"starting point" and we're coming to you live from the french quarter in new orleans. our "starting point" this morning is isaac, on the verge of becoming a full blown hurricane and taking i'm at louisiana, the biggest threat storm surge and rainfall. cnn forecasters are predicting flood waters up to 12 feet. with an eye on isaac, the republicans press ahead with the national convention in tampa. we have a packed show this morning. we'll talk to new orleans mayor mitch landrieu and mary landrieu and david vitter will join us and joel stein. "starting point" begins right now. good morning, we're coming to you live from the french quarter in new orleans. our "starting point" this morning is tropical storm isaac, it is gaining strength and has

overnight and it's closing in on the louisiana coast. the storm is expected to make landfall tonight or early tomorrow morning as a category one hurricane. storm surge and potential flooding are the biggest concerns right now. isaac is expected to bring as much as 20 inches of rain when it hits, could create storm surges up to 12 feet. thousands of people in louisiana, in mississippi and alabama are evacuating. we've found many though, even here in new orleans who have decided to hunker down and ride out the storm. here's a live picture of jackson quar this morning. st. peter's street, a slight wind. we've had rain on and off as well. the big question for the folks in this city and outside the city. will the updated levees and pumps hold against isaac. cnn has gotoverage for you this morning of tropical storm isaac. let's get right to rob marciano live this morning at the port of new orleans. hey, rob. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. you're right about the levee and

pump situation. that stuff is all beefed up and ready to go. they had a bit of a dry run during hurricane gustav in 2008 but even more work has been done since then. it is not a hurricane yet but might as well be, 70-mile-per-hour winds and huge moisture field as well. the last couple frames of the satellite picture, the signature is becoming more classic. on the verge of becoming a hurricane officially. it's 150 miles southeast of new orleans proper and heading directly for the french quarter and crescent city at 12 miles an hour. forecast track highlights that. but at this stage of the game, the exact track is really of no consequence because so many people are going to be affected from morgan city all the way up to biloxi, the gulfport area there. and the surge, anywhere from 6 to 12 feet. so they are fairly confident that levees we saw yesterday and i had the opportunity to fly

over yesterday afternoon with the coast guard and elaborate system, 133 miles worth of this stuff. flood gates, canal closures and pump systems that are going to be put to the test when hurricane isaac makes its way onshore. again, 6 to 12-foot storm surge expected. on top of that the rainfall is going to be cessive. this is what we expect for forecast rainfall totals, 10 to 18 inches of rain expected of a long duration event. this is probably going to be a longer duration event than hurricane katrina. i know we keep making compari n comparisons to katrina. it is weaker and not as big but it's going to be moving slower. it's going to be longer duration wind and rain event. the question really soledad, is we think the levees will hold up but how about the pump systems? they are only designed to pump an inch an hour and during a

hurricane you can get 3 to 3 inches per hour. the question is, how bad is it going to be? >> that's the big question today. when you talk about making kmar sons to katrina, tomorrow will be the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina, something here in the gulf coast area knows very well. the massive storm triggering hurricane warnings along a wide stretch of the gulf coast, including the entire mississippi coast, some spots very, very familiar with disaster. katrina storm surge totally smashed homes in places like waveland and gulfport and long beach on the eastern side of the storm. killed more than 200 people in the state. seven years later, those places are in the same dangerous position. many people are evuating there. david mattingly is live in gulfport with more on what's happening there. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. what we're looking for right now is a lot of rain coming this way. when people look back at katrina

seven years ago, they talk about the storm surge. storm surge from that storm would have been 6 to 10 feet over my head where i'm standing right now. they are not expecting anything like that with isaac as it comes ashore. instead they are going to be looking at a lot of rain and flooding in low lying areas and so far two out of the three counties here on coastal mississippi have declared a mandatory evacuations for people living in some low-lying areas. but again, those evacuations are targtded. it's not a massive evacuation across the coast. everyone, however, watching the storm closely. over the years since katrina, there's been a lot of rebuilding going on here all across the mississippi coast. rebuilding structures and rebuilding infrastructure and roads and bridges and higher, stronger than it was before. and right now people are looking to this storm with more confidence than they would have been prior to katrina but at the same time still treating this storm with respect. watching to see what it's going

to do now. soledad. >> david mattingly in gulfport. appreciate the update. time to get the latest. richard knabb, the director of the national hurricane center. let's talk with what rob marciano and david were telling me, storm surge and rain. has to be the biggest concerns right now. >> people often think of the hurricanes and tropical storms as primarily wind storms but that's just part of the equation. the water components are often the more deadly and sometimes the more damaging and we have two water hazards, the storm surge from the soegs and rainfall that could lead to inland flooding. now, the storm surge still the potential on the mississippi coast, southeast louisiana is 6 to 12 feet in some spots, depending on exactly where the winds are pushing into the coast. that's why folks have been -- some folks have been told to evacuate from particular areas that are the most vulnerable. it's not just going to be a

coast alley vent. as it moves inland, this large tropical storm, we're still anticipating to become a hurricane, is going to move slowly inland. it's the large size combined with the slow motion that's going to contribute to very large rainfall totals as this moves inland. and even outside this cone we could see very heavy rainfall totals. some spots could see as much as 20 inches. that could lead to significant flooding and river flooding in a few days. >> so let me ask a couple of questions. you talk about the eye wall forming and not forming. what's the significance of that and the fact it's slow moving, that means all of the rain is going to sit over whatever area that's happening, correct? >> yes, the last few days isaac has been struggling to develop a solid inner core and takes baby steps along the way. it's getting closer and closer and even right now, we see a blow-up of thunderstorms near the center the air force reconnaissance plane showing the

pressure falling a little more, all indications it's getting there but hasn't getting over the threshold to become a hurricane yet. the other component driven by the steering current around it and there's going to be a little bit of blocking high pressure ridge that will keep this from moving quickly inland. for any one spot in the area where it's going to be moving ashore, this whole swath of moisture could drop a lot of rain for a lot of people. that's the inland flood risk that we're concerned about. inland flooding historically has been responsible for a lot of fatalities and tropical storms and hurricanes come ashore. it's not just going to be a coast al event. >> thank you, richard. we'll see you at the top of the next hour to get another advisory update from you. folks in new orleans are hoping that $10 billion in improvements to the levee system will hold during what is now the first real test. senator david vitter went out with the army corps of

engineers. he's with us this morning. nice to see you. >> good morning. >> you've embedded yourself in the army corps of engineers. what did you want to figure out? >> this is going to be some sort of a test of the post katrina system so i want to see how we all perform in the test including the corps of engineers in terms of their preparations and processes. i'm going to be with them all through the storm. >> you've been very critical of them in the past. yesterday we had weather like this, a little bit balmy, doesn't feel, rain on and off. how was yesterday? >> all of preparations seem really strong. we'll see how everything goes. apparently this won't be a very, very string ent test, knock on wood because it will remain a relatively weak hurricane. we're hoping for that. it will be an important test for the system. >> you've evacuated your family. >> yeah. >> ee lot of people are not evacuating. >> that's reasonable given the strength of the storm. i got them out of town so i could do my work and i knew they were safe.

given this nature of this storm, i think it's reasonable that most people would stay. >> what's your biggest concern right now? >> my biggest -- >> what we just heard from richard knabb? >> my biggest concern is not with the system that's been built since katrina. it's with all of the areas outside that system. we really built the system for the last storm, the last -- the major populated areas outside of that system, western st. charles, lower jefferson, those are very, very vulnerable areas with significant population in them. >> many ofhem have already evacuated in some cases like plaquemines had mandatory evacuation. of course seven years ago, hurricane katrina, anybody who lived through that or even a reporter who came to cover it, it brings back a lot of bad feelings and anxiety. is that what you're seeing? >> yeah, but again people in this area are very experienced and know this is not katrina. so i think they are taking the

proper precautions and taking things seriously without panicking. >> i know there are some gaps that you found as you've been doing this chore with the army corps of engineers. have they been fixed? >> these have been known and identified for quite some time. they are about eight specific discreet small gaps where the corps has to come in with temporary measures when a storm is coming like this. usually that means one of two things, tempora sheet piling into the ground or big baskets -- >> mesh sort of -- >> with sand bags. >> we'll check in with you again tomorrow morning so we can see how the second day went for you. nice to have you. >> good to be with you. >> good luck today. >> we'll continue our special live coverage here in new orleans. the storm clouds from isaac taking center stage at the republican national convention taking place in tampa. what happens if there is a major flooding event here? what would they do with the

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welcome back to "starting point," minding your business, u.s. stock futures are higher, we get new data on home prices later this morning. everyone is waiting for big summit in jackson hole later this week. debate rages on whether federal reserve chief ben bernanke will hint at further form of economic stimulus. investor watching oil and gas prices as isaac fast approaches the gulf coast. emergency preparations under way there. nearly 80% of oil production has been halted in the region.

48% of national gas shut down 346 platforms and 41 rigs have been evacuated. analysts say gas prices could rise 10 cents in the coming weeks from the storm. and apple is calling for eight samsung phones to be yanked off store shelves after winning the $1 billion patent lawsuit. if you see your phone listed on here, watch out for the next hearing with the judge in california on september 20th on this new request in apple, a total of 16 samsung phones and here are a few of them, were found to inprink on the design patent in the largest tech patent suit of our time, a suit that apple solidly won. soledad? >> our top story this morning is tropical storm isaac expected to turn into a hurricane with the mass side and slow movement. the storm is gaining strength as it heads to the gulf coast.

karen maginnis is at the headquarters. >> we heard from the head of the national hurricane center and says all of the ingredients are there to make it to category one hurricane before making landfall. should this make landfall, across louisiana coast, more specifically in the new orleans area, one of those things is the possibility of tornadoes. and i want to show you what we are expecting. possibility of damaging tornadoes here because we get those bands that move onshore as they do, they have the potential to spawn tornadoes. right now the information you need to know is that we're supporting 70-mile-per-hour winds with the tropical system. but perhaps during the overnight hours, a category one. making landfall sometime during the early morning hours of

wednesday. as a category one hurricane. for lake upon chart train, this could mean wave heights of about 10 feet. for some of those coastal areas, we could see 20-foot seas and potential for as much as 20 inches of rainfall. >> soledad? >> all right, karen. we'll continue to check in with you throughout the morning. still ahead on "starting point," 'we continue our special live coverage from new orleans. we continue to follow isaac and it's clouding start of the republican national convention, some saying that maybe the event should be canceled if the event looks very bad. we'll talk with congressman randy forbes coming up next. you know why i sell tools? tools are uncomplicated. nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping's easy.

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good morning, you're looking at the live picture of gulfport, mississippi, looks like a beautiful day but you can see the surge coming in. we're monitoring that. david mattingly is there this morning. you're watching a special edition of "starting point." we're tracking tropical storm isaac which is expected to be a category one hurricane in the next 24 hours or so. the other big story is in tampa, florida. former governor mitt romney flying there this morning. he's going to be formally nominated for president after a role call vote. john berman is at the cnn grill in tampa. >> tonight in tampa the spotlight will be on a different romney, governor romney's wife ann scheduled to speak and new jersey governor chris christie is scheduled to give the key note address. this is under the cloud of isaac bracing for impact. i'm joined by jessica yellin and

republican congressman randy forbes from virginia. congressman forbes, there has been talk about what is the right thing to do or not do with this convention while isaac bears down on new orleans. >> obviously we're concerned about all of the individuals in new orleans, mississippi, wherever this cod hit. we want to make sure they are safe. in our country there's a lot of challenges and we're going to continue to deal with all of the challenges. it would be nice if we could deal with each individually, one we have is how to get the economy back on the road it needs to go on and create jobs. while at the same time making sure we're monitoring what happens with the hurricane. >> radio talk show host say rush limbaugh saying the media and democrats are making more out of the storm. >> the media is out there saying that hurricane katrina is now hanging like a paw over the

republican convention in tampa. so this whole thing has been plitized as the democrats politicsize everything. it is the government, it's obama. >> is this are politicized. >> we hope it won't be. our biggest concern is the victims that could be there. as i mentioned before, americans all across this country are very, very concerned about getting this country back on the right track and economy going and creating jobs and i think they will listen to that message as well. americans will have a lot of challenges as we move through the next several years. >> quickly, the "new york times" picked todayo talk about fema and what the republicans have done over the last few years with fema. between 2010 and 2012 house republicans forced a reduction of 42% in primary grants for

fema. what do you think? >> first of all, john, one of things you have to look at, any of the grants that came into place, the president had to sign them into law so he must have supported them. what we hear from people across the country is the big concern about what this president has done to national defense. we cut national defense by $800 billion. that's not millions, that's billions and trillions. and that's the bill thing we want to make sure we're turning around for the country. >> you're on record voting for those cuts, by the way. let me turn to tonight for a moment. you're from one of the most important swing states and both candidates vying for virginia. three major speakers, rick santorum, ann romney, chris christie. who are you looking forward to the most? >> there's no question we have three great speakers but ann romney is the one i'm looking forward to hearing. the more people see about who mitt romney really is the more people are going to say they want him to be the next president of the united states

and between now and novemb people are not just going to hear about the person of mitt romney but his ideas and vision for this country. that's what they are excited about. >> congressman forbes, thanks for joining us. you can watch the speeches tonight on cnn. the our primetime coverage begins tonight at 7:00 eastern time with wolf blitzer and anderson cooper an rest of the political team. later during the 10:00 p.m. hour, ann romney will address the delegates and at midnight, don't miss piers morgan who will wrap up day one of the republican convention, all tonight right here on cnn. soledad? >> all right, john, thank you, still ahead this morning on "starting point" as we continue our live coverage of tropical storm isaac from new orleans. we'll tell you the story of a woman whose home was completely gutted during hurricane katrina seven years ago but she says she's not going anywhere this time around. she's done. we'll tell you why she's weathering the storm in her home in saint bernard parish coming up next. you're watching "starting point"

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space. showing the huge storm moving into the gulf, sights set on new orleans and areas surrounding new orleans. we want to get right to rob marciano at the port of new orleans this morning. rob, good morning. >> good morning, soledad. we're at the river front close to where the cruiselines line up and pick up and drop off passengers. that's not happening today. much of the ports is closed, at least the bridges open and closed via draw bridge. the bridge you see behind me, an iconic structure, the gno as they like to call it locally. one thing underneath the bridge is the white caps on the mississippi. it looks to be flowing the wrong way which can happen in these things. it happened in gustav when we had persistent east and northeast winds. at least the top service of the water looks to be flowing in the wrong direction. this is one of the battles we're goinging to up against today as this storm gets closer. you got rivers that will be at

times kind of be getting backed up. you have the storm sturnlg that comes in, 6 to 12 feet of it. not only on the east side of new orleans but around lake area and across southwestern mississippi. and then the rainfall as well. we have been showing the satellite picture, 70-mile-per-hour winds. on the verge of becoming a hurricane but the bigger story will be the slow movement and soledad mentioned that and the tremendous amount of rain. this will be a longer duration event than hurricane katrina was. the winds will be around longer and rainfall will be around longer and those -- that combination will have some dramatic effects on the city of new orleans and also points especially north and eastward. these are things we're watching, not much in the way of evacuations here, soledad. outside of the protection of the city walls, the levees, the people have been on the move for a day and a half for good reason. >> rob marciano, continuing to

monitor. thank you, rob, appreciate it. with hurricane warnings in effect, there are thousands in the lo lying areas that have been told to evacuate and that includes a tiny fishing village, grand isle. it's where ed laugh vvandera is us. we know that story from the bp oil spill. they asked everybody to get out. how are folks doing today? >> reporter: well, i think there's a handful of people left on the island this morning. and all indications are in the next few hours many of these people will have left. we're at the home by a man of name of dean blancheard has a huge shrimping business here in grand isle. this is our home that we'll use as our bunker throughout this storm. if you look back towards the gulf this way, you can see the darkness in the clouds. we're just now starting to get the first rain drops falling on

us here in grand isle. the wind picked up significantly throughout the night but this is the first time in the last few seconds that we started feeling the first initial drops of rain. we anticipate the weather conditions here to only deteriorate further here and quickly in the next couple of hours. we're expecting storm surge up to 7 to 8 feet. that will be the big concern here. we'll be monitoring it closely for you. soledad? >> all right, and we'll be monitoring you closely. please stay safe and mr. blancheard and anybody there. he h ed, we'll check in with you throughout the day obviously. mitch landrieu is not issuing an evacuation order for the city. he is urging people who live outside the levee system to leave. told others, if your plan is to go, now is the time to go. jackie says she's going to stay. first met her back in 2005 right after hurricane katrina. saw her house completely

destroyed. all that was left was a spiral staircase and she told me why she's riding out the storm. we're in saint bernard parish and we spent a lot of time on this corner. see this sort of hill. that's part of the levee system in saint bernard parish and supposed to protect a lot of homes when katrina hit. they were hit by the storm surge reported to be 22 feet high in this neighborhood. wiped some of the homes straight out the foundation. this home here belongs to jackie and gerald. we have come back to visit them time and time again to see how they are doing. their home, post katrina, immediately afterward, was completely gutted. you can walk through the living room in fact because the walls had been blown out. years later they started rebuilding and they've done a number of renovations and rebuilding to their home. when we spoke to jackie a few minutes ago.

she said she has absolutely no intention of leaving for isaac. >> why are you not leaving? >> well, it gets old after a while. >> packing up? >> packing up and taking journey to where we're going to go. you have to find somewhere to go so we decided to stay. we thought about it and decided to stay. zoe's mom works at aushener so she had to be on duty. she had the chance to leave with my son, my daughter-in-law and go to baton rouge but she chose to stay with us. i was saying last night, i didn't know if i could do it again. we're here just to keep an eye on things. >> when you say couldn't do it, do what. >> rebuild all over again. >> you'll hunker down in the house. >> yes and the second floor did make it if you remember that. >> i do remember that. >> so i figured we're going to be safe. >> what kind of supplies do you have? >> we have chips and dips and --

>> i saw the oreos. >> chocolate chip cookies. >> peanuts. >> planning to stay for a few days. >> we have a generator and we have our weather radio and cordless tv. we have something to keep up on everything. we were getting life jackets. we'll will life jackets just in case. we have our wall now so i really don't think -- >> that's the far levee has been rebuilt. >> this one has but have you been out there and saw our 30-foot wall they put up? >> it's amazing. >> that's going to protect us because that's where it came through the last time. >> this will be the real test. >> this is the test. i don't know if it's going to be a true test because they are saying it's not going to be that bad. of course you never know what bad is, we didn't think katrina was bad either. >> jackie choosing to stay and others being told to leave for safety. people putting a lot of stock in the upgraded levee system. there's a mandatory evacuation system in place across the east back in plik plaquemines parish,

90% was flooded. i remember when we first came in to cover katrina, we couldn't get into plaquemines parish for the first couple of days we were here. you asked people to evacuate. are most heeding your warning? >> most people are because of the side of the storm and slow moving and not knowing if it was going to strengthen. i saw the fear in people's eyes and most people did get out. >> a lot of the levee system has been rebuilt but plaquemines parish is outside of the levee system and you're low lying. >> the big difference is normally we would evacuate five hours away to north louisiana. having 100 year protection in the north end of the parish, we were able to bring hundreds of people to the bell chase auditorium and keep them in the parish, a lot of elderly people, it's hard to bring tm on the bus four or five hours away. that's the big difference in the protection that's been built around new orleans, to keep the people for this type of event

close to home. >> what's your biggest concern? >> we have two levees not in the federal system, the east and west bank and 5 feet on one side of the river, 8 on the other. storm surge expected to be 10 or 11 feet. we're going to see water over tops of the levees and we'll see the storm weaken hopefully and not top the levees but the way it looks we're going to have water. >> last time we spoke was about the bp oil spill. the oil is still in the gulf. what happens as even a category one, maybe category two comes through. >> we'll see some of that sooil there's so many thick oil on the bottom. we see it kick up after a thunderstorm. it we take the oil and put it back in the marsh. you won't see the thick oil like during the oil spill. see those birds covered in oil but any oil is not good for

animals out there. we're real concerned and after this event we'll be out there to check the heavif impacted area see how much gets kicked up in the marsh. >> it feels to me, at least, that communication has improved and people take communication much more seriously in terms of the homeowners, everybody is listening to the weather and having conversations about should i go. even if they opt to not go, they discussed it and thought it through. >> absolutely. i think you see people that are going to stay, have a plan. they have made preparation and know what they are going to do and know the protection they are in. if they are in the 100 year protection they feel safer, the people outside know what happened years ago with katrina being on the anniversary and they packed up. >> i know it is hurricane season so it's not completely bizarre coincidence but to land on the day it's just -- >> the night before last, i got calls all night, people saying is it going to be a category three and people stayed up all

night wondering what's going to happen first light tomorrow. are we going to be forced out of here and see another katrina take our homes? and i think that was a time when we saw the level of anxiety really high throughout new orleans. right. we're going to continue to watch it. nice to see you, maybe another time under better circumstances. we'll watch this story and plaquemines parish as well. >> still ahead, as we continue to watch tropical storm isaac from this location in new orleans, we're also talking about republicans, ready to roll today. the fight for the youth vote is heating up. we're going to talk to wisconsin congressman and former mtv star shawn duffy will be our guest. we're back in just a moment. ♪

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hey, everybody, welcome back to "starting point," we're coming to you live from new orleans watching as tropical storm isaac is strengthening and aiming at louisiana 689 the other big story is in tampa, florida. where the former governor, mitt romney is going to be there today. he's going to join us fellow

republicans trying to put the national convention back on track. can he prevent the message from being drowned out by the tropical storm? let's get right to john berman live for us at the cnn grill in tampa. good morning. >> good morning, soledad. isaac has changed a lot of the schedule here in tampa. one person scheduled to speak last night was congressmanshawn duffy of wisconsin, now scheduled to speak tonight. before he does that, he's here with us right now and also joined by jessica yellin our chief white house correspondent. i don't want to diminish your speech -- >> going to be a stunner. >> the ann romney speech is what we're talking about. people think it will address what is seen as a weakness for romney, which is his likability. on a poll on the question of who is more friendly or likeable, people said president obama 61%, mitt romney 27%. that's a 34-point gap right there. what can her speech do to fix that? >> i think it humanizes mitt

romney. i think when you marry up like i did and mitt romney did, your wife says a lot about who you are and i think shee humanizes him and brings a different vision of who mitt romney is. some see mitt as a stiff guy -- >> do you? >> he comes across that way sometimes but the ideas are great, when he's by his wife or paul ryan, he seems more natural. she's going to show that side of mitt romney tonight. >> what does he is a still seen as stiff by many people, even you? >> though he might be a little stiff, i think americans carry about policy. can he help us get on a trajectory to balance with our debt? those are are the yiissues peop care about, not going, i'm voting for a guy more stiff or less stiff. we're facing serious problems, who can drive a recovery?

when people look at barack obama and what he's done over four years and the history that mitt romney has in business and with the olympics, they'll say, hey, mitt romney is the guy to lead this recovery. >> there's one group that you definitely wants a guy to relate to and that's young voters. right now you are one of the younger members of congress. >> thank you. >> maybe you can relate to the young ins. the president has an overwhelming advantage among young voters, the latest poll, 27% lean towards bpresident ob a obama. >> the president has worked very hard on the youth vote. i saw a stat on college campus every week doing events. >> including this week. the president is there today and tomorrow. >> yea but when you look at the unemployment rate at kids getting out of college, it is astronomic astronomical. you look at prior generations where you get a four-year education and advanced degree, you get out and get a job and make good money and start your money. today our college graduates

instead of moving onto the dream jobs, they are moving into their parents' basements and i think they'll hold barack obama accountable for that or stay home because they are not excited about this economy. and i think they'll hold the president responsible for the lack of recovery. >> congressman, i would be remiss if i did not ask about your speech in front of a large national audience. how nervous are you? >> not at all. i'm looking forward to it. we walked through it and to stand up on the stage. i've been to a few other conventions but to stand up and address the cvention is exciting for me. i'm a guy from wisconsin, to think i could get a shot at the convention, i'm tlild. >> what are you going to say? >> i'm going to talk to the youth vote and about how we leave a brighter future for them than the one we inherited. >> we'll be watching and grade you tomorrow morning. thank you so much for joining us. if you want to know what it's like to be behind the scenes, you can join our cnn election

round table with wolf blitzer and the whole political team. submit your questions, get answers in realtime, it's a live virtual chat. don't miss it today at 12 noon eastern. log on to cnn.com/roundtable. it will be a lot of fun. soledad? >> all right, john, thank you. still ahead on "starting point," isaac is on the verge of becoming a hurricane. we have brand-new update on tropical storm isaac as it strengthens in the gulf. we'll bring that to you straight ahead. plus, the lighter side of the events at the rnc, you're watching "starting point." we have to take a short break. we're back in just a moment. the pace of change is accelerating. the way we...

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point." while much of the country is watching tropical storm isaac, there's another big story going on. the roll call vote to formally submit mitt romney to be the candidate for president of the united states is taking place. later tonight, ann romney will speak and governor chris christie will give the keynote address. i want to bring in a columnist here. how is it that you get to do all the cushy parties at the rnc, joel? >> you clearly need to renegotiate your contract. i don't know who is giving you that outfit, but you need a whole different agent, i'm sure. >> i'm not going to be insulted by that.

so the party hasn't started where you are. earlier, john was telling me that it feels like today is the start. 2:00 p.m. eastern, it will really officially get kicked off. that hall that we've seen empty pictures of will be filled. what are you doing? you're not a delegate. >> no, not at all. it's been going on full steam for more than 24 hours. i went to the liquor lobby party last night, which was awesome, by the way. people talk about there being too much money in politics. those people were not at the liquor lobby party last night. there was oysters. eating shrimp and oysters and shrimp in an aquestionnaiarium. that's as republican as i can hope to be. i went to four or five parties yesterday. so, yeah, get down here. >> wow. that's impressive. i'm not very far from bourbon street, but there's nowhere close to four or five parties, which is what you're doing. let me ask you a question. last time you were on with us,

we were talking about your book and manly things that you were trying to do to be manly. are you still on the quest, and have you found any opportunities at the rnc? >> it is a manly place. i went to the women up pavillion. hopefully you'll come here and enjoy it. sheldon edellson's wife opened it. so it's a place for women to come and, you know, get their hair done, and have some pink drinks. and take a break from the war on women that's going on here. but i also went to the huffington post spa, which wasn't very manly either come to think of it. but i got arianna huffington to give me a massage, with oil. and she's pretty good at it. so that was kind of manly in some way. >> that's making me uncomfortable. i'm uncomfortable now. >> i took off my shirt too. i have video of it. i suggest not watching the video, if just the words make you uncomfortable. >> yes, no, i think that's a really bad idea.

so you're going to do the same thing for the dems i assume, because i know you are completely bipartisan. do you have advice for the dems in the middle of the rnc? what is your take away from what you've seen so far in tampa? >> yeah. keep your convention short. apparently, no one on tv is interested. they will be distracted by rain or wind. so i suggest maybe a day or half a day is all you really need for this thing. you can still have your parties, but don't bother the tv people with your convention. >> fairly confident they are not taking that advice. and neither are the republicans taking your advice. joel stein, thank you for the advice on my outfit and the egypt thing. >> no. you look sporty. you look great. you really do. >> thank you, joel. appreciate that. still ahead this morning on "starting point," our continuing coverage of tropical storm isaac. right now that storm is gaining strength. it's on the verge of becoming a hurricane. we're live on the gulf coast all

morning for you from new orleans, which is why i am, to mississippi, where the folks are bracing for the very worst. also an in depth look at the growing storm. a live update from the national hurricane center will happen right at the top the hour. [ female announcer ] quaker yogurt granola bars. they're whole grain good... and yummy good. real fruit pieces. 12 grams of whole grains and a creamy yogurt flavored coating. quaker yogurt granola bars. treat yourself good.

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welcome to a special edition of "starting point." i'm soledad o'brien. and we're coming to you live from the french quarter in new orleans. our "starting point" this morning is isaac. it's on the verge of becoming a full-blown hurricane right now. and it's taking aim at louisiana. the biggest threat, storm surge, rainfall, cnn's forecasters are predicting floodwaters up to 12 feet, and with an eye on isaac, the republican press ahead with the national convention in tampa. we've got a packed show for you

this morning. the new orleans mayor mitch landrieu will join us. mary landrieu will be our guest. aaron schock will talk to us. and mayor antonio villa ri goesa will be with us. and it, y pennington awell. it's tuesday, august 28. "starting point" begins right now. hey, everybody. we're coming to you live from jackson square in the french quarter in new orleans. and our "starting point" is tropical storm isaac, which is gaining strength. it happened overnight, getting closer to becoming a hurricane as it closes in on the louisiana coast. the winds right now are hovering around 70 miles an hour. the storm expected to make landfall tonight or early tomorrow morning as a category 1 hurricane. storm surge and rainfall are the biggest concern. could create storm surges up to 12 feet, we're told. people are evacuating.

but we found many folks right here in new orleans who have decided to hunker down and say they'll ride out the storms. the big question today, will the levees hold against isaac? we have to get right to tropical storm coverage. let's get right to rob marciano reporting for us this morning from the port of new orleans. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. as it is where you are, it's getting a bit more breezy. we've had periodic light rain bands coming in. but nothing substantial. you can see the sunshine behind me trying to break through. the 8:00 advisory is in. let's go over those numbers. it is not hurricane status officially yet. but it is a big storm with a large circulation. winds that are really right there at 70 miles an hour. but here is the main change. we did drop a millibar in pressure. but inconsequential. it's getting a little bit better organized. but the main change is northwesterly movement at 7 miles per hour. it has slowed down, and that

doesn't bode well for new orleans, for baton rouge, for venice, louisiana. for morgan city. because that means heavier rain and a rain event that's of longer duration. we do expect it to continue on that northwesterly track at about 7 miles an hour, making landfall tonight and early into tomorrow morning. the question is how much storm surge and how much rainfall do we get with this. and the rainfall right now is mostly to the southern part of the storm system. but when you see white on this ma it indicates rainfall that is expected to be over 10 inches, and that's important when you talk about new orleans. we discussed the levees. that they beefed those up to withstand the storm surge, but you also have to pump out the rain water that will accumulate. and even the modern pumps that they have installed are only designed to pump out an inch for the first hour, and then a half an inch for every hour after that.

and you know during a hurricane or tropical storm the rainfall rates can be two, three, and at times four inches per hour. so there's going to be significant flooding in new orleans and then points northward as well. so that's the latest from here. we are live along the mississippi river water front. we are also watching what's going on in lake pontchartrain, where we were yesterday that will be put some pressure on the northern levees there and the channel closures. right now, we are just waiting it out as you are, soledad, and most of the people in new orleans. most haven't evacuated, and they are told now you really shouldn't. so just wait it out as it arrives later on tonight. soledad? >> if you're here, it's time to just hunker down. we're getting intermittent rain storms as well and the rain is picking up a bit. thank you, rob. appreciate it. the massive storm is triggering hurricane warnings along a large stretch of the gulf coast including all of the mississippi coast. some areas very familiar with disaster.

waveland and gulf port and long beach. you might remember those names from katrina, and they killed more than 200 people in the state. seven years later, the same places are in the same dangerous position. many folks evacuating there. david mattingly is live for us there this morning. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. you're talking about those evacuations. those are mandatory evacuations that have been ordered for some targeted positions in two of the three coastal counties in mississippi. these are low-lying areas, problems that they would expect to see would be from the storm surge and the flooding from the rain that is coming with this storm. we're looking at a high tide right now in gulfport, mississippi. the water is expected to come in just a little bit more. just a taste of what the storm surge might be later on late tonight as the storm comes in. but right now, everyone just watching the storm, thinking about katrina, knowing that this

storm is not another katrina. but at the same time, they are looking to see if they can test some of those lessons that they did learn from katrina when they rebuilt after all of the destruction here. they rebuilt higher. they rebuilt stronger. a lot of the houses that were blown down and rebuilt have been rebuilt not in wood but in steel and cement. so people looking at this storm with some confidence. but, again, no one takes anything for granted with these hurricanes as they come ashore along this gulf coast. too many lessons learned in the past. and this one is no different. they are going to be looking for a lot of rain, and they're going be to watching the surf to see where this storm surge actually comes up and how high it will be here. soledad? >> david mattingly for us this morning in gulfport. appreciate it. let's get the latest on isaac's path and the intensity as well. we are back with richard knapp, the director of the national hurricane center. a moment ago we heard from rob marciano that the change from last hour's update to this hour's update is the speed.

it seems slow. what's the implication of that? >> yeah. glad you asked that question. the slowdown in the forward speed, now down to 7 miles an hour, is not good news when it comes to the rainfall totals that could really, really add up as the system moves onshore and inland. not just going to be a coastal concern, but well inland. a slow-moving and relatively large tropical storm, isaac could dump up to 20 inches of rain in some spots. not everybody will get that. but in southeastern louisiana, southern mississippi, alabama, the florida panhandle, that's just for starters over the next few days. it could penetrate well inland. and after rain falls, then the rivers can fill up and river flooding can cause a lot of probms, you know, days after landfall and after the rains end. so that is slow motion. and of course the big size is the storm producing part of isaac. >> so then what are you thinking about in terms of when it makes landfall?

at what time? we've been saying late tonight, early tomorrow morning. what are you thinking about specifically? >> well, it depends on exactly where it comes ashore. but because louisiana sticks out and has a complicated coastline there, it's hard to pinpoint the time where the center of storm crosses land. but sometime tonight. but because it's so large and sprawling where it comes ashore isn't going to change the outcome for a lot of people, especially if you're on the right side, the onshore flow side, that's where the storm surge will be maximized. and that's why southeast louisiana and the mississippi coastline could see storm surge flooding of six to 12 feet above ground level in some spots. but the other thing is that the center of circulation is just such a small part of the entire thing. the large size is really what we need to focus on. and it doesn't matter if you get the dead center or not. effects can extend well away from the center. and the one good thing about it

right now is that the north side of it is not as wet as the south side of it and the east side of it right now. so that's sparing the coast from heavy rains at least for now, but it's coming. >> all right. thank you. we appreciate it. we're going to keep getting our hourly updates from you. richa rick knabb. senator mary landrieu is joining us this morning, democrat from louisiana. that seems to be the $64,000 question, that this is really a test to the improvements to the levee system. how comfortable do you feel about that? >> well, fairly comfortable, soledad. and i want to thank the people for the united states for the tremendous investments they have made along with us for one of the finest levee systems in the world. we invested $14.5 billion to protect us from a category 2 or 3. we believe this will be a 1.

but it's not just the storm surge that i want people to really understand. it's the internal drainage that's so important from this area. >> we were just talking about that, the pumps. >> we have 78 pumps in a four parish area. th they have all been improved and substantially upgraded since katrina. the pumps system near the surge barrier can pump an olympic sized swimming pool in four seconds. that's how strong some of the pumping systems are here. so we've made significant investments. fema has really stepped up. the corps of engineers has really stepped it up. >> everybody is talking about the storm slowing down, which can be a problem. >> people think of hurricanes as only a storm surge situation. but you can have a hurricane like this, which is not very powerful, but it is large, dump a tremendous amount of water, whether it's on louisiana or carolina or parts of florida. and do tremendous devastation, because you've got to have that

internal drainage system. that's why we've been fighting for full funding for selo, the southeastern louisiana flood control protection. it's not just levees. it's not jump storm surge. it's pumping capacity which is important. >> you had a chance to talk to janet napolitano. what kind of conversations are you having? >> well, first of all, it's a completely new fema. completely new homeland security department that exists now. the fema that we have now is smarter, stronger, and more cooperative. so they have been contacting local elected officials literally for days. they had -- the president himself had a conversation with the governor. the mayor of new orleans and the local officials just yesterday. so everyone is leaning forward and prepared for what we hope will not be serious, but you never know with these kinds of storms. >> certainly the anniversary is a terrible one. >> yes, it's a terrible one to remember. and people are really frightened. in fact, the children in our family have known no other

hurricane but katrina. some of the younger ones. and so they are so afraid. and we keep telling them we can survive hurricanes. they don't really believe it. you know, they think why aren't we evacuating. >> i think a lot of people think that. who don't know anything about hurricanes. why are you not evacuating? is it category 3? >> if it's category 3, we'll evacuate. but it's better and safer to shelter in place. that's why the federal government has invested over $55 billion in making this region more resilient. we have raised 5,000 homes. we have gotten about $15 billion in community development block grant for housing. our buildings are stronger. the camps are stronger. so that's a smart investment. and, again, it's a much smarter fema. much more cooperative. and i think people are going to see that. and we hope that the flood control system works as well as we've designed it and funded it. >> thank you, senator.

thank you for talking with us. >> thank you. still ahead this morning as we continue our special coverage of isaac, we are also keeping an eye at what's happening at the replubican national convention happening in tampa. we're back in just a moment. ofit that's providing training and employment opportunities, investing in the revitalization of a neighborhood in the bronx, or providing the financing to help a beloved san diego bakery expand, what's important to communities across the country is important to us. and we're proud to work with all of those who are creating a stronger future for everyone.

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hey, everybody. you're looking at a picture of jackson square in new orleans. turning out to be a beautiful morning, but the wind is picking up for us. and we've had intermiten rain already this morning.

you're watching "starting point" live this morning from new orleans, because we are tracking isaac. the other big story of course is in tampa, florida. mitt romney is flying there this morning for the delayed start of the replubican national convention. he's going to be formally nominated for president after a roll call vote. let's get right to john berman, live at the cnn grill in tampa. hey, john. good morning. >> good morning, soledad. you know, we just got word that mitt romney has taken off from boston. he is literally in the plane on the way here right now. here to greet him, along with a slew of republicans, some democrats too who are behind enemy lines trying to get out their own message. chief among them, los angeles mayor antonio villaragosa. so great to have you here. and i'm joined by jessica yellen also. jessica has reported, mayor, that president obama is maintaining his campaign swing today, going to iowa, speaking at college campuses. more events tomorrow. there's been a lot of talk about what the republicans should and

shouldn't do in the face of this tropical storm isaac hitting the gulf post, but the president keeps on campaigning. is that inappropriate? >> first of all, let me just say that i think that republicans and democrats agree that priority number one is the health and safety of the people on the gulf coast. our hearts and prayers are with them. and vice president biden suspended his campaign here in florida. the president is continuing his campaign. but at any moment, he may suspend it, given as things develop. i think what's important is that we all understand that priority number one is that we have to take care of these people. i think that bobby jindal, mayor landrieu, and the president are all working together. the federal, state, and the local, to make sure that people are safe. >> you say priority number one is taking care of those people and coming together should be the priority. yet you're still here. and you're not here i'm sure to come together with republicans on this issue or many. you're here to rebutt the

message from the republican convention. >> you can rebut the message without being angry and divisive, without polarizing. you're right. i'm here to compare and contrast, just as you're here to report. but i'm here to do that in a way that is respectful of the other party. look, we have differences. and this election is about choices. and the democrats asked me to come. but we also understand that there is a lot that republicans and democrats agree on with respect to what we need to do to prepare for this storm. and so you're right, we're here to compare and contrast, but we're also here working together to make sure people are safe. >> ann romney takes the stage tonight. she will be talking about her husband. one of the missions, apparently, to close the so-called likability gap. is that possible? >> it's possible. you know, i don't know that you can do that with just a speech or even just a convention. he's gone through a very long

campaign, and i think most people still feel like they don't know him. you certainly report on that a lot. he's been -- he ran for president before. he's run for governor and senate. but it is possible. and i think they brought some ad men from madison avenue to help recast that image, and they might be successful. obviously, we're going to have to look at just his record, not just what he says. or what he does here at the convention. >> mayor, i'm from your hometown, los angeles. 48% latino. latino vote very important to president obama. and right now he is winning a majority of it. significantly. but he won 67% of the latino vote last time around. right now they have a significant 2% more unemployment than the national average. do you think that could help mitt romney gain an edge in the closing months before the election? >> i think when it's all said

and done, that president obama is going to get somewhere close to 70% of the latino vote. i think he is because the republican party and mitt romney have gone so far to the right on issues that are important to them. and it's not just immigration, where he's talked about the self deportation of 11 million people, and called the dream act a handout. it's also health care. 9 million latinos will benefit from the affordable care act. it's also the cuts to education that will come with the romney-ryan plan. >> you're predicting a higher latino percentage for the president this time around than last time? >> i am. i think when it's all said and done, it's going to be very high. certainly upwards of 65%. and i think close to 70%. >> mayor, thank you so much for joining us. jessica yellen to. we're thrilled you came in this morning. soledad, back to you. >> all right, john. thank you. still ahead this morning on

"starting point," the very latest on tropical storm isaac's track as it closes in on the gulf coast. we'll take you right to the cnn hurricane headquarters. that's coming up next. here is a live picture, though, first from gulfport, mississippi, where the waves are beginning to roll in. dave mattingly is reporting to us from there, updating us on the situation. you're watching "starting point." energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment.

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welcome back to "starting point." we're coming to you live from new orleans this morning. our top story is tropical storm isaac. its massive size very slow movement too. and that means that the storm is gaining power as it heads toward the gulf coast. let's get right to meteorologist karen mcginnis, live in atlanta for us. karen, good morning. >> and good morning to you, soledad. the wind is picking up there. we've got a live picture from hurricanetrack.com. it does look like the sea or the surf is a little bit rougher, but the clouds are moving on in. we can expect those weather conditions to deteriorate rapidly towards the afternoon hours. hurricane center issued an vooi advisory at the top of the hour. still hurricane strength, still

expected to make it to hurricane intensity as we go later on this afternoon. right now, some of the peak winds that we've seen have been right around 40 miles an hour, but those are expected to increase as we go into the afternoon with maybe 50, 60 over hurricane force winds expected. right now, as it stands, we're looking at the winds increasing to hurricane intensity during the very early morning hours, coming up for wednesday, moving onshore very late on wednesday evening or morning. we will see a category 1. by early wednesday morning, we're looking at hurricane moving onshore, possibly southeastern louisiana. soledad? >> all right, thank you very much. we appreciate the update. still ahead this morning on "starting point," we have noticed in the last 20 minutes or so the wind really picking up a little bit. anxiety level picking up as are

as isaac is starting to hit the gulf coast. some are choosing to ride it out. we'll tell you why they say they are not going anywhere. "starting point" is back in just a moment. [ female announcer ] the coffee house. the lines, the cost, the hassle. ♪ express yourself [ female announcer ] why not try coffee-mate? with over 25 delicious flavors for a fraction of the cost of the coffee house. add your flavor, with coffee-mate, from nestle. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones.

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to me, that's the membership effect. nice boots! good morning, everybody. you're looking at jackson square in new orleans, the french quarter. that's where we're coming to you live this morning tracking tropical storm isaac. it's picking up steam, slowing down as well, and expected to make a very serious rain threat there. and kn is confirming now that president obama is going to deliver a live statement on tropical storm isaac. we're expecting it at 10:00 a.m. eastern this morning. we're expecting the storm itself to make landfall tonight or early tomorrow morning. and that would be seven years to the day since hurricane katrina, as isaac barrels through the gulf of mexico. here's what it looks like from

space. nasa's satellite imagery shows the huge storm is moving into the gulf, where its sights are now set on new orleans. rob marciano is at the port of new orleans this morning. the slow speed is something to watch and worry about there, i think it's fair to say. >> yeah, it is. it's slowed down to 7 miles an hour now. and when it makes landfall tonight, it likely will slow down even more. so that's going to make this a longer duration event than katrina was. katrina was bigger, stronger, and faster. it was in and out much more quickly. obviously, it did a ton more damage. but this long duration event, it's hard to predict what the outcome will be, because even if you have a category 1 or even less winds, you get them battering a city for 24, 36 hours, that repetitive pounding is going to do some damage. and then of course the amount of rainfall when you're talking about a bowl like city like new orleans. but those pumps hopefully will do the job.

but the pumps we've been talking about for days now are only designed to pump out one inch of rain for the first hour, and then a half-inch every hour after that. and you know hurricanes and tropical storms dump a lot more than that. at the mississippi river here. point out a couple of things. if you look at the waves closely, they seem to be going, well, the wrong way. and this can happen. we get the river water to pile up in situations like this, when you get a persistent wind against the flow of the rivers, it can at least seem like the river is flowing the wrong way. we saw that during hurricane gustav, and likely we'll see it today during hurricane isaac. and this isn't the only river. you can look at the mississippi as well. they'll do a similar thing. this is part of the storm surge scenario. six to 12 feet, the tides, and this sort of action, soledad, will make for some flooding at least outside of the levee -- protected levee walls here. but that meanthat folks in southwest mississippi had have to be on guard, and they already

are. a lot of those people have evacuated already. >> rob marciano, thank you. continue to keep watching it for us. we appreciate that. also folks are packing up what they can and leaving before the storm hits. but one woman, angela lane, is going to stay in her new home. she is confident she can ride out the storms. she lives in new orleans east, an area very hard-hit in 2005. but here's why she says she's going to stay. in new orleans east, this middle class community has recovered significantly since hurricane katrina. the water was up to the roofs there. but this is kind of a typical scene. they were hit by storm surge. it wasn't a levee breach that caused all the flooding. and the storm surge did a ton of damage in this particular area. but what you see here is not that unusual. a home, completely rebuilt, fixed, people living in it. and back here, a home that actually looks like katrina just hit. no work has been done on this home in years.

there are some 6,000 plus homes in new orleans east that have been abandoned. and it's a big problem for people in this community, because obviously across the street they don't like to see an eye sore like this. one of the big problems and one of the reasons for this, neighbors tell us, is because of the lack of development here. the closest grocery store, 20 minutes away. shopping center, 20 minutes away. it took six years before they even built a food mart. and because of that distance, the mall, which was five minutes away, was never rebuilt. it's been really slow bringing people back and developing the region. there is no hospital in this area. they haven't had one since hurricane katrina. and they're not expected to build one until the end of 2013. how bad was the damage in mckendall estates during katrina? >> it was significantly bad. it was very bad actually. we had about eight fee of waters in our home. >> so you decided to stay. that seems surprising considering the damage you had last time around. >> well, like i said, i have

been monitoring the parish officials and listening to what they are saying on the news, paying attention to what the mayor is saying, for the particular parish that i live in. we have mayor landrieu. and also listening to what they're saying about the levees. and they're saying we're going to be ok. i trust that we're going to be fine. >> how do you feel? are you anxious? >> actually, no. we're fine. we stocked up on water and nonperishable food items, batteries and things of that nature, to help us in case we lose power. i think that the worst it's going to get in new orleans east is we'll be without power for a little while. >> did you evacuate during katrina? >> yes, yes. i left -- we left a day before the storm. >> are you finding that most of the people in your neighborhood are staying in >> yes. a lot of people are staying. and, again, when i talked to people, they are saying that they are watching the news and watching where the eye of the storm is going to be. you know, everybody is saying that we're going to be ok, so a lot of people have decided to ride the storm out.

>> so while people like angela say they are going to stay, there are lots of folks outside of the levee system say they are going to go. and the new orleans mayor has acknowledged there is a higher level of anxiety in the city because of course tomorrow is the seven-year anniversary of hurricane katrina. mayor mitch landrieu is joining us this morning. it is a terrible coincidence. >> yeah. >> we were just talking about what you're concerned about. and maybe category 1 is what they are looking at making landfall. so it's not really the winds you're worried about. >> right. >> it's the speed and the water. >> for the folks around the country, one of the things they may not be aware of is the difference on the ground between a 1 or 2 or 3. obviously, a 3 is more serious. the levee system that we have now is designed to protect us against a category 3 or bigger. so we have $10 billion of investments, 300 miles of new levees, a robust system of pumps designed for a category 3 or bigger. and we feel pretty comfortable given what we've all been through that we can withstand that kind of push from outside

in. but we have a lot of areas that are outside of the levee control system, outside of new orleans. so we have a lot of concerns down in grand isle and in some areas of new orleans. but most of new orleans -- >> so most areas a category 1 would be ok? >> well, a category 1 is very bad. you're dealing with 85 to 120 mile an hour winds and storm surges. but mostly for this storm, it's going slow, which is a problem. you want it to go fast. >> and the latest update shows it going even slower. >> this one has moved down to 16, 12, and now to 7 miles an hour, which means it will stay over you. and the problems that storms ke that pose is they dump a lot of water quick. and no matter how good your pumping system is, if you drop a lot of water and it continues over a long period of time and it's intense, that will create flooding. so we're worried about that. we're worried about electrical outages. so you remember from gustav there was an electrical outage that moved throughout the middle of the country and stayed with us for a couple of weeks.

those are our two major concerns right now. we are prepared for them, but that doesn't make them easy. >> outside of the levees, you know, and being fine, what are you worried about in terms of folks who are here? a lot of people are staying. most of these -- these windows are boarded up. they are the exception obviously. >> we are in the french quarter. but i have driven around the city, and people are ready. and that's important. but the most important thing in the storms is for people to use common sense to be safe. you can evacuate -- i mean, you can basically secure yourself in place, which is what people decided to do. a lot of people decided to leave. but if you didn't leave already, now is not a good time to get on the highway. we're going to have tropical storms. and the problem is that they're going to last for a long time. people get impatient. and they get bored. they decide to go outside. and this is where most of the fatalities occur in a category 1 storm, where people think it's not that bad, let me go out to the lake front and watch the

waves and they get blown into the water. that's not good. people have to be really vigilant and be safe and follow the plan that they planned and execute really, really well. >> biggest difference between katrina and isaac in terms of communication. because that was a failure. >> 1,000% better. you'll remember after september 11 and then katrina, what we learned in the country is that our interprobableability was terrible between the state and local and federal governments. that's 1,000% better. you can see in the ramp-up of the storm the relationship between the federal, state, and local governments. we were on the phone with president obama, the governor, the mayors, all lined up and ready to go. all of this is still driven by citizens doing the right thing at the right time in the right place with common sense. and, you know, of course, the more that doesn't happen, and the more the emergency response has too to places where they

shouldn't have to, it drains resources. this is an all-in game. i'm really pleased with the kind of response we've gotten from the citizens. but we are moving from a preparation phase into now a hunker down phase. we'll then go into if we have to the rescue phase and then into the rebuild phase. i feel like we're well organized. but here is the thing. every storm brings something that's unexpected, and the lesson of katrina is be ready, you know, for the things that you don't expect. i feel like we are. but, you know, it's a high anxiety time for people. >> hopefully there will be no rescue phase. >> we hope so too. if there is, we're ready for it. >> we appreciate it. thank you. still ahead, we'll continue to watch tropical storm isaac from here in new orleans. and the republicans at the national convention today are watching as well. but the party goes on. the fight for the youth vote is heating up. we'll tell youhat mitt romney's secret weapon is. you're watching "starting point." a short break. we're back in a minute. while protecting our environment.

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hey, everybody. welcome back to "starting point." we're coming to you live from

new orleans this morning. we're watching as tropical storm isaac strengthens. you can see the folks here in jackson square, some folks who have decided they are not moving. they are going to camp out here during this storm. we have learned that in less than two hours, the president is going to be delivering a statement about the storm. we are going to be covering the storm in louisiana. and the other big story today in tampa, florida, mitt romney flying there right now. he is en route to join fellow republicans who are putting on the national convention there for the republicans. trying to put it back on track. can he prevent the message from being drowned out by the tropical storm and the tropical storm coverage? let's get right to john berman at the cnn grill in tampa, florida. good morning, john. >> hey, soledad. you know, president obama and mitt romney may be neck and neck in recent polls, but the former massachusetts governor does have one serious gap to close. 73% of voters ages 18 to 34 right now support president obama or are leaning that way. and only 25% say they are in mitt romney's corner, according to a cnn poll from earlier this month.

so what does mitt romney do about this? he might have a secret weapon on his side. it's the youngest member of congress, 31-year-old illinois congressman aaron schock. he is joining us right now. i am also joined by the eternalally youthful jessica yellen. before i talk about the youth vote, congressman, i want to talk about something else. because mitt romney's likability is a subject i think we'll hear a lot about today with ann romney speaking at the convention. some people have said that the former massachusetts governor is stiff. one of these people who seemed to say that was your colleague, republican sean duffey from wisconsin, who seemed to suggest that earlier this morning here on "starting point." let's listen to what he said. >> some see mitt as kind of a stiff guy. not very relaxed. >> do you? >> well, he comes across that way sometimes. the ideas are great. but i think when he is by paul ryan or by his wife, he seems to loosen up a little and seems more natural. and i think she's going to show that side of mitt romney tonight. >> so mitt romney stiff? do you agree with congressman cuff duffey?

>> i think every person is different in their persona. the fact of the matter is he say business guy, and a very serious guy. but i have spent well over 10 days campaigning with them. two days nonstop on the bus in iowa, and he is a fun, fun guy. anybody who has raised five boys knows how to have some fun. >> you seem to be saying stiff, but i like him anyway. >> you know, he's a good guy. >> talk to me about the youth vote. you're 31. how are you going to get mitt romney to be more attractive to young people? >> well, your poll shows there's a lot of opportunity for us to make up ground. one, the intensity between young people is much lower than it was four years ago, which is a problem for the president. they have been disenfranchised by the bringing our country together and solving the problems and now a much more negative campaign. when i visit with young people their major issues are economic issues. they are disheartened by the fact that half of their graduates last year are still unemployed today. and i think that's a huge opportunity for republicans who

are unified on economic issues to make the case to young people. look, there's some issues, some social issues, that our party's platform they may not like. but at the end of the day, economic issues, if you poll, are the number one issue facing young people. and i think at the end of the day, young people want a job when they get out of college. and mitt has a pretty good track record when it comes to creating jobs and being a good ceo. really we're hiring a ceo of the largest company on earth. >> the president is today going to college campuses and through tomorrow in some battle ground states. as you say, the energy may be depressed, but he still can get a crowd there. do you think romney could really go onto the same campuses and try to deliver that message and could he turn folks out to hear it? >> i think he can. we did a rally at my hometown, bradley university, during the illinois primary. we had a two-day notice. we had over 2,000 young people show up on that campus to hear him speak. i don't believe -- first of all, i think young people want to be

educated. i think they want to hear both sides of an issue. and while there may be a certain cool factor with the president, he has news conferences at the white house to show his ncaa picks. he is seen playing volleyball on the beach in hawaii. you know, there's a certain sizzle factor. but at the end of the day, young people want a job. and i think that's where mitt romney has a strength. >> as we talk about sizzle factor, and i thank you, aaron schock, but i want to leave with you this picture of the congressman on the cover of "men's health" magazine. you also work out. are you in better shape than paul ryan, yes or no? >> you know, paul is in excellent shape. he is 12 years my senior. so at 42, if i'm in paul's shape, i'll be very happy. >> so impressive. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> you make us all look bad by being in such good shape. if you want to know what it's like to be behind the scenes at the replubican national convention, cnn is the place to come. join us for our political roundtable. submit your question, get answers in realtime.

it's a live virtual chat. don't miss the cnn election roundtable starting at noon eastern time. you do it by logging in to cnn.com/roundtable. soledad, back to you. all right, john. thank you. still ahead this morning on "starting point," isaac is very close to becoming a hurricane. we have the latest on the storm as it heads our direction, in new orleans. the wind is definitely picking up. much gustier in the last 20 minutes or so. also ahead, someone who helped prepare the city after katrina hit seven years ago. ty pennington will join us live. he is getting some republicans and democrats to work together. oh, my goodness. putting politics aside to build a house. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. ♪ the one and only, cheerios we're sitting on a bunch of shale gas.

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hey, everybody. welcome back. you're watching "starting point" live this morning from new orleans, louisiana. and we are watching tropical storm isaac. the other big story, of course, is in tampa, florida. and that is the republican convention, being held there this week. then on to charlotte, north carolina, for the democratic convention next week. one man is trying to bring both parties together in a very unique way. tv personality ty pennington is live with john berman. nice to see you both. ty, have you a bipartisan something in the works. tell us what you're planning. >> well, first of all, our hearts go out to everybody in new orleans. the last thing they need is another storm heading their way. but here is the thing. in the last two years, i have travelled the country building homes for families. one thing we've never done is built -- well, two parts of a

home in two separate cities and bring it together to give a military family a new home. and that's exactly what the craftsman united is all about. what we'll be doing is building half a home here in tampa during the replubican national convention and then another half of it in charlotte at the democratic convention, and then we'll bring it together. >> who has helped more? >> we have had a lot of democrats swinging hammers. which is a cool thing. i think it's great that everybody wants to get involved. so clearly, you know, i don't think one side is weighing on the other. but i think it's something that everyone can agree on, is that someone who served our country like this really deserves a house. it's good to see that both sides of the house are coming together. >> the weather has been tough. we haven't been hit by the storm as bad as we thought we would, but it hasn't been good the last couple of days. has that affected turnout? >> no. well, i think we got luck we that. i just left the project site a minute ago, and it looks

fantastic. the house is coming together. and it's neat to see the kind of progress being made. so that's something that i know a lot about, and something that i'm really passionate about as well, to see people coming together to make this happen and know that it's going to go to a deserving family. i don't know, it's a great thing. >> you've done a lot of work in new orleans too. soledad is there right now. >> ty, let me ask you a question from here in new orleans. i know in 2005 and 2006 you were working on a project here and doing a similar thing. you know, building people's homes. i think everybody in the country worries about the gulf coast, whenever we hear a hurricane is coming. tell me about the project here and the folks you met here. >> well, we did a few projects there. one was really after the storm was come in and really rebuilt a church, which was sort of the new community center. and just the stories that you hear coming out of there. what i love about new orleans is no matter what they have been rough, the spirit of that town

just is infectious. and it makes you want to help. and i tell you what, they have been through a lot. but that spirit is resilient. to hear the stories and the businesses and the families that the people that literally just opened their arms and hearts to help others, that's what really inspires us. >> yeah. us too as well, as we continue to cover the story from here. ty pennington, great job. we're excited to see both halves finished and someone getting that home. someone in the military getting an opportunity to have a brand-new home. that's an amazing thing to do. and for everybody who is volunteering on both sides of the aisle, something they can agree on. which is something you can be able to report. still ahead this morning, "starting point" will continue live from new orleans. stay with us. this is the plan that revolves around you.

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welcome back to "starting point." we have been broadcasting live all morning from new orleans. and we'll