yoder because of course, congressman yoder is not congressman todd akin, his colleague in the house. kevin yoder of kansas, you are the inaugural beneficiary of the best timing in the world today award. may all of your sober skinny dipping adventures find their way to the stories. your way to politico in the way of big stories. closing ranks. republican congressman akin vows not to bow out of the race despite growing concern. space station against the ever-growing threat of space junk. and funny lady, remembering the life of trailblazing comedienne, phyllis diller. good morning, everybody. i'm lynn berry.

this is "first look" on msnbc. and we're going to begin this morning with mounting pressure. despite more prominent republicans criticizing him, congressman todd akin says he's not a quitter and will not drop off of his race. he is facing louder calls from gop officials for him to stop aside. nbc's steve handelsman has the story. >> reporter: posing possible damage to the ryan/romney presidential campaign. with women voters, they already disproportionately back president obama, who weighed in. >> the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. >> reporter: it was republican congressman todd akin, running for a senate seat in missouri who set off a firestorm,

questioning if all rapes are, in his words, legitimate. he was arguing against abortion rights for sexual assault victim. >> it seems to me, first of all, from what i understand from doctors, it's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut the whole thing down. >> reporter: senator claire mccaskill had been trailing him in the polls. he apologized on the radio. >> rape is never legitimate. it's an evil act. >> reporter: like akin, paul ryan recently opposed abortion rights for rape victims. >> one, with women voters specifically, and secondly with the agenda, putting it back on social issues where republicans don't want to be this year. they want to be on committee. >> reporter: president obama claimed obamacare helped stop male politicians making

decisions about women's health. >> qualifying forceable rape versus nonforceable rape. i think those are broud ader iss and that is a significant difference in the approach between me and the other party. >> reporter: todd akin says he won't quit the missouri senate race. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news washington. >> last night on the rachel maddow show, frank rich questioned who in the republican party will challenge the ultra conservative wing and the kind of thinking displayed by congressman akin. he told rachel in his view it won't be mitt romney. >> who are the people in that party who are going to stand up for women's rights? this is a party where in the senate the entire republican caucus voted for the flake amendment, the blunt amendment, excuse me. >> oh, yeah. >> which allowed employers to sort of basically stop any kind of health care coverage that

dealt with women's issues. it wasn't framed that way. the only one to vote against it in the senate on the republican side was owe olympia snow who, of course, is leaving the senate. >> each night, rachel maddow takes on the biggest stories of the day with in-depth analysis and all sides of the issue. don't miss the rachel maddow show weeknights at 9:00 pm. despite earlier reports, fbi officials tell the l.a. times they are not investigating any criminal wrong doing by members of the congress who were involved in unusual late-night swim in israel last summer. republican congressman kevin yoder of kansas admitted in a radio interview that he did go skinny dipping in the sea of gallilee. he said he was sorry calling it, quote, a regrettable incident. he was the only person in the congressional delegation who went in without clothing. a portion of alabama's tough immigration law has been thrown

out by a federal court. the appeals court ruling rejected part of the state law that required schools to check the citizenship status of new students. the new court decision says police in alabama can continue to check sit zit zinship for people that they stop. vatican is not the employer, they say, of catholic priests. this could shield the vatican from suits for monetary damages. mourning the loss of a comedic legend. phyllis diller died peacefully at the age of 95. with a cackling laugh and outrageous wardrobe broke into show business at the 1950s at the urging of her husband but the act was all her own, tran sending general rags and serving as an inspiration for future stars from joan rivers to ellen

degeneres. here is your first look at some of the other news going on in america today. video of a feeding frenzy 50 yards off the jersey shore line have now gone viral. dozens of sharks were feasting on fish never seen in waters off the popular tourist area. it was created by black tip or spinner sharks. hundreds of boats are stuck right where they are alan 11-mile stretch of the missouri river. water levels have plummeted, shutting down traffic on that river. army corps of engineers has started to dredge the area to deepen the channel. new york city's famous lincoln center was the low latest location to get flash mobbed. 3,000 people all dressed in white descended upon the pavilion for a feast. participants arrived with their own table and chairs along with

food. similar organized eepts are expected later this week in philadelphia and chicago. finally an assortment of hot wheels have been sold for historically high prices at a california auction. tonight's show host jay leno sold one of his classic cars for close to $400,000. that was a small figure compared to the $10.7 million shelled out for a rare 1936 mercedes-benz. she's a beaut. now time for a look at your national weather we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins. he's a beaut as well. >> i would like to say the same. >> of course, you won't. we'll save that for later. will be approaching the islands of the caribbean and eventually florida over the next week. of course, on monday it's the start of the republican national convention in florida in tampa, which could be a pretty windy, wild day in the sunshine state.

let me take you through the details. this here is cuba, dominican republic, virgin islands right in here. this is the storm. it's a day away from any land areas. it will not curve harmlessly out to sea. someone is going to get hit by this storm. they'll probably get devastating, life-threatening weather somewhere. the question is where. remember, these updates will come out with a track every six hours. on the east coast that's at 5:00 am. next one will be at 11:00 am this morning. we'll keep doing that through the lifecycle of this storm. the important thing to note it will be near puerto rico, not a direct hit. probably tropical storm winds in puerto rico wednesday night and thursday. then dangerously close to haiti friday and saturday and somewhere near cuba early, early sunday morning, that's probably the first landfall should be

made. and the hurricane center thinks it will be 110-mile-per-hour winds, almost a category 3 storm, almost a major hurricane at that point. cuba, bahamas. next projection will head it out toward florida as we go throughout sunday night and monday through south florida and monday and tuesday, northern florida into southern portions of the united states. this is the possession of our computer model here. it agrees with the hurricane center on saturday. we have about six days away from this heading toward the u.s. now is the time for people in florida to get the preppings just in case the storm heads your way and is a stronger storm. lot of land in the way. intensity being a question mark. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, a good day for apple. facebook insider unloads and nike ups the ante on its sneaker line. your first look at this morning's business lines is straight ahead. coming up, historic day at

augusta national. another injury for michael vick. and a little leaguer with a big game. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ lenn if take ann.ic on wi cor exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. militants fired rockets into a u.s. base, damaging the plane of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. a spokesman says the general was nowhere near the plane. president obama is warning syria he would consider using force if the regime uses or even moves chemical weapons around. the president says it could mean enormous consequences. aaaa has released its labor day forecast saying that the economy and gas prices are doing nothing to stop the 33 million americans from driving 50 miles to get to their destination. that's a jump from last year.

sending a robot to mars in 2016. the $425 million insight lander will drill into the red planet's crust. the mission will explore how mars, earth and other rocky planets were formed. cosmonauts did some home improvement monday, performing a spacewalk to install shielding on their side of the or bbiorbi protect against space junk. the american side already has shields built in. angry piers morgan blasted todd akin from backing out of a scheduled interview on cnn for at the last minute. for not showing up, he said akin was what they called in england, quote, a gutless little twerp. akin has lost a lot of support as the karl rove pac has pulled

out its resources from the senate race. president obama is burning through campaign money faster than he can collect it as he tries to keep up with mitt romney's tv ads. the president spend $10 million more than he raised last year alone. the president may have a better jump shot than mitt romney but basketball team owners in the nba prefer romney with eight out of ten contributing to the republican campaign. but according to hoops hype.com, more nba players support the president, including stars participating in the obama classic basketball fund-raiser on wednesday. winners of the campaign contest had dinner with the president and first lady last night at a washington restaurant. the winners were a music professor from the university of north carolina, a smoke jumper from idaho and an assistant high school principal from florida. and earlier in the day, first lady michelle obama more than 50 kids at the white house

for the first-ever kids state dinner. president obama taste d some of the kids' recipes like baked zucchini fries. the president asked them not to drop any table scraps because the first dog is on a diet. that's your first look at scrambled politics. the dow opens at 13,271 after losing three points yesterday. both the s&p and nasdaq were down a fraction. in tokyo, the nikkei fell 14 points. in hong kong, the hang seng lost four. traders were either on vacation or worried about the euro debt crisis coming back on the radar. one police not so quiet, apple, the most valuable company in history at $624 billion, shattering the record once set by microsoft.

today, a jury could get the case in apple's lawsuit against samsung, which is accused of stealing ipad and iphone technology. one of facebook's top executives dumped most of his shares in the company. peter thiel sold nearly $40 million despite the initial drop in its value. expedia and marriott are among those named in a lawsuit, accusing them of price fixing on hotel rooms. they allegedly cut off business to smaller online retailers. lowe's is having trouble building a profit, lowering its 2012 forecast. changes in merchandise and pricing are doing little to help lowes keep up with home depot. best buy has named the new ceo. stocks led more than 10% as talks reportedly broke down between the electronics giant and its founder, who wants to take the company private. dream works animation is moving. the studio signed a new

five-year distribution deal with 20th century fox, ending their s six-year run at paramount. proving the house always may not win, the new rebel casino in atlantic city needs a $100 million line of credit after losing $35 million since opening less than six months ago. finally, t"the wall street journal" says offering the new lebron x sneaker at a record $315 a pair. coming up, a costly error in extras and golf's most exclusive club opens its doors. plus, a hard hit knocks philadelphia's starting qb out of play. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. [ female announcer ] so you think your kids are getting enough vegetables?

yeah, maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what's your number? welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. halt i halting a losing skid after rallying past the yankees in the first of a three-game series. here is nbc's fred roggin. >> here we go to chicago. yanks and white sox pick it up in the seventh. alexi ra mira stepped in and stepped out. two-run shot. white sox took the lead and held on to beat yanks 9-6. braves and nats needed extras for pinch hitter chad tracy. he bobbled the ball. came the home winning run. everybody was safe.

wild finish in d.c. nats won it 5-4 to 13. just imagine what kind of season they would be having if ryan was healthy. phils beat the first-place reds 12-5. cubs and brewers jonathan lucroy with a shot to left. started to spin around the bases. look at his reaction. is it out? is it out? it's out, jonathan. first of two home runs. they won it, 9-5. home of the masters is accepting female members. former secretary of state condoleezza rice and darla moore will become the first women to wear the coveted green jacket. first rule about the p preseason, stay healthy. michael vick didn't get the memo. hurt his thumb last week and yesterday, drill bid patriots inju jermaine cunningham.

27-17, eagles won it. back to baseball. for a little leaguer who had a big game. no-hitter against indiana. the 12-year-old ended the game in dramatic fashion with another strikeout. immediately dog piled by his teammates. connecticut won 4-0. they're a win aaway from playing for the u.s. championship. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. >> and now for another look at the weather, we check back in with msnbc meteorologist bill karins, who continues to watch this storm in the tropics. >> it will eventually bei isaac. with this turn, it will put it up somewhere near florida by the time we go into, say, sunday night and during the day monday. there's a lot of concerns and a lot of land interaction to be had over the next couple of days. this is one of those storms that could rake many different countries and islands on its way toward the southeastern united states. not many issues out there right now. little bit of rain in dallas. quiet weather in our country

until isaac potential ly arrive. >> bill, thank you so much. world's collide as char lien sheen's exes present a united front. plus things get serious for comedienne rosie o'donnell after a brush with death. now count the number of buttons on your tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts. the simplicity of a tablet has come to your car. ♪ the all-new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. ♪ i'd do anything for you, dear ♪ ♪ anything 'cause you mean everything to me ♪ ♪ i'd know that i'd go anywhere ♪ ♪ for your smile

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. time now for some entertainment news. rosie o'donnell revealed she suffer aid heart attack. she took aspirin, called 911 and had to have a extent inserted

into an artery. it was 99% blocked. o'donnell is now recovering at home. very scary. tmz reports hollywood director scott who jumped to his from a bridge sunday did not have brain cancer. results from the autopsy will not be released for several weeks. nikki minaj is in advanced talks to join mariah carey to join the judge's panel. you'll have to change your bedtime so you can stay up and watch it. michael j. fox's new show will be part of fox's fall lineup. it will be based on his battle with parkinson. ex wife number two, denise richards, tweeted she threw ex-wife number three, brooke mueller, at her home with sheen in attendance. you just can't make this stuff

up. >> number two and number three. >> hey, three, i have a party i want to plan for you? what about one? do we know who one is? >> i don't. i don't even know if there's a number four on the way. >> we can definitely assume there's going to be four and five, and six. >> that's not nice. what about happily ever after? >> i'm lynn berry. stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. congressman todd akin goes rogue, proudly telling his bosses he is not a quitter, this, despite losing support from -- well, pretty much everybody. the question, will he drag romney and ryan down with him? the president making a surprise appearance at a press briefing to condemn akin's comments on rape. will any of this matter to voters still out of work come november? finally and way too late, augusta national golf