isaac's aftermath. flooding from the storm prompts thousands of evacuations as president obama declares parts of louisiana and mississippi a disaster zone. >> everything underwater, everything. rallying cry. vice presidential candidate paul ryan hits president obama early and often in his speech at the republican national convention. >> these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the white house. what is missing is leadership in the white house. and killing bin laden. a navy seal who took part in the raid on osama bin laden's compound speaks publicly for the first time. >> can you guys pull this off and i'm pretty sure to a man we >> can you guys pull this off and i'm pretty sure to a man we all said yes, absolutely. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, august 30,

2012. good morning everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. president obama wasted no time signing disaster declarations last night for the areas in mississippi and louisiana hardest hit by isaac. it's now a tropical storm and only expected to get weaker as it moves inland. it's currently northwest of new orleans with sustained winds near 50 miles an hour. the slow-moving storm is still dumping drenching rain. some areas could get as much as 25 inches. more than 700,000 homes and businesses lost power in louisiana. the storm is has threatening to spin off tornadoes. at least three twisters were reported to have touched down in mississippi. the high floodwaters trapped many residents in their homes. in plaquemines parish, the national guard had to knock out a window to rescue a man trapped in his attic with his four dogs. officials say a levee there is under so much pressure, pun parish in louisiana will be flooded to relieve it. bigad shaban is in new orleans this morning with more.

bigad, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you. although strong winds and bands of rain have let up here in new orleans, isaac continues to soak much of coastal louisiana. here in the state as well as mississippi, it's also sending storm surges of up to 12 feet high, which has caused severe flooding in communities not far from here. neighbors stood in bunches, huddled together in the wind and rain waiting to be rescued. just before noon when isaac's high winds pushed a tidal surge of water out of lake pontchartrain and into the town of la place. 30 miles west of new orleans. >> all of a sudden the water started rising. >> the flooding caught nearly everyone off guard. >> it looked like it came all at once, just all at once. woke up, it was fine. next minute it was like all over the place. everything underwater. everything. >> up to 3,000 people were forced from their homes. many spent the night at a shelter in a nearby church. long time residents say this kind of flooding has never happened before, not even during hurricane katrina.

>> right there. she's never experienced this, neither have i. >> here in new orleans, the levees built after katrina worked just as they were designed. the lieutenant governor believes the levees may have forced water into new areas like la place. >> in plaquemines parish, at least 35 people were rescued from the rising waters. officials decided to intentionally punch a hole in the levee. >> the idea would be if they breach that levee now, that the winds shifted, it would blow the water out. with the breach, that would be four days for the water to leave. without that breach it could take as long as 15 days to pump it out. >> for those not dealing with flooding, there's a lack of power. downed power lines nokt out electricity to roughly 700,000 residents. the national hurricane center says isaac will only continue to lose strength as it moves west. but even once the storm passes

here, terrell, residents along coastal louisiana will still have to brave the cleanup. >> bigad shaban in new orleans bigad, thank you so much. the republican national convention in tampa wraps up tonight when mitt romney claims the nomination for president. paul ryan accepted his party's nomination as vice president last night. it was the first time many americans had ever seen or heard the congressman from wisconsin and he went right after president obama. susan mcginnis is in tampa with details. susan, good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. yeah, he's being called an attack dog. ryan got high marks for his appearance last night. he was not well-known out of washington before and tonight mitt romney gives the most important speech of his career. paul ryan's family and party embraced him as he accepted the republican nomination for vice president. >> i accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity and i know we can do this. >> the 42-year-old wisconsin congressman drew sharp contrast

between president obama's record and the plans he and mitt romney have to create jobs. >> the issue is not the economy that barack obama inherited, not the economy that he envisions, but this economy that we are living. >> ryan blasted the president's health care reform and promoted the medicare plan romney will call for tonight. >> mitt romney and i know the difference between protecting a program and raiding it. ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate, we want this debate, we will win this debate. >> a lot of people think that touching that third rail of entitlements, medicare, social security is a tough slog down the road. if you actually look at the polling is split between what folks think obama or romney would do better on the medicare issues. >> crews are reworking the stage for tonight when mitt romney will accept his party's nomination for president. he'll also build on the themes paul ryan laid out last night in

a speech delegates are calling a home run. >> i loved what he had to say. i thought it was a perfect message and it obviously excited the crowd. just like his addition to the ticket is exciting the crowd. >> one thing the republican party needed to concentrate on is getting the youth and younger voters involved. he's going to be a new face of the republican party. >> another rising young gop voice will be in the spotlight tonight. senator marco rubio of florida will introduce mitt romney. former republican nominee john mccain and former secretary of state condoleeza rice also spoke last night talking about the administration's failure in international leadership. terrell, perhaps they were used to try to chip away at the president's perceived success in foreign affairs. >> right. the big finale tonight. susan mcginnis in tampa. thank you so much. an analysis coming up on "cbs this morning" and cbs live coverage of the republican national convention continues, including mitt romney's acceptance speech tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on cbs. one of the sharpest differences between president

obama and mitt romney in campaign 2012 is with medicare. mr. obama wants to keep the government health care program for seniors mostly as it is. but romney says it needs to change. dean reynolds takes a look at both plans. >> this is where you had your biopsy site last time. it was fine. >> linda shulte is a 45-year-old cancer survivor making a living in the volatile real estate market in orlando. >> walk-in closet. the market has been improving, but she's worried nonetheless. >> health insurance is an issue for you? >> it's a major issue. i went from being perfectly healthy person and really great shape and everything to i was dealing with breast cancer. >> today she exercises regularly because she knows that cancer could return and even though she's 20 years shy of eligibility for medicare, she is anxious about the debate over its future. >> 20 years is going to fly by, i understand that. >> we're done. in the affordable care act, the president offers little change

in traditional medicare for patients and while republicans say he is cutting $700 billion from the program, that's really the estimated savings over ten years from lower payments to hospitals and doctors. >> my plan's already extended the life of medicare by nearly a decade. >> mitt romney says the system is going bankrupt and to prevent that, he would offer those now under 55 a choice. keep medicare or buy private insurance with help from an annual lump sum payment from the government. that, he says, will drive down costs. >> it will be greater competition between the government and the private plans. >> but he doesn't say how generous the government payment would be and acknowledges that patients would be on the hook for medical bills exceeding whatever the amount is. >> it's a lovely view back here. >> with the current administration, i'm not sure that our economy is going to flourish as it would if we had romney in there. but i'm not really certain what kind of a health plan we'll have with romney.

it is a huge tug of war. it's a huge tug of war. >> a tug of war between her health needs of the future and the economic conditions she find herself in, in the here and now. dean reynolds, cbs news, tampa. president obama hit the campaign trail wednesday visiting another college campus at the university of virginia. he told students to get out and vote and fired back at republicans saying their economic plan doesn't work. this was president obama's 12th campaign swing to virginia this year. coming up on the morning news on this thursday, a navy seal speaks out. he took part in the raid that killed osama bin laden. now he opens up about why he wrote a controversial new book about the mission. this is the "cbs morning news." wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long.

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pakistan in may of last year wrote a book called no easy day. a firsthand account of that day and some contradicts the account issued by the obama administration. the seal spoke with scott pelley for an upcoming edition of "60 minutes." >> then you walk into a secure room. >> he calls himself mark owen. that's not his real name. we've disguised him and will keep his name confidential for his own safety. owen was on the helicopter that crashed in bin laden's compound. he was the second man in the room when bin laden was shot. he took the photographs of the body that have never been released. but owen told us that the story is not about him. he says it's the story of hundreds of americans who spent years gathering intelligence, planning and training of the seals owen says, we just took care of the last 40 minutes. we built what we believe is the most accurate model of bin laden's compound ever constructed. owen told us that before the mission, a full-sized replica of

the compound was built in the united states for training. and there was a dress rehearsal for the top brass, including the chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mike mullen and admiral eric olson, head of special operations command. >> how did that rehearsal go? >> it was fine. i mean, this is nothing new to us. the part that was new was all the vips sitting there watching. one of the things that i liked after the fact was i remember admiral mullen coming by and talking to each one of us and admiral olson as well. i thought that was cool that they walked by, shook each of our hand and said hey, are you guys ready? can you guys pull this off? i'm pretty sure to him we said yes, absolutely. >> how long was it before you got the call to go? >> we had a week off in virginia beach. when i say off, it wasn't completely. we had a week off at home. conducted one more rehearsal, day training on the life size mockup and then we got the word that we were going.

>> owen's book was to be released on the anniversary of 9/11, but the release date has been moved up to next week. there has been criticism that the book is timed to influence the election. >> my worry from the beginning is it's a political season, this book is not political whatsoever. it doesn't bad-mouth either party. we specifically chose september 11th to keep it out of the politics. 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. not be brought into the political arena. because this has nothing to do with politics. as scott mentioned, a few news organizations discovered mark owen's real name and published it. but cbs news will not reveal his true name, you can see the interview one week from sunday, september 9th,

only on cbs. this morning iran claimed once again that it will never try to build a nuclear bomb. supreme leader ayatollah khamenei said that iran is only for showing nuclear energy. also attending the summit is egypt's new president, mohamed morsi. it's the first time they've visited for 33 years. the countries remain divided over syria. morsi said it was necessary to support the up rising against the government. syria is an ally of iran. up next, your weather forecast and in sports, a three-time winner of the u.s. open takes one final battle. this is the morning news. nal. this is the morning news.

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for the first time ever, get 36-month special financing save up to 60% plus get an extra 10% off with free delivery. this is a wakeup call. this is sears. here's a look at the here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. sunny in new york, 85 degrees. same deal in miami, 81 degrees. sunny in chicago, 87 degrees. partly sunny in dallas, 90 degrees and sunny in los angeles, 88 degrees. let's check your national forecast. remnants of hurricane isaac will bring heavy rain and possible flooding inland. tornadoes possible in louisiana, mississippi and alabama. the southeast will be stormy. the northeast will be sunny and pleasant. the midwest and west will be mostly sunny and dry. in sports this morning, the anaheim angels are trying to create back into the american league playoff picture. first inning versus the red sox, hits to right field. puts anaheim up. third inning, chris iannetta comes up with a two-run shot of their home.

anaheim wins 10-3. they're 3.5 games out of the wildcard. cincinnati reds come back. trailing the diamondbacks until the seventh when they launched a home run barrage. the reds went deep four times in two innings, including two homers. cincinnati wins 6-2. the first team in the majors to reach 80 wins. replacement officials will be on the field when the nfl opens the season next wednesday night. the league locked out the referees in june on negotiations of a new collective bargaining agreement are at a standstill. four time champion kim clijsters is calling it a clear. she fell in straight sets. after the match she announced she will retire. she retired in 2007 but returned and won the title in 2009 add and then again in 2010. maybe retirement is her thing. see if she comes back. when we come back, first lady michelle obama tells david letterman why she's not watching the republican national convention, but why you should. she's not watching

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. mostly sunny in washington, 87 degrees. cloudy with thunderstorms in atlanta, 82 degrees. mostly sunny in st. louis, 92. partly sunny in denver, 94 and partly cloudy in seattle, 67 degrees. top stories now on a thursday. tropical storm isaac continues to dump torrential rain. some areas could get as much as 25 inches. president obama has declared federal emergencies in parts of louisiana and mississippi. hardest hit by the storm. and paul ryan accepted his party's nomination as vice president as the republican convention continues. he immediately went on the offensive slamming president obama's policies. while the reublicans launch mitt romney's campaign in tampa and the president tours college campuses, first lady michelle obama was here in new york appearing on the late show with david letterman. dave asked mrs. obama if she's

been watching the gop convention. >> i, as the wife of the guy they're running against, i tend not to watch it. but i think it's important for everyone to watch these conventions because this is the time where you get to know the party. you understand the platform. you understand the candidates. this is technically where the campaign begins. >> the first lady is on a back-to-school media tour. she discusses ways for parents and kids to get ready for the new school year. in spain, pamplona has the annual running of the bulls. but in bunol, there's the throwing of the tomatoes. about 40,000 people, many tourists took part in what's described as the world's biggest food fight. they were armed with 120 tons of tomatoes all slimy. it left everyone seeing red and the person really seeing red is probably the person who has to clean that up. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," live reports from louisiana and mississippi on the aftermath of hurricane isaac.

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mitt romney makes one of the most important speeches of his life tonight when he formally accepts the republican presidential nomination at the gop convention. before of convention, scott pelley sat down with him and asks him how he plans to connect with the middle class on a personal level. >> you were born in a family that was well off and now you're worth something north of $200 million. what do you say to a single mother who thinks he doesn't know me or to a guy who is 50 years old who hasn't had a job in a year and a half and thinks he can't relate to me. >> i grew up in a home where a mom and a dad taught us some extraordinary lessons. i got a perspective on how my dad was able to handle tough situations and then through my life, i was able to have the experience of working in settings that required a real turn around, an uphill battle.

i've learned some of the things that i believe can help get america strong again and help the people of america. >> you talk about cutting taxes and balancing the budget. to do that you must be anticipating hundreds of billions of dollars worth of cuts in the federal budget and i wonder what would you cut? >> well, actually the right way at that balance a budget really has two prongs. one is to do those things that encourage the growth of the economy. so you do things to get small businesses growing and adding jobs. but you also go through and say, which of those things that you should take out of the budget that no longer are essential. the easiest for me to knock out is obama care. it's about $100 billion a year. we simply can't afford it. but there are other subsidies that you find we take out. >> give me one. >> the subsidy for pbs, the subsidy for amtrak, the subsidy for the national endowment for the arts and humanities. >> those are pretty small. we're talking hundreds of billions of dollars you would need.

we're talking defense department. >> let's keep going. another $100 billion a year comes by taking medicaid, which is the health care program for the poor, as well as food stamps and housing vouchers and sending those back to the states and growing them at the rate of inflation or inflation plus 1% in the case of medicaid. i think states can do a better job managing those efforts than can the federal government. >> scott pelley, speaking with mitt romney. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," more on the republican national convention from tampa. we'll hear from former florida governor jeb bush and former rnc chairman haley barbour. plus, scott pelley, he's a busy guy these days, he'll talk about his interview with the navy seal who took part in the raid that killed osama bin laden and wrote a controversial book on it. a brutal beating of a female driver by lapd cops. john miller will have details on that investigation and a evidence of a link between weight gain and extreme stress. all that coming up later on "cbs this morning."

for now, that will do it for the morning news. on this thursday. appreciate you watching. as always, i'm terrell brown. take care everybody. we'll see you back here take care everybody. we'll see you back here tomorrow. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

as it is this tropical storm this morning. what senate and in louisiana and mississippi. it's common acr