abortion rights are settled law in the courts. only the supreme court could change that. and it's not like the president has anything to do with who's on the supreme court. you see the problem with this as an argument, right? why have they not come up with a better answer for this stuff yet? it's almost like they don't want to. closing in, all eyes are on isaac as the massive storm gains strength and heads for the gulf shore. back on track, candidate, mitt romney joins his fellow republicans as the storm is delaying the convention in florida. climate change, the sweltering summer melts crucial ice in the arctic ocean to record lows.

good morning. i'm lynn berry. those stores and more are ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we are going to begin this morning with that gathering storm. as tropical storm isaac takes aim at new orleans, the next 24 hours are going to determine just how destructive this storm is going to be. nbc's danielle lee joins us from new orleans. good morning. >> reporter: it is starting out as a relatively calm morning here in new orleans. people are not letting that receive them. many businesses have laid out sandbags and the precautions ahead of the storm. the sounds of drills and hammering could be heard throughout low-lying areas of the gulf. people are bracing themselves for the heavy winds and rains being brought by isaac. >> we are going to stick it out. now, we have the sandbags. that may help. >> some in new orleans sticking it out and putting their trust

in the levees that failed following hurricane katrina seven years ago. isaac will be the first test following the $14 billion makeover. >> i want to assure you all that there is nothing that this storm is going to bring us that we do not believe we are prepared to han handle. >> despite insurance shlgs there are people like lisa heywood. >> i have faith in god but not the walls. >> reporter: lisa is leaving and she is not alone. thousands are under mandatory evacuation in plaquemines and other parrishes. they are heading to higher ground. choosing not to chance it on isaac. we could begin feeling the rain from isaac here in the next several hours. if you haven't left already, the governor is saying, it is too late. it is time to go inside and wait out the storm.

i'm danielle leigh. back to you. bill karins is tracking isaac. what is the latest? >> some good overnight. it hasn't intensified. still only a tropp scale storm. it has never been a hurricane. it is still a huge storm. it will be with us for the next 48 hours before it begins to weaken as it moves into areas of louisiana, mississippi. 208 miles away from new orleans. the tropical storm force winds are beginning to arrive in coastal areas. here is the new forecast path by the hurricane center. it didn't change much. still category 1 with a landfall as we go through extreme mortgageses of southeast louisiana. maybe slowed down a little bit. looks like at 2:00 a.m. or so, still south of new orleans. the strongest winds over the top of new orleans, about 8:00 p.m. through the night. it will weaken to a tropical storm as it moves inland. the chances because this little westward shift this morning of a

landfall are becoming less and less. it does look more like we are going to see a southeastern louisiana landfall. a lot of our computers still pinpointing that area from new orleans southward. it does bring the worst of that storm surge through eastern louisiana, lake pontchartrain back up into areas of mississippi. let me explain what's been happening with the storm and why it didn't become a hurricane. the bottom half of the storm looks very healthy. if you only stared at that part, it looks like a hurricane. the northern portion has been sucking in this dry air overnight. that's working into the center. it is kind of at a stand still. we are going to wait and see how much it can intensify. it doesn't have much time. 12-18 hours to intensify. we are only talking a mid-level category 1. the wind will not be the big factor but the storm surge is the biggest fear. >> thanks so much. we will check back with you in a little bit for more. despite a delay caused by isaac, the republican national

convention was able to technically get under way on monday. today, the convention and its main events begin in earnest. tracie potts joins us with a preview. she is in tampa for us. good morning, tracy. >> hi, lynn. good morning, good morning, everyone. we will see the dal gats fill the floor here later today. they have a big job because the polls are telling us that people are not wholly satisfied with president obama and not yet convinced mitt romney is the guy to replace him. hours from now, mitt romney and paul ryan arrive for the delayed start of the republican convention. ann romney speaks tonight. her role, boost her husband's like ability, nearly 30 points behind the president es 's in t latest poll and convince moms that romney gets it. >> this is somebody that gets it. she can tell you how much mitt romney understand that is role. >> reporter: this convention is all about convincing swing voters that a super rich

businessman can identify with the struggling middle class. >> we are so used to being entertained and wowed. do we have to be wowed for everything? can't we just vote for somebody that is iminently qualified. the. >> marcia blackburn is scheduled to speak today. >> you are going to hear me talk about the great opportunity party and about recommitting and revitalizing the american dream. >> wrapping it up tonight, new jersey governor, chris christie, after denying reports that he privately predicted romney won't win. >> much of what was said in that story wasn't true. they never talked to me. >> delegates are eager to get started. the roll call votes for the nomination, they normally happen later in the convention, about you because of the storm threat, because everything has been moved around, lynn, that is actually scheduled to happen today. >> tracy there for us in tampa. thanks. last night on "the last

word." tom breatalked about the presids speech. >> he was candidate to say, i am who i am. i don't know anyone of his age who can undergo a personality conversion in front after a national television audience. what he needs to do is make the independent voter comfortable with him. i don't think they are going to vote for him for home homecoming king but they may vote for him for president. >> you don't want to miss lawrence o'donnell's last word on the biggest issues and most compelling stories of date. it airs 10:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc, the place for politics. in oregon, surveillance video captured the dramatic end to an attempted child abduction. the alleged kidnapper was cornered by neighbors after trying to snatch a 6-year-old little girl. at least one of the neighbors kicked the suspect and when the

child's mother showed up, she whacked limb with a two-by-four. the suspects is under arrest. state troopers have a new weapon in texas to battle drug smugglers. they are hitting water with half a dozen gun boats. each has 4-6 fully automatic machine guns capable of firing 900 rounds a mintd while the boats go 60 miles an hour. in indiana, the feathers have been flying over a giant sign featuring a chicken. i'm not sure why. it was put up by a restaurant that wanted to spread its wings and bring in more business. people and some people thought that the 28-foot monument to powe poultry was not such a good idea. they took their case to the zoning board. last night, the chicken won giving the rooster's owner something to crow about, clubbing about, brag about. >> scratch. some ideas there from nbc

meteorologist, bill karins. he doesn't just do weather. you can hire him for parties. >> let me show you an interesting comparison of the radar along the gulf coast, not very impressive, barely showers and the radar for the northeast where we have a bunch of rain moving through from d.c., philly to new york. isaac has a lot of wind, the storm surge. as of now, not a very impressive-looking storm on radar. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, apple shines. big blue buys and american sells arms at a record rate. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, a rocky debut for the dodger's josh beckett and what in the world has gotten into adrian beltre. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. [ lenn if take oolen. itic on

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. a maryland student is in

custody for allegedly shooting and critically wounding a classmate on the opening day oi hoof school. teachers grabbed the student wielding a shotgun and held him until police arrived. >> prosecutors in georgia said four u.s. soldiers that are also members of a militia group plotted to assassinate president obama and may be charged in the killings of two other people. the group allegedly spent at least $87,000 on assault weapons and bomb components for anti-government attacks. a study finds teenagers that smoke marijuana at least four times a week and use marijuana throughout their life saw an average i.q. drop of eight points scientists report sea ice in the arctic ocean has already melted to its smallest point ever and the summer is not even over yet they say this shows the worst case forecast on climate change may be coming true. >> here is your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled

politics. the opening of the republican convention in tampa begins an estlaent will cost around $73 million. democrats will spend about $55 million on their convention next week. the new york daily news reports that taxpayers pay a part of the cost under federal election law with just under $18 million going to each convention and $50 million to security costs. herman cain is in tampa this week. he told cnn he is not upset he won't get a chance to speak to the convention, saying others need the exposure more than he does. >> former gop vice presidential candidate, sarah palin is not in tampa but was campaigning for a republican candidate. she said, democrats still have, what she calls an addiction to, quote, hopium from president obama. thursday night, the rock group journey will be part of

the entertainment outside the gop convention. the band is being paid $500,000. fox news asked each of mitt romney's five sons for one word that describes their father. one said qualified. the other said integrity. the other three said generous, frugal and cheap. former republican governor, mark sanford of south carolina, is ready to take the plunge after admitting to a 2009 affair and resigning from office in 2011. he has asked his infamous mysteries to marry him and he says, he is, quote, both happy and excited. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. now, here is your first look at how wall street is going to kick off the day. the dow owns at 13,124 after falling 33 points. the s&p was down a fraction but the nasdaq added three. in tokyo, the nikkei dropped 52

points. in hong kong, the hang seng gains 13. wall street saw its lowest level of volume for the year on monday. investigator the enjoyed the last day of summer or waited for more clues on the next move by the feds. those not ton the beach were on the sidelines waiting to hear ben bernanke's remarks. expectations, the fed will take some kind of action to stimulate the economy. apple had $680 a share following his judgment in a patent lawsuit against samsung. they pounded google because companies using android may have to consider design changes. >> the dow was let down by ibm which agreed to buy conneksa and

hudson city for $3.7 billion. the largest u.s. bank acquisition this year. >> a government reporthows the u.s. dominated armed sales making 78% of all weapon sales and over $66 billion, a record high saudi arabia bought most of the arms, spending $30 billion on weapons with 99% going to the u.s. even the rich are cutting back. tiffany lowered its outlook for the year monday due to slow sales. coming up, the twins put up a goose egg. the os notch up a pressure and the jays snap a seven-game skit. a former red sox pitcher. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text. tap into a single pool of shareable data

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that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. is in sports, the tampa bay rays escaped tropical storm isaac but they could not escape the hot-hitting rangers. here is nbc's fred roggin. last week, adrian beltre hit three home runs in the game and followed that with the cycle yesterday. rangers and rays, beltre took david price deep into the second inning, six home runs in the last six days. nobody hitting better than adrian. next batter, nelson cruz, left the yard as well. back to back homers. the game was tied at two. fast forward to the fifth, two aboard for bell fray, rbi single to left. the rangers took the lead.

beltre has been playing out of his mind four rbis and a triple shy of the cycle. texas won, 6-5. the bronx, yaens from beating the blue jays. run shot into the upper deck. jays were up 7-6. the lead was short-lived. bottom nine, derrick jeter came to the rescue and tied it with a home run of his own and off to the rescues. toronto in the 11th, a runner on third and slow-roller down the line. they got the man at first but not mike mccoy at the plate. blew jays won it 8 db 7. mark teixeira upped the game with a strained calf. the the orioles had a chance to make up in the east. they beat the white sox, 4-3. let's go to denver, josh beckett made his dodgers debut and the rockies welcomed him back. tyler cobin started the game with a leadoff homer, the beginning of the end. rockies won 10-0. felix hernandez, can he do

no wrong? he won his last nine decisions which included a perfect game. struck out five and gave up five hits. er erik tames provided all the offense he needed. another one-run game, 1-0, in minnesota. that's your "first look" at sports. i'm fred roggin. let's get another check of the weather with bill karins still tracking isaac. >> isaac is not a hurricane yet. it does not look very impressive on radar. a couple of bands of showers ond downpours that will move towards coastal areas. you will not see a lot of rain until later on tonight. the high winds will be moving onshore later this ink. it has a lot of work to do to become very high-impact event there. we are still worried about the storm surge and how much rain falls. the winds do not appear and cause that much, if any, damage. we have some rain moving through new england this morning. make sure you bring the umbrella

with you today. the showers will exit. a nice, warm afternoon. it is still wet/dry. we may get some rain from isaac up areas like arkansas or missouri. that would be a blessing. coming up, detectives appear determined to nail lindsay lohan in yet another jewelry theft. mirror, mirror on the wall, hoist richest celebrity of all. your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. i bought the car because i could 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. ♪

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>> it looks like hurricane isaac has delayed the republican convention for one day. it is now going to start tomorrow. i think the republican use these

60-mile-an-hour winds to their advantage. what mitt romney should do, he should walk out there and go, here are my tax returns for the last ten years, oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh, what happened! herman cain was in tampa, remember, herman cain. when a reporter asked him if this reminded him of katrina, he said, i never even met the woman. tonight, jay welcomes actress, lisa kudrow and musical act, owl city, and carly ray jepsun. jay leno, weeknights at 11:00, on your local nbc section. time for some entertainment news. who in america is the highest paid celebrity? forbes will tell you. their new list is out. oprah winfrey, who earned $165 million. bill, you just sneaked in. from may of last year to may of

2012, ryan seacrest is a good guess but despite her much publicized tv network problems, her syndicated shows like dr. oz and rachael ray and her syndicated magazine earned her the top spot. >> i need myself a production company. lindsay lohan is now formerlily a suspect in the theft of $100,000 worth of watches and sunglasses. despite the fact that the owner of the hollywood hills home where the theft took place has suddenly recanted his authority and told authorities nothing was stolen, the website says police are not closing the investigation, because they believe they have witnesses who can finger lohan and her assistant as the thieves. >> she was partying at someone's house that had $100,000 worth of watches. >> that's where i want to party. >> here is another headline. finally, "the daley beast"

reports that prince harry closes down his facebook under the name of spike wells. >> he is so cool. >> this is lynn berry. stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. after a long rain delay shall the tarp is off the field. the republican party is warmed up and ready to play ball. with ann romney and chris christie leading off tonight. it is "way too early" for this. welcome back to tampa, florida, site of the 2012 republican national convention. tropical storm isaac has passed to the west of this city as it makes