this morning on "early today" closing ranks. republican congressman todd akin vows not to quit the race in the wake of a growing firestor out of harm's way. russian cosmonauts protect the international space station against of ever-growing threat of space junk. funny lady. trailblazing comedian phyllis diller. captions paid for by nbc-universal television this is "early today" for august 21st, 2012. good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with mounting pressure. despite more prominent republicans criticizing him congressman todd akin says he will not drop out of the u.s. senate race in missouri, but after his comments about what he

called legitimate rape, akin is facing louder calls from gop officials for him to step aside. steve handelsman has the story. >> reporter: the issue of abortion rights for victim rapes is posing possible damage to the romney-ryan presidential campaign with women voters. they mostly back president obama, who weighed in. >> his comments were offensive. rape is rape. >> reporter: it was republican congressman todd akin running for a senate seat in missouri who set off the firestorm. he was arguing against abortion rights for sexual assault victims. >> it seems to me, first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> reporter: senate democrat claire mccaskill had been trailing in polls. >> this is jaw-dropping and

stunning. >> reporter: akin claimed he misspoke and has deep sympathy for women who are raped and apologized on the radio. >> rape is never legitimate. it's an evil act. >> reporter: mitt romney called akin's original statement inexcusable, but like akin, paul ryan recently opposed abortion rights for rape victims. the uproar is a double problem for republicans. >> one with women voters specifically and second with the agenda, putting it back on social issues when republicans don't want to be this year. they want to be on the economy. >> reporter: and president obama claimed obama-care helped stop male politicians making decisions about women's health. >> for qualifying forcible rape versus non-forcible rape, i think those are broader issues, and that is the significant difference in the approach between me and the other party. >> reporter: todd akin, he says he won't quit the missouri senate race. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington.

despite earlier reports, fbi officials tell "the l.a. times" they are not investigating any criminal wrong doings by members of congress who were involved in an unusual late night swim in israel last summer. republican congressman kevin yoder of kansas admitted in a radio interview that he went skinny-dipping in the sea of galilee. he said he was sorry, calling it 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 the part of the state law that ordered public schools to check the citizenship status of new students, but the court decision says police in alabama can continue checking immigration documents for people they stop. meanwhile, in another federal court ruling, a judge says the vatican is not the employer of catholic priests who have molested children, and this ruling could become a legal milestone and possibly shield the vatican from suits for monetary damages.

hollywood is mourning the loss of a comedic legend. phyllis diller died at her home in los angeles at the age of 95. thpioneering comedian with the cackling laugh and outrageous wardrobe broke into show business in the 1950s at the urging of her husband. the act was all her own. transcending generations and serving as inspiration for future stars like barbara streisand, who said of her, "i adore her." >> here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. video of a feeding frenzy about 50 yards off a new jersey shoreline has gone viral. dozens of sharks were feasting on fh creating quite a sight that's never been seen in the waters off the popular tourist area. officials believe the carnage was created by black-tip or spinner sharks. close to 100 boats are stuck in a traffic jam along the 11 mile stretch in the mississippi river.

a historic heat wave and drought has caused water levels to plummet, shutting down traffic on the river. the army corps of engineers has started dredging the area to deepen the channel. new york city's famed lincoln center is the latest to get flash mobbed. about 3,000 people all dressed in white descended on the pavillion for a flash mob feast. why didn't we get the memo, bill? that looks fun. participants arrived with their own chairs, table, and food. similar organized events are expected later this week in philadelphia and chicago. and, finally, an assortment of hot wheels have been sold for historically high prices at a california auction. "tonight show" host jay leno sold one of his classic cars for close to $400,000, but that was a small figure compared to the $10.7 million shelled out for a rare 1936 mercedes benz. how is that? now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's

nbc meteorologist bill karins. just got an idea for a birthday gift for you. been trying to figure something out. >> we're going there already? >> absolutely. >> middle of august. about to talk about hurricanes and stuff. >> it's never too early. >> always too late. good morning, everyone. tropical trouble will be the topic over the next five to six days, especially for areas of concern. florida especially. then we'll have to worry about all the caribbean islands throughout the days ahead. this is the time of year where the storms form coming off the coast of africa. it appears it did so last night. this one will be starting to track as we go throughout the day today and through the next couple of days. it's going to be approaching areas of the winward and leeward islands and especially the virgin islands. let's take you through it. this is our computer model. this is our tuesday forecast. it will be taken into about thursday. it should be somewhere near haiti and the dominican republic, just passing puerto rico. the green shows you where the most moisture will be and the best chances for the heavy rain. the closed circle is where the center of the storm would be. then we take it somewhere

towards friday and saturday over cuba, and then all of a sudden it's very close to florida it looks like on sunday. that will be the timing for florida. if it goes over a lot of these big islands like hispaniola or cuba, it will be a weaker storm. if it avoids it, it could be a stronger storm. that is still yet to be seen. as far as the rainfall goes in the u.s., rains in north texas. looks like that's going down just outside of dallas this morning. otherwise, it's just beautiful, great day today for the midwest all the way to the east coast. that's your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. chicago, illinois, what a string of beautiful days you're having today. sunny and 79. low humidity. memphis, you're a little warmer today, but still nice by summertime standards at 89. oklahoma city will take 87. your wednesday forecast is up next. also coming up, a good day for apple. a facebook insider unloads.

and nike ups the antti on its sneaker line. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, things get serious for comedian rosie o'donnell after a recent brush with death. coming up, historic data for augusta national, another injury for michael vick, and the little leaguer with a big game. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here's some of your top headlines this morning. president obama is warning syria he would consider using force if the assad regime uses or even moves chemical weapons around. the president said it could be enormous consequences. triple-a has released its labor day travel forecast. it says the economy and gas prices are doing nothing to stop 33 million americans from planning to ive more than 50 miles to get to their vation. that's nearly 3% up from last year. well, nasa is moving ahead

with plans to send mother 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 planets were formed. and cosmonauts aboard the international space station did some home improvement monday. they performed a space walk to install shielding on their side of the orbiter to protect against space junk. the american side already has protection built in. well, now here's a look at how wall street is going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,271 after losing three points yesterday. both the s&p and the nasdaq were down a fraction, and taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei fell 14 points, while in hong kong the hang seng lost four. wall street couldn't find a cure for the summertime blues monday. traders were either on vacation or worried about the euro debt crisis coming back on the radar. one place not so quiet, apple, which is now 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 monday. peter teal sold a stake worth about $400 million, despite the nearly 50% drop in its initial value. two of the biggest names in travel, expedia and marriott, are maimed in a lawsuit accusing them of price fixing on hotel rooms. they allegedly cut off business to smaller on-line retailers. lowe's is having trouble building a profit, lowering its 2012 forecast. changes in merchandise and pricing are doing little to help lowe's keep up with home depot. best buy has named a new ceo. yet, its stocks slid more than 10% as talks reportedly broke down between the electronics giant and its founder who wants to take the company private.

dreamworks animation is moving. the studio signed a new five-year distribution deal with 20th century fox, ending a six-year run at paramount. proving the house doesn't always 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. and, finally, the "wall street journal" reports nike will test the wallets of lebron james fans offering the new lebron x sneaker at a record $315 a pair. i don't know how that will go over in cleveland. coming up, a costly error in extras, and golf's most exclusive club opens its doors. plus, a hard-hit philadelphia starting qb is knocked out of play. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. all eyes are on florida because of the tropical threat coming in the days ahead, and also the heavy rain today.

your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." [ female announcer ] with swiffer dusters,

a great clean doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm gonna read one of these. i'm gonna read one of these! [ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags, swiffer 360 duster's extender gets into hard-to-reach places without the hassle. so you can get unbelievable dust pickup in less time without missing a thing. i love that book.

can you believe the twin did it? ♪ swiffer. great clean in less time. or your money back. good morning. if you are just waking up, this is "early today." in sports the chicago white sox helped in a losing skid after rallying past the yankees in the first of a three-game series.

here's fred rogin with an early look at your sports headlines. good morning. it was a battle of first place teams out of chicago. yanks and white sox picking up in the seventh. tied 6-6. alexi ramirez stepped in and stepped out. a two-run shot. the white sox took the lead and beat the yanks 9-6. rays and nats need extra. chad tracy got it right and they bauble the ball and in came the winning run. everybody was safe. a wild finish in d.c. nats win is 5-4 in 13. just imagine if ryan howard was healthy? returning from a torn achilles, he belted his eighth home run yesterday. they won 12-5. jonathan lukeroy with a shot to left. look at his reaction. is it out? is it out? it's out, jonathan. his first of two home runs. brewers won it 9-5. augusta national is no longer an all boys club after 80 years. the home of the masters is

accepting female members. former secretary of state condoleezza rice and south carolina businesswoman darla moore will become the first women to wear the coveted green jacket. football, the most important thing about preseason, stay healthy. michael vick, didn't get the memo. hurt his thumb last week and yesterday drilled by the patriots germane cunningham and left the game with bruised ribs. x-rays were negative. the eagles did just fine without him. eagles won it 27-17. finally, back to baseball for a little leaguer who had a big game. will lucas pitched a no hitter in indiana. struck out 13 over six innings. the 12-year-old entered the game in dramatic fashion with another strike-out. immediately dog piled by his teammates. connecticut won 4-0. they're a win away from playing the u.s. championship. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred rogin. worlds collide as charlie sheen's exes put on show solidarity. plus, they're not called man's best friend for nothing.

we'll show you one dog who is riding a wave of goodwill. you're watching "early today."

new information out from the national hurricane center. tropical depression number nine has formed as expected. the storm track from the marshall hurricane center takes it into a hurricane south of puerto rico just south of the dominican republic, very close to haiti, and somewhere either

cuba or jamaica as we go throughout sunday. after that it will cross cuba and clip somewhere near florida as we go into monday, of course. the republican marshall convention is in tampa. a lot of things in play here that we'll need to watch throughout the next about five for seven days. the forecast for today pretty quiet day out there. florida, more showers and thunderstorms today, but, of course, all eyes to florida on what happened with isaacs many the days ahead. if you are watching says you on wcmh nbc 4 in columbus, ohio, get a look at the fascinating life cycle of butterflies and learn about their ecological importance at blooms and butterflies at the franklin park conservatory. that's your early morning event of the day. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. rosie o'donnell says it's a miracle she's still alive. the 50-year-old comedian revealed on her blog that she suffered a heart attack last week. after feeling symptoms, she took aspirin, called 911, and had to have a stint inserted into an artery that was 99% blocked.

she's you recovering at home. tmz revealed that tony scott, who jumped to his death from an l.a. bridge sunday, did not have brain cancer. results from his autopsy won't be released for several weeks. reports say nicki minaj is in talks to join mariah carey on "the american idol" judges panel. that should be interesting. and nbc has announced michael j. fox's new show will be part of its fall line-up. this is going to be good. the sit comwill be loosely based on the 51-year-old's battle with parkinson's disease. apparently there are no hard feelings among charlie sheen's exes. ex-wife number two, denise richards said she threw ex-wife number three, brook mueller, a birthday bash at her house. charlie sheen was in attendance. all one big happy family. >> no drama. >> except tons of drama. >> there's so much baggage that you -- >> have you to laugh at it. this comes to us from knsd

nbc 7 san diego where a paralyzed teen reunited with his canine surfing buddy. he has been catching a few waves. ricochet and patrick did what they do best to celebrate their tandem surfing team. they began performing to raise funds for patrick's physical therapy. three years later the disabled 17-year-old and the world's only surfing aid dog are inspiring others to strive past their limitations. that's for sure. i'm lynn berry, and 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 do have some fog in some neighborhoods. we do not expect any rain for the morning commute. upper 50's and low 60's. 57 in westminster. we will start out with some clouds and maybe some sunshine will break through later this morning. a 20% chance for a shower or thunderstorm. we will check the seven-day forecast going all the way into the weekend. >> 4:57. 62 degrees on tv hill.

we are following breaking news in howard county. >> a train has derailed. nadia ramdass is live on the scene. >> calls continue for a missouri lawmaker to drop out of his senate race. hallie jackson with the latest. >> more on how theity

[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. i am jennifer franciotti. >> i am stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> we have a lot going on. >> we did have some rain yesterday evening. yesterday evening.