time now to get you a check of your top stories in the cnn newsroom. >>> here in the cnn newsroom i'mra feyerick in today for don lemon. let's get you up to speed on the stories making headlines this hour. there he is. the republican candidate for vice president of the united states. mitt romney announced today wisconsin congressman paul ryan running along side him for the white house. the two are making their next official stop as ticket mates right now in virginia. we're live from manassas in just a minute. a few hours ago president obama landed in chicago to host a series of high dollar fundraisers. ticket price $40,000 to attend the president's fundraiser tomorrow at his hyde park home. the president's campaign took a quick jab at paul ryan today saying ryan supports tax cuts for the wealthy that will hurt the middle class. meanwhile, vice president joe biden called ryan today to congratulate him and welcome him to the race. for the second time in less than 24 hours u.s. troops in southern afghanistan are the target of a deadly attack. a man wearing civilian clothing opened fire o

now to carol costello in the "cnn newsroom." >>> happening now in the "cnn newsroom," you are better off? the question of the night. is mitt romney and the republicans vie for the grail of holy voters, the independents. >> america has been patient. americans have supported this president in good faith. but today the time has come to turn the page. >> this morning, a fact check of romney's claims to create 12 million jobs. >>> plus this. >> what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that. he can't do that to himself. you're crazy. you're absolutely crazy. >> clint and the empty chair. the off the script speech that has everyone buzzing this morning. >> i'm rob marciano in new orleans where the rain has stopped, but in many parts of the state, the floodwaters have yet to recede. a live report coming up. >>> in new york, it's the eve of penn state's season opener. i sat down with some of the players to talk about what pressure they feel as the school tries to rebuild itself in the wake of the sex abuse scandal. i'll have that story coming up. >>> and roddick's retirement

"cnn newsroom" with frederirick whitfield is beginning right now. >> a tongue twister. it happens all the time >> no, it's not. dad. >>> good morning and hello, everyone. happening right now in the "cnn newsroom" -- west nile virus. more states, more infections. new concerns as officials warn the disease is getting much worse. >>> and it just got uglier. vice president joe biden telling a crowd of mostly african-americans that mitt romney's policies will put people quote, unquote, back in chains. mitt romney tells obama to take his campaign of hate back to chicago. have we reached a new low in the presidential race? >>> and wildfire threatens. homes and lives being destroyed. blazes in the west with no chance of rain making matters worse. an area the size of new hampshire torched this year alone. >>> and which ek this out. an amazing car crash caught on camera right there. and the driver actually walks away with just a few minor injuries. his car rolled over eight times. a story of survival as the "cnn newsroom" begins right now. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm fredrick

happening right now in the newsroom, convention threat. cnn has obtained a bulletin warning anarchists could use homemade bombs at the political conventions. new concerns about extremists as tens of thousands gather in tampa. >>> zero, 0%. according to a new poll, that's the number of black voters who support mitt romney. how is that possible? >>> inside the raid, but outside approval. a new book by a navy s.e.a.l. about the assault that killed osama bin laden. it comes out on september 11. but this morning, the pentagon wants to know why it wasn't kept in the loop on this project. >>> plus this. >> a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook the nation's capital a year ago today, damaging some of the national monuments. find out about reconstruction efforts coming up. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. >>> and good morning. only one more day until friday. thank you for joining us this morning. i'm carol costello. right now, we're going to take a look at the double trouble looming over the republican national convention. just a few days before its kickoff,

>> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> wow. >>> next hour of "cnn newsroom" >>> next hour of "cnn www.vitac.com with the fidelity stock screener, you can try strategies from independent experts and see what criteria they use. such as a 5% yield on dividend-paying stocks. then you can customize the strategies and narrow down to exactly those stocks you want to follow. i'm mark allen of fidelity investments. the expert strategies feature is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. >>> good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining us this morning. happening now in the newsroom, seconds from disaster. three jets put on a collision course at reagan national airport, just moments from a midair collision. we'll hear what was going on in the control room. >>> money in the bank. your job and your paycheck. cnn has new numbers on how much of a raise you could expect next year. >>> the war on terror. three suspected terrorists captured in spain. the interior ministry calls this the biggest operation agains

this hour in the "cnn newsroom," life on mars. rover curiosity are expected this hour. let's get right to it. we're waiting for a nasa news conference in california. scientists will explain how they pulled off one of the most complicated interstellar rover landings in history. but for now, all eyes on this. the very first video of the curiosity landing, released today. the grainy video was shot onboard moments before touching down. john zarrella and chad myers join me now for more. so, john, let's start with you. you have been following the story very closely and are live at nasa's jet propulsion laboratory in california. tell us about this new video and what exactly are we seeing? >> reporter: well, in fact, zoraida, what we're seeing in this video are images taking from the descent camera, made by space industries down in san diego. and the video shows the curiosity rover as it is descending down through the atmosphere to the touchdown on mars. it was 297 images all put together into one continuous short video. and then there wa

the next hour of the "cnn newsroom," don lemon starts newsroom," don lemon starts right now. -- captions.vitac.com >>> hello, everyone. don lemon here, and suzanne is off today. this hour in the "cnn newsroom," we are going to focus on exciting new pictures coming back from mars and new details into the investigation of the wisconsin shooter. police say now that he killed himself. right to the news right now. a couple of grainy pictures have the space guys all fired up at nasa, and they should be fired up. these are the first color images beamed back to earth from the mars rover called curiosity, and the latest earth visitor to mars. nasa says it is in great shape and working perfectly. so far. john zarrella, and the jet propulsion laboratory in california. and john, i have been watching you for days now and i stayed up and watched when it finally landed. i talked to you this weekend ap it is exciting then and exciting now, and what is the level like there today? >> yeah, it is spectacular and we have treats today for the viewer. you can see the room i'm in and it is actually yellow, bec

welcome to "cnn newsroom." i'm carol costello.ching right now in the newsroom, stocks poised for a lower open as investors react to disappointing economic news with initial jobless claims staying about the same. ringing the opening bell at the new york stock exchange this morning, the management of wageworks, a leading provider of flex spending accounts. >>> two international space station crew members now walking in space. these are live pictures of that spacewalk. astronauts sonny williams and japanese astronaut have begun a 6 1/2 hour mission to replace a camera and electronics outside of the international space station. >>> tropical storm isaac moving slowly across louisiana. the storm now centered 110 miles northwest of new orleans where more rescues are underway. nearly 1 million people in five states without power due to isaac. >>> 2012 could be the worst year ever for the west nile virus outbreaks in the united states since the disease first appeared in 1999. that is according to the cdc, which reports 66 deaths so far, wi

"cnn newsroom" is starting right "cnn newsroom" is starting right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.comeveryone, i'm don lemon and suzanne is off today. president barack obama speaking in the swing state of colorado. there he is. let's listen in, shall we? >> and once again building around the core idea that built this country, the idea that if you work hard you can make it. the idea that in america everybody gets a fair shot. and everybody does their fair share. and everybody plays by the same set of rules. the idea that in america we rise or fall together. and government can't solve every problem, and it shouldn't try. and it certainly can't help folks who are not willing to help themselves, but there's some things that we can do together as a people that makes us all better off. that makes our country strong. and that our economy works best when the middle-class is growing and feeling secure. now, i have to tell you that we have less than three months left in the election. less than three months. time's flying. and over the next three months, you will see more negative ads, more mone

now time for the top stories on "cnn newsroom." >>> this is "cnn sunday morning." 100 million miles.2.6 billion. nasa's curiosity rover expected to land on mars tonight. >>> plus -- >> is she allowed to have a boyfriend? >> no. >> party on the weekends? >> no. >> is she allowed to take a few days off and just not train when she's worn out? >> no. >> a lifetime of sacrifices may lead to a necklace of gold. but regardless of performance, three american boxers will make history in london just by showing up. >>> all the pomp but none of the pressure. want to know the best job in the country? we'll have one comedian's take. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm randi kaye. thank you for starting your morning with us. we begin in syria where rebels are braces for what could be a final showdown with the government military. the government troops are advancing on the city of aleppo. warplanes and tanks have been pounding the commercial hub relentlessly. opposition fighters say they have surrounded aleppo's highest point, where regime forces are already holed up. senior international correspondent

. >> cnn newsroom starts at the top of the hour. is here to tell us what's coming up. >> paul ryan, running mate announcement. was it a bold move? will this be a distinctive quality? we'll be talking about that. and then our legal guys will be with us as they always are. we're going to talk about facebook and when you like someone are you protected by the first amendment. there's an interesting case that involves a young man who liked someone who turned out to be an opponent of his boss who was running for office and then he got fired. so what are the protections as it pertains to the first amendment and social media in general. >>> then we'll also talk about cheer leading and whether cheer leading on the university level is protected by title nine. that's another case our guys are going to explore. and the olympics, this is the final weekend and there's been a lot of expressed disappointment by lolo jones, the hurdler. a lot of critics and fans have talked about her and her journey there at the olympic games. i talk with her about

time now for a check of your top stories in the cnn newsroom. >>> welcome to the cnn newsroom. i'm alison kosik in for don lemon. president obama is in new hampshire campaigning for support in another of the small but critically important battleground states. earlier in florida republican vice presidential candidate paul ryan brought his mom along to defend his medicare plans before an audience of mostly senior citizens. reports on both campaigns coming up in just about two minutes. the great recession is officially over but the budget cuts continue in public schools across the country. a new white house report finds 300,000 education jobs have been lost since the end of the recession in june of 2009. the cuts have also led to fewer school days and larger class sizes. at least 172 people were killed across syria today in street fighting, bombings, and shelgs according to an opposition network based in syria. also today nobody will say for certain whether syria's vice president has defected as opposition leaders are claiming. if it's true, he is the highest level official to lea

welcome in. >>> welcome back to "cnn newsroom."ashes on the gulf coast, the storm has weakened to barely hurricane strength, but it is still pounding the region with heavy rain, and we are talking about strong winds expected to last all day and all night. that is because issac is moving very slowly. the longer it hangs around, the more pressure, of course, it is putting on the systems built to protect against all of that flooding. the water is already pouring over a levee and flooding plaquemines parish southeast of new orleans and floodwaters 14 feet deep and rising in some areas, and some homes are totally underwater. energy officials say that more than half a million customers are without power in louisiana alone. i want to go to st. charles parish west of new orleans and officials there have asked people to cut back on flushing the toilets because of the power outages and bracing for the storm surge, and flooding reported everywhere. we have with us on the phone council clayton snooki fuche, and tell us what it is like in your

time now to get you a check of your top stories in the cnn newsroom. >>> here in the cnn newsroom i'm debra feyerick in today for don lemon. let's get you up to speed on the stories making headlines this hour. there he is. the republican candidate for vice president of the united states. mitt romney announced today wisconsin congressman paul ryan running along side him for the white house. the two are making their next official stop as ticket mates right now in virginia. we're live from manassas in just a minute. a few hours ago president obama landed in chicago to host a series of high dollar fundraisers. ticket price $40,000 to attend the president's fundraiser tomorrow at his hyde park home. the president's campaign took a quick jab at paul ryan today saying ryan supports tax cuts for the wealthy that will hurt the middle class. meanwhile, vice president joe biden called ryan today to congratulate him and welcome him to the race. for the second time in less than 24 hours u.s. troops in southern afghanistan are the target of a deadly attack. a man wearing civilian clothing opened fi

"cnn newsroom" continues now with alino cho. >>> nice to see you. thanks for joining us.'s been bard ford for a long . people say the battle intensified by a lot of government war planes up the amount of bombs dropped and state tv says the government troops have taken control of one of aleppos strategic neighborhoods but rebel leaders say not so fast. they deny the followers are retreating from their strongholds and say neither side has gained ground. getting an accurate picture of what's going on inside aleppo can be tricky. i want to bring in our ben wedeman. he's just gotten out of aleppo after spending two days on the front line of the battle there. we have some of the pictures that you brought with us. tell us what did you see while you were there. >> reporter: what we saw was a city very much at war, at least about half of it under the control of the free syrian army. the government is not hesitating to use its fire power, it artillery to fire not only upon the combatants in neighbors like salahuddin but other neighbors as well where they still have significant popu

. >>> cnn newsroom starts at the top of the hour.e to tell us what she has in store. >> as usual, starting noon eastern time, our brilliant minds, the legal guys will be along with us, richard and avery. they're goug to talk about how everyone is accustomed to fees when you fly, you have gas fees, airline fees. how about passenger usage fees? some passengers are suing. spirit airlines is saying what is that? what is a passenger usage fee? do we have to pay it? >> isn't that what a ticket is? >> that's a good point. maybe can you join in on that class action suit. they want answers. they want compensation. our legal guys will be jumping in on that one. and then we'll have a doctor along to give us an idea as to why baby boomers are being urged to get hepatitis c testing. what's at issue there? >>> and then the weekend, so why not go to the movies? before you go, want to hear from rottentomatoes.com. we're going to see this behind the scenes video of what the rottentomatoes.com team up is against. how do they review their movies? how d

you are in the cnn newsroom. let's get right to today. big development in syria. rebels are saying the syrian vice president has defected and they are trying to get him out of the country and into nearby jordan. observers view him as more powerful than the syrian prime minister who also recently fled the regime. syrian state tv did not say whether he had indeed defected but made a statement saying he would never think of leaving the homeland. some of the heaviest fighting in syria in the past couple days has been in the city of aleppo. ben wedeman says he was in aleppo visiting a rebel controlled hospital when it came under air attack from the syrian forces. we do want to caution you here, the story does contain some very graphic images. [ speaking in other language ] >> reporter: 12-year-old muhammad screams out in fear and pain. shrapnel ripped through his right leg in an air raid on the hospital in aleppo's shah district. three passersby including muhammad were wounded in the attack. the task of treating the wounded here, harder by the day, this nurse tells me.

you're in the "cnn newsroom." i'm fredricka whitfield. >>> wikileaks founder julian assange made a bold move today stepping out on the balcony of the embassy in london, his first public appearance in months. a crowd of supporters watched as assange delivered a blunt message to the u.s. cnn's atika shubert was there. >> reporter: it's been two months since julian assange sought refuge inside the embassy of ecuador around almost two years since two women in sweden brought allegations of sex crimes against him. that's why sweden wants him extradited and what julian assange is fighting against. but today assange addressed his supporters from that balcony, still a protective part of the embassy of ecuador where he has now been granted asylum. scores of his supporters came out to hear him while british police stood guard. he told supporters his fight was purely political. >> there is unity in the oppression. there must be absolute unity and determination in the response. i ask president obama to do the right thing. the

you're in the "cnn newsroom." i'm fredricka whitfield. >>> we begin in egypt where president mohamed morsi has ordered two top generals to retire. morsi is seen with both of them in some images you're about to look at. the egyptian leader has also canceled a constitution decree issued by the army limiting presidential powers. there he is there with the generals at each side. our ian lee is on the phone with us now live from cairo. ian, can morsi do this and have the generals actually accepted this decision? >> reporter: well, fredricka, it looks like so far from what we're hearing that this is going to go through. and just to give a little bit of context, the field marshal was probably the most powerful man in egypt, now mohamed morsi is the most powerful man in egypt. also comes as president mohamed morsi sacked his head of intelligence. he sacked the head of the republican guard, which oversees security. there was a lot of turnover right now within the security service, within the military. this is all coming as

cnn "newsroom" starts right now. >>> and good morning, everyone. i'm deborah feyerick in for carol costello. four candidates, five states, it's a jam-packed day in the race for the white house with candidates giving speeches today. president obama continues his tour throughout iowa. he'll be speaking about two hours and follows that up with a stop of marshalltown and then water loo and mitt romney in the midwest. before the day's over visiting three cities in ohio. his running mate paul ryan hitting two states today with events in lakewood, colorado, and las vegas tonight. vice president joe biden not to be left out making two stops in virginia including remarks next hour. >>> back to the president in iowa. dan lothian with the president and, dan, three days in a major farm state that only has six electoral votes. obviously the president's team feels it's a state they need to win. >> they really do. look back to 2008. this is a state that the president won by ten points and look at the polling, a tight race. iowa with a handful of other key battleg

. >>> the next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> hello, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield in for suzanne malveaux. focusing on the economy. plus, new pictures from mars. but first, a tennessee mosque that opponents have tried to keep closed is opening for the first time today. the islamic center in murfreesboro has endured two years of court challenges, protests, even a bomb threat and arson attack. opponents claim mosque leaders are trying to spread radical islam. the leaders deny that and say they're ready to put the battle behind them. >> from now on, we're going to look for a brighter fuehrer. we're going to look for a united community, a prosperous community, and the negativity over the last two years will go away in no time. >>> in afghanistan today, three american service members were killed by a gunman wearing an afghan military uniform. it happened here in the unstable helmand province. we heard a few details and about a couple of attacks on coalition forces this week alone. chris lawrence is at the pentagon. chris, what happened

"cnn newsroom" with carol costello begins right now. we'll see everybody else back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. good morning. >>> hi, soledad. happening now in the newsroom, the greatest ever swimming sensation michael phelps smashing the record books, winning his 19th olympic medal. a chance at history being made again this morning as he gets back in the pool. >>> it's happened again. another needle found in another airline catered sandwich. just two weeks after delta had to deal with the same issue. what's going on? >>> controversial coverage. the mandate requiring employers to provide free birth control to women kicks in today. critics say it's the beginning of the end of religious freedom. this morning, a gut check. >>> bad behavior in badminton. the future of eight players is on the line. did they throw their olympic game? i'm zain verjee in london. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. >>> good morning. thank you for being with us. i'm carol costello. we begin with chick-fil-a appreciation day. and what's become depending on who

. >>> "cnn newsroom" begins right now. >>> thanks, john. thanks, brooke. >>> happening now in the "newsroom," a plane crash caught on camera. video taken by people inside the plane. they share their amazing video and close brush with death. >>> goldman sachs off the hook. the company lost more than $1 billion peddling risky investments. but after months of investigating, the justice department says there is no crime. >>> plus this. lightning strikes again. usain bolt, the fastest man at the olympic games, says he's not done yet. "newsroom" begins right now. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm in today for carol costello. we begin this morning with disturbing new attacks on american forces in afghanistan and the chilling effect they could have on brings the troops home. the latest ambush just hours ago. a man wearing an afghan military uniform shoots to death three americans in the volatile helmand province. according to reuters, the americans were killed by an afghan police commander and several of his officers. the afghan leader had invited th

welcome back to "cnn newsroom." top stories we're following this hour, firefighters will face blistering temperatures and possible storms in their ongoing battle against wildfires in the west. at least 70 large fires are burning tens of thousands of acres in 13 states west of the mississippi. >>> three members of the all-girl russian punk band pussy riot have been convicted by a russian judge of hooliganism. they face a potential sentence of up to seven years in prison. the band had criticized russian president vladimir putin while performing in a church earlier this year. >>> a labor department survey finds 90% of singles who lost jobs in the economic downturn are now working. just 22% of married people who were job else have found work. part of the reason is singles tend to be younger, more flexible with relocating, and possibly more desperate to find work. >>> best video of the day, a monument now marks the spot where barack and michelle obama first kissed. it was where an ice cream shop once stood in 1989 in sub

time now for a check of your top stories in the cnn newsroom. >>> hello everyone. i'm don lemon. you so much for joining us. we'll start with developing news. we have some severe weather coming out of the chicago area. apparently there is a lollapalooza festival going on in chicago. this is grant park which is downtown chicago and all of these people i would imagine they are entering the venue. maybe leaving. i'm not sure. but again, there is bad weather, severe thunderstorms rolling through the area right now and this is courtesy of wls. our meteorologist rob marciano on top of this for me. rob, help me out here. what's going on? >> they're filing out, don. they've just suspended festivities at lollapalooza because of the line of storms that's moving in the last couple years we've had a rash of accidents and unfortunate events with concerts and outdoor venues during summer time severe weather events like we're having right now. that's what's happening out at lollapalooza. we have another tower cam showing michigan avenue outside of our cnn bureau there in chicago. traffic at a s

>>> welcome back to the cnn newsroom. i'm fredericka whitfield. sad news to pass on to you, the passing of a legend. 82-year-old neil armstrong has died. his family members say he died from complications due from cardiovascular procedures. the family releasing a statement saying they are heartbroken. this is the man that you all know as the first man who walked on the moon back in 1969. and the first to utter the words, "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." here now is john zarella. >> reporter: neil armstrong was born at his grandparents' farm in ohio in 1930 when air travel was still in its infancy and space travel was the stuff of science fiction. but armstrong says he had the same dream over and over again. he was hovering above the ground and holding his breath. armstrong took his first airplane ride when a ford tri-motor, a plane called the twin goose, came to a local airfield. as a teenager he began taking flying lessons, even before getting his driver's license. armstrong earned a degree in aeronautical engineering. he flew

you're in the cnn newsroom. i'm fredricka whitfield. mitt romney and his newly announced runningate aren't wasting any time hitting the campaign trail. just a few hours after introducing wisconsin congressman paul ryan as his vice presidential running mate the presumptive republican ticket is making its case to voters in virginia. right now they are in virginia getting ready to hold their third event of the day, a rally in the town of manassas. cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta is on the way to manassas on the press bus there. jim, what's the message romney and ryan are holding on to? >> well, we've seen a lot of messages today from the romney/ryan ticket. we can now call it that starting this morning where mitt romney really threw down the gauntlet to the obama campaign and said this is not going to be about a personal attack in this campaign. it's going to be about the issues. and they started to get into some of those issues. paul ryan of course took the stage and talked about the need to cut the national debt in this

the cnn newsroom continues at the top of the hour with don lemon. but first, catching olympic cheaters. how some athletes are gaming the system. sanjay gupta m.d. starts right now. >>> we've seen world and olympic records shattered in london but no athlete has come under more scrutiny than the 16-year-old swimmer ye shiwen. she beat her personal best by five seconds and in the process broke the world record by a second as well. her final lap was faster than the last lap in the men's gold medal swim. that performance has set off whispers, some accusations about doping, some of it subtle, some not. for example, john leonard, a top u.s. coach, called the performance suspicious and, quote, not right. the ioc spokesman mark adam says the top five finishers of every event are tested to ensure clean wins. ye was no different. >> suffice to say in this case pure rumors, nothing at all of fact or substance and i have heard no word at all from our drugs testing people so i think people should really sit back and enjoy a great performance. >> the world antidop

the cnn newsroom continues at the top of the hour with don lemon.aters. how some athletes are gaming the system. sanjay gupta m.d. starts right now. >>> we've seen world and olympic records shattered in london but no athlete has come under more scrutiny than the 16-year-old swimmer ye shiwen. she beat her personal best by five seconds and in the process broke the world record by a second as well. her final lap was faster than the last lap in the men's gold medal swim. that performance has set off whispers, some accusations about doping, some of it subtle, some not. for example, john leonard, a top u.s. coach, called the performance suspicious and, quote, not right. the ioc spokesman mark adam says the top five finishers of every event are tested to ensure clean wins. ye was no different. >> suffice to say in this case pure rumors, nothing at all of fact or substance and i have heard no word at all from our drugs testing people so i think people should really sit back and enjoy a great performance. >> the world antidoping agency and the ioc keep a ve

"cnn newsroom" beginning right "cnn newsroom" beginning right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.comampaign trail today but not with his new running mate. they're splitting up, at least just for the morning. each visiting a battleground state. the newest member of the ticket, paul ryan, heads to iowa. he will speak at the state fair in des moines while romney is in florida. his event in st. augustine wrapped up just a few minutes ago. that's where we find our national political correspondent jim acosta. jim, did romney make any news out there? >> well, i have to tell you, deb, one thing that we noticed from this crowd this morning is that there was a little less energy in the crowd without paul ryan at mitt romney's side. he sort of called attention to the fact that there was sort of a smallish looking crowd around him. there were hundreds of people waiting to get in. they couldn't get in because of the security line here was just enormous. there was a line going around the block outside of this event. but this event was very much about his running mate paul ryan. you can see mitt ro

. >>> hello, you're in the "cnn newsroom." i'm fredricka whitfield. >>> we're tracking tropical storm isaac. it is getting stronger. where this storm will go, however, is still not certain but it looks like florida may avoid a direct hit. that's good news for florida but now forecasters warn isaac is zeroing in on the gulf coast, possibly new orleans, louisiana. and forecasters say by the time isaac hits the coast, it will be a hurricane, possibly a powerful one. we have our team covering this storm. let's begin in key west with jim spelman who joins us there, already feeling the outer band of this storm. let us know what's happening there. >> reporter: yeah, hey, fredricka. we saw a band go through here for about 45 minutes, really intense heavy rain. that's let up a little bit. wind are still howling. they're really preparing for more of a rain event and possibly a storm surge one to four feet. it will come in right there way, from the south right in to key west. there were some surfers out here earlier. they've even gone in

. >> coming up in the cnn newsroom sunday, a controversial new policy at a denver university where undocumentedigrants can get a reduced tuition. we are seeing a lot of negative presidential ads. how do they stack up to the more notorious ads of the past? a talk with macy gray working hard to maintain her individuality. all that and more coming up sunday. allison? >> thanks. american troops being killed by the very people they are helping to train. we will look at sweeping changes to protect our troops from those who are there to help. . ordinary rubs don't always work on my arthritis. try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. >>> nato commanders are making changes in how they conduct and protect themselves. that's after a string of attacks after officers and policemen violently turning on nato forces. details from cnn pentagon correspondent, barbara star. >> at least 24 american troops in afghanistan attacked and killed by afghan forces this year. the top commander, general john allen is ordering massive new secu

"cnn newsroom" begins right now. >>> and good morning. thank you so much for joining us this morning. i'm carol costello. we begin right now with tropical storm isaac. right now it's growing stronger and closer and expected to be a hurricane when it charges ashore. new orleans and the mississippi gulf coast in the crosshairs. isaac's landfall to come late tonight or early tomorrow, the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina. and it is that disaster that largely defines how prepared the city of new orleans is today. cnn meteorologist rob marciano is at one of the levees rebuilt in hurricane katrina's aftermath. is the system ready, rob? >> reporter: well, you ask the army corps of engineers and they say a resounding yes. you ask residents and they scratch their head and say, we'll see, because a lot of people point out, you know, we build things as men, and mother nature has a way of sometimes taking them apart. well, yesterday, we showed up close what those pumps and levee systems and channel closures look like on the ground. but we got