today," the race is on. mitt romney launches his attack on possible as his official gop nominee. on the wain isaac weakens to a tropical depression as it trudges along the water logged coast. and harvard scandal. it locks one of the nation's most prestigious institutions. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with the republican nominee and what may be the most important speech of his political career, mitt romney accepted the gop

presidential nomination in tampa last night, arguing he is the hope and change candidate, not president obama. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: the warm-up act was clint eastwood, more swagger and gravly voice, but the message about barack obama. >> when somebody does not do the job, we've got to let them go. >> reporter: in the most important speech of his life mitt romney tried to first talk voters watching at home out of sticking with president obama. >> i wish president obama had succeeded because i want america to succeed. we deserve better. my children deserve better, my family deserves better, my country deserves better. to the majority of americans who now believe that the future will not be better than the past, i can guarantee you this. if barack obama is re-elected, you'll be right. president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet.

my promise is to help you and your family. >> reporter: romney said he was molded by his family and he vowed to focus on what family needs now. he claimed his economic plan, more oil and coal production, lez debt and jobs mean future. >> that future is our destiny, it is out there, it is waiting for us. our children deserve it, the nation depends on it. the peace and freedom of the world requires it and with your help we will deliver it. let us begin that future for america tonight. >> reporter: i'm steve handelsman, nbc news at the rnc in tampa. well, elsewhere clean-up and recovery are under way in the gulf now that isaac has been downgraded to a tropical depression, but the heartache and hard work have only just begun. just hours ago two bodies were found floating in a flooded home in hard-hit plaquemines parish

and officials fear there may be more. nbc's jay gray reports from louisiana. >> reporter: while the winds and rain have finally eased, the tensions and frustration from isaac have not. >> it's really discouraging, really sad. >> and for many, a difficult trip home, trudging through standing water to salvage whatever they can or coming back by boat when the only way in is through an attic window. and in many places, even harder to figure out how to move on. across the gulf south trees and power lines have been snapped and tossed to the ground. hundreds of thousands are still without electricity right now. as the system moved through it spawned tornadoes in mississippi. this twister splinting homes in passcagou pascagoula. but the problems here continues to be the water taking in the neighborhoods by storm. >> now's the time to get your family and yourself out of

harm's way. >> reporter: while others are going back to face the realization of just how little is left now. >> what do you do when somebody needs help? we've done this before. >> reporter: a harsh reality that still doesn't make this time any easier. jay gray, nbc news, new orleans. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in philadelphia, a mysterious shooting was all caught on surveillance video. now, you can see there the victim running after a gunman opening fire, the shooter then gets out of the suv and then continues repeatedly firing at the man. the victim apparently escaped with just a graze. that's amazinamazing. the police are searching for the gunman. in arizona the skies were clogged with yet another mavis dust cloud in the eechk. the winds from the storm hit 40 miles an hour.

well, in san diego the only thing cuter than a panda bear is a baby panda. that's right. this little critter is just a month old. so young the veterinarians don't even know if it's a boy or a girl. what they do know is the cub is okay after the checkup and right now it only weighs about 2.2 pounds. >> and finally in texas how tasty does chicken fried cactus sound? it's one of the scream appetizers being entered in a state fair contest there. the chefs behind it say while it's important to get rid of the thorns it's important not to add too much water while cooking. they said they did that the first time and it exploded in the fryer. you only make that mistake once. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorolost bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. happy friday, bill. >> it is. labor day weekend. the end of august. this is it.

>> can you believe it. real sad. >> fall is almost here. it's not going to feel like it. a hot day across the country. we're still watching the tropics but the hurricane season goes right into september and through october and wanes as we go through. maybe some isolated tornadoes. there's one band of heavy rain right now in north central louisiana. you can see the thunderstorms that have erupted here. we're finally getting a break in all of the areas that have been hit in southern mississippi and down toward new orleans. now we're getting beneficial soaking rains over much of the state of arkansas as the system has tracked where we wanted it to just to the west of little rock. that pretty much means the west side of the storm is the east side of the storm. unfortunately for oklahoma and kansas, much of this is not heading your way. as far as the path goes, over the weekend, it will be a slow jog. anywhere from missouri to illinois to indiana and maybe eventually ohio and kentucky, you'll have increased clouds,

cooler weather and a chance of rain and in someases some beneficial rain here, too, and that will be especially near the areas of missouri. the forecast, as i mentioned, it's hot. many areas in 290s. from chicago, ohio valley to the east coast. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look outside your window. baltimore and detroit and a lot of these areas, you wonder if this will be one of the last really hot days. usually the cold front comes out one after another as we go into september. if you like the hot weather, enjoy it today. i think i'm going to the pool for one last time. >> whoa, look at you, getting crazy. >> why not. getting crazy. >> there'll be a lot of people joining you. thanks so much. coming up, big ben finally speaks, saers gets a rebound and on hid birthday he gives to others. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus is this movie set to hit

the box office this weekend for how low you can go? coming up the nationals have a timetable, andy roddick calls it quits and the jets finally score. 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. iran has installed 75% of the nuclear center fusion needed to complete a site for producing nuclear fuel, this according to international atomic inspectors. the white house warns the window to resolve the dispute over iran's nuclear program will, quote, not remain open indefinitely. in iran egyptian president mohamed morsi warned them. a federal court blocked the voter identification law in texas that would require a photo i.d. before casting a ballot.

a letter was sent regarding the book he's about to public. the pentagon says the book is in violation of nondisclosure agreements he signed and the military is considering legal action. and a cheating scandal at harvard university as dozens of students are being investigated for possibly coining answers on a take-home final exam. if found guilty, they face a reprimand or suspension. and now here's an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,000 after tumbling 106 points yesterday. the s&p dropped 11. the nasdaq sank 32. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei stumbc stumbled 143 on hong kong the hang seng fell 70. later this morning fed

chairman ben bernanke finally gives the speech that has kept wall street frozen all week. investors have been waiting to see if bernanke gives clues as to the next round of stimulus from the central bank. he'll speak in wyoming at an annual symposium. thursday those betting ben bernanke will offer bond recovery as well as briefing for no stimulus at all but treasuries rose and yields fell. recent healthy eek nom ilg data suggests to some the fed may wait to see on another stimulus boost. thursday's data included unemployment holding steady last week. also, july's consumer spending was the highest in five months, and a separate retail report showed spending continuing in august with better than expected sales at a range of outlets including target, costco and limited brands. stocks fell because they worry about the high grass praises may shorten the consumer

spending. >> sears learned it will be removed from the s&p 500 index. chemistry maker lyondellbasell will replace sears. pandora reported higher earnings and raising its full year outlook. elsewhere the world bank says drought in the united states and eastern europe pushed food prices around the globe up 10% in july. and finally marking his 82nd birthday thursday, billionaire investor warren buffett pledged more money to his three children's charities. well, college football kicks off, gangrene finally sees a goal linen, and a surprise retirement for a tennis great. plus, baseball's giants kick around their opponent for a third straight game. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. isaac's rains will connell right into the holiday weekend and that holiday weekend forecast is coming up.

you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports the washington nationals placed a pitching limit on their ace yesterday in the star right-hander's first full season after undergoing

reconstructive elbow surgery. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. stephen strasburg is having a career year. that's not good enough for the nationals. they're going to shut him down to protect his elbow, announcing he'll have two or three more starts and that's it. he's done. so to make sure strasburg doesn't miss any games, they're going to make him miss some games. go figure. they're confident they can make the october run without their ace. nobody's going to shut down bryce harper. if their offense plays like this they don't need pitching. slugfest between the cubs and brewers. alfonso soriano with a walk-off single. milwaukee's johnian luke roy drove in seven. that didn't matter. the cubs won it, 12-11. gonzalez, the pitcher kicked it to third. he went fleeing over fit. hit the bat awkwardly and was down and out. the giants won it, 8-4. apparently 30 is the new 65.

andy roddick turned the big 30 yet and then called it a career, announcing he'll be retired after the u.s. open. he won the u.s. open in 2003. how about some college football. that's brandon ronchers, the brother of aaron rodgers. he has all the right moves. 29 yards to the house. carolina started the season with a 17-13 win. the jets finally scored a touchdown. mark sanchez and tim tebow had nothing to do with it. third string quarterback mackle roy to gannaway. there's talk he should be the eventual starter. he proved his worth against philly. he couldn't do it all. the regular season can't start soon enough for sports. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. a star checks into stress rehab and jersey shore is no more.

your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health for 77 years. you're watching "early today."

let me take you through your friday, saturday, sunday forecast. the rains from isaac mostly over missouri. we're very hot from chicago to the eastern seaboard on this last day of august.

as we head into september we're watching the rains from isaac. drought relief there. we're happy for that. east coast looks dry, but by the time we get to sunday some of the moisture will be across the ohio valley. we'll also see some rains possible on sunday around washington, d.c. well, if you're watching us on kfor, news channel 4, oklahoma city, oklahoma, see how different artists pick different golf or gins in scotland. it's growth of america at the art of golf at the oklahoma city museum of art. and that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. i think everybody should play golf on sunday morning and everyone should be provided that by the government. i could get elected on that. >> you could. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. at the box office this weekend one film seems to break a very dubious record. the big balloon adventure could have the worse opening every by

a film playing on over 2,000 screens. on wednesday it averaged $47. that's six tickets sold per theater. that is kind of terrifying. well, the closest thing to a favorite in this low energy box office is "the possession" horror fans looking for one last scare before the end of summer. it should earn between 10 and $15 million. elsewhere country music stay lee an yiems has entered a 30-day stress facility to cope with anxiety and stress. a statement from the media. deadpan quote, while privacy isn't expected it's certainly appreciated. there you go. finally, cabs are here. they have canceled jersey shore. for those of you not rejoicing, there is still a whole new sixth season. it's set to premiere on october 4th. >> i watched the last season. it's kind of getting old. >> you're going to admit to watching it. really. you're going go there.

>> never missed an episode. >> you liar. >> i have not purposely watched any of those. this comes to us from kge 17 news in bakersfield, california, where in nearby wheldon it's the romance that keeps on going. this is adorable. they're 97 years old. even more impressive, they just celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary after saying "i do" in 1935. their first dade consisted of a movie and dinner that cost a total of 25 cents. today their family includes 17 great grandchildren. >> they're still frisky. >> exactly. what's the secret to their success other than being frisky? bud says he lets his wife be the boss. bud's got it all figured out and his wife lets him play golf. i'm lynn berry, this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

but today the time has come to turn the page. today the time has come for us to put the disappointments of the last four years behind us. >> mitt romney makes an appeal to voter, promising to move america past what he calls the disappointments of president obama's term. new concerns along the gulf coast as the impact of isaac forces thousands more people from their homes. good morning. i'm richard jordan. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this friday, august 31st 20, 12. we're going to look outside roit nowing a 4:28. pleasant morning. more humid, though, so we're not

out of the woods yet. we can't complain. it's been a nice end to the month. >> the long holiday weekend is fast approaching. we're going to check the forecast in a minute. five firefighters are in the hospital after an apartment fire in temple hills. the flames sparked at the building along huntley square drive. 11 units were destroyed. it started inside a kitchen on the first floor. the residents were sleeping when they smelled smoke. >> i was screaming, yelling, we smell fire. when i went to the door smoke was all in the peep-out, so i know i had to climb out the window. luckily the fireman seen us and he got my son first and then i climbed down after him. >> my unit is destroyed. everything in my apartment is gone. nothing i can save. >> four firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor burns. one was treated for exhaustion. the cause of the fire is under investigation. >> today metro transit police will do their part to cut down on bicyc