thank you for joining us, i'm j.c. hayward. tropical storm isaac is topping our newscast this afternoon and we have live team coverage. so let's begin with howard in the weather center. howard? >> reporter: we are watching isaac a strong tropical storm likely to become a hurricane later today, maybe by this

evening. there he is, gaining some strength. now it hasn't really shown a pressure decrease since this morning, and we look for the pressure to fall as a sign of a strengthening storm. it does have a more impressive appearance here on the satellite than it has had, getting a little bit more symmetrical around the center of circulation. still a little bit of dry air coming in. the weaker it stays the better for everything on the northern gulf coast, especially in southeast louisiana and mississippi. i want to show you the radar view over the past six hours, you can certainly see a center of circulation down there. the other thing i want to point out, look at the rains coming in eastern florida. tampa not that bad, just a few showers. but the attention is all now turning to new orleans. 65 miles per hour sustained winds on the 11:00 advisory, with gusts to 75, moving northwest at 14. on this track, the hurricane center believes it is going to be a cat 1 storms with sustained winds of 90 miles per hour as it

is making landfall tomorrow around dinner time in new orleans and then it will move off toward the northwest. new orleans on the strong side of the storm, along with coastal mississippi. i want to stress this is a different storm than katrina. seven years and billions of dollars later the levees should be in much better shape, along with the pumping station. but regardless any hurricane coming to southeast louisiana is a big, big problem. tampa was rather concerned with the convention in town and isaac in the gulf of mexico. with more on that, here's randall pinkston. 53,000 people west of new orleans have been ordered to evacuate. many residents are heeding the warning, filling up their cars and heading inland. >> we are going to take off. we went through katrina and had a bad experience with that. >> reporter: in mississippi the surf is starting to kick up at tropical storm isaac strengthens in the gulf of mexico. >> we are forecasting it to become a hurricane. if not today then today. >> reporter: isaac is expected to become a category 1

hurricane before it hits land late tuesday or early wednesday, which is the seventh anniversary of headquarter katrina. the governors of florida, alabama, mississippi and louisiana have all declared states of emergency. the storm is expected to bring at least 65 miles per hour winds, dumping more than a foot of rain on the gulf coast states. >> we are strongly encouraging those folks to participate in a voluntary evacuation today. >> reporter: isaac knocked out power to thousands of homes when it hit the florida keys and moved into the gulf. as much as three inches of rain are expected to fall in tampa today, where the republican national convention is being held. the storm shortened the republican national convention one day. organizers are concerned that strong winds off the gulf could create dangerous conditions. residents in alabama are boarding up their homes and stocking up on supplies. the storm has shut down work on oil rigs in the gulf, cutting off almost 25% of the nation's daily oil production.

randall pinkston, cbs news, tampa. >> the hurricane warnings are up from morgan city, louisiana to destin, florida. southeast louisiana under the gun. flynnian virginia power has sent contractors and bucket trucks to help out. a company spokesperson says it is unclear exactly where they will end up. pepco has sent 220 workers also to the gulf. j.c., back to you. thank you howard. the storm is having an impact on amtrak service to the gulf coast. amtrak is suspending portions of its silver service, the sunset limited and crescent lines in advance of the arrival of isaac. in florida, trains are going only as far as orlando. and amtrak says it will also suspend service to other parts of the gulf coast in louisiana and texas tomorrow. 9news now has a team of reporters, they are headed to the gulf coast. they will meet isaac when it

reached shore. we are joined from our mobile newsroom in pensacola beach, florida. >> reporter: it is so mobile i can speak to you from behind the wheel here on pensacola beach. i'm on the western end of florida's panhandle, just inside the hurricane zone. part of a team of reporters stretched from here all the way over to new orleans working for our various sister stations so we've got you covered. let me take you on a tour here of what i'm seeing at pensacola beach. which is some people but very few people making the decision to move off of the island here. but many, many others decideing to stay. they are all watching the storm track. a lot of people here in the pensacola, florida area have elected to stay and even some

of these beach front houses you can see here from my 9news now mobile newsroom as i tour the town for you. as you said, j.c., i'm going to be part of a team of reporters up and down the gulf coast. we'll be using this live view as the storm comes in and as we track it. so count on us at 9news, not only for howard, and to watch all of his technology. but down here on the gulf coast. i'll talk to you a little bit later. isaac is forcing the republicans to compress four days of their national convention into three. susan mcginniss has more. >> reporter: with isaac passing to the west of tampa the republican national convention is ready to kickoff. at 2:00 today, the convention will gavel to order, but the

plan is to immediately adjourn, and come back on tuesday. >> i think we can get it done in three days and we could probably get it done in a day if we had to. >> reporter: the gop will spend three days asking voters for they want four more years of president obama. >> we need to prosecute the president, who seems to be in love with the sound of his own voice, but didn't follow through on his promises. >> reporter: romney's wife, ann will deliver a prime time address. she and the gop white house hopeful went to a school, today to practice their speeches. ann romney's peach will try to counter the democratic image of her husband. mrs. romney will work to change it. romney will also have to appeal to middle class voters. recent polls show president obama hold a 25 point advantage when it comes to being in touch with the problem of the middle class. even though there are no speeches today the gop is

unveiling a debt clock inside the convention hall. it will illustrate an issue they plan to hammer throughout the week. susan mcginniss cbs news, tampa. out of town delegates are being urged to stay at their hotels today, while isaac moves on. today marked the beginning of a new school year for thousands of public school students. andrea mccarron watched the early morning ages at one school in bethesda. >> reporter: before sunrise the american flag was raise at walter johnson high school. noel osmond was the first student to arrive. >> very exciting. four more years until i graduate. >> reporter: soon after, hundreds of other students filed in with varying degrees of enthusiasm. >> i'm just tired, i guess. i'm really excited. >> i'm excited for my classes

but i'm really tired. >> reporter: time has run out for summer assignments. >> it is a little disappointing, to finish my sculpture i was supposed to do for ap ceramics. other than that, pretty exciting. >> reporter: scoot security staffer was a one woman welcoming committee ethis school year, montgomery county has a record setting 14,000 students and its most diverse population ever. >> back to normal. basically the same task. you have to wake them up, because they are agers. -- they are teenagers. >> reporter: for some, it might take awhile to adjust to the morning routine.

in bethesda, andrea mccarron 9news now. students also went back to school in the district today. the newly renovated elementary school on albermorle street northwest welcomed youngsters back this morning. council member marion barry was on hand. the former mayor welcomed youngsters as they returned to classes at turner elementary school. the first day of school took a violent turn in baltimore county. a student was shot at perry hall high school. students were evacuated to a nearby shopping mall. police have not released many details about the condition of the shooting victim. we'll have more information when it becomes available. coming up on 9news now, deadly violence claims the lives of two american servicemen. also hero central.

people who have been forced to abandon their studies can now get back on track. i'm going to introduce the academy of hope, when we come back.

the latest in a series of insider attacks on toll list troops -- on coalition troops. >> you can identify insurgents will attack us in about 10% of the cases.

in another 15% of the cases we suspect an insurgent link with the attacker. >> the gunman was killed. afghanistan's government says it will re-examine the files of 350,000 soldiers and police, in order to curb the attacks. there are new reports of atrocities in searia's -- in searia's civil -- in syria's civil war. president assad has said his regime will keep control at any price. meanwhile the rebels say they shot down a syrian army helicopter today. howard has the forecast. >> reporter: a lot of humidity out here at this hour. we may see a couple of storms still this afternoon. one thing all the moisture from the weekend has done is had an impact on the allergy updates. the mold spores they are way high, but the trees grass and weeds they got washed out a

little bit. we'll look at radar and tell you where the storms may be this afternoon. and of course, what you can expect for the rest of the week when 9news now at noon returns. president clinton: this election to me is about which...

candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper-income...

people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from... the ground up, investing in innovation, education... and job training. it only works if there is a strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president. we need to keep going with his plan. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. the average person, without a high school diploma, earns about $450 a week. that is according to the bureau of labor statistics. well adults from the district who want to earn their ged or

prepare for college now have a place to turn. today i'm saluting the academy of hope. >> i was working two jobs, 60 hours a week, yet i still didn't make enough to support four children. >> reporter: 29-year-old netta hollis needs a high paying job. hollis left the 11th grade when she became pregnant, but now she is able to go back to classes with the help of academy of hope. >> you don't want to be a hypocrite to your children. if you are telling them to finish school and to pursue college, you need to do the same. >> reporter: for four years, hollis has been coming to the adult learning center part- time. >> coming in with the complex of not finishing school and knowing why you didn't, but not knowing how people would receive you, i don't have to worry about that hear. i could be having a bad day,

and by the time i walked in the door, i'm greeted by the receptionist, and it just all fades away. >> reporter: academy of hope serves about 800 students in the district. students pay $30 a semester or they volunteer, in exchange for enrollment. >> dc is ranked number three in some of the lowest literacy rates in the country. we are two cities, a city of well educated people and a lot of people who are struggling with basic literacy schools. >> academy of hope is often the first time many students get a chance at a quality education. >> many had to leave school because they needed to work to help their families, or they had life situations where parents were not as great as they could be. >> hollis says earning her high school diploma is just the beginning to her academic

goals. >> if all goes well, i'll be issued my diploma next month. i'm looking forward to the pathways to college classes that are coming this fall. >> congratulations to her. by the way, academy of hope connected hollis with affordable daycare and social services so she could have more time to pursue her studies. if you would like more information on how to enroll into academy of hope, go to my website, j.c. hayward.com. howard's here, he has the forecast. >> reporter: we are talking about humidity today. a front is coming tomorrow, which will make it nicer by wednesday and thursday. isaac will be the big weather story as we head into landfall late tomorrow afternoon and evening and southeast louisiana. this is not katrina part two, this is a much different storm, not as big, not as strong. and after seven years the levees are in far better shape than they were when katrina hit. still, people are going to have to hunker down and evacuate the low-lying areas. we are having a decent

afternoon west of town, still a chance of a thunderstorm east of town over the next few hours and down toward southern maryland, temperatures climbing into the upper 80s. it is a sticky upper 80s with winds out of the south. 83 at 7:00, if you have plans this evening, they should be all right. but if you like to run outside, it is going to be a little bit thick with humidity this evening. looking at the satellite and radar, you can see the showers we have there lining up from new york all the way down toward areas through norfolk, where we are seeing this on our doppler, four-tenths of an inch of rain this morning. also by the beaches another unsettled day. around here with the sunshine, it is warming up. upper 70s for 80s in the shenandoah valley. 85 at the airport, 79 in frederick. fair weather clouds out there, it is a beautiful afternoon.

82, except for the humidity, which is high. dew point 7, humidity 67%. we have isaac now churning away in the gulf of mexico, probably going to be a storm, maybe 90 miles per hour winds or so as it heads toward southeast louisiana and evening. coming through detroit toward buffalo and cleveland and columbus, this one is going to be arriving midday tomorrow. ahead of it, southerly flow so it is warm and sticky. tonight, we might just pop a thunderstorm or two or shower overnight north of town. looks like this front will be dropping toward us midday tomorrow, storms move south of us by tomorrow afternoon and drier air moves in for wednesday and thursday. 88 today a storm or two east. i'm not too worried here in the metro. tomorrow the front comes through midday with an isolated storm or two. then in the afternoon the attention shifts southward. wednesday another good looking

day nice, 84. 88 thursday and then hot friday and saturday. great smelling barbecue in the kitchen. trust me on this one. we'll tell you about it when 9news now at noon returns.

today i'm one-on-one with henry adams. if you have not guessed, he played for george mason as a basketball player. i want to give you his company's

name. it is abram's bbq.com. i love the tip of the wing, i love that. and today we are doing barbecue beans but guess what? with a twist. peach bar cue beans -- barbecue beans. >> we saute vegetables initially, and add a 15-ounce can of regular beans. we chose a vegetarian beans today but you can doctor it up with pork or any type of meat. we drain them, and we drain the juice off the peaches and are going to add those in there as well. >> two cans. you gave me the recipe. >> yes, ma'am. >> and the abram's barbecue sauce, our spicy version today. >> you do catering if someone wants you to come out and cater

for them and you also do competition cooking? >> yes, ma'am. we enter barbecue competitions around the area, we recently placed first place down in charles county and in frederick replaced up there as well. >> really? my goodness. how did you get to be a chef? >> i had to feed myself once we got out of college. once we mix everything together j.c., you simply pour it in a bowl. >> peppers, green and yellow peppers that looks good. >> pop it in the oven at 350 for about an hour. >> for about an hour, that is it? >> the recipe is on j.c. hayward.com. and look what he brought. he wants me to taste it. you want me to? >> absolutely. >> it smells. okay i'm good. oh. oh it is delicious. pulled pork, potato salad and that is where i took the wing

off that. >> that is our beer can chicken, baby back ribs with abram's barbecue sauce and tyler's boneless pork chops. >> thanks for being with us. >> likewise