ll. on the broadcast from tampa tonight's the night. mitt romney's acceptance speech to a national television audience. his vision, his story. there is still a lot of talk about his running mate, what he said here last night and something we'll talk about with paul ryan tonight. also, tracking isaac, the relentless punishment for millions that has gone on now for days. the areas around new orleans are drenched. rescue teams are still very busy. tonight what isaac has left behind and where it's headed next. "nightly news" from tampa begins next. "nightly news" from tampa begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening once again from tampa, the final night of the gop convention. it really comes down to this. after six years of running for president, after getting here by

surviving a punishing primary process, the man who was still making the case for his candidacy to some of the people in this arena, some of the people in his own party, still explaining who he is, tonight will turn to a national television audience to make that same case. tonight mitt romney takes over primetime, takes the nomination of his party, and by the time the balloons drop from the rafters at 11:00 p.m. eastern time or thereabouts, this ticket has 68 days to beat an incumbent president. our team is in place on the convention floor to cover it all tonight beginning with peter alexander, who covers the romney campaign. peter, good evening. >> brian, good evening to you. the romney campaign is exuding confidence tonight. just moments ago we got our first look at some of the excerpts of what mitt romney will say during tonight's speech making several direct appeals to women and also making this acknowledgment, saying, quote, americans have a choice and to

make that choice you have to know more about me. just hours before he would formally accept his party's nomination mitt romney appeared loose and relaxed, testing his place at the podium and tweaking the teleprompter and taking a photo with campaign staff. mitt romney prepared to formally accept his party's nomination, the culmination of a top republican primary fight. with tens of millions expected to watch his primetime speech, the largest audience romney has ever faced, senior advisers say he'll try to present a credible and trust worthy alternative to president obama. after months of hammering away at his opponent's handling of the economy -- >> under this president 23 million americans are out of work or stopped looking for work or can only get part-time jobs. it's a travesty. >> reporter: tonight romney will also deliver an optimistic message the theme hinted at in a morning fund raising appeal to supporters. we believe in america, even though the last four years have

been full of difficulty and disappointments, doubt, and despair, romney wrote. but with the race deadlocked and polls showing romney still trailing the president by a wide margin on the question of who cares more about average people, analysts say romney must share his personal story. advisers say he'll do just that, highlighting his successes at bain capital a tenure democrats have tried to attack him for and offering a more revealing look at how his mormon faith has shaped his life. to give you an idea of how important the romney campaign views it that mitt romney is able to connect with voters tonight, today they did a little carpentry. up on the podium they actually extended the stage by about eight feet and lowered it to put him closer to the audience. earlier today we confirmed who that mystery speaker will be tonight among those introducing mitt romney, none other than the legendary actor clint eastwood. >> peter alexander, we'll be seeing more of you in primetime tonight before the big event on the convention floor. in fairness, this had been a borderline, low wattage event

until about the final hour of last night when paul ryan's speech lit up the convention. it energized the floor and even before it was over the fact checkers were at work calling him out on portions of it. chuck todd is on the convention floor with more on that. hey, chuck. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. look, nobody got this crowd more excited than paul ryan, but some of his most effective lines have raised eyebrows because of either facts he changed or simply left out. >> these times demand the best of all of us. >> reporter: paul ryan got a rock star reception wednesday, but even before the cheers died down the obama campaign and the white house pushed back aggressively. >> perhaps when the facts aren't on your side you ignore the facts. >> reporter: so who's right? let's start with this, about a general motors plant in ryan's hometown. >> right there at that plant candidate obama said, i believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will

be here for another hundred years. as it turns out, that plant didn't last another year. >> reporter: in fact, the president did say what ryan claimed but what he left out, gm announced a plan to close the plant in june, 2008, well before candidate obama became president obama, and more than six months before the auto bailout was approved by congress, a bailout ryan voted for. then there is ryan's statement that seemed to blame the president, alone, for a downgrade of the nation's credit rating. >> it began with a perfect triple-a credit rating for the united states. it ends with a downgraded america. >> reporter: what ryan did not say is that the agency that downgraded america's credit rating said it was because of, quote, policy making uncertainty, created last summer by the standoff over the debt ceiling. that political standoff was initiated not by the president but by house republicans who repeatedly refused to raise the debt limit without corresponding spending cuts.

then there was this charge on the bowles simpson panel. >> he created a new, bipartisan debt commission. they came back with an urgent report. he thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing. >> reporter: in fact, ryan's claim that the president did not endorse the findings is true, but what ryan left out? he, himself, was a member of that blue ribbon panel and he voted against that report he claimed last night was so urgent. the challenge for voters is to listen to, well, what's not being said, because while the politicians and paul ryan last night, what he said many times was technically factual but what he left out actually distorted the actual truth. >> chuck todd, we'll see more of you later as well. thanks. a short time ago paul ryan stopped by our studio here above the floor and talked some more about our speech to the group last night. a lot of your speech was devoted to leadership. >> right.

>> that could also be construed as ownership. are you prepared to leave this gathering and own the fact that the platform of this party allows a woman who has been raped no exception but to carry that child to term? >> well, i think the platform is silent on that particular issue. mitt romney had a position on this. the president of the united states set the policy and mitt romney's position is that there are exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother. >> there is no exception in the platform. >> i think the platform is silent one way or the other on that. the platform which i think is a great document. i'm proud of the platform. it's something produced by the delegates and the president of the united states sets policy on this issue. mitt romney's policy is well known. >> i ask about this because it's the third cycle now where there is a disconnect between the platform and the candidate running. in a business where you and your opponent are trying to attract especially suburban women, does it send the right message?

>> you know what i think suburban women are mostly worried about is jobs. look who got hit hardest in this economy? it's women. poverty among women is at a 17-year high. women are worried about education of their children, economic growth and opportunity, worried about the fact we're mortgaging their kids' futures. so that's what most women are asking us about. >> on the gm plant i know the plant is a big deal. famously, however, mitt romney, the son of detroit, had a choice and said that he disagreed with efforts to prop up the domestic auto industry. that would have saved the plant in your local town. >> well, i think really what got the plant was $4 gas, the energy policy lacking. that predates the obama years. we need a better energy policy in this country. but what mitt romney has said is he didn't say no support for detroit. he said that detroit should go through a managed bankruptcy and on the back end of that bankruptcy after restructuring then they should get support. >> but there was no money, no

managed bankruptcy. it wasn't in the realm of possibility. >> we had a political bankruptcy and what happened was the obama administration put themselves in the position to pick winners and losers. i don't think that was one in keeping with the rule of law. the point about the plant in my hometown, president obama came there and campaigned in the plant in 2008. he said, this plant will be here for another hundred years. he got elected. he put his policies in place. the plant is empty. nobody works there anymore. >> tell us about tonight's speech. >> it's going to be a speech where mitt romney picks up where we left off and says, here's how we're going to get people back to work. here are my plans for getting higher take home pay, more jobs. we got to get this debt under control. it's going to take leadership. it's going to take an executive leadership and he had those kind of skills. it's also going to be a speech where people get to know the man mitt romney better. i wish people had the opportunity to meet him like i know him because i really believe they'll see the qualities, decency, goodness in this person and what mitt romney

is going to do is show himself, who he is, the kind of care he has, what motivates him to the country i think he'll be leading in january. >> with due respect he has been running for six years. why don't we know him? >> well, he hasn't given this kind of speech before. >> our conversation earlier with paul ryan. tom brokaw is here with us in the studio. same question to you. he's been running for six years. why do you think we don't know him? >> well, i think, in part, because the country has been so preoccupied with the economy and a lot of other issues and as we know politics is often not a very favorite subject except for people like you and me and all the delegates down here on the floor. but mitt romney finds himself in a position a lot of candidates have before. they've separated themselves from the pack. let's use the summer metaphor of the olympics. he is now coming into the final turn. he's got to kick to the finish line and in doing that, he has to persuade people that he not only has the gumption to finish the race but that they'll want to cheer him when he crosses the line and that he can turn to

them and raise his arms and say, i not only was able to do this but i care about you and i'm prepared to carry you across the line as well. that is tricky for any politician however gifted they are especially in these circumstances. what i'll be looking for tonight, brian, is a mix of the personal, philosophical, and then the policy questions. as you know, congressman ryan last night put medicare in play and there were some fact issues with that as well. will governor romney go back to medicare tonight? because that, clearly, is going to be a very important point in this debate. so we've got a lot to look forward to tonight. clint eastwood will set him up. >> see you later tonight as well. >> okay. >> tom brokaw here with us. there was a huge political development today that did not happen here. this involves one of the increasing number of voter i.d. laws. this was one round but a big one in a fight that's going to continue across the country. our justice correspondent pete williams is in charlottesville,

virginia tonight with more on this. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, the justice department blocked this new i.d. law from texas in march and now a federal court has done the same, saying it would hit minority voters especially hard. the republican dominated texas legislature passed the law last year greatly reducing the forms of identification that would be honored at the polls. no more utility bills or company i.d.s. instead, only five kinds of government photo i.d.s making it the toughest, tightest voter i.d. law in the nation. today the court says the law imposes strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor because of the cost of getting these photo i.d.s and it said racial minorities in texas are disproportionately likely to live in poverty. texas is already vowing to appeal to the supreme court and we'll hear shortly about a challenge to a similar law in south carolina. brian? >> there are others waiting to be decided. pete williams in charlottesville tonight, thanks. still ahead as "nightly news" continues tonight from

tampa, fast rising waters and a lot of rescues just outside of new orleans as isaac continues on a slow but very rainy track. why it could be an expensive labor day weekend on the american road.

back now we turn to the big story that has been unfolding as the convention has been going on. people along the gulf coast have been assaulted by remnants of isaac going on 40 hours now for some. just under 5,000 people have been placed in the safety of shelters. at one point or another, 60% of the people in the state of louisiana have been without power. flood waters are still on the move tonight on the outskirts of new orleans. nbc's gabe gutierrez is with us from slidell, louisiana. good evening. >> reporter: the flood waters are starting to recede tonight but not before leaving a lot of damage behind. as isaac pulled out the bayous

rushed in leaving slidell, louisiana under water. >> i'm okay. i'm a little shocked. it's the first time i've ever seen this. >> reporter: police officers rescued 150 people from their homes, some trapped in up to six feet of water, others clutching each other and their shivering pets. >> he's scared. they'll be all right. >> reporter: no breached levee here but lots of rain over 20 inches in some cases overloaded the pumping station. >> we were all sleeping and i started getting people banging on my door telling me water was coming up. >> please leave. >> reporter: some 60,000 people faced evacuation from communities near the tangipahoa dam swollen by flood waters and in danger of failing. >> the evacuees, a lot of people have flooding. mostly it's just a fear of the damage. >> reporter: in plaquemines parish state officials breached this levee on purpose to relieve pressure on the flood walls.

jackie shaffer spent yesterday rescuing dozens of people from flooded homes. >> had to hack a guy out of the roof on that house over there. >> reporter: today he and his wife went back to see what was left of theirs. >> i didn't think that it would be worse than katrina, not at all. >> reporter: in nearby mississippi isaac claimed one life, a man killed when his truck was brushed by a falling tree. in other areas the weather channel's eric fisher says rain and winds took their toll. here several tornadoes were the main threat and one touched down on top of this home. the house, itself, is a total loss. the family had just evacuated. they had come back during the night and woke up to the tornado on the home but, fortunately, all walked out alive. back in louisiana about half the state is still without power including much of new orleans and some 4,000 people are in shelters. early estimates suggest isaac

could cost the region as much as $2.5 billion, brian. >> gabe gutierrez after a long day for the folks in slidell. thanks. on over to weather channel meteorologist jim cantore in new orleans. we're coming up tomorrow to see for ourselves but please tell me this gets better soon for these folks. >> reporter: it does in new orleans but not for others. check this out. 48 hours after landfall it is still in louisiana. a marathoner could run faster than this thing has moved but the rain bands still extending well over 500 miles affecting many states. arkansas on friday, big rain for you. missouri saturday. illinois and indiana as we get into sunday. 4 to 8-inch totals. it'll dent the drought. it won't alleviate it. while isaac was crawling across louisiana look what's going on in the atlantic ocean. we've got leslie and kirk, a tropical storm and hurricane here. none of the storms is expected to affect the u.s. mainland but they make eight named storms for the month of august. that happened only once before

in history, 2004. that brings the total named storms to 12. at this point in time. the last time that happened was 2005. we all remember what was going on here then. back to you. >> jim cantore on the riverwalk in new orleans. jim, thanks. up next, after a break here, some unexpected news tonight about our diets via the animal kingdom and the tv show that is about to leave tv.

a side effect of isaac being felt all across this country right now, gas prices are the highest they've ever been on this date. nationwide the average is now $3.82 up seven cents in just the last two days as isaac has disrupted both oil drilling and the output of refineries. experts expected some of that will reverse soon but not before what's going to be a more expensive labor day weekend for a lot of folks on the road. sad story out of l.a. today where a hundred-year-old man at the wheel of a car backed up into a group of school children. preston carter was backing his

cadillac out of a supermarket parking lot when he lost control, plowed into the kids. they were standing at a snack stand. 14 were injured. some were trapped under the car. they're all, thankfully, expected to recover. carter had a valid license, doesn't expire until next year when he turns 101. his daughter said last night he will no longer drive. lapd is investigating. there is interesting health news for humans emerging from an animal study just released. a 25-year study of rhesus monkeys at the national institute on aging found no increase in the life spans of monkeys fed extremely lo-calorie diets. they were overall healthier but didn't live longer. there has never been a study like this on humans so the takeaway for us isn't entirely clear, but as one report put it today it is probably safe to say being hungry all the time will certainly make your life feel longer. "jersey shore" is soon to be no more.

mtv has announced they are canceling the show after this coming season, which has yet to begin. at its height the show was able to attract north of 8 million viewers, but people change. they move on. snooki is a mom now. she has a spin-off tv show. the upside of the cancellation? the famous boardwalk in seaside heights will now be safe to walk without fear of camera crews. we are back in a moment with a preview of the biggest night of them all here in tampa.

thanks to the good people of the new mexico delegation. on the floor of this convention andrea mitchell has set up shop there to offer us a few final thoughts going into the big night of the this gop convention. andrea? >> reporter: the governor of this great state susana martinez is one of the rising stars in the republican party and mitt romney is going to talk about her and other women because the romney campaign knows they have to reach out to women and narrow the gap. they also have to reach out to hispanics. that is the big theme if they are going to overcome president obama's advantages. one way he is going to do it from the excerpts we've been given by the campaign to read is he is going to refer to his mom

who in 1970 ran for the senate and he recalls her saying that women have as much to say about the great decisions of our nation as men and how proud she would be to see the great women of this delegation and this convention. so that is the theme. he'll talk about them and this sunny optimism like ronald reagan whether he can deliver as a great communicator is the big challenge tonight. >> andrea we'll see you later on on the floor of the convention. that is our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you for being with us. a reminder we're back on the air in primetime for the main event of this gathering. marco rubio does the introduction, a special appearance by clint eastwood. that was the big surprise until it became public today. and then mitt romney accepts his party's nomination. our coverage begins tonight 10:00 eastern, 7:00 pacific time on this nbc station. i'm brian williams. we of course will look to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

>> right now at 6:00 t legendary camp ground with a rodent problem and new accusations how long yosemite officials knew about a virus plaguing the park. plus -- >> i'm damian trujillo at the emergency room of regional medical center. firefighters helped save the life of one of their own. that's coming up. >> networking paying off. details of linked in's new plans to expand in the south bay. >> good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica