expected to advance to november likely pitting her against connecticut attorney general richard blumenthal. in georgia -- >> are you ready to elect a pro-life pro-second amendment commonsense constitutional conservative that will might like a momma grizzly for you. >> reporter: sarah palin supports karen handel. the biggest prize this primary day, pinning political power in your corner. voters in florida from two weeks

now simmons is gone and plymouth rock and fire away -- and and richard blumenthal and fire away at all eighthe muck out of world wrestling. >> jeanne is right. the president is flying around the country and a few states are letting him land. [laughter] >> major cuts in defense spending as the comet mission in iraq winds down. -- combat mission in iraq winds down. >> we are on target by the end of the mound to end our combat mission and turn basis to the iraqis and transition our role there. >> he says the plan is to have a 50,000 american troops by the end of the month. five months after elections, we still don't have a government ere. shouldn't worry people? -- shouldn't that were repeople? -- worry people? >> 50,000 is not exactly a skeletal crew. but this is the iraqis' now come up to them to pull the government together. -- iraqi's now, up to them to pull the government gether. we have done our job and made the sacrifices. they have to take up the rest of it, as will the afghans at some point. we cannot sit there forer. >> charles, will they pull it off? >> it is still problematic.

attorney general there, on the democratic side, she was 30 points back from blumenthal in the polls, just a couple of months ago. she's now 10 points back. money having an impact and this will be a race to watch. >> lehrer: let's go to some other things in politics. it was announced yesterday the -- i think it was the department of labor, that some of these republican governors who had refused-- or said they were going to refuse it take federal stimulus money turned out, particularly in south carolina, they did it quietly anyhow. >> this is one of the great stories of what a difference a year mack, and mark sanford, the governor in south carolina, of course. when he was first leading the charge amongst republican governors to not take unemployment funds in the stimulus bill, it was when he was still very much considering a run for the white house in 2012. obviously, after a walk down the appalachian trail and his own problems, personal problems with his marriage, that-- those chances for a white house run have dissent sgratd right now we've learned he's taking tens upon tens of milli

she'll take on long-time democratic attorney general richard blumenthal to fill the seat of retiring democrat chris dodd. and to "newshour" political editor david chalian. now there are themes to be read into these results, beginning with colorado. let's start there. >> yes, the democratic senate race in colorado, as you said there in the piece, jim, very welcome news at the white house today because they avoided the headlines of the obama political operation is out of sorts. they won one here and won it big by eight points. they backed michael bennet, and they needed a win here over andrew romanoff, the bill clinton-endorsed candidate. i do think there is an ability for barack obama , a chance for him to show i have some political mojo don't count me out. i'm not on the mat. but that's within the context of a deemt primary fight. that's very different than the general election contest, and that's why you heard michael bennet on that morning show this morning not saying, hey, here's the date i'd like to invite barack obama back to colorado this fall. he started keeping his distance b

mcmahon will face and challenge democratic state attorney general richard blumenthal this fall. >>> and in the republican runoff for georgia governor, former congressman nathan deal is leading former secretary of state karen handel, but that race is too close to call. >>> defying advice from lawyers to keep quiet, new york congressman charles rangel took to the house floor yesterday, making it clear that when it comes to charges against him, he's not going without a fight. a defensive rangel said he's not resigning, despite 13 ethics charges against him from the house ethics committee. he denied he was corrupt and told fellow lawmakers that if they thought he should step down, they should just expel him, the harshest penalty in an ethics case. >> if it is the judgment of people here for whatever reason that i resign, then, heck. have the ethics committee expedite this. don't leave me swinging in the wind until november. >> reacting to rangel, house speaker nancy pelosi made it clear she wasn't pleased with his choice of forum, saying the ethics committee is the proper forum for ethics m

the connecticut republican will face democrat richard blumenthal in the fall. ann, here in colorado, the way they're voting is different. this is the first ever mail-in ballot primary. just about all across the state there was no waiting in line at the polling places. they simply sent it in by mail. ann? >> kelly o'donnell tonight. kelly, thanks. >>> now to the hundreds of wildfires, many burning out of control in russia. fuelling a dangerous thick smog in moscow during a relentless heat wave. tonight, the u.s. government is evacuating much of its embassy staff and urging americans to postpone travel to russia. and as nbc's jim maceda now reports, the kremlin is not only trying to battle the fires, but also the perception that it's not doing enough to put them out. >> reporter: it was a photo op he couldn't resist. russian prime minister vladimir putin being criticized for being too slow to respond to the disaster below, was seen on national tv today co-piloting a firefighting plane, scooping up and dumping 24 tons of water on his target. did we hit it, he asks

. -- blumenthal. it's a great honor to be standing here before you,, a native daughter. what did you think of the 65-foot ladder race? pretty incredible. i would be certainly remiss if i didn't introduce personally each member. most of them are not working today and they volunteered their time to come here. just like the sheriff's department and police department that play a large role in the city, we're part of this -- the fabric of this great estimate so engine company 41, operating a rig under the direction of o'neill, and i would like to introduce each and every one of the members. it's a 10-person lift that made the demonstration. first, ramon simone. kevin walsh. julio delucchi, dave cites. doug menguay, pat moran. sasha grande. marco lopez. jonathan ashbrook. down to two. daniel mccloskey. and the person that called the ladder and bravely climbed the ladder and flew our beautiful flag, larry mcdonald. i'd also like to acknowledge paul barry in the red shirt. paul is president of our san francisco fire historical society and there are many members today, including

expected to advance to november likely pitting her against connecticut attorney general richard blumenthal. in georgia -- >> are you ready to elect a pro-life pro-second amendment commonsense constitutional conservative that will might like a momma grizzly for you. >> reporter: sarah palin supports karen handel. the biggest prize this primary day, pinning political power in your corner. voters in florida from two weeks to decide the results. early voting is already under way. >> a big day in politics. mike, thanks. >>> a search for a dangerous fugitive and his accomplice is centered near glacier national park in montana. federal marshals did capture one of the arizona prison escapeees and brad wheelis has more. >> reporter: he is the last of three arizona escaped convicts still on the loose. and authorities say he and a suspected accomplice are calling themselves a modern-day bonnie and clyde. >> i think they've taken the persona this is a movie. >> reporter: a $40,000 reward is being offered for the arrest of john mccluskey and his fiancee/first cousin casslyn welch. >> everyone knows wha

in october she'll face attorney general richard blumenthal.spend $50 million of her own money on that campaign. >> well, the money i'm spending in this race i have clearly earned. i'm investing in myself to be a public servant. >> mcmahon and blumenthal are battling for the seat held by retiring senator chris dodd. >>> president obama continues focusing on the economy this week. mr. obama signs a bill boosting manufacturing by $4.6 billion and to help cut the trade deficit. it could support 90,000 jobs by cutting tariffs on some materials. yesterday mr. obama signed the jobs bill that is supposed to save 300,000 jobs of teachers, police officers and others. >>> escaped arizona prisoner john mccluskey remains at large this morning. authorities are tightening border crossings to canada as the search continues in montana near glacier national park for mccluskey and his fiance. province, arrested yesterday, waived his right of extradition and could be returned soon. >>> work suspended in the gulf on the relief well because of a storm. a tropical d

richard blumenthal awaits the winner of the connecticut gop primary between rob simmons and linden mcmahon. and in georgia, sarah palin's star power will be put to the test. >> are you ready to bring it on? >> reporter: her pick in the republican primary for governor, karen handel, is pitted against former congressman nathan deal. some experts say the key to today's primaries is actually who shows up. democrats will be paying close attention to see if republican momentum is holding. a recent pew research study shows gop enthusiasm is at a 16 year high. 77% of republicans say they will definitely vote this year compared to 65% of democrats. a big motivating factor, the economy. >> on the national landscape, there is one single issue. and that's the economy. because the economy is so bad, it ends up being a referendum on the president. >> reporter: democrats head into november eager to maintain their majorities in congress, but republicans are just as eager to regain that control. and on november 2nd, all 435 seats in the house are up for grabs. 37 seats in the senate. emily, back to you. >>

expected to advance to november likely pitting her against connecticut attorney general richard blumenthal ready to vote for a constitutional conservative that will fight for you? >> sarah palin is testing the national gop. she supports handle for governor. handle is endorsed by the nra, mike huckabee and newt gingrich. the biggest surprise? pending political power in your corner. voters in florida have two weeks to decide if key races. the official primary day is august 24th but early voting is already underway. abc news. >> it's 4:57. one of silicon valley leaders comes to the defense of h. p.'s ousted ceo. >> it was one year ago today six-year-old hasanni campbell walls reported missing from the rock ridge district here. we'll see where the investigation stands coming up. >> and we're learning more about san francisco's plan to host the america's cup, the possible location next. [ wind howling ] [ male announcer ] it balances you... [ water crashing ] [ male announcer ] ...it fills you with energy... and it gives you what you're looking for to live a more natural life, in a convenient t

. >> mcmahon will be the underdog when she faces richard blumenthal in november. he ran unopposed. >>> in georgia the republican runoff for governor is too close to call. the three-week runoff election between karen handel and nathan deal featured biting attack ads. handel was endorsed by sarah palin and deal by newt gingrich. >>> in minnesota, mark dayton won nomination for governor. he'll face republican state representative tom emmer. >>> a tropical depression has formed in the gulf of mexico and headed right toward the site of the oil spill. the storm center is located about 340 miles southeast from the mouth of the mississippi river. with winds of 35 miles per hour, it is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm today. >>> the approaching storm forced bp to stop working on a relief well designed to permanently plug the damaged well. work is expected to be suspended for two to three days. meanwhile, federal authorities announced tuesday that about 5,000 square miles of the gulf along the florida panhandle have reopened for commercial and recreational fishi

i think for a period of time that predates me and frankly proceeded -- preceded blumenthal, there was in-kind tax credits not just for the space but our overall relationship with city college. they also use -- use significant number of our fields -- and not just this facility but other facilities as well. i think it is an important time to point out that we have a very strong relationship with city college. it transcends this particular department and this particular class. during the course of the last year that i have been on the job, i have actually had conversations with -- with trustee chair milton marks who specifically requested that when this issue was ripe six months ago that we delay six months because the class had already been put in the program guide. i have had conversations with -- with the chancellor, with chancellor griffen, we have had a few conversations with peter goldstein about this. this was a letter that again repredated my tenure as g.m. in june asking for a reconciliation with city college on various deeds for fields and facilities. there has been a year's wo

mcmahon won the nomination over simmons, and now faces blumenthal in the fall.om foley won the republican nomination. san francisco, don on the line for republicans, good morning. caller: good morning. i hope you're getting me ok. host: yes, we can hear you. caller: sorry about the plane that went down. i'm always sorry about plans that go down. thank you for your service, elected official who went down in the plane. i called to talk about the republican-democratic stranglehold on government. i just wanted to say one quick thing about the missouri vote. politicians and people who write the bills do the language so that people misunderstand. they do misrepresent themselves as best they can. they call that legalese. legalese is supposed to be easily understandable. it is not. anyhow, the reason i called in today was to wake up the american voters that the republicans and democrats, together, do not really care about the americans. they care about getting reelected. they care about getting money in their campaign fund. that is it. we need to do away with the electo

mcmahon won the nomination over simmons, and now faces blumenthal in the fall. foley won the republican nomination. san francisco, don on the line for republicans, good morning. caller: good morning. i hope you're getting me ok. host: yes, we can hear you. caller: sorry about the plane that went down. i'm always sorry about plans that go down. thank you for your service, elected official who went down in the plane. i called to talk about the republican-democratic stranglehold on government. i just wanted to say one quick thing about the missouri vote. politicians and people who write the bills do the language so that people misunderstand. they do misrepresent themselves as best they can. they call that legalese. legalese is supposed to be easily understandable. it is not. anyhow, the reason i called in today was to wake up the american voters that the republicans and democrats, together, do not really care about the americans. they care about getting reelected. they care about getting money in their campaign fund. that is it. we need to do away with the electora

she's going to face the attorney general democrat richard blumenthal. he faced questions about whether he exaggerated his war record in vietnam. that's going to be the november matchup right now. we spoke with linda mcmahon, but first, i talked to senator bennet. congratulations, senator. that's your first win ever, right? you were appointed to the seat before. >> yeah, i've never run for dog catcher before. it feels pretty good. >> i bet you it does. it was a tougher challenge than you expected. you did have the backing of president obama in this primary. republicans are saying they'll make that the issue. here's senator john cornyn talking about your votes for the obama agenda then went on to say this "while there is no doubt that bennet will now attempt to distance himself from his party leaders in washington, his liberal record in support of wasteful spending and bigger government bureaucracy speaks for itself." your response? >> my response, i spent my entire career outside of politic, half of it working to turn around distressed companies in the p

and i would add to that rob simmons in connecticut who would be a far better matchup against dick blumenthal. >> lehrer: and linda mcmahon. >> but, jim, this is quite unlike any electorate i've ever seen before. it, it is not a seesaw. there usually a seesaw. when one party is up, the other party is down. this is a case where the ins, the democrats, are down. and the outs, the republicans are further down in public esteem. i've never seen this before. now i don't think it's going to cost the republicans in the fall because i think the fury is there. the intensity is, and excitement and interest is on the republican side. but probably the only encouraging sides of the democrats is in the last three months the margin, which is the real qui key, i think to understand this election, is where is that interest and enthusiasm and intense at this time. the republicans had a 21 point edge on that in june. and it's now down to 11. and i don't think it's because the democrats have blossomed and bloomd. i think it's quite frankly because the republicans just are trying to run a tom dooley election. they

richard blumenthal says apple and amazon are trying to stop competitors from offering lower prices.the two companies that deter publishers from giving discounts to other providers. that would cause consumers to pay more for the products. no comment from the two companies. >> recap our top stories. service on a. c. transit may get back to normal now that drivers scored a legal victory. >> theresa garcia live at the transit center. theresa? >> that's right. the last few weeks of unofficial sick-outs are hopefully over today. everything will get back to normal including no more delays. the reason a court ruling throughout the imposed contract making those drivers so upset. there was a brief moment of celebration for union workers yesterday when an alameda county judge issued that preliminary injunction forcing the transit agency to return to the union contracts that expired june 30th. the judge's ruling means the newly imposed scheduling oversim rules, pension plan changes and increased health insurance costs are now void. the new contract would have saved nearly $16 million which the

she's expected to face democrat and connecticut attorney general richard blumenthal in november. >> whit johnson, thank you. >>> drilling continues in the gulf to complete the relief well. and permanently stop the oil flow from bp's blownout well. the relief well is now within 30 feet of the main shaft. as early as friday, engineers could begin pumping mud and see nmt to to permanently kill the well. >>> and a case of mcnugget rage. surveillance individual yoe show as woman in toledo, ohio attack workers at a mcdonald's drive through after they told her chicken mcnuk gets were not available at that hour. the woman also broke the window. she was later arrested and >>> make it a great day wherever you are. harry, erica, over to you guys. >> just ahead, the sex scandal at hewlett-packard. rebecca jarvis is here with the major fallout both on wall street and main street. >>> also a major break through in predicting whether you could get alzheimer's disease. dr. jennifer ashton has the details coming up on "the early show." i feel like i have to wind myself up just to get out of bed. then...w

. >> reporter: and mcmahon will face establishment democrat richard blumenthal, connecticut's attorney general. and then in minnesota's race for governor, democrats chose former senator mark dayton. and in georgia, the republican runoff for governor is still too close to call. sarah palin's choice, karen handel, and the former congress man, nathan deal, are so tight in this race, they may be headed to a recount. ann? >> kelly o'donnell, thank you. >>> former world wrestling entertainment ceo linda mcmahon is a newly minted republican nominee for connecticut's u.s. senate seat. mrs. mcmahon, good morning and congratulations. >> good morning, ann, and thank you very much. >> still in the glow of your victory i've got to ask you about something you said last night. you said you didn't buy your victory, you earned it. but you did spend $22 million more than seven times than your opponent spent on this campaign. and you have said that you're willing to spend up to $50 million now to win the general election. so if you don't need to spend money to get this nomination, and you can earn it, th