critical coition. the debate over medicareesge ao the convention begins. raging out west. thousands are ordered to evacuate as some of the worst wildfires in years threaten communities. and occupational hazard. a brazilian construction worker survived a six-foot rod through his skull. >> announcer: this is "early today" for monday, august 20, 2012. hello and very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with crunch time. after a day of rest, both candidates in the presidential race are gearing up for a busy week on the campaign trail.

president obama head to ohio tomorrow while mitt romney and paul ryan reunite in new hampshire with one week left before the republican condition. >> reporter: after a week of personal attacks on the campaign trail, president obama and mitt romney spent a quiet sunday morning in church. the obamas in washington, d.c., the romneys in new hampshire. their surrogates sunday morning spent the day on talk shows where it was anything but quiet. >> the campaign of hope and change has changed to mere. >> mitt romney whining about the tone of this race is completely hypocritical. >> reporter: and the campaign continued to define them. romney adviser continued to press the latest on medicare. >> in order to pay for obama care, he raided the medicare piggy bank. >> reporter: stephanie cutter from the obama campaign.

>> president obama through health care reform strengthed medicare. >> reporter: and vice president biden's controversial remark regarding republicans and wall street reform -- >> they're going to put you back in chain -- >> reporter: -- drew strong response. >> you saw vice president biden play the race card. >> joe's a laugh line on jay leno. he's not a vice president. he's a joke. >> reporter: all on meet the press, governor maryland said biden's remark is a distraction. >> i think it was indelicate play on word of shackling them. there's not a racist bone in joe biden's body. >> reporter: political analyst say 3% to 5% of voters are undecid undecided, a fact that may be driving some of the personal attacks. >> those are ways to take people who have already decided, stoked their sense of anger and motivated them to vote.

republican snalt hoenate ho set off controversy. todd aiken, gop candidate in missouri told an interviewer sunday he opposes abortion even in the case of rape, because if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. he added if the rape result in a pregnancy, quote, the punishment ought to be on the racest and not attacking the child. democrats responded angrily, who called them ignorant. he later spoke and said they do not talk about the deep sympathy for rape. a group of republican lawmakers after a night of dining and drinking during a fact-finding trip to israel in august. the incident reported by

politico reprimanded 30 lawmakers on the privately funded trip. according to the trip, kevin yoder was naked during the swim. a spokesman for eric cantor confirmed the report's accuracy. and now here's a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. in boston, old ironsides, the nation's oldest warship, was back. if only for a day. for the first time in 15 years, the "uss constitution" set sail to celebrate the 200th an verse of victory over british warship in the battle of 181. nearly 300 were on board sunday's historic but brief voyage. in st. louis, they just rolled with it. more than 800 people tried to break a world record for largest number of people doing somersaults. unfortunately, they didn't quite pull it off. falling about 100 people short.

but they did raise thousands for charity. in florida, they did break the record for what they were serving up. a 36-foot long cuban sandwich. several restaurants joined forces to build the gut-busting hero full of ham, salami, cheese, pickles, and leftovers were donated to a local food bank. finally, in california, one man who nerve leaves a more sell of food behind. you know him joey "jaws" chestnut, you know him from the coney island hot dog eating contest. this time it was chinese pot stickers and he downed 266 of the appetizers in just ten minutes. yes, that too shattered a world record. now for a look at your national and regional weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. i don't know how he does it.

that's 27 of those a minute -- >> you don't want to add up the calories and fat -- >> i heard you works out before every competition. >> he has a stomach the size of both of ours. >> made of steel. >> good morning. the fires out west have been a horrible story. that was really the big weather story over the weekend, especially in idaho. all the heat around the country is focused over inner mountain west and desert southwest but we're in 90s in salt lay city. where they appear worse, washington state, idaho, it was very warm, very difficult conditions for firefighters. beneficial rains over the weekend in areas of texas. san antonio picked up a good amount of rain. low pressure off the east coast and that storm is bringing light rain to areas of the carolinas right now. there's not a lot of wet weather but from raleigh down through pete mo piedmont, you will deal with

rain showers, maybe a heavy downpour, and this will sweep through north carolina and virginia beach during morning rush hours. other than that, it looks like a dry morning forecast. a slight chance of showers from boston to d.c., mostly during the afternoon hours. and just a lot of quiet, beautiful weather out there for many of us across the country. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. this looks worse than it is. scattered storms this afternoon down through the southeast where the humidity will hang on, through alabama, am is miss, louisiana, but most of the heartland remaining dry. kind of the big story this week. doesn't look like any big heat is returning to the drought zone. >> it's august. temperatures in the 80s, not bad. thanks, bill. focus on home sales. oil rising. if you own a 1968 ford gt-40, we have news for you. plus, a surprising lack of

box office punch from whitney houston's last performance. a new bronx bomber, luck's runs out and a 19-inning marathon in st. louis. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. hundreds of homes in idaho are under mandatory evacuation order because of a 130-square mile wildfire northeast of boise. in northern california, about 3500 homes are threatened by a fire that's destroyed four homes and consumed 19 square mile. in london, julian assange spoke from the balcony of the ecuadorian embassy where he's been holed up to avoid

extradition to sweden. he claims he's a witch hunt 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. he directed such blockbusters as "top gun," "days of thunder" and "beverly cops ii." authorities in brazil say a construction worker is in good condition after having a six-foot rod removed from his skull. it fell from a building in construction. curiosity fired its laser for the first time, using the beam to break apart a rock called coronation. it was hit with 30 laser pulses during a ten-second period. here's an outlook at wall street. dow opens at 13275 after gaining 25 points.

the nasdaq was up. the nasdaq rose 14. in tokyo, the nikkei added eight point. in hong kong, the hang seng lost 11. low volume has helped markets move higher this week. rebounding housing market will be one item on investor's agenda with updated data on existing new home sales. second quarter earning season is winding down and several big names report, including best buy, lowe's, hewlett-packard and american eagle. aetna agreed to buy coventry, making it one of the largest providers of government financed health care. oil prices rose for a fit straight day as they pointed to pockets of health in the u.s. economy. gas prices in the u.s. are up five cents in the past week to a national average of $3.72 for a gallon of regular, which is up 14 cent from the same time last

year. platinum prices rose for a third straight day as supply worries at a major mine in south africa. american airlines flight attendants have conceded to a new contract to avoid deeper cuts in the cash-strapped bankruptcy plan. north california producer is recalling row main lettuce over fears about possible e. coli contamination. finally, a 196 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 camera car in steve mcqueen's 1970 film "le man's" fetched a whopping $11 million. the reds walk off, double dingers for one d'back and the pirates have to work for the "w". a messy pit stop at michigan international speedway.

your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. a quiet weather week across the country but we have to watch the tropics. that's coming up next. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if you're just waking up.

this is "early today." in sports ichiro hit two homers and a japanese teammate added his own gem, giving the yanks a win against their biggest rivals. here's mario solis. >> good morning. yankees' ichiro suzuki isn't known for his power but yesterday was a different story. yanks and sox in the bronx, fourth inning and ichiro flexes his muscle. a bomb into the second deck. new york up 3-0. then in the sixth inning ichiro takes josh beckett deep again, another solo into right. two home runs for ichiro. he now has seven. yanks win 7-1. if you think baseball is a slow and long game, cards and pirates played a six-hour, seven minutes marathon. alvarez gives pittsburgh the lead in the 19th inning. pirates win 6-3. cubs tied in ninth. ryan hanigan not having it.

reds get out of the inning. in the bottom of the ninth, hanigan gets it done with ms. bat, single to deep center, in comes winning run. ryan hanigan is your hero. a shaving cream pie to the face. reds walk off. houston has a new manager but new manager. d'backs aaron hill with a home run. astro loses under their interim manager. nascar at michigan. mike martin leading and lap 65 this happens. bobby labonte gets loose. here's a view from the pit crew. martin skids by, t-bones the wall. no one is hurt. greg biffle takes the checkered flag. andrew luck made a touchdown on his first nfl past last week. they brought him back down to earth. ike taylor with the pick six. 49 yard the other way.

two interceptions for luck. steelers win 26-24. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. when is a winner not such a big winner at the box office. your early morning entertainment headline straight ahead. immigrants prepare for a lot when preparing for citizenship but we'll tell you about one new citizen whose biggest challenge was getting to her swearing in.

welcome back to "early today." the peak of the hurricane season is quickly approaching. this is usually when things get active. the next storm we need to watch is in the middle of the atlantic. worst case scenario, saturday it could be near cuba, ba ham months or florida. that's worst case scenario. still a lot to be determined with the next storm system. we'll watch that throughout the week. east coast, showers exiting eastern seaboard this evening. pretty quiet monday morning. if you're watching us on channel 4 in nashville, tennessee, conquer curiosity with hands-on display that explain mysteries of the world. that's science in toyland at adventure science center. that's your "early today" event of the day. >> what is going on there in that picture? trying to figure it out. >> playing with toys. >> period? >> yes. >> all right. thanks, bill. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines. the box office winner lost a little, not winning by as much as expected.

"expandables" hand-handeled the competition with a weaker than expected opening. possibly jeopardizing a third installment. "the bourne legacy" managed second place with $17 million. the stop motion animation "paranor "paranorma" with $14 million. whitney houston's "sparkle" rounded out the top five with $14 million" and "the odd life of timothy green" debuting with $10 million, in seventh place. honestly, that's the only thing i would go see on that list. don't laugh at me. >> you like those little small films, though. >> i don't know if it's small films. jennifer garner -- >> you don't want to see arnold and stallone and willis?

>> i don't like that stuff. blowing up of the -- no, no. this comes to us from news 5 in bristol, virginia, a chinese immigrant nearly lost her dream of becoming a u.s. citizen because her car broke down. amanda was stranded 40 miles from the naturalization ceremony. she begged for a ride and no one would help. finally one couple said yes. after getting her to the swearing-in just in time, they stuck around to watch the moment they made possible as americans helping a new fellow american. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. we're starting out with some cloud cover. there are a few sprinkles in some areas. nothing that will slow down the traffic. 63 in parkton. mostly cloudy skies today appeared a chance for some rain showers. high temperatures between 76 and 81 degrees. we will check the seven-day forecast going all the way into the weekend. >> 67 degrees on tv hill. baltimore police are investating several overnight shootings in the city. >> baltimore police are

investigating a number of shooting incidents that happened over the weekend. >> a prescription for success? more on the tactics used by both campaigns about medicare. >> things are looking pretty good f

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. welcome back to 11 news today. i am sarah caldwell. >> i am stan stovall. >> you may want to take an umbrella today. it will not be a huge deal. 68 at the airport.