today" -- on alert. tropical storm isaac takes aim at new orleans almost seven years to the day after hurricane katrina. a change in plans. isaac forces an abrupt change to the republican national convention. and rare arrival. a giant panda in china welcomes and rare arrival. a giant panda in china welcomes a brand new bundle of joy. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and very good morning to you. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with tracking isaac. folks from new orleans to florida panhandle are watching and waiting as isaac makes its way into the gulf of mexico.

forecasters say by the time isaac makes landfall, it could be a dangerous category 2 hurricane. nbc's jay gray reports. >> reporter: isaac continues to intensify in the gulf. wind and rain thrashing florida for much of the day. >> we're very vulnerable. we're only about two feet above sea level. >> reporter: thousands are without power. officials have reported mandatory evacuations in many coastal communities. to this point florida has only seen a glancing blow. >> a large area at risk here. >> reporter: isaac is a massive storm with wind stretching out more than 350 miles. as the forecast of the storm shifts, so does the focus. governors have declared states of emergency in florida, alabama, mississippi, and louisiana where evacuations have already started. >> it's important to be on high alert. >> reporter: in the center of the potential strike zone, new

orleans and southwest louisiana could see the worst of isaac on wednesday, seven years to the day after hurricane katrina. >> i know the anxiety level is high. this storm is somewhat uncertain. out of the abundance of caution we have begun to take these precautions so we should be prepared for anything that might come in our way. >> reporter: preparations like sandbags now stretch across the gulf coast. hundreds of thousands stocking up, boarding up and bracing for impact. while offshore oil companies have pulled crews from their rigs. the storm threatening to shut down as much as 90% of production in the gulf. >> today and tomorrow are the preparation times on the northern gulf coast. >> reporter: as isaac continues to gather momentum and the attention of so many in its path. jay gray, nbc news. bill karins will have the latest on isaac's path in a few moments. republican national committee officials have postponed most of today's opening day convention events due to tropical storm isaac.

steve handelsman has the details from tampa. >> reporter: a party at tropicana field in st. petersburg. the first major event of the gop convention went off as scheduled, under a dome, protected from the gathering storm. but with the projected track of isaac moving west away from tampa, republican party planners decided no more postponements. the convention starts tuesday. >> we need to take the case of the economy of the united states of america to the people. it's also important to get mitt romney and show him more human and more like the regular guy that he truly is. >> reporter: despite losing their monday session, most delegates are upbeat. >> say no to obama. >> the major networks like yourself, nbc, were only going to cover tuesday, wednesday, thursday, so really -- >> reporter: you think you're going to be okay? >> we'll be okay. >> reporter: mitt romney was

practicing his thursday night acceptance speech. ann romney's tuesday speech can help, but his could mark a turning point. president obama holds a slim lead in national polls, but a 35-point lead in likability. romney hopes his convention shows him off as both a bolder obama critic and a more acceptable obama alternative. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, tampa. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in pennsylvania dramatic video shows a bull breaking loose and rampaging through fairgrounds injuring ten people. it was one of four bulls that broke free being loaded aboard a trailer in a rodeo. the others were captured right away. among the injured, an elderly woman who had to be airlifted to the hospital. in a north carolina town appropriately named roanoke rapids, heavy flooding ripped

away a massive portion of a street. torrential rain shut down highways and forced dozens from their homes. finally in california, man's best friend has been saved after a long, wild journey. sarah's owners live in colorado, but she was lost by relatives looking after her in kansas. sarah wandered to a truck stop where a transient picked up the pooch, brought it to california and turned it over to a shelter. it was only because she had a microchip implant, her owners were found, and now she's on her way home. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with a weather channel forecast. where's the storm. >> new orleans. tropical storm isaac is trying to pull away from florida, although the storm is that white line in the bottom left of your

screen. still huge bands of rain. about 400 miles from the center of this storm. just raking up through areas of eastern portions of florida overnight and this morning. still a threat of tornadoes there. this is just a huge storm and now it's trying to intensify. the radar right before we're about to lose it showing the first signs of an eye trying to form. that's a sign of intensificati n intensification. i think you can see where that eye is trying to form and locate. right there. little hard to see. it's in the process of intensifying. it only has about 30 to 36 hours to intensify before it gets up to the north central gulf. 450 to 500 miles away from new orleans. it's starting to narrow. from mobile bay over here towards beaumont, port arthur. 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'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. southern california was hit by a swarm of as many as 70 earthquakes yesterday. that caused some damage and knocked out power to a few thousand people. the largest quake was magnitude 5.5. no injuries were reported. after the syrian army and opposition forces battled for days in the suburbs of damascus, rebels are reporting one of the worst massacres of the civil war. they say government troops executed between 300 and 600 people. in pakistan there are reports one of the sons of the hikani terror network was kiltd in an airstrike in the traveled region of the afghan boarder. they say he was killed last week but the taliban insists he is alive.

a refinery fire in venezuela is still burning after a gas leak caused an explosion at the facility saturday. three days of national mourning have been declared for at least 39 people killed. in china a newborn panda cub is being kept in an incubator. great effort has been taken in china where giant pandas are seen as a national treasure. the new panda baby has yet to be named. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,157 after climbing 100 points friday. the s&p rose 9. the nasdaq gained 16. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei inched up 14, but in hong kong the hang seng fell 81. trade today in asia focuses on speculation over new stimulation from two central banks. reports say european bank is considering buying government

debt to reduce borrowing costs in hard hit euro nations. also rising hopes the fed will implement a third round of quantitative easing. ben bernanke hinted in a letter to congress more fed action could be on the way, and traders will listen closely to bernanke this week when he speaks at the annual jackson hole meeting of central bankers. problem solving at industrial companies offset asian optimism over possible central bank stimulus while asian stocks fell, gold hit a 4 1/2 month high. and oil rose sharply, up more than $1. now inching back up towards $100 a barrel. elsewhere, hertz is buying dollar thrifty. the deal is valued at about $2.3 billion. if it goes through, it will be down to three major players, hertz, enterprise and avis. watch for fallout today after a landmark legal battle

saw apple awarded more than $1 billion after a ruling that samsung infringed on several of apple's patents. a norwegian art gallery trying to save money on courier and insurance costs lost a rembrandt etching worth close to $9,000 in the regular mail system. oops. the mets walk off, three big bashes for one little leaguer and a well-known nfl wide receiver gets the axe. plus, an angel robs a home run but can't steal the victory. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we'll take another look at the possible landfall spots for isaac as we go through tomorrow night. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

your forecast is coming up.

good morning. if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports, miami marlins relied on the long ball yesterday to power past the l.a. dodgers. here's nbc's mario solis with a look at all your sports headlines. >> the dodgers pulled off one of the biggest trades in baseball history this past weekend but it was the marlins' statin who came up huge in l.a. the new-look dodgers couldn't

figure him out. unloads in the fourth inning. l.a. hit four straight homers. marlins win 6-2. to boston, bobby valentine wasn't happy about something against the royals. james loney picks up his first rbi as a member of the red sox and boston wins 8-6. met and astros. davis hit a pair of home runs, the second one ends the game, a walk-off bomb in the ninth. mets win 2-1. to motown, vernon wells with the catch of the day, infante with a shot to the left. wells robs infante. detroit had the last laugh winning 5-2. nick watney won the barclays by 3 strokes and lydia ko became the youngest to win an lpga. the 15-year-old won the canadian open. football, peyton manning is starting to look like the manning of old, tossing a pair of touchdowns against the niners. both to eric decker. san francisco wins 29-24. then you've got the jets.

they haven't scored a touchdown all preseason. mark sanchez and tim tebow both threw interceptions against the panthers. new york's offense continues to struggle. captain jet has seen enough. panthers win 17-12. maybe the jets can sign terrell owens. the outspoken wide receiver was cut by the seahawks. he had just two catches this preseason with seattle. congratulations to the little leaguers from japan. beat tennessee to win the little league world series. noriatsu osaka hit three home runs, putting japan up by ten. little league champs. they win 12-2. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. who won this weekend at the box office and who looks like a loser once again in love? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. earning good grades to get into an ivy league school is one thing, but listen how this student got there. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." hope you had a wonderful weekend. we've been watching isaac all weekend passing through the florida straits by key west. looks like the final end of the journey of isaac will end somewhere in louisiana and mississippi. that's where it will move inland and weaken. the question is how long will it take to approach land area. we've still got about 36 hours to wait to see how strong isaac

can get. hopefully it will be a low end category 1 and not any stronger. the weather in the west, still pretty warm in veg gans and phoenix. partly cloudy skies up in the northwest. most areas should be dry. if you're watching us on knbc 4, los angeles, california, see a sculpture modeled after a fast-paced city and speedy roadways at metropolis ii at the los angeles county museum of art. that was complex. >> have you seen it? >> i have. >> they use toy cars. kind of like a mockup of los angeles highways. it's cool. you should google it. >> i will. here's an early look at headlines in entertainment news. lack of any real opposition left "expendables 2" in the driver's seat at the box office. sylvester stallone lost 50% of their audience. fortunately for them, there was no competition from new films, so $13 million was enough to make it -- >> movies this weekend.

>> yeah, that was enough to make it number one this weekend. multiple sources have confirmed to "us weekly" after a couple months of casual dating john mayer and katy perry have split. no big shock. >> no. >> no comment? >> if i was dating john mayer he'd probably break up with me. he breaks up with everybody. >> i know. you're right. according to an "us" insider, perry is very upset. "people" reports anna faris and chris pratt have a baby boy. congratulations. "jersey shore's" snooki gave birth to lorenzo dominic lavalle and she tweeted jionni loves being a dad. she loves being a mom. no word yet if he came out already tan. fist pumping so far. >> spray tanning hopefully. >> yeah. he will be an orange bowedy. this comes from new haven, connecticut, where a yale university freshman is keeping a vow he made every step of the vow. gabe wrote in his admission

essay if accepted he would walk to the campus from his home in baltimore. he didn't think he'd get in, but he did. so his journey began, taking him across nearly 400 miles. most of it along the appalachian trail. he says the trek helped clear his mind for the path he's about to go down as an ivy leaguer. >> originality, he gets an a plus. >> i don't remember what i wrote. it wasn't anything -- >> it wasn't about cold pizza? >> no, nothing like that. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

finland recently hosted the 17th annual air guitar world championships. 5,000 spectators watched 18 contestants aiming for top prize, a real guitar. they state wars would end, chain saw and all bad things disappear if all people in the world played air guitar. chicago native justin "nordic" thunder howard was this year's winner. wow. super heroes got down on all fours. dog owners dressed their pets like their favorite caped crusaders at a super hero fashion show. canines strutted along the catwalks and some performed tricks resembling their super heroes persona.

owners donned similar outfits which promotes animal rights. and speaking of man's best friend, one lucky dog in mexico is getting back on his feet. lemon pie, whose two front legs were allegedly cut off by a criminal gang, has received a new set of prosthetics. donations for the expensive devices were raised by a foundation in mexico city. they were made by a company in denver, colorado. lemon pie is slowly getting used to his new gear. i guess they raised $8,000. >> i remember the story we had about the dolphin that got the artificial tail. they all seemed so happy. >> i missed that one. >> it's fascinating. time for an early look at some stories we'll follow throughout the day right here on nbc. the national transportation safety board will determine the probable cause of a tragic plane crash during last year's national air races in reno. a pilot and ten people on the ground were killed. cincinnati's museum of natural history and science is offering free admission through

labor day in honor of neil armstrong. the ohio native and first man on the moon gifted a moon rock from his "apollo 11" mission to the museum. armstrong died in cincinnati at the age of 82. happy birthday to former bond girl, barbara bach. the spy who loved the actress turned 65 today. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later today on the "today" show. al roker and lester holt report live from the gulf with the latest updates on tropical storm isaac. ladies, listen up, bradley cooper will be live in studio to talk about his new romantic drama "the words". now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific monday.