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Water Overtops Levee in Louisiana; Isaac Weakens Slightly; Isaac Rescue Efforts On Hold; Condoleezza Rice on Syria; Rice On Augusta National; Paul Ryan's Big Night; Ryan's Longtime Friend Speaks Out; More Than 650,000 Without Power; Major Coastal Highway Washed Out; Running From Rising Waters

Aired August 29, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go. Welcome back to the CNN Grill here in Tampa, Florida. I'm Brooke Baldwin. And we are just hours away from a huge, huge night for Republicans here in Florida as Mitt Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan, officially introduces himself to America. So we're going to get to that in a moment here, including an interview with someone who is speaking tonight. That being former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. More on that.

But first, we have to lead the show here with the urgent situation along the Gulf Coast, especially the areas in and around New Orleans. Here we go.

Hurricane Isaac turning out to be huge. This really relentless bully emergency officials warned about. Take a look.

Now some of its victims who did not evacuate are calling 911, running for their lives upstairs in their home, being carried away to safety. I want you to hear -- this is just one woman's story of so many today after she was rescued by boat from her roof near New Orleans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, are you OK?

SHARON SYLVIA, RESCUED BY BOAT: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the matter?

SYLVIA: First we were going to try to leave and then we didn't because we had nowhere to go. Then Mr. Billings (ph) come on the TV and said that his (ph) house blew (ph) off and that the -- they had a breech in the levee. So then we were trying to leave, but trying to drive in the car, it was -- you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. And with me being a diabetic and I had a stroke, we were in the house. (INAUDIBLE) we stay in a trailer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's it like back there now?

SYLVIA: Bad. Water's over the top of the roof. We had to break through the ceiling and climb through the attic. And they took us out of the attic into the boat. It's very bad down there. Very bad. They going -- they going back to get my son and my daughter-in-law. Please make sure -- his name is Eric Sylvia --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

SYLVIA: And Mindy Davis (ph). Please make sure he gets back up with me again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That emotional plea coming from a woman in Plaquemines Parish, where at least 150 calls for rescue have come in to the sheriff's office alone. But it's not just officers who are the ones out saving others lives. On the phone with me now is Jesse Shaffer Jr. He and his dad have reportedly been out and about, over many, many hours, rescuing more than 20 people today by boat. Jesse's joining me here on the phone.

So, Jesse, welcome. And I understand Billy Nungesser, the Plaquemines Parish president, really sort of recognized you and your father for saving so many lives. You with me? You with me, Jesse?

JESSE SHAFFER JR., CITIZEN RESCUE IN BRAITHWAITE, LOUISIANA (via telephone): Yes, I'm here.

BALDWIN: Jesse, as we look at these pictures, tell me how many people you've rescued at -- by this point.

SHAFFER: Personally today, me alone, I've been through at least 60 people. Maybe 30 animals.

BALDWIN: Fifty, 5-0?

SHAFFER: Sixty, 6-0.

BALDWIN: Six zero, six zero, plus the animals. Describe the conditions you've been fighting, because I have seen pictures with water up to many a roof.

SHAFFER: Right.

BALDWIN: How high is the water where you are?

SHAFFER: It varies in spots. High as I'd say about 12, low as six depending on the elevation.

BALDWIN: And I read an article this morning in "The Times- Picayune" that describes one of these many, many rescues that you're telling me about, where you and your dad rescued a woman with a five- month-old baby from a roof. Is that true? And, if so, tell me about that.

SHAFFER: Yes. Yes, that was -- we actually started on the north end of the parish and worked our way down. And after we finished the first subdivision, we were headed down south and there was a family of five, two adults and three children I think from three to six. And they were -- they had about a half a foot left before they'd go under on the roof. So they were excited to get rescued. BALDWIN: How did you -- how did you get -- how did you rescue them?

SHAFFER: Well, we pulled our boat up as good as we could and we held on to the roof. We got them into the boat and safe (ph).

BALDWIN: So, Jesse, of these 60 plus people, including these, you know, itty, bitty children, what's the one story, the one rescue that's just playing over in your mind?

SHAFFER: The one rescue that stood out to me would be the one where there was 10 individuals in a two-story building. An old, old building. We had -- we already had two individuals on the boat and three dogs. So we were kind of overloaded. I had to stay on the roof for an hour because I gave up my spot to someone. I think we had eight elderly from that building (INAUDIBLE) with diabetes and other different diseases. But we got them on the boat. I stayed and waited for the boat to come back. And I stayed about an hour on the roof. So I went from rescuer to rescuee.

BALDWIN: Just incredible. Just incredible. And you sound so calm, which perhaps makes you perfect for doing something in such duress. But were you ever worried about yourself or the life of your father? Were -- did you ever have any near misses?

SHAFFER: The only thing that really concerned me about this is the electric lines that are very low right now because of the high surge. Other than that, the wind and the surge and the current doesn't really bother me.

BALDWIN: Jesse Shaffer, Jr., you and your dad doing yeoman's work saving so many people, as Bill Nungesser pointed out. We'll talk to Billy about your work a little later on in the show. Jesse, stay safe. Stay safe for all of us.

Right now the brunt of the flooding is happening, as we were talking about, in Plaquemines Parish, where water has gone over the top of a levee there. That levee is not part of that $10 billion system that was rebuilt in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. That monster hurricane hit as a category three seven years ago when it made land. And Plaquemines Parish president, Bill Nungesser, says, in some cases, Isaac is proving to be worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NUNGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH: Jesse Shaffer is out there right now rescuing those people. It's his backyard. He knows the waters. And several other local people have launched their boats and are out there rescuing people now. And I applaud them for doing it. They're taking their own life into their hands.

We will continue -- our only efforts rights is the safety of the people that did not evacuate. No one thought this storm was going to do what it did to Plaquemines Parish. I myself, it doesn't matter about damage to a home, but to give you an idea, I have more damage from this storm than I did from Katrina. And I rode out Katrina at my home.

The water piled up in areas on the east bank of Plaquemines Parish that we used to brag about because they never got water before. So those areas that didn't flood for Katrina were flooded for this event. We're going to make every effort to rescue all the people and then we'll begin the rebuilding process for the east bank.

But we're not out of the woods yet. We're looking at the new models because this storm has gone back and forth and hung around a lot longer than anyone expected. I can tell you this, if that's a category one storm, I don't want to go through anything stronger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We'll be talking with Billy Nungesser next hour about really the status in all these rescues in the area hardest hit in Plaquemines Parish, this area called Braithwaite. What is more though, Isaac is not going anywhere. There could be two more days of this deluge that is impacting four separate states. Isaac is supposed to weaken back to a tropical storm. I want to talk to Chad Myers here about all of this.

But, Chad, if we can just reflect for a moment on that conversation I had with Jesse Shaffer. Were you listening to that? Sixty rescues.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I was. Yes.

BALDWIN: Six zero.

MYERS: And on the -- let's get right to what happened there and show you how this all happened. I've been drawing this out.

We have all of the red areas here across the area in New Orleans protected by those federal levees. Those $11 billion levees. And here's the area that Jesse and Billy Nungesser were talking about. This is the east bank of Plaquemines Parish. Not yet protected. The money has been there, just not spent yet. Not protected yet. That's expected within two to four years to be done.

Let's zoom right in here, tell you what's happened. There's been water pouring in from these east winds all night long and the water banked up against this levee, which is the back levee. This stops the water from coming in from the Gulf of Mexico.

There's another levee right here along the river. That river levee stops the water from coming in from the river. This breeched somewhere. The water poured over into Braithwaite and all the way into this subdivision here. Remember, this is all not protected. All this water is running all the way down here.

It's like a pool now. We have a bump here. A levee here. We have a levee that's mostly still good, except for one spot, here. So the east bank is just filling up with water, just like the lower Ninth Ward did last time this happened, which was seven years ago in Katrina. Water all the way up to the -- BALDWIN: OK.

MYERS: Right up to the eves of the houses and, in some spots, higher.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: So then where is Isaac right now? I mean is Isaac still spinning, spinning, spinning before he hopefully moves on out and gives other states to the north the rain that we know they need?

MYERS: Yes, in fact, Isaac, right there, is as close as it's going to get to New Orleans, on its way to Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge right up here. Baton Rouge, you are going to get the north eastern eye wall. There's not a worst place to be than the north eastern eye wall. As it moves away from New Orleans, the winds will begin to turn a little bit and eventually from the southwest, Baton Rouge, you're from the east, you are getting battered here.

Also, one more thing we haven't talked a lot about, but I'm getting to it, there's Mississippi. A line -- a squall line in every single one of these cells, Brooke, has been rotating as its come on shore. We've had more than one tornado on the ground not that far from Gulfport, Mississippi. This could go anywhere from Biloxi, all the way back over to Bay St. Louis depending on how and which way this outer band moves today. A big deal with tornadoes. Could be dozens today.

BALDWIN: Dozens of tornadoes on top of all of this rain that they're getting.

MYERS: Yes.

BALDWIN: Chad, don't go too far.

MYERS: Of course.

BALDWIN: We're going to keep this conversation going, as I know you're watching it very closely.

All -- to you. We've just gotten word here some of the rescue boats have now turned back -- they have turned back because of the rising water. CNN's Soledad O'Brien has just called in. she is right there with them. We're going to talk to Soledad, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, I want to take you back to Louisiana here as this story continues to really move, change. We're now hearing some of the rescue efforts. We were talking about rescue boats rescuing folks in the top levels of their homes because of all the storm from Isaac. They're now on hold because the flood waters are just so high. Soledad O'Brien joins me now on the phone from Plaquemines Parish.

And, Soledad, so are you telling me that some of these official rescue operations, they have stopped because of the high water?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Area at Braithwaite.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Stopped. The official rescue --

BALDWIN: Soledad, are you with me?

O'BRIEN: I am with you. Can you hear me?

BALDWIN: Yes, I've got you. Go ahead.

O'BRIEN: OK. So, Brooke, the reason you were having a hard time hearing me is because we're right in the middle of that wind and high water. We're right on the flood wall right now. The flood wall really marks the break between St. Bernard Parish and Plaquemines Parish. And the water is so high -- looking at it, I'm probably 100 feet away from it in Plaquemines Parish, and this (ph) is the problem. The winds are very high. The rain is (INAUDIBLE) and there are some big issues with putting folks back in there, trying to pick up that rescue effort again. So they spent about 30 minutes (INAUDIBLE) they were going to hold off until they can get a break in the weather a little bit.

What we've had a chance to see today is really the strength and the power of a really good flood wall because Plaquemines Parish doesn't have one. It doesn't have a -- where they've seen the flooding. The problem is that the storm surge over top of the levees. And I'm looking at a subdivision which is submerged. I can only see trees around it. And there's probably 15 or 20 feet of water and I can't even make out any of the homes behind the trees. That key area that they've been sending boats in to try to rescue people, but that the winds, the way it is, and the rain has become very problematic. So right now they put a hold on it.

On the St. Bernard side, and I should mention the St. Bernard Parish doing a lot of work in helping with this recue. You might remember from Katrina seven years ago, St. Bernard Parish that actually needed a lot of the help. On the St. Bernard side, that flood wall marking the difference. So very little flooding at all. Probably six inches of water. So it's really an indication of how a good flood wall can protect against a storm surge coming in off the Gulf. That's been a big problem here in the low lying Plaquemines Parish.

BALDWIN: Yes. And I'm just going to ask you live here on air, Soledad. I mean if you say you're about 100 feet away from all this water, I'd love for you to just snap a picture or two and shoot it to Twitter and we'd love to show it, as you're sort of, you know, telling this part of the story, which is so crucial.

O'BRIEN: You know what. Hey, Brooke. Hey, follow me on Twitter right now.

BALDWIN: Yes, go ahead.

O'BRIEN: We've already just posted our pictures. Take a look and you'll see, I show the actual flood walls. And on the right hand side --

BALDWIN: Perfect.

O'BRIEN: I show the flooding water. And on the left hand side, no flooding at all in the St. Bernard Parish side. So you can retweet those for your viewers.

BALDWIN: OK. We will do that. I know your Twitter handle @SoledadO'Brien. We'll take a look.

Hey, Soledad, quickly, do you know roughly how many rescues the folks who you're with, how many rescues they have accomplished so far today?

O'BRIEN: We heard early on that they had about 150 calls. And when we got to the St. Bernard side, they told me that they had maybe two dozen people who are being held at the jail. The jail had the ventilator -- a kitchen -- (INAUDIBLE) be able to bring people who they have rescued and plucked out of Plaquemines Parish. So there are 20, 25 people. But they had -- they are unclear how many more they had to pull out. No one's really been able to give us a very specific number.

That said, I had a chance to talk to a women who got out, along with her son, Josh, and their dog, whose name is Lucky. She left her husband and the other pets behind on the second floor with she thought maybe 16 feet of water in the house because she said there was no way to get them all out. She said at 2:00 in the morning they got a call saying that there was a breech in the levee and that the flooding started about two hours after that. Very quickly they had five feet of water in the house. They gathered up their stuff and they took a boat ride by climbing out of their second floor window. So they've done that.

But she started to tear up, obviously, when she talked about leaving their husband behind. You know, she said it was just a terrible thing that they had all these pets and they just didn't know what they could do. She is one of the many who will spend a little time at the jail, where at least it's dry and they get some food. And she's hoping to have a friend in St. Bernard Parish pick her up and take her to her home.

BALDWIN: Soledad O'Brien, there are so many stories out there. We thank you for hopping on the phone with us. And just keep us posted when it comes to those rescues. It's just incredible the people we've talked to over the last 24 hours who are basically saying, you know, this is only a category one. And looking at these pictures and hearing these stories, there is nothing only about this particular storm.

Soledad, thank you.

We're going to take you back to New Orleans here in just a moment.

But first, back here in Tampa, of course, all eyes on tonight's speakers here. The Republican National Convention. This forum. The big state you see on TV in a building just steps away from where I'm sitting here at the CNN Grill, including this woman, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, now a professor at Stanford University. She actually spoke with CNN a short time ago with Hala Gorani. You're going to hear exactly what she said about politics and golf, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Back here live. We are at the CNN Grill in Tampa, Florida. Steps away from the forum. The sort of nucleus of all things Republican National Convention. Good to be with you here talking politics and specifically all eyes tonight as we're awaiting the big pitch, the big political pitch of Paul Ryan's life.

But before the congressman from Wisconsin speaks, we're going to be hearing from Condoleezza rice. She will be among those addressing the convention this evening. The former secretary of state from the Bush administration, Bush two that is, had returned to academia. But hers is a voice on foreign affairs that Republicans very much so still listen to. Big, big get here. My colleague, Hala Gorani, spoke with Secretary Rice ahead of her big speech. I'm going to bring Hala in directly in just a moment. But first I want to just play them this first bit of sound. This is Secretary Rice talking specifically on the war in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What would you differently from with the -- with the Obama -- specifically the Obama administration is doing now?

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I think we've wasted a lot of time in the Security Council. Russia and China clearly were never going to go along with an international response. I'm sorry that the mission of Kofi Annan, for whom I have a lot of respect --

GORANI: Yes.

RICE: Died, as well it should have, as he said. And so the United States needs to help rally the regional powers --

GORANI: Yes.

RICE: To put together a political framework for a post --

GORANI: But military intervention?

RICE: Well, no. well, for a political framework for a post-Assad regime. And then to help vet and arm the opposition so that somebody can stop the slaughter of the Syrian people.

When people say, if you arm the opposition, it might get worse.

GORANI: Yes.

RICE: Look at what Assad is doing to his people.

GORANI: Well, what's the timeframe for that because vetting a political opposition and then vetting armed opposition groups takes time?

RICE: Well, you know, if we'd been -- if we'd been doing -- if we'd been doing this for the last year, maybe it would be done by now.

GORANI: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Hala Gorani, good to see you here.

GORANI: Good to see you.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about this. First she says the U.S. has, I'm quoting her, wasted too much time in the Security Council. So does that then assume that the current administration is perhaps not working on other options, other venues here?

GORANI: Well, she's naturally going to be critical of the Obama administration's approach to Syria, saying, look, too much time has been wasted. Essentially what she said was, if last year we had started identifying opposition groups at the United States and other western countries, ones who support --

BALDWIN: This has been going on 18, 19 months.

GORANI: It's been going 17 and a half months or so. And so this is her approach to the situation. So I said, look, that's hindsight. Let's talk about going forward.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GORANI: What do you suggest be done? And she said, essentially, we should look at opposition groups, rebel groups, vet them and arm them. When I said her specifically, should the United States arm rebels, this is a big step if the U.S. decides to do this directly.

BALDWIN: Right. What did she say?

GORANI: She said, yes, the United States should, quote, participate in the arming of rebel groups.

BALDWIN: Define participate?

GORANI: Participate. I suppose it means -- I don't know what it means exactly. But, I mean, it could mean work with allies. It could mean arming rebels with perhaps nonlethal capability, which we understand is happening now. It could mean working in coordination with Turkish authority. It could mean command and control. It could mean many things. But her approach is to be more hawkish with regards to Syria than she says the Obama administration is now and that too much time has been wasted.

BALDWIN: Let's move on.

GORANI: Yes.

BALDWIN: Far ranging -- wide ranging discussion on foreign policy. Specifically on Iran.

GORANI: Right.

BALDWIN: Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: President Obama said, I have a military option and I am not afraid to use it.

GORANI: Right.

RICE: The Iranians need to hear that loud and clear. And not with all of the chatter that then sometimes one hears. Well, it would be so difficult and this and that. The Iranians need to hear that there is a military option and the United States will need it -- will use it if necessary.

GORANI: Would a president Mitt Romney be more likely to take military action against Iran --

RICE: I'm not going to speculate on --

GORANI: -- than Barack Obama?

RICE: I'm not going to speculate on that. I just know that the United States of America is ultimately the guarantor here for security in the Middle East. And that means that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon.

GORANI: Do you think America is losing some of its credibility, some of its superpower status in regions such as the Middle East? If so, why?

RICE: Well, I do think that this is the time when people are questioning American leadership. You hear, where is America, where does America stand? In part, we've been pretty muted with our voice. I think there was a hope that if we were quieter, people would join us. Well, actually, that doesn't seem to be the case. We have the president of Egypt going to China as his first stop. When has that been the case? And so I think it's a combination of two muted a voice and also our troubles here at home.

GORANI: Yes.

RICE: We need to deal with our problems here at home if we're going to be strong enough to lead abroad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, Hala Gorani, some may argue that a more muted approach would have been more favorable under the administration under which she worked.

GORANI: Right.

BALDWIN: And that the current administration, to quote Teddy Roosevelt, is walking softly and carrying a very big stick.

GORANI: Right. Well, I think many things have changed since the time of the second Bush administration, George W. Bush, in the Middle East in particular. And this is really the region that I was discussing with Condoleezza Rice. There's been the Arab Spring. There are players now that are a lot more strategically important to countries in that region, including China in that region. In fact, Condoleezza Rice told me, as you heard there, that President Morsi of Egypt, his first big trip is to China, not the United States.

BALDWIN: Huh.

GORANI: This is something that she's saying is a shame. That the United States should be more out front, more out there in the region. That it shouldn't be as muted as it is under the Obama administration. But one of the things I did hear from our international viewers, as we aired this interview on CNN International, was, look, a more muted American foreign policy, it's not a bad thing.

BALDWIN: Interesting. That's what your international viewers said.

GORANI: Some of the feedback we've gotten. Right.

BALDWIN: Can we talk golf?

GORANI: Sure.

BALDWIN: Let's talk golf, because it was big news.

GORANI: You're a golfer, right?

BALDWIN: I'm working on it. Are you working on it?

GORANI: No. I tried once or twice. Not going to (INAUDIBLE).

BALDWIN: No. OK. So we know the big story. Augusta National. Finally, right?

GORANI: Right.

BALDWIN: Finally breaking this barrier and inviting Condoleezza Rice and one other woman to join. So you asked her about that. Roll this.

GORANI: Right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: You made history as the first woman, alongside another very accomplished woman, to join an all male club. So this is a historic thing. What did you make of that?

RICE: Well, the Augusta membership does things on its own time and that's the way private clubs operate. I'm honored that the members of Augusta would like me to be one among their number. And I am looking forward to playing golf there. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world to play golf. And I'm working on my short game so that I can hold (ph) those greens (ph).

GORANI: But, you know, some people said it was -- it was just a little bit condescending. You know, have a man, head of a national golf club, that we have to wait for his approval for two women to finally be admitted. And some have said this is just going to be tokenized women. They're not going to open their doors wide.

RICE: Oh, Augusta is a private club and it chooses its members. And this time it chose me. It chose Darla Moore. I think we're both very pleased to be there.

GORANI: Who will be your first guest?

RICE: Well, I haven't decided that yet, but I can assure you I have a long line.

GORANI: Of woman, hopefully.

RICE: Well, I hope so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I love that you asked if a woman would be her first guest. And, of course, you gave her my phone number.

GORANI: Of course I did.

BALDWIN: Naturally.

GORANI: Naturally.

BALDWIN: No, I'm glad you asked.

GORANI: I -- no, and I think it's interesting because there was some criticism essentially that this is, OK, a welcome move as far as some feminists are concerned. But others are saying it is a bit condescending that we have to wait for a man to open the door to a closed club.

It is a private club and in the end, they are free to write up any policy that they want, but at the same time, that there was a bit of condescension perhaps on that announcement.

Condoleezza Rice said she's very proud alongside the other very accomplished woman who was accepted into Augusta and that she's going to work on her game.

BALDWIN: That will be the day when we see them in those green jackets. Hala Gorani, good to have you. Thank you so much.

Back to the huge, huge story all along the gulf region, high moving water. The rescue crews really just doing their best in an absolutely horrendous situation there.

Soledad O'Brien, we just had a conversation. She called in. There is now a new development involving those rescue boats. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to get a quick update for you at the bottom of the hour as Hurricane Isaac is sitting there, just churning and churning, barely moving.

So far with 10 inches of rain has fallen in New Orleans. Chad Myers, talk to me about, I guess, where the center of the storm is. Isn't Baton Rouge getting slammed next?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. We're talking about this yesterday. Everybody is focusing on New Orleans, New Orleans, but Baton Rouge is going to get slammed. There are giant trees that will come crashing down with these winds of 70 to 80 miles per hour.

Even though you think that the eye of the center is on land now, there's not that much land. So this is going to get right into Baton Rouge with the northern part of the eye wall.

This is as close as it's going to get from New Orleans. New Orleans from here on out as the storm moves to the north, you're going to get less and less wind. Good news.

Finally, back out here to the east, these cells coming off here. This is a big, big outer band. These cells are spinning. We talk about the potential for tornadoes in hurricanes. That's what the potential is today.

You'll hear tornado sirens in that area for sure. It could be a dozen or more tornadoes in Mississippi today because of these cells as they come on shore. Kind of like water spouts. They're not Kansas, Texas size tornadoes but they can still do damage, of course -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, still not something you want to deal with when dealing with all this water anyway. Chad, thank you.

Just heads up for all of you watching as we're talking about Baton Rouge. We will be talking to a reporter there on the ground next hour. Stay tuned for that. We have the whole gulf coast covered for you. Now this.

Talking politics here in Tampa tonight is a huge, huge night. I don't think I can underscore that anymore for Congressman Paul Ryan, the biggest night really of his political career thus far.

Congressman Ryan takes center stage at the forum not too far from me here to accept the nomination as Mitt Romney's running mate and no pressure. But the congressman from Wisconsin here needs to make this speech his rock star moment.

John Avlon is a CNN contributor and a senior political columnist for "Newsweek" and the "Daily Beast" and a lovely lady next to him, his wife, CNN political contributor, Margaret Hoover.

Guys, good to see you. Let's talk about this. "Daily Beast" article, Paul Ryan introduces himself to America. Tonight's speech is the equivalent of his major label debut after a series of critically acclaimed independent albums.

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I'm glad you like that one. I appreciate that. This is the big thing. This really is an introduction. Paul Ryan is beloved and conservative circles.

However, he's never run outside his Wisconsin congressional district. So America's getting a look at -- the guy is a great communicator. He knows how to take a conservative message about the economy and make it resonate to home in terms of values.

But you know, what works in media logical echo chamber doesn't always translate down on the main street and that's the challenge today. One other secret weapon, he's writing the speech himself and he's a former speech writer, former speech writer for Jack Kemp.

So as a former speech writer, I would appreciate, speech writers made good and in this case, it would be phenomenon.

BALDWIN: I hear he's pretty hands on, A, with his speech. And B, can you tell me a little bit about the two people who were helping him. One of whom very instrumental, Sarah Palin --

AVLON: That would be Matt was the writer of the Palin speech.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: There are a couple of people I know who are helping him on the speech. Of course, he's a speech writer himself.

What I love about Paul Ryan and one of the things you should look for is he has an ability to anticipate what the criticisms of his message are going to be and address those criticisms in the speech.

For example, he knows full well that he's going to be accused of all the Medicare tactics of destroying Social Security and of hacking away at programs.

BALDWIN: He's got some tough questions to answer to.

HOOVER: As he makes his case, he addresses the fact that if we don't save the problem the people who need government the most are going to be hurt the worst. He has a way of making case and really channels what conservatives say ranking conservatism, a way of actually embracing the challenge, articulating it and still being connectible.

BALDWIN: But as you point out, this is really the first time we've seen a president hopeful out source his plans to a vice president. Is that really a good thing for Mitt Romney?

AVLON: It's a fascinating dynamic. You pick Paul Ryan. You own the Ryan plan. He's been rewarded for his courage in putting forward a specific -- it is the first time. This was a policy free presidential campaign until Paul Ryan came around.

HOOVER: I'm shaking my head because I do disagree because the Romney plan is not the Ryan plan. Paul Ryan said I did my budget. Now I'm running on the Romney plan. This is not about the Romney-Ryan plan. This is I am on Romney's ticket --

AVLON: It just lacks numbers. That's the only number.

HOOVER: I fully appreciate that, but Paul Ryan has gone on campaign they have changed the context and tone of the debate on Medicare. The polling numbers on Medicare come out and they are very different.

You don't have seniors scared they would take away their Medicare anymore the way you did remember a year and a half ago, grandma was being pushed off a cliff.

BALDWIN: All right, you two, I know there are a lot of big questions. We'll pose game tomorrow.

AVLON: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Guys, thank you very much. John Avlon, Margaret Hoover.

Waiting in the wings is the man who officially nominated Paul Ryan, his friend really of more than 20 years. We're going to take you live to the convention floor. We'll meet this man and see what he has to say with our Dana Bash, next.

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BALDWIN: Congressman Paul Ryan's long time friend, Steve King officially put Ryan's name in nomination for vice president last night. Now Ryan has known King for more than 20 years.

In fact, Ryan was an envelope stuffer on King's Senate campaign in Wisconsin. This was back in 1988. Dana Bash joins me live here in Tampa with Republican delegate Steve King.

So Dana, introduce us to Mr. King, the man who I know Paul Ryan, I'm quoting, "first real leader of his generation." Can you have him explain that for us?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I sure can and I want to ask you and our viewers to forgive to banging. They decided this is a good time to test the drums at the convention.

First of all, Mr. King, thank you very much for joining us. Brooke asked a very good question, which is the fact you have said that you believe he is one of the greatest leaders of his generation. Why is that?

STEVE KING, NOMINATED PAUL RYAN FOR V.P. LAST NIGHT: Well, by virtue of the fact that Mitt Romney chose him to be so. He is 42 years old. He's a lot younger than the incumbent president. Heist of another generation. He's running for vice president. He's become the political leader of his generation.

BASH: But you have a special knowledge or insight into who Paul Ryan is. You knew him way, way before Mitt Romney chose him. Tell us something about Paul Ryan that we might not know in all the information we've gotten in this few weeks since he's been on the national trail.

KING: When I first began to talk to Paul in 1997, he was 27 years old about running for the United States Congress for the first time. It struck me what a man of big ideas he was even at that young age.

In talking about those ideas it was also clear to me he had the courage of his convictions. He's a man that's mature well beyond his years. He gets it. I think he's prepared to not only, the biggest thing that happened to me in this whole thing is that Mitt Romney chose him. I did not think he would choose him.

BASH: Why not?

KING: Because I thought he maybe thought he was too young and he had been out front with his bold ideas. Here is man who is not afraid to tell the truth even when others choose to ignore it.

BASH: One last question before I let you go, but can you give us a little preview of what we expect to hear from Paul Ryan in his big speech tonight?

KING: Well, it will be a bit of personal background but not a lot. He'll talk about what he sees as the issue of this campaign, which his on the one hand, are we a nation of self determination and opportunity or are we going to down the slippery slope of a nation of providing services?

BASH: Thank you so much. Thanks for joining us. A little bit of insight into the man we're going to be hearing from tonight as you just heard. That was good homework that you did, Brooke, knowing about the envelope staffing. Good stuff.

BALDWIN: Well, you know. We do what we can. I really commend both of you for doing that through the drum beat. Thank you. An extra thank you and Mr. King today.

Make sure you tune in tonight for CNN primetime coverage hopefully sans drumming of the Republican National Convention at 7:00 Eastern.

Wolf Blitzer is going to be setting the stage for all of us for tonight's speakers and then during the 10:00 p.m. hour, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan will address all the delegates there on the floor and all around inside the forum.

And then at midnight, Piers Morgan, he will wrap up the night's events. Huge, huge night here in Tampa. We hope you join us.

Four feet deep and still rising, this is the scene from Gulfport, Mississippi as Hurricane Isaac stalls. But we are now getting word Highway 90, this is its main artery, a huge coastal road has washed out. We will take you there, next.

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BALDWIN: Satellites have been tracking Isaac. I want you to take a look at some video here because this video really captures the moment when Isaac made landfall in Plaquemines Parish right around 7:40 Eastern Time last night.

Now more than 650,000 people are without power in a couple of states. Look at this wind there, unreal. You have out of power in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama.

We are just getting word this major coastal highway for this region is washed out. John Zarrella, he is there. He joins me by phone from Gulfport, Mississippi with the latest here on Highway 90. John, what part of it is closed?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, you know, Brooke, it's hard to tell how much is closed because of the fact, but a good portion of it is, because you can just drive a short distance about a mile from the hotel where we were at.

It was completely under water. Both the eastbound and the westbound lane and the westbound lane is actually a bit elevated and even at the water. It's an incredible sight to watch. The entire Gulf of Mexico rose up with the high tide and with the on shore flow.

It has consumed as far as you can see in either direction east or west, all of the beach. There's nothing left of Gulf of Mexico right up to the seawall and splashing over on the Highway 90.

The one section where we were cut off and stopped and couldn't go any further, there were timbers that looked like railroads timbers that were on the roadway. The sand was covering the entire roadway.

The water coming up and at one point as we stepped up on the higher ground, which is the westbound lanes of 90, the water was covering that as well and continuing to rise on both sides of the highway.

We had to go around back inland to get over to the hotel area, which is a bit of higher ground. But the wave action just coming over the top of the seawall and inundating portions of the road.

We know westbound certainly further west we've been told it's even worse there when you get into past wave land, Bay St. Louis and even more of Highway 90 has been inundated there.

Where the portions of the road are completely gone, it's impossible to tell at this point until the water subside and close back into its banks.

I'm looking now at an oak tree that has snapped off. We had winds in all directions. Chad was mentioning about to tornadic activity. It sure seemed at some point that we were getting hit by winds in every direction -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, he was mentioning several pop up tornadoes. Please, stay safe. We can tell the water was up to your calves and much higher in some places. John Zarrella, keep us posted please, Highway 90, big coastal highway there in Mississippi.

We showed a bunch of pictures. They are sent to us from you. If you are feeling the effects of Isaac, we've all have asked you to share your photos, please do so in a safe location.

Your photo, video experiences from this storm. You really are our eyes and ears and we appreciate you. Just go to cnnireport.com.

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BALDWIN: What it must be like when running upstairs, it is a form of rescue here. Now some harrowing moments from people trapped by Isaac's rising water.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERYL HICKS, RESCUED FROM ISAAC: It is horrible. Everybody house is gone. Nobody got a house. Nobody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How high is the water?

HICKS: The water is almost over my head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Look at this. Our affiliate, WWL reports that the people you just heard either got help or able to let rescue teams know of their location. Much more of our coverage on Hurricane Isaac after this.

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