on alert. tropical storm isaac takes aim at new orleans almost seven years to the day after hurricane katrina. change in plans. isaac forces an abrupt change to the republican national convention. and rare arrival. a giant panda in china welcomes a brand-new bundle of joy. very good morning to you, i'm veronica delacruz. those stories and more straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

we begin this morning with tracking isaac. folks from new orleans to the florida panhandle are watching and waiting as tropical storm 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. emergency officials have ordered mandatory evacuations in several coastal communities. to this point florida's only seen a glancing blow. >> a large area at risk here. >> reporter: isaac is a massive storm with tlinds stretching out over 350 miles.

as the forecast path of the storm shifts, so does the focus here. governors have declared states of emergency in florida, alabama, mississippi, and louisiana where evacuations have already started in plaquemines parish. >> it is 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 that the anxiety level is high. this storm is somewhat uncertain. out of the abundance of caution we begin to take these precautions so we should be prepared for anything that must come our way. >> reporter: preparations that 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, north reddington beach, florida. >> bill karins will have the very latest on isaac's path in just a few moments. >>. >> republican national committee officials have postponed most of today's opening day convention events due to tropical storm isaac. nbc's steve handelsman has the details from tampa. ♪ >> reporter: a party at drop canada 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.

and it's also important to get mitt romney and show him more human and more hike the regular guy that he truly is. >> reporter: despite losing their monday session, most delegates are upbeat. >> say no to obama! >> and 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? >> i think we're going to be okay. >> reporter: mitt romney was practicing his thursday night acceptance speech. and 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 likeability. 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. >> here's your "first look" at some of the other news going around america today. 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 while being loaded on board a trailer following 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, roanoke rapids, heavy flooding this weekend ripped away a massive section of a street. 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 and brought it to california, eventually turning the animal over to a shelter. it was only because sarah had a microchip implant that her owners were found and now sarah is on her way home. now for a look at national

weather we turn to meteorologist bill karins. it's all about isaac. >> the latest information from the hurricane center, the 5:00 a.m. update, and the forecast path really couldn't be worse for new orleans. now, the intensity, that's a little piece of good news. let me explain. first things first, we still have a lot of heavy rain, a tornado threat over south florida as we go throughout the day today. the storm is still close enough, it's sending spiraling bands well away from the center of the storm, all the way up to orlando, flooding last night in areas of eastern portions of the state. now as the storm continues to track out over the gulf is when we're going to see everything get a little more interesting. it hasn't yet developed into a hurricane. it should have by now. it was expected to but it hasn't. so that's the piece of good news that we're going to try to hopefully keep this storm a little weaker, make a cat 1 at landfall instead of a category 2. right now winds are 65 miles per hour, it's almost 500 miles away from new orleans. let me update you on the latest track path from the storm.

about 2:00 a.m., about this time tomorrow, they think it should become a hurricane. that path is pretty much heading right for the new orleans area. looks like even by wednesday morning, look how slow this storm is moving. zoom in on this path, they're calling for landfall sometime tuesday afternoon through the southernmost parishes of louisiana, southeast about 90-mile-per-hour winds. then weakening the storm very slowly to the north. veronica, with this storm track like this, this is going to be the worst path scenario for areas like lake pontchartrain, eastern mississippi. cross your fingers it doesn't intensify more than we think. looking for stimulus? hertz gobbles up a competitor. and you get what you pay for, or you don't. your "first look" at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. the jets continue to struggle. a 15-year-old makes golf history. japan puts on a show in the little league world series. [ owner ] i need to expand

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welcome back to "first look." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of the top stories making news. 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 was magnitude 5.5, no injuries were reported. >> in pakistan there are reports one of the sons of the founder of the haqqani terror network was killed in an air strike near the afghan border. intelligence says haqqani 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. and in china, a tiny 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 to return the species from the brink of extinction. the new panda baby has yet to be named. so cute. in syria there is evidence of another slaughter led by the assad regime. reports indicate between 300 and 600 people may have been massacred near the capital of damascus. among the victims, women and children. and disturbing new images have surfaced which may show a dumping ground for victims. john ray of our english broadcasting partner itn reports. >> reporter: the full force of syria's still-formidable army is said to have smashed through derhea. first the artillery shells. a after the bombardment came the tanks. then troops moved in. facts are hard to verify. but the opposition claims there has been killing on a scale that

surpasses the bloody standards already set in this brutal civil war. we have disguised images that are too graphic to broadcast. in a shallow grave there are scores of bodies. mostly men of fighting age. but among them, women and children. >> snipers are deployed around the area and anyone who was trying to flee the town into damascus was sniped. some of them were executed in a summary execution. they were forced to face the walls and then they were shot by the regime forces. >> reporter: yet on pro-government television, the same town but a version of events which is unrecognizable. these troops, they say, are liberating derhea, purifying it of terrorists, and there are few survivors except the truly tiesed and the terrorized. britain has led the

condemnation, saying that if the killings are confirmed it's an atrocity on a new scale. president assad appeared briefly on state tv, safe in the knowledge there are no longer u.n. monitors in the country who can investigate. john ray, itv news. now here's your "first look" at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics." when the republican party delegates go to the convention site, the tampa bay times forum, they'll be stopped from bringing in certain obvious things like weapons or toy guns, explosives or fireworks. but the gop will also not allow backpacks, camcorders, strollers, noisemakers or banners. here's a good one. with isaac passing by, no umbrellas. forget it. florida's former republican governor jeb bush has a warning for the party he thinks 2012 will be a close election. bush also told nbc news that the gop needs to boost its appeal to what he called "a much broader audience."

another former republican governor of florida, charlie crist, has made a surprise endorsement of president obama. in "the tampa bay times" crist criticizes the gop for being so far to the extreme right on issues important to women, immigrants, seniors and students that they have proven imcapable of governing for the people. check this out, the latest associated press poll finds nearly 1 in 4 registered voters are either undecided about the presidential race or iffy in their support for a candidate. and these maybe voters could decide this election. a new tv ad released by the democratic national committee was inspired by a hit tv show from the '70s, can you name it? the new spot called "the rochlny bunch," much like "the brady bunch," is part of the dnc's digital campaign to counter this week's speeches at the republican convention. and the battle for the white house is now a video game with

animated candidates actually duking it out, they're fighting. it is a new app for apple devices. it is called "vote" and you can pick the candidate that you want to control, and for three rounds they use microphones and other weapons to actually fight for those votes. and that is your morning dish of "scrambled politics." now here's your "first look" at wall street. 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 toke quote nikkei inched up 14. in hong kong, the hang seng fell 81. trade today in asia focused on speculation over new stimulation from central banks on two continents. reports say the european central bank is considering buying government debt to reduce borrowing costs in hard-hit euro nations. there's hope the fed will implement a third round of

quantitative easing known as qe3. ben bernanke hinted in a letter to congress more fed action could be on the way. traders will listen closely to bernanke later this week when he speaks at the annual jackson hole meeting of central bankers and economists. profits falling at chinese industrial companies for the fourth month in july offset the asian optimism over possible central bank stimulus. asian stocks fell in choppy trade. gold hit a 4 1/2-month high. i'll rose sharply up more than $1, inching back up toward $100 a barrel. elsewhere, hertz global is buying dollar thrifty in a deal valued at $2.3 billion. if approved the u.s. rental car business will be down to three major players. hertz, enterprise, and avis. watch for fallout over apple's victory friday over samsung in a landmark legal battle that saw the iphone maker awarded over $1 billion.

one of the largest awards in patent trial history after a ruling that samsung infringed on several of apple's patents. finally, a norwegian art gallery trying to save money on courier and insurance costs lost a rembrandt everyoning 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 ax. plus an angel robs a home run but can't steal the victory. your first look at sports is straight ahead. [ man ] nice! [ male announcer ] isn't always the one you plan to take. whoa, check it out. hey baby goat... no that's not yours... [ hikers whispering ] ...that's not yours. [ goat bleats ] na, na, na -- no! [ male announcer ] now you can take a photo right from video, so you'll never miss the perfect shot. [ hikers laughing, commenting ] at&t introduces the htc one x. now $99.99.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm veronica de la cruz. miami's marlins relied on the long ball to power pass the l.a. dodgers. here's nbc's mario solis. >> the dodgers pulled off one of the biggest trades in baseball history this past weekend but it was the marlins' giancarlo statin who came up huge in l.a. the dodgers couldn't figure out staten. he unload in this the fourth. marlins win 6-2. to boston. don't know how bobby valentine feels about the trade but he sure wasn't happy about something against the royals. james loney picks up his first rbi as a member of the red sox and boston goes on to win 8-6. mets and astros. ike 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 made

the catch of the day. the tigers infante with a shot to left, wells is there, jumps at the wall and robs infante. detroit had the last laugh, they win 5-2. golf, nick watney won the barclays and lydia coe became the youngest woman to win an lpga event, the 15-year-old won the canadian opening. manning tossing a pair of touchdowns against the niners both to eric decker, san francisco wins 29-24. the jets 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. osaka hit not one, not two, but

three home runs. the last one putting japan up by ten. they are little league champs. they win 12-2. that's your "first look" at sports. i'm mario solis. now for another look at the weather here's nbc meteorologist bill care lins. what is isaac doing? >> redeveloping which is interesting. the last couple of hours, we're now seeing the center jumping north. it's a minor thing. now for the first time the inner core is going to be protected by thunderstorms and the rain. it will have a better chance of developing. for theost part it had been exposed to the south side, to the dry air. so that will be interesting to see how that affects the intensity over the next 24 to 36 hours. and that's how long isaac has to intensify before it approaches new orleans. the cone is really narrowed now. mobile is not even in the cone anymore although you will feel significant effects. the effects of the landfall look to be south of new orleans or over new orleans and just to the right of that is the worst conditions. this is going to be a slow-moving storm. landfall tuesday afternoon. then by wednesday afternoon, the

storm is just barely north of new orleans. veronica, this will be a long-duration event with strong winds, a ton of rain, and unfortunately storm surge. >> like you said, we better keep our fingers crossed. >> even at cat 1 this could be significant. who won this weekend at the box office and who looks like a loser again in love? plus like it or not, believe it or not, she is a mom. your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. why should saturday night have all the fun? get two times the points on dining in restaurants, with chase sapphire preferred. music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to make someone happy.♪ it's so important to make someone happy.♪ ♪make just one heart to heart you - you sing to♪ ♪one smile that cheers you ♪one face that lights when it nears you.♪

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welcome back. time for your "first look" at entertainment news. as predicted lack of any real opposition left "the expendables 2" in the driver's seat at the

box office. sylvester stallone and his fellow tough guys lost 55% of their audience second week out but there was no competition from new films so $13 million, enough to make "the expendables 2" number one for a second straight week. $13 million, that's it. multiple sources have confirmed to "us weekly" after a couple of months of casual dating john mayer and katy perry are calling it splitsville. >> the pr tour is over? >> exactly. hang on, according to an insider quoted by "us weekly," katy perry is actually very upset about it. john mayer breaking another heart. "people" reports anna faris and chris pratt have a baby boy named jack, congratulations. finally, "jersey shore's" snooki gave birth to lorenzo dominic laval. snooki tweeted father was a cute dad and she loves being a mom.

no word if little lorenzo came out already tan. >> i heard he signed a contract for a reality show "diaper rash." >> no comment. >> doing fist pumps. oh, come on. >> oh, no. i'm veronica de la cruz, this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. today was supposed to be day one of the republican national convention in that arena behind me here. tropical storm isaac has turned it into a day whole sole platform plank is drinking inside this bar. it's "way too early" for this. welcome to tampa, florida, for a special edition of "way too early" live this week at the 2012 republican convention where after a long