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Isaac on Verge of Becoming a Hurricane; GOP Alters Convention Plans; Isaac could Strike on Katrina Anniversary; Mitt Romney's Message
Aired August 26, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tropical Storm Isaac, Tropical Storm Isaac, stirring things up in south Florida.
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(WAVES)
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LEMON: You can see massive waves crashing against the sea wall in the Miami Beach area. As the storm pushes north, it's bridging the high surf along with it.
There's more to worry about. In Tampa, they're having the Republican convention. The city is offering free sandbags to local residents who want them. Cautious residents pack into parking lots to get stocked up.
And while some businesses in Key West are boarded up, far be it from folks in that in town to not have hurricane parties. Diehards are riding the storm out in bars and in and around Duval Street.
Hello, everyone. Don Lemon here exactly the top of the hour. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We are mostly about one thing this evening: the disorganized spinning rainmaker that is whipping up the Gulf of Mexico right now. It is now still a tropical storm. It is Isaac.
But give it a few hours and we'll apparently be talking about a hurricane, no doubt. The new projection puts the storm smack into New Orleans and people to the east and west are now under a hurricane warning.
So ready or not, Isaac is coming. And here is what it did to Key West today, rain -- lots of it covered the streets. Homeowners and shop owners busted out the well-used plywood, covered their windows, and they rode it out. Now the rough part Isaac is moving over warm water, it's getting strong it's heading for the Gulf Coast right now.
The CNN Severe Weather team they're all over the storm zone. John Zarrella is in Key West for us, Mark Preston where they're nervous in the convention country and Brian Todd getting rained on in between.
And it's all -- we're going to talk to all of them. But we're covering the storm, this tropical storm Isaac from every single angle. Up first the big picture from our Chad Myers; what do we know?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Ok, all right, what do you want to see? Here is the rain and even though we're now talking I don't know 150 miles from the center, we're still seeing rain come on shore here in south Florida. Every time a rain band comes on shore you get winds to 30 miles, 40 miles per hour.
Also you see those lightning strikes. Don't go out in the lightning. It kills more people than anything else, Don. So there you go that's the little earth picture and here is the biggest picture I guess. Here is the satellite, notice the colorful now. And this, over here, over the dry Tortugas, that color is a ball evolving into a much more organized storm. As soon as this storm gets an eye, the engine starts. It really begins to go and that's why the hurricane center says, hey as soon as this thing gets going, it's on its way.
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: We go 70 miles, 90 miles, 100 miles per hour. Now I don't want you to focus on the line but I also want to draw your attention that New Orleans is back here --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: -- on the easier side of the eye --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: -- than the hard side of the eye, which is Mobile of an island and all over Biloxi and Gulf Port. So that would be the harder part of the eye. It still could turn to the right and hit parts of Florida. It could still stay to the left, like it's been doing. If you remember, the forecast was originally something like this.
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: Right. And then it was this.
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: And then it was this. And now it was this.
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: So every progressive cycle, we're going left, left, left and left and left. So my planning desk downstairs says, do we need to send someone to Galveston? This thing is just not turning right, will it ever turn right? And we don't know that answer. LEMON: Well it's interesting because there was one stray line. I remember some of the meteorologists saying don't look at the line over there all the way to the left because it's just something weird -- and now that line is where it's going.
MYERS: It was the European model.
LEMON: Are you serious?
MYERS: I am serious.
LEMON: Yes.
MYERS: The European model is 72, 96 hours out destroyed all the other models. It was bright by far. So there you go -- it's not running.
LEMON: I might not even going to go there --
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: There you give the guys some credit. And I'll tell you what; I'm going to talk about this in about 30 minutes. This is the heat of the Gulf of Mexico.
LEMON: Oh that's important.
MYERS: And how that's changing from what was Katrina. Katrina was a lot was a whole lot different, a lot hotter when Katrina got in the water.
LEMON: Yes hey, stand by. We were going to go to John. But real quickly I want to go -- let's talk to Ed Rappaport now he's the deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Both of us will talk to him.
So Ed, you seem to have no doubt in your mind that this tropical storm will become a hurricane. The question is when?
ED RAPPAPORT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Let's say we have little doubt it will be a hurricane. Intensely forecasting is a -- is a tough job. At this point, we think it will become a Category 1 hurricane, probably Category 2 before it reaches the northern Gulf Coast in about two days.
And what that means, though, is that really tomorrow, Monday, is the only day we can guarantee that there will be conditions that will allow for preparations along the coast. By Tuesday, that weather will become rough and it may not possible. So everyone should be preparing along the Gulf Coast, the northern Gulf Coast really tomorrow.
LEMON: Yes and you know, Chad just mentioned the -- the temperature of the water in the Gulf. And there's -- the heat -- you said there's a dome or there's an area that's hotter than most of the Gulf right here and if it builds --
MYERS: Yes, the heat content when Katrina was in the water was significantly higher than it is now and I mean, maybe 10 percent or 20 percent. But that's still significant. Ok.
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: So where the storm is going here and it's slightly cooler the loop current never got there this year, where Katrina was certainly in the hottest water it could have been in.
So Ed, address that a little bit. What's the -- what's the worst case scenario? What do you think Isaac could be if everything went perfectly for it?
RAPPAPORT: Well if it -- if we take a look at what our --- our statistics are on how good or how poor we are with forecasting, we are -- we average being off by about a category or in a category and a half.
MYERS: Yes.
RAPPAPORT: At the two-day time frame, so what that means is we're forecasting Category 2. It really could be anywhere from Category 1 to a higher-end Category 3 on average.
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MYERS: A higher end Category 3?
RAPPAPORT: If -- well, that's on the upper range of what the possibilities are given that we're forecasting Category 2 at this had point.
MYERS: Yes.
LEMON: All right.
MYERS: Well he did not just forecast a Category 3.
LEMON: No, he said if everything worked perfectly, if it hit the heat and everything at the highest end, it could be.
MYERS: The forecast -- it's like taking a poll. When you say you know plus or minus three percent that's what they are, plus or minus a category and a half at two or three days.
LEMON: Ok all right, Ed thank you.
MYERS: Thank you.
LEMON: And we know you got the get back to work. Chad stand by. We want to go to CNN's John Zarrella. Let's go to Key West now Chad. John Zarrella is there. John, has the worst of the storm past now? It doesn't even look like it's raining anymore where you are?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it absolutely is not raining at all anymore here. And it really hasn't rained significantly in a few hours. Before that, it was quite heavy, torrential rain, a quite a bit of wind as the -- as the storm moved over us it now passed us. You know you can actually look up and it's hard to tell right now. But as you watch the clouds moving and rotating, you can actually see them spinning to the north. That's actually -- we're looking now towards the north. And a little bit towards the west there.
So the clouds spinning out over the Gulf from the storm as it's pulling away from the Keys. And you know we talked with the Monroe County Emergency management folks a little while ago up in Marathon, about 40 miles from here.
And they were saying that no reports of any power outages in anywhere in the Keys. They did have some sporadic outages earlier. But all of that was -- was corrected. They were able to get crews out and get the lines back up the power restored. No major problems there. A little bit of over wash, a little bit of flooding in -- in Key West but very, very minor.
So they are getting, they're making their first assessments and from what they are seeing, certainly at first blush, it looks very good throughout all of the Keys from the standpoint of very little damage to speak of.
A lot of palm fronds down, that kind of stuff that you would expect to see; but beyond that, no significant damage. And you know as well as I do, Don this is a huge vacation destination.
LEMON: Yes.
ZARRELLA: And the tourism officials are saying that you know they really believe tomorrow will be a day to assess and a day that they're telling us when these people can get their shutters off, get the sandbags away from the doors and they hope that they can be open for business again by Tuesday and certainly at the latest on Wednesday.
But again, yes. Clearly the storm is pulling away from us and pulling away from us very quickly.
LEMON: And John.
ZARRELLA: And they were very, very fortunate -- yes.
LEMON: Yes and we can see and it looks like the sun may even -- if it wasn't so late, the sun might even -- might even come out. John thanks.
ZARRELLA: Yes, absolutely. Yes, sure.
LEMON: What you're looking Chad it's --
MYERS: The center of circulation, the southwest of John right now and the winds and the clouds are going from south to north. He is on the other side of the eye now. There really isn't really an eye wall there. So there's not a lot of convection, there's not a lot of wind.
But let me just tell you a 65 mile per hour storm compared to an 80 mile per hour storm significantly differently damage and were very lucky that is was not an 80 mile per hour storm and it was only 65.
LEMON: Thanks John Zarrella. Can you pull up Naples for us because that where we're going to go to now. The western coast of Florida emergency officials warning people not to underestimate Isaac.
CNN's Brian Todd is in Naples, Florida. Brian, storm surge concerns there?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, it's become a pretty significant rain event here. Rain bands have been just swiping the coast here all day. We've got another one pretty much hitting us now. Our photo journalist, Ken (inaudible), can take you down the coast here so you can see just how heavy the rain is. This is not a wind event. The trees are not blowing at all. This is really a very significant rain event right now.
The squalls have been coming in all day. They are worried about the situation behind me now. It is starting to become high tide. High tide is really going to hit us. It's peaking about probably 3:00 a.m. but it is starting now and they are worried about high tide combining with storm surge here -- Don. Because these areas are very low-lying. High tide combined with storm surge could cause some flooding inland in here.
They've also go inland water ways on the other side so some of that could become a problem as well the wash from that coming in and flooding some streets. No major problems with that right now. But I spoke to the emergency management coordinator the service director here for Collier County. His name is Dan Summers I asked him in this situation, where the rain bands and the -- the main body of the tropical storm are moving away, I asked him, what is the biggest mistake people make in a situation like this? Take a listen.
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DAN SUMMERS, DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY SERVICES COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA: Well, there is a lot of frustration maybe with a potential for saying well, it's just a Category 1. Well, you know, we had significant damage from tropical storm Debbie 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 be lured into a false sense of security just because it is a Category 1.
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TODD: So that is a significant warning. Don't get fooled by the fact that the wind intensity is not so great here. You can see the rain squalls behind me. You can see high tide coming in, that is a big concern, flooding. Right now the evacuation situation, Don, is -- it's voluntary.
For area south of here they are concerned, Marco Island, and Everglade City, low-lying areas where they are more susceptible to flooding, they are concerned. But right now, the evacuation situation is voluntary. But again, another thing that they are watching out for here, possible tornadoes -- with these rain bands coming in, once they hit the landfall, it creates friction. Tornados could spawn from that. So that's another concern. They are not out of the woods here yet as you can see.
LEMON: All right, Brian Todd. Thank you very much. Chad, you have it pointed out where he is.
MYERS: Right there Cape Corral, Naples the wind off shore now so that's blowing the water away not surging the water in. So I don't believe we are going have a storm surge issue.
LEMON: All right, Chad Myers and all of our reporters out braving the elements. Stand by.
Hurricane warning in effect f For New Orleans almost seven years to the day since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Tonight, the city braces for another possible hurricane which could hit exactly on the anniversary.
And organizers of the Republican National Convention, having to be a bit flexible with their plans as Isaac puts a damper on the start of festivities. We are live in Tampa for you.
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LEMON: The Republican Convention is going to avoid a direct hit. But Isaac is still disrupting the GOP's plans for a big four-day party. Monday's events were the first casualty. Now we're hearing about new changes to the speaking schedule.
Everything I just read, I'm sure the organizers, Mark Preston, you see him there, he's our political director are going "Oh no, don't say that. Don't say that, don't say that," right because they want it to be, hey, the convention is getting started. Mitt Romney takes the stage on -- but that's not happening now because of this.
So Mark what's the latest on the convention plans? They had to re- jigger a lot of things.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: They certainly have Don, they've had take a four had-day event, cram it into three days and also have to have an outlook of potentially changing it should the storm gain intensity and head into the Gulf Coast, perhaps hitting Louisiana and causing some destruction.
Right now, though, what they are doing is that they are just shifting speakers, altering the program. The headliners will remain the same though. We will see Ann Romney and Chris Christie Tuesday night make the case to the nation why Mitt Romney should be the next president. On Wednesday night Paul Ryan is schedules to formally accept the vice presidential nomination. And then on Thursday night, Florida senator, Marco Rubio will be introducing Mitt Romney to the nation as Romney makes the case himself. But of course, that is all up in the air depending on what happens to this storm later this week. They are breathing a sigh of relief though a little bit here in Tampa since this is moving to the west, Don. 50,000 people are going to be here. That would have caused a logistical nightmare had that storm tracked towards Tampa -- Don.
LEMON: Absolutely. And listen this is -- it's a legitimate concern. People, I'm sure the organizers, Republicans are worrying about this storm possibly stealing the thunder -- no pun intended -- of the convention and Mitt Romney's thunder here. So now come the strategists -- now come the strategists and it's time for that.
Messaging -- is there any sort of strategy to counter all the attention going to Isaac?
PRESTON: Well, you know what they are doing on Monday, Don? They are going to gavel the session -- it's really a pro-forma thing to do and gavel it all very quickly. What they are going to unveil is a debt clock which they're going to start at that point. The clock will tick through 24 hours a day until the convention closes. At that time, they are then going to point to that and say, look this is where we are as a nation just over these days.
But you're right. They want to talk about the economy. They want to talk about jobs. Mitt Romney this evening was up in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire working on his speech. We have seen him and Paul Ryan over the past couple of days talking about the number one issue right now facing the country -- the economy. That is what he needs to do as they head into November -- Don. That is the issue.
LEMON: Mr. Mark Preston, our political director. Thank you, Mark Preston.
Of course, CNN, the place for complete coverage of the Republican National Convention. Tonight, a special in-depth look at Mitt Romney -- it's called "ROMNEY REVEALED" it airs at 8:00 p.m. It's followed by Wolf Blitzer and our CNN team. They are going to preview the GOP convention. Of course, we'll have live coverage of the Convention throughout the week right here on CNN.
And we have this just in to CNN. We're hearing the governor of Mississippi, Governor Phil Bryant today, just now declaring a state of emergency for his state. He said the reason he's doing it -- the state of emergency -- it's an administration tool. He says it allows all the resources to be utilized, local governments, so that they can get their act together in case it's a direct hit for them. All right. Mississippi -- state of emergency from the governor there.
The city of New Orleans, also on heightened alert right now -- this, after Isaac takes a turn to the west putting the city right in its cross hairs.
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LEMON: Isaac's slow approach. It's chilling for parts of the Gulf Coast. The storm is forecast to hit on the 7th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall. Can you believe that? Its fury hasn't been forgotten.
Talking about Katrina, the governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency ahead of Isaac. The storms isn't expected to have the power of Katrina. But then again, a few days ago, it wasn't supposed to hit New Orleans at all.
There are some images from Katrina that none of us will ever forget. Many involved Retired Lt. General Russel Honore, the commander who coordinated military relief efforts, brought a measure of sanity to a chaotic time in New Orleans.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put those damn weapons down. I'm not going to tell you again, God dam in. Get those God-damn weapons down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A time when things were touch and go. American soldiers were seen by some as occupiers in an American city. Of course New Orleans' recovery is far from over. And the tough days, the weeks, and the months after Katrina are not forgotten.
We saw people there applauding him. I applauded him when I saw him on the ground. I just told him just a minute ago, when I say you, I said I'm not messing with that man. That man means business. And I'm glad he's here. And there he is.
General Russel Honore joins us now from my hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. General, what goes through your mind when you see a storm like Isaac moving toward the same spot that Katrina hit.
RET. LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, JOINT TASK FORCE KATRINA: Well, the capturing of the lessons learned and taking those lessons learned by FEMA and Northern Command and the National Guard and Army NOAA and turning those into actions and the governors of the coastal states turning those into actions.
The actions by the governors today to declare an emergency and start evacuating people from low-lying areas -- one of the big lessons from Katrina is plan for rides for people without cars. So a lot of that actions have already started, ordering buses and ambulances and then evacuating vulnerable population from low-lying areas and focusing in on elderly people and nursing homes.
Those are the big areas that are paid more attention to as well as -- I mean a big improvement in the levee system.
LEMON: Just before I came to you, I mentioned that Phil Bryant, the governor of Mississippi, declared a state of emergency; hearing now that Alabama Governor Robert Bentley declaring a state of emergency for Alabama as well. So, the whole Gulf Coast preparing.
You mentioned FEMA. Do you think the military, FEMA, the government -- all those folks, do you think they are ready now and they're going to avoid the mistakes made during Katrina? HONORE: I do think they are a lot better off than we were before Katrina. The National Guard is leaning forward. They have assembled group of helicopters along the coast. Again they're chasing the storm now. You know, yesterday's story was Florida. Today, it's possibly Alabama to Louisiana, and maybe a bull's-eye on New Orleans.
So they are positioning equipment. And the first response for us backing (ph) now -- first response will be the National Guard. FEMA has already put federal coordinating officers in all of the Gulf Coast states and along with Army NOAA out of San Antonio have positioned federal department of defense coordinating officers to be there to prepare.
Right now, there is no request for the federal government for assistance but the National Guard is collaborating with the governors as well as with FEMA and positioning logistics. So they are leaning forward to be prepared. The big issue will be getting the people evacuated.
LEMON: General, we're going to be talking to you a lot. Get the people evacuated and listen, if you have a chance to voluntarily get out, you should do it as early as possible. General, thank you.
I just -- Donna Brazile, one of my colleagues here from New Orleans, says her family is getting out of Baton Rouge starting tomorrow.
Thank you General. Appreciate it.
Again now, Mississippi, Alabama -- both under states of emergency declared just by their governors.
As the man of the hour, presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, gets ready for his big week. We'll look ahead at CNN's special report tonight, "ROMNEY REVEALED".
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LEMON: Ok, politicians are allowed to change their minds, just like everyone else. But when Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts, he created a statewide health care program. Also he supported abortion rights. Now he opposes abortion rights and President Obama's health care reforms.
I sat down yesterday with CNN's chief political analyst -- actually it was the day before yesterday -- Gloria Borger and we talked about Romney's changes and what she learned while creating a documentary on Romney.
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GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Two years into Romney's term as governor of Massachusetts, he sets his sights on something bigger, something that would mean a legacy -- health care.
SCOTT HELMAN, CO-AUTHOR, "THE REAL ROMNEY": He had not had a major achievement that he could point to as some big political success in a future campaign. He needed something to say, "I had done this and it was a big deal."
BORGER: Romney decided to push for health care to cover everyone in the state. But that meant mandating most residents to buy health insurance.
ERIC FEHRNSTROM, MITT ROMNEY CAMPAIGN ADVISOR: The Governor felt that it would be wrong for the economy and wrong for our business sector to impose a mandate on employers, to require them to provide insurance to their employees. But he felt it very important that people take responsibility for their own health care.
BORGER: It was Romney's big moment, but now a liability. The Republicans bitterly oppose any kind of mandate.
HELMAN: I think the politics of it have been so complicated that it's ironic that the biggest thing he achieved as governor is something he almost never talks about.
BORGER: No less complicated -- the politics of abortion. While Romney was personally opposed to abortion, he ran for governor supporting abortion rights. But once in office and presented with stem cell legislation that would, in Romney's view have the potential of destroying embryos, he changed his mind.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I realized that what sounded good in the campaign -- when I actually became the governor and was going to be the person who would sign a piece of legislation which could take human life, I simply couldn't do that.
BORGER: Democrats say it was about ambition.
TAD DEVINE, DEMOCRATIC MEDIA CONSULTANT: He wanted to run for president of the United States and he understood that within the Republican nominating process, somebody who was pro-choice or pro gay rights or anything in terms of a progressive stance would lose.
BETH MYERS, MITT ROMNEY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: I didn't even see it as a flip-flop. What you saw was the tension between personal beliefs and a public persona.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Gloria joins me now. Gloria, that looks great.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.
LEMON: That looks great. The issue of flip-flopping, it's a major contention for Romney.
BORGER: Sure.
LEMON: Even to this day, it dogs him to this day.
BORGER: Well, it does and it not only dogs him from the left, as you saw with Tad Devine, a democrat. But it also dogs him from the right. We saw that during the primaries. Because if you are a social conservative and you are ardently against abortion then you look at Mitt Romney and you go, "You know what? I don't really know what you believe because what you were saying in Massachusetts was quite different from what I see now on the campaign trail." You saw him explain it there why he changed his mind. Some people will never believe it was out of conviction and some people will say "You know what? It was because it was politically opportune."
LEMON: When I interview people when they're doing - with Soledad, you, when I see your documentaries on people, there is always a-ha moment. Was there anything that caught you, that struck you about the man who saw his family and his politics?
BORGER: Well, I discovered an awful lot about Mitt Romney in reporting this documentary. And I discovered things about him I didn't know because he rarely talks about them. And we were lucky enough to have him talk to us about them. First of all, his Mormon faith. The fear is in the campaign, you know this, being a Mormon is going to be a liability. He had to give a speech on faith when he ran the last time around in 2007.
And when we sat down with him, it was interesting to me at how natural, at ease and comfortable he was talking about his faith and what I learned, he had been the pastor of his church, the head of his congregation when he was in Massachusetts at the age of 34, because Mormons don't have any clergy. So you have members of the congregation who actually volunteer and serve. So Romney for an extended period was the person ministering to people in his congregation. And this is something about Mitt Romney that I don't think a lot of us knew. I certainly -
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: My thanks to Gloria Borger.
At the top of the hour, CNN will present profile on Mitt Romney, "Romney Revealed. Family faith and the road to power." And it will be followed at 9:30 by a live convention preview featuring CNN's political team down in Tampa Florida.
Ireporters out and about documenting tropical storm Isaac as it barrels into the Gulf of Mexico. Ahead, we'll take a look at some of the dramatic images captured by our very own viewers.
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LEMON: I want to get you caught up on the headlines right now.
An offensive by Syria's army has turned one suburb of Damascus into a ghost town in the words of one activist. Scores of bodies were placed in mass graves. State television blamed the deaths of more than 200 civilians on terrorists. The opposition says at least 160 bodies were found across the country today. Syria's government, meantime, showed video today of a vice president at a meeting. The rebels claimed earlier this month that he had defected.
A backpacker was killed by a grizzly bear while hiking in Alaska's Denali National Park. A group of hikers found an abandoned backpack torn, clothing and also blood. The man had been said to have been taking pictures of the bear just moments before that attack. Rangers later killed the bear. This the first bear mauling fatality in the park's history.
A fire still burning at one of the world's biggest oil refineries in Venezuela. An explosion at the refinery killed at least 39 people. It happened early yesterday. More than 24 hours later, people are still being asked to keep away from the sight. Venezuela's president asked for three days of mourning for the victims.
At least 36 people were killed in northwest China when a double decker bus slammed into a tanker carrying methanol. Only three passengers survived the accident, according to state media. But they were injured as well. The driver of the tanker along with the passengers were taken into custody, police custody. The traffic accident is reportedly China's deadliest in more than a year.
Tropical storm Isaac is our big story, it's soaking up parts of Florida and gathering strength. Up first, the big picture from Chad Myers. Chad, the wind, where and I guess, it's not a hurricane yet. When can we expect that?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, not a hurricane yet but it will be either tonight or tomorrow. I believe. I believe maybe even the intensification will happen just a little bit earlier than the National Hurricane Center just because it's getting its act together. The pressure is getting lower. The lower pressure, like an "L" on the weather map.
When the low pressure comes, it snows in the winter. Well, when this gets a bigger "L," which is right there, it gets stronger. The winds eventually catch up and the winds, although not catching up now, still 60 miles per hour, will get stronger as that now. And that is the big convection. That is the color we haven't seen for quite some time. Here's what the radar looks like right now, from Miami, still showers coming onshore.
Every time a storm or shower comes on shore, the wind will pick up. This is going to happen all night. Same story. From Ft. Myers to Naples, all the way up to Tampa, when you get a squall over your town, over your house, the wind is going to pick up. We are not going to get squalls and winds over 50 to 60 miles per hour though tonight as the low moves away.
One thing I tell you about here, Katrina versus Isaac. They look very similar at face value. But when Isaac, when you look there and you look at Katrina, only 65-mile-per-hour storm now. Katrina was already 105 miles per hour even though they are taking at least similar paths. It doesn't also look like the water nearly as warm.
And someone tweeted asking how much cooler is it? Just a degree or two but it's almost like putting either regular in your hot rod or premium in your hot rod. It's probably going to rub better on premium and the hot water we had seven years ago was that premium. This is just kind of, this is mid grade.
LEMON: One degree makes that much difference?
MYERS: It certainly does.
LEMON: Wow. All right. Chad Myers, thank you, sir.
MYERS: You got it.
LEMON: How about, Chad, we go down to Mississippi now where they just declared a state of emergency. The storm is still just that, a tropical storm. But like we've been telling you, when you wake up tomorrow, Isaac will probably be a hurricane headed for landfall in the Gulf Coast, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama. Any where in there.
Ashley Rodrigue is with our sister station on the Gulf Coast, WWWL and she is in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, right now. Ashley, tell me how the news is spreading there on the gulf, the storm may be a hurricane and it is coming - most people there have been through it before. How are they reacting?
ASHLEY RODRIGUE, REPORTER, WWWL: Well, I'll tell you the weather behind me is not helping with the situation. People have been fishing. They are on the beach. They are walking beach boulevard here, visiting restaurants and it's no big deal. And unfortunately that can provide for a false sense of security. So authorities are trying to get people to realize that it might be perfect now and you might be used to this. But please pay attention and start at least considering making preparations.
LEMON: We just got word that the governor there, Phil Bryant, declared a state of emergency. That make a difference? At least the response teams and the state are revving up. But people aren't really paying attention right now, you believe.
RODRIGUE: I'm not sure that they are not paying attention. They are just not responding, I guess.
LEMON: Right.
RODRIGUEZ: Like you said, people here are used to this. They know what to look for. And right now with this storm being so fickle and not really picking a spot, people are just kind of waiting still. I mean, we saw a couple of gas stations full but there were several that weren't. There were some homes boarded up, and some that aren't. They are just waiting as a lot of people are. But these particular people they know, and of course, like I said, the weather isn't helping move them along either.
LEMON: Ashley, where exactly are you standing?
RODRIGUE: I'm standing on what they call a jetty, on Bay St. Louis and it's the (INAUDIBLE) Pier. And there are people t my left hanging out by trucks. There is a pier behind the camera. People fishing still and even coming out this evening. It's beautiful, sunset and just a normal day, you would think, had you not known that there is that storm looming in the gulf. LEMON: Ashley Rodrigue, that's what they call the quiet before the storm and one is coming so they better get ready now. Thank you, WWWL with our affiliate, Ashley, thanks.
Scheduled appearances and the kickoff to the Republican National Convention delayed. We are live in Tampa where the stage is set but the party has been pushed back.
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LEMON: CNN, of course, will bring you complete coverage of the Republican National Convention. And later tonight at 9:30 Eastern, Mr. Wolf Blitzer will host a special live preview of the big event. He joins me now from Tampa. Hello, Wolf. What you are hearing from the delegates and the party officials? Are they resigned to a shorter, maybe even an overshadowed convention at this point?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well we're hoping that won't be the case but they're very worried, not necessarily here at Tampa. It looks like we are going to get some rain. It's already starting to drizzle a little bit, a little wind. I don't think we are going to get a big deal in Tampa. But they are really worried, what happens as this tropical storm, soon to be a hurricane, moves through the gulf, the warm waters and it's eerie, when you think about it, almost seven years to the day, Don, Katrina and New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama and what happened then and this storm is very, very similar. And so if it's a category 2 or a category 3, they are not worried about what would happen in Tampa, they're worried about what happened as a result of the storm, and certainly would overshadow anything that is going on over here.
LEMON: And looking and getting notes in here from the poll team. They are taking about Romney leaving Brewster Academy and the video coming in that he's down there. Lots of things are going on. People arriving. So give us a preview, Wolf, what do you guys have in store for us tonight? What are we going to see?
BLITZER: Well, you know, Gloria has got her major documentary, 90 minutes, "Romney Revealed," that airs at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right after you. And it's amazing. It's going to be a great, great documentary. I have seen pieces of it already but I'm really looking forward to seeing the whole thing. Starting at 9:30, Gloria will be joining us, Anderson Cooper, John King, Candy Crowley, David Gergen, we are going to assess what we've just seen.
We're obviously not going to stay too far away from all the hurricane, the tropical storm activity. We're going live until 11:00 p.m. Eastern for 90 minutes. There will be a lot of politics, looking ahead to this convention. Assessing what is going on but also not neglecting the potential for some sort of weather disaster out there. So we will all over both of these stories.
LEMON: All right. Wolf, thank you. We have more in store for you but I got to let you go. Because I got to get - I have just been told the Alabama governor is on the line. We will get to him in just moments. Thanks, Wolf. We'll see you in just a little bit. At the top of the hour, CNN will present a profile of Mitt Romney "Romney Revealed, Family, Faith and the Road to Power." That's followed at 9:00 by Wolf live. Wolf's live convention coverage featuring CNN's political team down in Tampa.
As I mentioned, Governor Robert Bentley joins us on the phone. Alabama declared a state of emergency. He declared a state of emergency in Alabama. What is going on, governor? How are you guys doing?
GOV. ROBERT BENTLEY (R), ALABAMA (on the phone): Well, you know, it's beautiful today. But, you know, it's not going to be beautiful - we don't believe in a couple of days. And Alabama as well as portions of Louisiana and Mississippi and Florida were placed under hurricane warning this afternoon. And once we were placed under that, I went ahead and issued a declaration of a state of emergency and we have planned for a mandatory evacuation in Mobile, in (INAUDIBLE) counties, in two zones which are closest to the coast and those that are prone to flooding. And so we are just making preparations for what may come. But you know, we don't know what's going to come. Because you know, there are two different - European as well as the American -
LEMON: The models, yes -
BENTLEY: The models.
LEMON: But here is the thing, though. As you know, I grew up down in Louisiana. These things, once they hit that warm water in the gulf, you don't know which way they are going to go. It has a mind of their own.
Governor, I want you to talk to the people who are there in the Gulf Coast. One of the reporters down in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi said right now, it's beautiful, people are out fishing, they're whatever, doing their thing. You cannot take this too lightly. It may be beautiful now as you said but you know it's coming.
BENTLEY: Well, we do know it's coming and you know, and we can predict that so much better than we could in the past. And all of us that have lived along the coast have been through this. But you know, it's been seven years, I believe, since Katrina.
LEMON: Right.
BENTLEY: And this is eerily similar to Katrina.
LEMON: Right. So governor, thank you, best of luck to you. I'm sure we'll be talking to you throughout the coming days. Appreciate it, Governor Bentley of Alabama. We're back in a moment with more coverage.
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LEMON: One in 10 kids are diagnosed with ADHD every year. Teachers often are the first line of defense. CNN education contributor Steve Perry weighs in now.
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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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: The latest advisory, latest on Isaac, just in, details next.
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LEMON: All right. Let's turn to CNN's Chad Myers. Latest advisory in right now.
MYERS: For the past two hours, you have been saying, gathering strength, gathering strength. There it is. It went from 60 to 65. They did find a 65.5 miles an hour wind with a hurricane hunter aircraft flying through it right now. And they will be in this storm with hurricane hunter planes for the duration of it. There won't probably be 10 minutes where there's not a plane trying to find something in or out of this, moving north-northwest at 15 miles per hour.
There we go. There's your longitude-latitude, keeping track at home, 24.1, 82.6 to the west. Gusts are 70, but that's kind of here and there, that's fairly irrelevant when we talk about gusts. Let's go to where that is. I'd probably put that right out about 30 miles west of Key West in the dry tortugas.
LEMON: What does that mean?
MYERS: There is Ft. Jefferson there, in the dry tortugas. No one actually lives there. You have to go there by boat.
LEMON: So this is done. Key West they're out of the woods, so to speak.
MYERS: Absolutely. And I also believe that Tampa is out of the woods, too, the winds will be coming offshore. You will get some gusts. Every time you get a thunderstorm that pops up like that, even lightning like that, you'll get gusts at 20, 30, maybe 45 miles per hour, just a gust. That will be it.
Every time rain comes down, it brings the wind with it. Most of the time when there's not rain, like we had John Zarrella in Key West all night long. It was almost clear. It was clear and not windy, as soon as the rain started, the wind started. As soon as the rain stopped, the wind stopped.
LEMON: Your producer just handed you - is that a more detailed report about the advisory?
MYERS: Yes and it says changes with this advisory, none.
LEMON: None.
MYERS: I mean other than the wind speed, of course.
LEMON: Got it.
MYERS: What that would post all the way down through here what exactly - where the warnings were posted, where the warnings were deleted, where the watches were posted, where the watcher were deleted. Obviously, the storm as it moves, watches are deleted and watches are added.
LEMON: Let's talk a little bit more about Florida here. We have - I believe a picture from WSDN which is in south Florida, WSPN, excuse me. There it is right there in south Florida. Not sure exactly where but you know, WSPN is in Miami. You can see, man, yes, those trees are blowing, the wind is moving.
MYERS: And if you take a look, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Squalls come on shore. When the squalls come in, the winds come in. When the squalls go away, the winds die off. So right now, Miami is picking up. You know, they canceled almost 500 flights today in and out of Miami because of this wind. That's significant.
LEMON: 555, I'm being told by producers. So listen, that's the issue with the convention, the flights, people coming in. This is in Miami. I imagine Tampa's airport is not being affected. But when you start delaying major airports that affects everything.
Can we move up and show the rest, what does this mean for the rest of the Gulf Coast, Mississippi, Alabama, I just spoke to the governor, now under states of emergency. So what does that all mean? We have about 10 seconds.
MYERS: And the reason that happened was because now the track has shifted to the left, to the west. And Mississippi, if this track is exactly right, will have the same type of surge and things they had, not with Katrina but with other big storms here from the gulf coast with wind coming on shore as a cat 2.
LEMON: Chad Myers, you're the best. Stick around, he'll have all the information for you. I'm Don Lemon along with Chad Myers at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Up next, a CNN presents special, "Romney Revealed, Family, Faith, and the Road to Power" begins right now.
