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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

In the Israeli port of Haifa today, a judge ruled that the military was not responsible for the death of a young American activist. Back in 2003, Rachel Corrie was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer during a protest by pro-Palestinian activists in the Gaza Strip. Today's ruling came in response to a civil suit filed by Corrie's parents who say they will appeal the decision.

The president of Colombia admitted today that his government and the country's biggest rebel group have engaged in "exploratory talks." The public admission could set the stage for peace talks to end one of the world's longest armed conflicts.

From Bogota, NPR's Juan Forero filed this report for our Newscast unit:

"President Juan Manuel Santos, in a brief televised address, said talks had taken place with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

In August 2004, Tracy Rittel was in a fatal car accident near Fargo. While Tracy battled for her life, her family had trouble finding a place to stay near the hospital.

From that experience, the Rittels created Tracy's Sanctuary House in Bismarck for families who find themselves in a similar situation. Since 2005, some 1,500 families have used the home.

A dozen volunteers "put their hearts and souls into making sure the house is kept up," says Tracy's daughter Kelsey Zottnick.

The story of Hurricane Isaac will more than likely be one of flooding. The National Hurricane Center says that some places along the Mississippi and Louisiana coast could see up to 18 inches of rain.

Over five days, the tropical system will spread rain far and wide.

How widespread, you ask? Look at this map put together by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It shows their prediction of how much rain will fall in the next five days:

It's a big night for Ann Romney.

She's addressing the Republican National Convention in Tampa at 10 p.m. Eastern, in a speech many pundits see as her big chance to combat her husband's "likability gap" and convince voters that Mitt the man is more than just a "rich guy."

So how does she handle the stress? Apparently, she bakes.

Every year since 1994, volunteers from the Hattiesburg Jaycees have been holding a blood drive to replenish the area's blood supply. This Friday, the group will be grilling burgers and hot dogs for anyone willing to kick off Labor Day Weekend by donating at the Labor of Love Blood Drive.

It's not exactly good cop/bad cop, but the main speakers Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention will play diametrically opposed roles.

Ann Romney — the wife of Mitt Romney, who becomes the official GOP nominee with Tuesday's delegate roll call — will try to present her husband in the most flattering, personal light. By contrast, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the convention's keynote speaker, will have the job of attacking President Obama's record.

The Obama administration announced new fuel efficiency standards that require cars in the United States to average 54.5 miles per gallon by the year 2025.

As the Detroit Free-Press reports, President Obama got this process rolling in 2010, when he asked the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to come up with standards that would lead to new and cleaner cars on the roads.

The nation's foreclosure crisis rarely is mentioned by the presidential candidates, but it looms large as their campaigns grapple with finding evicted voters in swing states.

Organizers are discovering scores of vacated homes in key battlegrounds that contributed strong turnouts in the 2008 election. In the past four years, more than 3.7 million homes have been lost to foreclosure, according to market research firm CoreLogic.

The GOP's proposed platform supports a federal ban on same-sex marriage. But gay and lesbian Republicans say the party is changing. Host Michel Martin checks in with two Republicans making their issues more visible at the convention: R. Clarke Cooper of the Log Cabin Republicans and Sarah Longwell of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry.

Isaac is headed toward the Gulf Coast, and Louisiana's governor has declared a state of emergency. The storm is threatening to hit New Orleans as the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches. Host Michel Martin speaks with Lt. Col. Jerry Sneed of Homeland Security in New Orleans, about how they're preparing the city for the storm.

Saying that "it's offensive to me as a woman and as a minority" that Democrats portray the GOP as "the party that hates you" when they reach out to non-whites, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made the case this morning that it's the Republican Party that minorities should be looking to join.

With the Todd Akin controversy barely in the rear-view mirror, another Republican senatorial candidate is causing some waves of his own.

If men could become pregnant, they'd probably visit the doctor more often.

But without a compelling inducement like contraception to get them in the door, they often miss out on sexual and reproductive health services that could protect not only them but also their partners.

There are lots of ways to get to 270 and they don't all involve Florida's 29 electoral votes, according to Rich Beeson, the national political director for the Mitt Romney Campaign.

Beeson, speaking with Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep on Tuesday, says the Sunshine State would be nice to have in the red column, but it's not a sine qua non for clinching victory in November.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

An Israeli court sided with the government today, ruling that Israel was not at fault for the death of American activist Rachel Corrie.

Corrie's parents were suing for accountability and $1 in damages for the death of their 23-year-old daughter. Corrie was killed in 2003, when she stood in front of a bulldozer to try to keep the Israeli soldier manning it from razing Palestinian homes.

Good morning from Tampa where the Isaac-delayed Republican National Convention is set to get going for real this afternoon.

It's going to be a busy day for the GOP once the delegates are called to order at 2 p.m. ET. Here are some highlights from the schedule:

Police say Fernando Santana Eagleheart was watching a movie in Sparks, Nev., when he dropped his gun and it fired. According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, Eagleheart apologized to the crowd in the theater as he left. Nobody was hurt except Eagleheart. He faces a misdemeanor charge for firing the gun.

In 2004, I started a project called A Book from Mom that provides incarcerated mothers with brand new children's books to give as gifts to their children during prison visits.

A Book from Mom helps strengthen the parent-child bond while a mother is away, seeks to increase literacy in both mother and child, and helps ease the tension of prison visits.

In its nine years, the project has placed more than 20,000 brand new books on prison shelves in Massachusetts and has inspired someone else to expand the program to a women's prison in Arizona.

Besse Cooper, the world's oldest living person, turned 116 over the weekend. For her birthday, Walton County, Ga., named a bridge after her. Over at Facebook headquarters, tech savvy Florence Detlor was honored by Mark Zuckerberg. At 101, Detlor is recognized as the social network's oldest registered user.

When the Republican National Convention finally gets underway today here in Tampa, it will renew a civil war that's been raging — off and on — for more than a century.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And we have some news to report from Israel this morning. A court has absolved the Israeli military of all responsibility for the 2003 death of a young American protestor on the Gaza/Egypt border.

Sheera Frenkel has this report from Haifa.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Well, the new president of Egypt is traveling overseas and Mohammed Morsi appears to be setting a new course for his country in international affairs - or at least trying to. He's reaching out to adversaries and allies, and trying to bring back his country's diplomatic importance. NPR's Leila Fadel has the story.