this morning on "early today" closing ranks. republican congressman todd akin vows not to quit the race in the wake of a firestorm. out of harm's way. russian cosmonauts protect the international space station against of ever-growing threat of space junk. funny lady. remembering the life of trail blazing comedian phyllis diller. captions paid for by nbc-universal television this is "early today" for august 21st, 2012. good morning. i'm lynn berry. 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 republicans for him to step aside. steve handelsman has the story. >> reporter: the usual of abortion rights was posed to the ryan-romney presidential campaign with women voters who 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. he was arguing against abortion rights for sexual assault victims. >> it seems to me, praul, from what i understand from doctors where if it's a 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. >> it is jaw-dropping and stunning. >> reporter: he 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. it's 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 monday forcible rape. i think those are broader issues, and that is a significant difference in the approach wean 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. 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 pearl 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. the pioneering comedian where 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. transending generations and serving as -- barbara streisand said of her, "i adored 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 fish 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 to open up the channel. the latest to get a flash mob, about 3,000 people dressed in white descended on the pavillion for a flash mob feast. 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 she would out for a rare 1936 mercedes benz.

how is that? now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's 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. >> 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 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 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 los 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. 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 wind wroe. 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. looks like a quiet week around the lower 48. all eyes on that tropical development.

>> all right, bill. thanks so much. well, coming up, a good day for apple. a facebook insider unloads. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, things get serious for comedian rosie o'donnell after a recent brush with the law. coming up, historic data for nationals. another injury for michael vick. a little leaguer with a big game. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. president obama is warning syria he would consider using force if the assad regime uses or even moves chemical weapons around. 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 drive more than 50 miles to get to their vacation. 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 inside 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. biggest names from travel. expedia and marriott are named in a lawsuit accusing them of price fixing. they 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 testle 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 mrefl

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."

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 -6. rays and nats immediate 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? he belted his eighth home run yesterday. bells 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. michael vick didn't get the memorandum wroe to stay healthy. hurt his thumb last week and yesterday drilled by the patriots germane cunningham and left the game with bruised ribs. x-rays were negative. they did fine without him. eagles won it 27-17. finally, back to baseball for a little leaguer who had a big game. lucas pitched a no-hitter. 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 exs 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."

welcome back on this tuesday. we're watching storms to the west of dallas on the interstate, but except for that,

a lot of dry weather out there this morning. going to be a beautiful day from denver to minneapolis. all through the midwest. ohio valley, great lakes. even the southeast looks better today. along the mid-atlantic, a little warmer hand yesterday. only spot of concern, a lot of rain down in florida. that front is hung up there with numerous showers and thunderstorms, especially north florida. that continues tomorrow. not a lot of changes across the country. good chance it will be great tomorrow as well. if you are watching us at wcmh nbc 4, one of the beautiful weather spots today. columbus, ohio. get a close-up to the life of butterflies and learn about the forest as blooms and butterflies at the franklin park conservatory. that's the early today event. >> that's my hometown. thank you so much. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines and entertainment. rosie o'donnell says it is a miracle that she is alive. the 50-year-old comedian revealed on her blog yesterday 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's 99% blocked.

o'donnell is now recovering at home. tmz reports hollywood director tony scott, who jumped to his death 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. and nbc has announced michael j. fox's new show will be part of its fall line-up. it will be loosely based on the 51-year-old's battle with parkinson's disease. apparently there are no hard feelings among charlie sheen's exs. ex-wife number two, denise richards, said she threw brook mueller a birthday bash at her house and that charlie sheen was actually in attendance. modern family there. >> yeah. asked about worlds colliding, the ex-wives should be -- >> or be, like, besties.

>> i wouldn't want to be in the room with my ebbings. they can be. nbc 7 san diego where a nearby paralyzed teen reunited with a canine surfing buddy. ricochet and patrick did what they do best to celebrate their tan dem surfing team's third anniversary. the duo 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 still hanging ten and inspear spiring others to strive past their limitations. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today" just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

it is 4:28. looking live over the nation's capitol where it is almost chilly to start this august morning. good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this tuesday, august 21st 20, 12. >> we begin with breaking news. a csx freight train derailed early this morning near main street in downtown ellicott city killing two people. the train was carrying coal, some spilled into a nearby parking lot. that coal covered some of the cars parked there. they are also investigating whether anyone was injured in that lot. we have a crew on the way to the

scene. we'll bring you details throughout the morning. breaking news just in to our newsroom. nato officials say a u.s. base in afghanistan has been attacked by militants. details just coming in. it appears militants fired rockets gagram airfield in kabul. army general dempsey has went -- has since -- has since left that base. it is unclear if he departed on that same plane that was attacked. we're going to get you more information. to a developing story in maryland. the search is on for two men who led police on a high speed chase and ended with one prince george's officer dead. the chase began at a shell gas station on sandy spring road in laurel around noon yesterday and ended in a crash near the exit at powder mill road on i-95. these surveillance pictures shows one of the suspects. police say he and another man tried to open the doors to a customer's car at the gas station and then