te, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then find out how to get lunesta for as low as $15 at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. louisiana landfall. hurricane isaac batters the gulf coast with fierce winds and heavy rain. it is official. the republicans' newly nominated presidential candidate takes center stage in tampa. and martian landscape. nasa's mars rover snaps stunning new images of the red planet. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and we are going to begin this morning with that stalled storm. hurricane isaac slammed into southeast louisiana last night, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people all along the gulf coast. and now forecasters are warning bad conditions may only get worse as the rainfall adds up from slow-moving storm. nbc's danielle leigh joins us now. she's in new orleans. danielle, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. wind and rain has just been ripping through the french quarter here. you may be able to see a palm that was ripped from one of the trees behind me. and then if you look over my right shoulder behind me on a building, there is a sign that is just dangling in the wind. we've seen many of those signs ripped from buildings here this morning. this is really just the beginning of the storm. isaac is coming ashore with a fury. vicious winds and heavy rain are barrelling down on coastal cities in four different states. the storm is knocking down trees

and taking out power lines. in new orleans alone, more than 300,000 people have lost power by the early morning. violent waves are hurling down along the coast, and storm surge is up to 12 feet higher leaving low-lying areas under water. >> strong winds, heavy rain for long periods of time could produce flooding well away from the coast. >> reporter: the storm is expected to last in new orleans at least 24 hours and could bring more than a foot of rain. >> we're in the heart of this fight. we're in the hunker-down phase. >> reporter: on the mayor's advice, many neighbors devastated by katrina aren't just hunkering down. they're helping each other survive. >> it's about knowing who's here so if something bad happens, you know where you have to stop. >> you never know who you're going to need in this world. >> reporter: lessons learned from a hurricane that struck exactly seven years ago today. and just to give you an idea of what we're experiencing here in the french quarter, the wind and rain is just ripping through here. here's a palm that was just

ripped from one of the trees behind me. and as the storm continues to bring rains down on new orleans, that just means the potential for more flooding. in new orleans, i'm danielle leigh. back to you. >> yeah, that's the big fear. nbc meteorologist bill karins has been tracking this storm which has been moving extremely slowly. that's part of the problem. >> unwanted guest. just won't leave. it's a very slow process. a frustrating process for those people that don't have power, you know, now the hundreds of thousands of people that are just waiting for the storm to end. it's not going to do it any time soon. new update in from the national hurricane center. still a category 1 storm. it's right over the marshy areas. there's still a lot of water. so it takes a while for storms in southern louisiana to lose their punch. it's still about 60 miles to the south-southwest of new orleans. the storm is not going to go over the top of new orleans, which is up here. it's going to go to the south of there and then pass to the west of new orleans. and that's keeping new orleans in the stronger bands to the north and to the northeast side.

the dirty side of the storm. new orleans has, by far, seen the worst of this storm along with their friends all the way down here along the plaquemines parish, the pretty rural areas down there. so far about 4 1/2 inches of rain to as much as 7 1/2 inches of rain. so those pumps are working overtime. this is a big test for them. so far, so good, but they still have to go probably another 12 to 24 hours of all of this rain. flash flood warnings, that's who's been hit the hardest. surge problems in this next high tide cycle. probably shouldn't be as bad as the last one, but we'll still see water issues. these winds, 74-mile-per-hour gusts, a hurricane-force gust, we just saw it this hour in new orleans. i think the worst weather we'll see in new orleans throughout the storm is happening right now as we speak. so the most damage is probably being done now, too. >> thanks so much. i know you'll keep an eye on this. check back in with you in just a

moment. in politics farther east of the storm in the gulf, mitt romney became the party's official republican candidate at last night's convention. and nbc's tracie potts joins us from tampa. she has some of the highlights from yesterday as well as what's coming up later today. tracie, good morning. >> hi, lynn, good morning. lots more speeches today. lots of speeches yesterday. and keep in mind, they are all designs with some very specific goals, to beef up the base, get them excited about the candidates, but also to reach those skeptical voters. and last night there was a very specific target, women. >> this man will not fail. >> reporter: ann romney from the heart, trying to do what her husband so far has not win over america's moms and working women. >> i love you women! >> reporter: she talked about mitt romney the family man, the student and eventually the entrepreneur, telling america don't hate success, embrace it. >> mitt romney was not handed

success. he built it. if the last four years had been more successful, do we really think there would be this attack on mitt romney's success? >> reporter: delegates thought she hit the home run romney needs. >> everyone around us, male and female, were just looking at each other like oh, man, she just hit it out of the park. >> she was very natural, a good flowing speech. she's opened up a new side of the romneys that you don't see. >> reporter: new jersey governor chris christie focused on romney the tough guy. >> mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the torrent of debt that is compromising our future and burying our economy. >> reporter: christie's speech put romney over the top nor the nomination. tonight we hear from running mate paul ryan. he's expected to talk about his small-town roots, less government and strong communities.

now, romney was here last night, but he won't be here tonight for ryan's speech. he's actually in indiana today campaigning. but, of course, lynn, he will be back tomorrow to accept the nomination. >> he will. all right, tracie potts there for us in tampa, thanks. last night on "hardball," the former republican governor of florida, charlie crist, talked to chris math news aboth the gop convention. he's endorsed obama because he feels republicans have moved too far to the right. >> i've seen the party drift to the right so significantly that it's at a point now on the inversion of ronald reagan where i didn't leave the republican party, the republican party left me. and why i've decided to support the president is because he's helpful to all people. when i was a republican governor, for example, he obviously a democratic president, but on issue after issue, president obama was very helpful to us on education, on the environment with the handling of the bp oil spill and so many other issues. >> each night chris plays

hardball with some of the nation's most prominent politicians, newsmakers and leaders. be sure to watch "hardball" weeknights at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern only on msnbc, the place for politics. let's get back to that weather, hurricane isaac and check back in with bill karins tracking it. good morning once again. >> just got a chance to look at the new forecast path from the hurricane center that comes out at 5:00 east coast time and every six hours. here's the new path forecast in intensities. looks like it's pretty much on track to do an entire tour of the state of louisiana. look at the timing on this. by 2:00 p.m., still think it could be a hurricane. that's later this afternoon. still close enough to new orleans to give them 60-mile-per-hour winds and a lot of heavy rain. by 2:00 a.m. thursday, just about 24 hours from now, a tropical storm. that's when the rain should finally begin to end in many many areas of eastern louisiana. the bottom line is, i don't think people will see improvements today. i don't think they'll get power back on today either. i think they'll have to wait

another day. >> you were saying a couple days possibly. they can't even get to areas. >> that's just a start. >> those winds really causing a problem. bill, thanks so much. coming up, home prices rise. consumer confidence falls. and is this too good to be true? teaching your baby to read? kind of sounds like it. your early-morning business headlines are straight ahead. a pair of all-stars get knocked out. nascar's bad boy trades in his wheels for a tank, and the strangest catch you'll ever see. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ owner ] i need to expand

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. and here's some of the top stories making news this morning. syrian troops are being aided by commanders and soldiers from iran. this according to a "wall street journal" report quoting members of revolutionary guard. that is the first confirmation by iran's military of its role in the syrian civil war. in chile, there were clashes between police and student

demonstrators. an estimated 100,000 protesters had been marching peacefully through the streets to protest education reforms. a federal court has blocked the redistricting plan passed by the texas state legislature, saying it discriminated against hispanics. the judges ruled the plan protected districts belonging to white members of congress. in munich, germany, experts detonated an american bomb from world war ii in an explosion heard across the city. a number of nearby buildings briefly caught fire, but there were no reports of any injuries. and look at this. spectacular new high-resolution images of mars have been sent back from the curiosity rover showing the view to the southwest from the landing site. and the second image shows a closer look at mt. sharp which is the rover's eventually destination on this mission. now here's your first look at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics."

well, president obama campaigned in colorado yesterday telling college students to register and vote. romney campaign officials complained that violated an unwritten rule about stealing convention thunder, but the gop ticket also claims to campaign during next week's democratic convention. the romney campaign is downplaying any talk of a bump up in the polls after the convention which usually averages about a 5% gain. one aide said, quote, all bets are off about any kind of past performance being a predictor of the future. the social media analysis from nbcpolitics.com shows many americans have gone on facebook and twitter to charge romney's running mate, congressman paul ryan of wisconsin, is not as conservative as he's made out to be. texas congressman ron paul will not endorse the republican ticket of romney and ryan. the former presidential candidate calls himself an undecided voter. still, he said he will probably vote this november. michele bachmann told "usa today" president obama can't relate to the common man because of what she called a, quote,

extreme wealth. of up to $8 million. however, she did not mention mitt romney's wealth which is now up to $255 million. and the joplin independent compared the candidates' homes with president obama's chicago residence valued at just over $1 million. mitt romney actually has multiple homes with his new hampshire lakefront home now worth $10 million and a california beach home he bought for $12 million in 2008. and that is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." and now here's your first look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,102 after losing 21 points yesterday. the s&p was down a point, but the nasdaq gained 3. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei inched up 36 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng was down 23. stocks ended little changed tuesday on another day of low volume. and even lower energy. investors saw little reason to

leave the sidelines ahead of friday's wyoming speech by fed chairman ben bernanke where it is expected he may announce new measures to boost growth. mixed economic data didn't help any. home prices rose in june across major metropolitan areas for the first time since 2010. but august consumer confidence dropped to the lowest level since 2011. printer maker lexmark soared after cutting 1,700 jobs, roughly 13% of its work force. ketchup maker heinz was up on rosy earnings forecasts. watchmaker movado skyrocketed to an all-time high on good results and a raised forecast. higher sales of its tommy hilfiger and calvin klein boosted shares. molycorp shot up after its california facility. the obama administration raised fuel efficiency requirements for new cars and trucks to an average 54.5 miles

per gallon by 2025. watch dycom today. it tumbled after hours on results short of expectations. also keep an eye on chevron which rose tuesday on speculation it's looking to buy something with its cash. and finally, no, apparently you cannot teach a 9-month-old to read. the federal trade commission has filed a complaint against the makers of "your baby can read," marketed as a tool to teach infants to read. it costs about 200 bucks and was sold nationwide at retail stores including walmart and babies 'r' us. coming up, a nascar driver readies for war. a collision at home plate. and the first round of u.s. open tennis. plus, the giants use teamwork and a little luck against the astros. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues

like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. and in sports, the mets rallied past the phillies in extra innings last night for their third straight victory. here's nbc's mario solis. >> good morning. the mets haven't scored four runs in a game in about two weeks. yesterday they did it in one inning. taking on the phillies, tied at 5-5 in the tenth, ike davis with an rbi double. mets take the lead. that sparks a four-run inning. mets win, 9-5. the rangers darvis threw a gem against the rays. ten ks over seven innings. ian kinsler, a solo shot in the fourth. that's all the rangers would

need to win it, 1-0. tough couple days for the dodgers. matt kemp ran into the wall and tweaked his wrist. yesterday this. slams into the wall at full speed, camped out for several minutes, remained in the game but couldn't finish. rockies won, 8-4. from one knockout to another, pirates and cards. a single to right. carlos beltran comes up firing. guns down josh harrison at the plate. yadier molina holds on but gets the worst of it, down and out and so were the cards. pirates win 9-0. wild play between the giants and astros. foul ball down the line. sandoval is under it, misjudges it. the ball bounceses off his glove. there to make the diving grab. you can watch a ton of games and you won't see a stranger catch. giants literally held on to win, 3-2. u.s. open, andy roddick cruising to a straight-set win over ryan williams. no relation to serena, also won.

wozniacki was upset. and finally, during start's nascar race, driver tony stewart was so mad at matt kenseth, he threw his helmet at number 17 as he was driving by. well, watch out, matt. tony has a new weapon of choice. a tank. that's right. tony stewart took this world war ii tank for a spin around the charlotte motor speedway. no word if the tank fires helmets. and that's your first look at sports. i'm mario solis. and now let's get another check of what's going on with hurricane isaac. nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning once again. >> of course we have all our crews out there in new orleans, one of the worst-hit spots at this hour. want to let you see what's going on with al roker and stephanie abrams. they are live on the air at the weather channel doing their show "wake up with al." they are just going through the worst of it. you can see obviously the heavy rain just pouring down. the gusty winds. they're in kind of a protected area. i think this is canal street in downtown. this isn't even an opened area. so if it's like this here, you can imagine what it looks like in other areas. again, this isn't a category 2,

it's not a 3, it's not a katrina or an andrew or storm like that, but for a category 1, it's packing quite the punch. especially in areas right around new orleans. and the storm itself, you can see near new orleans. the worst of it up here, new orleans to the east. and we're seeing this next high tide cycle with flooding. for everyone else out there, we also want to prepare you for your morning and get you out the door this morning. going to be a warm, sunny, beautiful day in many areas of the northeast and mid-atlantic. no problems. yesterday we had that horrendous flooding in charleston, south carolina. there's going to be still a chance of storms today in the southeast but not like what you saw yesterday. but from atlanta to orlando, a chance of storms. and hot in the drought zone. this will be one of the stories that will develop in the days ahead. the rain from isaac. we want that up in arkansas, missouri and illinois and indiana. and it looks like they're going to get it, lynn. probably the heaviest rainfall those areas have seen maybe since spring or winter. >> the one good nugget coming out of hurricane isaac. bill, thanks so much.

coming up, lindsay's off the hook. and the biebs comes to the ratings rescue. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. why not use all your vacation days this year? get points you can easily redeem for your vacations, with chase sapphire preferred. it's time to live wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system... from beautyrest. it's you, fully charged. music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to make someone happy.♪

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welcome back to "first look." time now for some entertainment news. you've heard of the rebound, right, after a bad break-up. well, russell brand has found his. and it's another singer. "the sun" in england reports brand is falling for former spice girl gerri hallowell. >> the singing voice dropped a bit. >> tabloid reports they've been

dating since the rehearsal of the olympics' closing ceremony. the biebs taped a segment for "the x factor." >> i like that show. >> i've never seen it. >> desperate. that's just what i hear. lindsay lohan will not be prosecuted for stealing more than $100,000 worth of jewelry and sunglasses. i guess they got bill's phone call. "e" news reports it didn't proclaim her innocence, only saying, quote, we don't have sufficient evidence to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt." >> she may win an oscar someday. shia la beouf reports he actually took acid on "the necessary death of charlie countryman" to help him understand his character. >> like method acting. to the extreme. >> taken to the way extreme. us weekly" reports robert pattinson selling the house he shared with kristen stewart because there are too many memories. >> oh, that's so sad.

>> it is. young love, you know? it always is a little upsetting. bill rebound as well. >> kick her out of the house. >> exactly. just clorox that up and you'll be fine. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. i want to talk not about what divides us but what holds us together as an american family. i want to talk to you tonight about that one great thing that unites us, that one great thing that brings us our greatest joy when times are good and the deepest solace in our dark hours. tonight, i want to talk to you about love. >> the greatest lesson that mom ever taught me, though, was this one. she told me there would be times in your life when you have to choose between being loved