. the race is on, mitt romney launches his attack on president obama as the official gop presidential nominee. on the way, isaac weakens to a tropical depression as it trudges to the water-logged coast. and one of the cheating allegations rocking one of the most prestigious institutions. good morning everyone, i'm lynn berry, this is "first look" on msnb

msnbc. and we are going to begin this morning with the republican nominee in what may be the most important speech of his political career, mitt romney accepted the gop presidential nomination in tampa last night, arguing he is the hope and change candidate, not president obama. msnbc's steve handelesman reports. >> reporter: more swagger, a more gravelly voice, but the message was about barack obama. >> when somebody doesn't do their job, we have to let them go. >> reporter: in the most important speech of his life, mitt romney tried to talk voters at home out of sticking with president obama. >> i wish he would have succeeded, we deserve better, my children, my family deserves better. my country deserves better. to the majority of americans who now believe that the future will not be better than the past, i

can guarantee you this. if barack obama is re-elected, you will be right. president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans, and to heal the planet. my promise to help you and your family. >> reporter: romney said he was molded by his family, and he vowed to focus on what families need now, he claimed the economic plan, more gas and oil production, less debt and tax cuts for businesses would mean 12 million jobs. >> that future is our disestiny and with your help, we will deliver it. let us begin our future for america tonight. >> reporter: i'm steve handelsman, nbc news.

at the rnc in tampa. and cleanup and recovery happening after hurricane isaac has downgraded to a tropical depression. but the hard work has just started. just hours ago, two bodies were found floating in a home in the hard-hit plaquemines parish. nbc's jay gray has more. >> reporter: while the winds ease up, the tensions and frustrations have not. and for many, a difficult trip home. trudging through the standing water to salvage what they could, or coming back home, the only way in through an attic window. and many places, even harder how to figure where to move on. across the area, trees snapped to the ground, hundreds of thousands still without electricity now. and as the system moved through, it spawned tornadoes in mississippi, this twister

splintering homes in paskagoula, and in some areas, more could be on the way. >> now is the time to get your family and yourself out of the harm's way. >> reporter: while others are going back to face the realization of what is happening. >> that is what you do, when somebody needs help, all neighbors helping neighbors, we have done this before. >> reporter: a harsh reality that still doesn't make this time anizey easier, jay gray, n orleans. and here is a first look at other news around america today. in philadelphia, a mysterious shooting all caught on surveillance video. you can see here the victim running after a gunman opened fire. the shooter then gets out of the suv and just continuously fires at the man. the victim apparently escaped with just a graze, which was remarkable. police are now searching for the gunman. and in arizona, the skies

near phoenix were clogged with yet another massive dust cloud. the newest haboob lowered the visibility to half a mile in some areas. winds from the storm hit 40 miles an hour. in san diego, the only thing cuter than a panda bear is a baby panda bear, isn't that the truth? this little guy is cute, the cub will be okay, they don't know if it is a boy or girl. it had its check-up, right now weighing about 2.2 pounds. and how tasty does chicken fried cactus sound? that is just one of the appetizers being sold at the fair. it is important not to add too much water while cooking, applying to all fried foods. he said when he did it the first time the fried cactus exploded in the frier. why does anything fried look good? even cactus is this now for a

look at the weather, to weigh in on the topic is abc's bill karens. >> i didn't know you could eat cactus? >> that is right, if it is fried -- >> fried ice cream, maybe later on today. good morning everybody, of course we're getting done with what turns out to be an historic storm. just goes to prove you don't need a category three, four or five to have a major impact wherever the hurricane makes landing. category 1s can do damage, especially if they're as slow moving as this one. in the coastal area of louisiana, it made it up here in central portions of arkansas, we no longer have any of the tornado watches, which is good. we're still dealing with bands of rain in the coastal areas. looking at this band of rain this morning, we're dealing with pretty good thunderstorms here in central louisiana. but again, the tornado threat will be a little bit lower than it was yesterday.

we're getting the beneficial rains up through arkansas this morning. we can see localized flooding, but beneficial because of the drought in the area. the path of the storm in the next five days will slowly rain itself out. the heavier rain in arizona, central portions of illinois. here is a look at the current drought status across the country. and it is very dry. this bright red, this is kansas, missouri and illinois. this is the hardest hit drought areas. no relief through nebraska or oklahoma. what is next? this is the heart of our tropical season. september is actually the busier month, we have two hurricanes and a tropical storm. the hurricanes, fish storms well off the east coast, never approaching land. so lynn it looks like we should get through the holiday weekend. and no threats to the u.s., we

get a break. >> let's hope so all right, bill, thank you so much. well, big ben finally speaks. sears gets a bounce. and the billionaire who gives to others on his birthday. your business report, straight ahead. coming up, the time table on steven strasburg, andy roddick calls it quits, and the jets first score. you're watching msnbc. [ female announcer ] they can be enlightening. hey, bro. or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow.

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry, and here are top stories, iran installing 75% of the nuclear centrifuges needed to produce fuel. the white house warns the window to resolve the dispute over iran's nuclear program will "not remain open indefinitely". in iran, egyptian president mohamed morsi urged the world in

the matter of the rebels, which caused others to walk out in protest. and a federal court blocking the identification law in texas that would require a photo id before casting the ballot, saying it would likely curtail the ability of minorities to vote. and the defense department sent a letter to the former navy seal regarding the book he is about to publish regarding the raid in pakistan. the military is considering legal action. and a cheating scandal at harvard university as dozens of students are being investigated for possibly copying answers on a take-home final exam. now if found guilty, they face a reprimand or suspension. now, here is your first look at the morning's dish of scrambled politics. former florida governor jeb bush among the speakers on the final night of the republican national convention in tampa.

he told voters to stop blaming his brother, george w. bush, at this gop convention. and the former vp says it is time to eliminate the electoral college and have the popular vote to decide who will be president. and the nielsen tv ratings for the speech showing a relatively low audience of almost 22 million people, compared to 40 million watching sarah palin four years ago. meanwhile, sarah palin's complaints about being bumped off fox news when ryan spoke, reveals a rocky relationship with the network. they are looking at offering her a new deal when her contract runs out in january. and taken favorite, former senator rubio winning good marks for his speech last night.

the buzz was he and other prime timers avoided mentioning the tea party. and the clint eastwood ad-libbed speech was called bizarre by many commentators. in particular, his imaginary speech with president obama and a chair, was the most memorable moment ever. they sent a tweet, saying "this seat is taken." and that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. and now here is a first look on how wall street kicks off the dow, the dow closing at 13,000 after falling 106 points yesterday. the s&p dropped 11, the nasdaq sank 32. and in tokyo, the nikkei falling, and late this morning, chairman ben bernanke giving the

speech that kept wall street frozen all week. and investors are waiting to see if ben bernanke will give clues as to the next round of stimulus. he will speak in wyoming at an event. they believe he will offer a third round of buying, as well as those bracing for the stimulus at all bought treasuries. two ten, 20 and 30 bonds rose, and yields fell. thursday's data included unemployment holding steady last week. also, july's consumer spending was the highest in five months, and a separate retail report showed continuing spending in august, with better than expected sales at ranges of outlets, including target, macy's as well. and still, stocks fell regarding gas prices, sears fell

almost 8% after the company learned it will be removed from the s&p 500 index. and chemicals maker replacing sears rose almost 4%. pandora media search, raising 4%, elsewhere, the world bank says that drought in the united states and eastern europe pushed food prices around the globe up 10% in july. and finally, marking his 82nd birthday thursday, warren buffet pledged half of his shares to his three children's charities. and in health news, a new study showing that a low calorie diet may boost health but doesn't necessarily prolong life. in a study, monkeys who ate fewer calories lived the same amount as those who ate 30%

more. that study looks into the monkeys on restricted diets. and for other news, you can check out the health page on msnbcnews.com. and gang green finally seeing the goal line, and a surprised retirement for a tennis great. plus, baseball's giants, and you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

welcome back to "first

look." i'm lynn berry, and in sports texas washington nationals placed a pitch. here is nbc's fred rogan. >> good morning, steven strasburg having a career year, his repaired elbow feeling a lot better. not good enough for the nationals, they will shut him down and announce he will have two or three more starts, and that is it. he is done. they will make him miss some games, go figure. they're confident they can make an october date without the race. if the offense plays like this, they don't need pitching, nates beat the cards, 8-1, chicago scores three in the ninth. soriano with a walk-off single. driving in seven, that didn't matter, the cubs won is 12-11. and pitcher kicks it to third.

pablo sandoval guns out gonzales, flies over first, hit the bat accurately, and was down and out. the giants won it, 6-4, and andy roddick turning the big 3-0 yesterday, and called it a career. roddick won the open in 2003, how about college football, south carolina and vanderbilt, that is marcus latimore, hopefully with all the right moves. carolina started the season with a 17-13 win. and jets finally score a touchdown, mark sanchez and tim tebow had nothing to do with it. third string quarterback, mcelroy, there is talk he should be the backup for the starter. he proved his worth with philly, but couldn't do it all. that is a first look at sports,

have a great weekend. and now for another look at the weather, we talk to bill. >> yeah, many areas of the country, if you're not affected by isaac, you have to wonder if this is the last of the really hot summer days for the east, because in september it cools off quickly. 90s today, widespread, mid-atlantic, look at that, 95 in d.c., cooler from pittsburgh to buffalo, especially for the 95 considered, as we -- cooler today, from missouri to arkansas, chicago, cooler over the upcoming weekend. we're still seeing a chance of storms down around new orleans, not as bad as the last couple of days. the isaac drought will continue, as we go throughout the saturday, by sunday, some of the clouds will try the make their way towards the eastern seaboard, temperatures drop a bit. looks like a nice holiday

weekend. you know, i know missouri and illinois will be rainy and wet. you're in the heart of the drought. >> you need it. >> yeah, you need it. you don't want to ruin the weekend. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, a star checks into stress rehab, and jersey shore is no more. say it ain't so. plus's is this movie set to break a record at the box office for how low can you go? the first look at entertainment straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. eliminate gas from my budget. i don't spend money on gasoline. it's been 4,000 miles since my last trip to the gas station. it's pretty great. i get a bunch of kids waving at me... giving me the thumbs up. it's always a gratifying experience. it makes me feel good about my car. i absolutely love my chevy volt. ♪ i absolutely love my chevy volt.

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apparently clint eastwood was the mystery guest at the republican national convention, finally, a senior citizen who scares paul ryan, that will do it. here is an interesting fact, some political analysts are saying the reason you saw more minori minorities than usual seated up front, was because republicans were trying to make their party look more like america, so they put them up front. forget diversity, if the republicans want to make their party look more like america, put the unemployed people up front. that would look like it, forget color. >> tonight, jay welcomes sports commentator dan patrick, that is the jay leno show. all right, time for a little entertainment news, and it is the weekend coming up. we'll do box office previews. there is one film that seems to set a very dubious record, the

big balloon adventure could have the worst opening ever by a film, playing on over 2,000 screens. in its debut wednesday, the film averaged just $47. that is six tickets sold per theater. >> all over it. all right, the closest thing to a favorite in the low energy box office, trust me, i'm not watching. called the possession, and horror fans, not myself includes, looking for one last scare, should earn this one 10-15 million in first place, kept my eyes closed -- el elsewhere. country music star leann rimes has entered a facility to help her cope with press. she said while privacy is not expected, it is certainly appreciated. >> for those of you not celebrating, there is a whole

new season set to premier on october fourth. so fear not, you still have a lot of time. >> i have got to write that down. >> just put it in your calendar, make sure you have that. this is lynn berry, stay tuned, way too early with willie geist starts right now. president of these united states, i will work with all of my energy and soul to restore that america, to lift our eyes to a better future. that future is our destiny, and with your help, we'll deliver it. let us begin that future for america tonight. mitt romney makes a big entrance, and then accepts the republican party's nomination with a business-like ch