critical condition. the debate over medicare takes center stage, as the countdown to the conventions begins. raging out west. thousands are ordered to evacuate as some of the worst wildfires in years threatens some communities. and occupational hazard. i'm veronica de la cruz.

those are some of the stories on "first look," on msnbc. and we begin with this morning with crunch time. both candidates in the presidential race are gearing up for a busy day on the campaign trial. with just one week left before the republican convention. claire, good morning. >> good morning, veronica. new hampshire is 1 of 13 hotly-contested states that will decide the 2012 election. that's why both sides are campaigning hard there, with just 11 weeks to go. it's reunion time. mitt romney and paul ryan pair up again in new hampshire this morning for a giant town hall meeting. this comes a full week before they were supposed to appear together again at the republican convention in tampa. >> at one point, thought they would split up in the week

before the convention. but now, they're going to be together. the dynamic duo, out in new hampshire. >> both teams are battling it out in the granite state for its four electoral votes. obama won it handily in 2008. this time, it's romney's backyard. and adding ryan to today's appearance, may push the duo over the top. >> he has a relationship with governor romney that is a very positive one. and they're very good together. and i think people see that. >> meanwhile, both sides want to keep the medical debate front and center. >> whatever changes get made under a romney/ryan administration, they won't affect current seniors. >> one of romney's senior advisers say they would keep the deadline. disclosure of romney's offshore banking accounts may be the

reason for the delay. >> not unawful. but it is tax avoidance, at a time when our country needs everyone's help. >> president obama returns to campaigning on tuesday, with a battleground doubleheader. he'll be in ohio tomorrow before he heads to nevada on wednesday. in washington, back to you. a republican senate hopeful from missouri set out a firestorm. todd akin told an interviewer sunday, he opposes abortion even in rape. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has a way to shut those things down. the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child. democrats and others responded angrily, including akin's opponent, senator claire mccaskill, who called the

remarks offensive and ignorant. akin said he disspoke and did not represent his empathy for rape victims. a night of dining and drinking during a fact-finding trip to israel in late august. the incident first reported by politico, led house republican leaders to reprimand the 30 l lawmakers on the trip. a spokesman for eric cantor report's accuracy. here is your "first look "at some of the other news going on around america today. in boston, "old ironsides" was back, if only for a day. for the first time in 15 years "the uss constitution" set sail. nearly 300 were onboard for

sunday's historic but brief voyage. in st. louis, they just rolled with it. i guess you can say. more than 800 people tried to break a world record for the largest number of people doing somersaults. oh. unfortunately, they didn't quite pull it off. falling about 100 people short. but good news, they did raise thousands for charity. in florida, they did break the record they were going for. serving up a 36-foot-long cuban sandwich. several restaurants joined forces to build the gut-busting hero, full of cuban pork, ham, sala salami, cheese, pickles. and the leftovers were donated to a local food bank. finally, in california, one man who never leaves a morsel behind. joey chestnut, the competitive eater from the coney island hot

dog eating contest. this time, however, japanese pot stickers were on the menu. and chestnut brought his a-game. downing 266 of the appetizers in just 10 minutes. that, too, shattered a world record. now, for a look at the national weather, we look at the forecast. how does he do it? >> i don't know. >> you look disgusted, by the way. >> i'm trying to imagine. i've gotten pot stickers before. the first couple are good. >> that's like 27 every minute. >> by the eighth or ninth, you're over it. i hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. amazing how things changed. a lot of people enjoyed almost a little taste of fall this weekend. a lot of areas had sunshine through the northern plains, the great lakes. we had some clouds that really brought us cooler-type weather in new england and the mid-atlantic, as we went through sunday.

there's some rain showers and more in the mid-atlantic region. the only hot weather, left around the country, a little in texas. but low-90s isn't that hot for august out here. a little in the northern rockies. you probably heard the problems with the fires they had this weekend. that's because of the heat and also the lack of humidity. the air is very dry out there. it makes it difficult to fight the fires. the big weather picture at there. it looks like a quiet weather week. i don't expect severe weather. flooding concerns. the heat's not going to return, either. cool, high pressure moving down from canada. and a couple storm systems will move through areas of the southern u.s. light rain for you. in raleigh, the rain is starting to slide your way. eastern north carolina is going to get wet, along with areas to columbia and florence. it's only going to be in the 70s once again. kind of like sunday.

most of it will be dry. you notice the forecast map, veronica. this looks like mid to late september than late august. we'll take it after the summer we had. >> we'll take that. thanks, bill. don't forget your umbrella today. focus on home sales, oil rising. and if you own a 1968 gt 40, we have news for you. a new bronx bomber. andrew's luck runs out. and a 19-inning marathon in st. louis.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm veronica de la cruz. here's some of the top stories making news. residents in idaho are under an evacuation order. in northern california, 3,500 homes are being threatened by a fire that consumed 4 homes and

19-square miles. in london, wikileaks founder julian assange, made a statement from the embassy. assange claimed he is the victim of a u.s. witchhunt over his website, wikileaks. hollywood director tony scott has died after jumping from a los angeles bridge, in what's being investigated as a suicide. the 68-year-old directed such blockbusters as "top gun," and "days of thunder." a construction worker is in good condition after having a six-foot rod removed from his skull. it fell from a building under construction. and the mars rover curiosity fired its laser for the first time, using the beam to break apart a fist-sized rock called coronation.

the rock was hit with laser pulses during a ten-second period. and now, here's your "first look" at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. are republicans planning to battle the media, as well as the president this election. on "face the nation," rudy giuliani, questioned after vice president biden has the balance to be president, claims the media has gone easier on biden than past republicans, like dick cheney, sarah palin, dan quayle. and peggy noonan said that biden also succeeds with coverage, claiming the daffy grandfatherly thing. all this, after another republican-leaning pundit, mark halperin argued on the "today" show, that the immediate is susceptible to what the obama

campaign wants. salon, along with her fervent tea party resort, recent voting shows that michele bachmann faces a real possibility of losing her re-election bid. "the des moines register" reports that hank williams jr. got loud cheers saying, we've got a muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the u.s. and we hate him. okay. appearing on fox and friends last year, williams jr. likened the president to, get this, hitler. and finally, in an interview tonight on "entertainment tonight," president obama calls george clooney a, quote, wonderful guy. the president jokes that staffers come to his office with urgent memos when clooney is around. his wife, michelle, thinks there's a conspiracy because every time clooney's in washington, she's out traveling. i got you, michelle. i got you. that's your morning dish of

"scramble politics." now, here's your "first look" at how wall street will take off the day. the dow gained 25 points yesterday. the s&p 500 was up, too. the nasdaq rose 14. looking at overseas trading. the nikkei added 8 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng lost 11. we'll see if the markets continue to go higher. the rebounding housing market will be one item on investors' agenda this week. a number of big names report this week, including best buy, lowe's, hewlett-packard and american eagle. aetna has agreed to buy coventry health care. overseas, oil prices rose for a fifth-straight day, as the

consumer confidence report pointed to pockets of health in the u.s. economy. gas prices in the u.s. are up 5 cents in the past week to a national average of $3.72 for a gallon of regular, which is up 14 cents higher than the same week last year. platinum prices rose for a third-straight day, as supply worries lingered at a major mine in south africa. american airlines' flight attendants have conceded to new contracts. and a northern california produce supplier is voluntarily recalling romaine lettuce, over years about possible e. coli contamination. finally, a 1968 ford gt-40, has set a new record for any american auto at an auction in california this weekend. the powder blue classic used as the camera war in "le mans" watched a whopping $11 million.

in health news this morning, a new study finds yo-yo dieting does not reck your metabolism. after studying women on diet plans, yo-yo dieters fared just as well as nonyo-yo dieters. 40% of people have a tendency toward yo-yo dieting. you can always check out the health page online at msnbsnews.com. the reds walk off. double-bingers for one d-back. and the pirates have to really work for the "w." plus, a very messy pit stop at nascar's international.

welcome back to "first look." i'm veronica de la cruz. in sports, ichiro hit two homers. and a japanese teammate had his own pitching gem, giving the yanks a big win against their biggest rivals. >> good morning. the yankee s ichiro suzuki isn' known for his power. he flexes his muscle. a bomb into the second deck. new york up 3-0. in the sixth inning, ichiro takes josh beckett deep again. another solo shot in right. two home rubs for ichiro.

he has seven this season. the yanks win, 4-1. if you think baseball is a slow a and long game, you haven't seen anything yet. cards and pirates played a seven-hour marathon. chicago threatening, but ryan hannigan not having it. brett jackson tries to steal third. and hannigan guns him down. in the bottom of the ninth, hannigan gets him done with his bat. singles to deep center. ryan hannigan is your hero. you know what that means. a shaving cream pie to the face. to houston, the astros have a new manager. but they still have the same players. d-backs' aaron hail with a pair of home runs. 8-1, the final. nascar michigan 400 at where else? michigan. mike martin leading most of the race. on lap 65, this happens.

bobby labonte gets loose. martin misses him but goes flying in to the pits. martin skids by and t-bones a wall. luckily no one was hurt. greg biffle takes the checkered flag. andrew luck threw a touchdown on his first nfl pass last week. yesterday, the steelers brought the rookie back down to earth. ike taylor with the pick six. 49 yards the other way. the first of two interceptions for luck. steelers win, 26-24. that's your first look at starts. and now, for another look at the weather. here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. what are you watching? >> the tropic. the peak hurricane season is september 10th. we're two or three weeks away from that. we haven't had a big hurricane this year. we haven't had a big threat area. not just in the u.s. but even down through the caribbean. what is next out there typically comes off the coast of africa. it takes about two weeks to get to us. one is on its way.

it hasn't form eed yet. it's looking favorable. eventually that would become isaac. by about saturday, that system should be near cuba or the florida area. that's what we have to watch. otherwise out there, a quiet morning. a decent forecast. but cool and chilly in many areas. feels like september. >> what was the noaa estimate? 13? >> yeah. it's how strong they are ahead. what is a winner at the box office? and a lack of box office punch from whitney houston's last performance. your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor,

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get this, guys. a new study found that 1% of the u.s. population is allergic to gluten. while the other 99% is sick of having to hear about it. we get it, gary. we'll get you special hot dog buns. we heard you. we'll go to the organic place. this is cool, guys. nasa has discovered a galaxy that creates two new stars every day. i don't know what the galaxy's name is. but i think we can rule out "american idol." >> no, you didn't. no, you didn't. >> who won last year? there you go. thank you. >> tonight, jimmy welcomes liv tyler and musical guest, yay sayer. it is time, now, for our

"first look" at entertainment news. at the box office this weekend, the winner lost a little. not winning by as much as expected. the aging action hero "the expendables 2" man handled the competition. but with a weaker-than-expected $28.8 million opening. possibly jeopardizing a third installment. "the bourne legacy" was in second place. and "paranorman" time came in third. "sparkle" rounded out the top five. finally, "the odd life of timothy green" finished on the low side. debuting with just $10 million in seventh place. >> this was a tough weekend for me. the olympics are over, right? there's no good movies. all of the big blockbusters are

done. >> how about the big hollywood film in the middle. >> which one? >> the action film. >> you mean the spider-mans and the batmans and stuff? already been done. >> all right. this is "first look" on msnba. "way too early" with willie geist, starts right now. a rough monday for republicans, as their newly nominated candidate in missouri all but dooms his party's chances of taking back the senate. and a gop congressman on a fact-finding mission in israel decided it was a good idea to skinny dip in the sea of gali e galilee. paul ryan took a trip to florida to visit dear old mom on the campaign trail. he's promising seniors there that medicare will be bigger and better around a romney/ryan administration. the question is, was he able to finish his speeches before the early bird specials.