today," all eyes on isaac. florida's gulf coast watches and waits as tropical storm isaac churns in the caribbean. game over. lance armstrong gives up his fight against doping allegations and loses seven tour de france titles. and fresco fiasco. a spanish woman's attempt at art and fresco fiasco. a spanish woman's attempt at art restoration go horribly wrong. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with a storm threat.

tropical storm isaac is still hundreds of miles away. a direct impact has florida residents preparing now. nbc's kirk gregory has the latest. >> reporter: wind and rain in puerto rico. a glancing blow from tropical storm isaac as the system meanders across the caribbean. hurricane warnings are in effect for the dominican republic and in haiti where aid groups are mobilizing to assist the thousands of people still struggling i make-shift shelters 2.5 years after an earthquake destroyed the capitol city. >> the next 24 hours will be critical for the population of haiti and the international red cross is concerned. >> reporter: concern is spreading throughout florida as well. the latest projection map shows the state feeling the storm's force as early as sunday. in cape coral, firemen wasted no time in securing a storm curtain around city hall. >> to protect the glass and any debris that comes up against it.

>> reporter: and along florida's gulf coast. >> i'd rather be early than late. >> reporter: preparations for isaac are underway. just as the final touches are added to tampa's big party. >> we're ready for the storm if it were to come. we don't think it will. we really now are more focused on putting on a great event for the national convention. >> reporter: convention organizers say contingency plans if it strengthens the bay. >> the next couple of days we'll find out when it cops off the coast of cuba what happens. >> reporter: but those plans depend on what isaac may do. curt gregory, nbc news. nbc meteorologist bill karins is tracking the storm for us. what's the latest? >> it's all about potential. it hasn't intensified as expected over the last two or three da. it looks impressive. these are all the bright cold clouds and the southern half of the storm. you'd think the center was here but it's up here to the north.

the storm has yet to get an inner core together to intensify. that's why we're dealing with a tropical storm. as it crosses the land areas, probably may weaken a little bit. may stay a weak tropical storm. saturday night as it hits the warm waters of the florida straits, that's when we'll begin to feel some of the rain impacts in southern portions of florida. it will miss for the most part it looks like the heart of florida. it may brush the west coast, but then it heads to the warm waters here of the gulf of mexico. that's where the concern is. anywhere from tampa to new orleans right now you have to prepare as if the storm is going to head your way. here's a closer view of the hurricane path forecast. don't focus on the center line or even the intensity because that will shift. we're still 72 to 96 hours away from that. the forecast positions, they have been wobbling a little bit. our computer models have been going somewhere between new orleans and tampa.

over the weekend prepare as if it was heading for you. >> better safe than sorry. in part because of the threat for isaac, delegates at the republican national convention will begin the roll call vote to nominate mitt romney on monday. that is days earlier than scheduled and earlier than had been done at previous conventions. they're worried about hundreds who are pledged to vote for ron paul. he has not released his delegates to support romney. champion cyclist lance armstrong is expected to be stripped of his tour de france titles today. the u.s. anti-doping agency says it will ban armstrong from cycling for life and take away his seven titles in the tour de france. he said he would stop fighting ongoing doping allegations and what he called a, quote, unconstitutional with hunt. he could lose a bronze medal he won in the 2000 games in

australia. now here's a look at some of those stories making news in america. a massachusetts woman and her child were nearly killed in front of dozens of subway riders. the woman fell on to the track with her 4-year-old son after she accidentally walked off the platform. a bystander immediately helped the two before a train arrived. she told officials she was rushing towards the train but didn't realize it was on the other side of the station. the waters of virginia beach have become a battle zone. more than 200 surfers are ready to catch some waves at the 50th annual east coast surfing champion. the event is north america's oldest surfing competition and it is steep with competition. they arrived for their shot at the $155,000 grand prize. finally, the san diego zoo received some great news on thursday. a baby panda can you be born july 29th passed its first

physical exam with flying colors. the next step is finding out the sex of the animal which will be determined during all those follow-up exams. too cute. now for a look at your national and regional weather. here's nick meteorologist bill karins. i think we should do a big collective awww. >> it was kind of cute. >> no, it was cute. >> they get or four months. >> no. the babies are cute. >> fuzzy birds. well, good morning. we haven't spent a lot of time on the weather over the lower 48 recently because all eyes are on isaac. we have rain. our drought monitor came out yesterday. our drought continues to expand in this area. been a very dry august through the hartland. we've gotten rain throughout the ohio valley but we haven't seen much here in oklahoma and indiana. this is the same storm that produced heavy rain in vegas. now it's heading out here in the plains.

the shield of rain, very light. this is what you need. a good little soaking here from dodge city to hayes, we'll work across here. a little bit to oklahoma. friday forecast, wet weather from kansas city hopefully to oklahoma city. numerous showers and thunderstorms down in the gulf. nothing to do with isaac. a warm day for you in mid-atlant mid-atlantic. eastern north carolina you are getting heavy rain yourself. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. today areas like washington, d.c., philly, humidity levels aren't too bad. we'll see a chance of storms in peeb low, colorado. new orleans. we're watching isaac closely for you. weekend forecast coming up. some good news hopefully. >> yeah. isaac is hitting somewhere. >> that is unfortunate. investors throw down on the fed. gold fetches a pretty penny and

the parking spot of your dreams. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, can "expendables 2" once again knock out the competition at the box office. a slug fest in boston, adrian beltre is hot and olympian gabby douglas like you've never seen her before. you're watching "early today."

good morning, welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. the fbi and capitol police are investigating rape threats against todd akin and his family and staff. he sparked controversy with what he said about, quote, legitimate rape. republican mitt romney says his energy plan would make the u.s. independent of foreign oil by 2020 and create 3 million jobs. the obama campaign called it a,

quote, backward plan that would reward big oil companies. 57-year-old mark david chapman, the man who killed john lenin, has been denied parole. he was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. this shows the final moments before the touch down of the first spacecraft before a landing on another planet. in spain a century old art fresco of christ was in need of repair so an amateur art restorer in her 80s took it upon herself to fix it. well, she didn't really do a good job and now professionals will try to repair the damage that was done. and knew here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens 13,057 after tumbling 115.

the s&p dropped 11 the nasdaq 20. nikkei sank 107 points while in hong kong, the hang seng plunged 252. investors are banking on hope from the fed seems a little less certain thursday. uncertainty about the likelihood of more still pew lus thread after james bull lard, the president of the st. louis bank told our sister network cnbc said that the minutes were stale because the economy has picked up. investors dumped stocks and oil betting on gold. it shot up 2% yesterday to just under 1,675 an ounce. new data showed first-time unemployment claims ticked slightly higher underscoring the unen job market. global economic woes hit the stock. hewlett-packard lost more than 8% thanks to weak quarterly results and a disappointing

forecast. meanwhile, big lots weighed down. the s&p tumbled nearly 21% on a sharp drop on quarterly products. apple and samsung's big patent suit, a court ruled that both companies infringed on each other's patents. the court ordered a ban on some iphones, ipads and galaxy smart phones. facebook announced it will release an overhauled iphone app after users complained it was slow. finally, say good-bye to your average parking lot. one high rise in singapore is taking luxury to a whole new level. a special elevator delivers your car to your apartment so that you can park right next to your living room. yeah, units start at around $8 million. sorry, the lamborghini is not included. first nfl start and the little league world series u.s.

championship match-up is set. plus an olympic gymnast tries her hand at another sport. your early morning sports are straight ahead. i'll have your weekend forecast. another look at isaac's path. that's coming up. you're watching "early today."

. very good morning to you.

if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, several teams punched some extra time on the clock in yesterday's major league match-ups. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early morning look at all your sports headlines. good morning. a handful of great starts in the business. slug fest between the angels and red sox. 16th homer of the year. barn burner. nobody pitched but the angels won it 14-13 in ten. cinci intentionally loaded the bases in the 11th and john mayberry made them pay an rbi single. now to detroit, tigers scored two in the eighth and one in the tenth. alex aville yeah was the hero. get out the brooms. tigers swept the jays 3-2 in 11. adrian beltre is the hottest player in baseball. he hit another one yesterday. rangers beat the twins, 10-6. gabby douglas threw out the

first pitch. i'd like to show you the highlights. game but there certainly weren't any. mets lost their first straight. jake locker started. he threw a pair of touchdowns against the cards. titans like what they see, they won it 32-27. packers don't have a premiere back but who needs one when you have aaron rodgers. he ran in two touchdowns. green bay beat cinci 27-13. ravens aren't ready to go. joe flacco hooked up with an twoin bold din. baltimore ran away with it 48-17. finally, congratulate shuns from the little leaguers from petaluma, california. they won over texas. they broke the game wide open with a grand slam. california won it 11-1. they'll play tennessee for the title tomorrow. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred rowing begin. all signs point to a

lackluster weekend at the box office. plus, waterproof makeup, $50. wet suit and bow tie, $100. a unique wedding experience you'll never forget, priceless. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." the bottom line on isaac is anywhere from tampa all the way to new orleans including the keys. you have to watch this storm closely.

should be a weak tropical storm over the next 48 hours. then the potential to grow in strength over the eastern gulf of mexico, heading for either the west coast of florida or the northern gulf. as far as the weekend forecast goes, beneficial rains from kansas city, topeka, oklahoma city. as far as florida goes, it really doesn't look like the impact from the heavy rain will move in until we go throughout the day on sunday. especially in south florida. if you're watching us on waff 48 in huntsville, alabama, near florence, from blueprint to building at the children's museum of shoals. >> building a house at a children's museum? >> why not. start young. >> exactly. early architecture. got it. all right. here now is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment news. as the summer box office season winds down, several new releases will be no match for last weekends chance at the "expendables 2."

premium rush starring gordon levity, it's received deep reviews and expected to open with around $9 million. the comedy "hit and run" has received poor word of mouth reviews from most who have seen it. it's expected to debut at about $8 million. the wild card this weekend could be the anti-barack obama documentary, "2016." it's expected to rake in about $4 million. finally, the horror film, "the aborition" it is debuting in 8 million theaters. i hate horror movies. >> this is the last weekend that you may have good time with your husband. football season and college football will be next weekend. this is the last non-football

weekend. >> really? >> yeah. >> okay. have to make a note of that one. >> this is my last weekend putting my time in. >> no. bill. this now comes to us from newport beach, california, where one couple's wedding plans took their nuptuals to new heights. amanda and grant made a splash using water powered jet packs to make a memorable entrance. adding to wedding jitters, they didn't want to at this point head first into the sea. everything went off without a hitch. after landing they added some traditional aspects to their ceremony before taking off to tackle their next adventure as husband and wife. we should probably tell grant to make a note. get the time in with amanda this weekend because football season is starting according to bill kairns. i'm veronica de la cruz, just your first stop of the day on your nbc station. i'm barack obama and i approve this message

now mitt romney's attacking the president on medicare? the nonpartisan a-a-r-p says obamacare "cracks down on medicare fraud, waste, and abuse and strengthens guaranteed benefits." and the ryan plan? a-a-r-p says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors... and experts say ryan's voucher plan could raise future retirees costs more than six thousand dollars. get the facts.

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caught on camera. the scary ride and the failed attempts to control a ride-on as it slams into a home. storm watch, warnings are out this morn for places like the dominican republic and haiti has tropical storm isaac moves over the caribbean. good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i eun yang. right now all eyes are on tropical storm isaac as it moves closer to u.s. shores. today it is expected to move to haiti and dominican republic. isaac's track seems to be taking it farther west, making it a

potential threat to the gulf coast. unfortunately for republican leaders tampa lies on florida's gulf coast which means isaac could still impact next week's party convention. gop and city officials have been scrambling to prepare for the storm. they're also prepared to cancel the convention if needed. yesterday crews installed tents and rain shelters to provide cover in case of downpours. even if the storm only brushes the city high winds and flooding are still expected. >> in terms of an actual evacuation of the city of tampa, that is my call. we haven't been hit by a hurricane in 90 years but we plan for this every year. >> 65,000 people are expected to attend the convention, starting monday. three days before the rm convention in tampa, a new poll says the race whort white house is too close to call in that swing state. the latest quinnipiac poll hayes president obama has a slight lead over mitt romney in florida,