hem low, everyone, i'm ashleigh been a field, 11:00 on the east coast, 10:00 on the gulf coast. now word that isaac may have spawned three tornadoes as well. that as mississippi and louisiana are declared major disaster sites, that by the president of the united states. nearly 1 million people now are without power in four different gulf states. thousands of people are being flooded out of their homes, rescued, running for their lives, finding what ever kind of transportation they can. and now, there is talk of

breaching a levee intentionally. we are going to explain what that's all about. as we speak, some daring rescues are under way as well to help people who are trapped inside their homes. >> first we tried to leave and then we didn't. then we had nowhere to go. then come on the tv and said they were breeaching the levee. couldn't see in front of your face. >> that's it. had enough. i ain't coming back no more. >> did you lose your home in katrina, too? >> yeah. >> so now you've lost the same home twice? >> yeah. >> the sad story of the storm that all the while another major story in tampa as well. and it's the gop. they have got their man of the hour, mitt romney. today, it's his big day at the republican national convention,

we will have a whole lot on that in just a few moments. first, let's head to mississippi, one of the areas getting hammered hardest right now by hurricane isaac, as we zoom in on the map, take you to david mattingly, right there gulfport, mississippi, he is on the ground. david, i can see the waves behind you and i don't see the rain like we have been seeing in the past but this is really where the rain is hitting hard, bill locks sand also gulfport and now talk there could be some serious problems ahead with a dam. were wrap we had brief sunshine a few minutes ago, but we have had ten inches of rain here. there is flooding inland, off of the coast here, where all that rain fell. it is now getting into the rivers and into the streams and there's at least one flood warning, severe flood warning, out for one river in this county along the coast.

we have also seen two tornadoes that have been confirmed along the coast of mississippi, both doing some damage, may have been others, just not confirmed yet. we sometime have tropical storm force -- the winds very robust, but as you can see behind me, the storm surge we saw yesterday has retreated. at least you can see the beach that water, at least -- the curfews have been lifted. people are going back to their homes and i spoke to the governor of mississippi a short time ago about what's next. >> what worries me, the duration of this storm, the bands come in you get the heavy rain, surge blocking the rivers and tributari tributaries, behind it, hearing 48 hours of rain, inland, a lot of flooding, so we are having to shift some resource there is to prepare for that eventuality.

>> ashleigh, you can sum it up in a nutshell, the water may have fallen here but it is still rising and causing a problem. >> storm surges and the winds pushing those waters as well. talk to me a little bit, david you with the time we have left, about the dam considerations and that there is this concern nearby about a dam giving way. >> reporter: there is one dam on lake in a state park here in mississippi, i spoke to the governor about that. he said he was actually more concerned about some levys in the area than he is about that dam. we spoke to state officials who say there is some water coming over that dam at a couple of places, but 100% failure, not seen that happen here. >> david matting any gulfport, mismir, we can see some of the troops behind you as well watching closely. we will keep in touch with you to find out what happened there and closely tracking isaac as it moves around, where david is, moves into northern louisiana, from our cnn hurricane

headquarters, meteorologist chad myers is monitoring the movements. let's talk about the biggest concern right now given the fact that this storm is so -- just agonizinglism i call it water torture. agonizingly slow. what is the biggest problem at this moment? >> inland flooding is the biggest concern there is a medium concern of these tornadoes, not big tornadoes, not talking kansas or texas tornadoes, but like water spouts moving onshore with every successive big storm that comes through here. let see if i can get a map of that i wasn't prepared to do that first. we back up here. here we go. this will work for me. i always love to have all these things i can take pictures of. we have storms coming into mobile. we have storms coming in here in north florida, also some storms still coming into new orleans. you will notice stlan awful lot of nonstormy weather here where the big area, the shield of rain has moved up, centered over jackson, mississippi. and that area here will pick up about five inches of rain today. that wat all has to get into the gulf of mexico at some

point. ashleigh? >> we talked off the top of the newscast, chad, about this issue of actually intentionally breaching a levbreach ing a levee to give relief to one of the parishes? >> do you remember back in the flood of last year, the mississippi river, the army corps breached a levee north of an area where they knew the water was going to breach one way or the other, so they chose to breach it off to the west rather than let it go into a city off to the east. let take you to what's happened here. new orleans, draw on this map a lot. here is new orleans, kenner, metairie, all the way back here, here is the crescent city, there would be the french quarter. zoom into where this problem is, it is right here, plaquemines parish, a long parish, goes from new orleans all wait to the gulf of mexico. and this is the area that has levees all around it. there's mississippi river levee and then the back levee that goes 18 miles all the way back here, this is a swimming pool with levees on all sides that's

great to keep the water out from coming in here. this is the bayou. you don't want the water to come in here if the mississippi river ever floods. so, all of this area, all basically 10 to 15 feet higher on all ends, all sides, due to the fact that there's levees all around. let's fly you in and show you the town that people were evacuated from, the subdivision, they called it right here, that's where all those people were getting pulled out when the water did breach over the top of this the water did get to this levee. here is the levee, ashleigh, you can see here the water filled up here around went over the levee and back down into this lowland area. so if you have a levee here around a levee here and the people live down here, you have a problem and that's what they had. this levee, 18 miles long, all the way from brait way almost down to carlyle. on the other side, here is the other levee, mississippi river levee, built in case the mississippi river rises are, you don't want that to happen and spill into the neighborhood that's why this is here. keep going. go ahead e move it see up here

another 18 miles. so down to the bottom of this, there's this 18-mile swimming pool basically built from brait way all the way down to carlyle and is the area filled in with water. if you go to the lowest spot and breach the levee here or maybe here. go down here, one more time, you can show there is a levee across here the water has stopped, can't go farther south from here, there is a levee and can't go any further west in here there is a levee, if you breach somewhere in here, you will let the water out. eventually will drain on its own but would you kind of think would you want to get the water out as fast as possible. that is the only reason why would you breach a levee to let the water out faster. it will eventually get out. the pumps are working but not like people want. they want the water out of their house so they can go back. these houses are trashed. >> that may have just been the most enlightening thing i ever saw with regard to how to manage that massive area and the water crisis there. i get it. i completely get it. as though you flew me over it.

chad myers, thank you for that, keep in touch and let me know where they are with that plan. let you know as chad keeps an eye on things, you can also keep your eye on things and help everybody chad was just talking about. those houses he mentioned, gone, devastated by tropical storm isaac. you can help out by visiting our impact your world page at cnn.com/impact.

in communities across the country. whether it's supporting a delaware nonprofit 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.

quick note for you as you're heading out the door, you can continue to watch cnn from your mobile phone or heading out to works you can watch us on your desktop, too live. go to cnn.com tv, get yourself all set up there and never be without your news fix. if you did not hear this, wow. america's choice 2012, the speech of paul ryan's political career to date. you didn't hear about it i'll bet you heard about it. man, was this thing good. seven-term gop congressman and now his party's nominee for vice president officially. just elective if i had the republican convention with

attacks on president obama. he also had a tribute to his widowed mother, also, numerous references to let say how young he is and one of those references, actually petty funny it came at the expense of the 65-year-old man who was at the top of the ticket. >> there are songs on his ipod, which i've heard on the campaign bus. and i've heard in many hotel elevators. he actually urged me to play some of these songs at campaign rallies. i said, look, i hope it's not a deal breaker, mitt, but my play list starts with ac/dc and ends with zeppelin. >> i am with you, congressman. wasn't all punchlines last night, there was a lot of punch as well as the funnies. in the view of team obama, there were plenty of lies that came from the stage that's what they're saying. cnn's brianna keilar joining me live from tampa.

you got the great assignment there, brianna. go over this speech in particular because really, paul ryan hammered the president on debt and medicare around general motors, among a lot of other things but let's start with medicare, that oft argued point about $700 billion and who is gutting what. walk me through the speech and where it was right and where it might have been wrong. >> that's right. paul ryan, we have heard him and the romney campaign before, ashleigh, as you know, say president obama has cut $716 from medicare and the benefits that seniors rely on. here is what he said last night. >> $716 billion funneled out of medicare by president obama. an obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed all to pay for a new entitlement we didn't even ask for. >> reporter: to be clear,

ashleigh, it is debatable what is meant by cuts here, i guess could you say cuts but it is a cut in the growth of medicare spending and these are not cuts to guaranteed medicare benefits, although republicans do argue that it would kind of ultimately hurt those guaranteed benefits it is cuts on the provider side. what does that mean for hospitals and insurance companies? cuts to medicare advantage which private insurers are providing medicare benefits. paul ryan and mitt romney because he embraced the ryan budget is definitely vulnerable on the medicare argument because his plan voucherized medicare. so this -- we saw this from the get-go paul ryan was announced as romney's veep pick, they came out of the gate swinging against this to inoculate themselves against this argument. >> wasn't the onlying ament as well. that's wires and the blogs will tear apart in the next big speech. brianna cooler, thank you for

that i know you have your work cut out for you. everything we are hearing out of tampa is going to lead up to mitt romney and cnn's paul steinhauser is going to be live with me for a preview a little later on this hour. everyone has goals. take the steps to reach yours, with us with real advice, for real goals. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. every step of the way. from big steps, to little steps. since 1863 we've helped guide our clients, so they can take the steps to help grow, preserve, and pass along their wealth. so their footsteps can help the next generation find their own path. all of us serving you. us bank

has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy.

i never expected we would be knee-deep inside of water inside of our own house. nothing to process. you can't even start thinking about things i have a lost. just in shell shock. >> shell shock. for those of you just joining us, hurricane isaac has now been downgraded to a tropical storm but make no mistake, even as a tropical storm, it is still very dangerous. we have some pretty dramatic i report video of the storm surge in slidell. and i see a rearview mirror which means there's a car right there on that road and that's dangerous place to be. in fact, isaac claimed its first fatality, it was a man who was killed by a falling tree in mississippi. also this storm has drenched about -- well, some areas with about 20 inches or so of rain. of course, the big concern for

many people, how would new orleans' brand new system, very expensive levees and pumps and walls and gates, how would they hold up, manage isaac's cat 1 fury? martin savage is there marty, this was something we all looked toward, all very concerned. it's been seven years of building and spending. did it work? >> reporter: well, to quote a popular phrase, this was a test, this was only a test of the emergency public system they have in the city of new orleans and as you point out, it held up pretty well. this was a category 1 storm. it is meant to hand al category 3, it should have done well. this is the outflow going out from the canal on 17th street. this is one of several pumping stations, water going from the canals where the water is drained from the city and now headed out to lake pontchartrain. if you look down over here, these are the flood gates. this is all part of that new installation post-katrina. the flood gates are down.

they are designed to prevent the water from backing in from lake pontchartrain or the storm surge going into the city of new orleans. so the pumps take the water from the canal, put it in the lake and the gates prevent the water from coming back. now take a look at lake pontchartrain out here, this is the real problem that continues today, you can see the water is extremely high. part of that is the rain. part of that is the wind. the wind blowing strongly from the south is driving that water up against the north shore and that's why places like slidell are now suffering from rising waters, why evacuations are under way out there because a combination of rain water draining off and pushing north. that wasn't the only where having problems, a couple areas were evacuations, people are told, need higher ground we know the water is going to rise and we know your house is too low. whoops, ashley? >> and you were just pointing the neighborhood out behind you, i was looking at that building, not sure if it's a house or a

business, with you it's clearly flooded. give me a feel of how bad it is in terms of flooding and everywhere else, all the surrounding communities or do they even know? is it too early? >> reporter: i lost you for a second, i don't know if you can still hear us. >> i hear you, can you hear me? >> reporter: that is relatively routine. not routine if it's your property or your home but the rising waters along e banks of lake pontchartrain is not that uncommon what you are seeing black is something that happens any time you get heavy rains and high winds. as for else where in new orleans, i wouldn't say it was completely dry but they were able to at least keep it from flooding. and they were able to show that the flood con taint system, the walls, the levees, all held. iron delicious is places outside the system flooding. >> i don't know if you can hear me, i think i got some of the answer anyway, i know that the

assessments must be still continuing, now that they can get choppers up in the sky marty savage live in new orleans. thanks so much. also it bears repeating, folks that they have been through this in new orleans and the surrounding communities and they have been hit before and now they are getting hit again. if you want to help them, 'cause clearly there are victims here, the victims of hurricane isaac can be helped out by going to our impact page. it's very helpful, impact your world, cnn.com/impact. let me repeat, cnn.com/impact. go-gurt? yep...doh. [ boy ] slurpably fun and a good source of calcium. dads who get it, get go-gurt.

perform, compete and grow. and people are driving this change. that's the power of human resources. the society... for human resource management and its members know... how to harness that power, because we help develop it. from the next economy, to the next generation, we help get... the most out of business, by getting the best out of people. shrm. leading people, leading organizations.

can be helped out by going to can be helped out by going to the dogs are terrified, one ran and jumped into the boat there. in fact, another dog jumped into the water and there he is there, trying to pull him back in. really, a -- a frightening scene to be there in person and a stark difference from what we saw during katrina when the rescuers i went out with made the decision not to take the dogs and the pets with them. the scene was so, so radically

different than it is now. this time, they are making the effort to try to save the pets, very precious to him there as he works his way off the roof. >> that scene was playing out over and over all around the gulf coast as rescuers had to not only find people coming out of their top windows but punching out of their attics as well, getting any kind of implement they could to punch through the roof because that water was literally coming up to the roof. grand isle, louisiana, about as far south as you can go before you actually end up in the gulf of mexico. and the eye of the hurricane pass passed over that tiny island sterday it is where our ed lavandera and his crew have been hold up in a house there, watching these scenes when they could get out and about and running for cover when they couldn't. here's what it's been like for ed and his crew. >> reporter: it seems almost inn credible to say, now almost 40 hours after we first started feeling the effects of what was then hurricane isaac making its

way onto the shores here in grand isle, louisiana, we're still feeling the trace and the last remnants of this storm passing through here. gist give you a sense of what we have had to deal with since we have been here in grand isle. this is the house of -- the home of dean blanchard that we have been using as shelter throughout much of this storm and we have been doing our live reports from just up here on this deck over the garage and you can see the storm surge that came through here. this is the garage underneath the deck. and look at the water still inside. that water came above that window line there and it quickly filled up in just a matter of minutes, it was absolutely incredible to see how quickly the water rushed n i can show you over here, we are dealing with some of the remnants of the storm surge. the water got as high as here on the house and brought in about six inches of water into the first floor that was right over here. but you know, look, this is -- this is still what we are dealing with, a piece of the wood and debris that has floated

in from who knows where at this point. the base side of the island is over here. the gulf side is over here. and even though we haven't had any major, major rainfall here in the last few hours, it is going to take a while for all of this water to make its way back into the bay and into the gulf. in fact, we haven't even had a chance yet to go out and survey any of the damage. our car is just not high enough to be able to drive through this water, so just too dangerous and not a risk we are willing to take at this point. but some point here, when the sun breaks, we will go out onto the roadways and begin surveying the damage. but from everything we can tell, not great deal of structural damage from anything we have been able to see. some roof tops, that sort of thing damaged, probably powerlines that need to be replaced and that sort of thing, but there hasn't been any severe structural damage, which is impressive when you think about it, because hurricane isaac came through here, the very eye of the storm came right by where we were. >> yeah. and that's the spot where seven

years ago, the blanch charred family had to deal with that as well. poor dean blanchard, now twice at t ed lavandera live at that same house. i know that the eye passed over but i always wonder if the winds continue to push the surge or if you're actually in the clear and things are getting better now. >> reporter: we have been able to see the sun for most of the morning but now we've got some cloud cover here but the winds have considerably died down and that's really what we needed. up until about an hour ago there were still some pretty strong gusts coming out of the south and could you see the water kind of having a hard time receding. but things have changed dramatically here overnight for us since we taped that bit that you just saw on camera there the water is now out of dean blanchard's home. but the roadways are still covered, many of the roadways are still covered. we are waiting a little bit longer to get out. i think the water is still kind of probably bumper high on the cars that we have. so, i don't quite feel comfortable yet getting those

cars out there. so, we will be aible to -- we have talked to officials and other folks who have driven around quite a bit and again, there isn't any reports of major widespread damage to the home, structural damage, which is what i think people care about most. there are shingles and parts of metal roofs that have to be replaced and they will have to deal with that, but in terms of the big structural damage, homes collapsing, i haven't heard anything like that here on the island. >> yeah. thank god, 1300 people living on that barrier island, ed, we don't have any death reports either. ed, thanks very much. do stay safe until it is okay and you and your crew be careful please. i want to go back to some breaking news as well, david mattingly was reporting earlier about a dam off the beginning of the show that was, you know, in pearl and they were watching it very closely. i want to bring in chad myers who also knows about this dam. i maybe pronouncing it wrong, tangipah tangipahoa, what is going on with it? >> there is a lake up north with a dam and this dam holding back the water has now, according to

wwl, our affiliate in new orleans, has failed. the water is now pouring through the dam into the river and down the river. the river eventually ends up in lake pontchartrain. there won't be a flood issue for lake pontchartrain. lake pontchartrain is huge compared to this river and this lake. up here, tan jie ya poe wa lake, right there small lake there this dam right there on the base, that dam now, according to wwl, has failed. water pouring into the river and pouring down river. if you are in this river valley, and here's the first town here, the river off to your east, if you are in this valley, you need to get away. kentwood, know where you are, know how far this water is going to go up. they are saying if you are on the west side of the river, go west. if you are on the east side of the river, go to the east. fly a little bit farther down there is an awful lot more down here to take a look at, we are talking about a meet right here, the river off to your east. if you are on the west side of town, you should be okay, but there will be a surge, probably

10 to 12 feet at least of a surge as this works its way down. according to wwl, we can't independently confirm this with the weather service, they put this together, they have reporters there, they say if you are in kentwood right now, as of 11:23, 10:23 your time, you have 90 minutes to get out. so, you've already wasted ten. so, you have 80 minutes to get out of kentwood if you are in that region. we will keep watching it for you, keep you up to date as we know more about the system. >> repeat those direction. you said they can go east and they can go west but they can't go north or south? >> you should not go along the river, 'cause the river does run north to south. if you are on the one side, just get higher. if you are on the east, go higher to the east. if you are to the west, go higher to the west, if you live in that river val flip. lives in the towns and cities and 30 feet above that river, you are in good shape. but that's the problem. they think 40 to 50,000 people are -- need to be out of there as this water runs down hill. it all depends on how quickly

the dam failfails. if it fails and runs and rushing river, they will be okay. water will rise five feet and it is fine. if the entire dam fails at the same time and that water rushes out at the same time, you literally have a tsunami rushing down this river that's why they say get out of the way in you are in that tan jie ya poe wa river valley. >> they may have phones. if there is more, break in with us. it was big in tampa, paul ryan's big night. did he a great job. and did he have a lot of hard acts to follow to do it? get the whole assessment in just a moment. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping's easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate.

that's not complicated. no. come on. how about... a handshake. alright. priority mail flat rate boxes. starting at just $5.15. only from the postal service.

try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis.

the moment mitt romney has been weight at least six years

for and actually probably lot longer than that. and it is now just hours away. the republican nominee for president gets his hour in the spotlight on the closing night of the gop convention tonight. and my cnn colleague, paul steinhauser, is also counting the minutes. so,s here the deal. paul ryan got on the stage last night and he had to follow ann romney and she was a tough act to follow. and paul ryan knocked it out of the park by a lot of accounts. so, is mitt romney going to be able to follow all of these spectacular speeches and really knock it out of the park the way he needs to? >> there is a lot of pressure on him no doubt about it, ashleigh, a lot of expectation, republican officials are very, very happy with paul ryan's speech last night, democrats pushing back, they are highlighting ad checks that say part parts of that address was factually challenged what ever paul ryan said last night, whatever ann romney said the night before are important, let be honest, this is all about mitt romney. it's job number one at the

republican convention. >> we need president mitt romney. >> the president america needs is mitt romney. >> president romney, boy, i like the sound of that. >> reporter: call it the selling of gop presidential nominee mitt romney. >> it is fill in the blanks on mitt romney and telling voters who he is. >> reporter: from highlighting his resume. >> mitt romney turned businesses around in the private sector. >> reporter: to describing what he would do as president. >> mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to put us back on a path to growth and create good-paying private sector jobs again in america. >> reporter: while most polls, like our latest cnn/orc survey, indicate the race for the white house is a dead heat, most polls also indicate romney lags behind president barack obama when it comes to relating to the average voter. even though he has been running for president on and off for six years, most americans don't know mitt romney, the man that's why

his wife, ann, comes in. >> i know he's a good and decent man for what he is, he is warm and loving and parent. >> reporter: now it's her husband's turn on the podium. >> i think it's a great opportunity for people to get to see him and, you know, very unfiltered way, to get to hear his story and his vision for this country. i think in large parts, he has been defined by the opposition up to this point. and the a he is a chance for him -- for the voters to get to know what kind of candidate he really is. >> reporter: what will he say? romney hasn't said much about his speech, other than what he wants to highlight. >> america gets on track and get this economy really going again. >> reporter: his top strategist gave us an appetizer. >> it will be a clear vision of a romney presidency and very much from his heart about america. and why he wants to be president. >> reporter: again, we haven't heard a lot from the romney

campaign what he will say tonight. they said he will share some personal stories but the opportunity here is they really want to capitalize t what happens after tonight, ashleigh? mitt romney and paul ryan head right back on the campaign trail, start near florida and then virginia and other important battleground states. they are going to be out next week, of course, when president obama is holding his convention in charlotte. ashleigh? >> man, no rest for the weary. that is just a grawing schedule. all right, paul steinhauser, yours is grueling too. you have to have those hours as well. thank you. also want to remind our viewers that mitt romney is going to deliver that nomination acceptance speech about 10:00 eastern time, that this 7:00 on the west and our special coverage, that's live, begins at 7 eastern, 4 pacific, but we are on it all day. so don't go away.

♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. 8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor

and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime.

so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. the republican who ran for republican last time around has a lot to say about this year's race. and you may have heard some of john mccain's thoughts at the gop convention last night, another great speech delivered from the podium. tonight, piers morgan is going to have an interview with not only senator mccain but his wife, cindy, as well. sat down together to talk about a conversation that spans the entire globe and we have a special excerpt for you, this

part on so-called women's issues and the gop. >> social conservative issues rear their ugly head again, not all ugly, some are very laudable, last week, the todd akin row blew up. to me, it feels strange. mitt romney who clearly moves around on issues like abortion, paul ryan has moved toward mitt romney's compromise position there should be exceptions, the gop platform still res loutly insists there cannot be any abortions even in the cases of rape, insist or health to the mother. as a republican, how do you feel about that? >> i'm sorry for that as a woman, i'm sorry for that we don't agree on that issue. i mean, i clearly -- john and i take a different stand on that but it's also not the most important issue that is driving this campaign. i think outside sources are driving it. but that's not what's -- as a woman and as, you know, people here, we are concerned about the

economy. >> i suppose the problem is what it does is it lends again suc r -- succor to the argument, the moment i heard what todd akin said, i could play out in my head exactly how that story was going to go. every one in the senior level republican party said, oh, here we go. >> well, i agree with you, it was harmful to our party. second of all, the platform some wag said at one point, it's what you stand on during the convention and runaway from during the campaign. >> yeah. yeah. >> and in fact, people care what mitt romney's position is which is except information rape, incest and the life of the mother, that's what they care about more. the third thing is it's important to keep in mind what mr. -- congressman akin was talking about was not abortion, it was not rape. and all of us find -- that's why all of us find that totally

unacceptable. what he said, we were offended that he should state such a thing. and by the way, getting the nomination of your party for the senate or the presidency is a privilege. he has abused that privilege that is why he should no longer be the candidate of the republican party in missouri. >> this is a great interview. so without question, you got to stick around for this because the full interview is going to be part of cnn's special live coverage on the gop's closing night, on the big convention are closing night tonight. so, stick around. we get live at 7:00 eastern. we go right through. good stuff, coming up.

a former navy s.e.a.l. who was in the when osama bin laden has been killed has now written a book on the raid that went down, and it was supposed to be released on 9/111 whi 1 1 which is the annif the killings which led to this, and the book is titled "no easy day" and it is the number one book on amazon and the author's account of how the raid went down does not exactly match the story that we got from the white house. and cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr is here to enlighten me. and listen, i'm very, very concerned about this, because there was such a narrati coming from the white house explaining that they drew a gun on bin laden and facing him down and the wife was nearby and she went to block it, and they shot her and then they shot him, and this navy s.e.a.l. does not say

that. >> well, he doesn't, ashleigh, but it is worth noting when everybody reads the book, he was not a precise eyewitness account as far as we understand it to bin laden actually being shot at the moment. he was further back on the stairs as the s.e.a.l.s went up the stairs, and he will report that he heard shots, and the man in front of him shot at a face peeking out from the stairs, and that person fell back into the room. by the time this s.e.a.l. got into the room, he will report that bin laden was on the floor. look, you know, a lot of the initial details that were reported in the first 48 hours were quickly amended by many government officials a as more information came in from the field and the s.e.a.l.s were debriefed. one of the examples is that the white house initially said that bin laden was armed and within 48 hours then cia director leon panetta says, no, we don't

believe that he was armed after looking at the information. so it is a fascinating question really, did bin laden get kiledd inside of the room when the s.e.a.l.s enter or killed on on the stairs essentially shot and then fell back into the room? he wind s ns up in the same sta dead is dead for osama bin laden, but new details of how it might have gone down. >> i have been in combat zones and there is fog of war and maybe fog of mission as well, so somewhere between the accounts the actual truth lies, and let me get to something else, and that is the politics of it and we were looking at a release date of 9/11 and that is political and now this whole book is political. >> well, be clear that it was the publisher who set the 9/11 release set and then word is coming up, and book and hype and publicity and skyrockets on amazon as you said and suddenly the publisher says it is all so important they will accelerate the release date to september

4th, all a publisher's decision, of course, but the author, the navy s.e.a.l. who went by the name mark owen, not his real name when he wrote this book, has given an interview to cbs news, and we are going to play a little bit of what he said about the politics of it, and then we will tell you who he really is. >> this book is not political whatsoever. doesn't bad mouth either party, and we specifically chose september 11th to keep it out of the politics. you know, if these crazies on either side of the aisle want to make it political, shame on them. this is a book about september 11th, and it needs to rest on september 11th and not brought into the political ar rena, because it has nothing to do with politic. >> that man, 36-year-old matt bissonette, former navy s.e.a.l.

was on the stairs in the compound that night and why are we naming him? well, the pentagon officials said they had concern about other members of the team being at risk from any member being identified and now several days have gone by and the u.s. military officials are saying that the members of s.e.a.l. team six have had plenty of time to get off of social media if they were there in the first place. >> we will have to see if the pentagon does ultimately with the security issues with this book, and barbara, you will be back with that story soon hopefully. and that navy s.e.a.l. says he will donate the proceeds of the book to charities who help the families of fallen navy s.e.a.l.s.

the wheels of progress haven't been very active lately. but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward.

so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. we have been talking a lot about hurricane isaac and the risks and the flooding, but there is a huge impact on the rest othe country and christine romans is here to join us about what is happening day to day and another gas spike. >> another couple of pennies overnight, and people are saying that the gas is going up, up, up, but i will tell you that it is coming back down, because all of the experts say that once you get the refineries up and running and the pipelines up again, you will see a price coming down. and you look around the great lake states, and they have gone up more than they have along the gulf coast, and part of the

reason is because it is pipelines from the gulf of mexico that supply all of that gas in the middle of the country. that is where we will start firs first. >> and one thing i did not expect you and i to be talking about thursday is that the port of new orleans could open tomorrow. >> tomorrow. and the first thing they have to do is to get power everywhere but they are looking at the wind damage they have and you have the mouth closed all of the way up to baton rouge and the port is still closed and morgan city is still closed, that port, too, but they are talking about in new orleans, they are talking about a cruise ship conquest maybe docking sunday. so -- >> bringing people back from the cruise? >> yes. so once you figure out what kind of damage you have and power back, they will get things as carefully and safely back to normal. >> so all of the people on the cruise ship are coming back as if nothing happened and if their cars are flooded. >> the cars are flooded. i haven't thought of that. >> and the ebbt in thinext thii

important and really, really early estimated the uninsured estimates -- >> insured losses on shore. >> insured losses on shore are going to be somewhere around $1.5 billion and look at the numbers on the screen. >> you won't see isaac on the list. what is shocking about the list is how horrific katrina is in so many ways and irene just last year $4.3 billion in damage, but this is a storm that will be measured by water damage i think less than it will be wind damage. and big money damage to onshore property. so, we will -- these numbers will often change, and we know that a lot of the big oil production crews starting to figure out how to inspect the platforms and the like. so as soon as the outer bands stop buffetting the region we will find it. >> and not on that list is amazing. >> well, we talked to somebody this morning who does not have renter's insurance and lost everything. >> you l