in New Orleans.

Thanks for joining us, sir. How you guys doing down there?

JERRY SNEED, NOLA DEPUTY MAYOR, PUBLIC SAFETY: We're watching and waiting just like everybody else, making sure our plans are prepared, moving public safety assets where they need to be, and then asking our citizens to be prepared.

LEMON: What's the main thing you're focused on right now in the city? Are you focusing on getting people out or, as you said, getting your equipment into place?

SNEED: We have not asked for a mandatory evacuation because we don't see the need for it at this time. What we're doing is just ensuring our plans are in place for our public safety to be able to respond to help our citizens, and then we're asking our citizens to be ready to prepare for what we think is going to be a category 2 storm and just do the best we all can and we respond to see what happens afterwards.

We've got -- the levee system's the best it's been ever, so we feel comfortable at the preparation that the Corps has given us for our levee systems. And now we just need to do the refining touches and be ready for what looks like a good wind and rain event.

LEMON: So you're just asking people right now just to be aware and to pay attention to what you're saying and just to be on guard for information from you. Correct?

SNEED: That's correct.

LEMON: OK. At what point do you decide to impose either voluntary or mandatory evacuations?

SNEED: Well, voluntary evacuations, citizens can leave anytime they want. If they feel that they would be more comfortable -- let's face it, if we get a hurricane, we may lose electricity and so forth. And August in New Orleans, no air conditioning can be a bad time around here.

So if people would like to leave on their own, they can do that at any time. Our plans are for a category 3 or higher storm is when we would normally do a mandatory evacuation where we demand that all of our citizens leave. But, again, all indications are we're not there.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: But you do at times, you'll call for a voluntary evacuation. You haven't even done that yet.

SNEED: We have not.

LEMON: Yes. OK. Thank you, Mr. Sneed. Good luck to you.

SNEED: Thank you very much.

LEMON: All right. Let's go now to Miami and talk with Ed Rappaport. He is a deputy director of the National Hurricane Center.

Ed, thank you for joining us this evening. What is your agency doing right now and what will change, if and when this storm becomes a hurricane?

ED RAPPAPORT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: We're expecting that it will become a hurricane in the next day or so. Right now the center of the storm is beginning to pull away from the Florida Keys. It's moving in this direction.

But we're expecting it to turn more towards the north-northwest within the next day or two. And because of that, and because we do expect it to intensify to a hurricane, there now is a hurricane warning up from east of Morgan City, Louisiana, all the way over to Destin, Florida, including the New Orleans area.

LEMON: So everyone in there. And you know, I was just talking with our meteorologist here; we were examining the path of Isaac as compared to Katrina. Very similar paths, but different intensities in this storm. It's not the exact same path but it's very similar.

RAPPAPORT: That's right. Katrina started strengthening just after past Florida, and it's also possible that that will happen with Isaac. At this stage we're forecasting it to become category 2, but that's about two days from now.

And the average errors in our forecast suggest that you have to prepare for at least one category difference. So while we're forecasting category 2, could be category 1, category 3 even.

LEMON: OK. Can I ask you something? Since we've been covering so much and talking about the Republican convention in Tampa, what are folks there in store for?

RAPPAPORT: Well, as the storm pulls away, the conditions will actually improve. There are still tropical storm warnings for the southern two-thirds of Florida, but the conditions are going to be improving tonight and tomorrow for most of the state of Florida.

LEMON: OK. Thank you very much. We'll get another update from you as we need it. Thank you, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, Mr. Ed Rappaport.

Want to go now, back to our meteorologists here in Atlanta, because Chad Myers, there's a swarm of earthquakes rattling southern California at this hour. More than 100 have been reported today?

MYERS: Yes, in a town you've probably never heard of, called Brawley, California. It is out there near the Salton Sea. But people are still feeling some of these shakes into southern California, into the L.A. Basin towards San Diego. So let's kind of update you here.

Here's Mexicali, here's San Diego, there's L.A. And those red dots right there, those are the latest swarm. Let's drive right in here. You can see the land, you can see all these crop circles here, this irrigated crop, irrigated land. There you go. Now all of these earthquakes very near this little town -- or call it a city if you want.

Monica, go right into that town. You can pull it in if you want to just manually. Let's go and see how many people live in this town. There are the streets going this way, streets going this way, here are all the buildings, there are all the homes. And they are feeling shaking.

So far no reports of any injuries or anything like that by this, but here's another thing we're getting from ABC7. It's the needle. It's the needle that's moving and shaking. And so every once in a while this needle begins to tremor and we have got a 5.4, a 5.3 and a couple of 4.0s and then a bunch of other 3.0s.

But literally USGS saying now 100 earthquakes in this swarm, that they call it, a swarm like they haven't seen since the '70s.

LEMON: Oh, goodness. So that's a scale. It's not called a Richter --

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: It is not.

LEMON: (Inaudible) Richter scale. That's an old term.

MYERS: Yes. That just shows our age.

LEMON: I know. What is that scale called? Anything in particular? No?

MYERS: This is the magnitude scale.

LEMON: This shows --

MYERS: I mean, this is an old paper. This is a graph. This is literally -- this is how it used to be. I have one here and we can see it. And when -- every time it bops up and down we're hoping that it's not a bigger one.

Because now that we have all these going, let's hope there's not a bigger one still coming. You know, we want a bunch of aftershocks in the 2s and 3s, not another shock in the 6s that keeps getting bigger.

LEMON: It's old, but it gets the job done.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: -- illustrate what is going on. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

LEMON: If someone told you to get in a plane and fly directly into a hurricane, what would you say? Well, some people do it, and they do it for a living. We have the video and we're about to show you what Tropical Storm Isaac looks like on the inside.

Don't forget, you can stay connected, you can watch CNN live on your computer. You can do it from work. Just go to CNN.com/TV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: When there's a hurricane or a tropical storm, usually people try to head the other way and get out of it. But hurricane hunters are flying right into the tropical storm, into Isaac, to get a closer look at how the storm is developing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEMON (voice-over): That's video you're looking at from yesterday's mission over Key West. The United States Air Force Reserve crew flew around and over Isaac. Hours ago, another crew flew directly into the tropical storm.

I want to bring in now Dr. Jim McFadden from Miami.

Dr. McFadden, what did you learn from the most recent mission? How fast is Isaac gaining strength?

DR. JIM MCFADDEN: Well, Isaac is just passing the Keys. And we have a plane in the storm right at the moment. As a matter of fact, that just made its first pass through the center of the storm and it's now just off the north coast of Cuba. And it will make several more passes in the storm this evening before heading back to Tampa, where its home base is.

LEMON (voice-over): So do you get that information in real time, or does it bring the information back to you?

MCFADDEN: No, we get it in real time. It's transmitted via satellite back to the ground. A lot of data, including tail Doppler radar data, which is processed on board and transmitted back to the ground real- time, which go into the models to help improve the intensity forecast.

LEMON (voice-over): All right. So tell us what you're seeing then, the key measurements of barometric pressure, the wind speed and so on and so forth. So what is this telling you, the information you're getting now as this plane, you said, is -- it's going over Isaac right now?

MCFADDEN: Well, it's in Isaac. We don't go over. Isaac is a little too tall for us to go. We go in about 8,000 feet collecting our data. And it's still a tropical storm, from what I see in the data on my computer here.

But, you know, as we go through the day, the night and into tomorrow, we have repeated twice with this same aircraft in different crew. So it'll go back out at 4:00 in the morning and repeat this kind of mission. And then another one for tomorrow afternoon followed by another one at 4:00 am the next morning until finally we catch the last lightup near the coastline of Louisiana.

LEMON: OK. And listen, you hold the record when it comes to hurricanes, 536 flights into the eyes of hurricanes?

MCFADDEN: Five hundred sixty-three penetrations.

LEMON: Five hundred sixty-three, wow.

So where does this one rank among the hurricanes you've seen, you think?

MCFADDEN: Oh, this -- well, this is not a hurricane yet.

LEMON: Well, as of -- it -- the tropical storm will build into a hurricane, you know what I mean.

MCFADDEN: Yes, I do, and any hurricane is to be feared by people on the ground. And where this one is forecast to go right now, I worry very much. I hope that it does miss the warm pool in the Gulf and that it doesn't intensify too much. That would be -- they went to a category 2 or 3, that would be my worst fear.

LEMON: Ah, we appreciate you. Thank you, Jim McFadden, OK?

MCFADDEN: All right. You have a good day and thanks for having me.

LEMON: You, too.

Not everyone has fled to higher ground in the path of Isaac. CNN iReporters whipped out their smartphones and cameras and caught Isaac in the act.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Chad Myers is a very busy man today.

So, Chad, can you update us now where Isaac is right now, the new projection, where it puts the storm in relation especially in relation to New Orleans? Everybody's concerned about that.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we have all that for you real quick. Let's show you the core of the hurricane itself is now west of Key West, so it's basically over for that area, for core, for the eye wall, if there ever was. But we'll still see showers and thunderstorms across the western side of Florida. Onto the eastern side of Florida, lightning. Don't go out in lightning. Lightning kills more people than about anything else. There you go. That's where it is right there. Key West, under the "W" in west, center of circulation right there. Get that out of the way.

Model guidance, where is it going? That's what you asked. Well, this has changed over the past couple days, hasn't it? Boy, doesn't even look at Florida anymore. One little model there over Destin. The rest of them here, somewhere, New Orleans, points east, New Orleans points west. Remember --

LEMON: Oh, boy.

MYERS: Remember, Don, this forecast is right through here. Even though New Orleans is here, you would still get that same surge all the way from Dauphin Island all the way through Biloxi, which is right through there. Just get the same type of surge that you would have if it ever got that big.

Here's the projected path. Only projected to be a 2. I don't say that tongue-in-cheek, but it's not the 4 that Katrina was. But there's still a lot of ocean heat potential out there, 100 miles per hour coming onshore, anywhere from Plaquemines to Mobile, left to right of there. Could do a lot of damage. Could go left or right from there, a little bit less of a chance. But this changing and shifting, left, right, one of the things I said a couple days ago is that the best chance I can give you is -- the most I could probably guarantee you is this is going to change and it certainly is changing. Now the people of Louisiana have hurricane warnings and even a hurricane warning right now, if you haven't heard, for New Orleans.

LEMON: We keep saying 2, 4, what have you, but still the issue is really not how fast, it's a storm surge.

MYERS: Correct.

LEMON: For New Orleans.

MYERS: And the storm surge in Katrina got so big because, for a moment in time, it was a category 5. It was sucking water in. It was sucking air in. It was just a 150-mile-per-hour storm. And that bubble of water stayed with Katrina as it washed right into Bay St. Louis, washed all the way to Biloxi, where it knocked down basically the entire town. I was in Biloxi last Saturday. About half of those buildings still right along the ocean front, they are still not back. They're still there. All those lots are for sale. Maybe you just can't even get an insurance policy to build something back there. I don't know. But what was a beautiful town is now still scarred and that's seven years later.

LEMON: Absolutely. Hopefully, that won't happen this time. We're --

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: I know.

LEMON: I have to ask you a question. Where are the storm chasers -- where are the lady storm chasers? Every storm chaser I speak to is a guy.

MYERS: There's one.

LEMON: Just one?

MYERS: Her name is Nicole. You can go online and type in "Weather Channel" and "Nicole" and see some controversy there, too.

(LAUGHTER)

Yes, but she's been on our air. She talks to us every one in a while. Just to have to get her phone number. She doesn't give it out to most guys.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: I was just wondering.

Thank you, Chad. A little levity in a serious story.

Thank you.

MYERS: Thanks.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

Hey, our CNN iReporters are getting up close and personal with Tropical Storm Isaac.

Nick Valencia, down in the CNN newsroom a couple floors below me, he is tracking the latest videos and photos sent in by our viewers.

So, Nick, what are the iReporters submitting?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are. We're at the CNN NEWSROOM at the CNN national desk. This really is the tip of the sphere for our news-gathering operation. These editors are tirelessly working the phones, calling officials, working on getting the latest video.

We've been getting great video, most from south Florida where Tropical Storm Isaac has really affected a lot of the residents there.

Take a look at this video sent in from our iReporter Bill Curtin. This comes in from Boynton Beach in Palm Beach County. Experiencing heavy rains and gusty winds earlier this morning. Bill Curtin tells us -- he's a veteran to this sort of thing. He's been through francs and Wilma and Jeanne, so he's not as scared as others there. But, of course, this is concerning for other residents in south Florida.

Check out this video in Miami Beach, something that you probably -- this is a photo sent in from South Beach, Miami. Something that I'm sure you thought you'd never see, an empty Miami Beach. This was sent to us from Dominic Wapello (ph). He shot this picture here and sent it in as he was walking on the beach earlier this morning. People deserting the beach as those bands of rain make their way in to south Florida.

But probably, Don, the most dramatic video we've seen we got yesterday from our affiliate, WFTV. Look at this video from the "Freedom of the Seas" cruise line ship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

What an idiot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: One passenger adventurous enough to go out and challenge the wind and heavy rain. This happened in the Florida Straits between Cuba and Florida. That ship experiencing 65-mile-per-hour heavy winds and rain. They made it back to Port Canaveral safe and sound, but some passengers trying to enjoy a last bit of vacation they have left. That passenger, a little more adventurous than the rest.

But this is a small snippet of the iReports coming in. If you find yourself stuck in the eye of the storm or a part affected by the storm, be careful, but we do want to hear from you. You can always upload your videos to iReport@CNN.com. We have a whole team of journalists vetting those photos and videos coming into us.

But, Don, that's just a small example of what we have pouring into the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: At first, when I saw you do that earlier, I thought it was someone, either you or one of the anchors, saying, "What an idiot." It was the guy who was shooting the video. Because the guy that was out there, he goes, "What an idiot."

VALENCIA: You could hear the commentary. Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

Just behind the scenes there.

LEMON: Funny stuff. IReport.com.

Nick Valencia. Tip of the sphere, did you say? No, you're not a politician. Don't' say that. But you know I love you though.

(LAUGHTER)

All right, Nick, thank you.

VALENCIA: All right, Don.

LEMON: Keep on doing that stuff for us.

Isaac has caused Monday's activities at the Republican National Convention to be suspended. Now there are talks about even more changes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The storm's not even quite there yet, it's offshore, but it's playing havoc with the Republicans' plans for a well-orchestrated political convention. The first day of events already called off and party officials have just announced changes to the speaking schedule and they've said they might extend it, Mark Preston.

He's our political director.

What's going on?

MARK PRESTON, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, Don, the Republican convention officials have had to cram a four-day event into a three- day event. Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night will be the night of raw politics that we see coming here from Tampa. That is, of course, if this storm doesn't crash into the gulf coast. And then convention officials will have to reconsider what happens on Wednesday night.

But what we do know now, Ann Romney and Chris Christie will, in fact, speak on Tuesday night. On Wednesday night, Paul Ryan will formerly accept the vice presidential nomination. Condoleezza Rice will speak on that night. And then on Thursday night, Governor Romney will formally accept the Republican presidential nomination.

But, yes, there was some talk that, in fact, they might extend this until Friday or at least this was under some consideration. Convention officials just said, on a conference call, in fact, they're not even discussing that right now. They're not even thinking about it as a hypothetical. It would be a lot of problems, Don. All the hotel rooms would have to be rebooked another night. All the airline flights would have to be rebooked as well.

LEMON: Schedules.

PRESTON: It would cost an incredible amount of money, so I think that's highly unlikely it'll happen.

LEMON: Yes. People have to work. And you have to reschedule everything. That would be a mess. But you know what, here's -- this may be another mess, a mess in a different way. Let's be honest. You're a journalist. You're down there covering the convention. But if things start going crazy with this storm, that's what we're going to be covering. Especially if lives are in danger, we'll be covering that. Are people concerned about that overshadowing this big event?

PRESTON: Yes. In fact, the convention officials actually addressed that. They are fully cognizant of the fact that the news by the middle of the week could change to whatever happens to this storm, if it, in fact, intensifies and hits the gulf coast. They said right now they're still move ahead with the convention. They're planning Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night. They want to try to get their message out. In fact, Mitt Romney, right now, as we speak, was up in New Hampshire working on his convention speech. They have to at least plan to do it. But they have to have the contingency plans in place, Don, because, you're right, there is no way you could hold a convention down here, a party down here, especially if that hurricane goes into the gulf coast, goes into your home state of Louisiana and starts causing some big destruction.

LEMON: Absolutely.

Mark Preston, thank you. Stay safe down there.

Of course, CNN is a place for complete coverage of the Republican National Convention. Tonight, a special in-depth look at Mitt Romney, "Romney Revealed," 8:00 eastern, followed by Wolf Blitzer and the gang -- I like that. Wolf and the gang -- with a preview of the GOP convention. And they're not leaving, either. We'll have coverage of the conference throughout the week here on CNN.

Now to the man of the week. What does this storm mean for soon-to-be Republican nominee, Mitt Romney?

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LEMON: Isaac expected to miss Tampa, but it's still making a mess of the convention schedule.

Let's talk about it with CNN contributor, Will Cain, in Tampa tonight, CNN contributor -- it looks like -- where are you, at the Do Drop In? What is going on?

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What is that shot, Will Cain?

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WILL CAIN, COLUMNIST, THEBLAZE.COM & CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's my first job as a cameraman.

LEMON: Either you're there or like in the club of an airport.

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CNN contributor, L.Z. Granderson, is in New York. He is senior writer for ESPN. He's got the good lighting today.

OK. Good to see you guys. We haven't done this in a long time so we're probably --

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L.Z. GRANDERSON, SENIOR WRITER, ESPN & CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I know. I thought you hated us.

LEMON: Well, it's good TV even still.

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L.Z, first day all but canceled. Now they're shaking up the schedule. Is the weather threatening to ruin Mitt Romney's big week?

GRANDERSON: No. You know, I was thinking about the last Republican convention. I was trying to think, who were the speakers besides Palin and John McCain, and I really struggled to find another speaker who impacted me or I thought about after those two. And I think this will be a very similar situation here. Maybe Chris Christie will really resonate with people, but it's about Ryan and Mitt Romney. Everything else is about being a big party. It's like the Super Bowl. I've covered the game for a number of years. And the party, the party, the party. But at the end of the day, it's about the game. In this situation, Romney is the game.

LEMON: Yes. This is like a big pep rally where you get behind --

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LEMON: Yes, right. And then the election, leading up -- I would say that's the game.

But, Will, a very similar question I asked Mark Preston two or three minutes ago, but a little more nuanced. Could this storm do more than change the plans of the convention? Could it affect the overall race? Candidates get a bump out of it. But if something big is going on with the storm and there's not as much coverage devoted to it, could it make a difference even in the race?

CAIN: Well, yes, I do. I heard you talking to Mark about that. To the extent this storm focuses the news cycle on other things further up the gulf coast, yes, it pulls attention from what you accurately described is a pep rally or a four-day infomercial for the views and platforms and politics that Mitt Romney and the Republicans hope to put forward. It will be a distraction and that could have an impact on that introduction, that presentation to America.

LEMON: So, listen, I'm going to focus on you a little more on this, Will, because you're a conservative here. I want to know, what do you want to hear from Mitt Romney and his acceptance speech and what do you expect him to say?

CAIN: Here's what I want to hear. Because we know these things are broad-themed events, I want to hear a message that focus on two things. You, meaning you, Don Lemon, me, Will Cain, L.Z. Granderson, all us American, and, secondly, Mitt Romney himself. When I say "you," I want Mitt Romney to remind us who we are as Americans, that we're risk takers, entrepreneurs, the people that built this massive and incredibly world-leading economy and remind us of that and give us a sense of getting our confidence back. Remind us, in fact, Don, that we did build this.

Second, I want him to focus on himself and say, look, here's my biography. At Bain, this is what I did. I watched people like you build companies at Staples and Sports Authority and Steel Dynamics. I've see it happen. I know what it takes. And that's what I can bring us.

And quickly, what I think he will do, he wrote an editorial in the "Wall Street Journal" this week called "What I Learned at Bain Capital," starting to do exactly what I just asked him to do. But I think he fell a little short. He misses the human dynamic of taking these principles, these economic principles that I feel so strongly about and tying it to people. I get the feeling --

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LEMON: Ok, I get you. I get you.

I want to ask you something else. Do you think it was a -- let's be honest here. It was a hard sell, even for Republicans, right? And they are obviously going to rally behind their candidate. He's got to win -- he has some winning over to do even from people there at the convention. It's not like everyone is going to be going, yay, Mitt Romney.

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He has to win over some people at the convention from his own party, no? CAIN: Yes, he -- well -- yes, to some extent. There will certainly be some Ron Paul delegates there with their own agenda, that I don't know if he can win them over. He will be speaking to them as well.

But, look, I would say two things. To much of America, believe it or not, Mitt Romney still has an introduction to make. They still need to learn about him. And this has a chance to do that.

And regarding winning people over and selling them, I do think, in the end, the overriding factor in this election is President Barack Obama, how you feel about the past four years. And that is how many, many, if not most Americans would make their judgment.

LEMON: I got to run. If you can, L.Z., give me 10 seconds. What are Democrats thinking about this convention? Who what are they looking for?

GRANDERSON: They are looking for gaffes. If I can sum it up quickly. Something they can take to use in the campaign and spin it forward.

LEMON: All right, thanks to both of you.

CAIN: That is true.

LEMON: Not equal time this time because, hey, listen, you are a conservative. It's your convention. I want to hear more about what you think and what you --

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CAIN: Tomorrow, I will be on real camera.

LEMON: Yes. Yes. And your room needs on update, by the way.

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LEMON: But tell them.

GRANDERSON: Stay safe, stay dry.

LEMON: Whatever. Go out there in the rain, Will.

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LEMON: All right, Wall Street bracing for big news this week. Details next.

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LEMON: Our meteorologist, Chad Myers, gathering all the information, and he is here to share.

What have you learned, Chad?

MYERS: A quick recap on what we've had because I know people are just tuning in, just getting home. Sunday night, they want to catch up. Tropical Storm Isaac, the track has shifted to the left, to the west, closer to New Orleans, not over New Orleans, but certainly some type of landfall here between the Florida Panhandle and maybe -- that is about New Iberia, Lake Charles. That is the cone. Notice, the cone is getting smaller. As the storm gets closer to land landfall would be, the cone may be 10 miles wide. Depends on how far away it is.

So he's what we're going with it. And he's what we'll take. We'll take where the radar is now, where the storm is. Here is Key West right there. And then, that would be the circulation center right there. Moving towards the north and northwest.

Now, for many, many days, this storm has interacted with significant land, Haiti, the D.R., Cuba. Big-time countries, tall mountains being torn up. Now, there is nothing to get in its way, nothing to slow the intensification process down. I just tweeted. I said, as soon as this thing gets to Cat 1, it's going to go faster to Cat 2 if it gets there because you get the organization. It becomes the heat engine. It turns itself on. The suction to the middle gets to the eye. The eye goes up, hits the atmosphere. It goes out. The in, the out. The in, the out. That's the way a hurricane turns into the V-8. Right now, it's a sputtering-2 cycle.

Back out here to New Orleans, take a look at all the new models. They are --

LEMON: Right there to New Orleans.

MYERS: -- farther to the west.

Yes, Don.

LEMON: Yes. Oh, boy.

All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

LEMON: It's not all gloom and doom with this storm. Key West preparing for the storm as only people in Key West can do.

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