all these birthers, trying to kick president obama off the ballot, you can file this one under medicine, comma, taste of your own. and for the libertarians, you can file this one under neenor, neenor. now it's time for "the last they file everything under nener. change of subject. mitt romney and paul ryan dogged by questions about abortion and rape, try to zero in on the economy. unsung heros. tragedy strikes as several good samaritans rush to help a los angeles crash victim. and out for a spin. nasa scientists take the mars rover curiosity for a test drive. very good morning to you. i'm veronica dela cruz. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and we begin this morning with damage control. with missouri senate candidate todd akin vowing to stay in the race, mitt romney and paul ryan tried to refocus on the economy p is going to hurt at the end of the nigh strengthen into a hurricane and make landfall near tampa, just as the republican national convention is getting started next week. >> forecast track. >> reporter: call it the perfect storm. abortion and the threat of a hurricane hitting florida during the republican convention which starts next monday in tampa. >> contingency plans are in place, should, you know, a worse case scenario happen.

we're moving forward and fully expect to put on a convention here in the tampa bay times forum next week. >> reporter: tampa's mayor says the city is prepared to call it off if necessary. >> if things continue the way they are, we would do something in terms of an activation early saturday. >> reporter: the romney/ryan ticket has been trying to distance itself from the todd akin legitimate rape controversy. that forced republican vice presidential hopeful paul ryan to clarify his position on abortion for the first time on the campaign trail. >> i'm proud of my record. mitt romney is going to be the president. the president sets policy. his policy is exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother. i'm comfortable with it because it's a good step in the right direction. >> reporter: in iowa, romney tried to keep the focus on the national debt and the economy. >> we've now had four years in a row with the president that's built trillion dollar deficits. it's bad economics. >> reporter: there's no way to tell how quickly the akin distraction will go away, but democrats are hoping to make it

last as long as possible. >> case in point, president obama poked fun at the akin controversy at a fund-raiser in new york city last night with basketball great michael jordan. questioning how a congressman on the science committee could have gotten his medical facts wrong. in washington, i'm claire leka, back to you. >> thank you. lawmakers deadlocked over taxes and federal spending could throw the nation into a recession next year. that is the grim prediction from the nonpartisan congressional budget office. which warns a capitol hill stalemate over expiring bush-era tax cuts could send the economy off the much talked about fiscal cliff and cost the country 2 million jobs. a new pugh center study shows the middle class has suffered its worst decade in modern history. 62% surveyed saying congress is to blame. the number of west nile virus infections have jumped over 60% over the past week in

what federal officials say is one of the biggest outbreaks in u.s. history. states from california to the carolinas have reported cases with texas being the hardest hit. nbc's erica edwards has the latest. >> reporter: in texas, the assault on west nile disease includes insecticides spraying from the ground and air. >> tonight we begin a phase 2 of our aerial spraying operations. >> reporter: nearly half of the reported 1100 west nile cases nationwide have occurred in texas. dallas county has launched an extensive west nile education campaign. >> even stopping cars to hand out flyers with prevention information. >> i have a youngster that gets eaten alive by mosquitos so i need everything i can get to take care of it. >> reporter: the vast majority of people who get the mosquito born disease don't actually get sick. but so far, more than 600 people have developed a severe neuroinvasive form of west nile which can include meningitis and

swelling of the brain. at least 41 people have died, but experts say even those who survive can have long-term problems. experts say to get rid of standing water from around your home, because that's where mosquitos breed. >> use a mosquito re pellant when you go out, at dusk or dawn when mosquitos bite, cover up. wear those long sleeve shirts. >> reporter: those who track west nile cases at the centers for disease control and prevention say this could be the worst year for west nile when it first appeared in the u.s. in 1999. erica edwards, nbc news. here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. in los angeles, two women were killed last night after trying to rescue the driver of an suv that slammed into a fire hydrant and a power line. the victims were electrocuted after gushing water from the hydrant combined with live wires. at least five other people were also treated after apparently getting shocked. in michigan, a suspected car thief took off from police

leading to a chase through city streets. but the real surprise came when the driver bolted from the car with a toddler in his arms. he then handed the little boy off to the child's mom, right before getting arrested. police say the bandit had been baby sitting. in chicago, a baby monkey was born this weekend and we do mean baby. it is a tiny bolivian gray monkey who just likes to hang out in mom's fur. weighs just a few ounces, it's so small. zoo keepers don't even know its gender yet. so cute. finally in wisconsin, they are beefing up the race for white house. both president obama and mitt romney have been honored with their likenesses made in beef jerky. the artist who created the tasty tribute says it took him 50 hours, 50 bags of jerky to create his meaty masterpiece. that is something else. now for a look at the national weather, we turn to nbc

meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. all right. it's all about isaac this morning, right? >> yeah. we had the new update from the hurricane center. some good news and maybe some bad news potentially down the road. a very interesting storm to say the least. first thing's first, this storm is huge. i mean size wise, this is like a texas sized storm. about 750 miles from east to west, and all the little -- about the same to the north to south. i mean we're talking about just a huge, huge storm. thankfully, it's a very weak storm. it has a lot of rain with it. the winds are extremely weak. it weakened overnight. the center has been relocating, hard to figure out where the center of the storm is. when the storms get stronger there's a central dent area of the brightest thunderstorms that's usually where the eye forms. there's really no signs of that right now. winds are only at 40 miles per hour. the hurricane hunter aircraft have been flying overnight through the center of the storm and notice these wind reports, 26, 29, 32, 28 that's a breezy afternoon. no signs of any development at

all overnight with the storm. still has about 36 hours before it interacts with cuba and haiti. doesn't look at this point very good that it will be really strengthening and be a huge blow for them. the latest forecast path from the hurricane center. they do think it could briefly be a hurricane right before it makes it into haiti and the dominican republic, late friday into saturday. it should be a tropical storm as it crosses cuba. it will go over the warm waters of the florida straits. that's when it should region rate some time on sunday and looks like it will probably intensify at that point. of course, all eyes will be on where the location exactly with florida. of course we have the convention going on here in tampa. as of right now the thinking is it should be somewhere close to hurricane strength. it could be off the east coast of florida, over here in the warm waters of the gulf. all of a sudden we've included areas like mississippi and alabama and maybe new orleans and areas of concern. veronica. so it's better for the east coast of florida but looks like this forecast has gotten worse from areas from new orleans, mobile, biloxi into the

panhandle of florida. >> we have to keep our fingers crossed. new hope for fed dollars, weak pc sales take a toll and even in an era about airline fees you still won't believe this one. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up e another suspension in baseball. a first for derek jeter and pair of hat tricks on the diamond. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. at usaa, we believe honor is not

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welcome back to "first look." i'm verronry in ka dela cruz. here are top stories making news. the syrian army shelled parts of damascus, despite forces are too weak to defeat rebel groups. the opposition forces slip away only to resurface elsewhere to fight another day. in california, governor jerry brown declared a state of emergency in three northern california counties due to a wildfire that has destroyed 64

homes. more evacuations have been ordered as firefighters battle the blaze that has already burned more than 24,000 acres. a federal indictment charged 40 people in an outrageous scheme that saw a methamphetamine run by inmates at two indiana prisons with the help of guards. thanks to cell phones smuggled in by guards the two inmates in charge conference called with a third man about pooling their resources to purchase heroin from a source in chicago. a new study finds older fathers are more likely to have children who are autistic. research shows that for each decade of a man's life, his chance of fathering a child with autism goes up 22%. and it wasn't exaektly a marathon trip but the curiosity rover on mars went for a drive on the martian surface. curiosity rolled forward about 15 feet from its landing site leaving fresh tracks in the ancient soil.

and now here's your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. the demand for political news on the internet is growing so fast. youtube has created its own election hub website. it will give political junkies their fix from network tv and many other sources and will even live stream the conventions and debates. of course, you can always tune in to msnbc the place for politics. a quirky law in nevada that allowed voters to choose none of the above has been struck down by a federal judge who ruled it unconstitutional because votes for none don't count in the final tallies that determine winners. kerry gauthier a democratic state lawmaker in minnesota decided he will not seek a second term after admitting to police he had oral sex with a 17-year-old man at a highway rest stop. the county attorney decided not to file charges because the age of consent in minnesota is 16. pastor rick warren has

canceled plans for a civil forum featuring the presidential candidates at his california church because their campaign is so uncivil. warren said the goal was to promote civility and personal respect between people with major differences, but that's not been the climate of the 2012 presidential campaign. republican paul ryan has been asked by dee snider of twisted sister to stop using their song "we're not going to take it" at campaign events. and ryan's spokesman responded, quote, hey, we're not going to play it anymore. take that. mitt romney has been criticized in obama campaign ads for his foreign bank accounts in switzerland, bermuda, cayman islands and the potential for hiding money from u.s. taxes. now the government of swilts zerland has objected to the obama campaign because the ads give the impression that simply having a swiss bank account means the account holder is trying to hide money from the irs.

and that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. and now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,172 after losing 30 points yesterday. the s&p was up a fraction. the nasdaq added 6. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei gained 46 points, in hong kong the hang sang leaped 244. minutes from the fed's latest meeting gave investors a little bit of hope on wednesday. the s&p rebounded on hopes the nation's central bank might soon be ready for another round of stimulus. the big question now is whether improving data released after that meeting caused fed members to change their mind. talk of more stimulus which could potentially weaken the dollar sent the price of gold up $14 an ounce since its highest level since may. on the economic front reports show july home sales of prices were up. the rate of home sales was lower

than expected. high-end home builder toll brothers reported impressive quarterly numbers thanks to the improving housing market. after the bell, hewlett-packard reported another rough quarter as dwindling demand for pcs took a toll on its bottom line. meanwhile, weak pc sales also dragged down dell which was the s&p's biggest loser. discover financial services got a boost from its new partnership with paypal. next year, more than 7 million discover card merchants will process paypal payments. regulators here and across the pond have okayed facebook's acquisition of the on-line photo sharing site instagram and qantas has canceled orders for 35 boeing dreamliners after posting its first loss in two decades. finally, how much does it cost to print out a few pieces of paper? well, if you are flying ryan air, apparently it costs about 75 bucks. a lesson one traveler recently learned the hard way when she

was charged $370 for boarding passes for her family of five. ouch. the mariners sail, the white sox sweep and another doping debacle in major league baseball. plus, it is hats off for a nifty catch by one met fan. nice. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text. tap into a single pool of shareable data and add up to 10 different devices, including smartphones and tablets. the first plan of its kind. share everything. only from verizon. get $100 off select motorola 4g lte smartphones like the droid razr. trouble with a car insurance claim. [ voice of dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ normal voice ] so i can trust 'em.

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one texas slugger hit three homers last night in a dominant ranger victory over the orioles. here nbc's fred roggin. last october adrian beltre hit three home runs against the rays and yesterday he did it again. this time against the orioles his first a solo blast to straight away center and the rangers up 1-0. beltre led an offensive explosion in the fourth, started the inning with a second home run. in fact, the rangers were scoring so much, that he got another at-bat and hit another one deep. capped off a nine-run inning in his third homer. that's a hat trick and the rangers won big, 12-3. speaking of threes, derek jeter hit a home run in his third straight game. hard to believe it's the first time he's ever done that but it wasn't enough. white sox swept the yanks for the first time in 21 years with a 2-1 win. what has gotten into the mariners? quietly winning game after game, the streak is now up to eight. they swept the indians 3-1. now for two teams heading in reverse. angels.

albert pujols scored but came up lame. strained his calf. angels won 7-3 but lost pujols. last week melky cabrera and this week bartolo colon. he tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, he's suspended 50 games. tennessee rallied in their final at-bat against texas. after tying it, cole carter gave them the lead with an rbi single and tennessee up 4-3. texas a last chance. butler lorenzo, made the play of the game, tagged the runner, fired to first ending it with a double play. tennessee advanced to the u.s. championship with a 4-3 win. and finally, forget about adrien beltre's three home runs. this was the real hat trick last night. tough to be a mets fan these days unless you're doing this. foul ball to right, watch closely a fan stuck out his hat and made the grab. i tip my cap to you, sir. that was the catch of the night. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. and now for another look at the weather. here's nbc meteorologist bill

karins with a weather channel forecast. did you see na? lucky catch? >> about one of the only mets highlights i've seen in a long time. pick on the mets. >> well done, though. >> pretty easy. good morning. i took another look at some of the new information coming out from the hurricane center. for five days in advance, there's excellent agreement that this storm is going to cross over southern portions of florida and impact areas around tampa. definitely monday afternoon, monday evening into the monday night period. about a 36-hour window the weather will be nasty in tampa for the convention. mostly monday afternoon and probably all day tuesday. forecast wise here around the u.s., it's another warm day today. mid to upper 80s. many locations from the great lakes all the way through the mid-atlantic. atlanta mid 80s. back into the 90s in the drought area from kansas city to dallas. thunderstorms this morning around minneapolis but there's not a lot of bad weather out there and weren't a lot of changes overnight with isaac. still looks like it's heading for south florida next week. >> thank you, bill. a prime time actress

stumbles into a real life crime and not so fast for nicky minaj on "american idol." plus, believe it or not, one of the children of hollywood's royal couple is already making their showbiz debut. we're going to tell you about it next. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. freshers™ -- a breakthrough in natural energy. made with real fruit, starbucks refreshers™ are delicious low calorie drinks you can feel good about. ♪ rethink how you re-energize. ♪ get a boost of natural energy with a new starbucks refreshers™, in three ways. natural energy from green coffee extract, only from starbucks.

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welcome back to "first look." it's time now for some entertainment news. okay. you knew that it would happen some day, but this quickly, 4-year-old viv ve yan jolie poits will make her movie debut alongside mom angelina jolie playing a princess in an

upcoming film. what do you think about that? >> predictable. >> he plays a special agent on nci los angeles, but now he has real crime experience. the 44-year-old caught and subdued a suspected burglar at his california home early wednesday morning. must have been scary. not like l.l. can't take him down. >> scary for a ghi. because l.l. cool jay -- >> huge. >> he and a date he says had sex with a 20-year-old kim kardashian at a los angeles swinger's party in september of 2001. a rep for kardashian denies the claim. >> let's all hope so. justin bieber did voiceovers on a cameo on the simpsons that will air next year. nicki minaj may not be on "american idol." the new york posts negotiations have been complicated by the fact she dumped the agency representing the host's finalists and maria carey apparently wants to be the only female judge on the show.

>> don't blame her. >> well deserved. >> anyone sitting next to nicki minaj, might as well sit next to lady gaga. your eyes will be focused on them. >> go mariah, go. >> if she can pull off the power move. >> this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. a report from the congressional budget office, snaps the presidential campaign to attention. the cbo calculating the american economy will slip back into recession by next year if washington doesn't get serious and soon. the question is, is washington even capable of averting disaster. we'll have the new numbers. tropical storm isaac meanwhile wlips through the caribbean on its way to south florida where it's expected to be a hurricane. will isaac hang over the republican convention in tampa? and yankees lose another one in chicago and it starts to get to manager joe girardi. the question is, why did girardi