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Obama To Speak On Isaac; Isaac To Test New Orleans' New Levees; General Honore Talks Levees; Rebuilt Higher, Stronger After Katrina; Obama Statement On Tropical Storm Isaac; GOP Convention Shares Spotlight With Isaac; Isaac Closes in on Gulf Coast; Grand Isle, Louisiana almost Empty; Riding out Isaac; GOP Wrestles Isaac for Attention; RNC's Youngest Delegate

Aired August 28, 2012 - 09:59   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. I'm Carol Costello.

We start of course with tropical storm Isaac. It has the attention of the Gulf Coast and now, the White House. At any moment, President Obama is due to speak about Isaac. Right now, Isaac is growing stronger and is getting closer. It's expected to be a hurricane when it charges ashore. That will happen late tonight or sometime early tomorrow, so let's set the stage.

Jessica Yellin is CNN's chief White House correspondent. She's in Tampa for the Republican National Convention. Jessica, what do you expect the President to say?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi Carol. We expect that the President when he speaks will talk about the preparations that are underway to prepare residents for the hurricane if it becomes one when it hits.

Some of the efforts he's made to get briefed and some of the contacts he's made to the governors in the area. We know already that the president has had conversations with the governors of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana. He also issued emergency preparedness --- an emergency declaration for the state of Louisiana.

And he was briefed by the chief administrator of FEMA and the director of the National Weather Center so he is in constant contact. The White House is going to make clear and I think the president is trying to just make the nation clear that everybody who needs to be on forward footing is right now as this storm approaches.

COSTELLO: Yes, while you were talking, we saw a number of live shots from cities and beaches along the Gulf Coast experiencing the early stages of Isaac. When the president begins to speak, of course, we'll bring his remarks to you live. Jessica Yellin, thanks so much.

Underlying areas in four states have been evacuated, but the mayor of New Orleans did not issue the order to get out, much of the reason, a new fortified levee system. It's been rebuilt after the levees breached in Hurricane Katrina.

CNN's Brian Todd is along the Mississippi River that's near the Port of New Orleans and Brian, are the new levee's ready?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, officials here are very confident that the new levee system is ready. They spent nearly $11 billion upgrading it since Hurricane Katrina. So they are sure hoping it's ready and they are confident it is ready for this storm.

One thing that is a bit of a point of difference here, what they're talking about is that this was upgraded to handle a storm the size and rarity that would come every 100 years, once every 100 years.

But we spoke to Tim Doody. He is with the South East Louisiana Flood Protection Authority. This is the group that monitors what the Army Corps of Engineers builds and inspects. So they have kind of a watchdog status for these things.

And what he told us is that yes, while they're pleased with the once every 100-year upgrade to this, he says that they should allocated the money to build something that would handle a greater cataclysmic storm maybe once every 500 years or so. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM DOODY, LEVEE AUTHORITY PRESIDENT: Other developed countries are building to a much higher standard. Surely, it's going to be more expensive to do that, but a 100-year standard is not what we would have them build to. We would like a 500-year or 1,000-year standard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So, that's what he's having a look at this morning as far as just you know, they want to look ahead and project ahead to future storms and how many may come and what they're going to be ready for in the decades ahead.

And that's what he's talking about, but as of this morning and this storm, they are confident this levee system is going to hold. They've got 133 miles of upgraded flood gates, levees and seawalls here and they are very confident it's going to withstand the storm.

What we are going to show you here is the waterfront here in the Mississippi River and one of the things we can tell you is that the port operations have pretty much been shut down.

The cargo terminal, you can see these tankers. Cargo operations shutdown. Piloting operations from the mouth of the Mississippi River up this way have been shut down for at least the next couple of days.

Another key question, that bridge right there, the Crescent City Connection, taking people from Algiers to New Orleans, it's a very high bridge as you can see, no plans to close it as of now, Carol. But they're going to be monitoring this storm.

COSTELLO: Yes, and the winds and the rain. Thank you so much. Brian Todd reporting live from New Orleans this morning.

Want to talk to someone who not only witnessed the levee's breach, he took charge of a city that was sliding into chaos. Actually it was chaos in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina.

U.S. Army General Russell Honore was the man who coordinated military's relief efforts in the wake of Katrina. He's now retired, but he is kind enough to join us from Baton Rouge. Welcome, General.

LT. GENERAL RUSSELL HONORE, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. President Obama is set to speak in about 7 minutes. What do you hope he says?

HONORE: I hope he uses presidential power and declare this a hurricane and get it over with so people are not confused that it's just a tropical storm.

We knew it will reach based on the science sometime this evening, but we need to be taking action now and treating this like a hurricane, a Category 1 hurricane.

But as it gets later, it's going to get dark and people will not act, thinking it's just a thunderstorm. I hope that's what he declares. I know the government is treating it like a hurricane, but we should not confuse the people saying it's just a tropical storm.

COSTELLO: Governor Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, he seemed upset that the federal government wasn't putting forth more money for storm preparation. The federal government's going to pay 75 percent. State of Louisiana has to pay the rest. Is he right to be critical?

HONORE: Well, the staff and I, that's the way it was written. Congress approved this. This is gone through multiple administrations.

The challenge is and always has been when I was on the other side, is that the states, if they have no stake in what things cost, then things can cost anything.

The fact they have to pay 25 percent, it keeps costs down and is a budgeting issue. You know, after Katrina, a lot of requirements for the states to pay 25 percent were weighed.

Again, that's money we have to borrow from somewhere to pay that. So that is a dilemma and good for them to argue over that, but that's why they get paid the big bucks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. I'm sure most of Americans are saying, General Honore, we're with you. OK, so, that's one change since Hurricane Katrina. What others need to still be done to totally protect the people along the Gulf Coast? HONORE: They continue to focus on our people and remind them that they must be prepared to be their own first respondent because the assets the government has, people without rods, the poor, the elderly, who are shut in at home and people that have special needs.

You know, a lot of the people who passed away were people that lived alone at home. That's a fact. Most of them were poor. Many had disabilities. That's who the government has to focus on, the poor people who do not have the ability to leave if they want to leave.

A lot of people have improved their homes along South Louisiana. We've got the infrastructure, $10 billion has been invested. That will make a big difference. The challenge today is a foot of water along coastal Louisiana in your community, and can your community handle that without flooding?

So that's the message they need to be going to people. This will be a big rain event with maybe winds up to 100 miles an hour and that will turn the lights out in South Louisiana and South Mississippi.

COSTELLO: General Honore, I know people have much love and respect for you in the city of New Orleans and all along the Gulf Coast, so what message do you want to bring them today?

HONORE: Listen to your local government officials. Make sure your weather radio is on and operational and be prepared for the lights going on and have that battery power radio so you can stay informed and look at for your neighbors.

Check in on people that you know live alone and make sure they've got the basic needs because you may be able to participate in the ultimate human experience. Save somebody's life.

COSTELLO: General Honore, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

The cruel lessons of Hurricane Katrina extend far beyond New Orleans and its new levee system. Much of coastal Mississippi was hit by the strong side of Katrina. Towns were ripped apart by the wind and then swallowed by flood waters.

CNN's David Mattingly is in Gulfport. Still windy and rainy, and the scenes look rough.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, a big difference right now from when I talked to you an hour ago. Right now, we actually have some sunshine. This is so typical as we see these storms coming through with band after band of storms in them.

So, this, just an indication that Isaac is coming this way and everyone paying attention to this storm, even though they've learned some very important lessons from what they went there in Hurricane Katrina.

They've learned that when they rebuilt, they had to rebuild higher and stronger, taking what houses, what might uses to have been wood frame houses and turning them into cement and steel houses capable of withstanding these storms as they come ashore.

But everyone right now, paying very close attention to their forecast for what might the storm surge be and how much rain. We're expecting this to be a very strong rain event across the coast of Mississippi.

Right now, there are mandatory evacuation orders for two of the three coastal counties in Mississippi. That is targeting some low lying areas in those two counties that they know will have flooding problems. And we could see more as this storm gets closer and we see exactly what path it's going to take -- Carol.

COSTELLO: David, in the last hour, you showed us people who built homes along the beach front. They put in four to five windows that can withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour. I can't imagine what that must have cost them.

MATTINGLY: That's right and it's been very cost prohibitive as well as the insurances gone along with people wanting to rebuild here. So we're finding that people with means who live along the coast have been able to rebuild.

A lot of others have opted out for a variety of reasons, finances being one very common thread among people who have decided not to come back to the life they had right here on this water.

COSTELLO: I'm going to interrupt. The president is now speaking about Isaac.

(BEGIN LIVE COVERAGE OF SPEECH - JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- and minimize the damage. I just got an update from Secretary Napolitano, Administrator Fugate, the head of FEMA and Dr. Rick Knabb, the director of the National Hurricane Center on preparations that are underway in the gulf.

This storm is scheduled to make landfall until later today, but at my direction, FEMA has been on the ground for over a week working with state and local officials in areas that could be affected from Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands to Florida and more recently, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

Yesterday, I approved a disaster declaration for the state of Louisiana so they can get the help that they need right away, particularly around some of the evacuations that are taking place.

Right now, we already have response teams and supplies ready to help communities in the expected path of the storm. As we prepare for Isaac to hit, I want to encourage all residents of the Gulf Coast to listen to your local officials and follow their directions including if they tell you to evacuate.

We're dealing with a big storm and there could be significant flooding and other damage across a large area. Now is not the time to tempt fate. Now is not the time to dismiss official warnings.

You need to take this seriously and finally, I want to thank everyone who has been working around the clock to get ready for Isaac. The hardest work of course is still ahead.

And as president, I'll continue to make sure that the federal government is doing everything possible to help the American people prepare for and recover from this dangerous storm.

And as we get additional updates from the hurricane center, as well as from FEMA in terms of activities on the ground, we'll be providing continuous updates both local and national level. Thank you.

(END LIVE COVERAGE OF SPEECH)

COSTELLO: A very short statement from President Obama. Basically, he said FEMA's on the ground. We are ready to go. He declared a disaster declaration for the state of Louisiana so they can begin to prepare for this storm.

And he also urged people to listen to their local officials. If there's an order to evacuate, he said, please do it. It is not the time to tempt fate.

Jessica Yellin is our chief White House correspondent. She is in Tampa. The president's schedule said he was going to go on the campaign trail today. Did he cancel all of that?

YELLIN: No, Carol, he's not canceling his planned trip to Iowa, Colorado and Virginia. But what the president is making clear here is that he's trying to convey is since first of all to Americans who live in these areas that they should obviously heed the warnings.

And there should be no repeat of what happened obviously with Katrina where people didn't do that. But also that the president himself is doing something very different and that there have been, there's a sense of confidence in the White House is what they're trying to convey no doubt.

And that he has been there not just having FEMA on the ground now, but for more than a week he made clear, preparing and getting ready well in advance.

So if there is a message that you're getting from the White House, it is that we are ready, organized, prepared and taking this seriously.

So you will now see the president heading to Iowa, Virginia and Colorado as I said, speaking to college campuses. And officials there have told me that if things change, if this storm takes a different turn and things get more severe, schedule could change -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so, you're at the Republican National Convention. This is sort of cast a pall over the festivities there.

YELLIN: You know, it caused them to postpone a day of events and it's caused some of us in the media to sort of take our eye off of what's going on here and you know, make things a bit more serious than they would be otherwise.

This should be a celebration and it's not entirely that. But I do think that officials and there's some noise and still a activity going on around us.

Officials here are adjusting the tone and will still get plenty of attention for the speakers including Ann Romney who's speaking tonight.

So the GOP will get out of this storm and they're being appropriately sensitive to what's going on in another part of the country right now.

COSTELLO: Jessica Yellin, thanks so much, reporting live from Tampa for us this morning.

And to mention, Tropical Storm Isaac is taking away some of the spotlight from the Republicans convention this week, but will it also force the conventional to change its focus and celebration? We'll ask a GOP strategist that question, too. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's 17 minutes past the hour. The GOP has to share the spotlight with Isaac now, but their work is already underway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: The 2012 Republican National Convention in session and called to order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The Republican National Convention kicked off yesterday afternoon, but quickly went into recess. The two men on top, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, will arrive in Florida very soon.

Mitt's wife, Ann Romney and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will address the delegates tonight, but Christie, he's already on the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: The president is nothing more than a Chicago ward politician and that's the way he's been acting on this campaign so far.

Ninety-plus percent of his ads, vicious, personal, untrue attacks on Mitt Romney and we now need to stand up against that because we've had enough of Chicago ward politics in the Oval Office.

We need a real leader back in the Oval Office and we've got to work to get Mitt Romney there and get him there this November. There's no time to waste, everybody. This is our children's future. This is the future of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Chris Christie there, delegates will formally nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan later this afternoon. As we just mentioned, Mitt Romney's only hours away from his official nomination.

Tonight's Republican convention events will set the tone for the next few days as the Romney campaign tries to convince and convert voters to put him in the White House.

CNN contributor and Republican strategist, Ana Navarro is live at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Good morning, Ana.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, everyone is excited for Chris Christie's big speech and for Ann Romney's, but Isaac is out there and you know, maybe during the convention, networks will have to put up a split screen.

I mean, we might have to put up Anderson Cooper on one side and then the Republican National Convention on the other. And you'll have Chris Christie probably slamming Barack Obama as hard as he can. That's not the kind of image Republicans are eager for, is it?

NAVARRO: Well, you know, Carol, we're going to have to walk and chew gum at the same time. Multitasking is part of the tryout to be president and I think it is the right thing to do to give this attention to this tropical storm that's soon to be a hurricane.

I'm from Miami. I know just how fickle and how dangerous a phenomenon a hurricane can turn to be and how quickly it can change and Republicans need to show the adequate sensitivity. People expect, American people expect from their president that he will be able to, or she, will be able to show empathy.

But also respond quickly and appropriately. And we have to show that we're able to do that. And at the same time, the show must go on and we must have a convention. And we must have these important speeches and we're going to have hurricane Christie coming in at the Category 3 instead of a 5.

COSTELLO: We're hoping stay on tropical storm --

NAVARRO: Again -- I can assure you, Hurricane Christie is going to be on stage today. We just -- maybe the category will be less than it would have been with Isaac out there in the Gulf.

COSTELLO: Now, I was just going to ask you, because will he soften his tone depending on the intensity of the storm? NAVARRO: You know, I don't know that he softens his tone. Chris Christie is Chris Christie. That's what you get when you get Chris Christie, the genuine article. He is direct. He is plain spoken.

He is colorful. He is funny. I think you're going to see the Chris Christie that we know, some love, some hate and that's what you're going to see tonight.

But I also think that there's going to be an adequate recognition, acknowledgment of what's happening in the gulf. We've got to tell the people in the gulf they are in our thoughts and prayers and that is important and a priority for us as well.

COSTELLO: Ann Romney, her speech is all important because her job is to paint her husband as he actually is, not how Democrats have painted him throughout this campaign. What does she have to say to do that?

NAVARRO: I think she's got to tell us about Mitt Romney, the man, Mitt Romney, the husband, Mitt Romney, the father, the son. The Mitt Romney she loves and she fell in love with. The Mitt Romney that will be capable of leading, will be capable of showing empathy.

Ann Romney can relate very easily to people. She is a very likable character. She is a great asset to Mitt Romney. Today, she sets the stage for the American people to get to know Mitt Romney better. That is a must for Mitt Romney out of this convention for the American people to feel that they know him better.

COSTELLO: Ana, it seems that her job is to make him more interesting, too. Pew Research did a poll, it showed only 44 percent of Americans are going to bother to watch Mitt Romney's speech.

NAVARRO: Well, you know, they might not watch the entire speech, but they're going to watch review, read about it. You're going to hear a lot about the speech at a convention is a very important deal.

And one of the things that we've got to do is get Americans motivated and interested in watching the speech because it is a huge opportunity for Mitt Romney. He's got a few coming up, but this speech is certainly probably the most important of his life so far.

COSTELLO: And it's very important for the country. I know I'm going to be watching. I mean, all Americans should watch to see what he has to say. He's running for president. It's a big decision we have to make in just a couple of weeks now. Ana Navarro, thanks so much for being with us this morning.

NAVARRO: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: As we were discussing, we may learn more about the real Mitt Romney when Ann Romney speaks tonight. We're asking you though, how would you describe Mitt Romney today? It's a topic of our talkback segment. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, how would you describe Mitt Romney?

Tonight's the night we get to know the real Mitt. It won't be from his lips, but from his much more emotive wife, Ann. She'll likely paint a picture of a loving husband who stood by her when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

But as touching as that story is, it has been overshadowed by the picture the Democrats have painted of Mitt Romney as an out of touch millionaire who couldn't care less about the middle class and who's in it only to help his rich friends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Romney bought companies, drowned them in debt. Many went bankrupt. Thousands of workers lost jobs, benefits and pensions, but for every company he drove into the ground, Romney averaged a $92 million profit. Now, he says his business experience would make him a good president? If Romney win, the middle class loses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Lately, the Romneys have been trying to debunk that unlikable image painted by the Democrats. They're even playing the Costco card.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF MITT ROMNEY: I know how to shop Costco. You go in the door. I don't want everyone to learn. You take a sharp right, go down to the back of the store and just shop the outside of the aisles, boom, boom, boom.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Also got me one of these three packs of shirts and they're very nice shirts.

ANN ROMNEY: He's wearing them all the time now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Question is, will that sort of thing work? A Pew Research poll shows just 44 percent of Americans are even interested in hearing Romney's convention speech. You have to wonder is it because of that old saying is really true?

Americans like a guy in a White House they could chug a beer with? That's not how they seem to feel about Mitt Romney, at least not yet. Talk back question today, how would you describe Mitt Romney? Facebook.com/carolcnn. Your responses later this hour.

Next up, the Gulf Coast, Tropical Storm Isaac bears down. Long time residents settle in. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I've been through Katrina, I've been in a water, seen animals floating, everything so, it don't, it don't faze me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Some residents will ride out the storm. We'll take you to one community virtually emptied though after evacuation orders went out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Seven years after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast killing nearly 1,800 people, the region is now bracing for Isaac. Louisiana's Governor Bobby Jindal urging people to leave coastal parishes prone to flooding. More than 4,100 National Guard troops have also been activated.

In Mississippi, they're calling up 1,500 National Guard troops and the Gulf Port Biloxi International Airport will close at noon eastern today.

In Alabama, a mandatory evacuation order has been ordered for parts of Baldwin and Mobile counties in Florida, Pensacola's International Airport closed at midnight and thousands of homes in Miami-Dade County are without power this morning.

So where is Isaac now and how fast is it moving?

Let's find out from CNN meteorologist Karen McGinnis.

KAREN MCGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And Carol good morning and yes, all eyes are watching the Gulf as this very broad system is just kind of winding its way even more slowly than it had been.

But by the way, we'll be receiving another update from the National Hurricane Center coming up in just about a half an hour. But it's moving towards the northwest at about seven miles an hour. Take a look at this images coming to us live, this out of Gulf Port, Mississippi. The waves are kicking up, but not the worst that we -- we'll expect for the afternoon. Conditions will be deteriorating rapidly perhaps after about the 2:00 hour.

As I mentioned, this is moving slowly to the northwest. It's just a little less than 100 miles out of the Gulf of Mississippi, out of the mouth of the Mississippi. Some of the wind gusts that we've seen here are right around 40 miles an hour. It's going to creep along the coast, perhaps Carol make landfall right around the midnight hour, maybe 2:00 in the morning, but we'll have meteorologists on staff all day and all night to keep you updated.

COSTELLO: We sure will. Karen McGinnis thank you. The mandatory evacuation orders along the Gulf Coast include Grand Isle, Louisiana. That's a tiny fishing village nestled on a barrier island. Ed Lavandera is in Grand Isle. Did people leave?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people have left. In fact, I just spoke with the Mayor a little while ago. And this is an island that usually has anywhere between two and 25 -- 2,000 people and 2,500 people and is down to -- according to the Mayor here, about 30. And that includes a lot of the EMS folks that will be staying back. We're at the home of a man by the name of Dean (inaudible) who has a huge shrimping empire down here in Grand Isle. He's been kind enough to allow us to hole up with him and he's going to ride up the storm here.

This is the bay side of the island if you look back over this way, Carol. The wind has been coming out of the north, so a lot of the surge that we have been seeing has been rather minimal so far has been coming from that bay water.

If you look out back over here this is where the Gulf of Mexico is just beyond those homes. We're about you know probably about a half a mile away from -- from the Gulf waters there. And there's a levee wall that goes all the way up and down the shore.

My colleague Ali Velshi, I don't know if you remember this spot from the 2008 it was Hurricane Gustav, he rode out the storm here. It was an intense scene Hurricane Gustav. By the time that it made landfall, it was a Category 2 storm. We're anticipating a Category 1. The concern here really will be the storm surge from the predictions we've heard so far in the forecast so far, saying that those storm surges could reach up to about seven feet where we are here and in some places, could reach as high as 12 feet.

So that is one of the things that people will be watching very closely in this storm Carol. And this is one of the initial bands of rain that we have seen. We had one about an hour ago that came through. It's come through a couple of times and the winds are starting to pick up, but so far, everything looking good here on Grand Isle, but obviously, these conditions will start deteriorating here rather quickly -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ok well I hope that homeowner stays safe, Ed. Because you know, it's the last place I'd want to be, on an island with a 12-foot storm surge, but that's just me. Ed Lavandera thanks so much.

Many coastal residents in the region will be riding out Isaac; some by choice, some bound by duty. Utility workers could be dispatched even before the last winds die down. In Mississippi, the power company there, crews are already stacking up their trucks, they are getting ready to roll if Isaac knocks out electricity to the area.

Grocery stores also scrambling to keeping their shelves filled. Customers stacking up and getting ready to hunker down. Many are filling their carts with non-perishables just in case. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know what you have to have to make it through, make -- make do until that power comes back on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's loud, it's noisy and you're going to be knocked around and if you're not used to it, it's going to scare the dickens out of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of the people who have been here through Katrina, I think they're going to hunker down and -- and do their best to be ready for what's -- what this storm is about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Emergency officials say people should not be fooled by Isaac. It will be a slow moving storm dumping as much as 20 inches of rain and likely causing widespread flooding.

Virginia, let's get back to politics now, Virginia has the youngest GOP delegate attending the convention. He's not even old enough to vote. He's just 17. We're going to talk to him live from Tampa.

Hey, what were you doing when you were 17?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is 40 minutes past the hour.

Republicans have scaled back their convention in Tampa to three days because of tropical storm Isaac and depending on Isaac's next move the Republican platform might take more of a backseat to the storm. Sean Spicer is the communications director for the RNC, he's live in Tampa. Welcome.

SEAN SPICER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, RNC: Thanks Carol. It's great to be with you.

COSTELLO: So the storm is starting to intensify now. How worried are you that people will be paying much more attention to the storm than to the Republican National Convention?

SPICER: Well, obviously, our number one concern right now is for anyone who may be affected by the storm and we're going to be keeping an eye on that and tracking it as it goes forward. We obviously have important business to do here in terms of officially nominating our nominee and making sure that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are officially able to go forward as our nominee and move on to the general election.

COSTELLO: Is there a Plan B? I mean, if the storm becomes ferocious? I there a Plan B, might you change your -- your schedule even more?

SPICER: As you noted in your -- in your introduction, we've been flexible so far as far as being able to scale back because of the concern we had here in Tampa. We'll obviously continue to monitor the storm going forward, but we look forward, as it stands right now, we've got a packed schedule tonight.

We'll start this afternoon at 2:00 with the official -- with the official business of the convention so that we can get that out of the way and then we've got a great line-up tonight including Governor Chris Christie and Ann Romney.

COSTELLO: Chris Christie is expected to speak in prime time 10:00 p.m. Eastern, correct? I mean, the storm is probably going to grow stronger by then. Is there any plan for Chris Christie perhaps tone things down a bit because we know what his tendencies are and a lot of people enjoy them, but a storm will be taking place, you know, along the Gulf Coast.

SPICER: Well -- I -- I think Governor Christie can -- is going to deliver a great speech tonight and then Mrs. Romney will follow that. So again, all I can tell you is that we're going to continue to monitor the storm, continue to watch to make sure that -- that if anyone's affected, that we take appropriate steps in terms of our messaging.

But Governor Christie is -- is going to deliver a great understanding of who Mitt Romney is and why he needs to become the next president. And then Mrs. Romney I think is going to give us an understanding of the man behind this, behind Mitt Romney. The husband, the father, the -- the type of person that goes out and has been helping people throughout his -- his entire life.

COSTELLO: There's a new Pew Research poll out. It shows only 44 percent of Americans are -- are even planning to watch Mitt Romney's speech. Does that concern you?

SPICER: Well, until we see the numbers, I think we'll see what they are, but -- but again, I think we've got an electorate right now where a lot of people have made up their mind one way or the other. We're hoping to continue to reach out to folks who maybe haven't focused on the election so far to give them an understanding of our team, what we call the comeback team and their vision for America, how they're going to help the economy turn around and put people back to work.

So you know in terms of who the audience is, we'll have to look at those demographics afterwards, but I hope that people who haven't had a chance to understand the Governor or seen him beyond maybe a 30 second ad here or there or have seen just the attack ads from the Obama campaign, will have an opportunity here, folks who know him well and hopefully himself on Thursday night when he gets to elaborate more on who he is, the vision he has for this country, the plan that he has to turn the economy around to deal with energy independence.

And -- and so all of that is an opportunity for those who may not be following the day-to-day tick-tock of this cycle.

COSTELLO: Sean Spicer, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

SPICER: Thanks Carol.

COSTELLO: We'll be back with more on NEWSROOM.

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COSTELLO: Just in to CNN. These pictures out of Broward County, Florida in the southeastern part of that state. As you can see, good folks in Florida already suffering some flooding. These are shots taken on a farm. If the show were directed at the house, you would see the house is surrounded in water.

Right now though, these poor horses are just standing in the water. But that whole neighborhood in that area is flooded.

Also just in to CNN, a gas line explosion -- that's going on right now in McKinney, Texas which is north of Dallas. Flames and heavy smoke can be seen for miles. Emergency responders, of course, are now on the scene. Traffic is shut down in the area. So far though, no reports of any injuries.

A question for you this morning. Do you remember what you were doing when you were 17 years old? I was representing my home room in student council in high school.

I don't hold a candle to that guy, though. The Republican National Convention's youngest delegate is 17 years old. Evan Draim is representing his state of Virginia. And if young voters -- Draim will turn 18 by Election Day, which would allow him to vote and serve as a delegate.

Evan is live in Tampa. Good morning, Evan.

EVAN DRAIM, DELEGATE FROM VIRGINIA: Thank you so much for having me.

COSTELLO: Oh, we're glad you're here. When did you get interested in politics?

DRAIM: Well, I've actually been interested in politics for a few years. I consider my interest in politics a result of my family background. My family immigrated to the United States as Hungarian refugees I think to give me the economic freedom and individual liberty that they lacked in their home land. And my involvement in politics and especially the conservative movement, I think is really meant to preserve those values for me and my descendants in years to come.

COSTELLO: How did you get to be a delegate?

DRAIM: Well, I ran in the eighth congressional district to become a delegate, I got elected by the voters from my district at the district convention in May. I ran a campaign of about four months, reaching out to those voters through phone calls and in- person appearances. And I really credit my victory to the fact the Republican Party understands that young voters have been specially impacted by this President's policies. The negative impact of his policies is keeping a lot of students from achieving the opportunities and freedom that their parents achieved as Americans. And they wanted to send a younger representative to Tampa to have a part in finding a solution to those problems.

COSTELLO: Ok, so that is a big responsibility. So, many polls show that young people are more into President Obama than they are Mitt Romney. Why do you think that is?

DRAIM: Well, I think in the past, first, I think that younger voters are actually moving more towards the Republican Party and the conservative movement and we have a great opportunity to make inroads in that demographic in this next election. I think in the past, younger voters haven't really been -- or may not have been earning a salary or paying taxes and we may not have thought that a more expansive government, the costs of that were actually being levied upon us.

But obviously, as you know, the Republican Party has unveiled their debt clock in the convention hall and I think younger voters are becoming aware as the debt approaches $16 trillion, and actually that's just on paper. That's not even counting the billions of dollars that the Obama administration has taken out of the Medicare and social security funds for political expediency.

As the debt approaches that level, young Americans can no longer say that those costs of an expansive federal bureaucracy are not being levied upon us. So I think you'll see younger voters, yes.

COSTELLO: I was just going to say that said, as you said, many young voters haven't experienced life yet, they don't think about such things. Some might say the cool factor is why they like President Obama.

DRAIM: I agree with that in a sense. I think that four years ago, President Obama was a huge celebrity with younger voters because he promised us a more positive and optimistic future. But four years later, that same candidate has resulted in a 12.7 percent youth unemployment rate.

Half of recent college graduates have been forced to move back in with their parents; and also, I feel like a lot of the freedom and individuality and decision-making once left up to private, individual citizens, has now been transferred to the government and I think that counters a lot of younger citizens use about how they should be treated.

Younger citizens should want the same freedom from their government that they want from parents and other authority figures at this age. And so I think as we're going into 2012, a lot of younger voters have become apathetic about the election because the candidate they supported so overwhelmingly the last time has really let them down and I think -- COSTELLO: Evan -- we got to wrap it up there, but thank you so much. You're very excellent --

DRAIM: Thank you so much for having me.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much. We appreciate you being here.

Mitt Romney has promised to repeal Obama care if he's elected. What would that mean for people with pre-existing conditions? We're going break that down for you.

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COSTELLO: You'll hear a lot about health care as the Republican national convention moves into full gear. Mitt Romney has vowed to repeal Obama's health care law if elected.

Joining me now, CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. And Elizabeth, let's talk about pre-existing conditions today. For example, Ann Romney, who's speaking tonight at the convention. She's battled breast cancer and she's now dealing with multiple sclerosis.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. And you know what; there are millions of people like Ann Romney in this country who have pre-existing conditions. And what Obama care did was it said hey, insurance company, you have to insure these people. We know you don't want to, but you have to and you can't charge them extra, which is what they often did in the past.

Governor Romney says he wants to get rid of this rule and instead, what he would say to people with pre-existing conditions is if you've had continuous coverage in the past, then we'll give you protection. So let's take a listen to what he said in the speech.

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MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's say someone has been continuously insured and they develop a serious condition. And let's say they lose their job or they exchange jobs. They move and they go to a new place. I don't want them to be denied insurance because they've got some pre-existing condition, so we're going to have to make sure that the law we replace Obama care with assures that people who have a pre-existing condition who have been insured in the past are able to get insurance in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Now, this rule, that you would have to have continuous coverage if you have a pre-existing condition and want to buy your insurance, that would pertain to children and adults -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Elizabeth Cohen, reporting live for us. Thanks so much. We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the biggest stories of the day. The question, "How would you describe Mitt Romney?"

This, from John. "A true blue American hero. Got up and went to work every day, raised a family, employed many others which made their lives better and paid his bill and taxes.

And this from Chet, "The lesser of two evils."

Lots of "Talk Back" responses. I'm sorry we couldn't get to more of them, but thank you so much for responding and continuing the conversation.

I'm Carol Costello.

CNN NEWSROOM continues with Ashleigh Banfield right after this.

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