isaac looks to bear down on new orleans. and mandatory evacuations are

underway as the storm picks up steam over those warm waters. it could reach hurricane status in the hour. and new pictures of damage coming in. >> jay gray is in new orleans. jim rosenfield has more on the fear and potential farout for our area. aaron gilchrist is in tampa where isaac has left its mark. >> new orleans bracing for the worst as isaac prepares to make landfall. on almost seven years to the day to hurricane katrina. veronica johnson is kicking it off with a closer look at isaac's path. >> the latest with isaac still at tropical storm status. the winds at 70 miles an hour on the verge of being a hurricane. the winds need the be 74 miles an hour for that. is it in the gulf of mexico. the track is more to the

northwest. while it has been wobbling to the west today. it would bring it in around new orleans in the early morning hours on wednesday. while there hasn't been strengthening with isaac what i'm seeing is it is going to be pulling in around new orleans as a category 1 storm instead of a category 2. but the winds out of the east will for several hours batter over lake pontchartrain with a lot of rain falling out of the storm em. florida may have been spared the worst of isaac but it spawned a tornado earlier today. dozens of homes damaged. many without power. and in new orleans they are watching and waiting to see if the levies will hold. >> reporter: normally a sign of hope. this rainbow over the mississippi lake monday is nowhere near enough to provide comfort for some in the path of isaac. >> i fear all storms.

you nerve know what you're going to get. >> reporter: there are mandatory evacuations and thousands from the florida panhandle are heading to higher ground. >> i'm going to a motel. i've been in 100-mile-an-hour winds before. it's i don't like it. >> reporter: bolstered by a network of pumps, canals, and flood gates and reassurances from the governor. >> this storm won't bring us anything we are not prepared to handle. >> reporter: many in and around the city are drawing a line in the sand and trusting the first line of defense. >> we have the confidence in the perimeter system to defend against these storm. >> reporter: shrimp boats are lined up and leaving.

lines at gas stations for those filling up and getting out. for some, a lack of trust no matter what has been done in levies they saw give way seven years ago. >> lisa's home was washed away in katrina. she won't stick around for this storm. >> here we go again. wonder if i'm going to lose my home again and start all over. >> reporter: a fear for many here that like isaac is growing. emergency officials stress the window of opportunity to evacuate has just about closed. anyone in south louisiana should be ready to ride out the storm. jay gray, nbc news, new orleans. back home, relief crews have been dispatched to the gulf coast. jim rosenfield is live with more on those efforts. >> reporter: wendy, it's all hands on deck in the gulf coast region. and the red cross is mobilizing

a thousand disaster relief workers tonight including manpower from our area that left tonight. they got the call and packed up the gear tonight at this red cross regional coordination center in fairfax. >> they will deliver food, water and information to those impacted by the disaster. >> reporter: a dozen volunteers heading south in emergency response vehicles joining an armada of 1500 red cross disaster workers and they may see power crews from pepco and dominion power to help to pick up the pieces. >> we lost the truck, the motor bike, the house. >> reporter: albert knows the storm's potential. the former tug boat maintenance worker lost just about everything in katrina. he traded it for a life in wood

bridge, virginia. tonight the father of eight worries about his relatives still in new orleans in isaac's expected path. >> just big worry to hear my family is still living down there and having trouble trying to find ways to get out. i have a large family. >> reporter: and in this electronic age if his family needs shelter they can download a red cross hurricane app and if you'd like to help you can text the word "red cross" to 90999 and you will be making a $10 donation. live in northwest, jim rosenfield, back to you. isaac could impact gas prices as early as tomorrow down south. people in the southern states waited in long lines to fill up today. we checked with aaa mid atlantic

tonight. doug kammerer will be joining us live from new orleans. he was on board one of the very last flights into the city before the airport grounded flights at midnight. rain has moved out of florida as republicans gather for their convention. things kick into high gear tomorrow when mitt romney arrives. aaron gilchrist is in tampa with a look ahead at what happening tomorrow. >> reporter: that cautiousness is why the convention didn't happen today. they gavelled into session and recessed until tomorrow so the delegated has to figure out what to do with their day. delegates decided to go to ybor

city. so a lot of bar hopping and partying for delegates this evening. but the convention center is ready for the big day tomorrow. a and tuesday will be the big day. roll call will happen when they will nominate mitt romney as their candidate. and big speeches set for tuesday. romney will speak as will chris christie. there are other headliners, bob mcdonald among them. a lot of key figures on the ground, julie carey spoke with some of the folks getting out the message including some who we would know in virginia. >> and a lot at stake for mitt romney. the speech is critical to his presidential bid. but the formal nominating process. a virginia delegate has a small

but starring role. tampa started to dry out after a wet and windy day. word spread that mitt romney decided to arrive early in time for his wife's speech and early enough to make adjustments if isaac hits hard at landfall. a co chair for the romney campaign in virginia he will be on the stage for a big speech and will sed mitt romney's nomination. >> i have been work for him since 2006. and i'm excited to have the next president of the united states be mitt romney. >> reporter: it's critical for romney to reconnect with voters. his son tag romney says it will

be a chance for him to reconnect. >> he has a vision for america to get us working again. he is a great guy. a great father and grandfather and a good husband. >> reporter: g.o.p. officials have no plans to condense the schedule but they are keeping a close and wary eye on isaac. >> we have a convention here in tampa and we're going to do the work of the convention but at the same time we're very much aware of and thinking about and praying for everybody that might be effected by this storm when it makes landfall. >> the lieutenant governor you heard there and the virginia delegation excited to here what bob mcdonald has to say. but one governor was scratched from the speaking list. >> that is bobby jindal of louisiana who is dealing with the storm coming his way. but there will be speakers who will acknowledge the fact that

the people of louisiana in their prayers. chris christie has been quoted as saying it's time for the american people to heard hard truths about the way things are going in this country right now. so we can expect to hear a chris christie style speech happening tomorrow in the 10:00 hour. we'll have that for you tomorrow at 11:00. back to you. we have breaking news out of charles county, maryland. a baby taken from a hospital is back in the hospital in the custody of child protective services. the mother of the child took the child from the medical center without permission this evening. the mother does not have custody. is it not yet clear how the moth was able to get the baby out of the hospital. but the baby is back in the hospital safe tonight. extra police will be greeting teenagers at one of harz maryland's largest high schools tomorrow after a student with a shotgun opened fire in

the cafeteria on the first day of class. a special needs student is in critical condition tonight. he was the only one hit but was not a target. it was a 15-year-old gunman and bullying may be the motive for that shooting. a guidance counsellor stopped the teen before he could do further harm. a run in with a fox ended with a woman injured an an officer injured today. the officer shot and killed the fox but he also accidentally shot himself in the leg. the injuries are said to be serious but not life threatening. a woman is trapped inside a speeding suv. we'll tell you how the police got to her safely. more speed cameras could be coming to a street corner near you. i'm meteorologist doug

kammerer. we are live right now. we just landed here in new orleans. we'll have the latest on what is we'll have the latest on what is happening right now, what to

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this was a day of mourning to remember prince george's county police officer killed in the line of duty. shomari stone has more on an outpouring of support and the officer's legacy. >> reporter: hundreds walk out of this beltsville funeral home after paying respect to adrian morris. police escort his family to the viewing. his mother and fiance step out

of a van and walk inside. >> i feel very sad. >> adele is the grandmother of officer morris' fiance. she says she is comforting her. >> i love my granddaughter and love who she had picked. >> reporter: officer morris was killed on monday when he lost control of his cruiser on i-95 while pursuing two men suspected of stealing purses from gas stations. tomorrow ask his funeral. s officer morris was a police explorer scout at 15 years old. he knew he wanted to join the force. >> it was surreal when say saw that. >> the funeral is tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. out here in beltsville i'm shomari stone, news4. ever been fined for speeding past a d.c. speed camera?

it's a lot of money. tommy wells will hold a hearing to discuss souped up fines from city speed cameras. it should discourage feed speeding but the fines which can range from 75 to $250 are just as much about revenue as public safety. the violations in montgomery county are 40 bucks. cameras in d.c. generated more than $50 million last year and there are plans to add 80 more of the cameras in the coming year. look at the weather now is the storm going to have an impact on us? >> it is but it will be days and days and days out. that's as the storm is picked up by a trough coming across the midwest. with you could see the rain by monday of next week which is labor day weekend. some folks saying it would be hurricane status right now. look at the satellite and radar loop here.

a lot of dry air is in the storm. not much happening on the northern side and less rain from the outer bands. but coming on shore some time tuesday night or wednesday morning as a strong category 1 storm with winds around 100 miles an hour. in new orleans is meteorologist doug kammerer. he just landed there on the last flight in. hey, doug. >> reporter: yeah, veronica, we took the second last flight. so the airport now is essentially shut down. just a couple of cars streaming in here. but we are on one of the last two flights to come in. a big thing for new orleans. this storm is coming on the seven-year anniversary of hurricane katrina. hurricane katrina made landfall on august9th. that's what this storm is going

to do. katrina went down to the south and east. this may pass to the west. if it does we would see the strongest winds here. it's going to be flooding from the storm surge first and then you are talking about the rain. this storm is going to sit on new orleans for 24 to 36 hours. and within that time we could be talking 10 to 20 inches of rain. as the storm surge comes up and keeps the water coming down and creates a blooding scenario here. the levies, will they hold? they are going to go through a big test. they think the levies should be okay here. but it's not the strong winds. winds 8 to or 90 miles per hour when it comes through here. but 10 to 20 inches of rain with the storm surge coming in. we'll be here for a couple of days. for now, back to you. >> take a look at the rainfall

from earlier today. i'll back out of the way. florida rainfall totals 10 to 15 inches. and that was with a system of course that didn't even make landfall. but it's just those hours before landfall where there be a tremendous amount of rain pounding the area with 6 to 12 foot storm surge. for us a sticky night out there and a humid morning too at 79 degrees the temperature right now, plenty warm. 72 in frederick. with showers right now in hagerstown. and tomorrow morning at the bus stop we're expecting a few showers. temperature 68 to 73. and scattered showers for the early part of the day with a thunderstorm or two in southern maryland. how much rain could we get? a quarter to a half inch of rain with the heaviest of storms. for tomorrow morning, 68 to 73.

it will be wet and a warm day for us as the temperatures get into the upper 80s with a 30% chance of rain around the area. nice weather wednesday and thursday. heat back on friday and rain back late sunday and early monday of next week. >> thanks veronica. >> thanks veronica. the redskins cut down their

i'm barack obama and i approve this message now mitt romney's attacking the tpresident on medicare?heir 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.

guys who worked hard all their lives to do what they love doing and they hate these days. >> it was the first round of

mandatory cuts for the redskins. they had to get to 75 players from 90. but not a lot of familiar faces on the cut list. they did wave neil rackers. they worked out a trade for kevin barnes. the skins were able to work out a deal with the lions for an undisclosed draft pick. >> here's a football team that needs a corner. here's a third round draft pick with great speed and a couple of schemes. one team gives you a draft choice and he gets a chance to make a team. so it's a win-win situation for both teams. and don't forget this wednesday the last chance to check out the skins in the pre-season.

the guys fighting for their jobs as they take on the buccaneers. the nationals down in florida where they will try to get back on track against the marlins tomorrow. the guys in midst of their first four-game losing streak since mid june. and the orioles against the sox tonight. lew ford his played everywhere in the last five years. bottom of the second he goes deep. his first major league home run since 2007 puts the o's up 1-0. bottom of the eight, mclouth at the dish and that's a two-run shot. the o's on top 4-3. the birds are tied with oakland on top of the wild card

standings. redskins quarterback robert griffin iii talks to the media one day a week. today was the day. today he dropped a superhero reference when asked about alfred morris. >> to run for 107 yards in a half is impressive. like i told him at the game, you know, i grew up with captain planet. so we have our rookie powers uniting, so we're doing a good job. leave them speechless. >> i'm still trying to figure it out. >> my producers had to tell me and i'm not sure. but it was in the early 90s. he was just a baby. old school for him. one tennis note, roger federer

a car is going 120 miles an hour and you have no way to stop it. that's what a woman claims happened to her in a busy highway in missouri. >> i'm coming up on a bunch of

cars. >> okay. >> i'm so scared. >> she is in a car speeding down a road. it happened last sunday. she called 911 to say the accelerator was stuck. the troopers suggested she hit the brakes and pull the gas pedal at the same time and that worked. kia inspected the car but cannot figure out what happened. they say it appears to be an isolated incident. they will work with the woman

>> announcer: it's "the tonight show with jay leno," featuring rickey minor and "the tonight show" band. tonight, jay welcomes -- dennis miller. from "the office," kate flannery.