this morning on "early today," poll position. our new survey shows where the presidential candidates stand. point of impact. surveillance video captures a fatal train collision in utah. what happens in vegas, shocking video surfaced of england's prince harry as he shocking video surfaced of england's prince harry as he bares all. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with a four-point lead. with less than a week to go to start those political conventions, our new nbc

news/wall street journal poll shows president obama is holding on to his advantage in the run for the white house. 48% of registered voters said they'd vote for the president, while 44% would vote for romney. now, the president beats romney by a whopping 35 points when it comes to which candidate is more likable. a majority of voter, 51% view the former massachusetts governor approach to issues as being out of step with most americans' thinking. 54% think president obama's are in the mainstream. meanwhile, the poll finds the approval rating for congress has once again hit rock bottom. at 12%. the only other time it was that low was in october of 2008. elsewhere, missouri congressman todd akin said he's pushing ahead with his senate bid. despite pressure from his fellow republicans to drop out. a defiant akin called the uproar

over his comments about, quote, legitimate rape an over reaction. nbc's steve handlesman has that story from washington. >> reporter: refusing to quit the missouri senate race, he bought tv time to apologize for saying rape wasn't legitimate. >> the mistake was in the words i said, not the heart i hold. >> reporter: mitt romney joined the chorus of republicans asking him to get out of the race. >> smarter for him to say he grieves for women who go through that. >> already trailing, the romney/ryan campaign could be in jeopardy say some worried members. >> a week before the convention this is not what the gop wants to be talking about. they want to talk about the moms still trying to balance budgets. >> reporter: but in tampa where the republicans hope to widen their appeal, the gop platform committee was considering a ban

on abortion even after a rape. mitt romney told wcmh he won't be bound by that. >> in the case of rape and incest, i think abortion may be appropriate. >> reporter: but democrats rush to point out that paul ryan who opposes abortion for rape victim worked with akin and members of congress to toughen the definition of rape to, quote, forcible rape. >> not only has paul ryan cosponsored and voted for all the bills, but 232 other republicans share this point of view. >> reporter: a hot new issue because of one candidate's stumble. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. well, for 35 wildfires that are burning in ten western states and in a fire season that's cost more than $1 billion. one of the worst fires is in northern california. it's about 170 miles north of

sacramento and it has forced the evacuation of 3,000 people. fire crews are attacking by air because the flames are burning in such a deep forest that they cannot reach it by ground. the blaze has burned more than 33 square miles and more than 50 buildings. now, here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in utah, just chilling video, but this is an important reminder to never take train crossings lightly. this video has been released and it shows the moment of impact when a woman turned off a street and went right into the path of an oncoming commuter train without bothering to stop for the crossing arm. authorities have released the disturbing images in the hope that no one else will make the same fatal mistake. in florida, a police officer has been fired after a dash camcorder shows him grabbing a woman's arm and slamming her into the car and then he shoved

her against the vehicle two more times. the incident was discovered during a routine police review. in new york city, something went wrong during underground blasting for construction there. it shattered windows and forced the partial evacuation of one building. fortunately, there were no serious injuries. and finally, also in new york, there is a peacock on the loose. the feathered one showed up more than a week ago and it has been trying to make friends all over the neighborhood. none of the local zoos report any missing birds so for now the peacock's permanent home remains a colorful mystery. now here's the weather channel forecast. >> all eyes on isaac. good morning, bill. >> yeah, the republican national convention in tampa all next week monday through friday. unfortunately it looks like isaac will be in florida at exactly the same time.

let me show you it's approaching the caribbean. into the caribbean sea. it looks like the islands will try to organize itself. later on tonight it will be in puerto rico, eventually toward the dominican republic. they keep it a weaker storm. mostly the land interaction here. mountains of cuba and then towards monday morning, early monday morning a hurricane approaching areas like miami and the keys. it will probably move right up through florida, monday, tuesday, possibly up the east coast wednesday and thursday. a lot of headaches there next week. as far as what we're dealing with in the west, looking relatively calm in areas of the northwest. we've had showers and thunderstorms widespread. vegas we've been kind of missed. everywhere else, you can see the moisture plume. we've had lightening strikes in southern portions of nevada. we'll watch to see if it heads over the populated areas. interstate 15 out of vegas, you

could be dealing with nasty weather. later today, more showers and storms down there in the desert southwest. utah and also arizona. areas around vegas one of the wettest spots in the country. >> never hear that. thanks so much, bill. well, facebook flounders. soybeans skyrocket. and one little word can cost one county over half a billion dollars. early morning headlines are straight ahead. plus, taylor swift and her new boyfriend are accused of being wedding crashers. coming up a triple play. the most expensive sneakers ever. and a bobble head night will have you shaking your head. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. top headlines this morning. the secret service arrested a man near seattle, washington, for allegedly making an e-mail threat against president obama. arresting officers encountered the suspect brandishing a shotgun. he's due in court this afternoon. in syria, the government is talking about the possible resignation of bashar al assad, but it can't be a precondition for starting peace talks and one warns the u.s. if it intervenes, the civil war will spread to other middle east countries. a new study shows americans throw away 40% of the food supply for a total of $165 billion of uneaten food. it's a 50% jump from the 1970s and it's ten times higher than

people in southeast asia. 26 years after the chernobyl nuclear accident, the large exclusion zone is still uninhabitable. parts of the area in the ukraine are still heavily contaminated by radioactivity from history's worst nuclear accident. probably not a good idea for england's prince harry. he was photographed naked during a game of strip billiards with friends and some women they met during a stay at a hotel in las vegas. the royal family had no comment. all right. now, here's an early look at how wall street is going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,203. it dropped 68 points yesterday. the s&p was down four. the nasdaq lost eight. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei fell 25 points and in hong kong the hang seng tumbled to 12. well, stocks staged an early rally tuesday that faded almost as fast as it began. investigators were encouraged early by talk that the european

central bank would buy up spanish and italian bonds. banks that do business got a boost, but the rally lost steam in morning trade. today, investigators will dig into minutes from the fed's most recent meeting looking for clues about the central bank's policy plans. after the bell dell shares slipped on sagging profits and a warning of more tough times ahead. facebook felgen to close just above 19 after one of its earliest backers sold the bulk of his stake in the social network. bad news pulled best buy to a nine-year low. the retailer suspended the profit outlook and share buy backs in the wake of a 90% plunge in quarterly net income. barnes & noble narrowed the losses thanks in part to sales of "fifty shades of grey." impressive earnings pushed urban

outfitters 50% higher. thanks to the drought, soy beans rallied to a record tuesday, surging above $17 a bushel. a 50,000 barrel of sludge-like contaminated fuel from a bp refinery in northwest indiana has fouled countless cars and it's made its way into indiana, illinois, and wisconsin and maybe in michigan as well. finally, just how important can a word or two be? county officials in santa clara, california, are scrambling to fix a two-word mistake in the upcoming november ballot and this could cost more nan half a billion dollars in lost taxes. that's going to hurt. well, coming up, the cards blank the astros. seattle streaks to seven, and a fan give away involving a player the team already gave away. plus, baseball's rarest of plays, and it happened last night. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather, i'll give you an

update on isaac and then the forecast across the country. you're watching "early today."

well, good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports washington national starter was unphased by a long

rage getting double digit strikeouts against the braves. here's a look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the nationals are expected to shut down stephen strasburg in the next couple of weeks to protect his arm. in the meantime, he has been shutting down every team he faces. here we go to washington, braves and nats. not even a 51-minute rain delay could slow down strasburg. struck out 10 over 6 for his 15th victory of the year. the nationals running away with the nl east. they won it 4-1. adam wainwright had 12 strikeouts and the cards beat the astros 7-0. everybody seems to beat the astros. no one has been able to beat the mariners. they won their seventh straight. jesus montero. seattle is rolling, they won it 5-1. kevin youkilis has resurrected his career in chicago. hit 11 of his 15 home runs with the white sox. smashed the third grand slam of the season against the yanks. soings went on to win it 7-3. how about a triple play, okay.

trevor plouffe, a shot to third. josh donaldson fired to second, then around to first and that's three. if you're scoring at home that's a 5-4-3 triple play. >> now to philly where it was hunter pence bobble head night, but there's one problem, pens is no longer on the team. he was traded last month. and the go-ahead home run in the ninth, that was the difference. reds win it 5-4. lebron james has had a pretty good year. won the mvp tour, finals of the many -- and olympic gold. all this pales in comparison to what he's wearing -- nike's most expensive sneakers ever. the lebron x debut in london. now they can be yours for the low, low price of $315. that's right, for the amount that some people pay for rent, you can have the limited edition of the high tops. but wait, they have motion sensors to measure how high you jump. that's what i need, more proof i can't dunk. i'm fred roggin. lindsay lohan is questioned

again about stolen jewelry. a new partner for kelly rippa. plus, they're all hoping that soon they can tell you how you can get to "sesame street." you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this wednesday. we do have those scattered thunderstorms in areas of

southern nevada this morning. we'll continue that threat around vegas, phoenix, albuquerque, tucson, all the way back up to flagstaff, salt lake city. we're dry in the northwest. a chilly day behind that front. 66 in seattle. some of the cooler air ushers in as the storm pulls up into canada. tomorrow more of the same in the inner mountain west. california, no changes for you as the storms are missing you. well, if you're watching us on kn tv nbc's bay area news in california bay area. in fran, step inside a living amazonian area. that's your pacific event of the day. >> bill, thanks so much. >> thanks very much. here's a look at the early mornings in headlines. well, tom cruise and katie holmes are officially single. a judge signed off on the divorce on monday and 6-year-old daughter suri will live primarily with holmes in new york with generous visitation by cruise.

reports saying after trying out 59 guest hosts, kelly ripa has settled on former new york giants defensive end michael stra han as co-host of "live with kelly." "boston herald" reports along with connor kennedy, taylor swift crashed a kennedy family wedding in boston over the weekend and the couple would not leave despite her asking them to twice. finally, she's back. lindsay lohan is once again mixed up with stolen jewelry. >> she didn't do it. >> of course she didn't. she was questioned by police monday about an alleged theft at a house party. she slept over at the home sunday night and then the homeowner claimed expensive jewelry had been stolen. lohan was cooperative and said she knew nothing about the jewelry. >> someone trying to set her up. >> exactly. >> one day you're going to get a phone call saying, thanks, bill. >> she doesn't need my help.

she's an angel. this comes to us from new york where it's a chance of a lifetime to be on a tv show. many of us or at least our kids grew up with. auditions are being held in first-ever casting call for "sesame street." come on, bill, you can sing it louder. there you go. over 100 people lined up to be a part of the most beloved children's program ever. but don't bother putting on your big bird or oscar the grouch costume. bill's got that covered. the new audition edition will be someone who is bilingual. you're the grouch, be honest. i'm lynn berry. this is just your first stop on your nbc station.

the panda pregnancy watch is on at a zoo in our nation's capital. zookeepers say their female panda is ready and if the timing is right she could be 40 to 50 days away from giving birth. with only one day out of the year to mate, her elevated hormone levels mean the clock is ticking. if natural reproduction fails, artificial insemination could be the next course of action. >> really? well, one realtime game will have you reliving history. in an escape from the soviet union, players try to break through the then-soviet border along the coast of the baltic sea. they must elude other players and reach a submarine symbolized by a tin box containing food, drink and a note confirming their escape. like "the hunger games."

while people hope for a bronzed glow, in china, they're going for the opposite. it's the porcelain look many chinese women desire. so they're now donning what's called face-kinis. they cover the entire head and neck. it will protect their skin from that pesky sun while on the beach. the colorful masks are a sure way to keep from burning. but i don't know, don't they realize that that there's a little thing called sunscreen that we use? >> maybe they don't -- a lot of people don't like the oily feel of the sunscreen. >> i guess. >> i'm very sensitive to those topics. well, time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow today. nasa's mars curiosity rover will take the first test drive today. the one ton nuclear powered geologist will drive about ten feet, turn its wheels and drive back to its landing site. and in new york, the nhl and nhl players association resume collective bargaining talks. the current collective

bargaining agreement is set to expire september 15th. the league has threatened without an agreement in place, the players will be locked out. happy birthday to former "saturday night live" cast member kristen wiig. she turns 39. all day long, you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight, be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." here's a look at what's coming up on the "today" show. todd akin explains why he's refusing to quit after his comments on rape in an interview with matt lauer. and meet a high school valedictorian who was denied her diploma after using a four-letter word in her graduation speech. keep it here for news, sports and more. i'm lynn berry, thanks for watching. i'm lynn berry, thanks for watching. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com