each one of us was made for a reason. bearing the image and likeness of the lord of life. [ cheers and applause ] we have responsibilities one to another. we do not each face the world alone. and the greatest of all responsibilities is that of the strong to protect the weak. the truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves. each of these moral ideas, each of these moral ideas is essential to democratic government. to the rule of law.

to life in a humane and decent society. they are the moral creed of our country. as powerful in our time as on the day of america's founding. they are self-evident and unchanging and sometimes, even presidents need reminding that our rights come from nature and god and not from government.3 c1 the founding generation secured those rights for us and in every generation since, the best among us have defended our freedoms. they are protecting us right now. we honor them in all of our veterans and we thank them.

the right that makes all the difference now is the right to choose our own leaders, and you are entitled to the clearest possible choice because the time for choosing the drawing near. so here is our pledge. we will not duck the tough issues. we will lead. we will not spend the next four years blaming others. we will take responsibility. we will not try to replace our founding principles. we will reapply our founding principles. the work ahead will be hard. these times demand the best of all of us. all of us, we can do this. we can do this. together, we can do this. we can get this country working again. we can get this economy growing again. we can make the safety net safe again. we can do this. whatever your political party,

let's come together for the sake of our country. join mitt romney and me. let's give this effort everything we have. let's see this thing all the way through. let's get this done! thank you and god bless you all. thank you. >> back here on the floor of this convention, and let it be said, i'll joined here by andrea mitchell, this was the moment the floor of this convention and this gathering woke up. >> it was an appeal to independents and an appeal to tea party conservatives. it was well written, well delivered. the obama camp is already fact checking it. but this was an emotional, strong, very powerful appeal. >> it was a different feel on the floor tonight compared to many of the other speeches thus far in this gathering. and now the tone has been set

going into tomorrow night when mitt romney will come on the stage. the paul ryan family is tonight. and mitt romney will claim the nomination of this poifrlt it is kind of the spark that this gathering needed. there had been some talk that it was an iffy, edgy crowd thus far. but paul ryan did it tonight with a combination of applause lines. >> he talk about his mother. her struggle as a widow, he talk about his grandmother with alzheimer's. he attacked medicare cuts. he talked about obama care. he hit every button on the economic points and talked about deficits without saying how and where and when. those are the specifics that will form the rest debate. >> so with the ryan family, now going backstage. night two is completed in tampa, florida. a complete wrap-up tomorrow morning on today. we'll be back at this tomorrow

evening in prime time, of course, and on nightly news. i'm brian williams, nbc news in tampa. your late local news begins now. high drama along the gulf coast. hundreds of thousands in the dark as tropical storm isaac unleashes heavy rain across the region. more than 800 homes damaged in one parish alone and the conditions are testing the city's flood defenses. >> the situation is so bad that crews are planning to breach one of the levees because of the pressure on it to hold back the water. doug kammerer has the latest on all of this from new orleans. >> reporter: we have been

watching this come through over the past 24, really 36 hours here around the new orleans area. the storm has passed to the north but we are seeing a stronger band. it is pouring out here. and we have seen the strongest winds coming through the downtown area. they are coming in gusts. right now we have a light breeze. 15, 20 miles an hour and you get a quick, 40, 50-mile-an-hour wind gust that knocks you off your feet. what we are seeing in the gulf coast is a lot of rain. we are seeing storm surge and flooding and the threat of tornados in parts of the area. we had a tornado touch down in gulfport, mississippi. you can see a lot of damage in the gulfport, mississippi area from the tornado. there were three tornados in the region. we had couple of homes damaged there and this trend will be moving on into the day tomorrow too even for the new orleans

area. you always have a threat for tornados with a land falling system. that is what happened today. we drove around earlier tonight and it was easy to get video of damage. we saw a huge scaffolding come down across a portion of a starbucks. we saw trees down, power lines down, light poles that were down. we drove around literally and i'm not kidding here within four to five blocks that all we had to go to get video of the damage that is here. as far as the graphics are concerned while we are looking at the storm, the radar showing we are watching the storm just to the north and west of new orleans. the storm will continue to weaken as far as the winds go. but the rains are not going to stop here. we will be dealing with heavy

rains over the next 12 to 24, maybe 36 hours. a lot more rain to come on the gulf coast. i have to tell you it's coming down out here right now. plaque mince parish has been hit hard by the rain. the national guard is on the move in mississippi. they are plowing through high water to reach stranded families there. they have launched boats to reach homes where the water is as high as roof times. officials in bay st. louis say they won't know the extent of the damage until daylight. this video from the international space station shows you the size of the storm when it hit the coast. the storm was the size of texas

with tropical storm force winds extending 175 miles from its center. paul ryan took center stage at the republican national convention. just a few moments ago he accepted the vice presidential nomination. aaron gilchrist in tampa now more on paul ryan's calls for change tonight. aaron? >> reporter: vince, just wrapping up the convention for the night tonight. paul ryan's job was to fire up the republican base to reach out to swing voters and help them understand what he and mitt romney are bringing to the table and to bring contrast between mitt romney and president obama. >> these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the white house. what is missing is leadership in the white house. and the story -- and the story

that barack obama does tell forever shifting blame to the last administration is getting old. the man assumed office almost four years ago. isn't it about time he assumed responsibility? the present administration has made its choices. and mitt romney and i have made ours. before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation's economic problems. >> reporter: now paul ryan was interrupted once. two activists, code pink is the name of the organization held up a sign and shouted healthcare, not warfare. but the crowd chanted usa, usa during that because they wanted paul ryan to be heard. and julie carey is here. there are folks in virginia with perspective on paul ryan as well. >> former virginia congressman

tom davis has been spending time with the delegation. he worked with paul ryan for years on capitol hill. here's his assessment. paul ryan was 28 when he was elected to congress in wisconsin. tom davis, who is starting his third term then said ryan caught his eye right away. >> he didn't have a big head. he got into policy, he did the hard work and i have to say for my time in congress not a lot of members really impressed me. but paul did from the get-go. >> reporter: even though ryan ultimately rose to a leadership position, it wasn't because he was a climber. >> the thing that you need to understand about paul ryan he's not a political animal in the traditional sense. he steeped himself in the budget and understood it better than anyone in the house. >> reporter: his legislative record is conservative on fiscal and social issues.

but there is one vote that will surprise washington area voters. he was a handful of republicans who voted in favor of the 2007 d.c. voting rights bill. >> he joined me in giving d.c. voting rights. he thinks for himself and i think he is a thoughtful guy. >> reporter: virginia will be seeing much more of paul ryan and mitt romney. they are heading to richmond right after the convention. >> julie carey thank you for that. this tees up the main event tomorrow night. mitt romney takes the stage in primetime at 10:00 introduced by the party's rising star, marco rubio. we'll have the latest through the evening and tomorrow night at 11:00. for now, back to you, vance. the democrats hold their convention next week in charlotte, north carolina. today president obama was in virginia starting in charlottesville, a last stop of college towns in swing states.

the president said their vote in november will have a long and lasting impact on the direction of the country. a vietnam veteran robbed inside his home in virginia and a neighbor helped stop that crime without knowing that a crime was occurring. shomari stone shows us how it all happened. >> reporter: gary codwell is back home from the hospital after a horrifying night. >> i'm angry and tired. >> reporter: this 65-year-old vietnam vet is bruised, battered with stitches on his hand. before the attack he was sitting in the living room and heard a bang on the backdoor. suddenly two masked men dressed in all black burst in with a gun, a knife, demanding money. beating and dragging him into the living room. >> they held me down here. there is blood over here too. one guy held me and the other guy ransacked the house. >> reporter: only finding $100.

a neighbor knocked on the front door not knowing what was going on. the crooks were spooked and ran away leaving gary scared and bleeding through his clothes. >> if she hadn't knocked on the door they would have killed me. >> reporter: the crooks broke into his jeep and ransacked it looking for money. a detective says that the case is under investigation. in stafford, virginia, i'm shomari stone, news4. a possible break in a murder on h street in northeast. june lin was killed in june. investigators have filed a search warrant to look for clues for that case. dna on the scene matched that of a man in the system. the motetive appears to be robbery. tonight these lights are on for the first time? sherman circle in an effort to make the neighborhood safer. the call for more lighting

started two years ago after the murder of a catholic university grad student. neil was riding his bike home from work when he was robbed and shot. skins finished the preseason with a big win against the bucs. the final score was 30-3. dan hellie down at fedex field with the highlights on this where none of the starters played. >> pre-season game number four the least exciting. but they did have good plays tonight especially for the second and third stringers. 27 of the top players didn't suit up for the game. it was a great chance for the backups to try to earn a roster spot. that was the goal tonight and to put good plays on film. robert griffin iii just watching in this one. it was kirk cousins getting the

start. sin skins up 6-0. going for armstrong and he got him. three plays later, evan royster punches it in. the skins lead 16-0 at the half. the defense comes up with a pick of their own. another rookie, richard crawford, seventh round draft pick with the second interception of the pre-season. and roy ha lue playing well in this game came in, rushed for 90 yards. did not expect to play as much as he did. we will have a lot more coming up in a few minutes. from here at fedex field, it's quiet. a couple of days before the redskins decide who stays on the final 53-man roster. still ahead, anything can happen on live television. but this, as you are about to see, may be a first. also a warning about a deadly outbreak at a popular vacation spot. and

a frightening accident outside an elementary school in los angeles today. firefighters say a car driven by a 100-year-old man ran into a group of students. it happened this afternoon. nine kids and two adults were injured. some of the kids were trapped under the car and had to be pulled out of there. they are in serious condition tonight. that driver said his car's brakes went out. investigators trying to figure out what caused a deadly tanker crash tonight. the truck was carrying 9,000 gallons of fuel when it flipped

over, bursting into flames and killing the driver. a family in northern virginia is on alert after a vacation at yosemite national park. two people died from a rare rodent virus they may have also gotten at the park. jim rosenfield now with more on the precautions they are taking to stay safe. >> reporter: a summer scare in a tourist mecca. ground zero for the hanta virus is in curry village where tent cabins host visitors by the thousands. this wife and mom has awesome pictures and great memories of the trip to the park in early june. >> it's breathtaking. >> reporter: but word of the health alert this week that took her breath away back home. >> it's been scary. any time i have a symptom it's like is that it? >> reporter: e-mails went out to 1700 visitors explaining the

symptoms caused by mice feces and urine. since 1993 more than 580 cases of the virus have been identified across the country and a third resulted in death. so far the danforths have not received an e-mail notifying them they were at risk. the family stayed in tents with a different design from where the victims stayed. >> i had a little bit of the nausea and was just real weak and tired. >> reporter: just to be safe she plans to see her doctor and have a blood test. in chantilly, jim rosenfield, news4. overcrowded metro trains are typical in rush hour. but for one woman it poses a health threat. she has sensory processing

disorder. after to too many uncomfortable rides from rockville to d.c. she came up with a solution. >> i can sit on it so i don't have to sit on the seat. and there is a partition between me and the next passenger. >> other riders weren't fazed by the shield. she says the shield is a prototype. if she makes more they will be more user friendly. and isaac is losing steam but dumping a lot of rain on the gulf coast. and the storm team 4 meteorologists are on this. >> veronica has more on how -- on what impact isaac could have on the labor day weekend but it's we begin with doug down in new orleans. doug? >> reporter: right now, guys looking at this very heavy rain in the area. we have got, really just police officers coming through right now across our region. as we look what we are going to see here as he told me to move through and wants to go by

anyway. we are looking at heavy rain. the rain coming through here and even though it is losing steam as far as the winds are concerned. no long 80 miles an hour. but 60-mile-an-hour winds. it's losing steam with winds but not with the rain and the rain is what we're going to continue to see. in the last hour, new orleans has picked up over an inch of rain. and that will continue. we are under a heavier band. the heavy bands moving over lake pontchartrain. a lot of flooding on the other side of lake pontchartrain. you can see the closer view here and that line right over new orleans bringing us very, very heavy rain. as far as the winds, gusting up to 60, 70, even 80 miles an

hour. and some areas have seen rains over 1 foot. one report of rain up to 19 inches in parts of the gulf coast region. we are not done, even close here in our region. but this rain will move up the mississippi river to areas of the country that really, really need it. veronica johns veronica johnson, it's going to make a loop into our area. >> it will give us rain in the mid atlantic region. it's going to sit down here providing a lot more in the way of rainfall for spots like arkansas and tennessee. by the time we get to saturday the showers make their way into areas around kentucky and tennessee. by sunday increasing clouds here and we'll start to see the first showers in parts of the viewing area on sunday. for monday if there is any day out of memorial day weekend with

the best chance of showers i think that will on labor day. too early to call how much we're going to get around here. part could break up. and part of the big bulk of the rains could hold to the west of our area. but there is a possibility of showers on labor day weekend. we are looking at tropical storm kirk which should make its way east of bermuda becoming a category 1 but expected to make its way out to sea. that storm system is not going to be bothering us but the tropics are active. we are at 76 degrees and winds are calm. temperatures to the north low 60s. 76 here. a range of temperatures in the area. at the bus stop tomorrow morning, 66 to 70 degrees between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. it will be crisp and comfortable to start the day.

we'll get more sunshine on thursday and even on friday we're talking about a lot of sunshine. there you can see the early rains trying to make their way to the north and east. the bigger bands coming off what is left of isaac for the rest of the weekend. tomorrow morning, 60 to 72. refreshing and dazzling and shiny and bright. at the end of the week on friday we're going to get a bit of heat around here. 94 degrees. it's been a while since w have seen highs in the mid-90s. saturday is 90. second half of the weekend we see the cool down from the clouds and the rains from what is left of isaac. monday we're wet and tuesday we could have leftover showers from that tropical system. that tropical system. bryce harper

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dan is out at the field and a couple guys got themselves jobs with the skins or someone else. >> the running backs and wide receivers played well but they were all backups in this 30-3 win in this fourth pre-season win against the buccaneers. the only starter that contributed was the kicker who was three for four on field goals. there is no honeymoon here at fedex field no matter how new you are especially if you are a kicker. robert griffin iii's only appearance was in warm ups tonight. kirk cousins getting the start. going deep for aaa, anthony

armstrong. he finds him for a 46-yard game. two catches, 61 yards. he is fighting for a roster spot. the defense is hooking him up. richard crawford with his second interception of the pre-season. on the redskins drive, cousins back to work. this time he finds brandon banks for a 47-yard pickup. cousins 15 of 27 for 222 yards and an interception. on the next play, roy helu finds a hole and lunges for the touchdown. 15 carries for 90 yards as the redskins win 30-3. decisions on final cuts going to be tough especially at wide receiver. >> that's the problem you want to have is when guys play good a and you have depth on the team.

we talked about having depth so if someone goes down you have someone who can play. we are a deep football team. that is part of the tough decisions. if you have a hard time making the decisions that means we are getting better. >> cut down day coming up on friday. they have to get the rosterown to 53. they are at 75 right now. the losing skid for the washington nationals is over at five. the nats win down in miami and this was a roller coaster ride of a game for bryce harper. he had highs and lows in this one. in the top of the fourth, bryce harper at the plate with one homer in the game already. let's make that two. a monster shot. 425 feet. this lands in the upper deck. harper's 14th home run of the season. i think he might get to 20 as a 19-year-old. top of the ninth. grounds out to first for a

double play. but he thinks he beats the throw, tosses his helmet, he is tossed. davey argues to no avail. harper tossed but the nats win 8-4, snapping the losing streak. and d.c. united ties the new york red bulls 2-2. still trying to clinch a playoff spot in mls soccer. the redskins finish up the pre-season on a high note but it is just the preseason. >> when do they start? >> the regular season? >> yeah. >> they start the regular season the exact date i think is september 9th in new orleans, ironically. the superdome not supposed to be damaged. maybe doug kammerer can roll by to check things out there.