>> tonight mitt romney tells missouri senate candidate todd akin to drop out. akin says no. >> by taking this stand, this is going to strengthen our country. >> but could it weaken g.o.p. chances of winning the senate? wyatt andrews and john dickerson on the fallout from akin's controversial comments about rape and abortion. firefighters may be getting the upper hand on a wild fire threatening thousands of northern california homes. tammy leitner is on the fire line. havana to key west, swimmer diana nyad runs out of luck. elaine quijano has her story. and a dog can be a life saver for a soldier. >> i hated dogs. then i got this dog. he changed my life. >> reporter: but anna werner tells us the army just made it a lot harder to get one. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> good evening. scott is on assignment. i'm norah o'donnell. republican chances of taking back control of the senate today took a hit because the g.o.p. candidate in missouri refused to drop out of the race. despite his controversial comments about ra

senator roy blunt of missouri and four former missouri republican senators john ashcroft, kit bond, jim talent, and john danforth put out a statement saying that akin should drop out of the race and there is no sign of congressman akin on capitol hill today and taking the unusual step of locking and locking his door inside the canon house office building. he came under fire for saying -- saying that women's bodies, in his words, can prevent pregnancies in the cases of, quote, legitimate rape. senator scott brown, the republican incumbent in massachusetts said it would be better for republicans if akin stepped aside and he apologized and attempted to clarify his comments during a radio show hosted by mike huckaby. >> and i made that statement in error. let me be clear: rape is never legitimate but is an evil act. i used the wrong words in the wrong way. what i said was isl conceived and it was wrong. >> for someone who is pro- choice and is a father of two and is a husband to gale, i found the comments unacceptable and outrageous and, obviously, i asked him to step down in his pursuit to

senate in missouri. a defiant akin ignored pressure from the republican leaders to drop out following his remarks on rape and pregnancy. even paul ryan who co-sponsored a bill with akin opposing abortion even in the case of rape said it's time for him to go. >> the statements were outrageous, over the pale. i don't know anyone who wouldn't agree with that. rape is rape, period, ends of story. >> ryan says even though he opposes abortion, a romney administration would support in the case of rape and incest. akin meanwhile faces dwindling support and disappearing campaign funds. he insists the political crisis will pass. wyatt andrews reports. >> stunned by all the backlash, todd akin insisted that his comments about rape and women were just a mistake and that he could still win the missouri senate seat held by incumbent democrat claire mccaskill. akin announced his final decision on the mike huckabee radio broadcast. >> that i misspoke one word in one sentence in one day and all of a sudden overnight ever

former and present missouri senators expecting him to set aside in the race for the senate seat. three former senators have been asked to run in his place and i'll have to climb. possible replacement should aiken step aside -- we will dig into this with karl rove and so much more coming up. the mississippi is drying up. this will have a dramatic impact from the food you eat too many other things. time to sell. dale orlando will say buy, sell or maybe wait a day. take a look at how oil is trading today. it is way up today. it is trading at $97 a barrel. ♪ hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. [ male announcer ] to hold a patent that has changed the modern world... would define you as an innovator. to hold more than one patent of this caliber... would define you as a true leader. to hold over 80,000... well, that would make you... the creato of the 2012 mercedes-benz e-class... quite poss

turn to fox news capitol hill senior producer who has the latest on congressman akin and that missouri senateace. chad, what are you hearing at this hour? >> well, absolutely nothing. 62 minutes ago. that was the deadline, close of business in missouri for todd akin to drop off the ballot, do that, and switch out the ballots with another potential candidate that would be prepared by the central committee the of the republican party in committee. that did not happen. there's an option still for todd akin to drop out between now and september 25th. the law says in missouri that they would charge the akin campaign to do that, and, again, the central committee would be up for fielding a candidate there, but, you know, there's a tradition in washington of wise men going to political figures in trouble. we remember during watergate in 1974, people from capitol hill went to president nixon, not that level, but akin is not listening. lou: not listening, obviously, made his decision, and there's no indication there on capitol hill or from the republican national committee as to what they will do. whic

the missouri senate candidate whose comments on so-called legitimate rape have put gop hopes to take over the senate in doubt, and forced mitt romney to respond. times running out for congressman akin, under pressure from scott brown and other republicans to bow out. he has to quit the race before 5:00 tomorrow afternoon or be a potential headache stuck on that ballot, a headache for republicans all the way to election day. susan page is washington bureau chief for "usa today" and is with me today for our daily fix. susan, the last 24 hours have been unbelievable. we've talked about gender wars, about the gender gap that republicans were fighting back against, and now here you've got todd akin, a leading candidate for ahead of claire mccaskill until this happened. what is the impact? >> todd akin not just random challenger, but a sitting member of the house. you know, i think this has the potential to cause -- to give claire mccaskill a second chance at winning another term in missouri, especially if todd akin doesn't take the hint and get out by 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. you know, it

senator claire mccaskill soldiers on in missouri. e only person, the only person standing tonight between todd akin and a seat in the united states senate. senator mccaskill has survived the bombardment of negative attack advertising financed by karl rove's super pac. and she is still standing. mitt romney cannot stop todd akin. paul ryan cannot stop todd akin. ann coulter cannot stop todd akin. karl rove cannot stop todd akin. the only people, only people who can stop todd akin from going to the united states senate now are the voters of missouri and their senator, claire mccaskill. joining me now, msnbc's joy reid and richard wolffe and michelle goldberg of "newsweek" and "the daily beast." let's listen to what rush limbaugh had to say today, advising republicans how to handle this issue. >> for any and all of you republicans, when you are asked why you don't have a rape exception in the party platform on abortion, don't answer it. don't get into the substance. don't answer the question, republicans. don't go anywhere near it. it's

didn't mean to imply that that wasn't the case. >> reporter: republicans on capitol hill view the missouri senate seat as critical in their efforts to regain a majority in the senate. so, many in the gop are pressuring the congressman to pull out of the race. >> you're the boss. >> reporter: massachusetts senator scott brown was the first to publicly call for akin to withdraw. >> i found those comments unacceptable, really outrageous, and obviously, i've asked him to step down. >> reporter: he was quickly joined by others, including senator john cornyn, who is leading the republican effort to win back the senate. cornyn issued a statement, saying "congressman akin should carefully consider what is best for him, his family, the republican party." but his opponent said the gop should respect missouri's voters. >> i think it would be radical for a national party to come into a state and basically give the back of their hand to the voters of their party. >> reporter: mitt romney did not call on akin to withdraw from the race, but he did say the comments were indefensible. now, as for the claim that a

that's no longer him. >> how important is the missouri senate seat for the republicans after the election? >> well, win or lose it at the presidential level, republicans want to control the senate. it's an important body. we want to get an agenda through. we can't do it with one house alone and even if romney wins and becomes president of the united states he wants partnership in the house and the senate like what obama had when he became president so it's a really hot priority and this may be one of the seats that decide it. >> so what are the risks here for romney? >> i think looking weak as a nominee of our party. he is now in charge of the republican party. he's in one week going to take the mantle that very few people have taken and the party will be his responsibility, the ticket all the way down from his election to the local sheriff is going to be running on the fact that he is the top of that ticket, and this is an issue about party discipline. you can't say to somebody, get out of the race, and then he defied the leader of our party. it's outrageous. it's no longer about his com

now that missouri u.s. senate candidate todd akin has become the latest republican politician to articulate the pseudo scientific thinking behind this long-standing strand of republican politics, now that there is a full scale freakout about todd akin's viability and his insanely out there offensive politics on this issue and how the republican party can afford to keep a guy like that on the ballot in that important race, once again, you have to ask why the freakout about todd akin when the republican party has picked somebody with the exact same track record, with the exact same policy record. his co sponsor on all of the bills to be the party's vice presidential nominee. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> this is a moment of instability in republican politics. todd akin, mr. legitimate rape there, he's apologizing now for those remarks, but he's not changing any of his policy positions that derive from that belief that he holds. and of course, for now

he needs to be gone because this is -- this puts the senate race in missouri in peril. to have a party convention which is supposed to be about unity, not debates of did shall. >> i don't mean to interrupt you, i meant sort of the wisdom of the political community. can he survive this? >> reporter: the wisdom, no. the wisdom of the republican community is that he's not going to have any money. he's going to lose women voters who this offends so he's going to have to try to build it from the grassroots. so he can survive, he can stay in the race, but the thinking is among republicans that he's thrown away this seat. >> we just heard bill plante, john, say that he's blaming the liberal media. do you think that that's going to help him, that tactic will help him at all? >> reporter: if he's going to raise money, he has to make this a fight against somebody else, take the pressure off himself, make himself look like a victim so he's only got a few boogie men. the liberal media would be a good one. there's a narrative already in republican politics for that. the problem is t

i'll also get analysis on the other big story tonight, and that is the refusal of missouri senate candidate todd akin to end his candidacy following his controversial remarks on abortion and rape. i interviewed him earlier today. we'll have portions coming up later this hour. first i caught up with congressman ryan at a campaign stop in car nagy, pennsylvania. let's take a look. >> congressman, thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me, sean. >> bill: you knew you were being vetted, you're on the short list, you're called to massachusetts. no one noticed it? >> no i had. a bow hunting hat on, blue jeans, just a t-shirt. i flew to hartford, connecticut, and my 19-year-old son picked me up at the airport and drove me to the house. >> bill: the media was on full vp watch. >> uh-huh. >> bill: you sneak off in the back woods, navigate through the woods to another family member's house. >> yeah. we live in the block i grew up on, and there are a patch of woods between the house i live in now and the house i grew up in. those are the woods i spent my childhood in, building tree forts, capt

he weighed in on missouri senate gop candidate todd aiken's controversial comments this weekend thatquote, legitimate rain rarely results in pregnancy, which put the abortion debate back in the election forefront. in the meantime, romney did his best to try to distance himself from aiken's comments calling them deeply offensive. >>> continuing that story, new this morning, that missouri senator whose comments on rape and pregnancy set off a political firestorm is in serious damage control in his new political ad. >> rape is an evil act. i used the wrong words in the wrong way and for that i apologize. >> senior republicans are now urging aiken to just quit the u.s. senate race, but aiken insists he will continue that campaign. >>> a rocket fired into a u.s. base in afghanistan has damaged the plane of a top u.s. official. military leaders say insurgents launched the attack this morning at the bagram airfield base while the u.s. joint chief of staff was on a visit. u.s. army genmar tin dempsey, seen here, was not near the plane when the rocket hit the army general. he was visiting the

that brings us to our question of the day:should congressman akin drop out of the missouri senate racetake your calls in our 7 o'clock hour. you can also go to fox-baltimore dot com and tell us what you think... sound off through facebook or send us a tweet.. at foxbaltimore. if you're planning on upgrading to the new iphone 5... now is the time to dump your current phone. phone.the trade- in value of older model iphones will drop in about two weeks... so if you trade it in now.. you'll get more for it.and you don't have to live without a phone to do it.most tradeein services will guarantee a you can wait until you hhve the new phone in hand before handing over your old one.the only catch... the release date of mid- september is still a rumor.apple hasn't set an official date. 3 we are following breaking news out of howard county... two people are killed after a train ddrails in ellicott city. city.joel d. smith joins us live from the scene with what we're now learning about the accident.joel? joel? 3 coming up... is your ride at risk? risk?the list of the most stolen carssin america..

of the republican national committee says gop representative todd akin should end his run for missouri's senate seat and forget about showing up at next week's convention in tampa after akin's statement that a woman's body can prevent pregnancy in the case of "a legitimate rape." >> "a legitimate rape." like some rapes are not legitimate. >> both presidential candidates are weighing in. >> the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. >> i cannot defend what he said. i can't defend him. >> the chorus of party members getting louder among those who want akin to consider dropping his senate bid to give republicans a better chance of defeating the democratic senator, even though akin apologized. >> todd akin has other views that i think are way outside the mainstream. >> this changes the race. >> this makes it much more of her race to lose rather than a battle that was going to be fought pretty close between the two sides. >> akin has until the close of business today to withdraw. he can drop out after tonight but it would take a court order to get his name off the ballot. >> 52 degrees on tv

up next, blunt talk with missouri senator roy blunt. yes, we're talking about the republican rift over todd akin. will the controversy rear its ugly head at the podium when mike huckabee speaks? but first a look ahead at the schedules of president obama and the speaker's schedule tonight at the convention beyond just the, quote, prime time. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc, live from tampa, florida. welcome aboard! [ chuckles ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now you'll know when to stop. [ honk! ] the all-new nissan altima with easy fill tire alert. [ honk! ] it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have ac

senate within grass in november. the akin stumble and today's refusal to step down is a toxic distraction. romney urged him to affect the fellow missourind "exit the race." but the democrats are taking full advantage of it. akin opponent and senator claire mccaskill offered this apparently disingenuous defense of the show me state republican voters. >> i think what is startling to me is that those party big wigs are coming down on him and saying that he needs to kick sand in face of the republican primary voters. >> other democrats are tieing the akin comment to the entire republican party. massachusetts senate candidate elizabeth warren wrote today, "the leaders of the republican party pursued an agenda that would undercut women and move us back a generation or more." senator scott brown worked with the republican leaders to further that agenda. that comment despite the fact her opponent scott brown was among the first in either party to condemn remarks and call for akin to step down. one poll from the left leaning public policy polling shows akin still leading claire mccaskill by a percentage point after the incendiary comment. that

senate race in missouri, but after his comments about what he called legitimate rape, akin is facing louder calls from gop officials for him to step aside. steve handelsman has the story. >> reporter: the issue of abortion rights for victim rapes is posing possible damage to the romney-ryan presidential campaign with women voters. they mostly 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 who set off the firestorm. he was arguing against abortion rights for sexual assault victims. >> it seems to me, first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's 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. >> this is jaw-dropping and stunning. >> reporter: akin claimed he misspoke and has deep sympathy for women who are raped and apologized on the radio. >> rape is never legitimate. it's an evil act. >> reporter: mitt romney called akin

. >> today, todd akin, will he dropped out at missouri's senate race? we will speak with michelle goldberg are his views that different from republican vice- presidential candidate paul ryan? michelle goldberg is with newsweek and the daily beast. last year, todd akin and brian co-sponsor the no taxpayer funding for abortion act that attempted to redefine rape. >> rape is rape. the idea that we should be qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about, does not make sense to the american people. it certainly does not make sense to me. >> then, "the invisible wounds of war: coming home from iraq and afghanistan." marguerite guzmÁn bouvard and the record number of soldiers committing suicide. >> this issue, suicide, is perhaps the most frustrating challenge that i have come across since becoming secretary of defense last year. >> we will go to south africa where police shot dead 34 striking mineworkers at a mine owned by lonmin, the world's third largest platinum producer. >> the history i read about the massacre was a history and never thou

the republicans trying to get back on message after a three-day detour into the todd akin missouri senate race drama. steve handelsman is on capitol hill with more on this. >> reporter: thanks. a drama that's really not over. even though both mitt romney and paul ryan have picked up the phone to demand that he leave the missouri senate race, todd akin is hanging in. and by hanging in, he poses a threat, they believe, to their ticket because akin pushes abortion to the front border which divides rips appear turns off many women voters. paul ryan went to virginia and north carolina, trying to get the campaign focus back on the economy. >> we've got 23 million people out of work, struggling to find work today. unemployment has been above 8% for 42 months. and the real unemployment rate is 15%. this is president obama's imaginary recovery. it's not here. >> reporter: the so-called ryan bump is not here. >> let's get this done! >> reporter: picking the congressional conservative did not help mitt romney's poll numbers much. president obama with teachers in nevada today leads 48% to 44% in the

role at the convention but back to the platform what exactly is in it well in a nod to embattled missouri senate candidate ted eight can there's a absolute constitutional ban the forces women to complete pregnancies no exceptions for rape and incest isn't urging for states to adopt intrusive ultrasound laws that force women to have their bodies probed to before they can have an abortion as an embrace of hateful anti-gay laws that give no legal recognition of same sex couples as a call for more radical papers please anti immigration laws like the one the supreme court struck down in arizona is the reinstatement of don't ask don't tell forbidding gays of openly serving in the military and in a slap in the face to washington d.c. a rejection of statehood for the nation's capital those are just some of the highlights or lowlights plus the official theme of the republican national convention is we did build this in response to president obama's out of context remarks about how roads bridges and government investments allow business owners to be successful someone should notify the republican party th

senate candidate in missouri.respondent doug mckelway tells us despite urgings from party leaders that he withdraw, todd akin says he is in it to win it, probably. >> when asked in an interview whether he would end his candidacy by the last remaining legal deadline by september 25, embattled u.s. senate candidate todd akin left open a crack in an exit door. >> i'll never say everything that can possibly happen. i don't know the future. >> political analyst says the statement speaks volume. >> the fact he is unlikely to get significant financial support and his chances of winning don't look good, he will probably bow out. >> for now, defiant akin is staying in. project -- rejecting the chorus of calls from the highest level in his own part party. >> i'll keep it between us. i agree with the rest of the people from the missouri delegation. >> akin's obcitynance is having an im -- akin's obcitynance is having impact. he makes no exception for rape and incest. democrats are shuffling their convention line township sho

drag on the party that so many party leaders seem to think, does that translate to missouri suddenly being helping out senator claire mccass kin suddlyaving an advantage or mitt romney even perhaps losing missouri. are there any polls to support that? >> i don't think there's any polls to support the idea that ro manyny would be in danger of losing missouri at this point, i think that's a little premature. but certainly, eastern top republicans,ql+÷ ranked by gove mcconnell, says at this point akin seems impossible or very unlikely that he would win this race which is why they want to get him ot. i mean, who controls the senate is in an incredibly important issue, especially in mitt romney wins next year, it could hinge or it could depend on whether or not he's able to get his agenda through, whether they have that majority or not. >> ifill: you have mentioned governor bob mcdonald who is the governor of the platform committee. he has been in the crosswinds before in virginia? >> yes, he has. he got into controversy earlier this year for talking about transvaginal probes and he had to walk that back, so he's

almost impossible for them to do without winning the missouri senate seat.y thought it was in the bag and an easy win. now it's exploding in their faces. they think they can get a candidate in there of their own choosing if they get todd akin out. and had how do they plan to do this going forward? >> that's right. i think there is obviously background conversation going on. those have been going on since the morning trying to push him out of the state the nrcc was trying to do that. but i've seen these very public denunciations telling him to move out of the race. i think one of the issues going forward is whether or not he feels like there is some wing of the republican party you saw leaders of the family research council, and you saw mike huckabee give is something of a tepid indoorsment, certainly not a denunciation of this. i think he feels at some point there might be some wing of the republican party some wing of the missouri republican voters who will support him. but you're right. it's all about this senate seat, and claire mccaskill wants him to sta

well, they can withdraw from the missouri senate race. it >> a wild fire edge is dangerously close to homes. >> the violent streak in san jose continues with two more shootings last night and one more person killed. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, >> it is tuesday august 21st. >> an uphill battle for hundreds of firefighters in shasta county >> the cause behind oakland's glitch the radio system >> devastating. very sad >> thousands of homes have been evacuated as the ponderosa fire grows larger >> inside the fire zone they're battling several enemies. it would area surrounded by thick brush >> we don't know what to do because this is all we have >> all i want no such thing >> to views expressed were offensive. rape is rape >> the world of comedy has lost a legend. >> serve the food clear the table and bury the dead >> and outlandish phyllis diller has died. >> from across the bay to around the world, the stories that matter on the eyewitness news is morning. >> san jose police are adding yet another murder to a streak of violence in their city. >>