. brothers in arm. police officers from around the region pay their respects to a fallen prince george's county colleague. we thank you for joining us. i'm jc hayward. good afternoon. we'll have more on the farewell for officer adrian morris.

but first, tropical storm isaac is gaining strength and also gaining ground in new orleans. howard is standing by with the latest on the storm's location. we've been watching it all morning creep closer to the coast, probably making landfall tonight. i think overnight will be the worst for new orleans and parts of southeastern louisiana. here's the storm and some good news. there's been a little bit of dry air being wrapped into it. while we've got the bright clusters of red indicating the tallest thunderstorms wrapping around the center of circulation, we don't have an eye showing up. we don't have symmetry and a good looking storm so it's failed as of this point to make it to a hurricane. it's a strong tropical storm. it has the winds at 70 miles an hour sustained around the center. you'll notice a tornado watch has been issued. this is very common for land falling tropical systems on the right side of the path. but from new orleans east toward western florida, potential tornadoes in these bands that will be feeding on shore the next couple of hours

and through the nighttime hours. here's the latest from the hurricane center. winds 70 miles per hour gusting to 85. pressure dropped just a tiny bit with you it has not strengthened to a hurricane moving northwest at 10. this won't take but another ten, 12 hours before it gets toward coastal areas. this engineer the mouth of the river. -- this evening, near the mouth of the river. once it goes on shore. e, it will -- shore, it will start to weaken. this is very flat and there's a lot of moisture content in the marshes so this will stay a hurricane for a little while. then when it gets to baton rouge tomorrow evening at 7:00, it will be a tropical storm, winds down to 50. then we'll watch isaac make the turn, what's left of it head toward little rock and then towards st. louis and over toward indianapolis. we may actually get some of the rain from this late in the weekend into labor day so we'll be watching this. down in new orleans, whether it be a tropical storm or a hurricane, they're getting ready. karen brown has more. >> reporter: police are

patrolling the nearly deserted streets of new orleans' historic french quarter. homes and businesses are boarded up. sandbags are stacked and tens of thousands of gulf coast residents are getting out of town before isaac hits. it's expected late tonight or early tomorrow on the seventh anniversary of hurricane variety. this man and his family decided to evacuate this morning. >> we didn't want to stay and let katrina happen again. >> reporter: the 200-mile wide storm is gathering strength. it's expected to make landfall as a category one hurricane, bringing at least 75 mile per hour winds, 6 to 12-foot storm surges and up to 20 inches of rain in some places. >> it appears really to be right on the verge of becoming a hurricane. >> reporter: new orleans is not under a mandatory evacuation. president obama is urging people to play it safe. >> now is not the time to tempt faith. now is not the time to diiss official warnings. you need to take this seriously. >> reporter: after hurricane

katrina, the u.s. government spent $14 billion to rebuild new orleans' levee and flood wall system. many residents are confident it will protect them from isaac. dwayne conrad is not leaving town because he wants to protect his artwork in this gallery. >> katrina i felt it. it was severe. this one i really don't feel it too well. >> reporter: like millions of gulf coast residents, conrad is nervous about isaac but he says he's ready for this storm. karen brown, cbs news, new orleans. >> my biggest concern really are some of those rain totals. you can follow isaac's pangt by visiting wusa9.com -- path by visiting wusa9.com. we have the interactive doppler on the front page and you can go to the weather center and download our free hurricane tracker. they could have big time flooding down there. jc, back to you. >> thk you, howard. 9news now has a team of reporters on the gulf coast to meet isaac when it reaches shore.

we are deploying new technology in order to track that storm. our scott broom is joining us live from our mobile newsroom in pensacola beach, florida. scott? >> reporter: jc, it's so mobile, i'm still behind the wheel right now. let me show you some of the pictures we're seeing in pensacola beach which is experiencing tropical storm conditions right now. there's been a lot of minor street flooding and a significant amount of wind here in pensacola beach. we're here on the western most point of the florida panhandle. we're here because there are so many evacuees coming into pensacola beach from new orleans and mobile and other places to the west of us. so even though we have tropical storm conditions here, people are coming here from new orleans because they figure a glancing blow from isaac is a whole lot better than getting hit by the re thing. if you have a moment, we'll give this a try. i'm going to try to give you a view outside my vehicle here from the dashboard camera.

right now the sun is out and the wind is blowing about 25, 30 miles an hour. we've had some very heavy rain squalls come through here and a couple of inches of rain since i've been here this morning. so that's the situation on the western tip of the florida panhandle, a place where people are fleeing from new orleans to try to escape and they're still involved in a tropical storm here. jc? >> thank you very much, scott broom reporting live. a final farewell is under way for a prince george's county police officer killed in the line of duty. friends, family and fellow officers from around the region are paying their respects to officer adrian morris. armando trull is in mitchellville, maryland with more information. armando? >> reporter: jc, morris' mother, brother, sister, father, uncles, grandmother's were here but today morris is part of a larger family. we'll take a look at that family right behind us. the funeral ceremony has ended.

in just a few minutes they'll be escorting him to his final resting place and wishing him godspeed. 23-year-old adrian morris was given a hero's sendoff. there were color guards representing multiple jurisdictions. pipers played a sad sound. officers from all over the northeast stood in painful solidarity. >> open,000 my eyes that -- open thou my eyes. >> reporter: the time honored rituals reserved for those who make the ultimate sacrifice when they choose to serve and protect. >> we're here today because of the loss of a life and the sadness that we all feel, whether you ew him personally or not is irrelevant. he is a brother, always will be

a brother. >> reporter: officer morris was born in jamaica, but he was proud to be an american citizen. and perhaps it is fitting that his earthly remains will come in a hearst underneath this american flag in just a few minutes, escorted by thousands of well wishers to wish him godspeed as he arrives at his final resting place. jc, back to you. >> thank you very much, armando. another prince george's county officer is right now recovering after shooting himself in the leg. he was responding to a call from a woman who said that she had been attacked by a fox. this happened on clarion road in fort washington. the officer was backing away from the fox when he tripped, fell and accidentally shot himself. despite his injury, he was able to kill that fox. investigators are examining the animal to determine if it was rabid. the student accused of

opening fire at a baltimore county school is facing first- degree murder charges. a 17-year-old student was critically wounded yesterday at perry hall high school just north of white marsh. the accused shooter, 15-year- old robert gladden, jr., is being charged as an adult. his father says that his son was bullied. gladden is being held at the baltimore county detention center. police say no one else was injured in that shooting. >> this case brought a broken down shotgun in pieces that could be resembled. he also brought 21 rounds of 16- gauge 7.5 shot. a bottle of vodka to school with him. >> police say that gladden drank vodka and assembled the

rifle during the lunch period before opening fire. well, the westbound span of the bay bridge is expected to reopen at any minute. it was closed this morning after inspectors say that they detected an unusual vertical movement of the bridge. the discovery came after midnight and workers were ordered off the bridge immediately. traffic is traveling in both directions on the eastbound lanes. the maryland transportation authority says that drivers should expect delays. officials say they do not have an estimate but we've just been told when the westbound bridge, part of the bridge is going to be open. should be momentarily. to men are being questioned about operating a possible meth laboratory in northern virginia. police say they stumbled upon the operation after being called to the virginia square amounts on north monroe street in arlington last night. the discovery prompted an

evacuation. the two men in the amount are being charged with attempting to produce methamphetamine and they are due in court today. coming up when 9news now continues... >> the weather delayed the republican national convention but it's kicking into high gear. we'll have a preview of what we'll hear from this stage. wç

after an abbreviated beginning, the republican national convention is under way right now. a new poll from cbs news says the race for the white house is

a virtual dead heat. randall pinkston has more from tampa. >> reporter: chris christie took to the convention stage in tampa to practice the keynote address he'll give tonight. the new jersey governor said he will help lay out a vision for the party gl. what does it mean to be a republican and what will that mean over the next four years after mitt romney and paul ryan are elected a what it will mean for the people of our country. >> reporter: a new poll shows the presidential race is a dead heat. president obama holds a one- point lead among registered voters but 32% of those polled say they don't have an opinion or don't know enough about mitt romney. the republican national convention will work to change that. >> i see the biggest challenge for governor romney to be elected president is for people to look at him and say okay, now we know him and we trust him. >> reporter: ann romney will help introduce her husband tots country when she speaks here -- to the country when she speaks here tonight. she will also work to win over women voters. the cbs news poll gives president obama a ten-point

advantage among female voters. barbra, a romney supporter from michigan says it's the media that has made the jenldzer gap an issue. >> governor romney has done a great job. i think he's been painted with the wrong brush. i think he's very likable. >> reporter: republicans are squeezing their message into three days because of yesterday's weather delay. high on their agenda today, officially nominating romney and his running mate paul ryan. randall pinkston, cbs news, tampa. >> mitt romney is scheduled to accept the republican presidential nomination on thursday. friends of former pennsylvania senator arlen specter say that he is right now fighting for his life. the 82-year-old has overcome numerous illnesses over the past two decades but he was diagnosed with a new form of cancer six weeks ago. specter served in the u.s. senate from 1980 till 2011. most of that time he was a moderate republican before becoming a democrat in 2009.

coming up next, howard with full details of his forecast. >> still a little bit on the muggy side. the rain showers are gone from this morning. the allergy count, that's coming. with all the rain we had over the last couple of days, well, that has certainly helped. we're drying out a little bit with the mold now. that's down to the moderate category. grass is low but trees and weeds have rebounded into the moderate category. we'll talk about isaac and our weather and there's more heat in that seven-day forecast. 9news now at noon continues in just a moment. ñ

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.

they are not known for their swimming skills so it came as a surprise when a koala swam out to a group of can floorers in -- came forkers in australia. although they can't swim, they normally pre-- although they can swim, they normally prefer not to. they're also known to drown if they fall in when drinking from swimming pools and they're unable to come out. the astonished canoeists put the animal on an embankment near a local golf club why koalas are known to populate the golf course. >> that was weird. >> something's wrong.

i've been calling isaac isaac like the bible. >> amen. hopefully it will stay only a hurricane one. katrina was a three when it made landfall. this will be a one. a weaker storm than katrina but still a problem. let's talk about our weather for the afternoon. we're looking really good. sunshine. a little bit on the muggy side though as temperatures head toward 90. might even make 91, 92 with a northwesterly wind at about 10, 10 to 15 miles an hour. and eventually some drier air is going to filter in but that may not happen till overnight tonight. going out this evening, you have plans, everything is going to be fine with 84 by 7:00. 9:00 we're looking at 81 degrees. so should be a pretty good evening with drier conditions. look at this line of showers.

this is what we have this morning. kind of fizzled out there. you can see there's clearing skies behind it. lots of sunshine. and temperatures consequently are warming nicely. 82 in gaithersburg. baltimore is up to 85. we've got 81 in hagueerstown. oakland, look at this. only 70. that's signs of the drier, cooler air that will be coming tonight and the next couple of days. la plata 85. while we have a cooldown coming, it's going to get hot again on friday. here's our michael & son weather camera. lots of sunshine. a couple of fair weather clouds, 86. but the dew points are still up. the drier air hasn't made it yet so it feels more like 89 and the north we were winds eventually -- northwesterly winds will eventually bring the dry air. there's isaac with the tornado watch going till 7:00 along the gulf coast. they will reissue this i'm sure for the overnight period as well. this thing is so close to being a hurricane, it could happen on the next advisory sometime this evening. that looks like it's going to make land fall from 8:00 p.m.

to 2:00 a.m. tonight. the northeast saw some rain this morning. as we look at our futurecast, other than maybe a stray shower south of town this afternoon, we're looking good. here comes the drier air by the way. it will be filtering in tonight. tomorrow is going to be almost as perfect a day as we can get for august with light northerly winds, sunshine. we're going to have temperatures only about 85 and with the drier air in place, it's going to be fantastic. the drier air with us again tomorrow night. so that by thursday morning, we could even have a few 50s in the suburbs but we'll warm up accidently by thursday afternoon. high temperatures then upper 80s and a shoft heat on friday -- a shot of heat on friday before the weekend. tonight we'll drop to 70 in town. low to mid-60s in the suburbs. about 88 for the high thursday. friday 95. saturday 90. we may see a couple of storms then. we're looking at a chance of storms increasing on labor day. ó 0

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let's take another look at our weather. it's so humid out there good with you we're seeing drier air. we have good news also in the sense we're going to have drier air move in and better news on the gulf coast. in alabama they've lifted the mandatory evacuation so that would be for mobile and gulf shores. they're no stranger to storms. remember ivan came right through mobile bay and up there. but the storm moving to the west. we're getting word that isaac finally has been upgraded to a category one hurricane with winds 75 miles an hour.

so the hurricane center, the hurricane hunters are in there. it's not the greatest looking storm but that's okay. it's now finally been classified as a hurricane. again that path is going to take it just to the west of the mouth of the mississippi river here as we get into the nighttime hours. this will be looking at wifndles potentially at 80, 85 -- winds potentially 80, 85 tops. it will go to baton rouge tomorrow and the moisture will be moving toward north louisiana and arkansas. some of the rain totals, we're talking maybe 10, 15, locally 20 inches of rain across eastern louisiana, southern mississippi. while this may be a minimal hurricane, when you get those sorts of rains, there's going to be widespread flooding. that will be a problem. not like katrina because the levee system much better than it was. this is a weaker storm from katrina. it won't have the storm surge katrina did but maybe 10, 12 feet along the mississippi gulf coast and the moisture could mess up our labor day. we might be seeing some of that

here. by saturday morning it will be in st. louis trashing toward illinois andeanian as we head toward sunday. we may get some in over the weekend. that's why when i showed you the seven-day, we had some questions as far as our competence level in when those showers and -- confidence level in when those showers and storms may arrive. tonight the drier air moves n. cumberland 59. 61 hagerstown. we'll get to about 70 here. tomorrow looks fantastic. high about 85. some spots will stop in the low 80s, jc. so this is going to be one of those days if you can have a long lunch or get outside, have outside work to do, take advantage of it. it is going to be perfect. another look at our forecast. here we go. it's very nice. 90 today. kind of sticky. 85 tomorrow. thursday a warm day. upper 80s but the humidity level will still be down. watch out for that shot of heat on friday as we hit 95. over the weekend again the thunderstorm chances will be

raising a little bit and monday 85 with some storms. howard, they've opened up the bay bridge. it was closed at midnight because there was some shaking. but now traffic is flowing in both directions and we're looking at it. they're doing just fine. keep your eye on the map. thank you, howard. thank you for being with us. come back and visit us at 5:00. have a great day.