eye on isaac. the tropical storm churns across the gulf of mexico and it's expected to reach hurricane force by the time it makes landfall. fleeing the storm. thousands along the gulf coast get out of town before isaac arrives, while others hunker down as the storm gets closer. >> we're out here, it's going to hit us direct, and if not, we're going to stay and tough it out. and dropping in. mitt romney arrives in tampa today as republicans officially make him their presidential nominee. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. this morning, tropical storm isaac is gaining strength, headed towards the gulf coast, taking dead aim at new orleans. isaac expected to become a hurricane later today. its outer edge is approaching the coast by tonight.

isaac is a massive, slow-moving storm with sustained winds of 70 miles per hour. tropical storm winds extend more than 200 miles from the storm's center. besides potentially destructive winds, a dangerous storm surge and extreme rainfall pose a threat. a hurricane warning is in effect from morgan city, louisiana, to the alabama/florida border, including new orleans. evacuations have been ordered in some low-lying areas. meteorologist david bernard of our miami station wfor has the latest. >> as it continues to move through the gulf of mexico, and all indications are that isaac will make landfall on wednesday, potentially as a category 1 hurricane and only slowly move across the mississippi river valley late wednesday into thursday before finally weakening. the satellite picture is indicating that isaac is very close to becoming a hurricane, and that should happen overnight into the morning hours. and as we continue to look at the threats that the storm is going to pose, storm surge will be a big threat.

anywhere along the louisiana coastline, mississippi to alabama and even places as far east as the florida panhandle could have a problem with storm surge inundation. in addition to that, rainfall will be a major threat because the storm is so slow-moving. we could see up to a foot of rain in some areas. locally in extreme cases, rainfall amounts could approach 20 inches. that is your update on isaac. for cbs news in miami, david bernard. >> we have two reports coming up this morning. susan mcginnis is in tampa covering the gop convention, which narrowly missed a direct strike by isaac, but we begin with bigad shaban in new orleans. bigad, good morning to you. >> reporter: so far, there is no mandatory evacuation orders here in the city of new orleans, but mayor mitch landrieu is telling residents who live outside the city's levee protection system to leave home for higher ground. plywood is popping up all over new orleans in preparation for isaac. >> right now, it feels all

right. we're very much protected. >> reporter: forecasters predict isaac could hit as a category 2 hurricane as early as tonight, a day before the seventh anniversary of katrina. >> we're out here, if it's going to hit us direct. and if not, we're going to stay and tough it out. >> reporter: interstate 10 heading out of town was packed yesterday with evacuees. >> i made the mistake of staying for katrina and said i wouldn't make that mistake again. >> reporter: new orleans airport is also busy. all flights are canceled today. it was the sun before the storm in plaquemines parish where some areas are under a mandatory evacuation, an eerie reminder of seven years ago. >> it's crazy. it brings back a lot of devastating memories. i lost a lot of stuff down home and i'm just hoping for the best. >> reporter: more than 50,000 people in low-lying areas have been told to evacuate, but not everyone will listen, confident the rebuilt $14 billion levee system will hold and keep them safe. >> we're going to stay and ride

it out. >> reporter: the waterfront community of venetian isles is outside of the levee system. almost all of the 1,000 residents are leaving. >> we had a couple people stay here for katrina, believe it or not, and it was very, very scary for them. and once i've asked them, are you going to stay again, they said absolutely not. >> reporter: it was the failed levees that flooded new orleans after katrina, killing more than 1,800 and leaving more than $81 billion in damage, but officials say this time the city is ready. and new orleans will not operate any shelters of last resort, but four locations, terrell, have been added to protect the homeless here. >> bigad shaban in new orleans for us this morning, thank you so much. to tampa now and the weather-abbreviated republican national convention. mitt romney travels there today. that's where susan mcginnis is this morning. susan, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, good morning, terrell. the now three-day republican national convention gets under way today. there is a lot on today's

agenda, all of it an effort by the gop to win votes for their candidates. mitt romney has worked for years for this moment. he will be officially nominated as his party's presidential candidate tonight. >> have a great convention ahead. >> reporter: romney is expected to make an unannounced visit to tampa to watch his wife's speech. ann romney's message is seen as critical to softening his image among americans. >> i really like ann's speech. >> the republicans have already lost one day of the convention. monday's session lasted only 32 seconds because of tropical storm isaac. the delegations from louisiana, mississippi and alabama have sent some people home to prepare for the storm. and while isaac could steal the spotlight from the convention, some say that's okay. >> because it will overshadow what's going on here, but when you have something dangerous going on, it probably should overshadow this. >> reporter: there's something else that has the potential to steal attention from the proceedings here. president obama is breaking with tradition and will be heading

out on the campaign trail. >> how are you? >> reporter: the president will be in iowa and colorado today. the obama campaign sees this as an opportunity to get face time with voters in key battleground states. at the same time, he'll be sharply criticized at the gop convention. >> we've seen what the president has offered. we have seen the path he has placed us on. it's a nation in debt, it's a nation in doubt, it's a nation in decline. >> reporter: and the romney campaign will use these three days to try to convince america their candidate can change that. now, giving the keynote address here tonight, new jersey governor chris christie. also speaking here, former presidential candidate rick santorum. terrell? >> you took the thought right out of my mouth, susan mcginnis in tampa this morning. susan, thank you. you can see ann romney's speech and chris christie's keynote address right here on cbs. scott pelley will be anchoring cbs news' live coverage from the republican convention from tampa

beginning tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern. republicans will officially nominate mitt romney to be their presidential candidate today. some socially conservative republicans continue to have their doubts about romney. he may have added to their concern yesterday. in an interview with scott pelley, romney was asked if he agrees with the republican platform banning all abortions. >> my position has been clear throughout this campaign -- i'm in favor of abortion being legal in the case of rape and incest and the health and life of the mother. but recognize, this is the decision that will be made by the supreme court. the democrats try and make this a political issue every four years, but this is a matter in the court. >> when romney ran for senate in massachusetts, he backed abortion rights. now he says the decision to legalize abortion, roe versus wade, should be reversed. meanwhile, another republican senate candidate raised eyebrows with his comments on abortion. tom smith, who is running for the u.s. senate in pennsylvania, opposes all abortion. during a broadcast interview monday, smith was asked, what would he say to a family member who had been raped and became pregnant?

>> i lived something similar to that with my own family. she chose life and i commend her for that. in my view, fortunately for me, i didn't have to teach those the way i taught. it wasn't rape, but similar. >> similar how? >> having a baby out of wedlock. >> that's similar to rape? >> no, no, no, but -- well, put yourself in a father's position, yes. i mean, it is similar. >> last week, congressman todd akin running for senate in missouri said victims of what he called legitimate rape rarely become pregnant, as he discussed his opposition to all abortions. take a quick break on the "morning news." coming up, a hollywood ending. a smoking helicopter makes an emergency landing in the heart of tinseltown. this is the "morning news." e "morning news." aying ]

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this is the real deal. smoke started pouring out of a tv news helicopter in los angeles yesterday. the smoke got into the cockpit, but the pilot did an amazing job landing his chopper in an empty hollywood parking lot. no one was injured. officials say the smoke came from an apparent oil leak and there was no fire. a high school student in maryland is in critical condition after he was shot by a fellow classmate on the first day of school. it happened yesterday morning in the cafeteria of a baltimore county high school. police say teachers grabbed the 15-year-old alleged shooter before he could get off any more shots. his father claims his son was bullied. prosecutors may charge him as an adult. "cbs money watch" time now on a tuesday. after its billion-dollar lawsuit victory, apple tells a judge it wants some samsung products pulled off the shelves. and isaac disrupts oil production in the gulf of mexico. ♪ reunited and it feels so good ♪ ashley morrison back with us this morning. ashley, good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. i don't think you want me to sing along with you, no. good morning, everyone. oil prices are remaining stable, even though isaac has forced most of the production in the

gulf to shut down. about 1 million barrels per day of oil production has been stopped and nearly 350 oil rigs evacuated because of the storm. production is expected to pick back up after the storm passes. meanwhile, a major fire continues to burn at one of the world's largest oil refineries. flames at the venezuelan facility spread to a third fuel tank yesterday. an explosion at the refinery over the weekend killed at least 41 people. overseas markets were mostly lower on concerns of china's slowing economic growth. tokyo's nikkei lost 0.5%, while hong kong's hang seng gained a fraction. wall street investors will get some important economic data today. the latest consumer confidence survey will show whether americans are spending more freely, and the s&p case-shiller index could show an increase in real estate properties. on monday, the dow lost 33 points while the nasdaq gained 3 points. apple shares hit another

all-time high on the first day of trading since the company won a landmark lawsuit against samsung. on monday, apple gave a judge a list of eight samsung smartphones it wants pulled from shelves and banned from the u.s. last week, a jury ruled samsung violated patent laws in copying apple's design for the iphone and ipad. apple is also asking the judge to triple the damages samsung must pay to more than $3 billion. samsung is planning an appeal. and today's the day gamers and football fans wait for each year. electronic arts releases this year's version of the popular "madden nfl" video game. the 2013 version features detroit lions receiver calvin johnson on the cover. they sold more than 5 million copies of last year's game, but overall, sales of the "madden" series has slipped each of the last five years. a lot of happy people out there today, terrell. >> looking forward to that, yes. and good to see you, too, ashley. take care. coming up next on your tuesday morning, we'll have your

weather forecast. and in sports, the los angeles dodgers make a deal and it gets off to a very rocky start. a deal and it gets off to a very rocky start. from progressive, but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. with snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. you're not filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today. you won't run into deals this big just anywhere. head to sears labor day event right now. get up to 30% off appliance. plus, use your sears card and save an extra 5%.

this is worth running into. this is sears. so, what's the problem? these are hot. we're shipping 'em everywhere. but we can't predict our shipping costs. dallas. detroit. different rates. well with us, it's the same flat rate. same flat rate. boston. boise? same flat rate. alabama. alaska? with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. dude's good. dude's real good. dudes. priority mail flat rate boxes. starting at just $5.15. only from the postal service. heres a look at weather in areas around the country. morning thunderstorms in new york, 86. same deal in miami, 89. mostly sunny in chicago, 80 degrees. thunderstorms in dallas, 94, and sunny in l.a., 90 degrees. let's check your national forecast. isaac will hit the gulf coast later today, dumping up to 6 inches of rain in some areas.

isolated thunderstorms will pop up from texas to north carolina. the cold front bringing showers and thunderstorms moving to the northeast. and parts of the plain states will see record highs with mercury hitting around 100 degrees. in sports this morning, josh beckett made his debut as a dodger and got rocked with the first batter he faced. tyler colvin hits one high and deep. in 5 2/3 innings, beckett gave up three runs. colorado ran away with the game in the eighth. rockies decimate l.a. 10-0. the dodgers are now 2 1/2 games behind san fran in the national league west. seemed like a good idea at time. pitcher kyle lowe tries to score from first but is easily thrown out at the plate in the sixth. matt halladay smacks his 24th homer of the season. st. louis takes down the pirates 4-3. rangers break out the bats against the rays in the second. adrian beltre blasts a solo homer to left. next batter, nelson cruz, goes deep to center to tie the game. beltre back to the plate in the third, spots a two-run double. he went 3 for 3 on the night.

rangers over tampa bay 6-5. here's an unlikely hero. the orioles hit a homer to right, first homer in five years. and he was playing aaa ball last month, with the sweet swing and the two-run blast. orioles battled back to beat the white sox 4-3. first round now of u.s. open tennis. top seed roger federer looking for his 18th major. had an easy time taking on donald young. 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. a stylish maria sharapova served up five aces. she made some amazing shots against melinda singh. it took her just over an hour to beat the hungarian, 6-2, 6-2. and appearing in her last open, kim clijsters defeated the youngest player in the field, the 16-year-old american. 6-3, 6-1. when we come back on this tuesday, another look at this morning's top stories, and breast cancer recovery. a look at the link between obesity and cancer recurrence.

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. in d.c., morning thunderstorms, 89. same deal in atlanta, 82. mostly sunny skies in st. louis, 86. mostly sunny skies in denver, 92, and partly sunny skies in seattle, 72 degrees. top stories now on a tuesday morning. tropical storm isaac is gaining strength as it approaches the gulf coast. the massive storm is headed directly towards new orleans. landfall is expected some time late today or tomorrow as a strong hurricane. and it's the first working day of the storm-shortened republican convention in tampa. mitt romney arrives today as his party officially makes him its presidential nominee. obesity has been linked to diabetes and heart disease, but now a new study also links it to breast cancer.

patients who are overweight run a higher risk of the disease returning. >> reporter: when gail brown learned she had breast cancer in 2007, she decided to face it with a positive attitude. following surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, brown, now 65, decided to try something else, weight loss. >> i had heard that obesity can bring on, maybe, breast cancer? >> reporter: she went from 193 pounds to a much healthier 163 pounds. >> i'm very proud of her. >> reporter: oncologist dr. joseph sperano is brown's doctor and lead author of a new study on breast cancer. for those who receive the most up-to-date treatment, being obese increased the risk of occurrence by 24% and death by 37%. but the increased risk was limited to women whose tumors were fueled by estrogen. >> it could be related to higher hormone levels, higher insulin levels due to inflammation, which can drive the risk of recurrence.

>> reporter: the study also showed an increased risk not just for obese women but for those who were simply overweight. >> so, paying attention to weight, diet, exercise can have some long-term beneficial effects, not only in terms of reducing the risk of occurrence, but also secondary health benefits. >> reporter: there's no proof that losing weight reduces the risk of getting cancer, but shedding those extra pounds certainly makes sense, especially since obesity has been linked to other tumors, including ones in the esophagus, colon, kidney, pancreas and uterus. dr. jon lapook for "cbs this morning." and koala bears are cute, cuddly, and apparently can swim. check this out. the little fur a ball swimming to a canoe in australia. i wouldn't even know what that was. this one actually hitched a ride on the canoe. his new friends took him to a local country club and let him

go. look at the claws on that thing! i would have left him right in the water. i'm terrell brown. this is the many, many. cookies chips, chips,...! silence those tempting thoughts with new light & fit greek. its creamy thick texture helps satisfy you. it has twice the protein of regular lowfat yogurt. and at 80 calories it's the lightest greek yogurt with fruit. cupcake! it's not gonna happen. new light & fit greek. be light and fit and satisfied. [ music playing ] [ music playing ] used dishcloths. they can have a history that they drag around with them. try bounty extra soft. in this lab demo, one sheet of bounty extra soft leaves this surface 3 times cleaner than a dishcloth.

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on friday, there will be a private service for neil armstrong. he died over the weekend at the age of 82. president obama has ordered u.s. flags to be flown at half-staff. it was 43 years ago armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. john blackstone spoke to the man with armstrong that historic day and how the mission almost didn't happen. >> lift-off. we have a lift-off. >> reporter: the lunar lander with neil armstrong and buzz aldrin aboard was a mile above the moon's surface when aldrin says they got an indication something was wrong. you're coming in to land on the moon for the first time and alarms are going off. >> yeah. >> reporter: in your spacecraft. >> right, and we had not memorized all the program alarms. >> reporter: in mission control in houston, flight director gene kranz was already worried about a guidance error and poor communication. >> the tough decision i had to make was did we have good enough

communications to continue the descent or should we wave off? >> reporter: the spacecraft came out from the dark side of the moon and it looked like there was going to be trouble right away. >> we were -- we had a peck of trouble there. >> reporter: it looked as if the landing was going off course and might have to be aborted. >> abort is not a word to use casually in mission control, and boy, everybody picked up at that time and we knew we were in for a battle. >> reporter: in 2005, armstrong told ed bradley on "60 minutes" the autopilot was taking them into a dangerous looking crater. >> with steep slopes on the crater covered with very large rocks about the size of automobiles. that was not the kind of place i wanted to try to make the first landing. >> neil is maneuvering to try to find a suitable landing spot, and our job is to just keep them aware of how many seconds of fuel remaining they have. >> reporter: the fuel was running out with armstrong's detour. >> i was getting a little concerned. >> reporter: you've got 60 seconds of fuel.

>> yeah. >> reporter: that's what he's saying. >> 60 seconds of fuel at 100 feet, but i didn't want to interrupt neil's concentration. >> reporter: 17 seconds before the fuel ran out, armstrong came on the radio. >> base here. the eagle has landed. >> reporter: did you look at each other? >> yeah, we did. i remember that i patted neil on the shoulder. he remembers that we shook hands. >> this was exciting, it was risky, but it was typically america, you know? this is what americans can dare americans to do. >> reporter: neil armstrong, the american who did it, remained modest, always saying he was just part of the team, just part of the nation that made it happen. >> one giant leap for mankind. >> reporter: john blackstone, cbs news, los angeles. >> still an amazing story. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," live reports from the gulf coast as millions prepare for tropical

storm isaac set to make landfall. plus, an interview with new jersey governor chris christie, who gives the keynote address tonight at the republican national convention. and bill nye the science guy on his new viral video. that and more a little later on "cbs this morning." for now, though, that will do it for the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. as always, appreciate you watching. i'm terrell brown. take care. have a great day, everybody. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

were fattened some breaking news from the east bay this morning. a man fled the scene