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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 republicans 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 the parents and kids to get ready for the new school career. >>> in spain, pamplona has the annual running of the bulls. but there's the t

to you. >> thank you. >>> president obama has declared federal emergencies for areas of louisiana and mississippi hit hard by now tropical storm isaac. this as that slow-moving storm continues making its way inland bringing with it more heavy rain and strong winds. and louisiana, plaquemines parish and st. john the baptist parish have experienced some of the worst flooding. hundreds of thousands of people living this those states are without power right now. >>> the republican national convention wraps up tonight. last night, the party rolled out some of its biggest names to the stage including running mate paul ryan. we have a report. >> reporter: it is a prime-time debut for the vice presidential nominee, paul ryan, delivering his acceptance speech. >> 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. >> reporter: the 42-year-old lawmaker has been a harsh critic of the president and a favorite target for the democrats. >> what did taxpayers get out of the obama stimulus? more debt. that money wasn't just spent and wasted. it was bor

. >>> and that's causing emergency evacuations in both louisiana and mississippi. we've got the latest of what's left of isaac, straight ahead. >>> also, mitt romney making it official tonight. accepting the republican nomination for president. his vice presidential running mate, giving conventiongoers exactly what they wanted. >>> and the result of a decades'-long study of monkeys. raising the question this morning, is it really worth cutting down your calories? >>> good morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm diana perez. paula faris is on assignment. we begin this thursday, with misery raining down from tropical storm isaac. the floodwaters that one official in louisiana warns are rising shockingly fast. >> the latest this morning. president obama just signed disaster declarations for hard-hit parts of louisiana and mississippi. meanwhile, though, thousands of folks in that flood zone is waiting for crews to evacuate them. and 750,000 homes and businesses are without power. brand brandi hitt is live in new orleans this morning. >> reporter: good morning,

rising waters from isaac force more people and animals to evacuate in louisiana and mississippi. byron pitts and mark strassmann are in the flood zone. norah o'donnell on mitt romney preparing for the most important speech of his political career. we'll talk to his running mate. we hear for the first time from the psychiatrist who treated james holmes just weeks before the colorado massacre. and anthony mason on the obama and romney tax plans and how they would affect the middle class. captioning sponsored by cbs >> this is the >> this is the cbs evening news with scott pelley reporting tonight from the republican national convention. >> pelley: good evening. republicans are gathering here for the biggest night of their convention, but we still have an eye on a crisis unfolding along the gulf. floodwaters are rising, the legacy of hurricane isaac. the storm is now a tropical depression moving north. the rain it left behind has lakes and rivers overflowing their banks, flooding streets and homes. a dam in southern mississippi is at risk of imminent failure. 60,000 people are being

rising water is threatening the dam is mississippi. louisiana governor jindal has ordered buses to help evacuate residents in downstream tess. isaac has claimed the -- two people at this hour half of the state is without people nearly a million homes and businesses. president obama has declared federal emergencies in areas of louisiana and mississippi. let's check in with mike with the latest on isaac's path. >>> here we are with tropical storm isaac even though it is inland still punching around 40 mile per hour winds, sustained as it moves slowly north, northwest at nine miles per hour far-reaching even though it is in northeast louisiana it is -- thunderstorms all the way into atlanta 8 to 9 hours drive away. right now the eye wall south of monroe, louisiana. want to focus the east. all this is caution the problems up to nine inches in mississippi, more flooding there. this box in red is a tornado watch we've already had 14 -- excuse 12 tornadoes out of this system expecting more this afternoon as it heads-up north to arkansas and tennessee.

rising water is threatening the dam is mississippi. louisiana governor jindal has ordered buses to help evacuate residents in downstream tess. isaac has claimed the -- two people at this hour half of the state is without people nearly a million homes and businesses. president obama has declared federal emergencies in areas of louisiana and mississippi. let's check in with mike with the latest on isaac's path. >>> here we are with tropical storm isaac even though it is inland still punching around 40 mile per hour winds, sustained as it moves slowly north, northwest at nine miles per hour far-reaching even though it is in northeast louisiana it is -- thunderstorms all the way into atlanta 8 to 9 hours drive away. right now the eye wall south of monroe, louisiana. want to focus the east. all this is caution the problems up to nine inches in mississippi, more flooding there. this box in red is a tornado watch we've already had 14 -- excuse 12 tornadoes out of this system expecting more this afternoon as it heads-up north to arkansas and tennessee.

take a look on satellite and radar, we are seeing heavy rains continuing over ralaand into mississippi -- louisiana and into mississippi. we're going to zoom in a little bit closer. the storm hasn't really moved all that much. it's moving very slowly, and that of course was the biggest concern because the very heat wave rainfall that you see, pouring for hours and hours causes flooding concerns and problems. new orleans starting to get a break from the heaviest rains moving through baton rouge and up into mississippi. right now, this tropical storm is only moving at 4 miles an hour, and it's tracking up to the north. still going to be a tropical storm, 45-mile an hour winds tomorrow morning. it will turn into a tropical depression as we head into thursday, as it pushes up through the northern part of louisiana. it's going to bring heavy rains through louisiana, mississippi, and to the north. >>> isaac is significantly weaker than hurricane katrina was. it is a beat eerie that katrina landed seven years ago today. however, isaac is still drmgs and destructive as -- dangerous and destructive. isaac s

in portions of louisiana, mississippi.housands of people are still being a back to witted west of new orleans. the in--evacuated. also significant damage to these homes even worse than hurricane katrina. >> when i think all is said and done we will have water where we did not have water from katrina. >> this is a very slow- moving storm is going to be moving and we're going to be dealing with us until early friday morning. >> federal states of our emergency were declared for mississippi and louisiana. >> isaac impacting gas prices because the gulf area refineries are closed. the biggest one price day jump. $3.82 a. california, $4.15 take a look san francisco, $4.22. oakland, $4.16. stay with kron 4 morning news. we will have the latest on the gulf coast guard and also the late latest on a isaac could cost insurance. coming up beat louisiana native that is living in the bay area and how he is hoping his home state. continuing to bring you live updates of louisiana, mississippi. it is slowly making its way through. right now

louisiana, 688,000 customers. that's customers. in mississippi now we're up to about 70,000 customers. a lot of power out. we've gotten a lot of water. the system is moving out of louisiana and things are looking better today. still just about everything is closed today as far as schools, businesses, and government functions. late yesterday, willie, the governor, governor bobby jindal has said the cost to cover this state and local was already at $24 million. willie? >> compared to what you were standing in yesterday, i bet that fine mist feels pretty good. mike seidel in baton rouge, louisiana, thanks very much. >>> back here in tampa, we will hear tonight from the candidate mitt romney. he'll deliver his acceptance speech on this third and final day of the republican national convention. his running mate, congressman paul ryan of wisconsin, took the stage last night before a roaring hall of delegates. the 42-year-old ryan accepting the vice presidential nomination and introducing himself to the country before a nationally televised primetime audience. his message part an attack on the current administrat

this coming from louisiana, mississippi border.pardy and could put lives at risk. emergency management agency official just releasing a statement that and percy quin state park has been damaged by the heavy rains. she gives it a 5050% chance of breaking. they are now recommending evacuation. it will be too late if that dam breaks. as you can see, on your screen, the area that we are talking about as we continue to watch the flooding. hurricane damage from wind and flooding along the gulf coast may cost the insurance industries to 1 billion a half dollars. we now have a fox business exclusive. i want to talk to you about how you evaluate what these costs will be. you have a range from 500 billion-$1.5 billion. how do you evaluate that another dam is possibly in jeopardy? >> well, cheryl, there are two keys components. e cap we provide a data model. we develop this from data that gives us information about employees and square footage of houses and valuation information. we look at insurance perils. they provide us the insurance cove

states of emergency in louisiana and mississippi. drenching the convention. isaac forces a change of plans at the republican convention in tampa. but the gop vows to press ahead. >>> california quakes. dozens of earthquakes rattle and roll residents in southern dozens of earthquakes rattle and roll residents in southern california. captioning funded by cbs >>> this is the "cbs morning news" for monday, august 22, 2012. >>> good morning everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. this morning, tropical storm isaac is gaining strength as it churns across the warm waters of the gulf of mexico. it's forced to hit as a hurricane late tuesday or wednesday. isaac is 450 miles southeast of the mouth of mississippi river. that storm moving west, northwest with sustained winds of 65 miles per hour. isaac is moving away from the florida coast. hurricane warnings are posted from morgan city, louisiana to florida including new orleans. emergency declarations have been issued in louisiana and mississippi. right now, more than 50,000 residents of st. charles parrish

. >> preparations and evacuations are under way in louisiana, mississippi and alabama. we have a report. >> reporter: mass prep rigs are under way as the threat of isaac looms. president obama has already declared louisiana a state of emergency as this state and others prepare. eye ask is expected to strike louisiana sometime today t could also hit mississippi where the governor says the state is taking every precaution necessary. >> we have to err on the side of caution f we think -- if they tell us it is a category two, we plan for a category three. 65-mile an hour wind, we are planning for # 0-mile an hour winds. >> reporter: the arm you corps of engineers were busy. parts of the city of new orleans are still recovering from the likes of hurricane katrina back in 2005 but some residents say after surevander holyfielding that storm, they can handle isaac. >> we should be relatively okay. i'm not killing myself. know we'll have wind and water. but as far as katrina destruction, i'm knocking on wood. >> reporter: others are more cautious and have already sought safety in

wind gusts and sheets of rain flooding roads throughout alabama, mississippi, and louisiana. forecasters say the worst is far from over. >> if you are in places, for example, eastern louisiana, lake pontchartrain or mississippi, it's just beginning and is going to get worse as the day goes on. if you're already receiving bad conditions, it's going to take the night. >>reporter: a thinly populated part of plaquemines parish is getting some flooding. they say it's just not safe to go out and explore quite yet. >> i understand that possibly we'll have hurricane force winds, maybe six, eight, 10 hours after the eye goes through. >> just feeling anxious and ready to get it overwith. >>reporter: there are about a half million people who are still without power, and we could see more outages as time goes on. i will say we're right here on canal street, and we drove to our live location late last night. we could see the power trucks lined up on canal street. a safe place for them to go. they'll do everything they can to restore power to all the folks who don't have it. >> thank you s

more heavy rain and strong wind. >> president obama has signed a disaster declaration for louisiana and mississippi. the move speeds up recovery efforts for those places hit hard by isaac. in louisiana, thousands of people being removed from st. john the baptist parish. >> as soon as conditions are safe, the contractors can evaluate the situation. but that is something that was done during gustav in 2008. we know how it do it and we've done it before. if it makes sense and conditions are safe to do that, we absolutely support that. >>> to mississippi now where the national guard was forced to make several water rescues as a result of tropical storm isaac. residents reported seeing water rising up to their knees. the storm also spawned a tornado in jefferson county that destroyed several homes and buildings. >> the run thing we have not heard out of this is that anybody has lost their lives so no major injuries or anything like that. >> so far, so good. >> they are still dealing with very heavy rain. still a tropical storm. isaac doing its best to keep its act together here although it has lost its

. @ >>shepard: continuing coverage of tropical storm isaac which is battering the louisiana coastline into mississippi and up louisiana and mississippi, for that matter, it is just relentless. it stops for a couple of minutes and then the bottom falls out. i don't know where the plane went. well watch it. the police are nearby. we got news a moment ago on the dam that is upriver, the dam itself is in near macomb, mississippi, but the area that was in trouble because of downed -- down river flooding is a town called robert, louisiana. they punched a hole in the dam for a kind of controlled release to keep it from flooding the homes. casey, there must be relief there? >>casey: relieve but no one wants to think they are out of the clear but the hope with officials in mississippi, is that with the controlled release, they will send all of this water into the state park area, a wooded area, away from the homes and, of course, it would take a lot of pressure off of the dam that feeds the thank -- the tangipahoa river that runs from south mississippi, 122 miles through the state of louisiana, south, and empt

it's not that rain would be unwelcome everywhere but flooding rains in louisiana and mississippi. have isolated amounts. that's up to two feet in parts of louisiana. now we know why there's been so much flooding. here's the future track of the leftovers of tropical storm isaac. with this projection toward the labor day time frame and into tuesday, we could sew some scattered showers and storms in our area. none of that tomorrow. this is friday 6:00, still dry across maryland statewide with more showers starting to scatter further north. friday into saturday more widespread rain moving north and a boundary coming out of canada likely to push this in our direction saturday night into monday. lots of hurricane season to go. two other storms churning. now watching hurricane kirk. kirk is expected to reconsider of and stay out to sea, maybe moving through the central atlantic but not a threat to land or u. a hotter day, no doubt about that. mostly sunny skies. it will be heating up big time. maybe a little cooler saturday with some disawgdz cloud cover. -- dislawgz cloud cover. hopeful

. >> isaac overstays its welcome in louisiana. 24 hours after landfall. >> in gulfport mississippi let's check in for the latest with george. rex tropical storm isaac has been relentless, moving at a snail's pace, dropping 20 inches of rain in most places. in gulfport, we have seen one tornado. we remain under a tornado watch and flash flood warnings. as the storms goalie makes its way inland, the focus turns to rescuing those trapped in flooded areas of louisiana and mississippi. this man brought his family would be safe in his mississippi home which was raised 8 feet off the ground. >> we noticed the water wasprobably not a couple feet high. around 8:30 we noticed it was time to leave a. he and his family were rescued by the national guard. waitevacuated west of new orleans after water spilled over the banks of lake pontchartrain. this m saved with his wife and dogs. they are top notch. >> in nearby plaquemines parish where it first made landfall as many as 800 homes suffered significant damage. the parish president storm worse than hurricane katrina and says parts of pikeman paris tha

president obama has declared federal emergencies in louisiana and mississippi. that frees up federal aid for those affected areas. as many as 700,000 people still do not have power. isaac is also being blamed for at least one death in the region. >> plaquemines parish in louisiana is one of the areas hardest hit by isaac. water overtopped a levee there, flooding hundreds of homes. the parish usually weathers storms pretty well, so many residents were caught off guard. >> we lost power around 10:00, listened to the radio some, drove around just to look at where the water levels are and didn't see water levels elevate. and then laid down for a little bit, had a phone call from parish saying get out, breeching the levee, flee. >> the storm is expected to weaken into a tropical depression today. for more, here's storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. >> right now it's thankfully still a tropical storm, but the terrible winds yesterday of 80 miles an hour are now down to 45 or 50 but they're still getting plagued with heavy rain now north and east of new orleans. ne

president obama has declared federal emergencies in louisiana and mississippi. that frees up federal aid for affected areas. as many as 700,000 people still have no power. isaac is also being blamed for at least one death in the region. we'll go live to new orleans to check on the conditions there in about 15 minutes. >>> isaac is proving to be even more devastating than hurricane katrina in parts of louisiana. water overtopped a levee in plaquemines parish, an area that usually weathers storms well. isaac caught many of its residents off guard and they had to be rescued. >> i didn't expect it to be like this, you know? >> but this one was the worst one we ever had, worst. and let me tell you, it ain't nice. >> just didn't think it would be that bad. everybody was saying it wasn't going to be the tropical storm, that it wasn't going to be bad, so we all rode it out. i wish i wasn't. >> forecasters expect isaac to weaken into a tropical depression later today. even though there was advanced warning a couple days ahead of time, talking about it through the weekend

evacuations have been ordered as a dam threatens to break at park lake near the louisiana- mississippi border. a lot of respect denltsdzs lost their homes -- residents lost their homes, and that storm is dumping more rain on areas that are already under water. karen brown is in laplace, louisiana. >> reporter: a flash flood emergency has been declared in slidell outside of new orleans. 50 people had to be rescued from their flooded homes yesterday. today entire neighborhoods are being evacuated. storm surge is causing a bayou to overflow. up to 5 feet of flooding is expected. in plaquemines parish, plans were put on hold till saturday to cut holes in a levee that overflowed causing homes to flood to their rooftops. the holes would relieve the pressure and allow the water to drain back into the mississippi and nearby marshes. 30 miles west of new orleans in laplace, entire subdivisions were evacuated when isaac's flood waters rushed in. >> a nightmare. >> reporter: the sudden tidal surge caught many people off guard. >> woke up it was fine. next minute it was like all over the place. we

president obama has just signed a declaration of disaster for parts of louisiana and mississippi. the latest live from louisiana and accuweather. and the danger that lies ahead. >> amazing -- it is still raining in louisiana. >> it is going to rain for, for hours, and days they say. >> it's amazing. the storm slowly treks north here. supposed to hit baton rouge, the eye wall, about 2:00 a.m. eastern time this morning. this thing is not over just yet. a lot of damage in suburban new orleans. and we'll get to that in a second. >>> paul ryan takes center stage in tampa accepting the republican vice presidential nomination. while he directly took on president obama, the big question is, did he reach the voters that he wanted to? >>> then, new controversy and questions about what really happened when navy s.e.a.l.s took out osama bin laden. all sparked by the new book from a s.e.a.l. who was there. >>> first, most of louisiana is under a state of emergency and much is under water this morning. >> the floodwaters from isaac, now, a tropical storm, are rising forcing people to flow to saf

inland it will lose strength but also expected to slow down and dump a ton of rain across louisiana mississippi, and eventually into tennessee and kentucky. worth watching over the next couple of days. a lot of change ks still happen between now and landful. we'll keep you ju -- landfall. we'll keep you updated. tomorrow's daytime high around 85 to 90 degrees. cold front arrives into the overnight hours tomorrow bringing a chance for a few showers. not quite as humid but still a warm day approaching 90 and cooler air for the day on wednesday. showers and temperatures in the 60s to lower 70s for tonight and the extended outlook calls for a brief cooldown on wednesday and thursday. the reason you see the 20% could be the remnants of what is now isaac still a little too early to tell but the holiday weekend. put it in the back of your mind that we could be looking at showers as we move into next weekend. >> hopefully not too much. whee wheeeeeeeeeeeee! wheeeeeeeeeeee! whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee-he- he-heeeeee! whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee! pure adrenaline. sfx: snorting sound. whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee!

you know, the whole coast of louisiana, and the whole delta of mississippi and you know, from the air, i could see land disappearing. i tried to get people to talk about it, but it was very difficult, you know, to get people to understand it was going to be a problem, and an issue in our lifetime, people did not think it would happen that fast. but the more land you lose, the faster you lose it. so, this erosion has been speeding up, and you know, right now, you know, we are sing about an acre every hour. that's an acre an hour, not an acre a day. and you know, that is 24 acres every day. and it's over 35 square miles a year. it's a ridiculous amount of land that is watching out to the gulf every year. so, i was always trying to get ahead of the game and try to get -- try to get a decision made, are we going to fix it or are we going to move? because we have been sitting in neutral for such a long time, and you know, still have not really heard a big decisi being made about that. so we keep fighting it and keep trying to figure out what we will do here, but something has to be done so

. >> four people killed by isaac, three in louisiana, one in mississippi. >> reporter: this woman waded through the destruction in search of her father. hundreds of thousands are still without power, more than 15,000 utility workers are on the case in louisiana, mississippi and arkansas. four gulf states remain under flash flood warning. mitt romney will join louisiana governor bobby jindal, touring hard hit areas outside new orleans. president obama will do a tour of his on on monday. isaac has a chance to do goodment it will dump rain on drought striggen parts of the country. it's too much for the sea level areas and the state can't take the rain. we have just the opposite. crystal clear weather to kick off what should be a good looking labor day weekend. the fly in the ointment will come on labor day. 92s it's wham. a hot summer day to wrap up the month of august. it's been a hot summer. might as well anybody up the last day of august. wet throughout the afternoon, -- weather throughout the afternoon, beautiful skies over kept idea, people getting the boats ready for the long weekend

the bid as much rain in parts of louisiana mississippi or alabama at in 48 hours a san francisco might get in the entire deal. >>> romney and poland are now officially the republican nominees for president and vice- president. it was >>> romney did his wife a hug and kiss after her speech at the republican national convention in the cupboard. and romney promised her husband will not fail. she spoke of her personal love story. >>> a storybook marriage? no not at all. what it mitt romney and i have is a real marriage. >>> no one will move heaven and earth and like mitt romney to make this country a better place to live. >>> them with the respect it was always fleeting. but that respect could grow into real and lasting love. >>> he seems the president led leaders don't foul poles. real litter's change polls. >>> despite to answer vice- presidential candidate paul ryan. he will lay out his vision for what a romney run in the administration would look like. >>> i move that holbein from the state of wisconsin be nominated by acclamation. >>> republicans also approve the party platform that i

storm surge at 6 to 12 feet, 15 to 20 feet across southeast louisiana and mississippi over the next couple of days. the other information, movement north and west at 7 miles per hour so moving very slowly. unfortunately the effects across the northern gulf will last for the next 24 to 48 hours. so slow-moving storm. more coming up on isaac in a few minutes. we have some rain showers moving through very light sprinkles at this hour. this rain is associated with a cool front working through our region and will deliver a nice afternoon for us. we'll be in for less humidity. currently 75 in washington our humidity 84%, southwest winds at 5 shifting out of the north and west later today and you're really going to notice that drier air moving in so a nice comfortable afternoon. we have clouds out there at the moment for parts of the area but should be a nice afternoon with again not expecting additional showers with lots of sunshine temperatures topping out about 90 degrees. i'll have more details on our weather and more details on isaac coming up. >> thank you. >>> a big story this morning thou

across the region and late last night president obama declared federal emergencies in both louisiana and mississippi roker and lester holt are in louisiana this morning. lester, good morning to you. >> i think people are just weary now. this storm has been agonizingly slow in its pace, still slowly moving out of town. sheets of rain fell, adding to the worries. residents still facing evacuation as the waters continue to rise. behind me is a flood gate as part of that multi-billion dollar system, it did its job. on the other side, however, is a rural community in plaquemines parish underwater today. >> rooftops stood out like islands in a sea of floodwaters. >> i ain't never soon water like this. >> reporter: dan mason never expected to leave his house through an upstairs window, the price of his underestimating isaac. >> by the time i realized water was coming in, it was almost halfway up the flight of steps. so it was quick. >> reporter: in plaquemines and st. bernard parish, dozens had to be rescued by boatfter the storm surge sent waters over the top of an earthen levee. among them, this 73-year-

killed 6 people in louisiana and mississippi. death toll so far. thousands of homes and businesses still have no electrical power. the white house saying president obama will visit the gulf coast on monday. campaign carl cammeron with governor romney today. is he live tonight in new orleans. carl, the governor with a very

louisiana and mississippi coastal areas. right smack in the middle is new orleans where we're very concerned with things like storm surge and slow moving storm. it's below sea level. they'll turn on the pumps to get rid of all of the water. forecast, quiet day today. if you're near any of the smokeyness, it's not simple. a little thunderstorm activity possible late this afternoon in arizona. once again, isaac landfall near new orleans tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening. >> all right. we'll keep our fingers crossed on that one for sure >>> hertz gobbling up a competitor. you get what you pay for. or you don't. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus, like it or not, believe it or not, she is a mom. >>> the jets continue to struggle. a 15-year-old makes golf history. japan puts on a show in the little league world series. you're watching "early today." >> announcer: early today is brought to you by the makers of centrum. always your most complete. >>> good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'

louisiana. gus over 70 miles per hour. you will see more of that kind of wind and heavier rain move onshore of alabama, mississippi and southeastern louisiana. conditions really are going downhill as the afternoon goes on. you can see on the satellite that in the southern part of the circulation and out to the east, there is perhaps a longer period of rain and wind that will occur. the north side has been a little thinner. when the south side comes to short it will really ramp up. when the center comes to shore, that is not the end of the event. it will be kind of the beginning. that is when the rainfall will really start to get solid four hours and hours. the forecast is for perhaps a little more strengthening before the system comes ashore. it could get a little stronger within this category one hurricane range. cannot completely rule out category two, no. generally speaking, the situation is about what we were expecting yesterday. we had a fairly large category one hurricane that is a big storm surge producer. because of it large size we are still anticipating six-12 feet of storm surge flooding in the coastal areas of mississi

already, the storm is being felt along the coast in alabama and mississippi and louisiana. karen brown is in new orleans where people are bracing for isaac >> the national weather service is warning that life-threatening flooding is possible in the areas outside the city that are outside the levee protection system. those areas are under mandatory evacuation orders and a curfew is in place. we have been feeling the effects of isaac for hours now. flooding is the main concern rain is pelting the shoreline as the nearly 400 mi. wide hurricane begins its this low crawl on land >> 85-100 m.p.h. wind with 125 mi. per hour gusts is plenty big enough >> the massive storm could bring up to 20 in. of rain and a six- 12 ft. storm surge >> the hurricane has a little opportunity to strengthen but i would focus even more on the fact that it is a large hurricane and >> tens of thousands have already evacuated from louisiana, mississippi, alabama and florida. in new orleans there is not a mandatory evacuation order. in the french quarter, businesses are sandbagging and the streets are nea

. >> massive flooding is also expected in many parts of louisiana and mississippi. this was the scene in lakeshore, mississippi last night where some streets are already sub meshed in water. >> in waveland, water from the gulf of mexico swept down

>> looks like louisiana, mississippi landfall.atest advisory has it as a category two storm and it is slowing down, gerri. we will see hours upon hours upon hours of tropical storm force hurricane force wind as well as a strong storm surge flooding and a possibility for those winds and even tornado along the gulf coast so not only new orleans, but inland dealing with flooding and this storm is massive, tropical storm force wind, 200 miles away from the center of the storm. already extending east coast up towards the southeast. the effects of this storm 500 miles away from this storm, huge storm system but we are seeing indications of strengthening on the radar getting very heavy rain across east coast of florida and really tampa the worst of the storm but on the east coast that seemed storm totals over a foot of rain from isaac. the forecast path at 5:00 p.m. came out and we anticipate strengthening possibly within the next couple of hours they could make this a hurricane. the new advisory comes out at 8:00 eastern time. category

and one that is hugging the louisiana/mississippi border. is heaviest and will continue to be happiest through the next six to 12 hours. going forward. getting to the end game. isaac will weaken. make a bit more in northwesterly progress, 24 hours. and swing, further northward, eastward. into the midwest. ohio valley. so missouri in particular going to see rainfall, some heavy rainfall, going a long way toward denting the drought. and localized flash fooding, too much of a good thing. >> thank you for the report, jim. appreciate that very much. one thing i think is important to point out. how many billions of dollars have gone into the area improved storm protection system, and reading this, there was a $1.1 billion lake borne surge barrier, the bary protected eastern new orleans. if you remember the names, the areas were decimated during katrina. which means, what you see there is horrific. it did save a lot of areas as well. the city is safer than seven years age that's some of the good news. >> prime minister waw >>> this morning on "worl

not just louisiana. mississippi as well getting some heavy rain and some of the outer feeder bands, this have been reports of possible tornadoes as well -- there have been reports of possible tornadoes as well. that is another issue. with it moving so slowly, it will continue to spin down here and bring extremely heavy rains and pounding waves, a storm surge here expected to be about 6 to 12 feet later this morning. just getting the update here from the national hurricane center. maximum winds, 08 miles per hour moving to the west- northwest at eight. that pressure still down from yesterday. no signs of weakening yet. notice how showily it is moving here over the next several hours. even at 7:00 tonight, it is not budging a whole lot. it is still in southern louisiana. here is the forecast track over the next several days. it will become a player in our forecast late this weekend. it is expected to be there by 7:00 sunday night, just east of chicago. look like some of of the remnants could get in here late sunday an

so that l shape there with louisiana and mississippi, that corner kind of funnels the storm surge in there so the national hurricane center is forecasting 6 to 12 feet of water above the land on the extreme southeast part of louisiana. that would be outside the levy. that will not, according to current calculations, challenge levies. let me bring you up-to-date. this is going to be critical. here are the numbers as of the latest advisory. we have a 65 mian hour tropical storm. we are down to where you normally have a pressure with a category 1 hurricane. we are going to see if we are upgraded at 5:00. moving to the northwest in southeastern louisiana and new orleans area. here is a picture similar to the one you are showing and we have two things to look at tp one is, we are seeing the purple sustain themselves in the center. not rapid strengthening. also tremendous rain over florida, flooding rains from southeast florida on up to central florida along the east coast that may move into the tampa area. but in any case, effecting a big population if florida. here is the time line. today

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 to

as far as evacuations go, mandatory evacs are under ware throughout louisiana, mississippi.rews and reporters are saying they are riding this one out. they are staying put especially in new orleans which ordered not to opt those evacuations. i want to tell you about three airports, you have new orleans and mobile and gulf port have stopped commercial flight operations cancelling close to 1500 flights in anticipation of this hurricane. >>> mitt romney has said it very plainly, if elected he will act to repeal obama care beginning day one in office. democrats consider the health care reforms their biggest achievement in decades. it's landmark legislation. that includes the provision that bars insurers for denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions. people like ann romney who is to address this convention. she's a breast cancer survivor and diagnosed with multiple sclerosis back in 1998. with me now is our senior correspondent elizabeth cohen. where specifically is mitt romney on preexisting conditions? >> reporter: he's very clear that he will repeal obama care. th

a dam at a lake near the louisiana-mississippi border is under pressure. they had just rebuild their house from katrina. now it is under water again. >> people really like living there. >> why would you stick around? >> every seven years or so. >> we are on the better side of things now. 87 degrees, a normal high of 83. tomorrow it will be down right hot. the record height is still in the triple digit range, 101, 1953. a little bit of thunderstorm activity down in eastern virginia. comfortable temperatures for tonight. 84 in downtown baltimore. we will start to see these temperatures cool off nicely. bottoming out and the low 60's. the winds will become calm and it should be a pleasant summer evening. high-pressure sitting north of us. the high is going to be moving off the coast. the heat in the middle of the country will start inching our way. 100 in kansas city right now, 90 degrees in chicago. expect the temperatures to go up friday and saturday. st. louis and parts of little rock and central illinois, they will get a much-needed rain. you can see the

the upgraded flood protection in new orleans did it stop, but near -- at dam it near the louisiana-mississippi border is in danger of failing. the state park is threat of failure. >> authorities are conducting a controlled breach of the dam to pressure and prevent catastrophic flooding. >> is it still poses a threat to several states in its path in the next couple of days -- still poses a threat. go back to the storms can and show you the circulation. it still looks tropical but it is a depression. top winds are only 35. some of the rain totals have astounding, close to 20 louisiana.ammond, over 2 feet of rain in some isolated areas. it is headed slowly to the north and the northeast. are weakening, but if the circulation senator going through monday and that might interact features herether some showers and thundershowers late sunday night and monday. more on that coming up in just a few minutes. extra money in the bank for the state of maryland. has ended the fiscal year with $230 million more than expected. the controller says the money weakness inongoing state's job market. he suggests the

president obama did declare louisiana, mississippi, disaster areas tonight. that will open up some federal money down here. and 95% of the oil wells out in the gulf of mexico still shut down. gas has gone up nine cents in the past week, so, isaac may find its way into your wallet eventually that way. when we come back, my colleague terry moran will join us from tampa with the latest on paul ryan's big night at the republican convention there. and a reminder that in the morning, sam champion and his extreme weather team will have the latest on isaac's path on "good morning america." stay with us, everybody. [ female announcer ] they can be enlightening. hey, bro. or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow. at wells fargo, we believe you can never underestimate the power of a conversation. it's this exchange of ideas that helps you move ahead with confidence. so when the conversation turns to your financial goals... turn to us. if you need anything else, let me know. wells fargo. together we'll go far. nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose cla