Heavy Flooding Along Gulf Coast; Romney's Post-Convention Push; The Aftermath of Isaac; Isaac Soaking Parts of The Midwest
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is EARLY START WEEKEND.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First we were going to try to leave, and then we didn't, because we had nowhere to go.</s>KAYE: The storm is over, but the heartache has just begun. Stories of survival in the wake of Hurricane Isaac.</s>MAYOR CORY BOOKER (D), NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: We are the party that says America can be America for everyone. And that is what this platform is about.</s>KAYE: All week the spotlight was on the Republicans. Now it's the Democrats' turn. This morning, we're putting the Democratic platform in focus.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted someone with blonde hair and blue eyes.</s>KAYE: She says she was fired for her looks. And now some say it is corporate policy. We'll look at the ugly side of retail. It is Saturday, September 1st. Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. Glad you're with us on this Labor Day weekend. We start with Isaac this morning. The storm that continues to drench the Gulf Coast. So far, the storm is being blamed for four deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi. One couple was found in this house in their flooded kitchen. The heavy rains have also caused massive flooding. And it's not done yet. John Zarrella has more on the damage and the lingering effects of Isaac.</s>JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, thousands of people living within half a mile of the banks of the Tangipahoa River here in Louisiana were ordered to evacuate. There was concern after the storm that a dam up north in Mississippi might break. One of the many lingering effects from Hurricane Isaac.</s>ZARRELLA (voice-over): Hurricane Isaac descended on Louisiana Tuesday night, nearly seven years to the day that Hurricane Katrina struck. Isaac wasn't such a monster, but it was still a killer, parked on top of Louisiana, Mississippi and parts of Alabama. Hundreds had to be rescued.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's it like back there now?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bad. The water's over the top of the roof. We had to break through the ceiling and come through the attic.</s>ZARRELLA: Others weren't so lucky. The category one hurricane has claimed at least four lives in the U.S. And some, like Gene Odo (ph), were trapped in their own homes.</s>GENE ODO (voice-over): Right now, in my attic with my wife and my year-and-a-half-old baby. The local police came around about 2:00 in the morning, told us the levee broke. And within an hour, the water was coming up. It looks like we lost everything.</s>ZARRELLA: And it's not over yet. The slow moving storm continues to wreak havoc, with heavy rainfall and flooding, which overtopped the levee with water in New Orleans.</s>BILLY NUNGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH: I have more damage for this storm than I did for Katrina.</s>ZARRELLA: In Mississippi, there was concern over a potential dam collapse. Now officials say the dam, holding back the Isaac swollen Tangipahoa Lake is not failing, but engineers are working to pump water out to release the pressure. Down river in Louisiana, the parish president ordered thousands to evacuate along the 54 miles it runs through the parish, just in case.</s>GORDON BURGESS, PRESIDENT, TANGIPAHOA PARISH: My concern is whether it's one person or 50,000. A life is a life is a life.</s>JOHNNY WOMACK, KENTWOOD, LOUISIANA, RESIDENT: It's down here. It's like that all time.</s>ZARRELLA: Not everyone is listening. Johnny Womack sent his family to higher ground, but he's not going anywhere.</s>WOMACK: I ain't going nowhere, man. I've been here work -- I built that house myself and I ain't going to leave and let somebody just take it from me. If he take it from me, at least I'm going to see it go.</s>ZARRELLA: Isaac has left many with unsafe drinking water and more than 800,000 without power. Not just in Louisiana, but Mississippi, Alabama and even Arkansas. And it's not over yet. There's a chance of tornadoes as the region digs out from what Isaac left behind. John Zarrella, CNN, Amite, Louisiana.</s>KAYE: And be sure to stick with us for more on Isaac and what's next. Coming up in about 30 minutes or so, I'll be talking with the Red Cross about their efforts in the area and we'll let you know how you can help. The remnants of Isaac will making for a wet holiday weekend in the Midwest. You can also blame the storm, at least partially, for the rise in gas prices. If you're driving this Labor Day weekend, prepare to pay the highest Labor Day prices in recent memory. $3.83 a gallon is the national average for a gallon of regular. It's up 30 cents from what you paid in July. To politics now and the race for the White House. Mitt Romney moving on from Tampa, Florida. and the Republican Convention. Today he is in Ohio. We'll bring his comments there to you live later this morning. Ohio is just the latest stop on the post convention tour as the campaign looks to build momentum. CNN national political correspondent Jim Acosta has more.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi, instead of visiting three battleground states, Mitt Romney made a surprise visit to New Orleans to survey storm damage after Tropical Storm Isaac. It's just another reminder that in this two month sprint to the finish, there will be some twists and turns along the way.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitt Romney!</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): Just before takeoff from Florida, Mitt Romney picked up where he left off at the convention, returning to his sales pitch to independent voters who chose the president four years ago.</s>MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You listened to the last guy running for president. He laid out what he would do. He was unable to do it. It's time to give someone new a chance. Hold us accountable.</s>ACOSTA: Joining the GOP nominee to make the case, arguably the star of the convention, Ann Romney.</s>ANN ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S WIFE: Give this man a chance and he will not fail.</s>ACOSTA: And his running mate, Paul Ryan, tried to set the terms for the debate to come.</s>PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is the chance where we have a choice. Do we want the failed leadership, the stagnant economy, the debt crisis, the welfare state or do we want that opportunity society, that American idea where everybody can make the most of their lives and define happiness for themselves?</s>ACOSTA: Romney was showing off a newly wrapped campaign plane and mixing up his schedule. He dropped a previously planned trip to Virginia to survey the damage left by Tropical Storm Isaac in Louisiana.</s>M. ROMNEY: And I've got a lot of questions for you, but I'm here to learn and obviously to draw some attention to what's going on here so that people around the country know that folks here need help.</s>ACOSTA: There was also some cleaning up to do after the convention that had nothing to do with all of those balloons.</s>CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR AND DIRECTOR: What? 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.</s>ACOSTA: Clint Eastwood's rambling improm (ph) script with an empty chair that was supposed to be President Obama had some on the convention floor cheering. But reporters took note the Romney family was not laughing.</s>A. ROMNEY: We appreciated Clint's support. And he's a unique guy and he did a unique thing last night.</s>ACOSTA: The campaign seemed to defend the actor in a statement saying, "judging an American icon like Clint Eastwood through a typical, political lens doesn't work. His ad libbing was a break from all the political speeches, and the crowd enjoyed it." But the president's Twitter account took notice, sending out this tweet aimed at Eastwood and Romney that says, "this seat's taken."</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, POLITICAL AD: Not a word about his record in Massachusetts where job growth was 47th out of 50.</s>ACOSTA: In signs of the tough fight to come, the Obama campaign released a web video countering Romney's speech and Joe Biden offered a rebuttal of his own in Ohio.</s>JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We do not think you grow the economy from millionaires down. We know you build it from the middle class out. That's how you build America.</s>ACOSTA: Romney advisers are downplaying any expectations of a post convention bump in the polls, but the GOP nominee did one up the president in one category, getting to Louisiana first. President Obama arrives here on Monday. Randi.</s>KAYE: Jim Acosta for us this morning. Jim, thank you. He'll be back with the Romney campaign this afternoon in Jacksonville, Florida. And as I said, Romney holds a campaign rally in Ohio. That's later this morning. And we'll bring that event to you live in our 10:00 hour. Paul Ryan, meanwhile, also in Ohio, but on the opposite side of the state than his running mate. The Democrats are preparing for their turn. But before the convention, there is the platform, delivered by the rising star of the Democratic Party. We'll hear from him.