breaking news overnight. western wildfires taking a toll. >> new numbers just in. california's monster blaze tearing through home after home. dozens of buildings destroyed. tropical trouble. isaac, churning through the caribbean right now. threatening to turn towards tampa. a possible spoiler for the republican convention, just five days away. plus, the huge blast under one of new york's busiest streets. a dynamite explosion during the lunchtime rush. all of it captured on camera. and bad dog. owners getting revenge on their misbehaving pets by going online.

good wednesday morning, everybody. the fiercest wildfire burning in the west right now has exacted a devastating toll. fire officials reported overnight that california's ponderosa fire has destroyed 50 structures, many of them homes. and the fire is raging in the mountains north of sacramento, threatening communities there. >> the thousands of people who were forced to evacuate days ago have more reason to fear, they will have nothing to return home to. nearly 2,000 firefighters are battling to save those homes from the fire that has grown to cover 30-square miles. and we are tracking another threat, from mother nature. tropical storm isaac could be heading to tampa, as 70,000 people gather there next week for the republican national convention. that storm is inching closer to guadalupe this morning, with 40-mile-per-hour winds. but forecasters say it could strengthen into a hurricane by

tomorrow. the gop and florida officials do have contingency plans in place, including evacuation if that becomes necessary. also, the threat from troublemakers is more certain, though. tampa police discovered pipes, bricks and an air symbol on the rooftop near the convention site. members of the group anonymous will be there next week. the police and federal authorities say they are ready. after preparing for the worst, with drills and riot simulations. one prominent democrat will be in tampa next week, as well. vice president joe biden is including the gop convention site in his campaign swing in florida and joking he might crash their party. the biden obama ticket won the sunshine state four years ago. and they are fighting hard to do it again this year. and vice president's joe biden favorability raiding is the same as his unfavorability rating, 41%.

paul ryan, is deemed favorably by 41% of people. and unfavorably by 37%. the margin of error makes them about even, as well. in other news this morning, a washington state man will be in court this afternoon for allegedly making threats against the president. secret service agents rushed to the man's suburban seattle apartment after he reportedly sent a threatening e-mail to a general fbi account. 31-year-old anton calouri greeted them with a shotgun. and they later arrested him. a search of his apartment recovered no bombs. calouri lives with his mother who says he's a good boy, just did a stupid thing. the deadline for todd akin to give up his senate bid has come and gone. the missouri senateman apologized for his controversial remarks about rape. but he is vowing to say in the race. tahman bradley joins us from washington with the latest. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: good morning, paula. the republican establishment wanted todd akin gone.

but he's staying in. and democrats sense an opportunity. this is what republicans face. an aggressive effort by democrats to link mitt romney and paul ryan to todd akin. wrong for women this banner says. the missouri senate candidate apologized for his legitimate rape comments. and in a radio interview says he shouldn't be asked to drop out. >> i misspoke one word and one sentence on one day and everything changed overnight. and you know, some of the liberal media was sharpening their long knives. so, they asked me astto step as. >> reporter: but it's not liberals asking him to step aside. but paul ryan personally called akin to tell him to think about what's best for the party. >> the republicans did an immediate read of the politics of this situation and decided his candidacy was not retrievable. this is a seat republicans thought they had the best chance

of turning republican from democratic. >> reporter: a defiant akin says the gop is making a hasty mistake. some of his supporters agree. >> how do we continue as a republican party if we're going to knock down on one thing, a congressman who has been serving and doing a fantastic job? >> reporter: the problem for republicans, akin has given democrats an opportunity in the final days of the campaign to paint the gop as out of touch on women's health issues. the republican party just approved an anti-abortion amendment in its platform that makes no mention of an exception in the case of rape or incest. democrats call it the akin amendment. rob and paula? >> tahman bradley, live in washington this morning. thanks for that report, tahman. in other news today the west nile virus has claimed two more lives in houston, as more aerial spraying gets under way. more than 60,000 acres near houston are expected to be sprayed with insecticides this evening.

the death toll is also growing in dallas, which has been the epicenter of the outbreak. 11 people have died there and 250 have been infected. well, diana nyad is all but ruling out a fifth try at that elusive record swim from cuba to florida. nyad who turned 63, arrived in key west, pulled from the water, after logging nearly 42 hours. she insisted that her muscles weren't even sore. but the jellyfish stings, the storms and the sharks forced her to quit. nyad sadly acknowledged that she's not going to get that moment that she had dreamed of for so very long. but at least she went for her dream. it's better to try and fail than fail to try. >> you can't knock her persistence and determination. she's got a lot of fight in her. time for a look at your weather across the nation on this wednesday morning. rain and flooding from the desert southwest into the colorado rockies. and salt lake city. also warming up across the plains. drenching downpours and flash flooding in central florida.

showers from atlanta into the carolinas. >> 80s for the east coast. 68 in seattle. and 88 in sacramento. coming up next after the break, why "the simpsons" were a really bad bet for the already troubled u.s. post office. plus, the power of "fifty shades of grey." spectacular sales of one book selling. >> your favorite book. and that exmotiplosioexplos. a dynamite blast right under a manhattan street.

welcome back, everybody. a fashionable west coast fast food chain is now looking for a new beef supplier. in-n-out burger is cutting ties to a slaughter house that's been shut down for animal cruelty. undercover video shows that some of the cows in the california slaughter house were sick. so far, there's no recall of that beef, though. the facility also supplies meat to the federal school lunch program, as well. a study finds the most generation "y" members who are working are in retailing. the 19-year-old to 30-year-old workers settle for retail while looking for better opportunities in their chosen field. the survey found about five out of six young clothing store clerks have college degrees. and barnes & nobel is reporting good earnings thanks

to the "fifty shades of grey" trilogy. the novels are responsible for 30% increase in ebook sales. they're one, two and three in best sellers. they're particularly popular for ereaders because nobody knows what you're reading. haven't read any of them. >> a little smile while you're reading that story. >> haven't read them. the postal service is now stuck with hundreds of millions of stamps featuring "the simpsons." the agency printed a billion of them three years ago but sold less than one-third. and that wasted more than 1 million bucks. the news comes as the postal service is struggling with huge losses. it's promising to do better on stamp production. d'oh. >> bad move. >> yeah. next on this wednesday morning, a shocking arrest. a u.s. open referee arrested in her uniform. the charge, murder.

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well, the washington monument was damaged by a magnitude 5.8 earthquake a year ago tomorrow. but good news about it this morning. surveyors say it didn't sink any further into the ground during the quake. the monument has sunk into its base since early in the last century. it's been closed for repairs until 2014. >> it's been a year since that quake. now, for a look at your morning road conditions. storms flood streets in the desert southwest, from albuquerque over to vegas. also, wet roads in florida, around orlando, tallahassee and jacksonville. a slick ride from atlanta into the carolinas. >> if you are flying, airport delays possible in the following cities. we have miami, phoenix and las

vegas. and back to the news this morning. a real stunning story here. a 70-year-old professional tennis referee accused of murdering her husband. lois goodman is in custody here in new york this morning. >> she will soon be on a plane heading home to l.a., where she will stand trial. brandi hitt has the story. >> reporter: lois goodman, a professional tennis referee, was hours away from working a qualifying match at the u.s. open in new york. when she was arrested in her uniform and charged with murder. los angeles police say the 70-year-old woman killed her husband of 50 years in their home months ago. 80-year-old alan goodman was found dead, bludgeoned to death. they say she committed the murder and personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a coffee cup. >> we located that coffee mug in several pieces at the crime scene. >> reporter: detectives say goodman initially told them her

husband had fallen down the stairs. but they said the evidence did not add up. >> we listed it as a suspicious death right at the beginning. >> reporter: then, the coroner came back with his findings. >> mr. goodman suffered stab wounds. >> reporter: police won't reveal the motives behind the crime. but they knew where to find goodman. just before tuesday's match, she was arrested leaving her new york city hotel room going to work. >> she was surprised to see us. >> reporter: brandi hitt, abc news, los angeles. amazingly, no one was hurt when a planned explosion on a new york city subway project went awry. a passerby captured what looks to be a volcanic eruption on manhattan's upper east side. the blast was part of a new subway line. it sent concrete and bed rook up to eight stories high. there was no structural damage to buildings nearby.

but some windows were broken. the construction is halted as the mishap, so to speak, is investigated. this is tough to watch here. this is a 26-year-old man being hit and dragged by a speeding pickup truck. steven bright says he was run over after trying to avoid water balloons that two teenage girls in the truck were throwing at him and his brother. police are searching for those girls who are facing possible assault charges. there's more coming up later today on "good morning america." glad he's okay. >> amazingly he's okay. there's bombshell revelations in a new book about penn state coach joe paterno. the book says that paterno and jerry sandusky despised each other. joepa thought he spent too much time with his charity and children. sandusky is waiting sentencing after his sexual assault conviction. joepa died in january. at the little league world

series, it's the teams from tennessee and texas that will face off later tonight. as for the major league, highlights now from espn. >> good morning. and welcome to your "sportscenter" update. i'm zubin mehenti. giants and dodgers. that man, buster posey. bringing in two. nobody has been hotter since the all-star break. 2-0, san francisco. 4-3, the dodgers. giants didn't need to do anything. not what he's looking for. blanco, all the way to third. prime scoring position again. crawford gets to the dish. he'll square this one into left. giants win 4-1. they lead the dodgers by 1 1/2 in the division. stephen strasburg and the nats, hosting the braves. ten strikeouts on tuesday.

he went six innings. he's got the inning winning on him. last time the nats had a division lead this big, they have the best record in baseball. straussburg, a major reason why. nats take it, 4-1. elsewhere, phillies/reds. 101 miles per hour. reds looking to snap that seven-game losing streak. and they hold on to win it by a score of 5-4. that is your "sportscenter" update. i'm zubin mehenti. have a great day. >> reds will win the pennant, by the way. up next, "the pulse." a new battle in the late night. and how would you like to walk in lebron's shoes? going to cost you a little bit of dough, though. about 300 bucks. at usaa, we believe honor is not

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they're not going to take it anymore. >> it's a new way to vent about dogs behaving badly. dog owners are posting pictures of their four-legged friends with details of their crime of choice. >> i dig up the yard and i try to bite every man i see. sad face. i hid meat in the couch. >> who hasn't? let's be honest. >> i like to hump the cat. that's funny. >> oh. play on, player. >> oh, yeah. the bad behavior seems to be the most common infraction. i jumped on the table, ate a whole stick of butter and then proceeded to puke it up all over my owner. >> that's in good shape. >> i feel a maximum of five words. and would you pay more than $300 for shoes like lebron james? the miami heat player, of course, the most talked about star in pro hoops. nike's about to find out how

strong his fan base really is. >> the new lebron james shoes reportedly will cost, wait for it, $315. and include motion sensors to measure how high players jump. last year, the lebron james shoe was only $180. but all sneaker prices are higher this year, as cost for labor and materials go up. if you jump like lbj, they're worth it. >> that's a lot of money. >> $180 to $315, that's expensive. >> jordans were expensive. good news for our friend jimmy kimmel. he's ready to take on the big dogs. >> abc is shifting his show one half hour earlier, where he will go head-to-head with jay leno and letterman. there will be other changes that go along with this move. jimmy joked about some of them last night. >> starting in january, "nightline" will be on after us. we are in negotiations to replace guillermo with mario

lopez. i'm really sorry. >> it's okay. >> i'm sorry. but sex sells, you know? >> it will be his tenth year on the air when it moves in january.

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it's you, fully charged. updating the top stories of the day. fire officials surveying the damage from california's blistering ponderosa fire reported overnight that 50 structures have been destroyed so far, many of them homes. a washington state man will be in court today, accused of sending an e-mail that threatened the life of president obama. when agents arrived at anton calouri's apartment, he greeted them with a shotgun. tropical storm isaac could threaten tampa on monday, as republicans gather for their national convention. today, we have showers in the carolinas and georgia. heavy rain and flash flooding in central florida. storms could trigger floods in the west around albuquerque, salt lake city and sin city. and finally this wednesday morning, a journey -- a cold journey, albeit, to the top of

the world. >> very cold. it was taken by our friend and colleague, linsey davis, all to track down an animal that very few people have ever seen in person. and here's what she found in extreme northern canada. >> reporter: i'm traveling to one of the most inhospitable places in the world, in the middle of nowhere, bathen island, deep in the heart of the arctic circle. this is the price of admission for a shot at seeing one of the most elusive creatures on the planet, the narwhal, the so-called unicorn of the ocean, with the single tusk that can be up to ten feet long. they're rumored to live up to 90 and dive a mile below the surface. it's the stuff of fantasy. the problem is the arctic sea ice is melting faster than any other year on record. and it makes it vulnerable to predators. these cracks are a stark reminder of global warming.

the ice is literally disappearing beneath our feet. welcome to the edge of the world, right? >> right. this is our arctic base camp. >> reporter: tom lenard is our fearless team leader. finally, we head to the edge, where the sea ice meets the open water. one of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on the planet. >> never get sick of it. 20 people here on the flow ice right now, are watching this. >> reporter: an arched back off in the distance. we try for a closer look. suddenly, we hear something take a massive gasp for air. >> there it is. you see right there? >> reporter: they're all around us now. but just as quickly as they appear, they're gone. a lesson on why they're the least understood creatures on the planet. and why some scientists worry they could disappear before we ever get a chance to know them.