adache, 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. low and slow. isaac delivers a dell luge of devastation on the gulf coast. on the attack. paul ryan slams president obama as he accepts the republican nomination for vice president. and on air scare. a bat makes a tv debut causing a little chaos in a canadian newsroom. good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more straight ahead. this is first look on msnbc.

we are going to begin this morning with disaster area. a downgraded isaac continues to drench the gulf coast this morning moving inland at a meager 5 miles per hour. now president obama has declared disasters in mississippi and louisiana where as many as 70 people were rescued from the raging flood waters. nbc's jay gray reports. >> reporter: it's been more than 24 hours of driving rain and violent winds. still, isaac shows no signs of ending its relentless attack on the gulf coast. >> we'll be dealing with this storm through early friday morning. >> reporter: in many communities including plaquemines parish where water topped the levee, survivors are dealing with more than they can handle. >> i'm exhausted and tired. it's really bad. >> reporter: in some areas more than a foot of rain has left standing water and more is likely on the way.

downed trees and power lines have left more than 700,000 in louisiana alone without electricity and for many it may be a week or more before it's restored. in many areas there are clear signs it will be difficult to get around. roadways, rivers, neighborhoods swallowed by flood waters. forcing rescue teams to pull survivors out by boat. >> it was almost halfway up the flight of steps. it was quick. i didn't expect for it to be like this. >> reporter: few did, and now they just want isaac to go away. >> want it to go away. we need it to go away and leave us alone. this is enough already. >> reporter: but forecasters and first responders warn this is far from over because isaac isn't going anywhere fast. jay gray, nbc news, new orleans. unfortunately. in tampa last night it was vice presidential candidate paul ryan's turn to address the

republican national convention. in his speech ryan criticized president obama for failing to solve the country's biggest economic problems, problems he says he and his running mate, mitt romney, can fix. nbc's tracie potts joins us from tampa. she has the latest on this. tracie, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. you'll hear the construction going on behind me. that is a brand new stage being built for mitt romney's speech tonight. this morning the stage is literally being set for mitt romney's arrival tonight. last night as he watched from indiana. >> see that over there? >> reporter: his running mate was the star of this republican show. >> i accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity. >> reporter: paul ryan jumped right into one of the most controversial issues, a big one for florida seniors, his plan to have them buy their own health insurance under medicare.

>> medicare is a promise and we will honor it. mitt romney and i know the difference between protecting a program and raiding it. >> reporter: on foreign policy there was sharp criticism of president obama. >> the president has discouraged our friends and embolden our enemies. >> reporter: and a strong endorsement from a former secretary of state. >> our military capability and our technical advantage will be safe in mitt romney's hands. >> reporter: next romney tonight. analysts say the middle class will be listening. >> it's not about likability, it's about jobs, it's about how i'm going to pay my bills, it's about addressing the problems right now. >> reporter: substance over style. that's what analysts say voters will be listening for here tonight. lynn? tracie, thanks so much. last night on special coverage former candidate newt gingrich talked about the gop and medicare. despite what many political analysts say, gingrich thinks the romney/ryan ticket does not have a medicare problem.

>> a new poll came out and by 45 to 42 the country announced they liked governor romney more than obama on medicare. he's had a huge advantage on medicare. i think what happened was a remarkable decision by romney and a fundamental mistake by the democrats. i think we're in a different world. i think people are more sophisticated today and i think the fiscal problems, the huge obama deficits and the fact that we've got 8% plus unemployment has created a different environment for this conversation. >> don't miss msnbc's special coverage and rachel maddow and chris matthew's commentary. that is tonight at 5:00 p.m. eastern only on msnbc, the place for politics. here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. in los angeles surveillance video show police knocking a

woman who was handcuffed down to the ground. they did it twice. now the woman had been pulled over for using a cell phone while driving. the officers have been taken off the street during the investigation and their supervisor has been stripped of his command for not doing more to respond to the incident. in florida they are calling him the ninja bandit. investigators say a masked man has robbed at least a dozen gas stations and mini marts. he puts a gun to the back of the victim's head and police say he's acting more dangerously with every robbery. in nasa, they blasted off from cape canaveral aboard a rocket. it will study how the sun affects the earth's radiation belts. and finally in kentucky, halloween came more than a month early as they held its annual zombie attack. crowds young and old did their best impression of the young

dead as they romed the streets. they capped it off with a screening of what else but "return of the living dead." classic there. we'll have a look at your national weather. we tourn nbc meteorologist bill karnls. i got the shakes because i went into a grocery store and they had all the halloween candy. >> did you buy candy corn? >> i'm not already. let me fin august already, come on. >> got to be something on the shelves, right? >> stick with the snikers. >> fall is coming. i'll be happy when fall comes. get done with the hurricanes. right now what we're dealing with is what remains of isaac which is still a pretty potent little storm. still have a tornado storm for areas of new orleans all the way up to south central portions of mississippi. the mississippi coast line has been raked by one strong band of storms. yesterday it was the southeast quadrant of the storm here that we saw the horrible conditions in new orleans southward. over the last 12 hours these bands have pinpointed the mississippi coastal areas. we've had a couple tornadoes and

the water surges are been high. new orleans doing okay. for the most part breezy and dry. these two large bands coming in off the gulf, numerous tornado warnings with those. if you get caught over the top of those you could pick up a quick two inches of rain in an hour. we've seen the rain totals jumping up significantly here around gulfport. 10 inches of rain. flash flood warnings for much of southern mississippi all the way over to the areas around mobile. the winds aren't quite as strong. they're starting to die off. gusts of 40 miles per hour. the storm is slowly on its journey up towards arkansas. we're hoping for beneficial ranges in these areas. the storms will be in ohio valley. 12 more hours, lynn, where damage can be done, winds, possibly tornadoes. after that it will be better. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, the economy grows, oil falls, and the place you really need to be worrying about computer privacy. your first look at this

morning's business headlines is straight ahead. yankees are free falling, dodgers get a lift from an unexpected source, plus lance armstrong stands up for himself. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. the president of egypt, muhammad morsi is in iran today for the summit meeting of the 120 nation nonaligned movement. it is the first iran visit by an egyptian leader in decades. in florida an appeals court has agreed to have a new judge for george zimmerman's trial because the previous judge went too far with some negative remarks. zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second degree murder in the death of black teenager trayvon martin. in los angeles, 11 people were injured including 9 children when a car backed on to a sidewalk. the 100-year-old driver said he

was sorry blaming brake failure. he was not arrested. well, the worst drivers in the u.s. are in washington, d.c. this according to an annual survey by allstate insurance which says drivers there go only 4.7 years between accidents. meanwhile, the safest drivers are in sioux fall south dakota, where the average driver has a crash only once every 13.8 years. and glad this didn't happen to us. it happened in canada. there was a bat that made a guest appearance flying through a studio during a tv newscast in ottawa. a young woman who works in the newsroom helped escort the bat out the side door. here's your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. on facebook, sarah palin, the republican vice presidential nominee in 2008 wrote that fox news canceled her appearances last night when mitt romney's running mate, paul ryan, was speaking to the gop convention.

fox news says the condensed rnc schedule forced the cancellations and they look forward to having palin back, quote, as soon as we can. the answer to the big mystery at the convention may be clint eastwood. a surprise guest speaker is expected tonight before mitt romney's acceptance speech. the political blog town hall reports it will be the legendary actor and director. when governor romney gives his big speech the obama campaign says the president will not have any public events or be campaigning allowing romney his time alone in the national spotlight. first lady michelle obama told david letterman she has not watched any of the republican convention and aids say the president hasn't either. the first lady suggested it is important voters watch both conventions so they can decide who to vote for. nbc news has confirmed a gun was discovered on gop candidate mitt romney's chartered plane from tampa to indianapolis. it was accidentally left on the sink in the plane's bathroom by

one of the secret service agents and an agent recovered it without incident. no word next on the name of the forgetful agent. one of the hottest new items are these mitt romney iphone covers. vanity fair says that they're flying off the shelves despite a cost of 40 bucks each. and that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. and now here's your first look at how wall street is going to kick off the day. the dough rose at 13,107 after adding four points yesterday. the s&p was up a point and the nasdaq gained 4. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei skidded 86 points while in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 235. better economic growth and stronger housing sales nudged stocks higher wednesday thanks to rising consumer spending and exports. the economy grew at 1.7% annual

rate from april through june. that is higher than the initial government estimate. separately, the fed's beige book survey showed the economy expanded gradually in july and early august with improvement in housing and retail sales. also, sales of previously owned homes jumped over 2% in july to the highest level since 2010. still, despite all that good news gains were only modest as traders continue to wait for tomorrow's speech by fed chief ben bernanke and any hints about another round of central bank stimulus. the past four sessions have been the slowest in trade all year. the market's volatility index sits at a five-year low. oil fell after an unexpected rise in stockpiles and the passing of hurricane isaac. insurer wellpoint rose 8% after its ceo resigned. food packager sealed air jumped after news a former dough chemical exec will take over.

g yelp jumped up. clothing chain joseph a. bank soared 14% after posting strong sales and revenue. jewelry retailer zales gained over 5% after forecasting a return to profitability. finally, many of you may worry about facebook privacy and home computer security. perhaps we should all be more concerned about work. there was this 2011 survey that found over half of u.s. employers are monitoring their employees' computer use. so you have been warned. coming up, a grand slam replacement ref remains and word from a falling champion. a rookie shows why he has the right to be cocky. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues

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lot of paperwork. [ doug ] actually... [ voice of dennis ] an allstate agent can help do the switching and paperwork for you. well, it probably costs a lot. [ voice of dennis ] allstate can save you up to 30% more when you bundle. well, his dog's stupid. [ voice of dennis ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. ♪ bundle and save with an allstate agent. are you in good hands? well come back to "first look" i'm lynn berry. unable to notch consecutive wins since august. the yankees continue to lose their grip on first place with a loss. good morning. last month the yankees appear to be running away with the a.l. east. now it's more of a slow crawl. the bronx bombers have been free falling losing 7 of their last 10. the blue jays escobar had a field day in new york, a home run, and driving in 5. toronto wins 8-5.

orioles missed a golden opportunity to inch closer to the yanks. the white sox hit the ground running in baltimore. four runs in the first and go on to win 8-1. tampa's hot on baltimore's tale. longoria hit a home run. they're a half game back of the o's. the nats bryce harper added another accomplishment to his impressive rookie resume. two home runs. it's his first multi-homer game. the nationals snap a five game skid with an 8-4 skid. with all the offensive fire power you wouldn't expect a.j. els to have a grand slam. it's official the nfl will open the regular season with replacement officials. negotiations are at a stand still. the regular season kicks off next wednesday with the cowboys and giants on nbc. finally, less than a week after he said he would not challenge doping charges against

him, lance armstrong spoke at a cancer summit in montreal where he felt the need to re-introduce himself. >> my name is lance armstrong. i am a cancer survivor. i've been asked to come up here and talk about my story of survivorship. i'm a father of five and, yes, i won the tour de france seven times. of course the u.s. anti-doping agency has stripped armstrong of those seven titles, but armstrong says he knows in his heart he won them all and they can't be taken away. that's your first look at sports. i'm mario solis. for another look at the weather we check back in with nbc meteorologist bill karins for that forecast. good morning again. >> the story all summer was the heat and drought. now we've turned our look at the tropics. some of the worst drought conditions exist in the bright red colors. missouri, arkansas, illinois, indiana. those states had the best chance of seeing some significant rains as we go throughout your labor day weekend up here through probably saturday, somewhere

near st. louis, all day into saturday and sunday. illinois, indiana, monday into ohio. we're not talking about the type of rains that will devastate and flood but it will be significant rainfall. today's forecast is in the northeast is dry until we rach the rains from isaac hitting the middle of the nation. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, why lindsay lohan was banned from her favorite hotel and why ryan gosling is not just another pretty face. plus, back in the u.s.a. following a controversial world tour, madonna is sounding quite the patriot. your first look at entertainment coming up. you're watching "first look" on nbc. 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.

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"first look hurricane isaac turned out not to be a threat to the republican national convention. if the hurricane did hit hard they were supposed to evacuate to mitt romney's tax shelter. go down there and stay there until it blew over. the big gossip now is that there's going to be a mystery speaker tomorrow night. apparently republicans have a big mystery speaker lined up. they got joe biden. >> tonight jay welcomes. savannah gut tli. and musical group. yesterday she was banned by her favorite hotel for allegedly failing to pay a $46,000 bill. $686 for cigarettes. not so understandable. that's disgusting. over 3,000 for the mip any bar. >> that's true. >> and skidless. >> after ten episodes of the summer run by charlie sheen's anger management, fx has ordered another 90 episodes. kicking off the u.s. leg of her summer tour in philadelphia, after talking about the arrest of three russian punc rockers, madonna told them they should, quote, never forget how lucky you are to live in a place where you have the freedom you have. >> it is lucky to sit next to you. >> don't come next to me because

you're jealous of this guy. ryan gosselin will be directing something he wrote. christina hendricks will be starring in it. another reason to love ryan gosselin. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. way too early with willie geist starts right now. president obama was asked not long ago to reflect on any mistakes he might have made. he said, well, i haven't communicated enough. he said his job is to, quote, tell a story to the american people. as if that's the whole problem here. he needs to talk more and we need to be better listeners? ladies and gentlemen, these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the white