this morning on "early today," low and slow. isaac delivers a deluge of devastation to the gulf coast. ed on the attack. paul ryan slams president obama as he accepts the nomination for vice president. and on air scare. a bat causes chaos in a canadian newsroom. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with disaster area. a down graded isaac continues to

drench the gulf coast. now, president obama has declared disasters in mississippi and louisiana where as many as 70 people were rescued from the raging floodwaters. nbc's steve handelsman 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 the storm through early friday morning. >> reporter: but in many communities including blaparish survivors are already dealing with more than they can handle. >> i'm just exhausted and tired. >> reporter: more is 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 floodwaters, 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 it to be like this. >> reporter: few did and now they just want isaac go away. >> he needs to go home. he needs to go away and leave us alone. it's been enough already. >> reporter: but forecasters and first responds warn this is far from over because isaac isn't going anywhere fast. jay gray, nbc news, new orleans. >> unfortunately. well, elsewhere in tampa last night it was vice presidential paul ryan's turn to address the republican national convention. problems he says he and his running mate he and mitt romney

can fix. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: mitt romney picked a gop young gun as his running mate. >> i accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity and i know we can do this. >> reporter: paul ryan is the leader of republicans insisting we recognize our deficit crisis and fix it. >> we need to stop spending money we don't have. the president 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: delegates loved it hoping ryan's charisma wins over undecided voters. earlier former secretary of state condoleezza rice says our deficit problems hurt us abroad. >> the world knows that when a nation loses control of its

finances it's eventually loses control of its destiny. that is not the america that has inspired people to follow our lead. >> reporter: but paul ryan came across a confident expert and republicans feel hope inspired along with mitt romney that he can fix our economy. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, at the rnc in tampa, florida. well, now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in los angeles, surveillance video shows police knocking a woman who was handcuffed down to the ground, and they did it twice. the woman had been pulled over for using a cell phone while driving. well, 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. well, in florida, they're called him the ninja bandit. investigators say a masked man has robbed at least a dozen gas

stations and mini markets. he puts a gun to the back of his victi victims' heads and police say he's acting more dangerously with every robbery. in virginia, the driver of a tanker truck was killed in this fiery wreck. please say the big rig overturned on a ramp while trying to merge onto interstate 95. the crash tied up traffic for much of the morning. and finally in kentucky, halloween came more than a month early as louisville held its annual zombie attack. crowds young and old did their best impression of the indead as they roamed the streets capping it off with a screening of what else, "return of the living dead." well, now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins, of course, tracking that tropical storm. >> the storm that won't leave louisiana fast enough. it had left its mark. for a category 1 hurricane, it just shows you any hurricane can be devastating.

we're not done yet. we're probably still going to get damage, isolated tornadoes in mississippi, possibly even alba na we have warnings. all the moisture coming in off th gulf. we've got these two nasty bands that are streaming northwards. if you're in those, it's pretty impressive. especially the coastal areas of mississippi. so as far as the rainfall totals, i mean this purple shading is six inches plus. we're really targeting the new orleans area, over the coastal area back over to mobile, widespread, 6 to 10 inches of rain. we've got flash flood warnsings from jasper to the biloxi area. we're not dealing with too much. looks like the pumps did their jobs yesterday and the rains backed off a little bit. the winds are still gusty, 30 to 40-mile-per-hour gusts. as far action wind damage goes

we should be pretty much done with and from here on out we'll watch the storm heading into the drought area. you'll appreciate it when it gets there in the days ahead. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. it's going to be a nice beautiful day today. many areas from the ohio valley through pittsburgh, washington, d.c., the mid-atlantic. it's going to get a little hotter in the middle of the country before isaac arrives and the heat will arrive in the east on friday. so we've got another about 12 to 24 hours where we could do more damage and then we'll actually have some beneficial rain. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up the economy gross, oil falls and the place where you should worry about your computer privacy. your business headlines are straight ahead. following a controversial world tour, madonna sounding quite the pate trok. yankees are free-falling, dodgers get a lift from an

unexpected source plus lance armstrong stands up for himself. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. the president of egypt is in iran for the summit meeting of the 120-nation nonalign movement. it is the first i rehab visit by an egyptian leader in a decade. in florida they have 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 in the murder of black teenager trayvon may on the. 11 people were injured when a car backed into a sidewalk. the worst drivers in the

u.s. are in washington, d.c. according to an annual survey by ail state insurance which say drivers only go 4.7 years without accidents. meanwhile the safest drivers are in sioux falls, north dakota, where the average driver has an accident every 10.8 years. in canada a bat made a guest appearance flying through a studio during a newscast in ottawa. a yng woman, a brave yum woman who works in the newsroom eventually helped escort the bat out the side door. and now here's an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow closet add 13,107 after going up 4. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei skidded 86 points while in honk kaing the hang sanctumabled 235. well, better economic whoas and housing sales rose thanks to

exports. the economy grew at a 1.7% annual rate from april through june, higher than the initial government estimate. separately the beige book survey showed the economy expanded gradually with improvement in housing and retail sales. also sales of homes jumped 2% in july to its highest level since 2010. still, gains were only modest as traders continue to kuwait for tomorrow's speech by fed chief ben bernanke and any hints of another round of bank stimulus. the past four sessions have been the slowest in trade all year. the market's val tilt index sticks at a five-year low. oil fell and the passing of hurricane isaac. insurer wellpoint rose 8% after its ceo resigned. food packager sealed air jumped 12% on news thattet a

former dow chemical exec will take over when its current ce o'retiro retires. yelp jumped up. clothier joseph a. banks jumps up. zaels increased after a return to profitability. and finally while many worry about facebook privacy and home computer security perhaps we should all be more concerned about work. a 2011 survey found over more than half of u.s. employers are monitoring computer use. coming up, a grand slam, replacements remain and words from a fallen champion. plus, the washington nationals' cocky rookie shows why he has a right to be. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead.

starting on friday isaac will bring beneficial rains to the drought areas. i'll tell you who comes up. you're watching "early today." . you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports unable to notch consecutive wins since mid-august, the yankees continue to lose their grip on first

place yesterday with loss to the toronto blue jays. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the yankees appeared to be running away with the al east. now it's more of a slow fall. the bronx bombers have been free-falling. escobar had a field day in new york, a home run and driving in five. toronto wins 8-5. 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 tail. longoria hit a home run in texas. the race are a half game in back of the o's. bryce harper add another accomplishment to his impressive rookie resume. two homers last night against the marlins. the nationals stack a five-game win. with all the offensive fire power with the dodgers you

wouldn't expect a.j. to drive in four runs. first career grand slam. dodgers beat the rockies, 10-89. it's official. the nfl will open the season with replacement officials. they're at a standstill with the league and the association. of course, the regular season kicks off next wednesday with the cowboys and giants on nbc. and, finally, less than a week after he said he would not argue trumping charges against him lance armstrong felt the need to reintroduce himself. >> my name is lance armstrong, a survivor of can sore, a father of five, and, yes, i won the tour de france seven times. >> of course, the u.s. antidoping 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 look at sports on "early today."

i'm mario solis. why lindsay lohan was banned from her favorite hotel and why ryan gosling is not just another pretty face. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, here you expect to see signs, buttons, and lots of goofy hats, but love? you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." this map is the drought map that's currently going on in the middle of our country.

the worst of it from kansas, oklahoma, nebraska, iowa, missouri, arkansas, and indiana. a few of you are going to get significant rain from isaac. this is the future forecast path. no problems with the wind but the rain will be on the east side of this. looks like arkansas, missouri, possibly illinois and indiana. we're going to see some benefits from what at this point has been a destrength uv storm. >> if you're watching us on 12 news in phoenix, arizona, discover how artists use paper as a canvas as paper at the art museum. and that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. well, lindsay lohan's problems keep piling up. when will it end. >> you can stop reporting. >> i have no choice. yesterday lohan was banned by her favorite hollywood hotel for allegedly failing to pay a $4000 bill.

tmz reports lohan thought the producers of her liz taylor lifetime movie were covering the bill. >> a misunderstanding. >> the bill itself shows some interesting charges. $686 for cigarettes and over $3,000 for the mini bar. all right. after a ten-episode summer rung, fx has ordered another 90 episodes of charlie sheen's comedy "anger management." >> i taped the first two. >> kicking off the first leg of her summer tour in philadelphia after talking about the recent arrest of three russian punk rockers madonna told the crowd, quote, you should never forget how lucky you are to live where you live and have the freedom that you have. and feerinally add writing directing to ryan gosling's resume. don't roll your eyes. he'll direct christina hendricks

in "how to catch a monster" which he wrote. and this comes to us from tampa where the republican national convention, mitt romney and paul ryan weren't the only pair grabbing attention. a convention manager proposed to his girlfriend right on the main stage using video screens to help pop the questions. nicely done. along with the showbiz flair. he got down on one knee as it should be and he popped the big question the traditional way and much like the candidates the bride-to-be accepted the nomination. check out the rock. asked if mitt romney will be invited to the big day, she asked, will he pay for the wedding. nicely done. all right. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

i accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity, and i know we can do this. >> an electric night at the republican national convention as vice presidential nominee paul ryan takes center stage, promising changes in washington. plus, we continue to track the path of tropical storm isaac. the powerful storm moves inland. this is a look at where it is right now. the storm has battered the gulf region, forcing thousands to evacuate as floodwaters swamp communities. president obama has declared federal emergencies in louisiana and mississippi. good morning, everyone. i'm richard jordan in for aaron

gilchrist, who's on assignment. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this thursday, august 30th, 2012. we're going to take a look at the forecast now. meteorologist tom kierein here with more on isaac and our forecast. tom? >> they have had over a foot of rain in new orleans and 20 inches of rain in areas just southeast of new orleans. incredible amounts of rain there, and it continues to rain, although thankfully for new orleans, much of the rain is ending, but you can look at that. couple of really long bands, 100-mile-long bands of heavy rains that are east of new orleans still plaguing plaquemines county and areas of southwestern mississippi. right now it is a tropical storm and it is northwest of new orleans, and it's going to continue on this track and then turn north tomorrow through arkansas, then into missouri, up near st. louis by friday afternoon and then, perhaps, south of chicago on saturday and then sunday morning in central ohio. the remnants with tropical downpours may be coming our way by the endf