i promise to find it just for you. i'm jim cramer and i will see you tomorrow. this morning o today," personal appeal. first lady michelle obama makes a passionate case for her husband's second term. crash course. a car slams into a restaurant on its very first day of business. and out of this world. nasa gives kids a chance to name and out of this world. nasa gives kids a chance to name a piece of cosmic history. captions pd for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with cheerleader in chief. at the democratic national convention in charlotte last night, first lady michelle obama delivered an impassioned speech

designed to both to sway wavering voters and light a fire under the party's base. nbc's tracie potts joins us live from charlotte. she has more on this. tracie, good morning to you. >> lynn, good morning. aids tell us michelle obama was very involved to putting this speech together. it was a fiery start to the convention and we have more coming up tonight. democrats bring in their heavyweight tonight, former president bill clinton. the only person more popular in a recent gallup poll, michelle obama. she brought democrats to their feet last night with a rousing speech about decisions based on family values. >> in the end, for barack, these issues aren't political. they're personal because barack knows what it means when a family struggles. >> a message aimed at women. >> he believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care. he didn't care whether it was

the easy thing to do politically, no. that's not how he was raised. he cared that it was the right thing to do. >> not once did she mention mitt romney, but plenty of others did. >> so here's what we're going to say to mitt romney in november. we're going to say no! >> if mitt was santa claus, he would fire the reindeer and outsource the elves. >> the woman who fought to make sure women don't earn nearly a quarter less than men. >> maybe 23 cents doesn't sound like a lot to someone with a swiss bank account, a cayman island investment. >> romney under attack as democrats prepare to nominate their president today. >> so what are critics saying about day one of the dnc. they're saying there was too much on social issues and not enough on the economy and

getting rid of the national debt. tracie potts for us in charlotte. tracie, thank you. well, ahead of last night's convention, a new abc/"washington post" poll shows the president's popularity is at a new low. among registered voters, 47% have a favorable view of the president. that's down 7% from the president's recent high in april. with 49% viewing the president unfavorably, it's the first time his popularity has dipped into negative territory since february. well, that same poll showed 43% with a favorable view toward gop presidential nominee mitt romney, up 5% since last week's republican convention. elsewhere "the new york times" reports iran is supplying military equipment to syria, and much to the frustration of american officials, those arms are being delivered in planes flying over iraqi airspace. the obama administration pressured iraq not to allow those flights this year, but they did resume in july, allowing iranians to avoid

border crossings on the ground, which are controlled by syrian rebels. despite its claim iraq and the u.s. have a strategic partnership, iraq's tolerance of iran's using of their airspace starkly points out the limits of the obama administration's influence there. vice president joe biden made an august phone call to the iraqi prime minister to discuss the syrian crisis, and a source told the "times" mr. biden registered concern over the iranian flights. >> well, now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in florida surveillance video shows a car plowing into a restaurant after it was accidentally put in reverse. the good news, nobody was inside at the time, and the two people in the car only suffered minor injuries. but the bad news, it happened just a half an hour before that restaurant was going to open for its first day of business. well, in massachusetts, more car trouble. an elderly driver was backing into his garage when he hit the gas instead of the brake, and it landed him right in his next-door neighbor's pool after

crashing through the fence. he is said to be okay. in ohio a fast-footed black bear stayed one step ahead of police and firefighters after wandering into an apartment complex. authorities tried everything they could think of to bag the bear, including blasting a water hose, but nothing worked until the bear finally took off on its own and escaped. and, finally, in massachusetts it's never hard to find a good bowl of seafood stew, but probably not like this one. students at the university of massachusetts cooked up a guinness record for the world's largest batch. more than 6,500 pounds of seafood, bacon, potatoes, and vegetables helped put the stew and the students over the top. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. >> that's a waste of good lobster. i saw lobster in that pot. >> why, 6400 pounds of it.

more to share with everyone. >> that's true. give me the lobster pieces please. good morning, everyone. hope you're enjoying the start to your wednesday morning. looks like the weather forecast, pretty simple. couple interesting features out there. we are watching the radar out of southern california, which is pretty rare for this time of year. we actually have a tropical connection to some of the moisture coming off the coast line of mexico to the south and some of those storms that are down there. some of that's trying to flow to the north. so far it has not made it on shore today, but even areas like los angeles and all coastal areas back up towards santa barbara, san francisco today, slight chance of a shower or storm because of this additional moisture that's in the air. we'll wait and see if it does try to move a little closer on shore today. as of now it's not. you can see the clouds. it will keep things cooler. look at the plume coming up from the south here. that's all associated from a tropic flow. northwest very warm, very dry. looks like we're a little bit cooler in the northern planins. temperatures starting off in the 50s and 60s.

warm afternoon. highs today, many areas in the 80s. inner mountain west, portland in the mid 80s. seattle, even you should be up near 80 degrees. the desert continues the warm trend. slight chance of a shower or storm. you never know, san francisco maybe it will keep temperatures down ever so slightly. still temperatures in the 90s. funny that i'm excited about a 20% chance of showers and storms, but there has not been anything to talk about in the west for a long time. >> you are a meteorologist. you do tend to get a little -- >> we have to entertain ourselves. >> bill, thanks so much. big buzz over apple, facebook falls once again, and something very hard to picture, a vegetarian mcdonald's. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead,

plus, miley cyrus finds another way to say i'm no longer a kid star. i'm a grown-up. coming up, a new number one in college football, the chase in the a.l. east is over, and andy roddick is all wet. 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 department of defense says a book by a former navy s.e.a.l. does contain classified information about the mission that killed osama bin laden, but the pentagon is still considering whether criminal charges will be filed against the author. in canada, a gunman was arrested after allegedly firing shots that killed one person at a political victory rally. it happened as a separatist party in quebec returned to power after nine years. the party's leader will become the first woman premier of quebec.

in brazil, a fire in a slum in sao paulo destroyed nearly 200 shanties, leaving nearly a thousand people homeless. four people were burned, but there were no deaths. a federal judge in massachusetts has ruled that state prison officials must pay for a transgender inmate's sex change surgery. the decision says the operation, which could cost $20,000 of taxpayers' money, is the only way to treat her, quote, serious medical need. students around the world can enter a contest to name an astroid that could one day destroy the earth. the astroid is the target of a 2016 nasa mission, and it's given one chance in over a thousand of hitting the planet, perhaps in the year 2182. good thing we won't be around. and now here's an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,035 after

falling 54 points yesterday. the s&p was down a point, but the nasdaq gained 8. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei sank 95 points, while in hong kong the hang seng plunged 284. well, tuesday started with down economic data and ended with apple riding to the rescue. august manufacturing fell for the third straight month, and the sector hired the fewest workers since late 2009. in addition, july construction spending fell the most in a year. ironically that data was partially welcomed by traders rooting for the fed to launch further stimulus to boost the recovery. in fact, gold hit a nearly six-month high on heightened stimulus expectations. on the bright side, august car and truck sales were up 20% over a year ago. honda and toyota led the way compared with earthquake-affected sales a year ago. general motors, ford, and chrysler each reported more than 10% increases.

apple led a late rally after distributing invitations to a september 12th san francisco event, widely expected to be the release of the iphone 5. netflix tumbled on amazon.com's multi-year licensing deal with epix for prime instant video just days after epix' exclusive streaming agreement with netflix ended. facebook hit a new all-time low, having lost more than half its ipo price of $38. watch fedex today. after the bell, fedex cut its quarterly forecast, blaming the weak global economy. and keep an eye on 3m, which dropped its acquisition of avery dennison's consumer acquisition of office and consumer products business due to the threat of government antitrust suit. finally, mcdonald's is going vegetarian? well, sort of. it's going to open a vegetarian outlet in india next year near the golden temple in a sikh holy city where the consumption of meat is forbidden. we'll see how that goes over.

well, coming up, an infield oops, college football's new top dog, and a fourth round u.s. tennis open's showdown gets washed out. plus, the baltimore orioles slug their way into first place. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and the eastern half of the u.s. is just so humid you know there's going to be thunderstorms this afternoon. i'll tell you who coming up in your forecast. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, the yankees lost again last night, removing new york's long exclusive grip on first place. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. in mid-july the yanks had a ten-game lead in the a.l. east, and today that lead is gone. the yanks have been reeling since the all-star break, and the rays handed them their seventh loss in the last ten games. evan longoria hit a go-ahead homer in the third. the pinstripes are falling apart at the seams. tampa won it, 5-2. orioles not only pulled even with the yankees. they made a statement in toronto. mark reynolds hit a three-run shot, his fifth in the last five games. baltimore grabbed a share of first place in the east with a commanding 12-0 win. then you've got the nationals. they're more concerned about shutting down stephen strasburg in first place. and that's because they're running away with the n.l. east.

adam laroche with a pair of home runs, and the nats beat the cubs, 11-5. speaking of home runs, mvp candidate miguel cabrera ripped his 34th of the season, but it was all for naught. the tigers lost to the indians, 3-2. so with the tiger losing, could the white sox increase their lead in the a.l. central? hmm-mm. minnesota scored more runs in the fifth than some teams do in an entire week. hung ten on the sox, went on to win it, 18-9. chicago leads the central by a game. thumbs up to the pirates. beat the astros, 6-2. thumbs down to jose altuve. pedro alvarez with an infield fly. i got it, i got it. i don't got it. no way, jose. in came two. when it rains, it pours. houston lost their league-leading 94th game. college football, after robbing michigan on saturday, alabama has taken over the number one spot in the a.p. poll. usc dropped to number two. lsu, oregon, and oklahoma round out the top five. u.s. open, andy roddick came out flying against eighth ranked juan martin del potro.

jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, but the argentinian came roaring back, tied it at 6-6. then the heavens opened. the second rain delay of the match. all andy could do was laugh. they'll continue today with roddick up 1-0 for a set tie break. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, snooki's baby is a cover boy, and tomorrow night's headache over viewing choices is cured. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, no, it's not halloween. no, these guys aren't nuts. they're actually doing something heroic. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this wednesday morning. a little bit of moisture, clouds and a slight chance of a shower including san francisco. we are going to be sunny and warm all of the portions of the northwest and inner mountain northwest. beautiful. heating it up to the 80s by thursday. dry, wonderful, beautiful stretch, it continues. if you're watching us on kndo 23 on jackyakima, washingt head over heels over heels. the yakima valley museum. >> a girl can dream. a girl can dream.

all right. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. lorenzo dominic lavalle, better known at this point as snooki's baby, has made his national magazine cover's debut. it is on the latest cover of "people" magazine. inside lorenzo's 24-year-old mom tells people when she got pregnant, everything changed saying, quote, the party is long gone. i am a new person. miley cyrus continues to push the grown-up envelope. a photographer she worked with has posted tasteful shots on line of her nude in a bathtub. "live with kelly and michael" appeared tuesday as kelly ripa's new co-host michael strahan made his debut. look how teeny tiny she is. the former pro football player joked afterward, quote, i almost lost all my tough points. i almost cried. and, finally, good news for those of you who can't decide whether to watch taylor swift sing her new single at the video music awards or president barack obama accept the democratic nomination for a second term tomorrow night. mtv played good citizen and moved up the start time for the annual award show so now you can watch both. rest assured, bill. forget tivo.

well this comes to us from kgw news channel 8 in portland, oregon, where in nearby salem there are some masked men on a mission. two men dressed up as superheroes to lead a crusade. not against fictional villains but against a very real problem of homelessness. they go around providing basic needs like food and socks to those on the streets, and they know dressing as larger-than- life heroes might make them look a little silly, but that's the point. they want to disarm and gain the trust of those whose lives they're trying to save. they're making a big statement there. >> a plus for effort and d minus for costume. >> it looks like they pulled it out of a dressup chest as a kid. well, i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

well, sunbathing and art have come to a head in rio de janeiro. what looks like a scene from a sci-fi movie is an exhibit that places art in rio's most famous landmarks. it's part of an effort to bring art to people too busy with the rush of city life. some are interpreting the giant head as a cry for help from the bay. well, one elephant in prague is pitching to be the next picasso. the pachyderm is exploring her creative side by painting. zookeepers had seen other elephants on tv exhibiting their artful skills -- probably on this show -- and figured they'd give theirs a try. well, the elephant took to it right away, completing 12 print paintings at about 15 minutes each. the works are now fetching $2,000 apiece. not bad either. and, finally, in minnesota one casino has set a beefy record.

over 2,000 pounds worth of burger. they cooked up a bacon cheeseburger good enough for a guinness world record, taking about four hours to cook and needing a crane to flip it. the behemoth burger is ten feet in diameter with 60 pounds of bacon, 50 pounds of lettuce, 50 pounds of sliced onions, and 40 pounds of cheese and looks like just a blob. looks like jabba the hutt floating on a platform. >> yeah. it doesn't look like it's moving any time soon. >> apparently it's delicious. >> do we have to add all the pigs to t. wasn't it bad enough with the beef? >> the baconator, 40 pounds of it. it's time for now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. today marks 35 years since nasa's voyager 1 launched from cape canaveral headed for the unknown. voyager 1 and its twin voyager 2 were sent to space to study jup pi tur and saturn.

the two first fully automated spacecraft will soon make history again when they become the first human-made objects to enter interstellar space. nfl season kicks off today when the new york giants take on the cowboys right here on your nbc station. and happy birthday to actress and iconic beauty raquel welch. she turns 72 today. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and more as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. chicago mayor rahm emanuel speaks to savannah guthrie after rallying support for barack obama at yesterday's democratic national convention, and actress demi lovato shares secrets from "the x factor" judges' table. and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. the day, today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com