an "the new york times" shows mitt romney with a five-point lead in the rocky mountain state. there's better news for the president in virginia where he has a four-point lead overall and in wisconsin where the lead bumps up to six. >> there's nothing like a good job. >> the majority of voters say the economy is their number one issue. and on that issue romney has a decisive lead in colorado and a slight edge in virginia. only wisconsin voters prefer president obama's handling of the economy. >> there's not another country on earth that wouldn't gladly trade places with the united states of america. >> a new mitt romney ad is drawing sharp criticism from the white house. it claims that president obama is trying to get rid of the work requirements needed to collect welfare. >> under obama's plan you wouldn't have to work or train for a job. they just send you a welfare check. the white house say the changes to the law will give states a waiver from the requirements but only if the state can prove more people will move off welfare with the change.

>> this advertisement is categorically false and it is blatantly dishonest. >> romney defends the ad saying president obama is fostering a culture of dependency. now last night, bill clinton released a statement saying the allegations made in mitt romney's ad are false. it was clinton who signed those work requirements into law. but terrell, romney's campaign responded saying president obama was a vocal opponent of that law back in 1996. >> the back and forth continues. manuel gallegus in washington for us. thank you so much. another hot button topic on the campaign trail. gun control the same quinnipiac toll asked likely voters in colorado, virginia and wisconsin if tougher gun laws would prevent violent attacks and all three states the vast majority said no. the man accused of last year's deadly tucson shooting agreed to spend the rest of his life behind bars. without the possibility of parole. jared loughner pleaded guilty to 19 counts of murder and attempted murder yesterday

including the attempted assassination attempt of congresswoman gabrielle giffords. karen brown reports. >> jarod lee loughner pleaded guilty tuesday to the 2011 shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including his intended target then congresswoman gabrielle giffords. a thinner expressionless loughner repeated i plead guilty 19 times, one for each count. >> mr. loughner will spend the remainder of his natural life in prison with no possibility of parole. >> a federal judge ruled that months of psychotropic medication and counseling to treat loughner's schizophrenia made him competent to stand trial and enter pleas. >> for some survivors it was little comfort. >> i'm glad he knows what he did. it doesn't change the facts. >> the plea deal spares jared loughner from the death penalty and spares the survivors and the victims' family from the pain of a lengthy trial.

>> i grabbed him by throat and said don't move or i'll choke you. >> retired army colonel, bill badger helped disarm loughner at the shooting scene in spite of his own injuries. hes relieved this is over. >> i just want him locked up so he's being punished for what he did but so he can never do something like that again. >> gabrielle giffords was not in the courtroom. she and her husband say they're satisfied with the plea deal and hope it will help them and the community recover and move forward. loughner is set to be sentenced on november 15th. karen brown, cbs news, tucson, arizona. >> officials in wisconsin are still searching for a motive in the attack on a sikh temple. a vigil was held to remember the victims. six people were killed by wade page. investigators say page was involved in the white supremacist movement. local police tell cbs' elaine quijano, they don't believe it was premeditated. >> do you think the attack was planned well in advance?

>> no, i don't. i personally don't from everything i've seen. i don't think there's any indication this was a well thought out plan type thing. >> the first funerals for the victims are scheduled for friday. twitter has accepted a court order to identify a user who threatened a theater here in new york city. the threat was made against the long acre theater where mike tyson is appearing in a one-man show. the tweet read, people are going to die just like in aurora. an apparent reference to last month's theater shooting in colorado. four days ago the company had refused to comply with the subpoena. overseas, the egyptian military fired missiles on suspected militants killing at least 20. it happened near the border with israel and sinai following another attack on a protest. there were protests between police and armed men. militants attacked three checkpoints wounding six people. on sunday, 16 border guards were killed. this is the first time egypt has fired missiles in the sinai since egypt's 1973 war with israel. in syria, rebels fighting

for control of aleppo were forced to abandon several frontline positions this morning and are running short on ammunition. president bashar al assad made an appearance on television. he met with key iranian officials. iran is one of the few countries backing assad. it's the first time assad has been seen in public in two weeks. eastern china got slammed by a typhoon this morning. the storm packing winds of 90 miles per hour triggered widespread flooding am hundreds of thousands were forced to evacuate from shanghai where all outdoor activities have been canceled. this is the third typhoon to hit china in less than a week. recovery efforts under way in the philippines following 12 days of torrential rain. the widespread flooding killed at least 11 people, nearly 800,000 were forced from their homes, many trapped on their roofs. hurricane ernesto made landfall early this morning on the yucatan peninsula. ernesto is expected to weaken later today. ernesto has sustained winds of 80 miles per hour. a dangerous storm surge of 1 to 3 feet is expected along with heavy rain.

the area is a popular tourist area. many have been evacuated. take a quick break on this wednesday morning. when we come back, up in smoke. a major fire at a california oil refinery could be higher gas prices across the country. plus, a store clerk strikes back against a would-be robber. the showdown caught on camera. this is the morning news. would-be robber. the showdown caught on camera. this is the morning news. ♪ [ acoustic guitar: upbeat ] [ dog ] we found it together. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play.

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cute. then new activia breakfast blend. a great way to help start the day. mmm... creamy lowfat yogurt with grains in yummy breakfast flavors, like apple cinnamon. its hearty, with twice the protein of regular lowfat yogurt and helps regulate your digestive system. our morning routines are important, aren't they? new activia breakfast blend. here's a convenience store owner you do not want to mess with. he takes on a knife wielding robber with a broom stick, then with a flimsy display rack. this happened in new bedford, massachusetts. the hooded thief and an accomplice retreat without any loot. the store owner says, look, he works 14 hours a day and wasn't about to give that robber any money. you messed with the wrong one. 48-year-old woman will be arraigned today in southern california for allegedly trying to kidnap a newborn baby. police in garden grove, southeast of los angeles, say the suspect entered a hospital monday wearing nurses' scrubs.

she allegedly put an infant in a tote bag and tried to leave. authorities say she told her husband she was pregnant and needed the baby to continue the deception. that baby was not harmed. cbs "moneywatch." the jobs market gets a boost. plus superheroes rescue disney's bottom line. ashley morrison with more. good morning, terrell. homeowners are getting better at a new study showsgage payments.- the percent of borrowers falling behind on loans is at a three-year low following positive news about the job market. on tuesday, the labor department said the number of job openings rose to 3.8 million in june. that is the most since july of 2008. but the competition is tough. there are more than three unemployed people for each opening. that news gave a boost to most overseas market, the nikkei rose 1% an the hang sang lost a fraction. strong corporate earnings sent stocks higher on wall street. the dow added 51 points and the nasdaq gained 25 and closed

above 3,000 for the first time since may. you may notice the price at the pump is on the rise again. according to aaa, the nationwide average for a gallon of regular is at $3.63. that's up about a quarter from just one month ago. and prices could go even higher because of this refinery fire in california. the chevron facility near san francisco caught fire on monday and sent huge plumes of black smoke hundreds of feet into the sky. the refinery is one of the nation's largest producing about 16% of the west coast's daily gasoline supply. with the refinery shut down, analysts say gas prices in the region could increase to more than $4 a gallon. iron man thor the hulk and captain america came to disney's rescue. the huge box office receipts for marvel's. the avengers helped to lift disney's third quarter earnings. the movie studio saw a more than six-fold increase in profits from a year ago.

but overall, disney's revenue missed expectations. terrell, that remind me. we need to get to a movie. >> i'm not a big movie watcher. it's not by habit. it just happens that way. >> popcorn is calling me too. >> on it this weekend. ashley morrison in new york. thank you so much. coming up next, your weather forecast. in sports, she flew through the air with the greatest of ease for olympic gold. but he felt 400 pounds much iron on the back of his neck. k of his neck. tl 400 pounds muc iron on the back of his neck. 4n on the back of his neck. this is the top ten advantage. this is sears.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. partly cloudy in new york, 86. miami, partly sunny, 91. partly cloudy skies in chicago, 81. thunderstorms in dallas, 102. sunny in los angeles, 91 degrees. let's check your national forecast. showers and thunderstorms from the southeastern portion of louisiana north up to florida and up the coast of southern virginia. the heaviest rain will fall from central georgia to the coastal carolinas. thunderstorms are also likely from maine to western pennsylvania and west texas and oklahoma. from the central plains to minnesota, most of of the west will be dry. in sports, another good day for u.s. olympians in london. most of them anyway. in women's gymnastics, aly raisman won the gold in the individual floor exercise and picked up a bronze on the balance beam. photo finish in the women's 100-meter hurdles. australian sally pearson beat dawn harper shall the reining olympic champion.

her u.s. teammate kelly wells took the bronze. in dressage, rafalca, the horse co-owned by mitt romney's wife ann failed to qualify for the medal rounds. here's a look at the medal count headed into the 12th day of competition. china has 73 medals. including 34 gold. team usa in second with 70. 30 gold. britain and russia tied for third with 48. britain with 22 gold and russia 10. one frightening moment in men's weightlifting. germany's matthias steiner, he lost his balance while trying to lift 432 pounds. the barbell came crashing down on his neck. he managed to walk off the platform but did not come back for another attempt. i guess not. to baseball now. angels at oakland. the a's homer four times starting with johnny gomez. solo in the first inning and back-to-back long balls in the sixth. norris and rosales. that put the a's up 9-0. in the eighth.

angels struck back. they move past l.a. in the west. houston, pretty much national second baseman espinosa against the astros and espinosa wins this thing. he hit a two-run homer. he tied the game at 2. still tied in the 12th. an rbi single up the middle and half an inning later, a great catch by washington left fielder roger bernadina. that ended it. nats 3, 'stros 2. >> in detroit, yankees pitcher cody eppley was hit on the head by a bill by his own teammate. my bad. fortunately, it was a lob from third baseman chavez. no harm done. eppley laughed it off. tigers beat the yanks 6-5. finally, here is the best play of the week by a fan with a baby. you know how these things usually can go. monday night, cubs at san diego, foul rolls down third baseline and a padres fan with a baby in his right arm reaches over to snag the ball bare handed then calmly returns to his seat. look at the baby. no reaction. no big deal, pops.

thank you so much. you know we've seen babies fall before. thankfully, another happy ending. when we come back, how do you free a large moose snagged on a swing set? very, very carefull. we'll show you how this whole thing went down. chili's lunch break combos are a sizzling deal, starting at 6 bucks. try our new lunch-size chicken fajitas, sauteed onions and peppers topped with grilled chicken, served with soup or salad. chili's lunch break combos, starting at 6 bucks.

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. in d.c., partly sunny, 90 degrees. in atlanta, thunderstorms, 86. in st. louis, thunderstorms, 94. partly sunny in denser, denver, 93. partly cloudy in seattle, 72. nasa scientists are loving this. getting increasingly detailed messages and pictures from curiosity, the sophisticated new rover on mars. edward lawrence has the latest from the propulsion center in pasadena, california. >> the rover curiosity sent back the first color photo of the red planet.

it shows the crater where it touched down. >> this is the first color image of the landscape where we've landed. like i said, we'll talk about it some more in a second. i -- i've waited a long time for this to come back. >> nasa also released a 2.5 minute video of the plunge to the surface. a video camera captured the final moments as curiosity dropped through the atmosphere. it deployed this antenna allowing for a direct connection between mars and the earth without relaying through a satellite. nasa scientists are checking out the rover's systems to make sure everything works before trying to drive. >> i'm confident there will be a lot of surprises when we start looking around. >> next engineers will raise the mast on the rover. it can rotate and look around as it sends back high resolution color pictures. >> we can do focus now. and in color. >> it will be a couple of weeks before curiosity will be able to make a tour of the red planet and start to explore whether

there was ever life on mars. edward lawrence for cbs news, pasadena, california. now for a more down to earth story. a case of bull in chains. a bull moose in this case tangled in the chains of a backyard swing set in northern utah. this could have been bad. sheriff's deputy set to work with bolt cutters. offering the powerful animal a reassuring pat on the nose while cutting the chains. the moose is like, look, i got this. once free, as you can see, the moose ran off into the woods. now meet the dolphin dog. kyra is a black labrador that finds dolphins for tourists. this is in the indian ocean. off east africa. once kyra locates a pod of dolphins, she goes into the water and while she can't quite keep up with the graceful sea mammals, she clearly enjoys chasing them around. let's hope that kyra knows the difference between dolphins and sharks. by the way, those dolphins seem like they're game with this, too. fun stuff. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," an

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belgian b.a.s.e jumper cedric dumont took this leap in peru. it's one of the world's tallest at more than 2500 feet high. he hit speeds of 125 miles an hour before releasing the parachute. he has done thousands of b.a.s.e. jumps, called it one. of the most intense plunges he has ever taken. you keep pushing your luck. something you don't see as much. snow in south africa. an extreme cold snap brought a blanket of snow. took a lot of folks by surprise tuesday. last time johannesburg saw snow was five years ago. it only snowed about two dozen in the last century. marvin hamlisch, the man behind some of the iconic music is being remembered this morning. hamlisch died monday after a brief illness.

in los angeles. teresa garcia looks at his unforgettable contributions to the stage and screen. ♪ >> few composers have left behind a bigger musical legacy in hollywood and on broadway than marvin hamlisch. >> the way we were ♪ >> from the romance of "the way we were" to the family drama "ordinary people." >> she hates me. can't you see that. >> mothers don't hate their sons. >> hamlisch wrote scores for big screen hits. one of the biggest was the adaptation of the ragtime music for "the sting." in a career of more than four decades, marvin hamlisch composed, conducted and arranged more than 40 film scores. but one of his biggest successes was on stage. the long-running landmark musical, "a chorus line." ♪

you'll never be lonely with you know who ♪ >> hamlisch was born in 1944 in new york city into a musical family. by the age of five, he was already playing radio hits on the piano. his first job was as a rehearsal pianist for barbra streisand's funny girl. his last major movie was the 2009 score for the informant directed by steven soderbergh. it was a wonderful project. i really loved it. >> marvin hamlisch's work earned him every major entertainment award,. three oscars, four emmys and a tony and a pulitzer prize. he conducted symphonies in several cities. he had the satisfaction of knowing that long after the lights came up, audiences were still humming the tunes he wrote. teresa garcia, cbs news, los angeles. marvin hamlisch was working on a new broadway musical and a tv movie before he died. he was 68 years old.

coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," the latest on campaign 2012 and more on the new poll numbers focusing on swing states. analysis from bob schieffer. starbucks ceo, howard schultz talks about one of the most talked about startups in the country. steve carell talks about his new movie, hope springs. that and more later on "cbs this morning." that will do it for the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. i'm terrell brown. take care everybody. i'm terrell brown. take care everybody. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com vitac.com

though it is to be a five reporter and mackovic is in richmond where hundreds are demanding answers. as you mentioned, and neighbors expressed a lot of concerned loss nine about what happened on monday night.

there was a town hall meeting last night to at the civic center. they wanted to know exactly which toxins were released into the air. they were told there were diesel like compound in the black smoke. numbers of people have to be treated for health problems i would like to apologize for the disruption and the concerned we may have caused last night the other main point of contention, how long it took