this morning on "early today," election heat. our new poll shows president obama and mitt romney locked in a tight battle for the white house. right-of-way? scary moments as a three-year-old chinese boy drives his toy motorcycle in rush hour traffic. an rite of passage, pleebs finish up their first year with a time honor tradition. captions paid for by nbc-universal television this is "early today" fear for wednesday, may 23rd, 2012. i'm lynn berry. we begin with neck in neck a new

poll finds president obama locked neck in neck with mitt romney tracie pott joins us with details. good morning. >> reporter: hi lynn, good morning, everyone. let's get to the numbers, they do show how tight this race really is. in terms of who is ahead so far, president obama by four points, 47 to 43, important to point out that is a statistical tie, between the two candidates. also watch the trend because the president's number is down about 2 percentage points since last month. mitt romney is the same as he was in april. now, when it comes to the announcement the president made of same sex marriage, 17% are more likely to vote for the president, 20% say they are more likely to vote for romney, look at this the vast majority,

almost two-thirds, 62% say it made no difference at all. on the big issue, the economy, only a third believe that the economy is going to get better in the next year, that is actually down about five points from april down seven points from march. now mitt romney is moving closer to the nomination, he won kentucky and he won arkansas's republican primary, so it looks like going in texas, he could actually clinch the nomination, taking a look at the delegate count, the latest count, mitt romney is only 79 delegates shy of what he needs to win that republican presidential nomination. lynn? thanks so much. a new warning that without action, the u.s. economy could fall off a "fiscal cliff" early next year. the non-partisan congressional budget office says allowing the bush era tax cuts to expire combined with automatic spending

cuts to take effect january 1st could throw the economy in a recession with the economy shrinking by 1.3%. this is the first time they have predicted a potential recession. the report argues if congress and president team up and stop the automatic cuts and tax increases, growth would rise to 4.4%. four secret service employees decided to fight the dismissals over the prostitution scan dmal colombia. this morning's washington post reports the employees ousted from the agency foreign gauging in inappropriate conduct with prosecutes last month ahead of a presidential visit say they are being made scapegoats for the behavior that has been long tolerated by the service. the timing of the charge couldn't be worse for secret service director, mark sul i will van, who is scheduled to testify later today before a senate committee. other stories making news early until america, in texas, a

dog napping captured by pet store surveillance video. police say a man grabbed a puppy while a woman used her two daughters to distract the clerk. they say that the woman drove the get away car. police found the dog safe and sound and arrested the pair. cute dog. in new york, a high school student who produced a video against bullying has been suspended for five days. in the video she plays a fix shunnal character harassed to the point of committing suicide. she said she made it as part of a class assignment but the superintendent said it caused a distraction. finally in maryland, students at the annapolis naval academy carried out their yearly battle against gravity and remember when freshmen tried to conquer a statue covered in lard forming a human ladder to get one of the classmates to the top. doesn't look easy, after more than two hours, one student made

it replacing a dixie cup hat with midshipman's hat conditioning a tradition started 60 years ago. here is bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> we're all suckers with tradition. >> you have to show it. any time people are trying to climb up something and fall, gets us every time. >> it took two hours. good morning, everyone yesterday an amazing weather day in miami. we didn't have a beach day, that is an under statement of the day. that is not a misprint, this is the rainfall totals from yesterday, nearly ten inches of rain in miami in 24 hours. thunderstorms and tropical downpours sat over the airport, that is how much rain fell. we could get another inch or two today. thankfully it's florida and soil is sandy, there was flooding but if that happened anywhere else in the country it would be catastrophic. as far as this morning we have areas of rain out there, cold

front going through the northern plains, also an area of low pressure in the mid-atlantic causing problems. showers and thunderstorms through the outer banks, cape hatteras will be hit soon, wilmington, coastal north carolina, chance for downpours and thunderstorms this morning. raleigh you cleared out after storms overnight those are pushing along the border area with north carolina and virginia. so through the carolinas and also up in virginia today, some wet weather will happen on and off throughout the day. rain around international falls and thunderstorms north of sioux falls on interstate 29. forecast, stormy in the northern plains and might-atlantic this after noon. have the umbrella handy. here is a look at weather outside your window. chance of thunderstorms today, minneapolis, you will be warm before the storms. also a chance of showers and thunderstorms throughout much of the busy i-95 corridor. humid air mass in place, that will spark the storms later. dealing with a lot of showers and storms, the big story toward

the weekend? the heat, some areas near 100. >> hopefully near a beach. bill, thanks so much. more facebook fall-out. oil tumbles and a new winner when it comes to creepy on line auctions. the early morning business headlines are straight ahead. brad pitt hits the cannes film festival, what anyone wants to know where is an skree. the kings are crowned, heading to the stanley cup finals after a thrilling overtime win. you're watching "early today."

good morning welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of the top headlines this morning. this morning for the first time egyptians are voting to pick their president. none of the 12 candidates is expected to get more than half of the vote to outrightly win the first round making a runoff

likely between top two in june. one year later, thousands attended a memorial for the 161 people killed by the massive tornado that struck joplin, missouri. they marched through some of the city's hardest hit areas to remember family and friends who died in one of the deadliest tornadoes in u.s. history. the 2010 u.s. census was mostly accurate but a new assessment says it missed more than 1.5 million minorities. the government report says the census under-counted blacks, hispanics, renters and young men and overcounted the total population by 36,000 people. former first lady nancy reagan is recovering from broken ribs she suffered in a fall h her los angeles home six weeks ago. mrs. reagan is 90 years old. in china, a 3-year-old little boy drove his toy motorbike right in the busy middle section unaware of the danger, luckily a police officer spotted him and led the child

safely through the rush hour traffic. as we get ready for the memorial day weekend look at the world's largest outdoor swimming pool. that would be fun. located at a beach front resort in chile, over half a mile long, hold as whopping 66 million gallons of filtered and treated salt water and also boasts the world's steepest deep end at 115 feet. now here is an early look at top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study finds between 1997 and 2004, the percentage of people with diabetes who died dropped 23%. better management of diabetes, lifestyle changes and improved treatments for heart disease contributed to the decline the number of americans diagnosed has more than tripled since 1980, that mostly due to the continuing rise in obesity. for more information on this and other stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com.

"early today" health is brought to you by vagisil cream. now here is an early look how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,502 after losing a point yesterday. the s&p up a fraction, nasdaq fell 8. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei sank 172 points. while in hong kong the hang seng dropped 252. the fall-out continues for facebook after the troubled ipo. shares have tumbled 20% since friday, and now the social network's lead underwriter, morgan stanley, is under fire from state and federal regulators, morgan stanley denies claims it informed only select clients of negative information about the stock. markets traded higher for much of the session, thanks to a larger than expected rise in existing home sales. that data lifted banking and housing stocks while materials

were the day's biggest drag. today investors will keep an eye on eurozone meeting. u.s. oil futures slid to a seven month low after iran agreed to allow the un probe in the nuclear program. the white house judged it would judge their behavior based on actions not just promises or agreements. after the bell, dell slumped 6% on weak earnings, weighed down by slow pc sales. >> in late trade, best buy rose on better than expected earnings. ford is one against the owner of the blue oval logo after moody's updated their debt rating. they put assets up for a line of collateral in 2006. according to the website statfinder, google's chrome is the most used web browser. the ronald reagan presidential foundation is threatening to sue over what is

said to be a vial of the president's blood up for auction on line. the seller claims it was taken at george washington university hospital after reagan was shot in 1981. bidding tuesday topped $14,000. in the nba playoffs, the heat get physical, and baseball's rays rely on the long ball. the phoenix coyotes claw for their lives. the early morning sport head lines are straight ahead. the forecast is looking more and more like summer. the forecast is coming up, you're watching "early today." everyone's hair breaks.

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good morning, if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports, they are a record-winning road team so it was appropriate the los angeles kings punched their ticket to the stanley cup final also on the road. here is mario solis with an early look at the sport headlines. hi there, good morning it has been an incredible run for the kings, made the playoffs as an eighth seed and headed to the stanley cup finals. for phoenix it had everything. down goes frazier, kings up 3-2 in the h second. the coyotes answer.

pyatt throws it to the net. a fortunate bounce and phoenix ties the game at three. stays that way through regulation, then in overtime. jeff carter takes a shot, rebound bounces to dustin penner who nets the winner. they beat the coyotes 4-3 win the series to advance to the first stanley cup finals since 1993. to miami for a physical game five between the heat and pacers. tyler hanseborough fouls dwyane wade hard. given a foul. haslem returns the favor less than a minute later, hanseborough given a flagrant. heat run away in the third. lebron james beautiful pass, streaking wade, miami up 16. flashed with the hail mary to james, miami takes control of the series 115-83 win, they can advance to the finals with the win tomorrow. baseball, carlos penna not

only hit a home run against the blue jays, he hit it halfway to orlando, 452 feet to be exact. chicks did the long ball, i don't know if they like this look. that is luke scott donning the carlos, tampa. the rays win, 8-5. that is the look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. one star gives emotional testimony, while another is honored by native americans. early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. they say rain is lucky on your wedding day, what about this weather? you're watching "early today."

welcome back the big story over the next couple days headed through the memorial day weekend will be the heat. has been in the southwest, 104 in phoenix. dallas warming up to 94. then dallas jumps to 98 tomorrow. chicago jumps up to 90 degrees. as we go toward the weekend, indianapolis 500 on sunday in indianapolis, 93 degrees. the hot weather headed for the ohio valley. if you're watching us on wgil in lancaster, pennsylvania exploring meadow, take a look at things that creep, crawl and fly at backyard buzz, that is hands on childrens museum. that is the early today event of the day. here is an early look at headlines in entertainment.

brad pitt disappointed media hoards in cannes showing up without angelina jolie, promoting "killing them softly" a film he produced and stars in. he explained she is preparing for a role and said that no date has been set yet for their hollywood royal wedding. elsewhere, a tearful usher took the stand tuesday in the custody trial of ex-wife tameka foster, denied he is an excessive partier and she testifiy eied she once flew in jealous rage. johnny depp was named an honorary comanche. marvel comics first openly gay hero will marry his boyfriend in astonishing x-men 51 due out june 20th. lindsay lohan preparing to play liz taylor wasn't too busy to tweet a photo of herself trying to look the part as one blog put it, she looks

incredibly like lindsay lohan dressed up as elizabeth taylor. this comes to us from ksnw, in wichita, kansas, in nearby harper, one wedding featured pictures of the happy couple that are simply amazing. and scary. the bride and groom had just said their i dos, when they are on a farm, they found tornadoes in the sky eight miles away. that created the back drop of a life time for incredible wedding photos. it was not only the bride's first wedding, it was her first twister, they are now off on their honey moon, hopefully in better weather. >> amazing. i'm lynn berry this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. we should get a fairly quiet drive time. for this morning, i think we will get by without too much in the rain fall department. we had some rain storms last night. in all kind of a dissipates. there is some rain south of the d.c. a mixture of sun and clouds. mostly dry this morning. showers and thunderstorms redevelop this afternoon. high around 80. we will check the seven-day forecast going all the way into the weekend. >> 4:57.

65 degrees on tv hill. he has been considered a prime suspect in the missing persons case in aruba. >> what he was caught doing and the charges he faces. >> super pac, and a new round of attack ads. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. we have a problem in pasadena to report. report.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> there could be some rain coming up. >> there could be some flooding in some neighborhoods. some big time of flooding