this morning on "early today" change of subject. mitt rom my and paul ryan dogged by questions about abortion and rape try to zero in on the economy. unsung heroes. tragedy strikes as several good samaritans rush to help a los angeles crash victim. and out for a spin. nasa scientists take the mars rover curiosity for a test drive. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >> this is "early today" for thursday, august 23rd, 2012. i'm ver ona de la cruz.

with todd akin vowing to stay in the race mitt romney and paul ryan try to refocus on the economy, but ut uproar over the abortion comments won't die down. claire leka joins us with the latest. claire, good morning to you. >> good morning to you, veronica. you could call it a perfect storm. republicans are juggling that abortion question. there is also worries about tropical storm isaac strengthening into a hurricane possibly, and it could possibly make landfall near tampa just as the republican national convention is getting started next monday. now, we did have the republican national convention press secretary saying that contingency plans are in place should the worst case scenario happen, but, again, they're moving forward and fully expect to put on the convention in tampa bay next week. tampa bay's mayor says the city

is willing to call it off if necessary. the romney-ryan ticket has been trying to distance himself from the todd akin "legitimate rape" controversy. paul ryan clarified his position on abortion for the first time on the campaign trail yesterday. now, he told reporters on a flight between campaign stops in virginia and north carolina that he was proud of his pro-life record, but mitt romney is going to be the president, and the president sets the policy. his policy is exception for rape, incest, and life of the mother, and i'm comfortable for that because it's a good step in the right direction. in iowa romney tried to keep the focus on the national debt and the economy saying that we've had four years in a row of a president with the $1 trillion deficit, and that is bad economics. there is no way to tell how quickly the akin distraction will go away, but democrats are hoping to make that as long as

possible. even at a fundraiser in new york city last night president obama was with basketball great michael jordan, and he poked fun at the whole situation we go how a congressman on the science committee could get his medical facts wrong. in washington, i'm claire leka. veronica, back to you. >> claire leka, thank you very much. lawmakers could throw the nation into a recession next year. that is the prediction from the monday partisan congressional budget office which warns of capitol hill stalemate over expiring bush era tax cuts could send the economy off the much talked about fiscal cliff and cost the country two million jobs. meanwhile, a new poou center study finds the american middle class has suffered its worst decade in modern history with 52% of those surveyed saying congress is to blame. well, the number of west nile virus infections have jumped more than 60% over the past week in what federal officials say is one of the

biggest federal outbreaks in u.s. history. so far there have been more than 1,100 cases, about half of them in texas. that is four times the usual cases for this time of year. 41 people have died from the virus so far. now, here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in los angeles two women were killed last night after trying to rescue the driver of an suv that slammed into a fire hydrant and a powerline. the victims were electrocuted after gushing water from the hydrant combined with live wires. at least five other people were also treated after apparently getting shocked. in michigan a suspected car thief took off leadinging to a chase through city streets, but the real surprise came when the driver bolted from the car with a toddler in his arms. he then handed the little boy off to the child's mom right before getting arrested. police say the bandit had been babysitting.

in chicago a baby monkey was born this weekend, and we do mean baby. it is a tiny bolivian gray teetee monkey. it weighs just a few ounces. it is so small the sfwloo coupers don't even know its gender yet. could be a girl. finally, in wisconsin they're beefing up the race for the white house. both president obama and mitt romney have been honored with their likenesses made in, get this, beef jerky. the artist who created the tasty tribute says it took 50 bags of jerky to create his meaty masterpiece. that is something else. wow. now for a look at your marshall and regional weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. i guess he called it barack obamis and meat rom mys. >> too early. isaac is the topic from now throughout the next week at least. the storm has not beeintensifie.

it's a huge storm, but it's still disorganized. it's enormous from north to south to east to west. the hurricane hunters have been flying during the overnight hours, and these are the wind reports. a couple of gusts in the 40-mile-per-hour range. right in the center only winds about 25 to 30-mile-per-hour winds. this storm has yet to develop an inner core, and that's why it hasn't intensified. it still could. it still has plenty of time over open water before it interacts with haiti and cuba, so maybe about 36 hours to try to intensify from here before interacting with that land area friday to saturday. then it should move off the coast of cuba sometime late saturday and during the day on sunday it has a chance to intensify over the west coast of florida. tampa ever so close to that forecast path. here's a closer view. the hurricane city it could be a category one storm off of cuba and maybe at worst a category two storm off florida. anywhere between that and a

tropical storm is the most likely scenarios. our computer models are pinpoint this area. the models are this close, even five days away, and there's a river of air between the high pressure off the east coast and the high pressure off the middle of the country with the trough in the southeast, the storm doesn't have a chance. it has to move here either western florida or over florida, and that rain could head up the eastern seaboard next week. that's all for today. dry and warm day across much of the country. a couple of more downpours in florida, but except for that, a pretty nice thursday. that's a look at your marshall forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. pittsburgh, pennsylvania, today another beautiful day. we've had a couple of great days in a row here around the mid-atlantic and many areas of the central u.s. of course, where you have the drought, you probably appreciate the rainfall, but at least we don't have the blistering heat. another look at isaac a little later. >> we'll keep our fingers crossed that it's just rain and nothing else. >> hopefully the winds don't

turn into a big deal. even an era of outrageous airline fees, you aren't going to believe this next story. plus, believe it or not, one of the children of hollywood's royal couple is already making their show business debut. coming up, another suspension in baseball. a first for derek jeter and a pair of hat tricks on the diamond. you're watching "early today."

good morning to you. welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. the army of damascus are showing that they're too weak to defeat rebel groups. they only resurface elsewhere to fight another day. in california governor jerry brown declared a state of emergency in three northern california counties due to a wildfire that has destroyed 64

homes. more evacuations have been ordered as firefighters battle the blaze that has already burned more than 24,000 acres. a federal indictment charged 40 people in an outrageous scheme that saw a methamphetamine ring ran by inmates as well as two guards. the two inmates in charge conference called with a third man about pooling their resources to purchase heroin from a source in chicago. a new study finds older fathers are more likely to have children who are autistic. research shows that for each decade of a man's age, his chance of fathering a child with autism goes up 22%. it wasn't exactly a marathon trip, but the curiosity rover on mars went for a drive on the martian surface. curiosity rolled forward about 15 feet from its landing site leaving fresh tracks in the ancient soil. now here's an early look at

how wall street will kick off the day. the dow will open at 13,172 after losing 30 points yesterday. the s&p was up a fraction. the max added six, and taking a look at overseas trading, the nikkei gained 46 points while in hong kong the hang seng leaped 244. minutes from the fed's latest meeting gave investors a little bit of hope on wednesday. the s&p rebounded on hopes the nation's federal bank might soon be ready for another round of stimulus. the big question now is improving data released after that caused members to change their mind. talk of more stimulus, that could potential will he weaken the dollar sent the price of gold up $14 an ounce to its highest level since may. on the economic front news reports showed july home sales and prices were up. the rate of home sales, however, was lower than expected. high-end homebuilder toll brothers reported impressive quarterly numbers thanks to the improving housing markets. after the bell hewlett-packard reported another rough quarter as dwindling demand for pc's

took a toll on its bottom line. meanwhile, weak pc sales also dragged down dell, which was the s&p's biggest loser. discover financial southwests got a boost from its new partnership with pay pal. beginning next year more than seven million discover card merchants will process pay pal payments. facebook's acquisition of instagram has been ok'd. qamtas posted its first loss in two decades, and, finally, how much does it cost to print out a few pieces of paper? well, if you are flying ryanair, apparently it costs about $75. a lesson one traveller recently learned the hard way when she was charged, get this, $370 for boarding passes for her family of five. ouch. the mariners sail, the white

sox leap, and yet another doping debacle in major league baseball. it is hats off for a catch by one met fan. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. another look at isaac coming up, and your friday forecast. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if are you just waking up, this is "early today." in sports one texas slugger hits three homers last night in a dominant ranger victory over the orioles. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. last october the ranger's adrian beltran hit three home runs against the rays, and yesterday he did it again. this time against the orioles. the straight-away center, and the rangers were up 1-0. he started it with his second home run. in fact, the rangers were scoring so much, then another at-bat, and he hit another one deep. capped off a nine-run inning many his third homer. that's a hat trick, and the rangers won big 12-3. speaking of three, derek jeter hit a home run in his herred straight game. hard to believe it's the first time he has ever done that. white sox swept the yanks with a 2-1 win. mariners quietly winning game after game.

it's now for two teams heading in reverse. red sox and angels. mark trum bell with an rbi single. albert pujols scored. angels won it 7-3, and lost pujols. it was cabrera, and the a's pitcher tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone. he is suspended 50 games. the tennessee rally in their final at-bat against texas. cole carter gave them a lead with an rbi single, and tennessee was up 4-3. butler made the play of the game. tagged the runner, and then fired to first. ended it way double play. tennessee advanced to the u.s. championship with a 4-3 win. finally, forget about adrian beltran's three home runs. this was a real hat trick last night. tough to be a mets fan these days unless are you doing this. watch closely. a fan stuck out his head and made the grab. i tip my cap to you. that was the catch of the night.

that's your early look at sports on early today. i'm fred roggin. an actor stumbled into a real life crime, and not so fast for mickey minaj on "american idol." your entertainment headlines are straight ahead. the nuclear missile silo was a cold war mainstay, and now can you imagine calling one home sweet home? you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back to "early today." i wanted to measure how large of a storm isaac is. i used my distance tracker. from one side of the storm the clouds from east to west is 750 miles wide. wow, what a huge, big storm. it's a very weak storm too, by the way. a lot of rain with that, but, no, not a lot of wind. the forecast still will take it somewhere over the caribbean islands over the next three days. should be near florida come sunday night and then monday the forecast track, if anything, has shifted a little further to the west. not many weather issues out will today. pretty much what you had yesterday around the country is what you'll see today. if you are watching us on wood tv in grand rapids, michigan, in nearby kalamazoo explore the different methods people use to search for gold. that's your early today event of the day. i always wanted to find one of the spanish ships and be a rich, rich person. >> that's nice. >> hidden treasure. >> i know. you and me both.

now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment news. you knew it had to happen someday, but this quickly? 4-year-old vivian jolie pitt will pay a princess in the upcoming film. he mraz a special agent on mcis los angeles, but now l.l. cool jay has crime fighting experience. the 44-year-old caught a suspected burglar at his california home early wednesday morning. scary. >> he is a big guy, though. >> yes, he is a big die. julian st. john says that he had a sex with a then 20-year-old kim kardashian at a los angeles swingers party in september of 2001. a rep for kardashian denies the claim. justin bieber did voiceovers for a cameo on the simpsons that will air mechanics year. nick where i mimaj may not be on

"american idol" after all. she recently dumped the powerful agency representing the show's finalist and host ryan seacrest, and mariah carey reportedly wants to be the only female judge on the show. this now comes to us from wptv muse channel 5 in new york where a nearby sarnack you can buy a piece of cold war history and call it home. a house that sits on an abandoned nuclear missile silo is now on the market as two massive underground structures that once kept a one mega ton warhead at the ready. the weapon is, of course, long gone, but the giant remains with an airstrip. asking price $750,000. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today" just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

we are following breaking news. a 17-year-old girl shot and killed in prince george's county. a maryland state lawmakers is recovering this morning after being in a boat accident that also injured four children. and one year ago today, our area was shocked when the ground began to shake. good morning, everyone. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this tuesday, august 23rd, 2012. today marks one year since this region was shaken by a 5.8-magnitude earthquake. here in washington, we're still feeling the effects from the quake. the washington monument sustained serious structural damage. the top of the abalos has

several large cracks that need to be repaired, expected to cost close to $15 million. the monument won't reopen to the public until some time in 2014. fema will hold a news conference at the monument at 10:30 this morning to talk about the recovery efforts. a fund-raising effort at the cathedral to fix damage there. pinnacles on the tower and a number of statues were damaged and will cost $25 million to fix. the cathedral launched the restore the glory campaign to raise $100,000 by midnight tonight. so far, they raised about $35,000. for more info, logon to nbcwashington.com. the quake's epicenter at miner mineral, virginia, is also still recovering. the earthquake caused a total of $61 million in damages to louisa county schools. two of the schools, thomas jefferson elementary and louisa county high school, were forced to close permanently. the district received $28 million for repairs. coming