this morning on "early today", poll position. our new survey shows where the presidential candidates stand. and surveillance video captures a fatal train collision in utah. what happens in vegas, shocking video surfaced of england's prince harry as he bares all. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with a four-point lead. with less than a week to go to start those political conventions, our new nbc news/wall street poll shows

president obama is holding on to his advantage in the run for the white house. 48% of registered voters said they'd vote for the president, while 44% would vote for romney. now, the president beats romney by a whopping 35 points when it comes to which candidate is more likable. a majority of voter, 51% view the former massachusetts governor approach to issues as being out of step with most americans' thinking. 54% think president obama's are in the mainstream. meanwhile, the poll finds the approval rating for congress has once again hit rock bottom. at 12%. the only other time it was that low was in october of 2008. elsewhere, missouri congressman todd akin said he's pushing ahead with his senate bid. despite pressure from his fellow republicans to drop out. a defined akin called the uproar

over his comments about quote legitimate rape an overreaction. nbc's steve handlesman has that story from washington. >> reporter: refusing to quit the missouri senate race, he bought tv time for apologizing. >> the mistake was in the words i said, not the heart i hold. >> reporter: mitt romney joined the chorus of republicans asking him to get out of the race. >> smarter that he trails in saying that he is sympathetic to women. >> a week before the national election this not what the gop wants to be talking about. they want to talk about the moms still trying to balance budgets. >> reporter: but in tampa where the republicans hope to widen their appeal, the gop platform

committee was considering a ban on abortion even after a rape. mitt romney told wmca -- >> in the case of rape and incest, i think abortion may be appropriate. >> reporter: but democrats rush to point out that paul ryan who opposes abortion for rape victim worked with akin to toughen the definition of rape to quote, forcible rape. >> not only has paul ryan cosponsored and voted for all the bills, but 232 other republicans share this point of view. >> reporter: a hot new issue because of one candidate's stumble. well, for 35 wildfires that are burning in ten western states and in a fire season that's cost more than $1 billion. one of the worst fires is in northern california.

it's about 170 miles north of sacramento and it is forced -- it has forced the evacuation of 3,000 people. fire crews are attacking by air because the flames are burning in such deep forests that they can't reach it by ground. the blaze has burned more than 33 square miles and more than 50 buildings. now, here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in utah, just chilling video, but this is an important reminder to never take train crossings lightly. this video has been released and it shows the moment of impact when a woman turned off a street and went right into the path of an oncoming commuter train without bothering to stop for the crossing arm. authorities have released the disturbing images in the hope that no one else will make the same fatal mistake. in florida, a police officer has been fired after a dash

camcorder shows him grabbing a woman's arm and slamming her into the car and then he shoved her against the vehicle two more time b times. in new york city, something went wrong during underground blasting for construction there. it shattered windows and forced the partial evacuation of one building. fortunately, there were no serious injuries. and finally, also in new york, there is a pe congress -- peacock on the loose. it showed up more than a week ago and has been trying to make friends in a residential neighborhood ever since. none of the local zoos report any missing birds so for now the home remains a colorful history. now here's the weather channel forecast. >> all eyes on isaac. we had a named tropical storm,

"i" storm, isaac. this is moving towards land areas for the first time. it has intensified a little bit. little more thunderstorm activity near the center of the storm. many areas here from the virgin island recognize going to feel the impact this morning and eventually puerto rico later on tonight. here's the latest forecast from the national hurricane center. the center of the storm should pass near many areas of land including eastern cuba, the mountainous areas of dominican republic and haiti. if it avoids the high mountainous terrain, it will be a stronger storm. you can see the cone of uncertainty goes from the western tip of cuba all the way through south florida and the bahamas. looks like florida's timing is monday. and our latest computer model, almost all are potential paths.

it points to keys or miami. only one of the models has it further to the west, affecting the western coast of florida. so we'll wait and see how that develops over the upcoming weekend. forecast wise across the country, very warm, but quiet day. the best chance for any rain and thunderstorms down along the gulf. here's a look at the weather outside your window. sunshine today, more beautiful weather out there from chicago to cleveland. lower humidity values are very enjoyable. things are starting to warm up, mid-atlantic all the way down through tennessee and kentucky. 92 in memphis. once again, still looks like not many changes with isaac. florida has to deal with the storm possibly monday. well, facebook flounders. soybeans skyrocket. and one little word can cost one county over half a billion dollars. plus, taylor swift and her new boyfriend are accused of being wedding crashers.

coming up a triple play. the most expensive sneakers ever. and a bobble head night will have you shaking your head. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. the secret service arrested a man near seattle, washington, for allegedly making an e-mail threat against president obama. arresting officers encountered the suspect brandishing a shotgun. he's due in court this afternoon. in syria, the government is talking about the possible resignation of bashar al assad, but it can't be a precondition for starting peace talks and one warns the u.s. if it intervenes, the civil war will spread to other middle east countries. a new study shows americans

throw away 40% of the food supply for a total of $165 billion of uneaten food. it's ten times higher than people in southeast asia. 26 years after the chernobyl nuclear accident, the large exclusion zone is still uninhabitable. it's still heavily contaminated by radioactivity from the worst nuclear accident. probably not a good idea for england's prince harry. he was photographed naked during a game of strip billiards with friends and some women they met during a stay at a hotel in las vegas. the royal family had no comment. all right. now, here's an early look at how wall street is going to kick off today. the dow opens at 13,203. the nasdaq lost eight. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo

the nikkei fell 25 points and in hong kong the hang seng tumbled to 12. well, stocks staged an early rally tuesday that faded almost as fast as it began. investigators were encouraged early by talk that the european central bank would buy up spanish and italian bonds. banks that do business got a boost, but the rally lost steam in early trade. today, investigators will dig into minutes from the fed's most recent meeting looking for clues about the central bank's policy plans. and a warning of more tough times ahead, dell fell. facebook closed above $19 after one of the earliest backers sold the bulk of his stake in the social network. bad news pulled best buy to a nine-year low. the retailer suspended the profit outlook and share buy backs in the wake of a 90% plunge in quarterly net income.

barnes & noble narrowed the losses thanks in part to sales of "fifty shades of grey." and urban outfitters was 50% higher. soybeans rallied to a record tuesday, surging above $17 a bushel. a 50,000 barrel of sludge-like contaminated fuel from a bp refinery in northwest iowa has fouled countless cars and it's made its way into indiana, illinois and wisconsin. and maybe in michigan as well. finally, just how important can a word or two be? county officials in santa clara, california, are scrambling to fix a two-word mistake in the upcoming november ballot and this could cost more nan half a billion dollars in lost taxes. that's going to hurt. well, coming up, the cards blank the astros.

seattle streaks to seven, and a fan give away involving a player the team already gave away. plus, baseball's rarest of plays, and it happened last night. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather, i'll give you an update on isaac and then the forecast across the country.

well, good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and strasburg notched double double digit strikeouts last night against the braves. here's a look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the nationals are expected to shut down stephen strasburg in the next couple of weeks to protect his arm. in the meantime, he has been shutting down every team he faces. here we go to washington, braves and nats. not even a 51-minute rain delay could slow down strasburg. the nationals running away with the nl east. they won it 4-1. adam wainwright had 12 strikeouts and the cards beat the astros 7-0. everybody seems to beat the astros. no one has been able to beat the mariners. seattle is rolling, they won it 5-1. kevin youkilis has

resurrected his career in chicago. hit 11 of his 15 home runs with the white sox. smashed the third grand slam of the season against the yanks. sox when it 7-3. how about a triple play, okay. trevor plouffe, a shot to third. josh donaldson fired to second, then around to first and that's three. if you're scoring at home that's a 5-4-3 triple play. it was hunter pence bobble head, but one problem, pence is no longer on the team. he was traded last month. and the go-ahead home run in the ninth, that was the difference. reds win it 5-4. lebron james has had a pretty good year. won the mvp tour, finals of the many -- and olympic gold. all this pales in comparison to what he's wearing -- nike's most expensive sneakers ever. now they can be yours for the low, low price of $315. that's right, for the amount that some people pay for rent,

you can have the limited edition of the high tops. but wait, they have motion censsens sensors how high you dunk. that's what i need, more proof i can't dunk. i'm fred roggin. lindsay lohan is questioned again about stolen jewelry. a new partner for kelly rip ka. plus, they're all hoping that soon they can tell you how you can get to "sesame street." you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." we are watching what's going on with isaac of course over the next five days. the latest path of the hurricane center brings it over the top of the dominican republic and haiti and then coming off the coast sunday. still looks like it will be near florida as we go throughout monday and tuesday of next week. so that's why all eyes are on this storm and intensity, a lot of questions with that. today's forecast, rather quiet across the country. many areas will be dry and actually looking pretty nice. well, if you're watching us on news 33 in baton rouge, louisiana, see the mysterious trees and one of a kind images at uniquely louisiana at the lsu museum of art. that's your "early today." >> thanks very much. here's a look at the early mornings in headlines. well, tom cruise and katie holmes are officially single.

a judge signed off on the divorce on monday and 6-year-old daughter suri will live primarily with holmes in new york with generous visitation by cruise. i'm not saying anything, it was fast. kelly ripa has settled on former new york giants defensive end michael strahan as co-host on "live with kelly." >> i never saw them together. >> we'll have to see. "boston herald" reports along with connor kennedy, taylor swift crashed a kennedy family wedding in boston over the weekend and the couple would not leave despite her asking them to twice. strange, right? >> yes. finally, she's back. lindsay lohan is once again mixed up with stolen jewelry. she was questioned by police monday about an alleged theft at a house party. she slipped over to the home sunday night and then the homeowner claimed expensive

jewelry had been stolen. lohan was cooperative and said she knew nothing about the jewelry. this comes to us from new york where it's a chance of a lifetime to be on a tv show. many of us or at least our kids grew up with. auditions are being held in first-ever casting call for "sesame street." people lined up to be part of the most beloved children's programs ever. but don't bother putting on your big bird or oscar the grouch costume. the new audition edition will be someone who is bilingual. how cool would that be? >> very. >> hanging out with puppets, kind of like my job. that wasn't fair. only out of kindness. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today" just your first stop today on your nbc station.

showers and storms highlighted your tuesday evening, but cool air once again. what you can expect in the day ahead. good morning. i'm aaron gill cychrist. >> i'm eun yang. a father abducted his son from his home along nimitz drive monday night. an amber alert was issued. police found the two just before midnight in the district heights area. martinez was not hurt. police are not releasing any other details about the case.

charges are pending. this morning investigators still trying to figure out what caused a train derailment that killed two 19 yaermd women in ellicott city, maryland. the national transportation safety board leading the investigation and they will speak later this morning. so far investigators are saying that csx train operator did not apply the emergency brake before the accident. the brake automatically deployed once the derailment happened in downtown ellicott city just after midnight monday. the three crew members on board said they saw nothing and felt nothing before the derailment. authorities found the bodies of rose mare and liz elizabeth nash buried when the cars came off the tracks. >> devastating. knowing that this has taken two people's lives. >> can you imagine how horrible it was and how horrible it must be for their family. >> the two women were close