narrowing lead. a poll shows mitt romney gaining ground against president obama in at least two key battleground states. eye on isaac. the republican convention could be in jeopardy as tropical storm isaac gains strength and aims for a possible landfall in florida. roving mars. nasa's curiosity rover takes its first test drive on the martian nasa's curiosity rover takes its first test drive on the martian surface. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, august 23, 2012. good morning everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. the race for the white house got tighter as republicans get ready to officially make mitt romney their presidential nominee. quinnipiac university, cbs news, new york times poll shows romney gaining ground on president obama in two critical battleground states and nine out of ten voters in florida, ohio and wisconsin say

they know who they're going to vote for. susan mcginnis is in washington with details. good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. the romney campaign is hoping to gain votes from the huge exposure that a convention brings and this new poll shows romney is getting an early bump in some critical states. workers are putting the finishing touches on the convention floor before republicans arrive in tampa. florida is a key battleground state in the race for the white house and mitt romney is gaining ground in the sunshine state. the latest quinnipiac university, cbs, new york times poll of swing states shows romney has moved into a virtual tie with president obama in florida and wisconsin. president obama maintains a healthy margin in ohio. romney has made up ground in two of the three states surveyed since the first poll three weeks ago. in florida, a big lead among senior citizens has helped romney cut the president's lead in half since the august 1st poll. he gained four points in

wisconsin but had no change in ohio. paul ryan appears to be the reason wisconsin is now back in play. a third of voters say ryan's place on the ticket makes them more likely to support mitt romney. >> since naming congressman ryan as his vp candidate, romney has spent a lot of time focusing on medicare, ryan's signature issue. now he's refocusing on the economy. >> 23 million americans out of work or stopped looking for work. it's inexcusable. >> our poll shows more voters trust romney to do a better job with the economy than president obama. but with medicare -- >> my plan has extended the life of medicare by nearly a decade. >> voters trust obama by at least an eight-point margin in all three states. now, these polls were conducted largely before the uproar over congressman akin's comments about rape and pregnancy and officials in both parties say this could alter the race when it comes to the female vote.

susan, thank you so much. the gop keeping a close watch on the weather. the party's convention could open in tampa as a hurricane is hitting the region. tropical storm isaac is in the caribbean to the south of puerto rico. it could strengthen to a hurricane later today. some forecast models show the storm arriving in south florida on monday. >> about 70,000 delegates, journalists and protesters are expected to descend on tampa in the coming week. isaac could change their plans the city's mayor is ready to make a decision on evacuations and even canceling the convention. >> if we ever got to that point, which i'm hopeful that we will not be, we would sit down with them and make that decision in the best interest of their event but most importantly in the health and safety of our citizens. >> forecasters say it's still too early to tell if isaac will impact tampa or touch florida. >> let's look at what's steering the storm. we have a big blocking high. that's driving isaac to the west

right now through the caribbean. but this jet stream dip, that is going to be key over the next several days because that is going to open up an alleyway over florida or the gulf of mexico and that is going to turn isaac to the north. and where that occurs, will have a big determination in just how strong the storm could be and also exactly where it's going to go. >> even a glancing blow from isaac could cause big problems in tampa. back in june, tropical storm debby caused flooding and prompted evacuations. the rnc is consulting with the national weather service and is closely watching its plan if the storm poses a major threat to the convention. >> contingency plans are in place. we're working with state, federal, and local authorities. >> officials in tampa say it's unlikely evacuations would be ordered even if it reaches category 1 strength. isaac could reach haiti and the dominican republic late tonight and overnight, a new tropical depression formed in the atlantic overnight. also overnight, firefighters in

northern california made progress in containing a huge wildfire that's destroyed at least 69 buildings, many homes. the so-called ponderosa fire destroyed 38 square miles of land, about 170 miles of sacramento. a wind shift gave fire crews an edge. the fast-moving fire which started saturday is now 55% contained. but hundreds of homes remain at risk. federal health officials say the current west nile virus outbreak is one of the largest in u.s. history and the number of cases continues to grow. some 400 new cases were reported last week. last night in hard-hit texas, the city of houston sprayed for disease carrying mosquitoes. manuel gallegus reports. on the deadly outbreak. >> federal health officials say the number of cases of mosquito-born west nile virus jumped 60% last week. cases have been reported in 47 states, more than 1100 people infected and at least 41 have died. >> this year looks like the biggest year in years and we're

only starting the major west nile season. >> most of the cases are in texas which is also enduring a severe drought. experts say that could be fueling the outbreak. >> the drought means that there are very few water sources available. that's where the mosquitoes breed and then the birds which carry the virus go to those water sources. the mosquitoes bite them. they're infected and then the mosquitoes bite us. >> about 1 in 150 patients infected with the virus becomes seriously ill. >> 60 to 70% of those individuals are going to have long-term effects such as paralysis, memory loss. john shaw was infected seven years ago. he hasn't been the same since. >> couple of days later, i was getting dressed and i was putting on my shorts and i just collapsed. >> the city of dallas is among several nationwide that have sprayed insecticide to try to protect its citizens. but individuals are warned not to stop there.

use insect repellent freely and often, particularly early in the morning and in the evening. >> consult your doctor if you have flu-like symptoms with neck pain. manuel gallegus, cbs news. a quick break now on a thursday. when we come back, details on a new book about the raid on osama bin laden's compound. plus, how members of congress get around lobbying laws to go on all-expense paid trips abroad. this is the morning news. this is the morning news. it's time to live wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system... from beautyrest. it's you, fully charged.

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a book that could rattle the presidential election is set to be released on september 11th called "no easy day, the firsthand account of the mission that killed osama bin laden." according to "the new york times" it's written by a former member of the navy seal team 6 and a leader of the operation. u.s. military officials don't believe the book has been cleared by the defense department. congressman kevin yoder got caught with his pants down while on a junket to israel. the bigger story though isn't that both republicans and

democrats go on all expense paid trips. it's that the junkets as sharl attkisson tells us, were banned by congress until lobbying groups found a loophole. >> this week republican kevin yoder issued an on-camera apology for the incident in the sea of galilee. last summer. >> at the moment it seemed like a good decision on my part. clearly, the more i thought about it, i thought that was a bone headed decision to make. >> a bigger issue may be the trip itself. yoder was one of 32 republicans on the all-expense paid trip to israel last august paid for privately by a nonprofit linked to a giant lobby. the american israel public affairs committee. the same group flew 30 democrats to israel the week before and a second group of republicans the week after. 89 members of congress in all, spouses and staff went along too. the trip included accommodations at the scott's hotel and a meeting with shimon peres at which republicans sang their birthday song.

>> this is our birthday song ♪ it doesn't last too long ♪ >> congress banned lobby groups from paying for these types of trips in 2007. but it's not illegal for the very same lobby groups to use their own nonprofits to pick up the tab as is the case here. jacque freely watchdog group says the privately funded travel can give special interests unfair advantage. >> the group with the most money and the ability to take people to these locales and treat members of congress well, they get the biggest voice and the biggest say, they get to educate members of congress about their particular issues. >> those congressional trips to israel last summer broke the record for money spent by a private group in a single year. $2 million. the american israel public affairs committee and its nonprofit declined our interview request but said in a statement, the trips are educational,

intensely substantive and approved by the congressional ethics committee. all told, there are 1600 privately paid congressional trips last year. totaling $5.8 million. that's up 75% over the year before. sharyl attkisson, cbs news, washington. cbs "moneywatch" time on a thursday. the federal reserve drops new stimulus hints and the shrinking middle class. erica ferrari with that and more. >> good morning, terrell. investors are hopeful that the federal reserve could take action in the near future to bolster the u.s. economy. on wednesday, minutes from the fed's latest policy meeting were released. they hint that the central bank may be preparing to launch a new bond-buying program in an effort to drive down long-term interest rates. and that news sent overseas markets higher. the nikkei added half a percent. the hang seng rose more than 1%. and the release of the fed minutes triggered a rally on wall street. the dow was down as much as 83 points. but climbed back on the news to finish 30 points lower. the nasdaq added 6.

according to a new report by pew, america's middle class is struggling. through its worst decade in modern history. the survey finds 85% of middle class americans feel it is more difficult now to maintain their standard of living than it was ten years ago. 62% say they were forced to reduce their spending in the last year and 42% say their finances are worse now than before the recession. as for who gets the blame, 62% say congress deserves a lot of it. t-mobile is bucking the trend amongst wireless companies and allowing customers to choose an unlimited data plan. the company is backtracking after it stopped selling its unlimited plan earlier this year. t-mobile is following metro pcs which also began offering an uncapped data plan this week. it's seen as a move to make these smaller wireless companies more competitive as big providers like verizon and at&t are thought to be gearing up to sell the latest version of the iphone.

>> you got do what you got do. erica ferrari in new york. ir ka, thank you so much. we'll have the thursday morning weather and in sports, the orioles serve up a texas-size helping of homers. to the rangers adrian beltran. helping of homers. adrian beltran. my frequent bladder urges, or the worry my pipes might leak get in the way of my busy lifestyle. that's why i take care, with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks.

common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. i've worked hard to get to where i am... and i've got better places to go than always going to the bathroom. so take charge of your symptoms by talking to your doctor and go to vesicare.com for a free trial offer. hgotta start the day off right. wardrobe. 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 look at the weather in some cities around the country. mostly sunny in new york, 85. partly sunny in miami, 92. partly cloudy skies in chicago, 88. same deal in dallas, 94. clouds, then sun in los angeles, 79 degrees.

let's check your national forecast. a slow moving system dumping as much as 2 inches of rain will drift over parts of the southwest. a few showers are possible in the pacific northwest. the rest of the country will remain mostly dry with a mix of sun and clouds. isolated thunderstorms could develop across florida into the carolinas. in sports this morning, big power in texas courtesy of adrian beltran. in the second against the orioles, he hits a long ball straight center. that's one. two innings later, he nails a homer to left. make that two. same inning, another monster blast for his third homer of the game. the second time in his career he's done that. the rangers pound the orioles. 12-3. check out this catch. a fan with a great seat makes a tremendous grab with his hat. swats that thing out of the air. look at that. in the ninth, the rockies smack an rbi single to right. the guy who threw the pitch, frank francisco, blows a gasket in the dugout. calm down, dude.

it's not that serious. >> colorado beats the mets 5-2. another player hit with a 50-game suspension. last week it was the giants melky cabrera. now it's oakland pitcher bartolo colon. the cy young winner was suspended after testing positive for testosterone. the same substance that got cabrera banned. he apologized and accepted responsibility for his actions. >> couple of hours later, coco crisp had a good game blasting a solo homer. he scored three runs on the night. tommy malone was solid on the mound striking out five and allowing one run in eight strong innings. oakland tops minnesota 5-1. when we come back, making tracks. the mars rover takes its first step in a historic journey. grilled chicken fajitas, tre with sauteed onions and peppers, served with soup or salad. lunch break combos, starting at 6 bucks. enjoy them with friends, because a lunch together feeds the friendship.

here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. in d.c., fog in the morning, 88. mostly sunny skies in atlanta, 88. same deal in st. louis, 94 degrees. afternoon thunderstorms in denver, 88.

mostly cloudy skies in seattle, 66. so you can just call this the ultimate test drive. curiosity, nasa's six-wheeled mars rover passed another milestone making its first tracks in the red sand and as ben tracy reports, nasa was ecstatic. >> in nasa's california control room, it was a huge relief when they saw their curiosity rover make its first tracks on mars. the project manager -- >> we built a rover. unless the rover roves, we really haven't accomplished anything. >> this new animation shows the small but successful test drive. 15 feet forward, a 120-degree turn and then 8 feet back. engineer matt heverly. >> the system is performing very well. we're in a great place to do some science. >> over the next 23 months, this will partly climb the side of a martian mountain trying to

determine in the conditions for life ever existed on the red planet. nasa has named the spot where curiosity touched down bradbury landing after the late martian chronicles author ray bradbury. who would have turned 92 today. >> he would likely be thrilled to see that this mission to mars has become much more than a mere curiosity. >> this hollywood-style video nasa made about the rover's landing has now been watched more than 6 million times. john beck created it. >> i've read so many of the comments saying wow, this makes nasa cool again. this makes me want to be on engineer, a scientist. makes me want to be an astronaut. that's exactly the kind of thing that i want to hear. >> lift-off. >> without the spacehuttle program and with funding cuts, many wondered if nasa could remain relevant. >> kicking at my console, this is what i see ♪ data streaming back from curiosity ♪

>> this fan video with 2 million hits online, shows nasa is not only relevant but borderline cool. >> we're nasa and we know it ♪ >> curiosity traveled more than 350 million miles to goat mars. by rolling just a few more feet, it's already left some pretty big tracks to fill. ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. and if you need any proof you shouldn't mess with actor and rapper ll cool j, this is it. the stalker fan who allegedly broke into his studio city, california mansion early wednesday. the l.a. times says ll got into a "knock down, drag-out fight" leaving the suspect with a broken nose and jaw. the alleged intruder has a long record for thefts. i bet ll, after it, was like, "mama said knock you out." coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," a new study that links autism risk to older fathers. i'm terrell brown. this is the morning news. mmmm, just how satisfying is every spoonful

of new light & fit greek? morning donut cookies chips, chips,...! silence those tempting thoughts with new light & fit greek. its creamy thick texture helps satisfy you. it has twice the protein of regular lowfat yogurt. and at 80 calories it's the lightest greek yogurt with fruit. cupcake! it's not gonna happen. new light & fit greek. be light and fit and satisfied.

the pentagon announced wednesday it will give a six-month extension to a pilot program that counsels american service members considering suicide. the suicide rate for active duty soldiers is up this year. national guardsmen and reservists are also taking their own lives at an alarming rate. elaine quijano reports on a call center. that's become a lifeline. >> this is a picture of tim aurora taken in 2006 while he served near fallujah, iraq. as a marine reservist. he saw some of the most intense fighting of the war. aurora returned with deep psychological wounds so severe he requested a service dog for companionship and comfort. >> i was thinking of suicide pretty much on a daily basis. >> is it that intense still? >> no. it's just how do i help others with it? >> is there anything i can help you with?

>> aurora works at this call center at new jersey's university of medicine with 25 other veterans. it's called vets for warriors. it's a place veterans can call to talk confidentially with other vets. they get 300 calls a week here. >> does being a peer counselor help you? >> helping yourself, having closure on your own issues. knowing that hopefully what you've gone through benefited you and now can benefit someone else. >> how old did you say he was? >> 40% of the callers are at risk of suicide. >> when they come home, they come home to their communities. they're not coming home to army bases or military mental health centers. they're coming home to their parents. >> linda bean's son committed suicide in 2008 after serving two tours in iraq. >> he went through the fridge and gave me a hug and a kiss and walked out the door. the next morning, we got a call that he had shot and killed himself in his apartment.

our life turned upside down. >> bean is now an advocate for the peer counseling vets for warriors provides. the pentagon has committed to funding this program until next spring. bean is lobbying to make it permanent. we have call men of duty. if we don't stand up for these young people, who is going to do that? >> i understand where the pain and the issue derives from. >> the moment the phone rings and you get ready to take at that call, what goes through your mind? >> just take a deep breath, answer the phone. we don't think you're crazy. we want to help being one vet to another. >> answering another call of duty to save lives. elaine quijano, cbs news, new jersey. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," campaign 2012, an analysis of the new poll numbers out this morning in three battleground states. plus more on the controversial

book about the raid that killed osama bin laden. john miller looks at whether sensitive information was divulged. roger clemens gives a first tv interview since june. being acquitted of perjury and since he signed a minor league contract. that's the morning news for this thursday. i'm terrell brown. take care everybody. i'm terrell brown. take care everybody. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com